Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 126

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 126 (126/502)

Episode 126. Patient Autonomy

After thoroughly sanitizing my hands, I put on a disposable blue gown and gloves before entering Yoo Ji-cheon’s private room.

“……!”

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

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

The fifth vital sign was raging uncontrollably.

Even when the nurse had called earlier to tell me about Yoo Ji-cheon’s condition, I had expected the smell to be worse.

Because as the patient’s condition worsened, so did their fifth vital sign. But there was a subtle scent of sulfur mixed with formaldehyde, and a sour, repulsive, and foul odor.

It was very faint, but definitely a new smell. I could sensitively detect even the slightest changes in the fifth vital sign odors of patients.

‘Could it be…….’

Tae-kyung had a hunch, but decided not to jump to conclusions.

He had been greatly helped in treating many patients with this mysterious smell. But Tae-kyung was a doctor trained in evidence-based medicine.

Therefore, he couldn’t take any immediate action based solely on a new smell. It was still unverified, and he had no experience with it.

Right now, the first priority was to find out why the patient’s condition had deteriorated so rapidly.

“Patient, you don’t have any energy right now, do you? Do you know where you are?”

“Yes…….”

Yoo Ji-cheon replied weakly to Tae-kyung’s question. Her gaze quickly shifted to the monitor.

The patient’s blood pressure on the monitor was 86/55, and the oxygen saturation was maintained at 90.

-Yes, Doctor.

Tae-kyung urgently picked up the phone.

“Reserve a bed in the ICU now and do an ABGA (Arterial Blood Gas Analysis).”

“Wait, Doctor! No, I can’t go to the ICU.”

“Yes?”

Tae-kyung, flustered, hung up the phone and spoke clearly to Yoo Ji-cheon.

“Patient, you’re going to die if you stay like this.”

A normal patient would have raised their voice, but she didn’t. Yoo Ji-cheon was not a normal patient.

She was deeply immersed in a terrible cult. The rules and words of the cult leader took precedence over the knowledge of a doctor.

Therefore, raising his voice to persuade the patient would be useless. He wanted to force her into the ICU, but it was not easy to do so against the patient’s strong refusal.

Tae-kyung felt frustrated and upset beyond words.

“Patient, listen to me. No, you have to listen.”

“I know you care about me a lot, Doctor. I’m not going to die. But Doctor, I can’t go to the ICU.”

Even with no energy, Yoo Ji-cheon put strength into her voice, showing how much she didn’t want to go to the ICU.

“Is the reason you don’t want to go to the ICU because of that cult leader you believe in?”

“…….”

He felt like he knew the answer without having to hear it from Yoo Ji-cheon.

“I understand. Then I’ll contact your guardian since your condition may worsen further.”

“…….”

Yoo Ji-cheon still said nothing. Tae-kyung gave the necessary orders for the patient and came out of the room, sitting in front of the station monitor. Then he paused to think.

‘What is it?’

He was trying to find the reason why her body was suddenly deteriorating like that. Of course, there was always the possibility of it being due to neutropenia [low white blood cell count], but the speed was too fast.

“The patient next to her, I saw earlier that her condition wasn’t good, so they seemed to be moving her room…….”

“They moved her to a private room. She seems like a nice person, but when I see her talking to her daughter, she’s subtly stubborn.”

“They say that once you fall into a cult, you don’t see anything else, not even your family.”

“Well, that’s true. They say there’s no answer. It’s really pitiful to see.”

The conversation between the patient in room 207, who had been using the same room as Yoo Ji-cheon, and her guardian, could be heard from behind.

They continued talking as they passed through the hallway, but Tae-kyung wasn’t paying close attention because of Yoo Ji-cheon, whose chances of death had increased.

‘Could it be because of that holy water?’

In fact, the most likely and suspected cause was the problematic holy water that Kim Jin-kyung had mentioned.

But Tae-kyung had checked the surroundings several times, but the problematic plastic bottle was nowhere to be found.

“No, but what is she always taking out of that yellow bag to eat? I see her carrying it even when she goes to the bathroom or briefly comes out of the ward.”

“That sauce container? I don’t know. She’s a woman of few words, so she doesn’t talk much.”

It was then. Tae-kyung, who had been listening with one ear, realized that the answer was in the people’s words.

‘Yellow bag? Sauce container?’

A thought flashed through his mind, and Tae-kyung, certain, put on a disposable gown again and ran to the patient’s room.

‘I’m sure of it.’

Tae-kyung, who came into the room, looked around Yoo Ji-cheon’s bed. His busy gaze, checking from under the bed to the lockers and drawers, stopped at one place.

“Doctor? What are you doing?”

Yoo Ji-cheon asked, but Tae-kyung didn’t answer.

‘Yellow bag!’

The yellow cloth sticking out slightly behind the black bag in the locker caught his eye. A bag slightly larger than an adult man’s palm was pulled out by Tae-kyung’s hand.

It was a bag that hadn’t been seen when he found the plastic bottle before. It seemed that Yoo Ji-cheon had hidden it.

“Doctor!”

Yoo Ji-cheon said urgently, but Tae-kyung’s actions were faster.

Ziiip-

Opening the zipper, small sauce containers, each about the length of a finger, were packed tightly inside the bag.

‘That’s why I didn’t know.’

Kim Jin-kyung, who had always thought that the holy water would be in a plastic bottle as usual, focused only on the plastic bottle. She didn’t think that Yoo Ji-cheon would hide it by dividing it into small sauce containers and a bag like this.

“Oh, oh……. Doctor, that’s precious. Just leave it alone. I can’t even get it now because I don’t have money. Doctor?”

Tae-kyung opened the sauce container, ignoring Yoo Ji-cheon’s words. As soon as he opened the problematic sauce container, a strong smell of spoiled food rose up.

‘What on earth is this?’

Opening the lid of the opaque sauce container, there was something thick along with water.

Whatever was inside, one thing was certain. The problematic holy water that Yoo Ji-cheon blindly believed in had gone bad. It was clear that it was teeming with bacteria.

“Patient, when I came in earlier, I noticed a strong smell of feces in the bathroom. Do you also have diarrhea?”

“Yes, my whole body aches.”

“I’ll also order a stool culture for the patient.”

“Ah, Doctor?”

As Tae-kyung was about to leave with the yellow bag containing the problematic sauce container, Yoo Ji-cheon called out urgently.

“That’s my holy water. Give it back to me.”

“I can’t give you this.”

“Yes? What do you mean?”

Instead of answering the patient’s words, Tae-kyung stared at her silently. Then, suddenly, he quickly opened all the lids of the sauce containers, went into the bathroom, dumped them into the toilet, and flushed it.

He couldn’t just stand by and watch this situation.

“Oh my, Doctor, don’t do that.”

As Tae-kyung came out with the empty container along with the sound of flushing water, Yoo Ji-cheon looked bewildered and didn’t know what to do.

“Doctor, did you really throw away that precious thing? Huh?”

“Yes. I threw it all away.”

“How could you throw away the holy water…….”

“This isn’t holy water, it’s just dirty garbage that harms the patient’s body.”

“……!”

“Patient. According to current law, doctors are not allowed to do anything that violates the patient’s wishes. That is the law and the patient’s autonomy. But at this moment, I can no longer tolerate the foolish act of killing yourself. If you want to hold me accountable for my actions, you can report me.”

“…….”

“It seems that the spoiled things in that sauce container are the cause. Right now, the patient’s immunity is quite weak. So you should only eat cooked food. But if those spoiled things keep going into your body, you can’t stand it.”

Tae-kyung continued to speak earnestly, hoping that the patient’s misguided thoughts would be broken even a little. He hoped that Yoo Ji-cheon would come out of that absurd and futile mindset.

“And now, accept it. The cult leader can’t cure you and is just a bad scammer who took all your wealth. If you think about it a little, you know it too.”

At Tae-kyung’s words, the patient finally lowered her head. And she began to shed thick tears like chicken droppings, even though she was already dehydrated.

“Sob!”

“Yoo Ji-cheon…….”

Tae-kyung knelt down and matched his eye level with the patient who was bowing her head, and spoke in a warmer tone than before.

“I’m sorry for surprising you with my excessive actions. But don’t run away from reality anymore. You know everything. Since you can’t undo the past, face reality with dignity for the rest of your life. I’ll help you. It’s late, but you have to play the role of a mother. You have Jin-kyung and Jin-hyun. You have to embrace that precious gift of children again.”

“Sob! Sniff…….”

When Tae-kyung finished speaking, Yoo Ji-cheon just cried in that spot without saying anything.

Only she herself would know what Yoo Ji-cheon’s tears meant now. However, Tae-kyung quietly left the room, hoping that his words would have even a small resonance in Yoo Ji-cheon’s heart.

After Tae-kyung left the room, Yoo Ji-cheon, whose mind had calmed down, was lost in thought for a long time with a blank expression.

‘Can’t we live as a normal family?’

Then, suddenly, the words that her daughter used to say like a habit came to her mind.

‘I wish Mom would go back to her old self. I, Jin-hyun, and Dad also want to eat together with the family laughing, and just gather together to talk. Mom? I still like Mom.’

Yoo Ji-cheon took out her cell phone from the locker and checked the family group chat.

-Honey, did you eat? Are you going to ignore my calls again?

-Mom, your son loves you a lot.

-Mom, please reply to Dad and Jin-hyun’s messages on KakaoTalk [a popular messaging app in South Korea].

The messages sent by her family did not decrease no matter how much she scrolled up the KakaoTalk window. Come to think of it, her family had been sending messages every day without a break.

Yoo Ji-cheon lay on the bed and slowly read the messages sent by her family.

* * *

The next day, Tae-kyung was in his office from the morning, opening Yoo Ji-cheon’s newly released Lab (blood test) results on the electronic chart and checking it.

“Ha! That’s good.”

A sigh of relief flowed from Tae-kyung’s mouth.

Fortunately, the numbers had improved slightly. Still, because her body condition was so bad, it was different from a case where a normal patient had improved. Even so, the current test numbers looked promising.

It wasn’t promising in terms of a complete cure. It was the hope that Yoo Ji-cheon had time left to exchange hearts and have conversations with her family.

‘Let’s do our best.’

Tae-kyung intends to work hard as a doctor, as he always has, so that the patient can be as comfortable as possible in body and mind for the time she has left.

“Hello, this is me. I’m going to order for Yoo Ji-cheon.”

-Yes, Doctor.

Tae-kyung, who called the ward nurse, gave the order.

“First, change the fluid (IV fluid) to NaK1 containing sodium (sodium) and potassium (potassium), and give it at a rate of 80cc/hr. I’ll adjust it again after seeing the urine output.”

-Yes.

“Looking at the kidney numbers, it seems like the antibiotics are too much, so I’ll reduce the amount to 2/3. Please do labs (blood tests) every 4 hours from now on. And let me know immediately if BP (blood pressure) drops.”

-Understood.

That morning, Yoo Ji-cheon returned to her original room 207 due to her improved test numbers.

Yoo Ji-cheon showed a slightly different appearance that day than other times.

She didn’t say that she felt good, nor did she force a smile. And she only slightly pulled back one side of the bed curtain, which had always been tightly closed, and opened it.

“Jin-kyung’s mom opened the curtain? Why? Are you changing the blanket?”

“No. I was feeling stuffy. I’m going to leave it open now.”

“Oh, you thought well. Is your body feeling a little better?”

“Yes, it’s better than yesterday.”

She soon began to exchange words with the guardian of the bed next to her, who didn’t answer well even when spoken to.

Kim Jin-kyung, who came to the hospital after work, heard everything that had happened from Tae-kyung and was greatly relieved by the fact that the problematic holy water was gone.

“Jin-kyung?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s gone.”

Yoo Ji-cheon said to her daughter, who was looking through the locker and bag.

“Are you doing that because you’re worried that Mom might have more holy water?”

To be honest, she was. The doctor said he had poured it all into the toilet, but she wondered if even one was left.

“What the doctor threw away is all there is. There’s really none left.”

“Really?”

“Then this time it’s real. You can trust Mom. More than that, Jin-kyung. There’s something Mom wants to tell you…….”

“Tell me?”

Yoo Ji-cheon’s gaze moved to the small scar on Kim Jin-kyung’s wrist.

“I’m sorry.”

“…….”

“It’s very late, but I feel like I need to apologize to my daughter.”

“Mom…….”

“I’m sincerely sorry, Mom.”

Yoo Ji-cheon conveyed her apology to her daughter and family.

“I’m sorry to you, Dad, and Jin-hyun.”

“No. No. Mom, you don’t have anything to be sorry for. It’s okay.”

That day, the mother and daughter, who had hugged each other for the first time in a long time, shed tears for a long time. And three days later, Yoo Ji-cheon told Tae-kyung some surprising news.

“Patient, you said you don’t have diarrhea anymore?”