Chapter 15

Chapter 15

"No. I'll prescribe antibiotics, so make sure you take them properly."

The mother hesitated.

Gain met her eyes and gave her a gentle nod.

"Don't worry. I'll prescribe an antibiotic that's safe while breastfeeding. We've drained the pus, but there are still bacteria inside your milk ducts. We need to wipe them out completely before they build another fortress in there. That's how you'll keep producing clean, healthy milk."

"!"

"Now that the ducts are open again, your baby should be able to latch and feed properly. At home, nurse frequently. If you feel blocked again, use a warm towel as a compress."

The mother looked from Gain to her baby.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much, Director."

She wiped her tears and bowed repeatedly.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"Now, should we look at what caused this in the first place?"

"The cause?"

The mother widened her red, wet eyes.

"We need to fix the underlying reason. Let's look at why you developed mastitis."

Gain handed Minseo a warm towel for her tears.

"Your baby was latching too shallowly and injured your nipple. Bacteria entered through that wound. You produce a lot of milk, but because the baby couldn't latch deeply enough to drain the breast, the milk stayed trapped inside and became infected."

Gain asked Eunjae to bring over a brown cushion normally used for the procedure table.

She temporarily placed it across Minseo's lap as a breastfeeding pillow.

Then she lifted the peacefully sleeping baby from the bassinet.

"What's your baby's name?"

"The baby's name is..."

Before Minseo could answer, Gain reached out.

She gently rubbed the baby's back through the swaddle.

The baby's eyes suddenly opened.

Two unfocused newborn eyes slowly looked around.

"Perfect timing. The baby woke up for us."

Gain carefully placed the baby into the mother's arms.

"What? The baby didn't even cry while waking up? Usually there's crying every time."

Gain gently touched the mother's stiff shoulders and helped her relax.

"The baby's stomach and your stomach need to be fully against each other. No, don't bend your shoulders toward the baby. You stay in the most comfortable position. We'll bring the baby up to you and support them with the cushion."

"Ah."

"Hehe..."

"Support the underside of your breast with your hand in a C-shape. When the baby opens wide, don't just put the nipple in. We want most of the areola deep inside the baby's mouth."

Following Gain's careful guidance, Minseo adjusted both her posture and the baby's angle.

"Good. Do you think you can try it yourself now?"

"I-I'll try."

Gain began writing the chart while continuing her explanation.

"I'll prescribe seven days of antibiotics. They're safe during breastfeeding, so don't worry. But you must finish all of them. If you stop halfway through, you'll just help the bacteria develop resistance. Take them on schedule until they're gone."

Minseo nodded with fierce determination.

"I'll finish every pill even if it kills me."

Gain chuckled.

"It won't kill you. Come back in seven days so I can check your progress. We'll do another ultrasound, and if the inflammation is completely gone, treatment will be finished."

To make sure she understood the warning signs, Gain briefly held Minseo's hand.

"If your breast becomes red and swollen again or you develop a fever before then, don't wait for the appointment. Come straight back to the clinic. Understood?"

Gain placed one hand gently on Minseo's shoulder and smiled warmly.

"Oh, and I'll show you how to help the baby sleep."

Gain softly stroked the baby's forehead with one finger.

Then she gently rubbed between the eyebrows.

The baby's breathing calmed.

Soon the eyes slowly closed.

"Gently stroke the forehead and between the eyebrows like this. It helps babies relax. Try it."

The mother carefully ran a finger over the baby's forehead.

The baby peacefully closed their eyes.

"It really works!"

Gain looked at her.

"I hope your baby sleeps well. And you need to stay strong too, Mom."

"Thank you. Thank you so much!"

The mother repeated her thanks again and again as she left.

By the time Gain finished treating her first patient, it was almost three in the afternoon.

She'd spent far too long on a single patient.

But the time had been necessary.

Tsk.

It was just an infection. Recommending breast excision instead of taking the time to drain it... Who does something so Oh Seongmin-like?

Gain shook her head.

She didn't know the breast surgeon the patient had mentioned.

Still, recommending an irreversible partial breast resection without properly evaluating the situation had been far too careless.

"Please send in the next patient."

"Ah, Director... there isn't a next patient."

"..."

A short silence followed.

Choi Yuri looked almost apologetic about the fact that there were no patients waiting.

Gain smiled.

"That's fine."

Gain was confident.

She believed patients would start coming soon.

"You two didn't get lunch because of me. I'll stay here alone. Why don't you both go eat?"

"Director, you should go eat with the front-desk employee. Too much splashed everywhere. We can't accept another patient until I clean this."

Eunjae spoke more stiffly than usual.

But her hands were terrifyingly fast.

The doctor really did look like a saint just now.

In truth, Eunjae's thoughts were in complete chaos.

The director had drained an abscess with her bare hands without even wearing sterile gloves.

She had applied pressure that should have damaged the tissue.

Yet the tissue was perfectly healthy.

Normally, she should've used ultrasound first to locate the pus, made an incision, and drained it.

Eunjae couldn't understand what she'd witnessed at all.

Still, she couldn't interrogate her director on their first day by demanding an explanation.

So instead, Jo Eunjae poured all her confused emotions into disinfecting the room.

Pssshhh.

The sharp sound of disinfectant spraying filled the examination room.

Eunjae cleaned furiously as though she wouldn't tolerate a single drop of pus on the floor or even one molecule of odor floating in the air.

Then Yuri, who had finished taking the patient's payment at the desk, stuck her head into the room.

"Director! The woman who just left grabbed my hand while paying and cried the entire time. She said you saved her breast."

Choi Yuri continued excitedly.

"We need to tell everyone in the neighborhood that an amazing doctor like you has opened a clinic here!"

Yuri grinned.

"I peeked through the glass while you were teaching her how to breastfeed. Wow... Director, what are you exactly? You put babies to sleep like some kind of wizard, and why do you talk so kindly? I think I'm becoming your fan."

As Yuri happily chattered away, Eunjae frowned while scrubbing the floor.

Then she immediately cleaned the spot where Yuri's saliva had landed while talking.

"Director! I don't think we can really take a normal lunch break today. I'll go buy three servings of gimbap. Why don't we take turns eating?"

"Sounds good."

After Yuri left, the examination room became quiet again.

"Still... you were impressive, Doctor."

Jo Eunjae spoke so quietly that it was almost inaudible.

But Gain's hearing was excellent.

Jo Eunjae isn't bad.

It was good that she cared so much about sterilization and disinfection.

But those things couldn't come before the patient.

Fortunately, Eunjae seemed to understand that.

No more patients came after Han Minseo that day.

The two employees carefully watched Gain's mood before leaving work.

Gain remained relaxed.

After they left, she sat down and tried sensing her divine power again.

Huh?

I used some, but there's actually more than before...?

That doesn't make sense.

Gain closed her eyes and estimated the level of the spring inside her.

Suppose that when she woke up this morning, there had been half a soy-sauce dish's worth.

No.

Maybe half a ketchup-bottle cap.

She'd used about half of that amount on Han Minseo's breast.

So she should now have only half of that half remaining.

But the spring was fuller than it had been this morning.

Until now, the rule had seemed simple.

Use divine power and it decreased.

It didn't recover on its own.

Strange.

It was like looking at an accounting ledger that only contained expenses and suddenly discovering a deposit larger than the amount spent.

There's no name attached to the deposit.

The Goddess isn't even in this world.

So who's sending it?

She remembered the mysterious warmth that had appeared in the operating room.

It had been the same then.

The spring had been completely dry.

Then, without warning and without any explanation, power appeared.

Questions continued rising inside her.

That night.

The housekeeper had gone home.

Her husband was away on an overseas business trip.

The living room was empty.

But housewife Han Minseo was no longer in pain.

She was no longer scared or anxious either.

I'm so glad I went to Hyundai OB-GYN Clinic today.

At first, she'd been suspicious.

A clinic that had opened today.

A young, beautiful female doctor.

She'd wondered whether she'd made a mistake by going there.

But from beginning to end, she couldn't think of a single thing she disliked.

The doctor had been kind and skilled.

The receptionist had been cheerful.

And because of what the doctor taught her, feeding Haneul had become much easier.

After filling their stomach with milk, Haneul was now sleeping in the bassinet like a little angel.

Minseo sat at the dining table and opened her laptop.

The blue homepage of the Daum portal appeared.

The same screen that had driven her into despair earlier that day.

Minseo clicked the Pregnancy / Childbirth / Childcare board in her local parenting café.

Her fingers began moving firmly over the keyboard.

[REAL REVIEW] I Ran Away After a University Hospital Told Me to Remove Part of My Breast, and Then I Found a Miracle

Hello. I'm 'PrettyMom,' the person who posted earlier today crying about needing surgery because of a mastitis abscess.

Everyone in the comments told me to go to a university hospital, and I did. A breast-surgery professor even told me I needed breast-removal surgery. They said I obviously had to stop breastfeeding too. I was walking through the market crying like a crazy woman while looking at Haneul's face.

Then I saw the sign for a tiny new clinic that had just opened.

I went in because I was desperate enough to grab at anything.

Everyone...

I saw the light today.

The director looked at my breast and said it didn't need to be removed. Then she personally squeezed out all the pus and rotten milk right there with her own hands!!

The doctor herself!!

It hurt a lot, but once the blockage suddenly opened, I finally felt alive again. She even showed me on ultrasound that the whole pus pocket was empty.

And here's the really unbelievable part.

My Haneul was screaming because the baby couldn't feed properly. The director just stroked the baby's forehead once, and Haneul fell asleep in less than a minute.

I seriously thought she was using magic.

I'm home now and breastfeeding Haneul again. She completely fixed my breastfeeding posture, so it doesn't hurt at all anymore.

A surgery that would've cost me several million won was solved for a few tens of thousands.

The clinic is on the second floor inside the traditional market alley.

Moms suffering from mastitis, before you let a university hospital cut open healthy flesh, please go here first.

I swear I'll consider this director my lifelong savior.

The moment she pressed Enter, a small ripple spread across the quiet forum.

At first, the view count rose hesitantly.

One.

Two.

Then ten.

Fifty.

One hundred.

The number began climbing rapidly.

Apparently, plenty of mothers were awake at this hour because they couldn't sleep while caring for their children.

"Huh..."

The post was automatically pushed onto the site's Best Posts list almost immediately.

None of Minseo's previous posts had ever received this kind of attention.

With her heart pounding, she refreshed the page and checked the comments.

"What is this?!"

The reactions were completely different from what Minseo had expected.