Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 48

#48 The ICU Marine (8)

“A solution?”

“What is it?”

Nurse Cha Yuri shrugged at our questions.

“Sometimes, delirium patients suddenly improve dramatically. Especially when they’re with their families.”

“Family?”

That was an unexpected point!

It seemed Cha Yuri had brought up a surprisingly important point.

Then, Doctor Byun chuckled and chimed in.

“Oh, I thought it was something important… That’s not a medical solution.”

Doctor Byun dismissed it casually.

He seemed to be ignoring Cha Yuri’s words.

However, Doctor Ma Dong-seop, who was listening to the conversation, nodded thoughtfully.

“True. Having family present is effective in treating delirium. Because psychological stability is important.”

“Right?”

“Actually, textbooks also mention including family in supportive care as one of the delirium treatments.”

“That’s right. There’s a big difference whether family is there or not!”

Cha Yuri stated confidently.

It was an argument based on her three years of experience caring for numerous delirium patients in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit].

It was definitely persuasive.

Doctor Byun, who had been heckling from the side, fell silent when the textbook was mentioned.

“But does the patient have any family?”

“There is a guardian, but they don’t come to visit. I’m not sure if they have a bad relationship…”

Cha Yuri trailed off.

I suddenly remembered what the patient had told me.

“I understand that he has a bad relationship with his son. The patient seems to want to see his son very much.”

“Hmm…”

The two of them looked serious at my words.

Perhaps this was the only key to helping the patient.

Then, Doctor Byun, who was listening from the side, interjected as if he was dumbfounded.

“No, surely you’re not thinking of interfering in the patient’s family affairs, are you?”

“…”

“What’s with the atmosphere? Am I the only one who finds this weird? Am I the only weird one here?”

Doctor Byun rubbed his forehead.

I ignored him and asked Cha Yuri.

“Could you please contact the guardian?”

“I’ll try. But don’t get your hopes up too much.”

“If you get in touch, please share it with me too.”

That last remark was from Doctor Ma Dong-seop.

The three of us nodded and dispersed.

“No, what’s wrong with everyone?”

Doctor Byun, left alone and alienated, muttered as if he couldn’t understand.

* * *

A little later.

I waited for Cha Yuri at the station, watching the latter part of Grandpa Attackjung’s interview video.

‘Agent Orange’.

A herbicide that kills trees, literally a poison.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. military sprayed a lot of Agent Orange in the jungle to eliminate guerrilla bases.

The Agent Orange used at this time was notorious under the name ‘Agent Orange’.

The interviewer asks.

Then Grandpa Attackjung answers.

The grandfather is lost in memories for a moment.

He is reminiscing about a time that was briefly joyful and happy.

But that peaceful expression didn’t last long.

‘Dioxin’.

The name of a chemical impurity contained in Agent Orange.

This nasty substance has a toxicity of 10,000 times that of potassium cyanide and 3,000 times that of arsenic.

It is not broken down in the body and causes various cancers and nervous system disorders for a long time.

The grandfather wiped away tears with his palm.

‘So that’s what he meant when he said he passed on something he shouldn’t have passed on to his son…’

Physical disability.

Research shows that dioxin-induced disabilities can be passed down to the second generation.

What would the father’s heart be like, having passed on a disability to his son as a reward for participating in the war?

I can hardly imagine.

“Doctor Sun.”

Then Nurse Cha Yuri approached me after finishing the call.

Her expression isn’t very good.

“I just got in touch with the guardian… but he cut off the phone, saying he had no intention of seeing his father.”

As expected.

I had expected it to some extent.

In the dream, the son clearly said, ‘I resented my father for the rest of my life.’

So he wouldn’t come to the hospital.

Of course, I can’t arbitrarily fathom that heart.

Every family has its own secrets.

But anyway, I’m convinced that there’s only one person who can stabilize the patient right now.

“Did you tell him about the patient’s condition?”

“Yes. I told him, but he’s unmoved. He got angry, saying he wouldn’t hold on to the phone any longer, so if I wanted to talk more, I should come and talk to him in person.”

Oh dear.

He must have a strong personality.

I hesitated for a moment and said to Nurse Cha Yuri.

“I’ll contact him one more time.”

“You will?”

“If necessary, I’m going to visit him in person.”

“Huh? To that extent?”

Cha Yuri was taken aback.

Well, even I think it’s an overreaction.

What doctor in the world goes to visit a guardian to bring them in?

But I didn’t feel like giving up.

If I drew my sword, I had to cut something [idiom meaning to see something through].

I don’t want to see the patient die again without being able to do anything.

“Please connect me one more time.”

“… Ugh, okay. Doctor Sun, you’re really stubborn.”

Cha Yuri reluctantly replied.

Doctor Byun, who was playing a mobile game next to me, glanced at me and said.

“Hey, don’t do anything useless. It’s obvious that it’ll be a waste of time even if you go.”

“But I want to try.”

“Hey, wanna bet with me?”

Doctor Byun turned his chair towards me and said with a serious expression.

“No matter what you do, nothing will change. Shall we see who’s right? The loser shaves their head bald?”

Shave my head bald?

This isn’t elementary school….

I thought he was serious for once.

I smiled and replied.

“Sure.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve wanted to shave my head at least once. It’ll be cool and nice since it’s almost summer.”

Then Cha Yuri chuckled next to me.

Doctor Byun shook his head as if he had nothing more to say.

“Ugh, you’re crazy. I don’t know anymore, do whatever you want.”

* * *

“Yeah. I’m crazy, I’m crazy.”

Evening time as the sun sets.

I muttered to myself as I climbed the stairs of a shabby alley.

It’s such a steep alley that it feels like I’m hiking.

I also thought, ‘What am I doing with my precious off time?’

“Hoo.”

It’s not summer yet, but it’s getting hot.

As I walked hard, sweat started to form on my forehead.

I took off the cardigan I was wearing and climbed the hill.

Suddenly, I turned my head and looked up at the sky, and the sun was setting between the tangled power lines like a spider web.

“Not here… not here either…”

I searched for signs between the shabby alleys.

I’m sure it’s near here….

Soon I was able to find a restaurant sign.

It was an old-fashioned fried chicken restaurant that is hard to find these days.

“Welcome.”

Clang—

As I opened the door and entered the store, a man in his 40s greeted me.

It’s the first time we’ve met.

But his face was familiar to my eyes.

It was definitely the face I saw at the funeral in my dream.

‘It feels strange. Seeing someone I saw in a dream like this in reality…’

I thought so and bowed my head.

“Hello. I’m Doctor Shin Sun-han, who contacted you by phone.”

The man is slightly surprised.

Then he said with wary eyes.

“I guess doctors are more free than I thought? To come all the way here….”

‘Did you really come because I told you to?’ That’s exactly what he sounded like.

Well, even I think it’s absurd.

Whether it’s the Shin family’s unique stubbornness or something… I sometimes don’t know myself well.

The man, after receiving my business card, looked at me up and down and said.

“Have you eaten?”

“No. I came straight here after work.”

“Then come and have a meal since you’re here.”

Squeak—

The man got up and put on plastic gloves.

He was missing a finger.

His leg also seemed a little uncomfortable.

It must be a disability left by the aftereffects of Agent Orange in the second generation.

I didn’t show it and sat still and waited.

After a while, I smiled as I looked at the food he gave me and said.

“Thank you for the food! There aren’t many places that fry chicken like this these days.”

“Business isn’t good.”

“Why? It looks so delicious.”

“I don’t know. I guess people are wary because it’s run by a disabled person.”

The man said with a smirk.

It was a dark and self-deprecating smile.

I hesitated for a moment about what to say.

I don’t know how to react in these situations.

“When I say this, people usually comfort me by saying things like, ‘Don’t think that way,’ or ‘Live positively.’ It’s funny, isn’t it? They’ve never lived as disabled people themselves.”

“…”

“Eat. I don’t know if it will suit your taste.”

The man went out the door sullenly.

And while I was eating, he sat in front of the store and smoked.

Whoosh—

The smoke rises high into the sky.

It seems to express the man’s troubled feelings.

“So, what is it that you wanted to say?”

After a while, the man came into the store and asked me.

His tone is still full of wariness.

I cleaned up what I was eating and said to the man sitting across from me.

“Grandpa Attackjung is not doing well.”

“I know. He has lung cancer.”

The man said indifferently.

It’s as if he’s saying, ‘Why are you telling me something I already know?’

“So… what? Did you come here to criticize me for not showing my face as a son?”

“No. It’s not like that.”

I shook my head.

I have no intention of meddling in the family relationship between the patient and the guardian.

I can’t, and I shouldn’t.

Just….

“As a doctor, I’m trying to accurately inform you of the current situation.”

“Yes?”

“The patient is going to die soon.”

Flinch—

The man’s expression hardened at my words.

He probably hasn’t heard these words from the hospital staff.

This is because medical staff rarely speak to the guardian as if they are confirming the patient’s future.

But I’m different.

Because I’ve already seen the future.

I could feel his pupils trembling slightly after hearing my words.