Ziik.
While praying, I opened the uterus.
I saw the baby.
Thankfully…
It's alive. For now, at least.
I don't know what will happen after it's born, but for now, it's alive.
"Please take the baby here."
"Yes!"
Anyway, once the baby was out, the midwives became busy.
So did Blundell, who was on standby nearby.
I don't know if they really know what they're doing while rushing around…
But anyway, it's probably better than me, right?
I don't even know how to hold a baby.
Forget a baby, I've hardly ever dated—no, not even marriage.
'Damn it… Will this life be different?'
Could it… be different?
I don't know.
Before I get depressed, first…
"Uh…"
"What?"
"No, it's just…"
I was thinking I should finish the surgery quickly when Alfred called me.
I wondered why and looked, but the patient seemed strange.
She was pale.
If I could measure her blood pressure, it would probably… have dropped sharply or be undetectable.
The reason?
The reason is obvious.
"Fuck. Fuck!"
The place where the baby was taken out.
In other words, blood was pooling in the empty space of the uterus.
And very quickly.
"Suture, suture!"
"Uh, uh."
Contamination?
Infection?
Is that important right now?
If she bleeds out, she'll die right here.
With her stomach still open.
This is what they call a table death…
It's unfortunate for the surgeon, but it's an even greater tragedy for the family.
How do I know?
I've been through it too.
Not as the surgeon, but as an assistant.
Back then… even our professor broke down, and the family members all broke down too.
"Scissors!"
"Uh…"
"Don't just say 'uh'! Cut it quickly! Cut it!"
"Uh, yes, yes."
There's no time to hesitate, but he's just standing there saying 'uh'.
Everything about being a master or whatever… is canceled.
Yeah, at best, he's only at the level of barely following the manual.
Expecting anything beyond that—like being able to handle such an emergency—was unreasonable.
Yeah, it's my fault.
"Suture, one more!"
"Yes!"
"Don't just answer! Will the blood vessel get tied like that, damn it?"
"Ah, no!"
Joseph, Colin, and even Blundell, who ended up assisting again, were flustered and watching my expression.
Of course, they weren't doing this on purpose.
The patient… could die.
"It'll, it'll be okay."
Amid my intense focus, I could hear sporadic conversation.
It was Liston.
Only then did I come to my senses and look back to see that the husband had already collapsed, and Lord Jamie's face had turned pale.
Only then did I realize that this wasn't an operating room but someone's house.
Even so, it didn't change anything about what I had to do.
The patient was still dying.
"Suture!"
"Yes."
The only saving grace was…
That my skills hadn't deteriorated.
Although I might be clumsy at C-sections or hysterectomies, tying off blood vessels and finding them is something that can be done based on overall skill, right?
Even by my standards, it was done quickly—by others' standards, it was literally done in an instant.
Once that was done, the blood that had been pouring into the uterus stopped.
This is good.
Good, but…
"Hmm."
How much blood did she lose?
Can she make it with just IV fluids?
'If she were an ordinary… woman, she would have died…'
In other words, if she were a 19th-century London working-class woman, she would definitely have died.
She wasn't healthy to begin with.
Well… you might think that if a person is just really strong, they could pull through.
But here, if a working-class person managed to survive at this point, it would be because they were incredibly strong.
This is a world where even such people barely hold on and then go straight to heaven if anything goes wrong.
Fortunately, since this person is Lord Jamie's granddaughter-in-law, her nutritional status was quite good.
So she's holding on… but probably not for long.
"Sigh…"
First, I removed the uterus.
"Uh, uhh!"
A scream erupted from Blundell's mouth as he unconsciously caught it.
He had already been wondering why the baby was so red, but with the uterus full of blood, it was inevitable.
Startled, he struggled more than usual, and in doing so, the blood pooled inside came gushing out.
Both the high-end bedding and the floor carpet were soaked in blood.
Well, at this moment, no one would think that was a waste.
Including Lord Jamie, the owner of this house.
'I want to say it's okay…'
If until now I hadn't realized it due to my habit of being in an operating room, now I knew full well.
But I couldn't open my mouth.
My mind was too busy.
'Not all of that is blood.'
When it was inside the abdomen, it was dark so I couldn't tell, but after taking it out…
Especially looking at the color of the fluid seeping out now, it seemed mixed with amniotic fluid.
If so, then that 2-3 liters of fluid isn't all pure blood.
'Amniotic fluid… amniotic fluid… ah, right.'
The amount of amniotic fluid is roughly 600 to 1000 ml.
Then…
'Ah, damn it.'
Then even if it's mixed with amniotic fluid, it means she lost over a liter of blood.
That's a loss of over 20%…
If sudden bleeding is over 20% of total blood volume…
'It's an indication for transfusion. What do I do about this?'
She needs blood…
If she doesn't get it, she'll probably die.
Just look.
She's already short of breath.
Fortunately, I stopped it here, but if you ask if I stopped it 100%, the answer is no.
There are probably still small, minor bleedings.
'If it goes over 30%, even with a transfusion, she might not come back. Then she'll die.'
The question isn't whether to transfuse or not.
If I don't do it quickly, even if I do, she could die.
Ha.
Ziik.
While worrying immensely inside, I also finished all the suturing.
It's a good thing I'm a genius.
Really.
"Please call the family members."
Now the remaining issue is how to deceive them.
It's time for the master bullshitter of Joseon to step up, as they say…
Surprisingly, my mind started spinning.
Really spinning, like crazy!
"Uh, uhh."
In the 21st century, it's the era of nuclear families everywhere in the world, but now it's the era of extended families.
Especially for a high noble like Lord Jamie, it's no exaggeration to say the whole family lives together.
Since it's an era where people die a lot, they have many children, so even though I only called the family, the room started to get crowded.
"Only the immediate family! Only the immediate family of this person!"
"Uh, uh."
When I said that, they quickly left.
It seems the saying "a married daughter is like spilled water" wasn't only used in Joseon.
Out of dozens of people, only about four remained.
Including Lord Jamie, his grandson, and even his son, it made seven people.
"But why?"
"First, the baby is… healthy."
I decided to deliver the good news first.
The problem is whether it's really very healthy is questionable, but well…
It cried earlier and is still wriggling, so it seems healthy.
If it were at a level where it needed an incubator, it would probably already be dead.
Even considering it's red from the blood, its complexion was fairly okay.
"Thank, thank you."
"The problem is this person. She lost too much blood."
"Ah, is she going to die?"
Next is the bad news…
Well, the difficulty level in the 19th century is much lower anyway.
When you say someone lost blood, they immediately assume it means death.
Since that's usually how it goes in this world, it's not unreasonable, but…
Anyway, I had to shake my head instead.
"Ah, no. Not yet."
"Then there's time to pray. I'll call the pastor."
"No, no."
"Then what?"
"It's not that there's no way."
"Huh?"
At my words, someone who appeared to be the patient's parents stepped forward.
"She can live?"
"But with that much blood lost…"
The two were looking at the blood-soaked floor.
If that much blood was lost, normally she would have died.
They've probably seen it several times already.
It's an era where death is so close that funeral parties are common.
We might attend a relative's funeral as early as high school or as late as our 30s, but here they go from a young age.
Because their siblings die, not just relatives.
"There's something called a blood transfusion. Since she lost a lot of blood, wouldn't it work to give her blood?"
At my words, Blundell, who was assisting, brightened up.
"I'll volunteer."
That's admirable.
How many doctors around me would offer their own blood to save someone?
But I had to ignore it.
"But doesn't that… kill people?"
"Right. The Vatican banned it. It's ineffective now, though."
I listened to the well-known facts and sighed softly.
Then I began my full-on bullshitting.
"This is a story from my homeland, Joseon."
Joseon.
What kind of country could it be?
There's no way to know.
I haven't been there either.
'But in South Korea, that's the right way to do it, right?'
Since I'm saying this out of ignorance, it's not a lie, is it?
With this rationalization, the words started flowing.
"It's a small country. For a long time, it had to endure invasions from foreign powers. Much like England when the Vikings invaded, or England when Rome invaded."
"Oh my, how about that."
"We didn't know."
"Because of that, battles were frequent, and naturally, many people got hurt. So surgery developed."
I don't know, damn it.
But in the 21st century, it's a country that's good at it, right?
"But even if you treat wounds well, people still die. Because of lack of blood. So we gave blood, but they died even faster. Actually, isn't blood life? It's even in the Bible."
"That's right."
"Indeed."
"We thought we shouldn't give just any blood… so we started giving blood from family members. Even then, some still died, but far more people started to survive."
"Is, is that so?"
"How can that be?"
This too…
I don't know.
Since it's inherited blood, well…
If both parents are type A, it's more likely the child is type A too, right?
"Adding to that, what I realized while studying here in London, as a scientist thinking methodically…"
"Indeed."
"Our London is the best, after all."
"Moreover, my teacher is Dr. Liston. I learned a great deal from him."
"Haha."
"That's right."
When saying something suspicious, you need to make as many accomplices as possible.
Especially if even you think, "Isn't this nonsense?" it's even more necessary.
"And our Dr. Blundell also has expertise in blood transfusions. He's already done it five times."
"Oh my, is that so?"
"No wonder he's London's best obstetrician."
I didn't mention that all five of those people died.
Or that they died faster than they would have otherwise.
Instead, I started to get angry.
When you run out of things to say, you tend to get angry, right?
Usually, that reduces persuasiveness, but for a doctor facing a patient, it actually increases persuasiveness momentarily.
"If the blood doesn't match, it clots."
"Huh?"
"What does that mean?"
"There's no time. I'll explain later. Show me your arm."
"No, why?"
"Why my arm?"
"She'll die!"
"Uh, okay."
"Here, my arm is here!"