Chapter 45: IV Fluid (1).

*Clatter! Clatter!*

The carriage moved slowly but faster than a person could run, arriving once again at the medical college.

Though it was called a medical college, it was essentially just a hospital.

Not that it mattered.

There weren't any facilities here that you'd typically associate with a university.

"Alright, let's get down."

"Uh, okay."

"Is he still alive?"

Anyway, I jumped out of the carriage.

I added a comment to Joseph, who was asking unnecessary questions.

"Hey, I was watching. He's still alive."

"Oh, really? No... but..."

"The pulse is naturally weaker at the wrist."

"So that's why... you're touching that weird spot?"

Weird spot?

What the hell is this guy talking about?

I looked down at my hand and realized that, to someone who didn't know better, it might seem like I was touching an odd place.

In other words, my hand was on the patient's groin.

There was a reason for it.

"What's weird about it? It's all part of the human body."

"But... can you feel it better there?"

"Yeah, I can feel it well. That's..."

What I was saying was another matter entirely.

In the 21st century, it would be common knowledge that the femoral artery in the thigh is easier to feel than the radial artery near the wrist, but here, that wasn't the case.

"Uh... one of my hobbies is checking my pulse on different parts of my body. Yeah."

"Huh? You have such a weird hobby? Why didn't I know about it?"

"It's a bit awkward to do it in front of others."

"Ah."

I had to come up with an excuse, and the one I thought of was pretty flimsy.

No, it wasn't just flimsy—it was a bit strange too.

Because of that, both Joseph and Alfred subtly moved away from me.

As a result, the patient shook violently.

'He's a trauma patient... but thankfully, there's no chance of broken bones.'

Moving a patient like that so carelessly...

These guys really don't know the basics.

Even the medics only started shouting, "We have to save him!" after putting him on a stretcher and running...

"...We've come to the lecture hall, at least."

I stopped reminiscing.

I knew it was pointless—it would only make the reality feel more miserable.

Look at this.

Even though the ward isn't anything great, it's frustrating because we can't go in since we're not doctors.

The places we were allowed to enter without permission were the lecture hall, the reading room, and the anatomy lab.

Out of those, the anatomy lab was the closest to a ward in terms of facilities, but...

'Oh sh... That's not something you do to a living person.'

Putting this patient there would feel wrong.

The chances of him dying are too high—it would feel like we're preparing him for death.

Thankfully, neither Joseph nor Alfred are inherently evil, so they agreed to move him to the lecture hall.

"Uh, uh!"

"Those lunatics brought a corpse!"

The lecture hall wasn't empty.

Colin and his group were there.

And the "corpse" we brought—no, the patient—looked exactly like a corpse.

Covered in dirt, no shoes, hands tied...

Thankfully, the ties were loose, or else struggling would have been pointless.

"No, he's alive!"

"The Korean is using magic!"

Wow.

That bastard just said the thing I was most worried about.

"This guy, is he insane?"

"Ugh."

Thankfully, we had Joseph with us.

Colin wasn't exactly small, but compared to Joseph, he was just a kid.

Joseph covered his mouth, and Colin couldn't make a sound.

Meanwhile, Alfred spoke up.

"Those bastards. They might try to bury him again to avoid admitting they were wrong."

"Huh?"

Could they really do that?

The thought crossed my mind, and I nodded without realizing it.

"That could happen. So...?"

"We need to make him talk. A living person can speak."

"But... his blood pressure seems to be dropping again..."

"Blood pressure?"

"Ah, his pulse is getting weaker."

"Ah."

When exactly did the concept of blood pressure become fully understood?

A thought flashed through my mind, but it was too grim, so I shook my head.

- Franklin Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945.

Where did I read that?

Ah, right.

It was in Godjakga Myungwon's *Black-Haired U.S. General*, a ray of light during my gloomy hospital stay.

'He probably kept it historically accurate. So... blood pressure...'

He was the president, after all. Surely he had a medical check-up?

The problem was that the doctor was a quack.

Even when Roosevelt's blood pressure hit over 180, the doctor just said he was fine.

Roosevelt even complained about symptoms caused by high blood pressure, but the doctor dismissed it.

Symptoms caused by high blood pressure...

The so-called "silent killer" was anything but silent.

'Anyway, damn... So they don't have the concept of blood pressure?'

You might wonder, 'What does it mean to not have the concept of blood pressure?'

If you're not a medical professional or don't plan to become one, it might not matter.

But for a doctor, it's a huge problem.

It means they don't even have a basic understanding of circulation.

What's the principle of emergency care in modern medicine?

A, B, C.

A stands for Airway, B for Breathing, and C for Circulation.

"This person's condition...

It's probably because they drained his blood, right?"

"Huh? Drained his blood?"

So, if we start talking about giving blood or water now, it would look too suspicious.

That's why I approached it from the angle of bloodletting.

I don't know why these guys are so obsessed with draining blood, but I've heard that people can become anemic or even die from excessive bloodletting.

No, not just heard.

I'm looking at a dead person right now.

"Draining blood... can kill a person..."

"No, blood is life. Without it, you die."

"But this person had it drained for treatment."

"..."

Why are they so fixated on bloodletting?

It's all because of Hippocrates.

Considering the era he lived in, he was undoubtedly a genius far beyond my comprehension.

Even his descriptions of migraines are so accurate that we don't have much to add today.

But the theory of the four humors?

There's no defending that.

He explained everything as being caused by an excess or deficiency of blood, and they're still learning that, so they keep draining blood.

"But he collapsed... He's pale. Doesn't he look like someone who's lost too much blood?"

"Maybe it's because of a headache? There's still too much blood in his head, right?"

Oh ho.

Is this what murderous intent feels like?

I trembled as I looked at Alfred, but I realized it wouldn't do any good.

What else could I expect?

This man was born in an era of barbarism and hasn't been enlightened yet.

Barbarism.

It's not just Alfred—it's a word that applies to the entire era.

"Let's ask the patient first."

"What? We're the doctors. We know the most about diseases."

No, that's not true!

Ah, now I get it.

This is why adults don't listen to doctors and say they know their own bodies better.

It's because of guys like these, after going through an era of quacks.

"Sigh."

I took a deep breath and asked,

"Patient, are you feeling dizzy?"

"Uh...

Yes... too much..."

The patient answered in a barely audible voice.

He was barely holding onto consciousness.

Of course he was.

If he were fine after losing that much blood, he'd be a monster, not a human.

"Is your heart racing?"

"It's racing too much... I'm going crazy..."

To help the struggling patient, I turned to Alfred.

"This looks like anemia, doesn't it?"

"Anemia?"

"Yeah. You know, when people don't eat enough and suffer, they get like this. Doesn't it seem like a symptom caused by a deficiency?"

"Ah... a deficiency...? So was the treatment excessive?"

Treatment?!

Don't you dare say that so casually, you insolent fool.

"Yes. Dr. Zemel was too eager in his treatment."

"I see. So what do we do? How do we replenish it?"

"Since he's lacking blood..."

Even while thinking of other things, I could still speak like a true man.

Anyway, this was the crucial moment.

It was time to make a bold move.

Blood.

If he's lacking it...

Shouldn't we give him a blood transfusion?

Surprisingly, even in the 21st century, blood was still the best fluid for this.

At this point in time, it was even more obvious.

"We can't give him blood."

"Huh?"

But the response I got was unexpected.

We can't give him blood?

Of course, as a scientist, I quickly racked my brain.

If a blood transfusion wasn't possible, several reasons came to mind.

First, how would we store the blood?

In this era, that would be impossible.

Why?

Because it's not easy, you know.

"The Vatican banned it."

Of course, it wasn't for scientific reasons.

They just banned it.

"Huh...

Why?"

How dare you question the Vatican's decision, you insolent brat.

They could have you crucified for that.

But ever since "The Earth rotates," scientists' doubts have been somewhat accepted for a long time now.

Besides, Colin's rebellion had been quelled by Joseph.

Since the patient was speaking, they couldn't accuse us of stealing a corpse.

Anyway, in this relatively calm situation, I asked, and Alfred shrugged.

"I don't know. I heard a lot of people died back then? I don't know the details."

Someone who can admit they don't know—that's a senior for you.

Well, there's no reason to be ashamed.

No one would know, after all.

"So we can't give him blood, is that it?"

"Yeah. Something about a curse...

Anyway, no. I heard people die."

I know that's not true, but...

At this point, it's hard to argue.

So what should we give him instead?

What else?

We should at least give him water.

"Then... let's boil some water."

"Huh?"

"Water?"

Joseph, who had just quelled the rebellion, asked.

He looked completely confused.

Without an understanding of circulation, it was natural.

If he knew, he would have easily thought of replenishing the lost volume.

"Yeah. Since we can't give him blood, let's at least give him water. But we can't just give it to him like that."

"You mean boiling water?"

"No, no."

You lunatic.

What a creative torture method.

Boiling water in his veins?

Wow... Thank goodness the ancients' imagination was limited, or else they would have sent many to a painful end.

"We need to cool it down first."

"Then why boil it?"

"..."

"Yeah, Joseph's right. Why boil it?"

Joseph and Alfred looked at me with expressions that said, "Are you an idiot?"

I felt like my outfit was about to explode.

But I couldn't explain that water could contain bacteria or viruses, so...

"We need to match his body temperature, so we have to boil it to get it just right."

"Can't we just cool it down?"

I tried to persuade them, but it didn't work well.

It was a frustrating situation.

"F*** it, just boil it."

"Huh?"

Ah, I cursed.

"F***ing boil it, you idiot!"

"Uh, okay. Got it."

Oh.

It worked?