13 Collapsed Lung

"Min,"

There was a faint sound coming from the inside, and they wasted no time entering the house.

It was something that the three of them did not expect to see.

The three of them looked frantic. When they entered the shabby-looking house, they found Min and Rin's mother lying down on the floor. What caught Yuna's attention was that her mother was breathing heavily.

"Mom!" Rin yelled as tears were flowing down from her eyes. Yuna felt sad, and she knew that she had no time to waste. If she can do something to help Rin's mother, it would be better to start now.

Yuna immediately dropped her knees at the side. Her mother looked weak, and she was breathing short but heavy breaths while clutching her chest. Crouching down to listen to the mom's heartbeat, the feint sounds of hesrtbeats that she heard were fast, seemed like she had an increased heart rate. It did not seem like the ginseng roots were the solution for this sudden emergency.

As far as Yuna could remember, tuberculosis would lead to sepsis or spontaneous pneumothorax or also known as a collapsed lung. The bacteria that entered the lungs have damaged lung tissues thus, making them collapse.

There are still many complications that tuberculosis would result in, but sepsis and collapsed lung were the only things she could remember.

Spontaneous pneumothorax is an emergency that needs to be addressed once seen. Yuna was no doctor and had no prior experience in dealing with its first aid. She only saw it once on a drama that she watched, and that was a type of collapsed lung due to traumatic incidents like gunshot wounds, not like this case, where it was spontaneous and became more interested about the topic.

"Mom," Rin knelt beside Yuna and started crying. "Please, do not leave us!"

Yuna knew that every second she hesitated, the situation would get worse. Every second and every minute she wasted was already the life she could save Rin's mother.

She tried to rack her brain with whatever she could ever remember to conclude that it was indeed a collapsed lung. Her gaze went to her lips and the sudden discoloration of the mom's lips. Blue.

"Excuse me for being rude, auntie, but let me slightly touch your chest and ribs, okay?" Yuna spoke calmly, but her heart was definitely beating fast. Adrenaline was already on the go, and even though her hand was already trembling, she tried to calm herself down by inhaling deeply.

The right side was definitely weaker, flat, and seemed like it did not have any air inside it. Yuna was very much interested in becoming a paramedic and studied bit by bit just if she would not be able to succeed in her dream of becoming an idol.

Taking online classes for advanced trauma life support, she virtually knew how to conduct first aid to people suffering from stroke, heart attack, pnrumothorax, noetc.

But she was definitely inexperienced and only watched videos on how to perform it. She knew that the most crucial thing after diagnosis was how to solve it.

"Rin, Min," Yuna called out, her voice quivering out of nervosity but was still managing herself well. "Can you give me a long needle, mask, gloves, and a cleansing solution?"

"O-okay," Min nervously answered. "What are you going to do?"

"Just trust me on this," Yuna replied, eventually realizing that there were no masks and gloves invented during this era, so she went along. "Even a short 5-cm needle will do, but it needs to be clean."

Rin seemed to be confused, so Yuna went on, "You know those needles that you use for acupuncture?"

"Okay", Rin responded, wiping the tears running from her eyes. "How can we be sure that the needles are clean, sister?"

"Boil it with hot water, and it will be good," Yuna said. "Hurry, we have no time to waste!"

Rin immediately did what she was told, and Min was there with Yuna.

Closing her eyes to focus, she tried to remember the video she saw. She needed to insert the needle to the second intercostal space from the midclavicular line with a 90-degree angle. Ensuring that the needle is closer to the lower rib's top margin in the intercostal space so that the vessels there won't be damaged.

Yuna took several deep breaths and simulated the whole situation again and again.

"Sister here is your clean needle," Rin told her.

Upon hearing Rin's voice, she immediately opened her eyes. With a determined look on her face, she turned her upper body to the right and received the needle from Rin.

"Auntie," Yuna spoke calmly. "I will open your clothes so that I can do your first-aid, okay?"

Of course, she did not hear Min's mom responding to her. That would be weird in this situation.

And when she finally took her one last deep breath before inserting the needle on her chest, just as she simulated earlier, she held the needle between her index finger and thumb as if it was her lifeline. Sweat trickled down from her forehead.

Everyone was so silent, and their gazes were fixed on Yuna's fingers and the needle that was on the mother.

Yuna could feel herself becoming the next collapsed lung patient as she was now experiencing shortness of breath, not because of an underlying sickness, but because of the stress she was feeling.

She knew that the cure for this was taking short and deep breaths.

Closing her eyes, she took short deep breaths as she let go of the needle she was holding. She listened for a rush of exiting air from the needle and eventually concluded that her emergency first aid was a success.

"M-mom?" Rin's voice shivered. The three observed how Yuna's mom was already breathing quite normally, and the chest pain she was experiencing earlier finally disappeared. "Mom!"

Min, who was just standing and observing the two girls' teary-eyed, finally sat down next to her mother and held her hand. "Mom,"