Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 165

165. Anxiety and Fear

Lee Su-jeong arrived at a 24-hour cafe near her house. It was late, so there were only a few people on the first floor and no one on the second.

“Are you Cha Dae-han’s guardian?”

Lee Su-jeong, who had come up to the second floor, looked around and heard a voice calling from behind.

“Ah, yes.”

“I’m really sorry for contacting you so late.”

Go Gye-deuk, who had come out of the restroom, stood in front of Lee Su-jeong.

“I’m Go Gye-deuk, the one who called you. I apologize for contacting you so abruptly, but it’s a very important matter.”

The two sat facing each other at the most secluded table.

Lee Su-jeong sat down and looked at Go Gye-deuk’s face. It was definitely the face of the man who had introduced himself as the director in the trauma intensive care unit.

“What’s the reason for sending food and this to our house…?”

Lee Su-jeong placed the wad of cash she had brought in a paper bag on the table.

“And the children enjoyed the food. I’ll pay for it.”

“No, please don’t. I sent it because I heard you had children, but it seems I’ve committed a discourtesy.”

Go Gye-deuk waved his hands with an exaggerated expression at Lee Su-jeong’s offer to pay for the food.

The expression seemed hypocritical, as if he really cared about the children.

“I apologize if I caused any inconvenience.”

“No, it’s okay. But why did you send the money?”

“As the hospital director, I’m aware of the circumstances of patients and their guardians. I happened to hear about the unfortunate situation of our patient, Cha Dae-han, and I thought I could help the guardian, so I contacted you.”

“Help?”

“I understand that Cha Dae-han is having a difficult time due to his long-term hospitalization. Mentally…”

Go Gye-deuk carefully observed Lee Su-jeong’s reaction and continued slowly.

“And financially. When a patient is hospitalized for a long time, the guardians naturally worry about the hospital bills. Especially in the trauma intensive care unit, the amount is considerable. So, I contacted you because I wanted to help with the financial aspect.”

Go Gye-deuk then slowly pushed the money on the table towards her.

“So, you’re saying I should use this money for my husband’s hospital bills?”

“In addition to the hospital bills, I understand that Cha Dae-han’s family is facing some difficulties due to the accident. I want to help with that as well.”

There’s a saying that no one can endure a long illness.

When a patient is hospitalized for a long time, not only the patient but also the guardian and family who are by their side become quite exhausted.

When financial problems are added to that, unbelievable things sometimes happen, such as the guardian giving up on the patient and running away.

Go Gye-deuk knew better than anyone the difficulties that Lee Su-jeong was experiencing as a guardian.

He knew how desperate people were when offered help, and he decided to take advantage of that.

“I understand that you inquired about hospital bill support from the social work team before, but you were told it wasn’t possible.”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“I can solve that problem for you as well. Think of this money as my personal donation for Cha Dae-han’s hospital bills. And I will help you continue to receive hospital bill support in the future.”

“…”

“As I said before, my position is the hospital director. The hospital director can do more than you think.”

“But why are you doing this for us…?”

“Well… how should I put it…? I thought it would be a win-win situation if I helped the guardian and the guardian helped me.”

Lee Su-jeong didn’t understand what Go Gye-deuk meant by helping him.

“You’re saying I should help the director?”

“Yes, if you grant me one favor, I promise to provide generous support for Cha Dae-han.”

“A favor? What kind of favor are you talking about…?”

“I think it would be better to tell you when you decide to grant the favor. What do you think?”

Lee Su-jeong didn’t know what conditions Go Gye-deuk was talking about, but the wad of money and hospital bill support in front of her seemed enough to shake her heart.

After that, Lee Su-jeong was deep in thought for about five minutes without saying a word.

“I think…”

Lee Su-jeong, who had been contemplating for a while, was about to open her mouth when.

“Not now.”

Go Gye-deuk hurriedly cut her off.

“Pardon?”

“How about you think about it slowly and give me an answer later?”

“…”

“Oh! I got a call from the hospital. Excuse me, but I have an urgent call. May I take it for a moment?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Go Gye-deuk suddenly got up and went down to the first floor, using a non-existent call as an excuse.

And a moment later, he called Lee Su-jeong.

“Hello.”

-I’m so sorry. Something came up, so I had to leave without saying goodbye.

“You left the money behind?”

-My request is just one thing. Think about it slowly, and let’s talk again after you’ve made a decision. Please keep the money for now. I’ll contact you in a week.

Go Gye-deuk knew very well that *thinking about it* and *agonizing over it* are worlds apart.

“Ha!”

Lee Su-jeong, who hung up the phone, sighed and sat still for a while, looking at the money without getting up.

* * *

A fishing site in Gyeonggi Province [a province surrounding Seoul]-

It’s well past midnight.

The quiet fishing site in the early morning is truly serene. Especially today, it was deserted, and even a sense of solitude lingered.

“Damn it! I can’t get a single bite today. Not one.”

Lee Dong-hoon, a key member of the Shinwha University Hospital’s anesthesiology department, sat alone at the misty fishing site.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to catch a single fish today and go home empty-handed.”

Lee Dong-hoon had been coming to the fishing site frequently these days.

Until recently, it was difficult to come to the fishing site with peace of mind because of the surgery schedule, but these days he had a lot of time left.

Just a while ago, when Go Gye-deuk told him to persuade Tae-kyung, he never thought this situation would happen.

To be honest, until then, he was briefly excited about the thought of going to the branch hospital as the director. But after meeting Tae-kyung, he realized that persuading him was not the right thing to do and changed his mind.

However, a problem arose in this process. Go Gye-deuk was displeased that he had failed to persuade Tae-kyung and had taken his side. And absurdly, harassment began.

At first, he nitpicked over trivial things, but eventually, he even put a stop to his anesthesiology work. So much so that fellow anesthesiology professors cautiously advised him to resign.

He had already thought that Go Gye-deuk wouldn’t stand still, but he didn’t know he would act so petty.

In the end, Lee Dong-hoon decided to resign.

He no longer wanted to work while seeing Go Gye-deuk’s dirty behavior.

But once he made the decision, he felt a little bad. Still, he was a department head at a top university hospital, and he was secretly ashamed to find a job in a private practice again.

However, starting a hospital was also a risk.

“Frustrating. So frustrating!”

He could find a job quickly, but he felt bitter that he had to leave the hospital where he had devoted his youth in this way.

“That’s it! What, it’s not like there’s no place to work if it’s not Shinwha University.”

Lee Dong-hoon couldn’t tell his family all these circumstances, so he visited the fishing site alone to soothe his mind whenever he felt stuffy.

“Wow! The scenery here is always a work of art. Just looking at it heals my heart.”

Being buried in the morning mist seemed to calm his noisy mind.

“I want some soju [Korean distilled rice liquor]. Just a sip… Achoo! Is it because it’s dawn? The air is cold.”

Lee Dong-hoon, who sneezed coolly, sniffed and rubbed his stomach.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten anything all day, but I’m not hungry.”

Lee Dong-hoon was usually a person who had a knack for eating. One of the joys of his life was eating, as he had a famous list of restaurants in the anesthesiology department.

Originally, it was time to eat *jjambong* [spicy seafood noodle soup] at the fishing site. But strangely, he had no hunger at all.

“What is it…”

No, rather, he felt something strange in his stomach.

“Why is my stomach so unpleasantly bloated?”

He tapped lightly on the area near his solar plexus and got up from the fishing chair, wondering if he should stretch for a while.

“Ugh. Uh!”

At that moment, when he raised his arms as hard as he could, his legs suddenly lost strength, and without realizing it, one knee fell to the floor.

“Oh my. What’s going on.”

As a doctor, he felt that something was wrong.

Lee Dong-hoon immediately put his fingers on his wrist and began to check his pulse rate.

“1, 2, 3, 4… 95, 96, 97… 103, 104, 105.”

The pulse rate was 105 beats per minute. Since it was checked by hand rather than a machine, it was not accurate, so it could be considered about 110 beats.

Until a while ago, there were no symptoms. But suddenly, he felt a loss of strength in his legs, tachycardia [rapid heart rate], and bloating in his stomach.

“Am I being too sensitive for no reason?”

Lee Dong-hoon, who was briefly nervous, shrugged it off and looked at the scenery of the fishing site again with his arms crossed.

“I’ll take a picture…”

At that moment, when he was about to take out his cell phone to take a picture of the surrounding scenery,

Thud-

Lee Dong-hoon collapsed on the spot powerlessly. There was no one to help him at the quiet fishing site.

The fishing rod moved from time to time, but there was no movement. Time passed through the thickening fog.

After a while-

“Oh! What!”

Lee Dong-hoon, who opened his eyes, realized that he was lying on the floor.

“How long have I been down?”

When he quickly looked at his watch, it was about an hour later. After touching and examining his body here and there, he was relieved that there were no injuries.

“I don’t think this is going to work…”

Lee Dong-hoon, who felt chills all over his body, immediately called 119 [emergency services number in Korea].

-Yes, this is 119.

“This is xx fishing site. I collapsed a little while ago.”

-You’re saying that the person who called us just collapsed?

“Yes. Please come quickly. I may lose consciousness again. Come here.”

-Please tell us your exact location.

“It’s xx fishing site. When you come, turn right at xx intersection and go straight, and you’ll see the fishing site. I understand.”

Lee Dong-hoon, who finished calling 119, was so scared.

He was scared of the fact that he had collapsed, but he was also scared of the unknown changes he felt in his body.

‘What’s the problem?’

From then on, he thought and thought again.