Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 65

#65 Is This Your First Time in Thoracic Surgery? (13)

I was momentarily confused.

What happened?

Ryoo Myung-in is the one causing trouble, not me…….

I tried to assess the situation as calmly as possible.

‘The future has changed!’

.

Originally, Ryoo Myung-in and I were in different groups.

But we ended up in the same group through the ladder game…….

As a result, the future has become twisted.

“So, what’s the patient’s condition?”

“He’s in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] for observation, but he hasn’t regained consciousness. The neurology department says there’s no hope either.”

“Oh dear. This is a big problem.”

Ma Dong-seop sighed deeply, as if the ground was sinking beneath him.

“Still, I thought Ryoo Myung-in was performing well for an intern and would handle it well… I guess Seon-han, who was next to him, wasn’t much help either.”

Listening to their conversation, I calmly gathered my thoughts.

So, to summarize—

Ryoo Myung-in does something wrong, and the patient falls into hypoxic brain damage.

Everything is the same. Except that the subject has changed from to .

In the end, this incident is inevitable.

“It’s not right to blame the interns, though. The patient was a very difficult case too……”

“Difficult or easy, in the end, we couldn’t save him.”

Song Yoo-joo’s words were cold.

Ma Dong-seop was silently looking up at the sky with a bitter look in his eyes.

Doctors must always be perfect.

But that’s not possible in reality.

Whoosh—

The next moment, the scene in the dream suddenly changes.

It’s a bar.

The place where the monthly 회식 (hoe-shik, company dinner) takes place.

It’s noisy, but strangely, the atmosphere at the table feels like a funeral home.

The thoracic surgery staff are quietly sipping their drinks and chatting.

This is also a scene I saw before.

‘Come to think of it, last time I was sprawled out on the stairs drunk… I wonder how it’s changed now?’

I moved my feet.

And this time, I was able to find a scene with exactly the opposite composition.

Ryoo Myung-in is sitting drunk on the stairs, and I’m looking down at him.

“Don’t be too disheartened. You did your best as an intern.”

Ryoo Myung-in snickers at my words.

“Are you pitying me right now?”

“That’s not……”

“You must be happy, 형 (hyung, older brother/male friend). Seeing the guy who kept bothering you get knocked out…… hic.”

“You’re talking like your internship is over.”

“I think I’m too traumatized to be a doctor who sees patients. Plus, the top spot is out of the question, so any more internship is meaningless to me.”

Ryoo Myung-in’s voice is gloomy.

It seems like no matter what I say, he won’t understand.

Before the dream me leaves, Ryoo Myung-in mumbles in a drunken voice.

“Me, the king of Yonsei University Hospital…… no way…… hic.”

You’re still acting like a middle schooler in this situation?

* * *

Whoosh—

I came back to reality.

The monitor in the thoracic surgery station is in front of me.

What was I doing?

……Ah, right, I was looking at the X-ray.

I barely adapt to reality and gather my senses.

‘What did the dream I just had mean?’

I gripped my temples.

……Until a little while ago, it was true that I had been thinking complacently.

That Ryoo Myung-in is talented, so I don’t have to worry.

But it wasn’t.

Even if Ryoo Myung-in was the one handling the patient, he couldn’t save the patient.

‘Interesting.’

I chuckled.

It seems like someone is giving me a problem again this time.

While emphasizing that it’s an inevitable event no matter what I do.

“They’re making me want to win again.”

Crack.

I cracked my fingers.

And I raised the corners of my lips and muttered.

“Okay. Let’s see who wins this time too.”

“Win what?”

“Yes?”

I was startled and turned my head.

Doctor Song Yoo-joo had come up to me and was staring at me.

……I was so focused on my thoughts that I didn’t even notice her approaching.

I hurriedly made an excuse.

“It’s a line from a webtoon [South Korean digital comic] I was reading earlier. Hahaha.”

I can only come up with such a lame excuse.

I felt self-loathing.

Doctor Song Yoo-joo picked up the tablet for surgical consent forms on the table, glanced at me, and disappeared.

And muttered to herself.

“Two middle schoolers…….”

No!

That’s not me!

I’m wronged!

* * *

Some time later.

I was walking to the elevator to see a thoracic surgery patient who was hospitalized on another floor.

Ding—

The ICU elevator arrived just in time.

Elevators in large hospitals are divided into two types.

1—General elevators used by general patients and visitors.

2—Large ICU elevators that can accommodate a patient bed.

Originally, ICU elevators should be kept empty for surgical patients or emergency patients.

But during the day like this, the waiting time for general elevators is too long.

So, busy interns use the stairs or sometimes use the ICU elevators.

‘I should take this one.’

Creak—

At that moment, the door of the ICU elevator opens.

A bed begins to emerge.

But…… the way it comes out is very unstable.

Whirr—

Thump— Thump—

Is that a patient bed or a bumper car…….

It’s not catching its direction easily and is bumping around as it comes out.

People passing by the elevator grumble.

“Ouch.”

“Oh my, doctor. How are you driving?”

“Ah, sorry, just a moment.”

A small doctor was pushing a heavy patient bed as she got off.

Black bobbed hair.

A hamster-like appearance.

Her clumsy behavior makes it obvious that she’s an intern, and when I look closely at her face, it’s Sodam.

‘What’s Sodam doing here? She’s supposed to be rotating through internal medicine this month…….’

The patient bed is bigger and heavier than I thought, so it’s not easy to drive.

So, interns sometimes argue about who is the best driver.

But Sodam, who is weak at using her body, was struggling to move the bed.

I feel sorry for her…….

Still, her effort to work hard is touching.

I approached Sodam to help her and greeted her.

“Sodam, long time no see.”

“Oh my, you startled me.”

Flustered!

Sodam is surprised.

It’s a reaction like a frightened herbivore.

Then she looks up at me and smiles in relief.

“Oh, I wondered who it was. It was you, Seon-han.”

“Do you want me to help?”

“No, it’s okay. I can do it myself!”

Saying that, she struggles and starts pushing the bed again.

But this time, she loses her balance and starts spinning clockwise.

Sodam’s face turns red, and she finally looks at me and says in a voice as small as an ant.

“Sorry…… can you help me?”

“Okay. I got it.”

I smiled and pushed the bed with Sodam.

It’s nice to see her after a long time.

It reminds me of when we were in the emergency room together.

“But what are you doing here?”

“Um, the attending physician asked me to accompany the patient who is being transferred to TS (thoracic surgery).”

“Transfer?”

Transfer means that the patient’s affiliated department has changed, and they are moving wards.

In this case……

Pulmonology → Thoracic Surgery.

It seems that the pulmonology department has determined that ‘lung surgery is necessary’.

‘What kind of patient is it?’

I glanced at the bed.

A middle-aged man.

A man with short hair and gray hair is lying down.

He looks impressive at a glance.

His thick, short neck and face also gave off the feeling of Kang Ho-dong [a famous South Korean comedian and television host].

The patient’s name card reads Pulmonology 65/M (65-year-old male) Kim Ha-joong.

‘He looks very healthy on the outside…… he looks like an athlete.’

At that moment.

The patient suddenly starts coughing.

“Cough— Cough—”

It’s not a normal cough.

The coughing sound, as if it’s coming from deep inside his body, is unusual.

Then he spits something out.

……It’s blood!

It’s not just a little bit.

A handful of blood and saliva mixed together pours out from between his tightly closed lips.

“Oh my gosh…….”

“Mom, look over there. It’s blood!”

“Come here, don’t go near it.”

The patients and guardians passing by the elevator are startled.

It’s understandable that they’re surprised.

Anyone would be surprised to see someone suddenly coughing up blood.

“Cough, cough—”

The patient turns his body and tries to find a tissue at the head of the bed to spit out the blood.

I raised the patient’s upper body, which had been half-raised.

“Patient, please raise your body for a moment.”

I took the tissue from the head of the patient’s bed and held it to his mouth.

The tissue quickly became soaked with saliva and blood and turned red.

I took out a few more layers of tissue and wiped the blood and saliva from the patient’s mouth.

‘He seems to have severe hemoptysis [coughing up blood]……?’

Hemoptysis.

It refers to the discharge of blood originating from the bronchi or lungs along with a cough.

I patted the patient and asked Sodam.

“Sodam. What’s the saturation (oxygen saturation)?”

“97.”

Sodam answered immediately.

The oxygen saturation level was recorded at 97 through the monitoring device wrapped around the patient’s fingertip.

Anything above 95 is considered high enough.

In other words, it’s normal.

“It’s a relief that the vital signs aren’t fluctuating too much.”

“Yeah, but he’s still a patient with aspergilloma [a fungal ball in the lung] who keeps coughing up blood, so they said they’re going to do emergency surgery on the weekend.”

Aspergilloma?

I haven’t heard about it in advance, is it not our part?

Maybe it’s Ryoo Myung-in’s patient.

While I was thinking that, the patient, who had finished coughing and regained his senses, asked me.

“Are you the doctor who will be taking care of me in the future……? Cough— Cough—”

Before he could finish speaking, the patient started coughing again.

Again, phlegm mixed with blood comes out.

I stroked the patient’s back and said.

“I may not be in charge, but I’ll visit you often since we’re on the same floor. Our thoracic surgeons will do a good job with the surgery.”

I answered in a soft voice to reassure the patient who must be feeling anxious.

“Oh my, doctor.”

“Yes?”

“I’m so sorry about this. I threw up blood and ruined your white coat…….”

Blood?

I looked down at my sleeve.

A few drops of red blood are stained on the white gown sleeve.

It seems that it got on me when I was briefly holding him when the patient was coughing up blood.

I smiled, rolled up my sleeve, and said.

“Don’t worry about it. Our clothes are always stained anyway.”

“Oh my. Still…….”

Cough, cough.

The patient coughs again before he can finish speaking.

This time, Sodam takes the tissue and catches it for him.

“He was fine yesterday and today, but suddenly he’s like this…… hmm…….”

Sodam also looks at the patient with worried eyes.

Fortunately, the oxygen level continues to remain normal.

But for some reason, I feel uneasy.

‘What is this uneasy feeling?’

He’s not my patient.

But I keep getting concerned.

Usually, my premonitions have never been wrong in times like this.