Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 217

#217 Hawk Eyes, a Woman’s Hands, a Lion’s Heart (20)

Same time.

Song Yu-ju sat alone at the nurse’s station in the pediatric cardiac intensive care unit.

In the bed directly in front of her, Seul-gi, who had just finished surgery, was sleeping soundly and in stable condition.

“…….”

She stared blankly at the ceiling, lost in thought.

How long had it been?

Since she had felt such an intense and profound emotion.

During the three hours she spent watching and assisting Baek Yi-shin’s surgery, she felt like something in her life had shifted.

‘I’ve never witnessed surgery performed at such a high level before.’

Stimulation is something you become accustomed to.

The first incision.

The first surgery.

The experiences that once made her heart race had long since lost their novelty.

She had begun to think there would be no new sources of excitement or challenge in the future.

She imagined herself becoming a chief resident, then a fellow, and after a few years, a professor.

She felt a sense of boredom, anticipating that all that remained was to endure predictable and repetitive routines.

‘I felt like I was adrift in the vast ocean…….’

But then, she rediscovered it.

The milestone she had long forgotten.

Now she no longer felt lost at sea.

She felt like she was standing on solid ground once more.

It had been a long time since she felt the urge to strive further and aim higher.

“You’ve worked hard.”

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed beside her.

Her classmate, Ma Dong-seop, stood there smiling.

Song Yu-ju accepted the lollipop he offered.

“Get some sugar.”

“Thanks.”

“I’m so glad the surgery went well. I was watching from the auditorium, and my hands were sweating. I was so scared when you were doing pump weaning [gradually reducing the use of the heart-lung machine]!”

“I was surprised too.”

Song Yu-ju thought back to what had happened an hour ago.

‘Tunnel vision’.

When you’re completely absorbed in something, you can’t see anything else.

Perhaps most people would have had the same initial reaction when the oxygen saturation dropped in the operating room.

‘There must be a problem with the heart surgery.’

Because it was the first surgery of its kind in Korea.

Ma Dong-seop chuckled, as if amused by something.

“But, you know what’s funny? There was only one guy among us who was watching the situation objectively without being shaken.”

“Who?”

“Who else could it be?”

“Shin Seon-han?”

Song Yu-ju had already memorized the intern’s name.

“Yeah. He didn’t even bat an eye and said, ‘Isn’t there a problem with the lungs, not the heart?'”

“…….”

“He even noticed it almost at the same time as Professor Baek Yi-shin?”

Song Yu-ju’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

Of course, if you thought about it calmly, it wasn’t a particularly difficult deduction.

One of the standard things to check when pump weaning is proving difficult is the condition of the lungs.

But to maintain a calm and clear judgment without being swayed by the surrounding panic….

“Isn’t it funny? For an intern.”

“Yeah. For an intern.”

The two chuckled.

They had had a similar conversation once before.

It was when they first met the intern Shin Seon-han.

That was a year ago, and now that intern was about to join the Department of Thoracic Surgery.

“Interesting.”

Song Yu-ju spoke the word, then pondered its meaning.

Yes, it was interesting.

It wasn’t predictable or dull.

Interesting stimuli were what drove her forward, moment by moment.

Ma Dong-seop smiled contentedly as he watched Song Yu-ju’s eyes light up with life for the first time in a long while.

“Do you want to rest a little longer?”

“Rest my ass. I have to go to the pediatric ward right now and insert a C-line [central venous catheter, a tube inserted into a large vein].”

“After listening to Professor Baek Yi-shin’s presentation today, I don’t think you’ll be able to work comfortably in the future, Yu-ju?”

“Ah, it’s going to be so hard.”

Song Yu-ju dusted off her surgical gown and stood up.

The workday was just beginning.

The life of a thoracic surgeon wasn’t easy enough to allow for rest after finishing a major surgery.

“Shall we order some jokbal [pig’s feet, a popular Korean dish], the one you like, in the on-call room tonight?”

“You buy.”

“Deal.”

“Should we invite the first-year residents too?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

The two, who would soon become chief residents, left the intensive care unit and walked towards the elevator.

And they both thought.

That their life in the Department of Thoracic Surgery might become a little more interesting in the future.

* * *

End of February.

Winter was beginning to loosen its grip.

It wasn’t quite spring yet, but it wasn’t as bitterly cold as it had been.

Geun-wook and I were cleaning up the room we had shared for the past year.

As we packed the scattered belongings into cardboard boxes, the dorm room quickly became empty.

“Are we finally free from each other?”

“Who are you to say that?”

“We’ve been together like an old married couple all this time. Even if we live apart, you can’t cheat on me, Seon-han!”

“Don’t say disgusting things.”

I pushed away Geun-wook, who was trying to cling to me.

I said that, but I felt a pang of sadness.

Even though we weren’t related, it was the first time I had lived so closely with someone for an entire year.

“Well, we’ll see each other often in the future!”

“Yeah. We can meet at the pediatric cardiology conference, right? It’s a natural point of contact between pediatrics and thoracic surgery.”

“Have a good time in the Department of Thoracic Surgery!”

“Yeah, you get along well with the kids.”

“Don’t worry. Pediatrics is my true calling!”

Geun-wook smiled brightly.

Dawn was breaking.

We were sharing small talk as we headed to the cafeteria.

We were eating with our classmates for the first time in a while, and the news was playing on TV.

This surgery by Professor Baek Yi-shin is said to be the first of its kind in Korea…… Weren’t you afraid to have your daughter undergo the surgery?>

Soon, a familiar face appeared on the screen.

Seul-gi’s guardian.

As it was a surgery that had become a national sensation, the media was paying close attention.

Of course, I was scared. But I believed that they would do their best…….

Seul-gi’s mother smiled as she held her baby.

I am grateful to not only Professor Baek, but also to all the doctors and nurses. Thank you for giving Seul-gi and me the opportunity to live together.

5 days after the surgery.

The future I had foreseen did not come to pass.

Seul-gi’s fate had been altered.

About two weeks later, Seul-gi was safely discharged from the hospital, and her guardian’s bright and happy face was able to appear on TV like that.

Maybe she would be able to grow up healthy in the future.

‘Be healthy, Seul-gi.’

I smiled and said goodbye to Seul-gi on the screen.

What would happen in the future after that?

I couldn’t know.

Maybe it would stay like that in the future.

Because…….

Since that day, I had not seen the future again.

A month prior-

When I had seen Seul-gi’s future.

Clearly, the possibility of saving Seul-gi had been ‘zero’.

In a space devoid of light, there had only been dark and hopeless futures.

But in the end, I had used the card called Baek Yi-shin to change that future.

For more than a month since then, I had not had a single prophetic dream.

‘Maybe I’ve lost my ability since then?’

I didn’t know.

It wasn’t certain yet.

Maybe nothing significant was happening around me.

But if the ability to see the future had disappeared…….

‘It’s a little disappointing.’

It was bittersweet.

The ‘omens’ that had come like uninvited guests when I was eating, sleeping, or attending meetings.

Now that they were gone, I felt like I had lost part of my senses.

‘Where did this ability even come from?’

Did I really eat something strange or contaminated?

If not…….

Was it an opportunity granted by heaven for the meeting with Professor Baek Yi-shin?

I didn’t know.

It felt like I had been living a long dream for a year.

Maybe no one would believe me if I told them about this experience.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

What if the ability disappeared?

Thanks to it, I had changed the futures of many patients for a year.

And, I had also gained one ironclad rule that I could always remember as a doctor.

‘Never give up on any patient easily.’

Patient Lee Seul-gi, who was destined to die.

It was my will that had changed that future.

So, I would never lose that will in the future.

A doctor is someone who saves patients, so they must do their best to save them until the very end.

Maybe the ‘ability’ had wanted to teach me that over the past year.

“Seon-han, what are you thinking about so much?”

“It’s nothing.”

“When you look at him, he sometimes gets lost in thought by himself.”

“Leave him alone. Hasn’t he always been a little weird? Anyway, that guy was the most unique one among our classmates all year long.”

I laughed off Geun-wook and Joong-won hyung’s [older brother or male friend] words and picked up a spoon, and a text message arrived on my phone.

[Department of Education and Training]

Welcome to all first-year residents of Yeon-guk University Hospital. Interns who have been working in the hospital should pick up their new name tags at the Department of Education and Training office.

“Ah, right. I have to change my name tag!”

“Let’s go get it right after we eat.”

Doctor’s name tag.

It is a metal clip that is attached to the left chest pocket of the doctor’s jacket.

Until now, because the affiliation was not determined, it had simply been written as ‘Doctor’.

Doctor Shin Seon-han

→ Thoracic Surgeon Shin Seon-han

It’s time to take the next step.

“Seon-han hyung [older brother or male friend]!”

Soon after, someone called out to me in front of the Department of Education and Training office.

Ryu Myeong-in ran up to me in a hurry and handed me a name tag.

“Do you want to exchange it?”

“Exchange what?”

“Let’s have an intern name tag exchange ceremony.”

“……What would I use your name tag for?”

I was disgusted.

But when I looked around, there were many classmates exchanging each other’s name tags.

What should I say, it’s fresh and cute.

Was it an expression of friendship and affection for each other?

Maybe the interns had become very attached to each other.

“You can sell my name tag for a high price later, right? I’m the intern representative graduate.”

He boasted.

For reference, Ryu Myeong-in had recently received a certificate of completion as a representative at the intern completion ceremony.

The completion ceremony was a small event.

For some reason, it seems like a hundred interns will gather in the auditorium and take the Hippocratic Oath…….

In reality, there is no such thing.

Because the interns are all busy, there is no time to gather in one place.

Geun-wook and Joong-won hyung teased him.

“When did we have our completion ceremony?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Ah, hyungs [older brother or male friend]. Please pay some attention! I was even the intern chief all year long!”

“There was such a thing?”

“I don’t know either.”

The two chuckled, and Ryu Myeong-in followed behind them, stomping his feet.

I stroked the name tag that I had worn on my chest for a year once again.

.

I would not give this name tag to anyone and would keep it for the rest of my life.

‘……Doctor Shin Seon-han.’

I repeated it once more.

How long would I work as a doctor for the rest of my life?

Probably for decades.

But working with the name tag on my chest without any modifiers was only for one year among them.

Part of the most brilliant period of my 20s.

The days of youth.

All the shining memories that would never come back seemed to be contained in one name tag.

“Seon-han oppa [older brother or male friend]!”

“It’s been a while, everyone.”

It was Yeon-seo and So-dam.

Familiar faces gathered one by one.

Classmates who had gone through thick and thin together.

Now everyone was scattered, each going their own way.

To the path they each had to walk.

“Shall we gather our name tags and take a commemorative photo?”

“Shall we?”

“Let’s put a stethoscope next to it.”

“Hehe, trying to look cool. How many times have you guys used a stethoscope while interning?”

“Ah, there’s such a thing as atmosphere.”

“Our little one might not have a chance to use a stethoscope when she goes to radiology.”

“You idiot, you won’t have a chance to use such a big stethoscope when you go to pediatrics either?”

“Are you two fighting again? You’ll get attached to each other.”

“Hey, stop it and take a picture!”

We gathered the name tags in one place while talking and laughing together.

Doctor Shin Seon-han

Doctor Kim Geun-wook

Doctor Lee Yeon-seo

Doctor Ham So-dam

Doctor Oh Joong-won

Doctor Ryu Myeong-in

“Put them down nicely.”

“Okay. Get your hands out of the way!”

“Okay, taking it!”

The intern classmates pressed the photo button in a boisterous manner.

Instead of taking pictures, I quietly smiled and kept this moment in my heart.

When I’m confused about why I became a doctor.

When I lose my original intention.

At that time, I will remember.

These moments now.

Anytime.

-Dr. Shin Seon-han: The Doctor Who Sees the Future Part 1 End-

The epilogue will continue in the next episode.