Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 161

161. No! Yes! Absolutely!

“……?”

Park Sun-young, who was rustling through a bag, startled, quickly tied it shut and hurried after her father-in-law, who was walking away.

“Father! Please don’t do this.”

Inside the crumpled plastic bag was money, a mix of 10,000 and 50,000 won bills [approximately $8 and $40 USD respectively]. It looked like a considerable sum at first glance.

“What are you talking about?”

“Even so, this isn’t right.”

“I heard that even with insurance, the intensive care unit is expensive. Your mother-in-law and I discussed it and decided to help with the hospital bills.”

While Park Sun-young was in the intensive care unit waiting room, her father-in-law had withdrawn money from the ATM at the hospital.

“Father, it’s really okay.”

Her in-laws’ house was modest, like any other ordinary family. Frankly, if her in-laws were wealthy, Park Sun-young would have accepted the money without hesitation.

That money was probably from her in-laws’ retirement savings. Knowing that, she didn’t have the heart to readily accept it.

“Sun-young, this money is actually what your mom and I had been saving little by little to give you when our ‘puppies’ [a term of endearment for their grandchildren] go to college. But after hearing about your father, we couldn’t just stand by, so we withdrew some of it. So, think of it as your money and use it for the hospital bills.”

“Father…….”

Park Sun-young was deeply touched by her father-in-law’s unexpected confession. It was the first time she had heard such a thing.

“Your husband was scammed this time, so we don’t have much to spare. You’ve suffered a lot, marrying such a kind husband.”

“No, he’s the biggest victim.”

“I just raised him to be kind and honest, but living in this world, being kind turns you into a fool. Your husband is at fault for not thinking carefully when he has a wife and children. I have no face to see you.”

“Please don’t say that. I decided to marry him because I liked his kind nature.”

“Thank you for looking at my baby so kindly. So, take that money quickly.”

With her husband having been scammed and then hearing about her own father’s surgery, she felt overwhelmed. But she was so grateful for her in-laws’ warm comfort and unexpected kindness.

“Father, thank you so much.”

“We’re in a difficult situation right now, but it will definitely get better. Both your husband and your father. They say that when one door of happiness closes, another one always opens. So, Sun-young, let’s hang in there a little longer.”

“……Yes. I will.”

Each word from her father-in-law gave her tired heart great strength.

“Father, aren’t you sleepy? There’s a convenience store just ahead. Should I go buy you a fatigue recovery drink quickly?”

“No, when you get old, you don’t sleep much. And I can still drive at this hour. I’ll drive safely, so don’t worry.”

“Yes, Father.”

Park Sun-young held the black plastic bag tightly in both hands and headed to the parking lot with her father-in-law.

“Wait a minute! Excuse me?”

Just as the passenger seat door was about to close, Lee Chan-hee quickly chased after them from the back door.

“Are you the guardian of patient Park Joo-dang?”

“Yes, I’m his daughter.”

“I’m sorry.”

Lee Chan-hee bowed deeply, as if his head would touch the ground, and apologized first.

“……!”

“I’m the doctor who first called you from the emergency room.”

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

“I’m really sorry. I should have stopped the patient more, but I couldn’t, so the patient…….”

“Were you perhaps involved in my dad’s surgery, Doctor?”

Before he could finish speaking, Park Sun-young asked an unexpected question, her gaze directed at Lee Chan-hee’s feet. The bare skin around his feet, visible inside his slippers, was covered with clear bloodstains.

“Yes? Yes.”

After moving Park Joo-dang to the intensive care unit, Lee Chan-hee had rushed to the parking lot to see Park Sun-young as soon as he finished his urgent business in the restroom.

That’s why he didn’t have time to wipe the blood off his feet.

“It’s not your fault to apologize for, Doctor.”

For a surgeon, getting blood on themselves during surgery was more common than one might think, but not for Park Sun-young.

Seeing those bloodstains, she thought, ‘The doctors did their best to save my father.’

“My dad has always hated spending money on hospitals. And he’s such a stubborn person, so if it weren’t for you, he might have just left the emergency room. So, it’s not your fault. I’m grateful.”

It wasn’t wrong.

In fact, if you really think about it, it wasn’t Lee Chan-hee’s fault.

He had explained the situation to the guardian several times and asked her to persuade him, and later, with the guardian’s consent, he had proceeded with the admission first. But even so, Lee Chan-hee apologized because of the guilt in his conscience as a doctor for not persuading the patient more.

But when the guardian thanked him instead of complaining, he felt strange.

“I’m just grateful that you held my dad back to be admitted. Otherwise, something bigger could have happened.”

He was supposed to comfort the guardian, but it felt like he was being comforted instead.

“Thank you for saying that. Your father’s surgery went well, so he’ll get better.”

“Yes, please take good care of him until he’s discharged.”

“Of course.”

“Then, please take care.”

It was the moment when Tae-kyung’s words that doctors are comforted by patients or guardians came to mind.

“Pay more attention, think more, and work hard……. No, do well!”

Lee Chan-hee vowed to prevent such a thing from happening again and went back into the hospital.

* * *

“Oh my! It’s already dawn. The sun will be up soon.”

Nurse Lim Jung-sook was drinking coffee with Eui-jin in the doctors’ office.

“Dr. Jung must be tired today with so many surgeries.”

“…….”

“Dr. Jung, are you sleeping?”

Eui-jin, who was sitting on the chair with her eyes closed, put down the coffee she was holding and lay down on the bed next to her.

“I was just thinking about something.”

“What is it? Why does our Dr. Jung look so serious again?”

“Dr. Soo? I think I made a mistake.”

“A mistake? What kind of mistake?”

“Well, I was eating a hamburger with the doctor in the doctors’ office before the surgery. But…….”

Eui-jin explained everything that had happened before the surgery.

“Unbelievable! So, Dr. Kim shouldn’t have said that, but he got pricked by his own conscience and overreacted.”

“What do you mean overreacted? I think he went overboard. I shouldn’t have brought it up. He kept asking what I was trying to say, but it was settled in the operating room…….”

“You’re worried that the doctor will ask you about it when he sees you, right?”

“Ah! Dr. Soo knows me too well. He’s definitely going to ask.”

Eui-jin was frustrated, feeling like she had stirred up trouble for no reason, and didn’t know how to talk to Tae-kyung.

“Should I just see him in the operating room and avoid him for a few days?”

“That’s inconvenient for Dr. Jung, and it’s too inefficient. Why don’t you just tell him honestly?”

“I thought about that too, but once that timing I had in mind passed, it wasn’t easy to say.”

“That’s how people are. When you see things like this, timing is really everything.”

“That’s right. Especially with matters between men and women…….”

Clang-

Just as Eui-jin was pouring out her heart, unable to decide what to do, the door to the doctors’ office suddenly burst open.

“You were here?”

And at that incredible timing, Tae-kyung appeared.

“……Yes.”

As soon as she heard Tae-kyung’s voice, Eui-jin lay on the bed and sent signals with exaggerated hand gestures and wide eyes in all directions. The meaning of the signal was not to tell him that she was here.

“Yes. We were drinking coffee.”

Lim Jung-sook, who understood the signal perfectly, naturally picked up her coffee and walked towards Tae-kyung.

Fortunately, Eui-jin, who was lying on the bed, was not visible from where Tae-kyung was standing.

“Doctor, do you need something?”

“No. I came to get the hamburger I left over from earlier.”

“It must be cold. Are you okay with that?”

“It’s okay. But have you seen Dr. Jung by any chance?”

“Dr. Jung?”

At that moment, Eui-jin, who was lying on the bed listening to the situation, tensed up and pressed her body as close to the wall as possible.

“Wouldn’t she be in the examination room? I think she went towards the examination room earlier…….”

Nurse Lim Jung-sook was telling him a different location as requested, but that wasn’t the reality.

‘She’s over there on that bed.’

Very kindly, she accurately pointed to the bed where Eui-jin was lying with her index finger and mouth.

In fact, it might be nosy to interfere in other people’s affairs, but Lim Jung-sook deliberately told Tae-kyung.

Knowing Eui-jin’s personality, she would definitely avoid Tae-kyung intentionally for days if left alone.

If that happened, the two of them might become awkward for no reason, and above all, it was best to resolve matters between men and women right away without being frustrated.

In fact, Lim Jung-sook, as someone who wanted the two of them to do well, just wanted to help a little without crossing the line.

“Oh, I haven’t been to the examination room. Doctor, are you going?”

“Yes, I’m going to check on the ward. Then, enjoy your hamburger.”

Tae-kyung raised his thumb and greeted Nurse Lim Jung-sook as she left the doctors’ office.

‘What! Why did Dr. Soo leave, and why is the senior doctor eating a hamburger here…….’

Eui-jin shouted silently in her mind and took out her phone to send a KakaoTalk message to Nurse Lim Jung-sook.

-Dr. Soo!!!!!! How could you just leave? Help me! Please, call the doctor outside. Please.

Just as she was moving her fingers like crazy and about to press the send button,

♬♩♫♪~

Suddenly, her phone rang without any sense.

‘Why are you doing this to me! Senior…….’

The one who caused the cheerful ringtone in the quiet doctors’ office was none other than Tae-kyung.

“The ringtone is ringing from here. That’s strange. Dr. Jung, are you here?”

Upon hearing the ringtone and Tae-kyung’s voice, Eui-jin decided to get up nonchalantly after hesitating for a moment.

It wasn’t the time to worry about embarrassment.

“Ahem! I dozed off. Oh my! Senior?”

Eui-jin, who didn’t look like someone who had just woken up at all, stretched awkwardly and pretended to be surprised to see Tae-kyung.

“Eui-jin, you were here? I just called you?”

“Oh! Really? I guess I fell asleep while lying down for a bit while looking at the thesis. Did the senior doctor come to eat a hamburger?”

“Yeah. I remembered the one I left earlier.”

“Yes. Then, enjoy your meal. I have something to do…….”

“Where are you going?”

Tae-kyung grabbed Eui-jin’s hand and stopped her.

“I have something to say.”

Eui-jin’s plan to leave naturally failed.

“It can be done later…….”

“What?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. What do you want to say?”

“The day we went to the baseball stadium. I told you to tell me in a month while going home. You were going to say that before the surgery, right?”

Ah! As expected, the prediction was correct. Tae-kyung brought up the topic that she didn’t want to talk about.

“Yes, that’s right.”

Eui-jin, who was standing awkwardly, sat down opposite Tae-kyung. Now that it had come to this, she decided to convey her honest feelings if she couldn’t avoid it.

“To be honest, I still have good feelings for the senior doctor.”

She still respected Tae-kyung as a doctor and had good feelings for him as a man, but she wondered if she had been too hasty.

“But I don’t want to burden the senior doctor. It’s already been a month……. So, what I mean is, you can say it comfortably.”

“Comfortably?”

“To be more honest, it means you can reject me coolly.”

Until a little while ago, she wanted to avoid it, but once she said it, Eui-jin felt relieved.

“But what should I do?”

“…….”

“I wasn’t going to reject you?”

“Yes?”

“I can’t do two things at the same time. How should I say it? Doctor Kim Tae-kyung is fast, but person Kim Tae-kyung is very slow. Being in charge of the hospital, there are so many things to do and so many things to take care of.”

It wasn’t an excuse.

Tae-kyung was also feeling and learning that running a hospital was more difficult than he thought.

“So, I didn’t have time to think about what you said. How good of a person Jung Eui-jin is. The fact that such a person thinks of me with good feelings, that’s something to be grateful for.”

“……!”

“So, I was wondering if I could give you a longer expiration date. So, how about getting to know each other more naturally and becoming closer like we are now? Is that okay?”

“No! Yes! Absolutely!”

Eui-jin raised her voice without realizing it at Tae-kyung’s words. She was happy with his unexpected answer because she was already sure that it would be a rejection.

“Wow! Do you like it that much?”

“Of course. And the senior doctor said that you’re a slow person? I’m fast.”

“Huh?”

“I’m very quick-witted. So, the senior doctor can focus on the hospital work and concentrate on the patients as you do now. I’ll take care of it well because I’m fast.”

“What does it mean to take care of it well?”

“There’s something like that.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Tae-kyung showed a warm smile, and Eui-jin smiled brightly in response.

Eui-jin’s worries, which had been bothering her for over a month, were settled so well.

* * *

The next day, Shinhwa University Hospital TICU (Trauma Intensive Care Unit).

“What! Why is he doing that?”

The head nurse looked at Go Gye-deuk, who was touring the trauma intensive care unit again today, with a puzzled expression.

“He’s here again.”

She couldn’t understand Go Gye-deuk’s actions, who had been stamping his attendance every day for the past few days.

It wasn’t strange for the hospital director to go anywhere in the hospital, but even so, he didn’t visit the trauma intensive care unit this often.

“Tsk! He’s making me nervous.”