Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 123

123. 2cm Cut

“Jin, Jinkyung, you haven’t left yet?”

“Mom, what was that ringtone just now?”

Kim Jinkyung frowned and asked again.

“Mom, don’t tell me… Give me your phone.”

“Why the phone? What are you saying, coming back after leaving?”

Beep beep beep beep- Beep- Beep-

Yoo Jicheon clutched the still-ringing phone in her hand, pretending not to understand Kim Jinkyung’s words.

“What’s that ringtone on your phone right now?”

“What do you mean? Just a ringtone.”

“I’m asking what kind of ringtone it is.”

“I set it to remind me to take my medicine yesterday, but I must have accidentally turned it on again while messing with it.”

“Let me see.”

“See what.”

Beep beep beep beep- Beep- Beep-

“Really, why is it ringing so much…”

Just as Yoo Jicheon was about to frantically touch the screen to turn off the relentlessly ringing phone alarm…

“……!”

Kim Jinkyung snatched the phone from Yoo Jicheon’s hand with a swift motion.

“Hey? Jinkyung?”

The flustered hand reached out to retrieve the phone, but only touched air. And at the same time, Kim Jinkyung’s eyes, after checking the phone, were filled with a mixture of emptiness and anger.

-Time to drink the Elixir of Life.

“Ha!”

A dumbfounded sigh escaped her lips.

“Mom!”

“…….”

Kim Jinkyung called out to Yoo Jicheon, but she didn’t answer.

The Elixir of Life, for which the alarm was set on the phone, was water in a plastic bottle given by a pseudo-religious professor.

Frankly, the family, except for Yoo Jicheon, couldn’t know what that water really was. No matter how many times, no, hundreds of times they asked, Yoo Jicheon would only repeat the same thing.

‘It’s just… something our Jin Teacher gave me. A precious medicine that can heal me.’

Yoo Jicheon started drinking the strange water she received from the religious facility after she got sick. It continued even after she returned home as her condition worsened.

Each time they threw it away, the problematic Elixir of Life would be back in Yoo Jicheon’s hands after a few days.

Kim Jinkyung, along with her father, had called and visited the pseudo-religious group, warning them repeatedly not to send that kind of thing again.

The problem was that Yoo Jicheon kept sending money and secretly receiving such garbage by quick service and 택배 [Taekbae – Korean delivery service] delivery without the family’s knowledge. Eventually, the family changed her phone to a new one and blocked Yoo Jicheon from making online payments.

The biggest reason for changing hospitals was precisely because of that Elixir of Life.

‘Patient, you shouldn’t keep drinking this kind of thing.’

‘What do you mean, this kind of thing? This is so precious.’

Every time the medical staff tried to throw away the problematic Elixir of Life, Yoo Jicheon would make a fuss, and that process was repeated.

Kim Jinkyung changed hospitals again due to the continued complaints from surrounding patients and guardians, but it was the same.

After much deliberation, she contacted Taekyung with difficulty and moved the hospital. After Yoo Jicheon’s condition gradually worsened, she didn’t even see the Elixir of Life, and she didn’t seem to be looking for it anymore, so she thought it was finally over.

Although she was still 빠져 있었던 [ppajyeo isseotdeon – immersed] in the pseudo-religion, she was relieved that she wasn’t looking for the problematic Elixir of Life.

“Mom?”

But… To reach for that problematic Elixir of Life again, she couldn’t help but be angry. Kim Jinkyung at least hoped that Yoo Jicheon wouldn’t do anything to shorten her remaining life herself.

“Mom, did you eat that garbage again, that Elixir of Life or whatever? Did you?”

“Why are you raising your voice? It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not? Really not?”

Kim Jinkyung, unable to believe her words, began to look around where Yoo Jicheon was lying. Because there was a high possibility that her mother had hidden it.

“Mom, you didn’t hide it somewhere again without me knowing, did you?”

“I told you, no.”

She searched thoroughly under the bed, in the blankets, in the personal locker, and in the drawers, but the problematic Elixir of Life was not visible.

“See? There’s nothing.”

Yoo Jicheon was still saying no, but she couldn’t easily believe it.

‘There’s definitely something.’

It was too unnatural for Yoo Jicheon’s actions and eyes to believe her words. Eventually, Kim Jinkyung even opened the locker locked with a password and checked inside.

Yoo Jicheon always used her daughter’s and son’s birthdays as passwords, so she could open it easily.

Beep beep-

“There’s nothing special there.”

“…….”

But really, there was nothing special there. Just clothes, bags, and other ordinary items.

“Mom, really not?”

Kim Jinkyung, having checked all around, wondered if she had unnecessarily distrusted her mother’s words. She even felt sorry for reacting too sensitively due to what had happened in the meantime.

“Yes. I told you, no. You just checked everything.”

“Mom. I’m sorry. I was too much.”

“It’s okay. Why are you sorry.”

“But then why did the alarm really ring?”

“I was really going to take medicine, but I think I wrote it down that way out of habit. I knew it after the alarm rang.”

“I see.”

“Jinkyung, Mom really needs to lie down now. You’ve completely taken my mind off things.”

“Okay, Mom, lie down. I’m really leaving.”

“Okay, go home safely. Text me when you get there.”

Kim Jinkyung calmed her surprised heart and left the hospital room. She felt sorry for unnecessarily suspecting her mother, but she was relieved to have confirmed that there was no Elixir of Life.

‘Yes, I checked it myself, so it’s definitely not there.’

Kim Jinkyung left the hospital room and headed to Taekyung’s office.

* * *

“Hello.”

“You’re here? Just a moment.”

Nurse Lim Jungsook greeted Kim Jinkyung and informed Taekyung.

“Doctor, Yoo Jicheon’s guardian is here.”

“Tell her to come in, it’s okay now.”

“Yes, guardian, please come in.”

“Hello, Doctor.”

“Welcome.”

Taekyung greeted Kim Jinkyung, who was bowing and entering, with a smiling face.

Every time Taekyung saw Kim Jinkyung, his heart ached. Because she was suffering so much because of her mother’s situation, her face, still in her mid-20s, always felt full of worry and shadows.

“It looks like you’re coming straight from work.”

“Yes, my company finished a little early today, so I came straight here.”

“Guardian, aren’t you having a hard time?”

“My dad is on a business trip, so I’ve decided to come more often for the time being. Actually, I think ‘enduring’ is a more accurate word.”

There were only three people to whom Kim Jinkyung told her inner thoughts. The first was her father, the second was the psychiatrist she went to for counseling once a month. And the last was Taekyung.

Kim Jinkyung could honestly say everything she wanted to say in front of Taekyung, who knew all about her family’s history and her past.

“Me, Mom, and Dad… Actually, at this point, it feels like all of our family is just enduring.”

Why wouldn’t they be?

There’s a saying that there’s no surviving a long illness. Kim Jinkyung and her family, who had watched the entire process of her mother, 빠진 [ppajin – fallen] in a pseudo-religion, becoming a terminal cancer patient, must be having a very hard time.

“Doctor, how is Mom doing?”

“There hasn’t been a big change from what I told you before. She’s undergoing chemotherapy, but as you already know, it’s spread throughout her body. Also, the side effects of the current chemotherapy are getting worse, and you can see it as fortunate if she doesn’t get worse from her current condition.”

“…….”

Kim Jinkyung was silent for a moment, knowing the content as well.

She had already had these interviews several times. Taekyung was just repeating the explanation again and again.

However, the reason he continued to accept the interview requests was because he felt that Kim Jinkyung wanted to rely on someone.

He wanted to deliver a message that there was at least a little improvement, but the patient’s body was not able to do so.

That point was also unfortunate for Taekyung.

“I went to the hospital room earlier, and my mom’s phone rang. I got a little angry, thinking she was drinking the Elixir of Life again.”

Taekyung also knew about the problematic Elixir of Life because Kim Jinkyung had told him.

“But it turned out it was just a simple alarm.”

“That’s a relief. The patient especially shouldn’t drink anything like that now.”

“Yes, so I checked more carefully and told my mom. Doctor, thank you always.”

“There’s no need to thank me. I haven’t done anything for you.”

“Don’t say that. Why haven’t you done anything? You’ve already done a lot for me and Mom.”

Afterward, Kim Jinkyung poured out her frustrated feelings as if complaining. Fortunately, there were no outpatients or urgent calls from the emergency room, so Taekyung listened to her.

“I’ll go now. Thank you for your hard work.”

“Yes, see you next time.”

Kim Jinkyung finished her story appropriately and left the office.

Taekyung wanted to tell her to cheer up, but he couldn’t. Because he thought that saying that to someone in a situation where they couldn’t cheer up at all was too insincere.

“I hope the patient and the guardian can be a little more comfortable.”

The reason why Taekyung cared about Kim Jinkyung, the guardian, as much as Yoo Jicheon was because of what happened at Shinhwa University Hospital in the past.

* * *

A few years ago, Shinhwa University Hospital-

“Teacher, we’re having snacks, please join us.”

The head nurse of the ward, who was usually friendly, called out to Taekyung, who was passing in front of the station.

“It’s okay. Enjoy.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going down to the ER now.”

“Yes? You just came out of the operating room, why the ER?”

“To help.”

“Isn’t that what Doctor Do was supposed to do?”

One of the key personnel in the emergency room, a doctor, had fallen and been hospitalized while hiking during his off-time. Because of that, one person from GS [General Surgery] was supposed to help on the weekend, and Taekyung’s junior was supposed to go.

“Originally, it’s right for Dohyun to go.”

“But?”

“He has acute Enteritis and is in the bathroom.”

“Oh my. Doctor Do had that last time too, and now he has Enteritis again. Anyway, you’re going to have a hard time.”

“GS gets called to the ER often on weekends anyway, so I’ll just think of it as going down there in advance. I’ll go.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Taekyung finished talking with the head nurse and went straight to the ER.

“Hello.”

“Oh! Doctor Kim came down? Isn’t Doctor Do supposed to come down?”

“I came instead because of Enteritis.”

“Oh dear. Enteritis is not something to be taken lightly. I feel relieved that Doctor Kim came.”

The head of the emergency room felt as strong as if he had gained a thousand soldiers when Taekyung appeared.

“Anyway, Doctor Kim, please take good care of me today.”

“Yes.”

After that, Taekyung saw patients and saw them again without 정신없이 [jeongshineopsi – mindlessly]. The emergency room on the weekend. Even the university hospital emergency room was almost like a battlefield.

“TA (traffic accident) patient coming in 5 minutes.”

“Call CS (cardiothoracic surgery) quickly.”

“Please double-check the antibiotics for bed 9.”

Patients who had suffered from large and small accidents continued to enter the emergency room.

Taekyung ran around here and there, seeing patients, and among the patients who came to the emergency room, he also went up to the operating room with patients who needed GS surgery.

After several storms of busyness, he finally 붙였다 [buteotda – stuck] his butt on the chair in the station late at night.

“Doctor?”

A nurse called out to Taekyung, who was briefly looking up 논문 [nonmun – thesis/paper] data on his phone.

“Patient?”

“Yes. A 2x-year-old woman with a laceration of about 2cm on her left wrist.”

“What’s the cause?”

“…It’s suicide attempt. She drank half a bottle of soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] while intoxicated.”