Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 147

#147 Happy Birthday (6)

“This will be your last attempt at pregnancy, ma’am.”

“Ah…”

I felt a pang of sympathy.

Come to think of it, I seemed to have overheard them mentioning something like that while the patient and her spouse were talking.

That they would try only this once, and if it didn’t work out, they would give up on having a child.

Doctor Yoo Jung-nam sniffled, rubbing his reddened nose and said,

“It’s not like it’s been just once or twice, but three failed attempts at pregnancy… and the patient isn’t exactly young either.”

He continued his explanation.

That even though they had tied the cervix with the Bong-chook surgery [a surgical procedure to reinforce the cervix] this time, it ultimately couldn’t hold, resulting in premature birth.

That meant the patient’s cervix was extremely weak.

Once someone experiences premature birth like this, the risk of premature birth increases even more in the next pregnancy attempt.

“Of course, it’s not impossible for things to go well next time, but the patient herself will be scared, especially since the emotional scars will be significant this time… Aigoo [an expression of dismay or frustration], can I have some more tissues?”

Paeng!

Doctor Yoo blew his nose once again.

Meanwhile, I was lost in thought, listening to his words.

‘They were a couple who desperately wanted a child…’

Is giving up the best option after all?

Of course, the chances of success are low, but it’s not like the possibility is zero.

In times like these, what should doctors say to their patients?

Should we say that?

Then, what about the sense of despair the patient would feel if they tried again and failed?

…There is no right answer.

Doctors are not gods.

There are many cases where they cannot give definitive answers to the patient’s problems.

They can only explain the patient’s condition and various possibilities, and help them no matter what decision they make.

‘If I were the attending physician or the professor in charge, what would I have said to the patient…’

Huh?

At that moment, my vision blurred.

Gubultung― [onomatopoeia for a dizzying sensation]

Time stretches out like taffy.

Whenever I feel like this out of the blue, a scene from the future inevitably flashes….

* * *

“……!”

I was in the darkness.

I felt strange.

Even though I was standing on two feet, I felt a sense of floating, as if I were drifting in the water.

‘…Where is this?’

I looked up and was startled.

It was an awe-inspiring sight.

In the vast darkness.

Dozens, no, hundreds of scenes were faintly visible in the distance.

It felt like an abstract space, not a real one.

It was like watching an unidentified video art, or being thrown into a dark night sky filled with clouds.

‘What… this is different from the future visions I’ve seen so far?’

Get a grip!

First, I need to accurately assess the situation.

Looking closely, I can see numerous thin ‘lines’ around me.

The lines extend, bend, and intersect, creating complex shapes.

And each of those lines stretches straight ahead.

‘What is this… is it like a guideline?’

There are too many lines.

Where should I go?

I calmed my excited heart and looked around.

‘!’

At that moment, I felt my body being pulled along one of the lines.

Seureureuk― [onomatopoeia for a sliding sound]

It’s like being drawn by gravity.

If I just relax and let myself go, I’ll surely arrive somewhere naturally….

As my body slowly moved in one direction, something caught my eye.

‘Wait a minute. Come to think of it…’

Among the numerous lines.

There was only one .

Like light coming through a slightly opened curtain in a darkened theater….

A mysterious golden light cut through the darkness, illuminating only one line.

‘What is that shining line?’

It felt like someone was telling me that.

I was a little scared, but the feeling of being intrigued and curious was much greater.

‘Let’s check it out.’

Seuek― [onomatopoeia for a quick, sliding movement]

I broke away from gravity.

And moved along the new light.

Should I call it instinct?

Intuitively, I could feel that something was waiting for me at the end of that line.

Paat― [onomatopoeia for a sudden flash of light]

Soon, the scene that had been faintly playing at that destination came closer to my eyes.

Feeling a warmth like a spring breeze, I fell into the cluster of light.

……A little later.

In the living room of an unfamiliar house with sunlight streaming through the veranda, I opened my eyes.

It was similar to the future scenes I had seen so far, but much brighter and warmer.

“Come here, my daughter!”

I heard a familiar voice.

Patient Ahn Young-hee.

The patient who had just experienced a heartbreaking event at the hospital.

But now, she was smiling happily, spreading her arms wide towards something.

I looked into the room over her shoulder.

“!”

It was a baby.

About a year old?

The baby, sitting on the mat and basking in the spring sunshine, was looking this way with a bewildered expression.

“Oodah?” [baby talk for “Where are you?”]

A girl with chubby cheeks.

So cute.

Wouldn’t that be what it would look like if you rolled up the word and molded it into a baby?

If that’s how I feel, I can only imagine how pretty she must look in her parents’ eyes.

“Come on, Yoon-jung, get up! Let’s eat a snack!”

“Snack…….”

The child’s eyes sparkle.

Heave, heave― [onomatopoeia for effort]

She wiggles her bottom as if she’s about to stand up any second.

Next to her, her dad is holding a smartphone, filming with a happy expression.

“Uh-oh, that’s right, she’s getting up!”

“Kya―!” [a baby’s excited sound]

Thump!

The child stands up and walks.

She seems like she’s about to fall but doesn’t, and finally toddles across the mat and hugs her mom.

“Our Yoon-jung, first steps successful!”

“Wow!”

The faces of the couple lifting the child are full of happiness.

Even I, who am watching, feel my heart warming.

This was the first time I had felt this way while seeing the future.

In the dream, no one is hurt or sick.

Just a peaceful and happy time, like a scene from a home video, continues.

“Who does our Yoon-jung take after to be so cute?”

“She takes after her dad~!”

“No, she takes after her mom~ right?”

At the couple’s words, the baby turned her head away as if she was annoyed and focused on her snack.

“Snack!”

A beaming smile spreads once again.

The couple takes turns showering the baby with kisses, as if she’s too cute to handle.

“Isn’t our Yoon-jung so pretty?”

“Yeah.”

“I gave birth to her, but it’s so amazing to see our Yoon-jung growing up… I don’t know how I lived without knowing this happiness all this time.”

The voice saying that gradually fades away.

‘…The dream is ending!’

Little by little.

The scene in front of me darkens.

As if to say that this happy future is not allowed for the two of them….

Like a mirage in the spring, it fades away into the darkness, ephemeral and faint.

But then.

The last conversation they had was clearly heard in my ear.

“…If I had given up on pregnancy back then, I wouldn’t have had this happiness, right?”

* * *

Paat! [onomatopoeia for a sudden flash of light]

I snapped back to reality.

The warm sunlight is nowhere to be found.

Instead, I see the hospital station with white fluorescent lights shining in front of me.

‘…What did I just see?’

Kkuk― [onomatopoeia for pressing something]

I pressed on my eyelids.

Before I knew it, goosebumps had risen on my arms.

After being in a dream like a spring fantasy and suddenly snapping out of it, the hospital feels particularly chilly.

‘It was definitely a scene of Ahn Young-hee having a child in the future…’

Of course, it’s a good thing.

If the future flows that way, it couldn’t be better.

But, something’s strange, isn’t it?

Everything I’ve seen so far has been ominous futures. Someone getting hurt, dying, medical accidents happening, and so on….

But this time, it was a happy future on the contrary.

Moreover, the hundreds of that stretched out in the darkness before that.

What does this even mean?

“What’s wrong?”

Doctor Yoo Jung-nam looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Something got in my eye.”

“Shall I ‘hoo’ it for you?”

“No, I’m okay now.”

I smiled and shook my head at the kind Doctor Yoo Jung-nam.

Meanwhile, my heart was pounding.

New pattern!

I thought I had gotten used to my abilities, but I guess that wasn’t the case.

There were more things I didn’t know yet.

“I’m going to the restroom for a moment….”

“Ah, okay. There’s nothing to do for the time being, so go to the dorm and get some sleep. You worked hard until dawn.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Kkubeok [onomatopoeia for bowing the head slightly].

I bowed my head and got up from my seat.

First, let’s go somewhere with fresh air.

And, I needed time to interpret the new phenomenon I had experienced.

‘Let’s sort it out.’

Jeobeok, jeobeok― [onomatopoeia for footsteps]

I thought as I left the obstetrics and gynecology ward.

The future visions I’ve seen so far, although slightly different, have not deviated from a single pattern.

[Problem] = The patient will be in danger soon.

Then what should I do?

[Answer] = I have to change the future!

……It’s been like this so far.

But, it changed for the first time.

There’s nothing to change in the future I saw. Rather, I want to create such a future somehow.

‘Then… the reason why I was shown this…?’

Jeobeok, jeobeok― [onomatopoeia for footsteps]

Thoughts lead to thoughts.

As I walked absentmindedly, I had already arrived at the long passage connecting the cancer center and the main building.

In the dead of night.

No one was passing through the passage.

At that time, a large poem hanging on the wall of the hallway caught my eye.

A fork in the road.

And next to it was a famous poem written.

[The Road Not Taken]

―Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

…….

It was a poem I had seen countless times when I was studying as a student, but it felt different when I read it now.

‘Yes, a fork in the road.’ If everything so far has shown me …….