Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 29

#29 Gangnam Station (8)

“Sun-han.”

It was Geun-wook.

Geun-wook, who had belatedly arrived at Yonsei University Hospital, also had blood and dirt on his face.

“Geun-wook!”

I approached him with a smile.

Even though it had only been a few hours, it felt like I was seeing him after a long time.

“What happened to the patient with severe bleeding in the leg?”

“He went to Hanyang University Hospital. His blood pressure and consciousness were okay until he arrived at the hospital.”

“That’s a relief.”

“What about the patient you performed pericardiocentesis [a procedure to remove fluid from around the heart] on? Nothing went wrong, did it?”

Geun-wook asked urgently.

I explained the situation.

Only then did Geun-wook let out a sigh of relief.

“Wow, that’s a relief. I was worried something might have gone wrong.”

“How do you think I felt?”

At my words, Geun-wook burst into laughter.

“Seriously, you’re the craziest guy I’ve ever seen.”

“I know. I wonder what I did.”

I smiled bitterly.

Everything that happened in Gangnam Station a little while ago doesn’t feel real.

Geun-wook patted me on the shoulder as if to cheer me up.

“By the way, you’re on ER duty tomorrow, right? Let’s go to sleep quickly.”

“I don’t have any strength in my legs.”

“Should I give you a piggyback ride?”

“No, thanks. I’d rather crawl.”

I barely recovered enough energy to exchange jokes with Geun-wook.

After going through that chaos together, I feel a little closer to Geun-wook.

A little later.

We returned to the intern dorm, completely exhausted.

I took a shower and lay down, but I was too anxious to fall asleep.

“…….”

My body is tired, but my mind is as clear as if I’ve been splashed with cold water.

I got up.

I quietly opened the door and went to the computer in the intern lounge.

When I looked up Lee Jin-woo’s chart, notes were written for each department.

Lee Jin-woo (M / 15)

[TS Progress Note]

Blunt Trauma

cardiac tamponade [compression of the heart caused by fluid accumulation]

s/p PCC insertion [status post Pericardiocentesis insertion]

……

We will f/u [follow up] for the lung contusion observed on the Chest CT with daily CXR [chest X-ray] for the next 5 days. Please contact TS if delayed hemothorax [accumulation of blood in the pleural cavity] occurs.

TS R3 Ma Dong-seop

……Difficult.

I read the notes, feeling like I had become illiterate.

Since I’m still an intern, there are words I don’t know in between.

Anyway, the thoracic surgery department didn’t think he needed surgery right away.

Click, click.

I moved the mouse and clicked on the next note.

[GS Progress Note]

Liver laceration and hemoperitoneum [blood in the peritoneal cavity] found in the abdomen are not severe, so we will observe. Please consult with pf. [Professor] Yoon Sang-il after admission.

GS R2 Kim Gi-woon

Next is the surgery note.

The surgery department also assessed that the abdominal wound was not severe enough to require immediate surgery.

In addition, the blood test results did not seem too bad.

At least, that’s how it looks to me.

‘So, the only major problem is the heart?’ I feel relieved.

But I can’t let my guard down yet.

As Kim Viper said, I don’t know what will happen to the patient in the future.

At that time, the door of the dormitory opened and other interns were seen passing by.

Interns I haven’t gotten close to yet.

They glanced at me once and walked away, whispering to each other.

“That’s him, right?”

“Yeah.”

Their short conversation reached my ears.

Has the rumor already spread?

Well, maybe it has.

Since an intern caused such a commotion, it would be strange if the rumor didn’t spread.

‘What did I do in the middle of Gangnam Station…….’

Whew―

I sat on the sofa and covered my face.

I wish I hadn’t known anything, then this wouldn’t have happened.

I resent the ability I gained today.

“Can’t you sleep?”

Thud―

I feel something on the top of my head.

When I looked up, Yeon-seo was staring down at me.

She was wearing horn-rimmed glasses and had her hair tied up, as if she was on duty.

“Yeon-seo.”

“I knew it. I knew our Dr. Sun-han wouldn’t be able to sleep.”

She said that and handed me something with a sulky expression.

Tea in a glass bottle.

When I held it in my hand, there was still warmth left.

“Thank you.”

“I heard everything. You filmed a drama in the middle of Gangnam Station?”

“It just happened that way.”

“Anyway, you’re the busiest person in our hospital. If you went out for a meeting, you should have had fun. Why are you making yourself suffer?”

Thump―

She said that and sat down next to me.

I stared at the glass bottle Yeon-seo gave me and said.

“Yeon-seo.”

“Yes?”

“Did I do something unnecessary?”

Yeon-seo stared at me with wide eyes.

My voice couldn’t hide my anxiety and trembling.

“What if the patient gets worse? What if the measures I took weren’t appropriate…….”

I couldn’t continue speaking and covered my face.

My heart becomes complicated.

When I say what’s inside my heart, my emotions are about to surge.

“Don’t worry too much. It’ll be okay.”

Yeon-seo patted me on the back.

And she stayed by my side quietly until I calmed down.

That night felt particularly long.

* * *

The next morning.

I stayed up almost all night.

With a haggard look, I got up and went to the computer in the lounge to check the chart again.

I wanted to see if anything special had been added overnight.

“Huh.”

My eyes widened.

Where did patient Lee Jin-woo go?

Even after washing my eyes and looking for him, he is not on the emergency room patient list.

My hair stands on end as if an ice pack has been placed on my spine.

The fact that the patient’s name disappeared from the list means…….

‘Expire (death)?’

The disappearance of the patient’s name from the list means several possibilities.

First. The patient died.

Second. He was discharged.

Third. Or he was transferred somewhere else.

‘He didn’t die, did he?’

I felt a creepy feeling and moved the mouse urgently.

Please, no!

And after a while.

Soon I was able to find Lee Jin-woo’s name in another tab.

Apparently, he was transferred from the emergency room to the cardiology intensive care unit overnight.

“Whew.”

I let out a sigh of relief.

Damn it, you scared me!

I feel like my lifespan has been shortened by about a year in the last few seconds.

When I opened the EMR (electronic medical record) and checked the patient’s vitals, they were better than I thought.

The lab (blood test) is also showing improvement compared to yesterday, and the consciousness evaluation also appears normal.

‘That’s a relief.’

At this rate, I think I can go to work with peace of mind.

I hurriedly washed up and prepared to go to work.

When I headed to the conference room earlier than usual, Joong-won hyung [hyung is a Korean term for older brother or older male friend], who had arrived earlier, saw me and stood up.

“Sun-han!”

“Hyung.”

“I heard about it. What the heck happened last night?”

Joong-won hyung asked with a surprised expression.

I made up an appropriate excuse.

“I happened to pass by the accident site on my way home.”

“Oh, I see…… I wish I could have been there with you guys to help.”

Joong-won hyung looks apologetic.

According to the story, he took a taxi home as soon as the meeting ended yesterday.

He said he fell asleep as soon as he got in the taxi because he drank a lot, so he doesn’t remember what happened after that.

“Oh, by the way, didn’t you exchange phone numbers with Su-jin?”

“I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“I had to leave in a hurry yesterday…….”

“Tsk, you heartless guy. That’s why I got a text message? Su-jin said to make sure to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t ride Daehan Airlines passenger planes recklessly in the future. She said she might put poison in your in-flight meal if she sees your face.”

……Gasp.

Scary.

Is this what resentment is?

Well, it’s understandable that she would feel resentful since I openly embarrassed someone who was so actively pursuing me.

Anyway, that’s not what’s important right now.

“By the way, is it true that you stabbed a patient in the chest on the street yesterday? Was it a pneumothorax [collapsed lung] patient like the emergency room patient last time?”

“It wasn’t the lung this time, it was the heart.”

“Holy crap…… The heart?! Did you do pericardiocentesis alone?! Are you going to be okay?”

“Fortunately, the patient’s condition is not bad.”

“No, that’s not what I mean…….”

Joong-won hyung scratched his head and said.

“I’m saying this because I’m worried about you, not the patient. The hospital people are bound to see it in a bad light.”

Joong-won hyung adds an explanation.

“I don’t know if you can get away with just hearing some nagging, but there’s even an article about it on the internet…….”

Article?

I had a bewildered expression.

“What article?”

Joong-won hyung took out his smartphone and showed me something.

“It’s an article that came out this morning, so you should take a look at it. Don’t be too shocked.”

I looked at the smartphone screen that Joong-won hyung held out to me.

[Society] Y Hospital Intern, 3 Months After Obtaining Medical License, Performs Experiment on Trauma Patient While Intoxicated?

……What is this?

The title itself is absurd.

It’s written as if I’m some kind of psychopath doctor.

The expression is too malicious!

Of course, the absurdity doesn’t end there.

I couldn’t close my mouth as I scrolled down.

―Hospital intern stabs patient in the chest in Gangnam’s main street while drunk…… Patient in ‘critical condition’―Patient transferred to Y Hospital’s emergency room, condition known to be serious…… Recovery uncertain! Damn it!

What kind of article is this?

If you only read the article, it seems like the patient became critical because of my actions.

Besides, the detailed contents are a mess.

I wasn’t drunk, and the medical situation described in the article was nonsense.

But there were already a lot of bad comments on the article.

Comments (108)

―Huh, an intern?

―Crazy lol

―Did he think he was something special just because he got a medical license?

―Where is Y Hospital? I shouldn’t go to that hospital in the future.

―Yonsei University Hospital?

―I think it’s Yonsei University Hospital.

―A doctor who thinks of patients’ lives like flies! He already shows signs of being a jerk.

……So this is what it feels like to receive malicious comments.

It feels like being hit with invisible stones.

On the other hand, there were also comments defending me.

―The article is a bit strange?

―It’s a bit different from what people at the scene said.

―That’s actually a treatment done in hospitals. Let’s put it in neutral gear and watch.

―If the patient lives, he becomes a hero, and if he dies, he becomes a traitor?

―That’s right lol

Public opinion is divided.

Should I call it a hot potato?

As my expression became serious, Joong-won hyung clicked his tongue and said.

“How are we going to handle this? It must have reached Professor Shin Seung-woo’s ears…….”

Professor Shin Seung-woo.

Head of the Department of Emergency Medicine.

He has an authoritarian and strict personality.

Of course, I’ve never talked to him except when I greeted him on the first day, but I know he’s not an easy person.

“Anyway, it’s best to be careful today. The professor is the type to care a lot about this kind of external image…….”

Step, step―

At that time, before Joong-won hyung could finish speaking, people began to gather in the conference room.