Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 103

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 103 (103/502)

Episode 103. Mine! Mine!

“……!”

“Choi Mona.”

Choi Mona, who had been stunned by the shocking sight, turned her head at Tae-kyung’s call and flinched.

“I’m sorry, Doctor.”

Swish-

Regaining her senses at the sight of Tae-kyung’s murderous glare, she quickly closed the curtain again.

It was the first time she had seen Tae-kyung so angry.

‘Child abuse! That child is being abused.’

However, the child’s appearance was even more shocking than Tae-kyung’s anger.

Thud-

Choi Mona, who had never seen an abused child before, lost strength in her legs and collapsed onto the emergency room floor.

“……!”

“Choi Mona. Get up.”

Choi Mona quickly got up when Tae-kyung opened the curtain and spoke.

“I apologize for being so hasty, Doctor.”

“Choi, stay with the child for a moment while I go to bed number 3. Do you understand what I mean?”

“……Yes, I understand.”

“Choi Mona, look at me.”

Tae-kyung raised her gaze, which had fallen to the floor in embarrassment.

“You’re a doctor. Get a grip.”

“Yes, yes. I understand.”

Choi Mona composed herself and entered the bed where Se-young was, and Tae-kyung headed to the station.

* * *

“Doctor, the test results are in.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook handed over the test results for Seri, which had been ordered by Tae-kyung earlier.

“It’s enteritis, as expected.”

As expected, the diagnosis was enteritis [inflammation of the small intestine] based on the abdominal X-ray and blood tests. It was not a serious condition, as it often improves with simple IV fluid treatment.

“Doctor, what about Se-young?”

“She’s currently with Choi, and it’s child abuse.”

“I knew it. My heart is heavy.”

“Even if it’s heavy, we have to do our job. First, report it to the police, and tell the team leader to deploy security personnel at the emergency room entrance.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“And post a notice in the staff announcement room to prevent anyone from making mistakes.”

“Understood.”

Tae-kyung grabbed the IV fluids and headed to bed number 3.

He didn’t want to see the devilish woman who had committed the abuse, but as a doctor, he had to treat his second daughter’s diarrhea regardless.

Tae-kyung tried to control his emotions so that Do Han-yeon wouldn’t notice.

He suppressed the anger building up on his face and entered the bed with an indifferent expression.

* * *

At that moment, shocking news was being posted in the group chat for our hospital staff.

◆Notice to All Staff◆

Please be aware that there is a child abuse perpetrator in bed number 3 of the emergency room and act accordingly.

Even if you see the perpetrator, do not take any noticeable actions, answer only the questions asked, and act as you would with any other patient.

The child is safely under the protection of the medical staff, and the police have been contacted.

Perpetrator’s name: Do Han-yeon

※Sharing hospital announcements with outside parties is prohibited.※

“Bed number 3 is right next door…….”

“Yes, Doctor? What did you say just now?”

“Nothing. Patient, are you in pain?”

“No, it’s bearable.”

Lee Chan-hee, who was dressing a patient on one side of the emergency room, also checked the announcement.

“Young, did you see the announcement?”

“No, was there an announcement?”

“Yeah, go check it out. It’s unbelievable.”

“I can’t believe this is happening…….”

“I knew it. I didn’t like that woman’s impression when I saw her that day.”

“What is she doing?”

“I’m angry, but there’s nothing I can do, so I reported her YouTube channel.”

The employee, who was usually a fan of Seri Sera, was embarrassed and dumbfounded, and quietly pressed the report button, as well as unsubscribing.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

KakaoTalk- KakaoTalk-

“Child abuse! So that’s why Choi rushed out earlier. Ha!”

Ui-jin also couldn’t hide her dismay as she checked the announcement in the examination room,

“What the heck! What is this? I’ve never seen such a crazy bitch. Oh my god.”

Oh Gye-soon, who was working in the cafeteria, was furious and trembled. In addition, all the nurses and staff in each ward, emergency room, and examination room checked the announcement and were outraged.

“Doctor, did you see the announcement?”

“Can you believe this?”

“I feel like crying just looking at this announcement.”

* * *

“Seri’s mother?”

“Oh my, Doctor, why are you only coming now? I’ve been waiting so long.”

Even though it hadn’t been that long, Do Han-yeon was impatient as soon as she saw Tae-kyung.

“You drew blood earlier, is our Seri okay? She’s just a child, and her skin is so delicate, how much did it hurt?”

“Yes, the test results showed enteritis. It will subside a bit if she gets IV fluids.”

“Really? Oh my, my baby is so lucky. I was so worried that the results might be bad.”

“Ah, yes. I’ll give Seri the IV fluids.”

“Just a moment. She fell asleep just now.”

Do Han-yeon woke up her sleeping daughter with a touch more delicate than a feather.

“Seri, our princess, open your eyes. The doctor is here. Huh?”

“Mommy~”

“Oh, my puppy, did you sleep well?”

“Why did you wake me up? I want to sleep more.”

Do Han-yeon fussed over and coaxed her, at a loss for what to do even with the child’s small grumbling, which was truly absurd.

At the same time, the sight of Se-young’s unfocused eyes and the scars and bruises all over her body flickered in his mind, and Tae-kyung felt the blood in his whole body rushing in reverse.

He couldn’t forgive this woman.

“I don’t want to get a shot…….”

“The doctor will give you one that doesn’t hurt. Right, Doctor?”

“Yes, the doctor will give you one that doesn’t hurt.”

Tae-kyung gave Seri the IV fluids and got up from his seat.

“It will probably be all done in about 40 minutes.”

“Yes, thank you, Doctor.”

Swish-

After Tae-kyung left, Do Han-yeon praised Seri for getting the shot so well, not sparing any compliments.

“Our princess gets shots so well. Did it not hurt?”

“Yeah, it was bearable. Mommy, but I’m sleepy.”

“Okay, get some sleep. It will take some time for the medicine to kick in.”

After stroking Seri’s stomach and staying by her side for about 20 minutes, Do Han-yeon received a KakaoTalk message from the production team.

-Mother, is Seri okay? If it’s serious, we can postpone the remaining filming.

-Oh my, my goodness! I’m sorry. I was so out of it because of Seri that I forgot to contact you. I’m so sorry. They said it’s a mild case of enteritis, so she’s getting IV fluids. I think we can film after this.

Do Han-yeon, who had all her attention on her sick daughter, had temporarily forgotten about the existence of the production team.

-That’s a relief. The director and I are fine, so don’t worry about us.

-I’m even more grateful that you said that.

-Then, for the next shoot, we’ll briefly capture Seri and Sera’s natural interactions at home, as I explained earlier.

And there was another person Do Han-yeon had forgotten: Sera. Come to think of it, she hadn’t remembered seeing Sera since entering the emergency room with Seri.

-Yes, I’ll keep that in mind. She’ll be done with the IV fluids in 20 minutes, so I’ll go as soon as she’s done. Thank you.

“Wait, where did the child go?”

After confirming that Seri was asleep, Do Han-yeon quietly came out of the bed.

“That’s right. They said they would keep Seri separated from her. Wait, what number did they say……. They said bed 25.”

After thinking for a while, Do Han-yeon remembered what Tae-kyung had said and headed to bed 25.

Step, step-

‘Seriously, is she okay with being with strangers? Seriously, she doesn’t have even an ounce of pretty in her.’

Even while walking that short distance, she hated Se-young, citing ridiculous reasons as if there was something she didn’t like about her.

“Sera, are you here?”

Do Han-yeon put on a mask of pretense again on her face and in her voice, worried that medical staff might be present. And as always, she looked for Sera in a sweet tone, opening the curtain of bed 25.

“Sera, Mom is he……!”

Swish-

But Sera was not to be seen where she should have been. The bed was empty. It was neatly arranged as if no one had used it from the beginning.

“That’s strange. I’m sure they said 25. Or was it not?”

Swish-

Do Han-yeon thought she was mistaken and opened each of the emergency room beds with the curtains drawn.

“Sera?”

Swish-

“Sera, are you here?”

“What is it?”

“Oh my, I’m sorry.”

She looked around all the beds in the emergency room, but there was no trace of Sera.

“Excuse me, Doctor?”

Do Han-yeon, feeling a sense of foreboding, hurried to the emergency room station.

“Yes, guardian. Can I check your IV fluids?”

“That’s not it, my daughter is missing.”

“If you’re talking about your daughter, she’s getting IV fluids in bed number 3 right now. Didn’t you just come out of the bed?”

“That’s true, but I’m not talking about Seri. I’m talking about Sera, my eldest daughter. The first daughter who came with me earlier.”

“Well. I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Yes. I was busy, so I might not have seen her.”

Do Han-yeon was puzzled by the nurse’s answer and headed out of the emergency room.

“Excuse me, do you remember me? Where is my eldest daughter? Sera.”

Do Han-yeon, heading straight to the reception desk, asked the employee with a slightly annoyed voice.

“She went into the emergency room with me earlier. Why, isn’t Sera inside?”

“I asked because she’s not there! What are you talking about?”

The sharp voice fell on the reception desk employee, but the employee did not budge.

“Is that so? Maybe she went to the bathroom?”

“What bathroom……! Excuse me, Doctor?”

Do Han-yeon, who happened to turn her head towards the bathroom, found Tae-kyung coming out of the examination room and went straight to him.

“Doctor, where is Sera?”

“Sera?”

“Yes, I can’t find her anywhere, even in the emergency room. You took her earlier, Doctor.”

“…….”

Tae-kyung stood in front of the examination room door, showing a look of contempt and not even bothering to answer.

“Hey! Doctor, what did you do to Sera?”

“Seri is probably still getting IV fluids, so please go back to the emergency room.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Sera! Is she here? Right?”

“Seri’s mother.”

Do Han-yeon opened the examination room door violently, acting hysterically.

Bang-

“Sera? Sera!”

For some reason, Sera was not to be seen in the examination room or the inner treatment room.

Unlike Do Han-yeon, who was mixed with embarrassment, annoyance, and irritability, Tae-kyung’s expression was calm.

Tae-kyung, who had expected this, had moved Se-young to a private room on the 3rd floor earlier.

Se-young was currently with Choi Mona and Ui-jin, and Jang Deuk-chil was guarding the front of the hospital room door.

“Excuse me, please tell me where Seri is quickly.”

“Please return to your seat first.”

“Look here. Doctor! I asked where my daughter is, but you keep talking nonsense.”

Do Han-yeon raised her voice more and more, but Tae-kyung’s voice, filled with anger, was calmer and more composed than ever.

“Sera? Sera, where are you?”

Eventually, Do Han-yeon began to desperately search for Sera, calling her name. It wasn’t because she missed her child or was worried about her.

There was only one reason why Do Han-yeon was looking for Sera.

‘Where the hell did this bitch go? Ha, people can’t see.’

It was because she was afraid that the atrocities she had committed would be revealed to the world.

‘How did I get here? For our Seri’s sake, and for my daughter’s sake, Sera must be here.’

She couldn’t give up everything she had enjoyed because of Sera so far. She had to prevent Pandora’s box [a source of great and unexpected troubles] from opening at all costs.

Madness began to show more and more in Do Han-yeon’s eyes.

“Excuse me, have you seen a child with big eyes, a ribbon headband, and looks like a doll……. No, have you seen a child who looks like this?”

“I haven’t seen her.”

She showed people sitting in the waiting room a picture of Sera, but no one knew her.

“Sera~?”

“Guardian, you are not allowed to go upstairs due to construction.”

Do Han-yeon called Sera from the stairs leading to the 2nd floor, but was stopped by Team Leader Choi, who was guarding the area under Tae-kyung’s instructions.

“Where did you hide Sera? Huh! Tell me quickly!”

Do Han-yeon glared at Tae-kyung with vicious eyes and rushed at him, screaming.

“Hey, call the director here, not this crazy doctor.”

“I am Kim Tae-kyung, the director of this hospital.”

“Ha! You’re the director? Hey, does being the director mean you can hide other people’s children as you please? Bring Sera here now while I’m asking nicely. What are you doing! Bring her here now.”

“Do Han-yeon, I saw Se-young, but I’ve never seen a child named Sera.”

Tae-kyung, who had been watching quietly until now, finally opened his mouth.

The victim, Se-young, was currently waiting for the test results in a hospital room on the 3rd floor, resting after receiving treatment for her visible injuries.

Se-young was in the innermost part of the 3rd floor, and fortunately, the commotion on the 1st floor could not be heard.

“You can’t see Se-young anymore. No!”

As a doctor, I have to be calm, but I have to say what I have to say.

“You won’t be able to see her again in the future either.”

Now that Se-young’s safety was secured, he had to let this woman, who had given up on being human, know that she had at least committed a crime.

“What, what! Hey! Who are you, who are you! Where is my thing? My thing!”

Do Han-yeon, filled with madness, seemed to be running wild.

“It’s mine! It’s mine, I can do whatever I want with it, why are you making a fuss! Give it back!”

“Do Han-yeon!!”

Tae-kyung’s loud voice echoed through the hospital lobby.

“……I will never forgive you.”