Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 214

214. Shut Your Mouth Before You Get Hit

Tae-kyung was in the emergency room after his conversation with Assemblyman Gam Deok-chan.

*Chareuk-*

“Director Kim?”

He was making his rounds, checking on patients, when the curtain suddenly opened and an elderly patient called out to Tae-kyung.

“Yes, sir. Where does it hurt?”

“Come here.”

The old man gestured for Tae-kyung to come closer, raising his index finger.

“I think something terrible has happened.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

“My daughter-in-law is a bit strange.”

“Your daughter-in-law?”

“Yeah. Earlier, we were watching TV in the evening, and I couldn’t find the remote for ages. And guess what? It was in the freezer.”

The old man spoke seriously, with exaggerated gestures and expressions, as if narrating a fairy tale.

“And one day, she put her cell phone in the washing machine. My daughter-in-law has dementia, right?”

“Oh my! She did that?”

“Hey! Are you laughing at me now? You shouldn’t laugh like that just because it’s someone else’s story. Can’t Director Kim fix my daughter-in-law?”

“Me?”

“Yes. My daughter-in-law was so smart when she was young, but time waits for no one. Just prescribe her some medicine.”

“Should I? I’ll prescribe some medicine…”

“Father?”

“Father.”

A middle-aged couple approached Tae-kyung as he responded to the old man’s earnest request.

“Father, the payment is done, so let’s go home with us now.”

“Wait a minute. Honey, why don’t you get a check-up from the director here, huh?”

“Yes, Father. I’ll get a check-up and go. You go to the car with him first.”

The daughter-in-law smiled brightly and carefully helped her husband and the old man get off the bed.

“Then, Director, please take care of her.”

“Yes, sir. Please leave carefully.”

“I’m sorry, doctor.”

As the old man left the emergency room with his son, the daughter-in-law gave Tae-kyung an apologetic greeting.

In fact, it was the father-in-law, not the daughter-in-law, who had dementia.

The old man, who lived with his son and his wife, was a regular at the emergency room.

Having visited the emergency room with acute enteritis [inflammation of the small intestine], he would accuse his daughter-in-law and son of being dementia patients every time he came.

The staff at the hospital knew the old man’s condition well, so they always matched his tone without getting annoyed.

There was no point in agitating dementia patients. Tae-kyung, familiar with this, also played along whenever the old man came, just like today.

“Why are you, the guardian, sorry?”

“I was wondering if my father caused any trouble when everyone is busy.”

“The elder is such a good person, even though he has dementia. Don’t worry about it.”

“You are always so warm, Doctor. My husband says there is no doctor like you, so we can’t move.”

“Is that so? Thank you. I’ll have to do better. I also put your father-in-law’s stomach medicine in the prescription.”

“Yes, thank you. Good work.”

Tae-kyung always found it amazing to see the daughter-in-law taking care of her demented father-in-law with such sincerity.

“Doctor?”

As he was returning to the station, Nurse Lim Jeong-suk called urgently.

“I think you should go quickly.”

“To the ward?”

“No. To the examination room. Someone came and said they were JQ Department Store employees.”

“JQ Department Store?”

He wondered why those people came to see him when he heard Lim Jeong-suk’s next words.

“They said they must see you.”

“Okay. I’ll go. Call me if an emergency patient comes.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Tae-kyung’s gaze turned to the clock on the waiting room wall as he walked toward the examination room.

It was already dawn.

‘They came to see me at this hour?’

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t easily figure out why the department store people had come to see him.

‘Ah! Is it because of compensation?’

Tae-kyung, hurrying his steps, thought that they might have come because of compensation for damages.

Come to think of it, something similar had happened before.

When he was a busy resident, he operated on a patient who had an accident, and the company came to provide reasonable compensation according to the patient’s condition.

It was late, but if they came to help the victim, he would welcome them.

*Cheolkeok- Deureureuk-*

As Tae-kyung opened the door and entered the examination room, two men in suits stood up at the same time.

“Are you the director who operated on Ms. Gam Ji-yeon?”

“Yes. I am Kim Tae-kyung, the attending physician of patient Gam Ji-yeon.”

“Hello, Director. We are very sorry for visiting you so suddenly at this late hour.”

The man who bowed to Tae-kyung was the management team leader and his employee who had met Kwon Soo-hyun.

After the deal, they learned from Kwon Soo-hyun that Gam Ji-yeon was at the hospital and hurried over.

“I am the management team leader of JQ Department Store, and this is my subordinate.”

“Ah, yes. But what brings you here at this hour?”

Tae-kyung asked, placing the business card the management team leader handed him on the desk.

“We were worried about the victim. Did the surgery go well?”

“It was a long and difficult surgery, but the patient endured it well. We’ll have to watch the progress, but the surgery went well.”

“The surgery went well. That’s a relief.”

At the words that the surgery went well, there was a fleeting moment where the expression of the person called the management team leader seemed slightly strange.

“Director, you must have worked hard.”

“The patient suffered more than I did.”

“Um… Director? Actually, there is a reason why we urgently came to see you.”

“Reason…?”

“I don’t know if you know, but JQ Department Store is a department store that our company has been preparing for 10 years. It has been the center of attention every day since its opening, but unfortunately, this accident seems to be a bit of a flaw.”

“A flaw?”

“Yes. So, when writing the patient’s diagnosis, we were wondering if you could write it after consulting with our company.”

Tae-kyung doubted his ears for a moment, wondering if he had heard correctly.

“Of course, we’re not just asking you to do it for free. This is our department store gift certificate.”

“So, are you saying that you want me to diagnose the patient’s condition as less severe than it actually is?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“Ha! Are you crazy bastards?”

Tae-kyung said it intentionally loud enough for the two to hear.

“Excuse me? What did you just say…?”

“What do you mean, ‘excuse me’? Are you crazy! Are you guys kidding me!”

Tae-kyung picked up the white envelope that the management team leader had handed him, narrowed his brows, and threw the envelope at the two men.

No matter how corrupt the world was and how powerful money could be, this was beyond the pale. How dare they try to bargain with a patient.

He was speechless and dumbfounded.

“Hey! A person almost died. A person. A young mother sacrificed herself to save her child and almost died, but she survived. But what? A flaw in the department store? People come first, people!”

“…”

The management team leader and the employee didn’t know how to react to Tae-kyung’s outburst.

They clearly thought that they could solve it with money, just like Kwon Soo-hyun did, but that was not the case.

“And did you apologize to the victim?”

“Excuse me? Ah, that’s… We were going to meet the director first.”

In fact, the two had contacted Lee Min-woo before meeting Tae-kyung, but he was angry and refused to even see the faces of the department store employees.

“It’s right to go to the victim, not me, and the president of your department store should come. What you’re saying after coming all the way here at dawn… Hello? Please come to the examination room.”

Tae-kyung, who was scolding the two, suddenly made a phone call to someone.

*Cheolkeok-*

“Did you call me, Director?”

Soon, Jang Deuk-chil came in.

“Agent Jang. Can you get rid of these crazy people here? These people are from the department store, and they’re trying to bargain with a patient.”

“Excuse me? Is that true?”

Jang Deuk-chil glared at the men as he listened to Tae-kyung’s words, and the two flinched.

Jang Deuk-chil, who was tall and bulky, and had a bruise on his left cheek, had a rough appearance that discouraged conversation.

“Hey, you trashy bastards! Are you human?”

“Hey! D, don’t do this.”

“Put this down and talk.”

“Shut your mouth before you get hit.”

Jang Deuk-chil grabbed the two men by the nape of their necks, forcibly lifted them up, dragged them to the front door, and released them.

*Tak-*

“Ah!”

The two fell to the floor.

“Hey! You bastards, you’ve got the wrong person. Our director is not that kind of person. Anyway, you human trash. Get out of here quickly!”

At Jang Deuk-chil’s threat, the two were terrified and ran out of the hospital.

* * *

The next day-

Sinhua University Hospital Director’s Office.

“Hello? Director. You look like you’re in a good mood.”

“Do I look like it?”

Go Gye-deuk, who came to work, was in a good mood thanks to the donation the day before.

He didn’t even realize a bomb had fallen right in front of him, and he was smiling, thinking that his position as director would be secure.

“Our chairman will be returning soon, right?”

“Yes, I heard that he will be coming as scheduled. More than that, about the department store accident yesterday… It’s a big deal now.”

“When an accident happens, there’s a fuss with the media and everything. It’ll be quiet again in a few days.”

“I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“The father of the victim who had the accident yesterday is a member of the National Assembly [South Korea’s unicameral legislature].”

“Wh, wh, what? A member of the National Assembly?”

“Yes, Assemblyman Gam Deok-chan. The media is all over it, and it’s a mess. He’s known to his constituents as a dedicated public servant, so this incident has really resonated with people.”

A member of the National Assembly?

Go Gye-deuk, whose eyes widened as if they would pop out, quickly entered the director’s office and turned on the TV.

-Next news.

It has been revealed that the victim who had an accident at a department store in Seoul yesterday is a member of the National Assembly, Gam Deok-chan’s family.

Assemblyman Gam Deok-chan is a four-term member of the National Assembly and is known to the residents of his district as a true member of the National Assembly who runs on his feet, so people’s hearts are added to this incident.

Assemblyman Gam Deok-chan, who heard the news of his family’s accident, pointed out the department store’s poor construction in this accident.

In addition, he is criticizing the incomprehensible actions of a large hospital located in Seoul, which is becoming a hot topic.

“Was she really the daughter of a member of the National Assembly? Is that real?”

While Go Gye-deuk’s face was turning blue in real time after hearing the news, Kwon Soo-hyun came in with hurried footsteps.

*Cheolkeok-*

“D, Director? B, big deal.”

Kwon Soo-hyun, who was on the express train to hell, also had a pale face.

“The victim who came yesterday was Gam Deok-chan…”

“I just saw it now. Professor Kwon, didn’t you know?”

“How would I know that? Director. But there’s another problem.”

“What do you mean there’s another problem?”

“There’s a post spreading online that the victim was kicked out of Sinhwa University Hospital.”