Dr. Shin Seonhan: The Doctor Who Sees The Future [EN]: Chapter 90

#90 Breath (21)

“It hurts… but I feel okay.”

Song-yi suddenly says something out of the blue.

You feel okay?

Coming to the emergency room twice can’t be a pleasant experience.

“Actually, I felt relieved after yelling earlier. It was the first time I ever openly rebelled against my mom….”

I chuckled at Song-yi’s words.

So that was the reason?

The image of her shouting earlier comes to mind.

I couldn’t help but think about how suppressed she must have been living under her mother all this time.

“And… it’s the first time I’ve seen my mom so anxious because of me.”

Glance―

I followed Song-yi’s gaze.

I could see Song-yi’s mother standing far away near the entrance.

Her eyes were red, worried for her child.

She was on the phone, probably talking to her husband, and it was clear at a glance that she was anxious.

“Honestly, I’ve been upset with my mom all this time… but I guess she wasn’t just concerned about my grades.”

Working in a hospital, you see all sorts of families.

Some of them even have their bad relationships restored.

A person’s heart is truly unpredictable.

I have a feeling that Song-yi and her mother’s relationship might improve this time.

“But, Doctor. I’ve been thinking about something.”

“About what?”

“Could it be that I suddenly became sick because I was too excited after meeting Ban Jin-ho?”

“You’re talking nonsense; you must not be too weak.”

“Hehe.”

Song-yi smiled weakly.

“Another doctor will come down to examine you now. Don’t worry too much and take slow, deep breaths.”

That’s how I reassured Song-yi.

But I was worried at heart.

Could the examination be too late?

Maybe her lungs have already deteriorated and progressed to sepsis….

‘I have to hope that’s not the case.’

I did everything I could.

Now, all that’s left is to leave it in the hands of others.

Thinking that way, I lingered around the emergency room station until Doctor Song Yu-ju arrived.

Then, Yeo Bong-cheol, who was sitting in a swivel chair, turned to me and said.

“Shin-seon-han, are you some kind of magnet for emergency patients?”

“Excuse me?”

“You pick up a patient while on a blind date at Gangnam Station, and you pick up a patient while watching a performance… I’ve never seen an intern as busy as you.”

I made an awkward expression.

Come to think of it, that’s true.

I could have just pretended not to know and passed by….

But I can’t do that.

Whether it’s stubbornness or meddling.

Above all, helping patients as a doctor is a natural thing for me to do.

“The X-ray is up!”

At that moment, Yeo Bong-cheol opened Song-yi’s EMR [Electronic Medical Record] on the monitor.

I quickly joined Yeo Bong-cheol to check the black and white image.

“Tsk. What’s wrong with the patient’s lungs? Half of it is turning white… I’m not sure what it is.”

Yeo Bong-cheol tilted his head.

It seems difficult to interpret with just one photo.

Soon, the doctors next to him gathered around and began to have a serious conversation.

“Isn’t this lobar pneumonia?”

“It seems like it.”

“What could be the cause… could there be a problem with the surgery site?”

“That could be it.”

I listened to their conversation, which was strangely off track, and thought.

Simple pneumonia?

No.

It’s a much more serious situation than that.

But right now, I was the only doctor in the emergency room who knew the answer.

‘It’s frustrating.’

My mouth is itching.

To know the answer but not be able to say it out loud….

It’s like everyone is watching a mystery movie in the theater, but I’m the only one who knows the ending from the back seat.

“Well, we’ll have to take a CT scan to know for sure. Let’s tell the professor too.”

Soon the residents dispersed, and Doctor Yeo Bong-cheol picked up the phone.

I was lost in thought for a moment.

How can I convey the patient’s symptoms to these people as quickly as possible?

‘Ah!’

At that moment, I came up with a good idea.

A sure way to diagnose lobar torsion [twisting of a lung lobe].

That is to directly check the twisted bronchus [airway in the lung] through a bronchoscopy [procedure to view the airways].

“Doctor, shouldn’t we do a bronchoscopy quickly too?”

Then Doctor Yeo Bong-cheol looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“Bronchoscopy? Why bronchoscopy all of a sudden?”

“I thought the bronchus might be blocked with phlegm. I was worried because the patient’s breathing sounded too rough earlier.”

Instead of mentioning torsion, I made another excuse.

Yeo Bong-cheol nodded.

“It wouldn’t hurt to contact the pulmonology department and have a bronchoscopy done.”

As expected, Doctor Yeo Bong-cheol!

His personality is cool and straightforward.

He coolly accepts my words as an intern.

Yeo Bong-cheol was about to pick up the phone when he glared at me and said.

“But… Shin-seon-han, you’ve grown a lot, haven’t you? You’re even giving me advice? Did your head get bigger after going to TS [Thoracic Surgery]?”

At his playful words, I shrugged my shoulders.

“I learned a lot from Doctor Yeo Bong-cheol in April, so I grew.”

“You little rascal, you’re good with words.”

Splat―

Doctor Yeo Bong-cheol hit my back with his hand like a pot lid and then contacted the on-call pulmonologist.

“Yes, thank you for your hard work! This is the emergency medicine department… Ah, Beom-su, are you on duty today?”

Yeo Bong-cheol’s tone changes to a friendly one.

Doctor Kim Beom-su.

That’s Kim Snake’s real name.

Come to think of it, I heard that Kim Snake was in the pulmonology department this month?

I remember hearing it from Sodam last time.

“…So, I was wondering if you could take a look at the bronchus! Oh yeah, I’ll get it ready, so come down quickly!”

Click.

Yeo Bong-cheol quickly explained the situation, hung up the phone, and sighed with a troubled expression.

“Aish, of all times for Yu-ju to be on duty, Beom-su is also on duty. This is going to be a bit of a headache.”

“Why is that?”

“Well, they’re both good, but… it gets tricky when you put them together. There was a bad incident in the past.”

Doctor Yeo Bong-cheol said that, scratching the bridge of his nose.

It gets tricky?

What does that mean?

Soon after, I found out what that meant.

* * *

Shortly after.

Whoosh―

A cold wind began to blow in the emergency room.

Song Yu-ju.

Kim Snake.

There is an icy atmosphere between the two, as if frost would form.

The arrival of the two people seems to turn the season of June back into winter.

“Where’s the patient―”

“Where’s the patient?”

Kim Snake and Song Yu-ju opened their mouths at the same time towards Yeo Bong-cheol, then glared at each other.

“What?”

“What about you.”

“Do you also have business with Yeo Bong-cheol?”

“…Don’t tell me it’s the same patient?”

The two people’s fierce gazes now turn to Yeo Bong-cheol.

The atmosphere is already bad?

Yeo Bong-cheol scratched his head in embarrassment and replied.

“Yes, it’s the same patient.”

“What does he know about a patient who had lung surgery that you called him?”

Song Yu-ju suddenly points at Kim Snake and asks.

Flinch―

Kim Snake’s eyebrows rise.

He was naturally preemptively attacked.

Of course, Kim Snake also smirks as if he can’t lose and retorts.

“…It’s funny to hear that from someone who can’t even remember the patient’s name properly. What do you know besides cutting with a knife in the operating room?”

Soon the two glared at each other.

Fzzzt!

A spark ignites between them.

Poison vs. Ice, you could say….

You can feel that they are incompatible with each other.

“Aish. Are you two fighting again? Why do you two always do this when you meet! You haven’t changed since before.”

Yeo Bong-cheol tried to mediate between the two, but the two still have expressions of extreme dislike for each other.

‘They really must not be on good terms.’

The so-called [elite course at Yeon-guk University].

2 years of pre-med.

4 years of medical school.

And even internship and residency, if you add it all up, you spend nearly 10 years in the same space.

There must have been many things that happened between them during that time.

Anyway, that’s that.

Now is not the time to worry about the relationship between the two.

“Doctors, this way!”

I quickly guided the two to where Song-yi was.

Every minute and every second is urgent for Song-yi right now.

We moved quickly towards the patient.

“By the way, I saw the CT scan, but isn’t it too early to do a bronchoscopy?”

Yeo Bong-cheol replied to Kim Snake’s question.

“Yeah. Seon-han said that the bronchus might be blocked with phlegm. I thought so too, so I contacted you.”

Then, Kim Snake glared at me and smirked mockingly.

“It’s you again? You’re still being presumptuous as an intern… How many times have I told you, but you never change, do you?”

At that moment, Song Yu-ju took my side for once.

“What’s wrong with a thoracic surgery intern giving an opinion about a thoracic surgery patient?”

Fzzzt!

It’s the second round again.

A spark is about to ignite between the two.

“Are you taking sides because he’s in your department? Do you think it’s okay for an intern with a lack of experience and knowledge to presumptuously make decisions?”

Song Yu-ju calmly replied to Kim Snake’s sarcasm.

“Who was it that barely saved the life of a CPR patient after listening to that intern? Your memory must not be good.”

Kwarareung―

This time, it’s not just a spark between the two, but lightning.

Doctor Song Yu-ju is probably talking about the PCI [Percutaneous Coronary Intervention] patient incident in March.

This is like doing the Three Steps, One Bow [extremely deferential gesture]….

It seems like they fight once every three steps.

Why are they on such bad terms?

“Doctors, I think the patient needs an examination urgently.”

I couldn’t help but interject.

Nevertheless, the two did not seem to want to stop their war of nerves.

They continue to argue even as they walk quickly towards the patient.

Suddenly, the two looked at me and said.

“Hey. Tell me the reason why you decided that we should do a bronchoscopy with your own mouth.”

“Yeah. Let’s hear it. I’m curious to know how brilliant your judgment is this time.”

Why do I feel like the sparks that the two were fighting over are suddenly flying at me?

‘I don’t want to get caught in the middle of the two.’

I thought for a moment and then stopped.

It’s a waste of time to worry.

Let’s just say it.

Now that we’ve taken a CT scan, it’s important to quickly reveal Song-yi’s symptoms.

“I thought there might be a possibility of torsion [twisting of an organ].”

“What, torsion?”

Kim Snake scoffed as if it were ridiculous.

“Where did you pick that up? Do you think torsion happens so easily? Anyway, that’s why guys who know things superficially….”

At that moment, Song Yu-ju cut off Kim Snake’s words with a sharp voice.

“There’s a possibility.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you see the CT scan? Not only the bronchus going to the middle lobe, but also the vein is blocked.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Torsion in a patient who was discharged suddenly? I’ve never seen it before?”

The two did not back down an inch, and before we knew it, we had reached the bed where Song-yi was lying.

“Then shall we see who’s right?”