The Physician of Traditional Medicine Returns from Murim

“That’s a charging foul!” In-sung shouted abruptly.

Though I’m not well-versed in the rules, anyone could see that such a collision must be a violation, right?

As In-sung predicted, the foul was acknowledged, and our team gained possession.

Our number 1 sprang to her feet, grabbed the ball, and threw it from outside the court.

“Huh?”

But her throwing posture seemed off somehow.

“…I think she might have injured her wrist or elbow.”

Come to think of it, didn’t she brace herself with her hand when she fell earlier?

“What?”

I had been keenly observing number 1’s eye movements and hand gestures, fascinated by how she controlled the game, and her wrist was trembling in a way I hadn’t seen before.

I had a bad feeling about this.

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At first, I was the only one who noticed, but it wasn’t long before the whistle blew.

The moment number 1 failed to catch Kim Yijin’s pass and lost the ball, Coach Kang Cheolkyu stood up abruptly, as if he had sensed something.

“I hope she’s alright.”

He immediately substituted number 1 with another player.

“Oh well~ Even without Ri-ra, Yijin is super strong!”

Min Ju-yeon grinned broadly and gave a thumbs up.

No… it’s not about winning or losing, but about that girl’s wrist.

Was it badly twisted? I hope there’s no fracture.

I could see Kang Cheolkyu applying ice to number 1’s wrist, and the game somehow continued.

“Go, go~ Kim Yijin~!”

Kim Yijin was still performing excellently.

There was no disputing that.

However, with number 1 out and three players marking Kim Yijin, she was receiving less than half the passes she had before.

The rest of our players seemed to be generally weaker than their opponents.

The tide had turned.

Another timeout for our team.

The coach and trainer lined up the players and gave them a lengthy speech.

The players listened obediently, but.

Kim Yijin suddenly looked up.

Our eyes met.

She was looking directly at me.

Unlike her confidence before the game started, she now seemed to have something urgent she wanted to say.

◆◇◆◇◆

Despite scoring an overwhelming number of points in the first quarter, they were caught up tremendously during the second quarter.

The atmosphere during Jungun High’s second timeout was utterly gloomy.

“I’m sorry, Captain. If only I hadn’t shown off. No, if only I hadn’t used my hand to brace myself…”

“It’s not your fault. It was their foul.”

No one thought it was Chae Ri-ra’s fault.

Her choice to dribble instead of pass at that moment was quite unexpected and could have led to scoring.

And as for her wrist… it’s not uncommon to injure a hand while trying to avoid an ankle injury when falling.

Kang Cheolkyu didn’t reprimand Chae Ri-ra at all. What would be the point of saying meaningless things like “You should be more careful”?

“That Myung Seon-ju, did she do it on purpose?”

But the other grumbling players were different.

Bang!

Kang Cheolkyu slammed the bench.

With one person out, the other players were making too many mistakes.

Was it because the strategy was overly centered on Kim Yijin and Chae Ri-ra?

Despite having plans considering potential injuries or Chae Ri-ra’s fatigue, they were completely unable to gain momentum.

“Yeon-woo, mark their number 3 properly. Do you know how many times you’ve lost her? Hee-min, don’t just pass to Yijin unconditionally, look at the whole game! This is when the team needs to come together!”

The coach gave instructions, pointing out the shortcomings of each player, including those on the bench.

But.

Kim Yijin’s judgment was different.

“We can’t win that way.”

Come together and it’ll work? No.

Setting aside the fact that they had underestimated Hwayoung High, it was impossible for the others to come together without Chae Ri-ra.

While Hwayoung High was intensely researching and blocking Kim Yijin, the other players who had only been supporting Kim Yijin and Chae Ri-ra were no match for Hwayoung High.

“What are you trying to say?”

Coach Kang Cheolkyu asked menacingly.

Despite the blatantly disrespectful remark, he listened to Kim Yijin’s opinion seriously.

It would be good to instill some mental discipline as he said, but it didn’t seem likely that her teammates would snap out of it in just a few minutes.

“Please put Ri-ra back in for the second half.”

Kim Yijin stated the only way she thought they could win the game.

“Are you asking me to make a choice that could potentially end Ri-ra’s athletic career just to win this game?”

“I’m fine! It doesn’t hurt that much. This kind of sprain happens all the time. I just suddenly lost strength earlier…”

“That’s the problem! Yijin, you also said you were fine and ended up suffering for months!”

Kang Cheolkyu burst out angrily, but Kim Yijin looked up at the spectator stands.

“Dr. Han Yeowon is in the audience. With the remaining 2 minutes and 15-minute halftime, she can treat it.”

The head coach and assistant coach also looked up in the same direction as Kim Yijin.

Han Yeowon was looking down, her face eager to rush down at any moment.

“…Timeout’s over. Get back in for now.”

Coach Kang Cheolkyu quickly persuaded the head coach.

Then he ran up to the spectator stands.

◆◇◆◇◆

Just before halftime.

I hurriedly descended from the spectator stands following Kang Cheolkyu and was led to the players’ waiting room.

As expected, the patient was Chae Ri-ra, the player wearing number 1.

“This is the Korean medicine doctor who treated Yijin’s knee.”

“Hello, ma’am!”

She, who had been anxiously massaging her wrist, jumped to her feet as soon as she heard Kang Cheolkyu’s introduction.

It was indeed a greeting befitting an athlete.

“Could you take a quick look at this child’s wrist? Normally, we should take her to the clinic after the game, but…”

“Please, I beg you. I really want to play in the second half.”

“Ri-ra and Yijin earnestly requested it, so I brought you here. Please check if she’s in a condition to be sent back in.”

I was, of course, willing to accept their request.

It wasn’t particularly difficult to determine if she could play.

“Visually, there’s no swelling or bruising. Could you move your wrist back and forth?”

“It’s fine.”

Chae Ri-ra performed flexion, extension, and rotation movements with her wrist, but there was no abnormality in her range of motion. The pain she reported was similarly unremarkable.

“I’m going to press now. Let me know if there’s any pain.”

I palpated the areas of Yanggyehyeol, Yangji, and Yanggok, where the tendons of the extensor carpi radialis longus, extensor digitorum, and extensor digiti minimi pass through the wrist, respectively.

“A little? Hmm. That spot feels fine.”

“You have to tell the truth for proper treatment!”

“It really doesn’t hurt.”

Kang Cheolkyu shouted anxiously, but it felt fine to my touch as well.

I also checked the radius and ulna, and palpated the inner wrist in the same way, but no major issues were found. At most, the extensor carpi radialis longus tendon was slightly stretched.

“The wrist sprain isn’t severe. In that case, there’s a possibility that a nerve in the elbow or neck might be compressed.”

I checked around the Sohae and Gokji points near the medial and lateral epicondyles of Chae Ri-ra’s elbow, and the radial and ulnar heads.

“Ah.”

This time, I noticed the problem without even having to ask Chae Ri-ra about tender points.

“Doctor, surely not…”

The bone was slightly misaligned at the joint surface.

Chae Ri-ra also noticed that the sensation was different from usual when I pressed on her elbow.

She turned pale, looking at me as if begging me to say it wasn’t true.

As I extended her arm fully to confirm,

There was a clicking sound from the joint.

“It’s a subluxation of the radial head. It seems there’s damage to the annular ligament. This kind of impact can occur when falling with the arm extended.”

“Dislocation? Ah, then…”

“I suppose she’ll have to sit out the second half? Will she need to miss all the upcoming sports festivals as well?”

Chae Ri-ra covered her face with her palms, too afraid to hear the answer.

Kang Cheolkyu urgently asked me on her behalf.

How should I respond?

Originally, without a doubt, resting would be best.

‘But Yijin.’

She looked at me so desperately.

Kim Yijin had been talking about how crucial the sports festival was since her knee treatment months ago.

Chae Ri-ra, being just a year younger, would likely feel just as desperate.

I couldn’t bring myself to give her a textbook answer.

“Do you really want to play?”

Chae Ri-ra bit her lip hard and nodded at my question.

“I have to. I have to go in. I’ve been waiting for today all year. If not today, Yijin will graduate and…”

“I’ll adjust it for you. Play with proper taping and try to minimize impact as you finish the game.”

Without another word, I embraced Chae Ri-ra’s arm.

There was no need to persuade her about various treatments like a regular patient, and we didn’t have time for that anyway.

“Can you adjust it right away?”

“Yes.”

I supported Chae Ri-ra’s elbow with my left hand, lightly pressing the radial head with my thumb.

And with my right hand, I gently pulled her forearm…

While simultaneously applying external rotation and sharply flexing it.

Click!

“…!”

Chae Ri-ra immediately felt her elbow return to its proper position. Kang Cheolkyu also heard the clicking sound.

They both stared at me, blinking in bewilderment.

“We don’t have much time, so I’ll explain while I disinfect.”

I disinfected her elbow, wrist, and neck with the alcohol swabs I always carry in my bag.

“Does it feel okay when I press here?”

“Yes!”

“Whew. Fortunately, it seems like the blood vessels and nerves were just compressed without damage. I’ll apply acupuncture right away.”

It was faster to treat everything than to palpate and identify problem areas one by one.

I bombarded acupuncture points at all potentially damaged musculotendinous attachments and loosened the muscle bellies.

“I’ve put the annular ligament and radial head subluxation back in place, but you need to be careful considering there’s still some damage. I can eliminate the pain, but the ligaments and tendons aren’t 100% recovered, so come for treatment every day starting Monday.”

“Yes, yes!”

“Halftime ends at 48 minutes, right? I’ll try to reduce the inflammation response as much as possible and promote healing until then.”

Pabababat!

I inserted needles as if dotting with a pen.

“Your ankle is shocked too.”

After such a big fall and an elbow subluxation, it was unlikely that other parts of her body would be unaffected. Surely when the tension releases and morning comes, she’ll complain of pain in her shoulders and back too.

After treating her wrist and elbow, I loosened the stiff areas in her neck and then held her hand.

“Thank you, thank you.”

Chae Ri-ra bowed her head, not knowing exactly what I was doing.

Given her athletic background, perhaps like Kim Yijin, her qi sensitivity was keen enough to feel the energy being infused?

In those fleeting moments, ligament recovery that would normally take weeks occurred.

“Doctor!”

Just before halftime ended, Kim Yijin burst into the waiting room.

“You should be sitting on the bench recovering your stamina! What are you doing here?”

“I’m not tired at all.”

Though Kang Cheolkyu scolded her, Kim Yijin paid no heed.

She spoke with eyes several times more earnest than when she had asked about her own treatment.

“Is Ri-ra okay? Can she play? I, I…”

I smiled gently at her.

“I’ve already treated her.”

47 minutes.

One minute left until the end of halftime.

I removed the inserted needles as quickly as I had placed them.

The retention time was a bit short, but it couldn’t be helped.

“How does it feel?”

“It’s completely fine. Just like before I fell!”

“Still, you need to be careful.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Kang Cheolkyu wrapped Chae Ri-ra’s arm with tape.

From now on, it was up to the players to demonstrate their skills once again.

I finished my duty as a doctor and returned to the spectator stands.

The third quarter began.