Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 28

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 28

Episode 28: Vietnamese Person

“Excuse me, patient?”

Tae-kyung, making his rounds, entered room 307.

“How are you feeling?”

All the medical equipment and the ventilator that had been attached to the patient were now gone.

It was because the patient, who had suffered cardiac arrest a few days prior, had regained consciousness.

“Do you have any pain or discomfort anywhere?”

His expression, as he looked at the patient, was full of warmth. He was simply grateful that the patient had regained consciousness sooner than expected.

“Everything is fine except for the IV needle being a bit uncomfortable.”

“Please bear with it, even if it’s uncomfortable. I’ll remove the IV when you’re discharged.”

“I’m just kidding. I came back from the brink of death; how could I be bothered by this little needle?”

“I’m glad you feel that way.”

“I heard that you discovered my cardiac arrest quickly, Doctor. I’m really grateful to the hospital staff.”

“It’s nothing. We just did what we were supposed to do.”

“When you get old, it’s natural to die, but once I came back from the brink, I realized I didn’t want to die yet.”

“Of course. You’re still in good health.”

“Doctor, you’re here?”

The patient’s daughter, who had gone to the restroom, came into the room.

“Yes, hello. I was too out of it earlier to properly greet you.”

The daughter, who lived in another region, had rushed to the hospital a few hours ago after receiving the call.

“Thank you for saving my father.”

“It’s nothing.”

“I was so worried on the way here, wondering if something bad would happen to my father. I don’t know how to express my gratitude…”

“Hey?”

The patient suddenly interrupted his daughter, who was still visibly shaken.

“Jung-yeon? Okay, that’s enough.”

“Yes?”

“I already thanked the doctor while you were in the restroom. How many times are you going to thank him? It’s making me uncomfortable.”

“Dad! How can you joke about this now?”

“I’m not joking. I’m serious.”

“Then get some rest.”

“Oh, Doctor, just a moment. My father doesn’t drink or smoke, but he eats a lot of chocolate. Isn’t it better if he doesn’t eat it?”

“Why are you telling the doctor that? It’s my only pleasure.”

“That’s why you’re like that. There were two boxes at home.”

“Your daughter is right. Since you’re older, it’s not good to eat too many sugary foods.”

“Did you hear that? No more chocolate from now on.”

“Jeong-in, I’m your father, a patient. Go away if you’re going to nag.”

“Dad, I put the house up for sale. You have to live with me when you get discharged.”

“No, why are you deciding that on your own?”

“What if something happens again when you’re alone? Lee insisted that we take care of you first.”

“Enough. Be quiet. I’m comfortable alone.”

Tae-kyung left the room, leaving the affectionate father and daughter behind.

* * *

“Finally, I can sit down for a bit.”

The hectic time had passed, and the influx of patients had subsided.

“Youth is definitely an advantage.”

Nurse Lim Jung-sook, sitting on a chair in the emergency room station, said, looking at Lee Chan-hee, who was still energetic.

“Dr. Lee, aren’t you tired?”

“I’m still okay.”

“Is it because you’re young? Dr. Lee looks very lively.”

“I’m not young either, Doctor. The elementary school kid who came to the emergency room earlier called me ‘mister’.”

“Not young? Talk to me when you’re over 40. But really, aren’t you tired?”

“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t. But it feels a bit different these days.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, coming to the hospital and seeing patients feels different. It’s hard, but it’s fun.”

“That’s a good thing. But what are you doing so intently?”

Lee Chan-hee had been opening his notebook and concentrating whenever he had a spare moment, like a student preparing for an exam.

“Are you preparing for a conference?”

“It’s tougher than that. I’m doing homework.”

“Homework?”

“Doctor, take a look at this.”

He showed the notebook he was looking at to Lim Jung-sook, who was curious.

“This notebook is all worn out. Huh? This is the surgical procedure.”

“Dr. Kim’s surgical review notes. He’s been writing down all the surgical procedures by hand.”

“Come to think of it, skills aren’t just made. He’s a really amazing person.”

“I know.”

“So, you’re doing the homework that Dr. Kim gave you?”

“Yes, this is also part of the surgery room overcoming project.”

“Is it helpful?”

Nurse Lim Jung-sook knew that Lee Chan-hee was working hard to overcome his fear of the operating room.

“Of course, I’ll have to see when the situation arises, but it seems to be helping for sure.”

“Don’t you know that Dr. Lee has changed these days?”

“Me?”

“Yes. When you see patients, you seem more confident than before, and you’ve become more mature, or something?”

“I guess I look like a real doctor now.”

Although the increased number of patients had increased his workload, Lee Chan-hee was having a rewarding time as a doctor.

* * *

“The outpatient visits are finished, so I guess I just need to wrap up the emergency room.”

In his spare time, Tae-kyung was organizing the fifth vital signs of the patients who had visited the hospital today.

“Haa!”

Perhaps because he hadn’t had enough sleep for the past few days, he yawned whenever there were no patients.

He carefully checked the patients’ conditions and left the office to get some coffee.

“No events in the emergency room?”

“No, Doctor.”

“Call me immediately if any urgent patients come in.”

“Understood.”

“Wait a moment…”

Tae-kyung, who was about to go to his office with coffee, turned back to the reception desk.

“Has that woman ever been seen here?”

“Are you talking about that person over there?”

“Yes.”

The person they were pointing to was a young Southeast Asian woman.

“No. We don’t have any foreign patients registered, Doctor.”

“Really? Then has she ever been seen in the emergency room?”

“Just a moment. No, she hasn’t.”

The reason he stopped going to his office was because of that woman. If Tae-kyung’s memory was correct, the foreign woman had been in the hospital for almost an hour.

“What’s wrong, Doctor?”

“It’s nothing. Carry on.”

Tae-kyung put down his coffee at the reception desk and approached the foreign woman.

‘It smells sour [a subtle indicator of illness or distress].’

The smell coming from the woman was only at stage 1, but Tae-kyung was certain.

The fact that she had been waiting in the hospital for so long without registering or seeing a doctor meant that she needed help.

“Hello.”

“……!”

The woman, who was already sitting in the waiting room with an anxious expression, was quite surprised by Tae-kyung’s sudden greeting.

“I’m sorry if I startled you.”

“Ah… uh…”

“Do you need any help?”

“Doctor? Cậu là bác sĩ à? [Vietnamese: Are you a doctor?]”

The woman was trying to communicate with the question.

Tae-kyung then realized that this foreign woman had not been able to register because of communication problems.

“Right, there was that.”

Tae-kyung quickly took out his phone and turned on the translation app. Then he wrote the content and turned the screen to the woman.

[Are you perhaps Vietnamese?]

He knew that she was speaking Vietnamese because there were often foreign patients at the university hospital.

[Yes, that’s right. I’m Vietnamese.]

She wrote her answer, handing the screen over to Tae-kyung so he could use Vietnamese.

[I saw you sitting in the waiting room for a while, did you come to the hospital because you’re sick?]

[Yes. I don’t speak Korean very well, and I was waiting for my husband.]

[I’m a doctor at this hospital. I’ll examine you.]

[But my husband hasn’t arrived yet…]

[Call your husband on your cell phone.]

“Thank you, 고맙습니다 [Korean: Thank you].”

The woman thanked him in broken Korean and called her husband on Tae-kyung’s phone.

“Doctor, phone?”

The woman, who was talking to her husband, said a simple word and handed the phone to Tae-kyung.

“Hello, I’m a doctor at this hospital. Are you the husband?”

-Yes, she is my wife.

“Your wife says she’s waiting for you.”

-She must have waited a long time because of me.

His wife, who was not very good at Korean, had agreed to meet her husband at the hospital after work.

However, her husband had told her the wrong time, so his wife had arrived early and was waiting for her husband without her cell phone.

-I was wondering if I should go home or stop by the hospital first, but I’m relieved because of you, Doctor. Thank you for lending me the phone.

“I’m going to examine your wife now, is that okay?”

-Of course. I’m almost there. I’ll tell my wife. Oh! And my wife’s name is Nguyen Phuong.

“Phone. Thank you.”

The woman, who had finished talking to her husband, handed back the phone with a much more relaxed look.

“Ms. Phuong?”

“Me Phuong.”

“I’ll examine you. Follow me.”

Tae-kyung told the receptionist about the situation and headed to the examination room with Phuong.

* * *

“Ms. Phuong, where does it hurt?”

“It hurts. I hurt here.”

The Vietnamese patient seemed to understand Tae-kyung’s words and pointed to her stomach, explaining where it hurt.

“Your stomach hurts. Since when has it hurt?”

“When?”

It was difficult to communicate with the patient because she was not very good at Korean. Tae-kyung had no choice but to use the app again until her husband arrived.

[Since when has your stomach hurt?]

[It’s been hurting for about two days, and it often hurts like this.]

[Do you perhaps have…]

“Doctor?”

While continuing the conversation with the patient through the translator, Tae-kyung heard a knock on the door from the nurse.

“Ms. Phuong’s husband is here.”

“Tell him to come in.”

Clang-

“Excuse me.”

“Husband!”

Phuong’s face brightened instantly as her husband appeared in the examination chair.

“Hello, I’m Phuong’s husband, Lee Go-cheol.”

After exchanging warm greetings with his wife, the husband greeted Tae-kyung and sat next to her.

“Does your wife have regular bowel movements?”

“No, she’s constipated.”

Lee Go-cheol, who was fluent in Vietnamese, translated Phuong’s words, making the examination much easier.

“She has bowel movements once every two or three days.”

“Your wife said earlier that she often hurts.”

“That’s right. I was going to take her to the hospital several times, but when we went to the hospital for the first time in Korea, my wife was upset that people were whispering about us.”

The husband added that they were often misunderstood because of the appearance of the two people, who were in their 50s and 30s.

“Even if the doctor sees it, our relationship is a bit strange, right?”

“No.”

“It may seem that way, but we are a couple who got married after dating for three years in Vietnam. I’m sorry for talking nonsense during the examination.”

“It’s okay. When was your wife’s last bowel movement?”

“3 days? She says it’s been 3 days.”

Surprisingly, many patients who complain of abdominal pain are constipated.

“Um, she’s asking if her stomach can hurt even if she can’t have a bowel movement.”

“Of course. If the stool that needs to be excreted accumulates and becomes constipation, it can cause abdominal pain. Please tell your wife to lie down on the bed with her head on this side.”

“Yes, Doctor. Phuong, lie down straight.”

It was then that the husband approached the bed to correct his wife’s posture, who was lying diagonally.

“……!”

Tae-kyung’s eyebrows narrowed sharply as his expression had been somehow bad since the moment her husband appeared in the examination room.

His gaze was fixed on the husband, not the patient wife.

‘This is…….’