Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 263

Five Vital Signs – Episode 263

263. Bound for Busan

‘This isn’t it….’

But what Hamad presented this time was completely different from anything before.

“I truly put my heart into this. Please, Doctor, you must accept it.”

Hamad held a small envelope in his hand.

“Please consider this a token of my sincerity, unlike anything I’ve given before.”

“I am grateful that you think of me so highly, but as I’ve said before, I’ll only accept your kind thoughts. That’s more than enough. I didn’t perform the surgery to receive gifts, nor did I treat you any differently than other patients. Treating the sick is my duty. So, I cannot accept the gift.”

“I understand what you’re saying. But you just said you treat all patients the same, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“I don’t think so. And if what you said is true, then I’m even more disappointed. Right now, you’re discriminating against me compared to other patients.”

“Pardon?”

Tae-kyung, who rarely lost his composure, was taken aback by Hamad’s words and asked again.

“Discriminating? You’re saying I’m discriminating against you?”

“Yes, I understand you’ve been rejecting me because of me. But still, this is troubling. Do you know what this is?”

Hamad shook the envelope in his hand as he continued.

“It’s a letter. And I wrote it myself.”

Always preparing gifts that exceeded expectations, Tae-kyung reflexively refused before even seeing it. But the fact that he had prepared a letter was quite unexpected.

“When I first came to your clinic at this hospital, there was something I found impressive.”

Even in the midst of his chaotic state, something had caught Hamad’s eye in Tae-kyung’s office: the gifts he had received from patients.

From dolls to letters, to children’s drawings, Tae-kyung had placed meaningful gifts from patients throughout his office.

Hamad pondered what a truly heartfelt gift would be and was reminded of what he had seen in the office, leading him to prepare a letter.

“This is the first letter I’ve ever written to someone other than my wife and parents. Will you still refuse it?”

“Of course not. I can’t refuse such a precious gift.”

“So, you’ll accept my heart?”

“Of course. I’ll accept as many gifts like this as you want.”

The moment Tae-kyung happily took the envelope,

“Wait a moment!”

Hamad slightly pulled the envelope back.

“You’re not going to embarrass me by reading the letter in front of me, are you?”

“Of course not. I’d be embarrassed to read it in front of you too.”

“That’s a relief. I just wrote a few words of gratitude.”

“Yes, I’ll gladly accept your feelings.”

“Then, I’ll see you when I’m discharged tomorrow.”

“Yes, I’ll see you then.”

Tae-kyung said goodbye to Hamad and left the room.

“Director?”

Team Leader Choi, who had been eagerly waiting for Tae-kyung at the nurses’ station, quickly approached.

“Did the patient prepare a gift again today?”

“Yes, and it was quite an unexpected one.”

‘Yes!’

Hearing that, Team Leader Choi subtly pumped his fist, secretly celebrating his win in their bet.

“So, what kind of gift was it today?”

“I’d say it’s the most special gift yet.”

“The most special? Did you perhaps receive shares in an oil field from his home country?”

“No, it’s this.”

“What is this?”

“A letter.”

“What?! A letter…? Just a letter….”

Having only received extravagant gifts from Hamad until now, Team Leader Choi openly showed his disappointment at the mere letter.

“Director? Are you sure Mr. Hamad only gave you a letter?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

Regardless, Tae-kyung, feeling relieved, headed straight to his office.

Clang-

“Let’s see… He didn’t write the letter in Arabic, did he? Nah, no way. Let’s take a look.”

Tae-kyung chuckled, finding the situation amusing, and carefully opened the envelope. He was about to take out the paper inside when-

Rrrrrrrrr

The phone on his desk vibrated intensely, drawing his attention.

051-xxx-xxxx

051 was the area code for Busan.

“Hello?”

Tae-kyung, who had no contacts in Busan, set down the envelope and answered the call from the unfamiliar number.

-…….

“Hello?”

He answered the phone, but there was no response from the other end, so Tae-kyung spoke once more. However, he could infer the location of the caller from the sounds coming from a distant place.

-Yes, this is Haegippeum Hospice Hospital.

‘Hospice?’

-Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had answered.

Just as Tae-kyung was wondering why a hospice hospital was calling him, he heard the voice of the person who had called.

-Are you by any chance Doctor Kim Tae-kyung?

“Yes, this is Kim Tae-kyung. Who is this?”

-Doctor, how have you been? This is Kim Jin-kyung.

The name ‘Kim Jin-kyung’ from the young woman immediately resolved Tae-kyung’s curiosity about the call. And at the same time, he began to feel worried.

-Have you been well?

“Yes, have you been well?”

-Yes. Well, I’ve been doing okay.

Knowing what ‘doing okay’ meant [likely a euphemism for struggling], Kim Jin-kyung gave a vague answer and changed the subject.

-Doctor, I’m sorry to call you so suddenly. Is this a good time to talk?

“Yes, it’s fine now.”

-Actually, I’m calling because I have a favor to ask.

“A favor?”

-Yes, the thing is….

“Ah… I see.”

Tae-kyung’s expression as he listened to Kim Jin-kyung for a long time was difficult to define in a single word.

He occasionally let out short sighs, his face was filled with worry, and he also seemed to feel a sense of helplessness.

-I’m really sorry to ask you for such a favor.

“No, it’s okay. I’m glad you called. I’ll check my schedule and call you back right away.”

-Yes, Doctor?

“Yes, what is it?”

-You don’t have to push yourself too hard.

“I understand.”

Tae-kyung hung up the phone and quickly checked his schedule on the monitor.

After that, he called Nurse Lim Jung-sook and had a serious conversation. Then, he met with all the medical staff to inform them of the matters concerning the patients and returned to his office to take off his gown.

“I’ll call you as soon as I arrive.”

-Thank you. Thank you so much, Doctor.

After talking with Kim Tae-kyung, he took a vacation and left the hospital.

It was a sudden vacation that he hadn’t planned on, but since he had been working selflessly for the patients without taking any vacations, no one at the hospital said anything.

‘Doctor, why don’t you take this opportunity to go to Busan, clear your head, and get some fresh air.’

Instead, they welcomed his vacation, telling him to take another day off.

An hour later-

Tae-kyung, who had taken a taxi to Seoul Station, boarded the KTX [Korea Train eXpress, a high-speed rail system] and was heading to Busan.

The fact that someone who rarely left the hospital had rushed out after a single phone call meant there was a significant reason.

Several months ago, there was a patient who was admitted to our hospital who had fallen into a cult, causing suffering not only to the patient but also to their family.

Moreover, that patient was someone Tae-kyung had met in the early stages of breast cancer when he was at Shinhwa University Hospital. However, due to misguided beliefs caused by the cult, the disease had progressed to the terminal stage.

Even after coming to the hospital, the patient believed that the water given by the cult leader was the elixir of life and continued to drink it secretly from the medical staff and family.

As the conflict with her daughter, who was by her side, continued, the patient was able to come to her senses with Tae-kyung’s help.

After that, the patient restored her relationship with her daughter and left the hospital, discontinuing treatment.

She was a patient with a strong will to live, so it was a bit strange, but she knew that her condition was not good enough to receive treatment. So, she decided to spend her remaining time with her family.

Kim Jin-kyung, who had called on her cell phone earlier, was the guardian and daughter of patient Yoo Ji-cheon.

Patient Yoo Ji-cheon was a patient who Tae-kyung felt sorry for. So, as soon as he received the call, he couldn’t just stand by.

In fact, he had been worried, even though he thought she was doing well since he hadn’t heard from her after she was discharged.

He had thought about contacting her, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it easily.

He couldn’t act nosy as usual, thinking that the family might be deliberately avoiding contact or that she might have already passed away.

But he was glad to hear from her like this. And fortunately, there were no surgeries scheduled for cancer patients or critically ill patients today.

There was a simple hemorrhoid surgery scheduled, but it was postponed due to the patient’s circumstances.

Come to think of it, it was the first time there had been no surgeries like this. It was as if the heavens were helping him to go and say hello to patient Yoo Ji-cheon.

“It’s the first time I’ve come this far after working.”

Tae-kyung, having temporarily put aside his heavy thoughts, turned his gaze to the window.

“Nice.”

The scenery outside the train, passing by at a rapid speed, felt beautiful.

“When did it turn so green?”

Seeing the scenery that he hadn’t noticed because he was always in the hospital, he felt like his heart was opening up. Tae-kyung unknowingly captured the scenery outside the window with his phone.

Click- Click-

“Who’s taking pictures of the scenery outside the window like a country bumpkin?”

Tae-kyung, who had been taking pictures quite seriously, felt embarrassed by the voice coming from behind and subtly lowered his camera.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“For a moment, when I saw you, I thought of our manager. A while ago, the manager was also taking the KTX and kept taking pictures while looking out the window. Ugh! Old-fashioned.”

“Then, should I take a picture of my dear’s face?”

“I like that.”

Perhaps because it was a weekday, there were only Tae-kyung and a young couple in the special cabin. As a result, their sweet conversation could be heard clearly.

“Shall I look at a thesis?”

Tae-kyung went to the thesis website on his phone and clicked on a thesis he had been interested in lately.

Just as he was about to concentrate, he heard the couple’s conversation again.

“Ah! I’m sleepy.”

“Sleepy? Then go to sleep quickly.”

“What, why are you suddenly telling me to sleep? What are you going to do after I fall asleep?”

“What am I going to do? If you don’t sleep now, you’ll go to bed early tonight again. As I told you before, I have no intention of letting you sleep tonight.”

“This is a public place. Be quiet.”

“There’s no one but us. Shall we kiss?”

“What are you saying! You idiot. There’s someone in front of us. Are you crazy?”

“Really. I thought that person was sleeping? I’m always crazy about you. And they can’t hear us over there.”

Contrary to the man’s words, they could hear. Perhaps because there were no other passengers, they could hear it very clearly.

“Good times. Good times. Suddenly, I miss Euijin.”

Tae-kyung, who was muttering to himself, took out his earphones, put them in his ears, ate the cookies he received as a gift in the special cabin, and concentrated on the thesis again.

And a moment later-

While Tae-kyung was concentrating on the thesis, an announcement was made on the train asking for a doctor.

-We have an announcement. If there are any doctors among the passengers on the train, please come to the crew room between cars 1 and 2.