Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 265

265. The Secret of the Bag

“No, not just disinfect it. Please stitch it up.”

Lee Ye-jin, who had been asking for a simple disinfection just moments ago, suddenly requested stitches.

And this, inside a moving train.

“Stitches, here?”

“Yes.”

*Actually, it’s better to get stitches now. If the open wound gets infected, it might not end as a simple problem.*

But there was one issue.

“If you’re worried about the tools, you can use what’s in there, right?”

After a moment of thought, Tae-kyung turned his head towards where Lee Ye-jin’s fingertip was pointing. There was a first aid kit brought by the attendant.

And inside the first aid kit was a suture set needed for stitching.

“That’s right! A suture set. I heard this is used for stitching skin…”

The attendant, who had been listening to their conversation, took out the suture set and continued.

“There was an incident where a passenger suddenly collapsed in the restroom while on the train. Fortunately, it was during a holiday, so the train was fully booked, and there were a few doctors among the passengers. After their emergency treatment, the passenger was taken to the next station by 119 [Korean emergency services]. But one of the doctors who was there regretted not having a suture set to stitch up the head wound.”

The kind attendant explained, volunteering information.

“I told you earlier, right? Our team leader has everything needed for emergency patients. After hearing what the doctor said back then, we bought a suture set. When I said only doctors use this kind of thing, the team leader jokingly said that there would be at least one doctor on the train anyway. But I never thought there would be a day to actually use it like today.”

“That’s great. Doctor, please stitch me up.”

Lee Ye-jin, who had been talking to the attendant, spoke to Tae-kyung again.

“You said earlier that there’s a risk of infection and that I definitely need stitches. And since there’s a suture set, I’d feel more comfortable getting it done here.”

Unlike Lee Ye-jin’s firm opinion, Tae-kyung was thinking.

It was because of that one problem he mentioned earlier.

The stitching tools weren’t the issue. Tae-kyung had also seen the suture set as soon as the attendant opened the first aid kit.

What he was worried about was the anesthesia.

“Of course, I can stitch it up if we have that. But there’s no anesthetic.”

“I know, doctor. Just do it.”

“You want me to stitch it up without anesthesia? Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

In fact, the wound on Lee Ye-jin’s arm was at a level where getting anesthesia or just stitching it up would be similar.

What that exactly meant was that getting an anesthesia shot would hurt as much as the stitching. Moreover, in her case, she would need anesthesia in multiple spots, making it even worse.

Psychologically, some people feel more comfortable getting an anesthesia shot before stitching.

And as Lee Ye-jin said, the patient needed to stay still during the stitching without anesthesia, but he wondered if that would be possible.

“This level of wound is just as painful with anesthesia. So, I’ll just do it without.”

“Even if we do it without, you need to stay still while stitching. Can you do that?”

“Yes, I can. And doctor, you saw that earlier, right?”

Lee Ye-jin continued, shifting her gaze from the bag she had carefully placed down.

“Until the work is done, I won’t have time to think about anything else. I want to finish it perfectly. So, please stitch me up so I can finish my work well.”

“Okay. I understand.”

The attendant was curious about what was in that bag, but Tae-kyung knew exactly what Lee Ye-jin meant.

“Let’s do it. The stitching.”

“Y-You’re going to stitch without anesthesia? Won’t it hurt?”

The attendant, surprised by their conversation, asked Lee Ye-jin if she was okay, and a cool answer came back.

“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”

Afterward, Tae-kyung got permission from the attendant and moved Lee Ye-jin and himself to the special compartment where he had been.

This was because the special compartment was larger and had more space than the regular seats.

Back in his seat, Tae-kyung finished preparing for the stitching.

“Even if anesthesia and stitching are similar, it might feel more painful to do it without. Also, the train is moving, so you shouldn’t move your arm while I’m stitching.”

“Yes, I know what you mean. Don’t worry. I may look like this, but I’m a working mom who has given birth to two kids.”

He didn’t expect that she, who looked small and young, would be a mother.

“I went through 15 hours and 10 hours of labor for my first and second, nearly dying while giving birth naturally. So, I’m a pro at enduring pain. Don’t worry and just do it. I’ll stick my arm here and won’t move an inch.”

“Should I prepare a towel for you to bite on?”

Tae-kyung asked, worried that Lee Ye-jin might clench her teeth in pain.

“No, it’s okay.”

“Alright! Let’s start then.”

“Yes, doctor.”

Tae-kyung disinfected the wounded arm once again and picked up the needle.

In fact, stitching was something he did as routinely as eating, and his stitching skills were so good that anyone who had worked with him had to acknowledge them.

The wound wasn’t deep either, so it was honestly quite an easy case for Tae-kyung. But one thing to be careful about was that the location wasn’t a hospital but a moving train.

It was fortunate that it wasn’t a car that repeatedly stopped and started due to speed bumps or traffic lights.

‘Let’s focus…’

Feeling the rhythm of the train moving at a constant speed, Tae-kyung inserted the needle into Lee Ye-jin’s arm.

“Ugh!”

As the needle went in, Lee Ye-jin, who had been turning her head, briefly frowned and sighed.

Even for someone who was good at enduring pain, it was natural for it to hurt.

Tae-kyung stitched quickly and accurately to minimize the pain.

As the first needle went into the skin, the stitching inside the moving train, which he had been worried about, didn’t cause much of a problem due to the constant speed.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s bearable.”

“You’re doing well. It’ll be over soon, so just bear with it a little longer.”

The needle went in at a right angle, entering at a distance from the wound as deep as the wound itself. Then it went under the wound and came out at the same distance.

The tie was faster than ever, but he was concerned about the pain the patient would fully feel.

Tae-kyung stitched the approximately 5cm wound about four times, finished it, and disinfected the wound with antiseptic. Then, he didn’t forget to remind her.

“It’s all done. Be careful not to get water on it.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

Lee Ye-jin, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the bag during the stitching, turned to Tae-kyung and expressed her gratitude.

“No need to thank me. Lee Ye-jin, you’re the one who went through a lot. It must have hurt, but you endured it really well.”

“No, it’s okay. But doctor, you’re really good at tying.”

“I just did a simple stitch, but I’m embarrassed to be praised.”

“They say you can tell a surgeon’s skill just by watching them stitch. I was actually a little surprised when I saw you earlier.”

“Do you know me?”

“I saw you on TV, including that interview about child abuse.”

“Ah, I see. But you really endured well.”

“Me? It only stung when the needle first went in, but it didn’t hurt that much. Maybe it’s because I’m not in my right mind right now.”

“Is it tough?”

At that sudden question, Lee Ye-jin’s gaze, which had been guarding the bag like a treasure, briefly turned to Tae-kyung.

Then, she could see that Tae-kyung’s gaze was also directed at the bag.

“Actually, I don’t even know if it’s tough right now.”

Lee Ye-jin said, holding the bag’s handle preciously.

The icebox-shaped bag that she had been so carefully guarding contained human organs.

Inside that bag were precious organs soaked in a cold solution.

As soon as Tae-kyung saw the bag, he realized that Lee Ye-jin’s job was an organ transplant coordinator.

The reason she didn’t feel the pain from the wound on her arm, kept making phone calls, and was so nervous and out of her mind was because she was currently transporting organs.

There are organ donation coordinators and organ transplant coordinators.

The difference between the two is, to put it simply, that organ donation coordinators have 담당자 [regional representatives] nationwide and manage brain-dead individuals who will donate organs.

They also belong to the Korea Organ Donation Agency (KODA), assess potential brain-dead individuals, coordinate brain death determinations, and handle donation procedures. They are also called organ procurement coordinators.

On the other hand, organ transplant coordinators manage recipients who have received organ transplants and work at affiliated hospitals.

Lee Ye-jin belongs to this category and is responsible for providing guidance and coordination for the overall transplant process, as well as coordinating organ procurement and transportation.

“But why are you transporting it by KTX [Korean high-speed rail] instead of by helicopter…?”

“That’s right. We also use ambulances or KTX, but in urgent cases, we often transport by helicopter.”

Lee Ye-jin was originally scheduled to transport the organs by helicopter. However, due to a problem with the helicopter she was supposed to take, she urgently took the KTX.

“I received the organ from the hospital and thought I would be fine as long as I got on the helicopter. But when I received a call from the captain, I felt chills all over my body. I was worried about what to do since I hadn’t booked a ticket, and I had all sorts of thoughts, like what if there was a problem with the train while I was going by KTX and I was delayed.”

Lee Ye-jin shuddered, explaining the terrifying situation from earlier.

“I took a taxi in a hurry, but I was running like crazy because there wasn’t much time left before the train. Then I fell, but even while falling, I fell while holding the bag’s handle tightly, worried that there might be a problem with the organs. As a result, one of my arms was scraped on the ground, causing the wound.”

“Oh dear! I’m glad you weren’t hurt too badly.”

“Yes, the people around me were more surprised than I was when they saw the blood, but I was relieved that the organs were safe.”

“But why are you going alone?”

Usually, they moved with the medical staff who removed the organs.

“That’s because the rest of them are still at that hospital.”

“No, why?”

“There was a bit of a problem.”

Before departing from the main hospital, the medical staff ate kimbap [seaweed rice rolls] simply because they thought they wouldn’t have time to eat due to the ambiguous time.

But there seemed to be a problem with the kimbap, and their stomachs started to hurt slightly. The medical staff, who had endured with their mental strength throughout the removal, went straight to the bathroom as soon as the removal was over.

It didn’t seem like it would end soon because they had a bad stomachache, so Lee Ye-jin, who hadn’t eaten kimbap, ended up transporting it alone.

“I guess I wasn’t hungry because I was nervous since it was my first transport today.”

She was saying it with a smile, but Tae-kyung understood to some extent how nervous Lee Ye-jin, the person involved, must be at this moment.

“So, the rest of them are still at that hospital…?”

“Yes, I received a call saying that one person is getting an IV and the other is still going back and forth to the bathroom.”

It sounded like an absurd joke, but when working in a hospital, truly absurd situations often unfolded.

In the past, Tae-kyung had also gone into surgery for over 10 hours with a bad stomach.

Fortunately, he didn’t make a mistake because of the medicine he took before the surgery, but at that time, he wore diapers just in case.

“Everyone is doing such amazing work.”

“No, people like you who directly save lives are amazing.”

“Lee Ye-jin, you are also directly saving lives. Without the efforts of the coordinators, transplants wouldn’t be possible.”

“Thank you for saying that. And I actually got the stitches because of what you said earlier.”

“My words?”

Tae-kyung was curious about why Lee Ye-jin had suddenly asked for stitches.

“Yes. You said to value my life as much as the lives of others.”

“Ah, because of that…?”

“It was also the right thing to do, and I thought the recipient’s family would feel sorry.”

Lee Ye-jin thought that the kind-hearted recipient and their family would be concerned about her injured appearance.

And she hadn’t taken care of her body while proceeding with this donation. Recipient management was always a priority, and all her attention was focused on that.

So, Tae-kyung’s words to value her life more resonated with her, and she decided to get treatment.

“I didn’t think I would have time to get treatment even after arriving.”

“It’s true that it’s not easy to take care of yourself when you work in a medical institution.”

“That’s right.”

“By the way, the organ you’re transplanting isn’t the heart, is it?”

“No, the organ inside right now is the lung.”

Organ transplantation is very time-sensitive.

The secured organ must be transported and transplanted into the patient within a set time.

The organs that can be transplanted from the human body are the lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, pancreas, cornea, and small intestine.

Among them, the heart must be transplanted within 4 hours, the lungs within 6 hours, the liver within 12 hours, and the kidneys within 24 hours. In the case of the heart, which has the shortest time, it is often transported by helicopter.

“But how did you become an organ transplant coordinator?”

“Me? Because of my dad.”