Chapter 37: Blind Test (7) (2/2)
“I will inform you of my decision once I’ve gone in and checked on the patient’s condition. I think there will be a positive answer.”
“Please. And thank you for saving our documentary. Once our program director heard the surgery was a big success, he gave us a slot in the golden time period. 9 PM on New Year’s. We’ll compete with other companies’ signboard, the Idol Olympics.”
“Oh, good for you.”
The PD gave a deep bow on behalf of the broadcasting team. Prof. Lee smiled and made a gesture with his hands as if to send all the honor to Dowook.
When they opened the door, they saw Jeong Woo-seok's wife, daughter, and son-in- law waiting in the parlor.
After briefly greeting the patient's family, Prof. Lee went into the inner room where Jeong Woo-seok lay.
“Welcome, Prof. Lee. Dr. Park as well.”
Sensing them, Jeong Woo-seok greeted them first with a bright voice.
“Were you able to sleep well?”
“I still feel my scalp stinging so I kept waking in the middle but the nurses were very nice and took good care of me. If my daughter were half as nice, her husband’s secret trips to go drinking would reduce.”
At Jeong Woo-seok’s joke, his son-in-law, who was in the parlor, suddenly choked and started coughing. Seeing him shake his head while looking at his wife seemed desperate somehow.
As Prof. Lee approached the patient while looking at the brain waves and electrocardiogram shown on the monitor, Dowook focused on the keyboard installed at the bedside.
Usually, patients who’d had their heads opened, had no energy. The wound hadn’t closed yet and they had to get all their energy from just the glucose drip.
The fact he looked for a piano the moment he woke up was evidence of his strong will to recover.
‘He’s almost 60 years old, but still so passionate. I think we can set a shorter recovery period.’
Prof. Lee occasionally asked for Dowook’s opinion as he conducted a thorough manual examination Dowook had also used on Lim So Yool.
“There’s a bit of stiffness in the neck. Is it because of inflammation?”
“I think it’s because the surgery was prolonged and the meninges were severely stimulated. Let’s check again in the evening, if the stiffness is the same, then we can try medication.”
“The pain perception on the right palm is weaker than the left.”
“It should be the sensory dissociation. Since we ablated quite a few nerve bundles. We should check on it every 4 hours.”
After finishing the detailed physical examination that took about 20 minutes, the most important test for today, the visual acuity test, started.
Prof. Lee shone a light into the right pupil.
“There’s absolutely no movement on this side.”
When he shone a light in the problematic left pupil, Jeong Woo-seok’s fingers flinched.
“Is it uncomfortable?”
“No. Light or dark, that’s the only thing I can feel, but it feels like the world as I know it has entirely changed. How music would sound. I’m nervous but overly excited as well.”
At Jeong Woo-seok’s words, Prof. Lee turned to look at the keyboard Dowook saw.
“I heard another pianist will come to play for you later. Although you seem better than expected, I can not allow you to listen to several pieces for a long time. Please keep the stimulation to your auditory nerves to less than 10 minutes.”
“Just 10 minutes. Then Chopin sounds fitting. I’ll request for Fantaisie-Impromptu and Nocturne No. 1.”
“Dr. Park, can you check that thing’s volume? So the patient’s head won’t ring.”
At the request from Prof. Lee, who continued his examination, Dowook approached the keyboard.
Although there were several confusing buttons aside from the keys, the power button and volume control symbols were shown by the universal signs, making them easy to find.
Turning it on, he lowered the volume as much as possible and pressed a key. Almost no sound could be heard, so he increased the volume to 30% and pressed a key.
Ting~
In the middle of a conversation with Prof. Lee, Jeong Woo-seok’s ears pricked up.
At that moment, Dowook perceived a sensation that fiercely penetrated his fingers. It aroused a strong urge to play the keyboard.
‘Oh, oh….’
He placed his hands on the keys as if possessed by something.
He pressed two low notes with his left hand and his right hand gently drew a melody at the same time causing Prof. Lee to stop talking and turn in his direction.
The notes that seemed to bounce out of the keys and went along with each other, gave Dowook great pleasure.
Forgetting the embarrassment of causing an incident, he continued to play the song he didn’t know the title of.
Prof. Lee opened his mouth.
“This song is the one Mr. Jeong sung during breaktime yesterday….”
“Correct, that song. Ballad for Adrinne. Dr. Park seems to play the piano. Pretending not to know, he was pretty mischievous.”
“He was probably trying not to speak of anything to stimulate the patient during an awake surgery. If he started talking about the piano, he might have been worried about causing you excitement.”
In the middle of the calm song, he swept the entire keyboard to create an amazing continuous harmony at the climax.
Even Prof. Lee, who didn’t know a lot about classical music couldn’t help from the exclamation of admiration.
“Mr. Jeong, Dr. Park is playing very well, isn’t he?”
“Very. His music has a fresh tremble to it. Ha, I want to play the piano.”
“Please bear with it.”
Prof. Lee couldn’t take his eyes off Dowook’s masterful playing for a moment.
He had only thought of him as a talented neurosurgeon, now that he looked again, he was someone talented in many areas. The biggest mystery was how such a genius was not found until now.
As the song was about to finish after two minutes of playing, Jeong Woo-seok asked in a low voice.
“Is this also included in the 10 minutes, professor?”
“That….”
“It would be great if there was an encore in a doctor’s diagnosis like at a concert.”
In a corner of the 20th floor’s lounge, the sound director, who was checking on the microphones installed in Jeong Woo-seok’s room, heard the sound of the piano playing and quickly stood up.
“Director Lee! Is the musician from the city band already here? It’s not possible right now. The mix setting isn’t ready yet.”
“What are you talking about? The stationary cameras aren’t installed yet.”
Seeing Lee Chang Yong talking to the musicians who had just arrived, the sound director became confused.
“That…. Try to listen.”
The sound director played the sound he was listening through the headphones on the speaker. Lee Chang Yong’s eyes widened.
“This is playing real-time. What’s this?”
Sung Tae-jin, the head of the city symphony orchestra who came for a visit, turned his head at the sudden sound of the piano.
“Adrienne? It has a nice feel to it. Is Mr. Jeong the one playing? What do you think, concertmaster?”
“The rhythm is similar. But didn’t they say he couldn’t move at all?”
“Oh, right. Who is it? Student? If they can resemble Mr. Jeong’s emotions, I definitely have to cast him at the end-of-year performance.”
Seeing the people from the orchestra moving toward the reception desk, Lee Chang Yong felt pressed for time.
“Camera team! Hurry up and install the cameras inside! We have to film sudden situations like this to create a good overall picture!”