Dark-Haired British Doctor Chapter 62

Episode 62: Fantasy Pain [3]

“100 percent? What does that mean? Is that a Korean word?”

"ah……."

Were you too embarrassed?

I guess so.

I see you said something strange.

But isn't that an acceptable situation?

oh my god…….

Every time someone is in pain, they keep cutting off their arm, and they do it without anesthesia or disinfection, so that in the end, the person can no longer say that he is in pain.

And what's worse, you're insisting that other people be cut too.

“Yes, that’s right. It’s absolutely right, that’s what it means.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so unconditionally either… … but I think there’s some possibility. I’d like to call him separately and ask him.”

“Will you give me a proper answer?”

That patient must have been a really strong person originally.

Even though I had absolutely no prior information, I was confident.

If not, would I still be alive today?

He survived even though they cut off his arm four times without even disinfecting it.

He may have been stronger than Dr. Liston.

But it has been broken for a long time now.

Can I forget those eyes?

It didn't seem possible.

“I don’t know. But I have to try.”

“How? I don’t even know where you live.”

“I’ll take care of the doctor. In the meantime, try to get the patient out. Just say you’re lost.”

“Processing… … huh?”

If someone else had said it, I would have thought of a more humane way, but this guy is Liston.

By the way, didn't you just cut off your leg?

No, I cut it.

I saw it earlier.

So you are a doctor… …?

“What on earth are you thinking? I am a believer who follows law and morality.”

“Oh, yes yes.”

“I’ll try to trick you by saying I have something else to ask you, so you can take the patient away.”

“Yes, brother.”

"okay."

Fortunately, Liston had been through this misunderstanding more than once or twice, and he was able to deftly resolve it with words.

But when I said 'Yes, bro', I felt like I was about to jump into some serious bad behavior.

Anyway, Liston approached the doctor as he had predicted.

“Open.”

“Oh, yes.”

The opponent was a man of good will who traveled the ocean.

He was a very experienced sailor, so he must have experienced many dangerous things.

I heard that pirates appear in the sea during this time.

I heard that even if you land, if it's not a city, the natives can turn into bandits at any time.

The problem was that the opposite was also quite possible.

So, depending on the situation, merchant ship sailors could become pirates or thieves.

Seon-ui said earlier that he had 10 years of experience, so he was a really good gangster, but it was all useless.

“I have something to tell you, so follow me.”

“Uh… … yes.”

Liston's head was positioned one or two heads higher than the others.

His shoulders were twice as big, and above all, his upper arm muscles, trained through many years of swordsmanship, were so strong that they would scare anyone.

In the end, Seon-ui was dragged away without even being able to ask what was going on.

Liston signaled to me as he draped his arm over my shoulder and dragged me without being able to see left or right, like a Moran Market thug.

'good.'

Now it's my turn to step up.

Since the professor did the difficult part, it was natural for me to do this part.

Besides, this patient is poor… … .

“Whoa, shit.”

As I was thinking about that, the patient who was left alone made a face.

It was so scary.

Indeed, the sailor… … .

A man who endured four amputations.

“Joseph, Alfred. Let’s go together.”

“Where?”

“It’s for the advancement of medicine.”

“Then you can go as much as you want.”

Frightened, I mobilized my subordinates to surround the patient.

Until then, the patient was just swearing.

It was while looking at my own hand, that is, my severed hand.

To be exact, it was empty space, but it really felt like I could see something.

As expected… … it seemed like the treatment wasn’t working.

“Excuse me, patient.”

“Eek.”

The person who looked so strong trembled as soon as I spoke to him.

It was while pulling a hand that wasn't there.

As expected, he was a poor person.

How much would it have to be cut to be like that?

“Come here for a moment.”

“Oh, no!”

That was a bit too much.

He suddenly started throwing a tantrum. If I had come alone, there would have been chaos.

Despite his overall weakened state, it took Joseph, Alfred, and myself all rushing to subdue him.

'I guess I can't sleep… … .'

Anyway, looking closely, the patient's condition was even worse.

Even though he couldn't shave his beard properly because his right hand was cut off, the smell of alcohol emanating from his beard and the dark circles under his eyes were a great help in understanding this patient's overall condition.

'Well… … it could be if there's pain. Besides… … .'

Is pain the only problem?

The surgical procedure itself may have been problematic.

Trauma.

People of this era deny it all, but mental shock can easily eat away at a person.

Of course, some traumas can be overcome and growth can be achieved in the process, but well… … .

Shouldn't that be done to some extent?

Who the hell cuts off an arm so many times without anesthesia that they think they'll get over it?

“Where, no! No! Save me!”

Anyway, the three of us dragged the struggling patient inside.

Hospitals are places where there are usually a lot of people, and in this day and age, even without restrictions on visiting guardians, they were incredibly crowded.

In other words, there were countless people who witnessed patients crying out for help, but not a single person offered a helping hand.

It wasn't because the times were ruined.

"no!"

“Eww!”

“Hey, this crazy guy! Burn your head?”

“It hurts! It hurts!”

This is what hospitals were like at the time.

That's because I didn't say anything… … There were times when the screams in the hallway were so loud that it was difficult to carry on a conversation.

It wasn't like a pediatrician where the kids were crying.

Honestly, at the neighborhood pediatrician's office, the most kids who cry are getting shots or having something stuck in their nose, right?

Here, people were supported by a soldering iron.

Less loud.

Because it was a place where it was confusing whether it was medical practice or torture, we were able to get the patient out without much trouble even though he was causing a fuss.

The place they stole from was Liston's lab.

It could be considered a safer place than any other place.

It was also because there were few people who wanted to meet Liston.

“Eww!”

I thought it was because the screams were ringing out like this.

In the lab, Liston performs surgery for research… … .

That's why there were times when I tortured people.

These days, anesthetics have been developed, and people are more serious about the advancement of surgery, so it is said that the number has decreased somewhat.

“Oh my, it looks like you’re doing something again today.”

“Tomorrow… … I think it would be better to come tomorrow.”

Look at it now.

They all come and go, right?

No one found this scream suspicious.

It is this important how a person lives on a daily basis.

“I don’t mean to hurt you. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

That doesn't mean it wasn't noisy though.

If a child cries on purpose, you feel like you might go deaf, but what if a fully grown adult is screaming?

The space was not that big to begin with, and the ceiling was unnecessarily high, so the sound resonated even louder.

Although I don't know, if you do a hearing test on people in hospitals, it seems like the prevalence of hearing loss would be higher than that of the general population.

In this day and age, I want to be healthy and live a long life, so I had to protect my ears first.

Hearing loss causes dementia, but there's no way hearing aids would be made by then.

“Eww!”

“Quiet, quiet. I’m just going to ask you something.”

“That, that’s a lie! That’s… … What is that!”

So I tried to make him quiet, but it wasn't easy.

When I looked into it, I saw that there were more than one or two knives hanging in the patient's line of sight.

'Ah… … That's right. My older brother. He has a hobby of collecting knives.'

To be precise, that knife was like Liston's history.

No matter how physically gifted and skilled you may be, would you have been good at amputation from the start?

It is true that the sword itself has evolved from the beginning.

As I was cutting it, I felt something was uncomfortable so I changed it.

Change again.

That's how the current Liston knife was born, and the ones hanging there were the ones used before.

Since I know the whole story, I can just say that it was like that, but to someone who didn't know, it was just a horrible sight.

“That’s just a decoration.”

“Don't lie!

Yeah, there might be some double entendres.

You can come out.

but…….

Less loud.

What if Dr. Liston came back?

“Oh, that good person isn’t looking for a patient?”

“I said I didn’t know anything, so I just went?”

It seems that it was difficult to say whether it was good intentions or bad intentions.

Well, it's a face that doesn't look awkward even if you say it was taken over in a back alley in London, so what can you do?

Shiver shiver.

It seemed that it wasn't only Seon-in who was scared.

“Uh… … patient?”

“Why are you like this? What did you hit?”

“Oh, no?”

The patient also trembled as soon as he encountered Liston.

Isn't that person the one who best matches the smell of blood and knives that fills this room?

It had to be that way.

“Hey.”

“Yes, yes. Please… … please save me.”

“No, I’m a doctor.”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

It would be a very unfair thing to say that doctors kill people, but at this time, that wasn't the case.

Honestly, aren't there many people who have killed as many people as doctors?

Unless you're a war hero… … .

Or maybe wanted pirates.

“I really came here to ask you something.”

“Huh… … Is it true?”

“Yes, it’s true. Don’t worry, I won’t use a knife.”

“Phew… … .”

Anyway, after a few more minutes of persuasion, the patient sat down with a threatened look on his face.

He looked really anxious because he was surrounded by four doctors.

With this many doctors, they could tie up the patient and cut off his arm even if he refused.

“That arm.”

"uh……."

“Stop shaking already. I really didn’t cut it. Anyway, did it get better after cutting it like that?”

Liston asked the anxious patient:

Then the patient started to hiccup.

He looked nervous.

That was understandable.

Every time you say you're sick, you get cut off.

“You have to tell the truth. If this works, then soon all the amputees in London will be getting more amputations.”

That's when I stepped forward.

I don't know if this will help.

But I had to step forward.

Why?

I know.

That phantom pain is not caused by nerve compression.

At this point, I'm the only one who knows that it's caused by an illusion in the head.

I didn't mean to say something grandiose like a sense of responsibility for the times.

However, my modest conscience was urging me.

"that……."

“If the theory of nerve compression is true, the pain should have gone away for a while when it was cut off. But I don’t think that happened. I could have seen it wrong, but… … The patient is unconsciously looking at his nonexistent hand.”

“It… never… never got better. It still hurts. Yes, it hurts.”

In response to my words, the patient spat out his words as if he were making a confession.

There were tears too.