The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim - Chapter 351

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 351

The carousel’s movement gradually came to a stop.

I quickly jumped down from the toy horse and rushed to the student who had fallen off.

“Where are you hurt?”

“Ugh, ahh.”

“Holy shit, crazy. Are you okay?”

“Uh, uh, yeah. I’m fine. I’m okay.”

At first, the student made strange groaning sounds which was unsettling.

Fortunately, his airway was clear, and his breathing and pulse were stable.

He was conscious and had no trouble speaking.

“Are you a doctor?”

The safety officer who had just broadcast for the student to come down also rushed over.

“I’m a Korean medicine doctor. For now, it would be better to move him and check his condition.”

“Ah, please do.”

There were other visitors around, so we couldn’t keep doing this on the ride’s rotating platform.

“Can you walk?”

“Yes, yes.”

I asked the student first.

To check if he could walk, I watched as the student got up.

“I’ll support you. Lean on me and walk slowly.”

His walking wasn’t 100% normal, but it seemed he could walk without support.

There were no serious signs like spinal damage.

Feeling relieved, I spoke to the other students who didn’t know what to do.

“All of you with the injured student, follow me.”

Only one had fallen, but there was another student who had been fooling around with him.

When I coldly stared at the student who had first stood on the saddle, all the children in the same uniform got scared and got off their horses.

I hadn’t called them, but Sasha, Hasha, and Kim Ijin also followed us.

“I don’t think we need to call an ambulance.”

“Yes, it’s not an emergency situation. Would it be okay if I examine him briefly?”

“Please do. I’ll report to headquarters… Hey kids, what’s your homeroom teacher’s phone number? What school are you from?”

While the safety officer grabbed another student to get guardian contact information, I first laid the injured student down on the shaded area outside the fence.

“Where does it hurt the most?”

“Ah, well, my butt and… my wrist and forearm hurt too.”

The injured student’s uniform name tag read Go Jinyeong.

He blankly stared at the other students getting scolded by the safety officer before answering my question.

Since I had directly seen him fall butt-first and hit his arm, it wasn’t far from what I expected.

“Your butt hurts the most, right?”

“Yes. Ah, it might be my back too. Ow.”

Even though it was shaded, it was too open a space to directly examine the painful area.

“I’ll just lift up your shirt. I’m going to press on a few places, so let me know where it hurts.”

“Yes.”

It was a bit awkward, but Kim Ijin naturally took off her uniform jacket to cover the student’s front.

Seeing what she was doing, Hasha and Sasha also helped.

First, when I looked at his back externally, there was no problem.

I pulled down his pants slightly to check the upper part of his buttocks, but visually I couldn’t see any abrasions, bruising, or swelling.

Of course, even if there was a lumbar sprain, the back area has thick muscles so it wouldn’t be as noticeable as smaller joints.

“I’ll press on your spine.”

“Ugh.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Just hurts from being pressed… Ack, the bottom part hurts a bit. Uh, uh, that spot hurts more.”

Slight pain in the lower lumbar area, clear tenderness around the PSIS (Posterior Superior Iliac Spine).

“Does this hurt more than here?”

“Ah, no. The first place you pressed!”

I pressed the inside, outside, and below the PSIS to locate the injured area.

“When you fell on your butt, you got a sprain in the Long Posterior Sacroiliac Ligament.”

Even if I said this, he wouldn’t know where that was.

Actually, it’s only important to the practitioner; patients aren’t usually that curious.

“If you don’t treat this properly, your pelvis will keep hurting even when you’re old.”

What patients usually want to know is when they’ll recover and whether there will be aftereffects.

And Go Jinyeong absolutely needed to understand the seriousness.

While I had ruled out concerns like spinal fractures, it was true that taking sacroiliac joint sprains lightly could leave aftereffects.

There were quite a few patients who had fallen from ladders while working when young, or had been injured in the military 30 years ago.

“Ah…”

Even with safety-first precautions, accidents happen, but seeing him climb on the carousel, I felt that if I spoke carelessly, something big would happen soon.

“Let’s also check your shoulder. Does this hurt?”

“No. That spot doesn’t— Ah!”

“The shoulder joint is fine, but there’s bruising on the arm. It’ll take time for the deltoid muscle to recover too. The wrist looks okay now, but it’ll swell up by tomorrow. Don’t use your right hand or right arm at all. Keep walking to a minimum and lie down to rest.”

The shoulder, arm, and wrist weren’t as bad as the sacroiliac joint, but they weren’t in good condition either.

When I diagnosed his injuries, Go Jinyeong looked like he was about to cry.

“Yes… I understand.”

“Does it hurt?”

I made eye contact with Go Jinyeong while still crouching down.

Since I wasn’t palpating anywhere this time, he blinked as if he didn’t understand what I meant.

“Oh, yes. My back is throbbing even when I’m just sitting still.”

Of course it would hurt. He hit the ground that hard.

“You should consider yourself lucky that this is all that happened. Falls are extremely dangerous. Depending on how and where you fall, you could die if things go wrong.”

Go Jinyeong flinched.

But is this the attitude of someone who takes danger seriously?

“You come here too, student. What’s your name?”

I called over the student who had stood up on the saddle first.

Go Jinyeong was one thing, but this kid who started it all was the bigger problem.

“Baek Minhyeok…”

Having already been scolded once by the safety officer, he walked over hesitantly.

“Student Baek Minhyeok, student Go Jinyeong. And the other students who didn’t stop them.”

The students awkwardly clasped their hands in front of them but couldn’t give a proper response and just mumbled.

“Answer me.”

“Yes.”

“Y-yes…!”

When I lowered my voice, the hesitant kids finally opened their mouths.

“Do you know why I called you over?”

“Be-because you told us to get down, but I stood up…”

“I warned you it was dangerous.”

Baek Minhyeok nodded vigorously with a pale face.

I wasn’t particularly emanating killing intent, but the kids were overwhelmed even by this much and kept flinching.

“It’s fortunate that your buttocks absorbed the impact and it ended with just sprains and bruises. But do you know what would have happened if you had been unlucky and suffered lumbar fractures or spinal cord damage?”

“Uh…”

Baek Minhyeok opened his mouth, then closed it again.

I wasn’t really asking for an answer anyway.

“There are many types of fractures. Do you think it’ll just heal if you lie down with a simple crack? The vertebrae could be crushed, and if they shatter into pieces, they could invade the neural canal.”

“…”

“Then you’d start having problems with sensation in your legs, and it could lead to bladder and bowel control disorders too.”

While these weren’t cases commonly seen at the Oriental Medicine Clinic, I had seen several long-term inpatients during my practicum at the university-affiliated Traditional Korean Medicine Hospital.

You’d see even more in surgical departments.

“If the spinal cord had been damaged by a slight mistake, you could have had paralysis of the lower body. No, if your neck had been twisted, instant death would have been possible too. Is riding the carousel for fun for a moment that important? Can you guarantee that you absolutely won’t slip, that you can maintain your balance?”

When I glared at Baek Minhyeok, he hung his head low.

Go Jinyeong quietly touched his pelvis to check if his legs were moving properly.

Of course, that was just a possibility – I had already examined him and confirmed there were no urgent problems.

“I’m sorry…”

“We were wrong.”

“If you don’t want to lie in bed for the rest of your life and see your families grieve, don’t do such things.”

I made eye contact with each person one by one.

“Yes!”

The disciplined students straightened their shoulders and answered loudly.

At least they seemed to have reflected on their actions to some degree.

The pranks of teenage kids!

“Your day of fun is ruined, so go rest in the medical room. If you keep hurting, either come to our Oriental Medicine Clinic tomorrow, or if it’s far, make sure to go to a nearby hospital and get treatment until you’re completely fine. Sacroiliac joint sprains are very prone to leaving aftereffects.”

Having given them a thorough scolding, I tried to find my business card to give them and wrap things up.

But in my sleeves were only acupuncture needles and hidden weapons – no business cards.

I usually carry a few in my bag, but I had put the whole thing in the locker when I changed clothes.

“What are you looking for?”

“Oh, I don’t have my business card.”

Well, if I didn’t have one, that was that. I was going to tell them the clinic’s name, but unexpectedly, Kim Ijin pulled out my business card from her school uniform pocket.

…Why is that in the borrowed clothes?

“Here’s my business card. If you’re coming, check my work schedule first.”

Go Jinyeong received the business card with both hands, looking very tense.

“Yes. I’ll come tomorrow.”

I had said everything I needed to say.

I explained the situation to the safety officer.

When I expressed my opinion that while there were no urgent problems, bed rest was necessary so it would be good to send him to the medical room, the safety officer also said that according to the manual, they should stop by the medical room anyway and guided us to the location.

“I have to keep operating the carousel, so I can’t go with you. The teacher said they’ll come right over.”

When I asked for their understanding to wait until the guardian arrived, Sasha sent an okay sign as if she had been waiting for this.

“Totally fine!”

She also approached Go Jinyeong and Baek Minhyeok to talk to them.

“This is the first time I’ve seen our director get this angry! Be careful!”

The students nodded their heads, apparently understanding at least “Be careful.”

Hasha, standing beside her, also raised her index finger, saying they needed to be thoroughly scolded.

“I keep shouting until my mouth is sore to wear your safety belts properly, but there are always kids like this who don’t listen!”

Then the safety officer, who had already thoroughly scolded Baek Minhyeok and the other students, scolded Go Jinyeong once more.

As the students continued to bow and apologize, she finally returned to her position.

Swish.

Kim Ijin silently drew her hand across her neck.

She must mean what I said earlier – that it would be serious if he injured his neck, right?

Even though it was similar content, it looked terrifying because of her height, build, and presence.

“I heard our class kids are here!”

Shortly after, the students’ homeroom teacher appeared.

He was a large-built male teacher.

“Hello, teacher? There was an accident where student Baek Minhyeok stood up on the carousel saddle, and student Go Jinyeong climbed onto the horse’s head, causing Go Jinyeong to fall.”

No amount of scolding would be insufficient.

I immediately reported the sequence of events to the teacher.

“You guuuuuuuys!”

As expected, a thunderous reprimand came down.

The teacher approached the students with large strides, his face bright red.

“What did I tell you on the bus earlier?”

“You told us to thoroughly follow safety rules…”

He disciplined the students loudly.

He was quite a tiger-like homeroom teacher, but it seemed even doing this couldn’t completely prevent middle schoolers from having accidents.

“Phew, he’s not seriously injured, right?”

Having heard the general situation through the safety officer’s phone call, he belatedly checked on Go Jinyeong.

He also bowed his head to me and my companions who had stayed with them.

“Thank you for looking after our kids. We owe you a great debt… huh?”

The teacher, who was giving thanks and raising his head, paused.

“Aren’t you player Kim Ijin?”

At this location were an American pop star wearing sunglasses, a Saudi Arabian princess, and South Korea’s national basketball team player.

The teacher recognized Kim Ijin.

“That’s right.”

“Wow! Amazing! I’m a fan! I watched the game well… ah…!”

The teacher’s expression changed colorfully in an instant.

He was about to say he was a fan and request an autograph, but remembered the students and maintained his dignity.

‘Lee Jin did perform a lot during the Olympics.’

Kim Ijin nodded coolly.

She had become very famous for her dunk shots and gold medal, and her appearance was also quite striking.

Now that I looked, some of the students had also recognized Kim Ijin, but they seemed unable to show recognition because they were being scolded.

“If you’re the Korean medicine doctor with player Kim Ijin, could it be!”

“This is our Director Han Yewon.”

What, you know me too?

When Kim Ijin mentioned my name, he seemed to know.

Even if not quite a fan, if he watched the Olympic finals… it might have remained in his memory.

“Thank you so much for looking after our students! Have you already provided treatment as well?”

I shook my head.

It would be good to do it right away, but given the location, I ended it at giving him my business card.

It would be a bit much to lay him down on the amusement park floor and give him acupuncture.

“I just did a simple examination.”

At those words, the teacher quickly turned his head toward Go Jinyeong.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————