Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 125

Temperature of 39.8 Degrees

The day after Yoo Ji-cheon’s daughter, Kim Jin-kyung, had her interview, Tae-kyung was making his morning rounds.

“Doctor?”

Se-young called out to Tae-kyung as he was about to head to the stairs after finishing his rounds on the third floor.

“Oh, Se-young. What is it?”

Se-young’s expression was improving day by day, and her inflammation levels were also getting better. Perhaps it was because her father, whom she had missed so much, was by her side, but her recovery rate was faster than expected.

“I wanted to give this to you, but I couldn’t earlier. It’s a gift.”

“A gift? You gave me one last time, why another one?”

“This is a different gift.”

Se-young unfolded the small piece of paper she was holding and presented Tae-kyung with a drawing. Recently, Se-young had become interested in drawing and was drawing portraits of every hospital staff member she met.

“Wow, did you draw this of me?”

“Yes. Do you like it?”

“Of course, I like it. I’ll keep it safe.”

“Yes. And I can eat food now. My dad said we’re going to have a meal later.”

“That’s right. When the food comes out later, chew it carefully and eat slowly.”

“Yes, Doctor. Then I’ll be going now. I promised to draw Choi Mo-na today.”

Choi Mo-na came to see Se-young and Woo-jin occasionally, even when it wasn’t her rounds time. Perhaps because of that, the children liked Choi Mo-na.

“You’re going to draw Choi Mo-na’s face?”

“Yes, I’ll draw her well and give it to her this evening. Goodbye.”

“Okay, see you later.”

Tae-kyung looked at Se-young, who was saying goodbye cheerfully, with an affectionate gaze and headed back to the stairs.

“Hello, Doctor.”

As he was descending the stairs, this time Se-young’s father, Go Young-cheol, greeted him, carrying a large cardboard box.

“Hello. I was wondering where you had gone since I didn’t see you during the rounds. It looks like you went to work again.”

“Oh dear! I was so engrossed in what I was doing that I didn’t even realize the rounds time had passed.”

These days, Go Young-cheol had a routine he followed when Se-young was taking a nap, sleeping at night, or before waking up in the morning. It was to go and see the messages of hope that people had posted to support Se-young.

Go Young-cheol was taking down all the numerous papers attached to the hospital’s front gate wall, one by one, and collecting them.

Jang Deuk-chil and Team Leader Choi had offered to help him several times because of the large quantity, but Go Young-cheol had repeatedly refused each time.

“There’s quite a lot. Isn’t it hard to do it alone?”

“Not at all. It’s all the warm hearts of people towards our Se-young, so it’s not hard at all. That’s why it’s right for me to do it alone. I’m going to put them in a file and show them to Se-young in the future. I thought it might give my daughter strength as she lives her life.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Then, Doctor, please take care.”

Go Young-cheol bowed politely with the large box and went up to the third floor, and Tae-kyung came down the stairs and headed to room 207, where Yoo Ji-cheon was.

He had missed Yoo Ji-cheon during the earlier rounds, so he was stopping by again on his way down.

“There he goes again, doing that again.”

As he entered the room, along with the scent of Fifth Vital [a traditional herbal medicine], he could hear a phone conversation from behind the curtains. Tae-kyung decided to wait for a moment.

“Mom told you yesterday that she wouldn’t eat that stuff anymore.”

-Is that true? Mom’s body is very weak now, so she absolutely can’t eat that stuff.

Kim Jin-kyung was questioning Yoo Ji-cheon about the problematic ‘water of life’ on the phone from the morning, just in case. Come to think of it, after Kim Jin-kyung had her interview yesterday, she had called the hospital and made a request to Tae-kyung.

‘Doctor, I feel uneasy for some reason. Can I ask you for a favor?’

‘Is it because of the water of life?’

‘Yes, Mom is adamantly denying it, but that might not be the case. She’s said things like that before and then been caught hiding it from the family. But she trusts what you say, Doctor, so if you warn her, she might listen.’

‘Okay. I’ll talk to her.’

The reason Tae-kyung had come to see Yoo Ji-cheon again was precisely because of that water of life.

He couldn’t just let it go because he had heard from Kim Jin-kyung what the true nature of that water of life was.

‘Doctor, that water of life is water that a cult leader washed in.’

Kim Jin-kyung was too ashamed to say it, but she felt she had to tell Tae-kyung since he was currently her mother’s attending physician.

As soon as he heard those words, Tae-kyung was shocked.

It was absurd that a terminal cancer patient, who was vulnerable to bacteria, was drinking water teeming with all sorts of germs.

Kim Jin-kyung said that she had run into a neighbor who was also involved in the cult with Yoo Ji-cheon in her neighborhood while going home yesterday.

‘Auntie, you’re still healthy. Please tell me what that garbage is. Please? Auntie!’

She grabbed the auntie, who was being dragged away by her family, and begged her, finally learning the truth about the water of life.

‘Jin-kyung, that’s not garbage. If you drink that water of life, you can be cured of diseases and live forever. Our cult leader personally bestowed this water. So our collaborator Yoo Ji-cheon will definitely be cured of her illness.’

Kim Jin-kyung, who had thought it was simply water bought with money from a cult group, felt faint after hearing the neighbor’s words. So, as soon as she heard that, she called the hospital and asked Tae-kyung for a favor.

“Jin-kyung, don’t worry about Mom and go to work quickly. I’m hanging up.”

“Patient?”

As Yoo Ji-cheon hung up the phone, Tae-kyung made his presence known and opened the curtain.

“Hello, Doctor. I couldn’t see you earlier because I went to the bathroom.”

“Yes, that’s why I came again. How are you feeling? Are you experiencing any nausea or numbness in your arms and legs?”

“No. I’m eating good things and receiving hospital treatment as our cult leader says, so I think I’m getting better and better. I feel really good.”

Tae-kyung couldn’t agree at all with Yoo Ji-cheon’s words, who was speaking with a smile on her weakened face.

No. She wasn’t getting better at all. Her body was in a state where she could die at any moment. Moreover, the test results were all bad.

“Patient, you’re not drinking that water of life, are you?”

Tae-kyung asked, turning his eyes around the bed. He was checking to see if the problematic plastic bottle was there.

“D, Doctor, how do you know about that?”

Yoo Ji-cheon showed a slight hint of embarrassment.

“Jin-kyung told you? That girl really tells you everything. It’s not like that.”

“Patient, you absolutely must not drink that water.”

Tae-kyung spoke in a lower voice than usual and with a serious expression, carefully and meticulously.

“Keep my words in mind. You must never drink that.”

He emphasized once again, hoping that Yoo Ji-cheon, who was deeply immersed in the cult and blindly believing in it, would listen to him, and then left the room.

“Yoo Ji-cheon’s lab results are in.”

As Tae-kyung left the room and reached the ward station, Lee Chan-hee was waiting.

“How did it go?”

“The ANC (absolute neutrophil count, an indicator to check for leukopenia, a side effect of chemotherapy) is 100.”

“Ha! That’s too low. Immediately move the patient to a private room for reverse isolation, give only cooked food, administer one of the G-CSF products [granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, a medication to stimulate white blood cell production] as a subcutaneous injection, and continuously monitor the temperature and notify me.”

“Yes.”

“And administer both amoxicillin and ciprofloxacin to cover both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Do it right now.”

“Yes, Doctor, I understand.”

Lee Chan-hee moved quickly after hearing the orders.

Every time Tae-kyung meets Yoo Ji-cheon, he feels a sense of pity and frustration at the same time. Because of that, he ends up seeing her and coming to her rounds one more time.

“If there’s anything even slightly unusual with Yoo Ji-cheon, call me immediately.”

“Yes, Director.”

Tae-kyung instructed the station nurse and went down to the examination room.

* * *

That evening, after finishing his last outpatient appointment, Tae-kyung had dinner and was heading to the emergency room when he stopped in the lobby.

“Grandmother, the taxi will be arriving soon.”

Choi Mo-na was sitting next to an elderly woman sitting in a waiting room chair in the first-floor lobby.

“Huh? What did you say? Who arrived?”

The white-haired old woman couldn’t hear well and didn’t understand properly.

“I received a call that the taxi has arrived. Grandmother, you need to go outside to the hospital entrance.”

“Ah! Taxi. Yes, thank you. Here! No, no, I can go alone. More than that, take this.”

The old woman placed a piece of hard candy in Choi Mo-na’s hand.

“My throat often gets hoarse, so I eat candy sometimes, and it tastes better than it looks. Try it once.”

“You don’t have to give me anything.”

“I’m grateful. I’m grateful. Then, take care.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

Choi Mo-na greeted the old woman and put the hard candy in her gown pocket, and then her eyes met Tae-kyung’s.

“Um, the emergency room was a little quiet, so I came out for a bit. The grandmother had a slight cast on her foot, so I was just helping her with the taxi…”

Choi Mo-na had only made eye contact with Tae-kyung, but she was describing everything in great detail, even the beginning and the end, without being asked.

“Who said anything?”

“…Yes?”

“I didn’t say anything. You’re the one explaining everything to me.”

Only then did Choi Mo-na realize that she was pouring out words to a question that hadn’t been asked.

“I misunderstood. I’ll go back in then.”

Choi Mo-na hurried back to the emergency room, feeling quite embarrassed.

“This is a remarkable development. You’re getting soaked not just by a drizzle, but by a downpour [a Korean idiom meaning she’s completely smitten].”

Nurse Lim Jeong-sook, who was working at the reception desk, said with a very pleased expression.

“I agree.”

It was definitely a remarkable development. Of course, Choi Mo-na wasn’t being incredibly kind or overly acting. But what was clear was that the Choi Mo-na from the beginning and the Choi Mo-na now were definitely different.

The rigid, stubborn image was no longer there.

“I should tell Choi to carry an umbrella [another Korean idiom, meaning to be careful and prepared for love].”

“That’s a good idea too.”

Rrrrrrrrrrr

While he was talking with Nurse Lim Jeong-sook, the cell phone in Tae-kyung’s hand vibrated.

“Yes.”

-Doctor, it’s about Yoo Ji-cheon.

It was a call from the ward. As soon as the name Yoo Ji-cheon came out, the smile disappeared from Tae-kyung’s face.

-Her temperature is 39.8 degrees Celsius [103.6 degrees Fahrenheit], and she says her whole body aches like she has the flu. She’s also coughing intermittently and complaining of abdominal pain.

“What are the patient’s BP (blood pressure) and HR (heart rate)?”

-30 minutes ago, BP was 90/50 and HR was 115.

“First, do vital full monitoring (real-time measurement of vital signs) and increase the antibiotic to meropenem (broad-spectrum antibiotic). Send out all sputum (phlegm), blood, and urine cultures (microbial culture tests). I’ll go up right now.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Tae-kyung hurriedly went up to the ward. It’s no exaggeration to say that his gown fluttered as he ran.

Tae-kyung, who had run up with large strides, stopped abruptly in front of the ward where the patient was.

Because the patient had neutropenia (a pathological condition in which a type of white blood cell necessary for immunity is reduced due to anticancer drugs, etc., which can easily cause infection), he could not simply enter to prevent infection.

After thoroughly disinfecting his hands, he put on a disposable blue gown and disposable gloves and entered the private room ward where Yoo Ji-cheon was.

“……!”

But at that moment, Tae-kyung felt something was wrong. No, something was definitely wrong.

‘What is this? Why did it suddenly become like this?’