Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 141

#141 Another Level (13)

‘Who could it be at this hour?’

I stopped in my tracks, sensing someone near the bed.

Inside the curtain.

I could see ankles and light blue surgical pants, along with low-heeled shoes.

Swish—

I slightly opened the curtain and peeked inside.

“Intern?”

My eyes met Cheon Sa-yeon’s.

She was holding something in her hand, squeezing it diligently.

JP drain (Jackson-Pratt drain) [a closed-suction medical device used to remove fluids from surgical sites or wounds].

A long plastic tube coming from inside the abdominal cavity, connected to a grenade-shaped container.

In other words, it’s a device that drains blood from the abdominal cavity.

“What’s going on? There shouldn’t be any separate orders for this patient?”

I was about to answer when I noticed Nurse Cheon Sa-yeon squeezing the JP line.

‘Let’s see… the color of the blood is…’

It’s thinner than I thought.

A light pink, as if diluted with water?

In other words, the intra-abdominal bleeding is minimal.

The vital signs on the monitor were also stable.

‘Good. At this rate, I can confidently say that I’ve prevented the that I was worried about.’

Only then did I feel relieved and answered.

“I was worried about the patient, so I came to check.”

“…The patient’s post-op condition is good, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Yes.”

As Cheon Sa-yeon said.

The patient’s condition seemed fine.

However, perhaps due to the pain medication, she was closing her eyes while lying on the half-raised bed.

She looked like she wanted to open her eyes but couldn’t resist the drowsiness.

“Mom, wake up. The doctor told you to do deep breathing exercises today.”

The daughter next to her tapped the patient’s shoulder to wake her up.

After any surgery, one must be careful of atelectasis [complete or partial collapse of a lung] after general anesthesia.

This is because the patient has been relying on a ventilator to breathe for a long time.

If the patient cannot breathe properly due to post-operative pain and the effects of pain medication, the lungs may not expand properly.

“Intern, while you’re here, could you help this patient with deep breathing?”

“Yes.”

At Cheon Sa-yeon’s words, I approached the patient.

At that moment, patient Jeong Sun-rye smiled with a dazed expression and said.

“Are all the doctors here usually this kind? Both the female doctor and the male doctor are so kind.”

Cheon Sa-yeon is kind?

I couldn’t believe my ears.

Soon, Cheon Sa-yeon said with a sweet laugh.

“Oh, no. It’s our job to treat patients, Mother.”

……Ugh, ticklish!

I got goosebumps on my neck.

Cheon Sa-yeon was much more affable when dealing with patients than when dealing with professors.

It was a completely different face from when she treated the interns.

Fake?

Perhaps that’s how you could describe it.

However, even so, her kind treatment of the patient didn’t seem bad.

“Mother, I’ll be going now. This intern will help you well.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Rustle—

Cheon Sa-yeon opened the curtain and left.

She doesn’t seem like a bad person as a doctor after all.

However, that doesn’t mean her habit of nitpicking on interns has changed.

As I thought that and helped the patient, the daughter next to her said.

“Seriously, Mom, you’re such a drama queen. The surgery went well like this.”

“Okay, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t you ever write a will again.”

The daughter scolded her mother.

Of course, she said that because she didn’t know how dangerous the outcome of this surgery could have been.

“By the way, Daughter, you went on a trip to Europe before, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How many countries did you visit?”

“Why all of a sudden? When did you become interested in Europe?”

Patient Jeong Sun-rye smiled and then asked me this time.

“Doctor, where was that place? The place I saw on TV. Cro… what was it, I can’t remember.”

“Croatia.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Why Croatia all of a sudden?”

“That place is like this……”

Even in her dazed state, patient Jeong Sun-rye began to explain excitedly.

A face gaunt from dehydration, a weak and small voice.

However, there seemed to be a bit of vitality in her eyes.

The daughter held her mother’s hand tightly.

“Yeah. Let’s definitely go if the chemotherapy goes well.”

“Oh, stop it. It’s not that I want to go……”

“I want to go with you, Mom. Let’s definitely go when you’re fully recovered.”

“Okay, I got it.”

I smiled at the two people’s warm conversation.

Perhaps, in a few years.

Patient Jeong Sun-rye might be walking in a foreign park.

Under the shade of trees where sunlight shatters, she might see the emerald-colored lake and the waterfalls pouring down in several streams.

As long as you’re alive, you can look forward to what happens next.

“Patient, you endured the surgery really well.”

I patted the patient and stood up.

Of course, I don’t know what will happen after this.

I need to check for at least two days whether I have completely prevented heart-related complications.

The upcoming chemotherapy will also be a difficult process.

However, I prayed in my heart.

That this patient can safely overcome it and regain her health.

* * *

A little later.

I came out of the hospital room.

Then, Cheon Sa-yeon, who was waiting with her arms crossed in the hallway, said.

“Did you teach her enough about deep breathing?”

I was startled.

She was wearing a white coat and stuck to the wall, so I couldn’t see her.

Is she a chameleon?

Since I also had something I wanted to ask, I naturally asked.

“Yes. But will the heart problem be okay? The drugs that prevent blood clot formation have also been stopped……”

I asked carefully.

Fortunately, the answer that came back was positive.

“We’ll start the antiplatelet agents [medications that prevent blood clots] again as soon as we confirm there’s no bleeding, so don’t worry.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“And……”

Cheon Sa-yeon hesitated.

Come to think of it, she was waiting in front of the hospital room.

Is there something more she wants to say to me?

“No, it’s nothing.”

Cheon Sa-yeon spoke bluntly as usual and disappeared with the sound of footsteps.

What, why was she waiting for me?

She’s so flaky.

‘Is it because of what happened earlier, she feels awkward looking at my face.’

Grumble—

Suddenly, I felt hungry.

It was well past dinner time, and I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

Okay, let’s get something to eat.

At this rate, I’ll collapse before I can treat the patients.

‘The staff cafeteria has been closed for a long time…… If I go to the general cafeteria, I might be able to eat something?’

Thinking that, I got on the elevator.

But then.

Thud—

A shoe came in between the closing doors.

Cheon Sa-yeon, who had turned around and reappeared, asked.

“Are you, by any chance, going to the cafeteria?”

“Yes?”

Today’s lesson.

Press the close button quickly.

* * *

Cafeteria.

Joong-won hyung [older brother/friend] is coming out with a few interns.

Then, his eyes meet mine and his eyes widen.

“Oh? Seon-han…… Ah, hello.”

He tries to greet me, but bows his head to greet Cheon Sa-yeon next to me.

Then he looks back and forth between us.

The interns next to him also know Cheon Sa-yeon’s notoriety, and they all have dumbfounded expressions.

That’s the look on their faces.

Yeah, I’m wondering that too.

Why did I end up coming to eat with this person I’m not even close to?

A little later.

I sat down and picked up my fork.

Cheon Sa-yeon insisted on bringing me here and bought me food.

……It’s a bit awkward sitting face to face.

However, the awkwardness was soon forgotten when the hamburger steak I had been craving was placed in front of me.

“Aren’t you eating, Cheon Sa-yeon?”

“I will.”

Cheon Sa-yeon said that, but she barely picked up her chopsticks in front of me.

“Thank you for the meal.”

I started eating.

Delicious!

I feel like I’m finally alive after starving all day.

But this person seems to be uncomfortable even though she brought me here.

Cheon Sa-yeon fiddled with the bean sprouts with her chopsticks and suddenly asked.

“Do you usually have good social skills?”

“Yes?”

“The scrub nurse even pretended to be on your side, going as far as acting.”

As expected, Cheon Sa-yeon.

She’s a perceptive person.

She knows that the nurse pretended to count the gauze during the surgery earlier.

I didn’t bother to answer, using the food in my mouth as an excuse, and Cheon Sa-yeon continued.

“I’m rumored to be a pain in the ass, right?”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’ll know when you become a resident later. How messed up it gets if you let the interns loose and treat them nicely.”

She picked up another bean sprout with her chopsticks and then continued.

“Back in the day, one intern submitted specimens from three people with blood drawn from one person? All three lab results were the same! Sounds like a lie, right? It’s real.”

I was surprised.

That’s a bit too much?

It means that they did the patients’ blood tests carelessly because they were lazy.

Even if they’re interns, there’s someone who does that?

“Really?”

“And there was also this……”

Her excited words continued.

It was a bit new.

Until now, I could only look at the residents from the intern’s point of view.

However, the superiors’ positions were different.

Intern = no affiliation.

In other words, there is less responsibility.

Of course, most people try to work hard, but that’s not always the case.

Because they’re physically tired, some people try to get away with things by subtly looking around and doing things half-heartedly.

But in the midst of that, there’s a line that should never be crossed, and Cheon Sa-yeon seems to have seen such cases a few times.

“Do you know what I think when I see that kind of thing?”

You have to crack down!

If you treat them well, they’ll get lax and cause accidents!

You have to scold them unconditionally!

You have to shake them up to make them human!

That was Cheon Sa-yeon’s own principle.

‘……But don’t you think you don’t have to go out of your way to find fault?’

I stopped thinking that.

After listening, it seemed like Cheon Sa-yeon had her own reasons for thinking that way.

Yeah, she must have her own difficulties.

Residents must also have a hard time because of the interns.

“Well, I’ve been talking too much unnecessarily. Anyway, don’t think of me as too heartless. Okay?”

“I understand.”

“This is also an opportunity, do you have anything you’ve always wanted to say? What’s the hardest thing about being an intern?”

I was a little surprised by Cheon Sa-yeon’s suddenly softened tone.

Maybe this is an opportunity.

……That would be the right answer as far as social life is concerned.

However, I decided to say what I had to say.

“I hope you can reduce the data work for the thesis.”

“……Yes?”

“I know that’s not originally an intern’s job. Of course, it’s research for the patients, though.”

Thud.

Cheon Sa-yeon dropped the bean sprouts she was about to pick up into the bowl, looking flustered.

That’s exactly the look on her face.

“I’m okay, but Kim Mi-seon, the intern who works with me, is a mother with a child who just turned one. She hasn’t been able to see her child for three days because of the data, so I would appreciate it if you could be considerate.”

Okay, I said it.

What kind of answer will come back?

I waited for the reaction, and the following answer was somewhat unexpected.