Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 401

Vital Sign Number Five – Episode 402 (401/502)

402. Violation of Medical Law

Looking closer, Tae-kyung noticed the child was wearing a diaper, and a hint of red was visible from the inside.

‘Hematuria [blood in the urine] and an abdominal mass…’ Tae-kyung thought.

While Tae-kyung’s mind raced, one thing became clear.

There was no more time.

In fact, Tae-kyung had been planning to win over his mother-in-law for about a week, try to persuade her, and if that didn’t work, even involve the police or other public authorities.

Even though it was a sensitive matter, the patient was a child, so he had considered such strong methods.

But there was no time to waste. He knew very well that proceeding with such procedures would take at least a week, no matter how fast it was.

Reporting abuse and having the child undergo surgery without the parents’ consent were two different things, legally speaking.

When they had this conversation in front of the house, Lee Jae-san had expressed his reluctance to use this method just yet.

Tae-kyung also didn’t really want to treat the child’s grandmother that way.

Abuse isn’t just about physically hitting a child.

The fact that the child’s pain was being neglected was also a form of abuse if you looked at it closely.

However, he couldn’t help but imagine how much pain she must have been in due to her grandson’s accident.

“Excuse me, Director. What’s Jin’s condition?” Lee Jae-san asked after moving a little away from the door.

“The child’s condition is not good.”

“How bad is it?”

“If he stays like this…”

It was just then, as Tae-kyung was about to elaborate, that a surprised voice rang out.

“Oh my! Goodness!” The surprised voice of the housekeeper on the first floor echoed through the stairs.

“Oh, Yeon-gil. What are you so surprised about?”

“B, Big Madam [term of respect for the head of the household]. Didn’t you say you’d be late today?”

“I did.”

The housekeeper raised her voice as if to inform Lee Jae-san and Kim Yeon-joo on the second floor, and the couple exchanged surprised glances at the words ‘Big Madam’.

“Honey, Mother is here. What should we do?” Kim Yeon-joo whispered to her husband.

Lee Jae-san checked his mother’s schedule on his phone for a moment, wondering if he was mistaken, but he wasn’t wrong.

Clearly, today was the day of his mother’s dinner party.

Since Jin-i got sick, she had refrained from outside activities as much as possible, but today was an important occasion, so his mother had felt obligated to attend.

Lee Jae-san felt like this opportunity would never come again, so he begged at the hospital to bring Tae-kyung when his mother was away.

But unlike expected, his mother came back too early. Lee Jae-san and his wife began to feel anxious, and the housekeeper and mother’s conversation was heard again.

“I thought you were having dinner and coming late, why are you here so early?”

“Jin-i was on my mind, so I couldn’t get the food down my throat.”

“Then shall I prepare a meal quickly?”

“I ate something. More than that, is Jin-i okay…? By the way, Yeon-gil?”

“Yes, Big Madam.”

“I don’t recognize those shoes. Do we have guests?”

“That’s…”

“Mother is here?” Kim Yeon-joo, who was on the second floor, came down while the housekeeper hesitated.

“You’re here early. Have you had dinner?”

“Dinner is fine. Yeon-joo, do we have guests?”

“Ah, yes. We have a guest.”

“A guest at this hour? Who?”

“I have a guest,” Lee Jae-san, who was on the second floor, came down with Tae-kyung and said in response to Madam Go’s repeated questions.

“Abeom’s guest?”

“Hello. My name is Kim Tae-kyung.”

“Ah, yes. Hello.” Madam Go gave a moderate smile, scanned Tae-kyung, who was greeting her, up and down, and then greeted him.

“I don’t think you’re Abeom’s friend, who are you…?”

“I happened to meet Jae-san.”

“Oh, is that so? We shouldn’t keep guests standing. Don’t stand, please sit down.”

“Thank you.”

Unlike her kind tone and refined behavior, Madam Go’s eyes were wary. She gave an awkward smile and led Tae-kyung to the living room sofa, continuing her words.

“Yeon-gil, please get something to drink.”

“Madam, I’ll do it. Jin-i…”

“Yes, Little Madam [term of respect for the wife of the head of the household].”

The housekeeper went up to the child’s room on the second floor, and Kim Yeon-joo, who brought out the drinks from the kitchen, sat next to Lee Jae-san.

“Direc…! Please have some of this.” Kim Yeon-joo, who was about to say Director, quickly changed her words and handed Tae-kyung a cup of juice.

“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”

“You said you met by chance earlier, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Abeom is a cautious person, so he doesn’t make friends with people he meets by chance…”

“No, Mother. He’s someone I met while passing by, but he’s a really good person.”

“Really? The word coincidence is too broad… Abeom, how did you meet this person?”

“That’s…”

“I am in charge of a small corporation.”

In the midst of the nervous atmosphere, Lee Jae-san, who had been momentarily stunned by the unexpected question, was about to answer when Tae-kyung next to him naturally continued the answer to the question.

“I met the son here when he came to our corporation.”

“That’s right. I received help from the corporation of the person here for a while.”

“That’s right.”

None of what Tae-kyung said was technically wrong. The hospital was also a corporation, and Tae-kyung was the head of it, so it was technically correct.

“Excuse me, can I use the bathroom for a moment?”

“Yes. The bathroom is to the right.”

“Thank you.”

Tae-kyung got up from his seat and headed to the bathroom. The moment he closed the door behind him, his calm expression quickly turned serious.

It wasn’t that he came to the bathroom because he urgently needed to go. It was because of the child.

Jin-i’s condition was more serious than he thought, and time was of the essence.

He couldn’t stand idly by, so Tae-kyung urgently went to the bathroom to communicate with Lee Jae-san.

-Guardian, the child’s condition is not good. I think it would be better to tell your mother the truth for the child’s treatment.

-Yes, Director. I think so too.

As soon as Tae-kyung sent the text message, whether it was because he suddenly went to the bathroom or because he sent a signal, Lee Jae-san’s reply came right away.

-My mother will oppose it no matter how I say it, but we can’t keep hiding it, so I think it’s better to tell her quickly and persuade her.

-Good thinking. I’ll be right out.

Tae-kyung, who quickly exchanged text messages, returned to his seat, and Madam Go started talking as if she had been waiting.

“By the way, I saw this person coming down from the second floor earlier, can I ask why you went to the second floor?”

“I’ll tell you,” Lee Jae-san, who had made up his mind, looked at Madam Go with a serious expression as if he had steeled himself.

“I went to see Jin-i on the second floor.”

“Why is this person seeing Jin-i? Who is this person?”

“He’s a doctor.”

“What! What did you say? A doctor! You mean you called a doctor to examine Jin-i at home?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Mother. Jin-i’s condition is very bad right now,” Kim Yeon-joo, who was sitting with him, also chimed in.

“It’s not like I don’t know that our Jin-i is sick, how could you do this?”

“Mother. That’s…”

“Sob!”

Lee Jae-san was about to persuade her more strongly, seeing Madam Go’s reaction was not as bad as he had expected, when that happened.

“Hic!” Madam Go began to cry sadly, shedding tears.

“How can you have a doctor in the house… Hic!”

“…!”

Unlike what they had expected, that she would raise her voice and there would be shouting, Tae-kyung as well as the son and daughter-in-law were embarrassed to see Madam Go crying so sadly.

“Elder, let me explain,” Tae-kyung, who had been determined, thought that it would be easier to persuade her in this atmosphere and started talking.

“No. That’s enough.”

However, the three people didn’t know what to do at Madam Go’s next action.

“I don’t want to hear what you have to say.” Madam Go, who glared sharply at Tae-kyung, abruptly left the house.

“Mother!” Lee Jae-san called out in a loud voice in embarrassment, but she had already left.

“Honey, Mother went outside. She must have been very surprised. What should we do?”

“Let’s finish talking with the director first and I’ll go out,” Lee Jae-san thought it was better that his mother had left the house.

He was glad that Tae-kyung, who was busy, had come all the way to his house, and that he could talk quietly rather than making a fuss. Honestly, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen if his mother continued to be in this place.

About 15 minutes passed as the three of them were talking about Jin-i, and then Madam Go, who had gone out, returned home.

“Mother!”

“I’m here. Come this way.”

However, Madam Go, who had left the house alone, did not return alone, and surprisingly, she entered the house with a police officer.

“Hello. I’m from the police station.”

The reason Madam Go left the house in a hurry was to go to the nearby police station and bring the police.

“I received a report and came out, are you the mother here?”

“Ah, yes. She’s my mother. But what’s going on…?”

“As I just said, I accompanied her because my mother reported it.”

“A report? What report?”

“My mother said that an unknown man came into the house and was trying to endanger her granddaughter.”

“What!?”

“…!”

The three people were speechless and dumbfounded by the fact that the police came to the house, but also by the reason for the report they heard directly.

“Endangering Jin-i? Mother! What are you talking about?” Lee Jae-san felt sorry for not telling her in advance, seeing his mother crying unlike what he had expected before she left the house.

But seeing her commit such an absurd act, his voice naturally rose.

“What are you doing? Can’t you see? You and Yeon-joo brought that person to my precious granddaughter!” Madam Go pointed her finger at Tae-kyung with sharp eyes and answered sharply.

“That person is not someone who will endanger Jin-i, but someone who will help her. Mother, Jin-i doesn’t have time.”

“Does someone who knows that bring someone like that? Have you forgotten what happened to San? Why did San, my eldest grandson, die? Yeon-joo, you tell me. Huh?” Madam Go, who was angry at what her son and daughter-in-law had done without consulting her, turned her anger to Kim Yeon-joo and sprinkled salt on her daughter-in-law’s wound.

“It’s nothing, you took the kids who were just coughing to the hospital unnecessarily and made them die, and you’re trying to repeat the same mistake! Do you think this is right? What if something really happens to Jin-i, can you handle it?”

“Mother, I know you’re hurt and upset about what happened to San. I’m really sorry. But Jin-i is very sick. I couldn’t leave her like this any longer. San even came to my dream and asked me to make sure Jin-i gets better. Mother, let’s stop now and just think about Jin-i.”

“I’m still thinking about our Jin-i. If you really think about my granddaughter, get that person out of my house right now. Hurry!”

Kim Yeon-joo tried to persuade her mother-in-law with a desperate heart, but it was not easy.

“Police officer. Please kick that person out of my house quickly. No, arrest him.”

“Grandma, please calm down first.”

“There’s nothing to calm down about. Hey! You, get out of my house right now. Hurry!”

“No. I can’t leave,” Tae-kyung, who didn’t flinch at Madam Go’s sharp words and actions, answered calmly.

“What? You can’t leave?”

“Yes, I can’t leave.”

“If you keep resisting like that, I’ll sue you for violating the medical law due to home visits [practicing medicine without proper authorization].” Madam Go’s eyes narrowed at Tae-kyung’s firm answer, and she even mentioned suing, embarrassing her son and daughter-in-law.