Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 174

#174 Where He’s Headed (5)

I glanced at Geun-wook’s paper.

“Which department are you agonizing over?”

“I don’t know. I’m definitely not going to any department that deals with vitals, and these days, the ‘magic square’ is supposed to be good……”

.

It’s a playful term for the departments of Anesthesiology, Radiation Oncology, and Laboratory Medicine.

All three departments are known for having little contact with patients while still being attractive.

But Geun-wook didn’t seem sure.

“Is there anything you want among these?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I’ve lost my way. I have less than a month left to decide on a major, and it’s driving me crazy.”

Geun-wook shrank back, dejected.

This is a rare occurrence.

Kim Geun-wook, who has been trained with intense deltoid exercises, is shrinking his shoulders?

It was something that could never happen unless it was a big deal.

“I thought I had a lot of things I wanted to do when I first became a doctor……”

* * *

Kim Geun-wook, 27 years old.

He was in a slump.

Is this what it feels like to be in a rut?

He didn’t feel motivated to do anything.

Like spinach that has been blanched too much in salt water, he felt soggy and droopy.

This morning alone, he lay blankly on his bunk bed before going to work, thinking all sorts of things.

‘Ah, I wish an asteroid would fall and destroy the Earth.’

If the Earth is destroyed, I won’t have to work, right?

Geun-wook imagined a huge rock falling from the sky and crashing into the hospital.

He grinned, but soon shook his head.

No, if an asteroid falls, what about the patients?

I have to think of something else quickly.

‘Come to think of it, I heard that one of the interns broke his toe and took a few days off…….’

Geun-wook ran a simulation in his head.

If I accidentally fall on my way to work and tumble down the stairs, can I get about 3 days off?

But he shook his head again.

If I lie down for 3 days, I’ll lose muscle, right?

Absolutely not.

In the end, it seems like I can’t avoid going to work no matter what.

Beep, beep―

The final alarm goes off.

It was the last alarm that had been set in triplicate just in case.

6:17 a.m.

Geun-wook, who had been putting off going to work with all sorts of delusions, sighed and got out of bed.

‘It’s going to be a long day today.’

Pediatric Ward 9(E).

The resident doctor starts to nag Geun-wook with a prickly tone again today.

“Geun-wook, are you doing the PCD [percutaneous drainage catheter] irrigation (washing) for patient Jung Chan-ki properly?”

“Yes, I’m doing it every 4 hours.”

“You know you can’t just try to force it open with brute strength, right? You have to tell me if it’s blocked.”

“Ah…… yes.”

Soon, Geun-wook goes to the preparation room right next door to prepare the dressing, and he hears the resident doctor muttering to himself.

“Seriously, I can’t trust him. What’s the point of being big? It’s not like you can treat patients with muscles……”

Resident Ahn Jae-soo.

He has an unpleasant personality, just like his name suggests.

He started picking on Geun-wook from the first day, and it’s been getting worse lately.

‘Damn it. He looks like he can’t even lift a 5kg dumbbell…….’

Geun-wook sometimes wondered.

Is being a doctor right for me?

I dug into one thing and became a doctor, but what if this isn’t the path for me?

The thought of having to live with a leash on in this society for the next few years makes his pectoralis major involuntarily stingy.

As he was thinking that, Dr. Ahn Jae-soo passed by and said another word.

“You’re not going to get a workout by using your strength while doing stiff irrigation, are you? You know you can’t do that to patients, right?”

Hey, man.

I understand when you say it once!

And do you think I’d even think about going to the gym while doing my intern job?

‘Ugh, I already want to go home…… Let’s just finish work quickly!’

In the ward that Geun-wook was in charge of, there was a 9-year-old girl who had been hospitalized for 29 days already.

A patient who was hospitalized with neuroblastoma [a type of cancer that forms in nerve tissue] and received chemotherapy.

It had been about a week since she was transferred to the general ward after being in isolation during chemotherapy.

She had even undergone ‘autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation,’ in which her own bone marrow that had been collected in advance was injected, and she was waiting to recover.

“Hello, doctor.”

“Yes, hello.”

As he entered the hospital room, Geun-wook answered the guardian.

‘Soulless state’.

It was a word that described Geun-wook in a nutshell.

Thinking of finishing the dressing quickly and returning, Geun-wook said to the patient.

“Hi, Ina?”

Yoon Ina, 9 years old.

The girl with big, bold eyes raises her head.

“Okay, Ina. It’s time to disinfect.”

Then the child glances at Geun-wook and turns her head away, saying.

“Scary.”

“Huh?”

“Monster uncle.”

Geun-wook was shocked.

A monster?

Do I look that scary?

Children don’t lie…….

Soon, Ina’s mother lightly scolds the child.

“Ina, you shouldn’t call him that. You have to say hello to the doctor.”

“Monster uncle.”

“Ina, I told you not to say that?”

“Then gorilla uncle.”

“…….”

“Your face looks like a gorilla.”

Hahaha.

Geun-wook forced a laugh.

It felt like he was getting hit in the bones by an elementary school student.

I already had the nickname Kim Gorilla when I was young, but it brings back memories after a long time.

“I’m sorry, doctor.”

“No. Your child has good observation skills.”

Geun-wook tried to calm his mind with a joke.

Calm down, Kim Geun-wook.

The opponent is an elementary school student.

The disinfection to be performed today is central catheter disinfection.

But suddenly, Ina turned her back.

“I don’t want to do it.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to get disinfected because the doctor is ugly.”

“Ina, this will be over soon. And you have to get disinfected to be discharged quickly.”

“I don’t want to. The other doctor gave me chocolate, but this doctor doesn’t. And you’re ugly like a gorilla.”

Ina is unyielding.

A stubborn personality.

Then the mother apologizes again as if she is in trouble and bows her head.

“I’m sorry, doctor. Our Ina is so stubborn…….”

Geun-wook glanced at his watch.

Lumbar puncture assist is scheduled for a while later.

If it takes too long, Dr. Ahn Jae-soo will definitely tear him apart.

So he couldn’t delay any longer here.

“Ina, if you don’t get disinfected, the teacher will say you’re bad~!”

Geun-wook said, spreading his arms and threatening her.

Ina stares at Geun-wook with slightly surprised eyes.

Then, all of a sudden, she bowed her head and covered her face.

“Waaaaah……”

Oops, mistake.

I made her cry!

Cold sweat drips from Geun-wook’s back.

Time is passing even at this moment.

Geun-wook hurriedly began to soothe the child.

“Ina~ don’t cry. The teacher was wrong.”

“Hoo-hoo.”

“The teacher doesn’t have chocolate right now, what should I do? Huh?”

“Imitate a gorilla.”

“…….”

Do I have to go this far?

I can’t help it.

What can’t I do?

Geun-wook began to imitate a gorilla by bending his arms in a circle.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh!”

Pfft.

The nurse next to him turns her head.

Other people in the ward hurriedly hold back their laughter, and the children in the other beds giggle.

“Wow, it’s a gorilla!”

“It’s a real gorilla, Mom!”

Kim Gorilla, who suddenly became the center of attention for the children.

“Hee hee…… Okay, Ina. Are you going to get disinfected now?”

Then the child opened her eyes wide as if she had never cried and said.

“I don’t want to?”

“…….”

“Do you really do what I tell you to do? You stupid gorilla.”

Kim Geun-wook, 27 years old.

It was the first time he had been humiliated like this today.

In the end, it took 10 minutes to appease the picky Ina, and Geun-wook, who was late, had to be torn apart.

‘Ugh, really!’

Yoon Ina, 9 years old.

She was a patient who felt like she would be tormenting Geun-wook’s pediatrics life for a long time.

* * *

Ina was a unique child.

Should I say she felt overly mature for her age?

She sometimes pretended to cry to make adults feel embarrassed, but in fact, she didn’t cry at all unless it was a big deal.

For example, even when drawing blood, she only frowned and didn’t whine.

The problem was, she was too stubborn.

Even the nurses who had dealt with many children raised both hands and feet [gave up].

“Geun-wook, Ina is being stubborn again.”

“Again?”

“Please do something about it. At least she listens to you, Geun-wook?”

The nurse said as if she was in trouble.

Before he knew it, Kim Geun-wook had become Ina’s exclusive marker [go-to person].

He sighed and entered the hospital room cheerfully.

“Hi, Ina?”

Then Ina, who was hugging a pillow and had a sulky expression, perked up her head.

“It’s the gorilla uncle.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s the gorilla uncle. Ooh-kkee-kkee!”

Geun-wook approached, comically stretching his philtrum [the vertical groove between the base of the nose and the upper lip] and scratching his chin.

It was a kind of voluntary tax payment [appeasement].

Then Ina looked at Geun-wook with a look of pity.

“Ugh, that’s not a gorilla, it’s a monkey. Are you a doctor and you can’t even tell the difference?”

“…….”

“How ignorant.”

Bear with it, bear with it.

You shouldn’t get angry at an elementary school student.

Geun-wook forced up the corners of his mouth, which wouldn’t go up, and said.

“Ina, you have to get tested again today.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Should I imitate a gorilla properly again?”

“I’m tired of it.”

“Then what should I do?”

“……I want to play with the gorilla uncle’s hair.”

“Okay, okay.”

Geun-wook was able to perform a respiratory virus PCR test [a test to detect genetic material from a virus] in exchange for giving up his bangs.

Meanwhile, the guardian bowed her head again, not knowing what to do.

“I’m sorry, doctor. Our child is so stubborn…… Once she’s hooked on something, no one can stop her.”

“It’s okay. I wanted to change my hairstyle anyway.”

“I’m so sorry every time.”

Ina’s mother was her only guardian.

As a result of watching for a few days, the father had never visited.

Could there be something wrong?

I don’t know.

He just vaguely thought that there must be a reason of his own.

“Okay, done!”

Geun-wook finished the test.

His bangs, which had risen from his seat, were tied to the sky with a fluorescent rubber band.

“Wow, it’s a gorilla with hair tied up!”

“Mom, that uncle is weird!”

Buzzing.

Children gather around.

In the meantime, Kim Geun-wook had been branded as a gorilla in the pediatric ward, perhaps because he had imitated apes several times.

“Hehehe, gorilla uncle is so funny!”

Ina laughed, holding her stomach.

She was a strangely mature child, but even at times like this, she smiled brightly like an ordinary peer.

‘Seriously…… Is it that fun to make fun of me?’

Geun-wook grumbled as he left the hospital room.

Still, for some reason, he didn’t feel so bad.

‘Anyway, I’m not bored because of that little kid.’

It felt like clear air was slowly entering Geun-wook’s lifeless daily life.

* * *

That night.

Geun-wook was wandering around the convenience store.

His eyes were carefully scanning the chocolate corner.

‘Wow, these days kids are living in luxury.’

They even put toys in the chocolate?

We didn’t have this when I was a kid!

Geun-wook exclaimed and took a few egg-shaped chocolates.

‘Okay. I should put a few of these in my pocket!’

Then I can appease Ina a few times, right?

Chocolate is the best way to appease a naughty child.

Let’s buy something else in case she doesn’t like it.

I don’t know why I have to go this far, but Geun-wook was unknowingly sweeping chocolate into the basket.

Ring-ring―

At that time, the pager in his pocket rang loudly.

What’s going on at this hour?

As soon as he answered the call, he immediately heard a quick voice from the other side of the receiver.

“Intern, patient Yoon Ina in room 72 has an EKG [electrocardiogram] reading. It’s urgent―!”

An EKG (electrocardiogram) test call.

Why all of a sudden?

Geun-wook felt something ominous.

Without even having time to think, his feet were quickly heading to the ward.