Golden Time (JungYong)

87

Suhyuk followed Shin who was walking with a fast pace. 

"Mrs. Choi is a woman who is the oldest person on this island. She is right now 103 years old."

Suhyuk knitted his brows because he clearly heard that she fell down.

At that age even a little shock from falling could be fatal to her.

"Not that road."

Shin stopped Suhyuk who was walking ahead of him already.

"This way."

Shin walked into an ally, and Suhyuk followed him immediately.

She was living in a house with a red gate.

The gate was rusted as the house was surrounded by the sea.

"It's me, Shin Jaechol."

He knocked on the door.

The door opened with a sharp noise.

A man in his early 60s, the son of Mrs. Choi, answered.

"Is she in?"
At Shin's asking, the man gestured him to come in and stepped aside.

So Shin and Suhyuk went in.

The room was small, about 7-pyong wide, which looked even smaller because of the TV set and other furniture.

There inside lay an old woman with short and grey hair.

Taking off his shoes, Suhyuk went in first, and sat next to her, bending one of his knees.

"How are you, grandma?"
"Your face is new to me…"

The woman, who was making a frown due to pain, made a curious expression.

Then Shin came into the room, raising his voice louder than before,

"He's a new doctor. He is very good at curing patients."

Nodding her head, she looked at Suhyuk.

"Where do you feel uncomfortable, grandma?"
Suhyuk's voice as loud as Shin's, because she could not hear well, yet in general she was unbelievably healthy for her age of 103.

"I feel pain in my leg from after I fell down."

She tapped her right thigh with her hand, saying,

"Right under here..."

Suhyuk stroked her ankle lightly and watched her reaction.

"Can you move?"
She lifted her leg slowly, and even wiggled her toes.

"Very good."

Suhyuk carefully moved her ankle joint up and down.

No reaction.

Then he touched the muscle around her ankle.

"Ouch!"

She made a little moan at his touch.

Suhyuk said, with a smile, "Looks like the muscle went into spasms a bit."

Fortunately, there were no sprains on the ankle or problems with the bones or nerves.

"You might feel some pain, grandma."

Then Suhyuk began to massage the area where the muscles were cramped up.

It was to loosen the blood flow to make the muscles loose.

Failure to loosen it leads to making part of the muscle fiber become tight, and the blood circulation may be blocked and could lead to an ischemic state. As a result, the neurotransmitter that stimulates the nerve is secreted, which makes the pain worse and the muscle more cramped up.