Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 286

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 286

286. The Old Man’s Bombshell

“I’ve lived my life, so I’m less upset, but it breaks my heart to see my grandson like this.”

“By the way, have you had surgery or chemotherapy?”

Tae-kyung ignored the old man’s words and asked a question.

“No. I missed the timing, so surgery is difficult. So, I only did a little chemotherapy and stopped. As you can see, I’m not a wealthy person. When a person is sick and goes to the hospital, it costs more money than you think. People with plenty of money don’t have to worry, but for people like me who are short on every penny and have no hope, it’s a luxury.”

“Yes, I know what you mean. But, as you know, there are systems in place where hospital welfare teams provide support to financially struggling individuals through local governments. Didn’t you try that?”

“Ah! That? I asked if there was anything to help people without money. But they had so many conditions and requirements.”

“Is that so?”

“Of course. And as I said before, what’s the point of going through such difficult treatment when I have no hope? I don’t want to do that.”

Of course, the patient’s words aren’t wrong. But something is strange.

As a doctor, I know how difficult and painful the suffering of a terminal cancer patient is. But usually, people in this situation rarely react like this.

This patient said a little while ago that he lives with his young grandson. And he said it breaks his heart to see his grandson like this.

Usually, even if it’s a terminal cancer patient, if they have a young grandson or young children, they don’t give up hope until the end because they feel sorry for the person who will be left alone.

At the very least, they often continue to receive difficult treatments to live a little longer with their grandson.

But this old man says he’s worried, but his eyes don’t show it.

And if a terminal cancer patient of this age comes to get a prescription, it’s not easy for this kind of reaction to come out.

Usually, the patient or guardian would have already said something.

‘Hey, I’m sick and dying, why are you asking so many questions? Just give me some painkillers quickly.’

They would have expressed their discomfort due to the enormous pain. But this old man doesn’t have any of that.

The old man is strangely calm in the face of the probing conversation. It felt like he was giving prepared answers.

More and more question marks were growing in Tae-kyung’s head.

“By the way, you must have had a hospital you were going to. Why did you come to our hospital?”

“I came here to run errands nearby, but the pain was so severe that I came to the nearest hospital.”

“I see. Can I touch this part, please?”

“Yes? Ah… Yes, sure.”

“I’ll just touch it lightly for a moment.”

Tae-kyung approached the old man and touched the area below his collarbone with his right hand.

‘……!’

Tae-kyung, who briefly touched the old man’s body, tilted his head slightly and asked him.

“Excuse me, what kind of cancer do you have?”

“Ah, that’s… Ugh!”

In response to the question of what the disease was, the old man suddenly made a difficult expression as if he was feeling pain.

Instead of saying the obvious, ‘Are you in a lot of pain?’ which Tae-kyung often asks, he turned his gaze to Seo Jun-woo, who was standing next to him.

“What’s our friend’s name?”

“Yes!? My name?”

“……!”

The old man, who had been frowning in pain and avoiding the question until just now, was surprised by the unexpected question.

The old man didn’t tell Seo Jun-woo a fake name.

“My grandson’s name is…”

Just as the surprised old man was about to say his name quickly,

“My name is Gu Hyun-woo.”

Seo Jun-woo said his name. He remembered the old man’s fake name, Gu Ho-jae, which he had said at the reception desk a little while ago, and said any name.

“Doctor, I have stomach cancer.”

“Is that so? You have stomach cancer?”

“Yes.”

“That must be very difficult.”

Tae-kyung’s expression was extremely dry.

Even the medical staff who occasionally passed by to see other patients wondered at Tae-kyung’s harsh treatment of a terminally ill cancer patient who was about to die.

It was a completely different look from his usual self.

But there was a good reason for that. The questions that had been piling up since earlier had now turned into almost certainty.

‘This person is definitely not a terminal cancer patient.’

That’s right. Tae-kyung was convinced that the homeless old man was not a terminal cancer patient.

Unlike the words of a terminal cancer patient, the old man only looked shabby on the outside, but he had good blood for a sick person.

And there was no chemo port. The reason Tae-kyung touched the old man’s collarbone earlier was to check for the chemo port.

To put it simply, a chemo port is a central venous catheter [a thin, flexible tube] inserted under the skin to protect the blood vessels of patients who need to continue receiving chemotherapy and to easily inject drugs.

Since many cancer patients were receiving chemo port procedures, Tae-kyung touched the old man’s body to see if his words were true.

Lastly, the fifth vital sign, a skill that only Doctor Kim Tae-kyung possessed, was not felt at all from the old man.

He could smell all the patients in the hospital right now, but the old man only had a slight ammonia smell.

A stage 2 smell meant that he was healthy even for an old man.

In fact, if he were a terminal cancer patient, he should have had a terrible smell that would have hit Tae-kyung’s nose from the hallway leading to the emergency room.

Therefore, this old man is pretending to be a terminal cancer patient.

‘An old man who is not a cancer patient comes to our hospital with his grandson and does this… Is it because of fxxxx?’

At this time, he was thinking that the old man was addicted to painkillers.

‘Is he an addict?’

Tae-kyung thought for a moment about what to do with this old man.

He thought about just sending him away with an apology and saying that the painkillers were out of stock, but he didn’t want to do that in good conscience.

Fortunately, there were no emergency patients right now, and the emergency room situation was okay, so he decided to do a little meddling with this old man.

The reason was simple.

It was because of the painkillers the old man was looking for. He probably didn’t know exactly what kind of painkillers they were or how scary they were, and he was looking for the drug.

So, Tae-kyung decided to tell the old man in detail.

Of course, the old man might not listen. But he wanted to inform him of the misuse of painkillers, even considering the young grandson next to him.

“Hey, doctor? Is it still far away? I’m having a hard time.”

The old man was getting annoyed that he was asking so many questions while prescribing just one painkiller.

He had been prescribed painkillers at several hospitals so far, but this was the first time he had met a doctor who asked about everything in such an annoying way.

“Then, shall we go to the examination room for a moment?”

“Yes? Why?”

Not only did he ask countless questions, but he also told someone who came to the emergency room to get a prescription to move to the examination room. The old man was starting to feel something strange.

“I have something to tell you, sir.”

“Hey, I’ve been sitting here talking to a sick person, what else do you need to say?”

Feeling that this wouldn’t work, the old man deliberately expressed his displeasure with annoyed words.

“The doctor must be busy, but I’m a busy person too. Just give me the prescription quickly. Geez! Why are you being so picky about giving me a prescription…”

“I’m sorry. I’ll give you the prescription in the examination room.”

“That’s okay!”

When Tae-kyung said he would give him the prescription he wanted so badly, the old man raised his voice in gradation and got up from his seat.

“Geez! Is this the only hospital? Hyun-woo, get up. Let’s go.”

Then, he gestured with his chin to Seo Jun-woo to get up from his seat and naturally went out of the bed.

The old man, who had just felt something strange, intuitively realized that Tae-kyung knew he wasn’t a patient and was suspicious of him.

With the intuition he had gained from years of homeless life, he could tell that the doctor in front of him was different from the doctors he had met while going to many hospitals.

‘Sometimes there are picky people among doctors. If things get too big, it’ll be difficult, so if you don’t feel right, just get out of there right away.’

Above all, Go Seung-kyu’s habitual words suddenly came to mind, so he thought now was the time to leave the hospital.

Seo Jun-woo, who didn’t know anything about the old man’s thoughts, thought that this was also the old man’s acting to get a prescription.

“Walk faster!”

“Yes?”

“Just a moment!”

The old man spoke in a small voice next to Seo Jun-woo, but Seo Jun-woo couldn’t hear him because it overlapped with Tae-kyung’s loud voice calling the old man as he followed him.

“Grandpa?”

The old man hurried out of the emergency room entrance, but was immediately caught up by Tae-kyung, who was walking quickly.

“Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Why are you doing this? I told you I wouldn’t get treatment from you!”

As the anxious old man shouted angrily, Tae-kyung dropped the bomb [revealed the truth] with a serious face.

“You’re not a cancer patient, are you?”

“You’re not. You’re not a cancer patient. There’s no way you’re a cancer patient. Am I right?”

“……!”

Not only the old man but also Seo Jun-woo was greatly surprised, but there was nothing he could do but stand still.

“Why were you trying to get a prescription for fxxxx painkillers when you’re healthy for your age?”

“…….”

“Are you not going to say anything? I’m not trying to argue, I’m trying to help you, but if you keep doing this, I have no choice but to check it myself.”

“I! Don’t know!”

The old man, frightened by Tae-kyung, who was threatening him with a serious expression, blurted out a bombshell at that moment.

“He told me to do it! I’m just a errand boy!”

The surprised eyes that heard those words turned to Seo Jun-woo in an instant, and the old man at the emergency room entrance quickly ran away to the back door of the hospital.

“Agent Jang!”

The moment Tae-kyung shouted loudly, Jang Deuk-chil, who was at the hospital entrance across the street, chased after the old man.

“……!”

And Seo Jun-woo, who felt that something was wrong, also tried to run away, but Tae-kyung had already grabbed his arm.

“Where are you going? Are you trying to run away too?”

Tae-kyung grabbed Seo Jun-woo’s hand and moved to the examination room, where they sat facing each other.

“Hyun-woo, you’re not his grandson, are you?”

Tae-kyung, who was shocked by the old man’s last words, asked calmly, unlike his heart.

He had a lot to say, but he thought it was important to listen to the child first.

“Is Hyun-woo your real name?”

“…….”

Seo Jun-woo closed his mouth and thought.

He was surprised by the sudden situation, but until now, he thought it was because he was getting a prescription for painkillers instead.

‘Let’s stay calm. It’ll be okay.’

Above all, he didn’t want to make things bigger, so he thought he should apologize and leave the hospital.

“I’m really sorry. I needed painkillers, but I couldn’t get them, so I tried to get them instead.”

“Let me ask you something. Did you try to use the painkillers?”

“……Yes.”

“It doesn’t look like you’re sick. What are you going to use it for?”

“I just said… I told you I asked my grandfather to use it, didn’t I?”

“Do you know exactly what kind of drug that is?”

“I know! It’s a painkiller.”

A naive answer came back to the serious answer.

Seeing that expression, Tae-kyung was convinced that Seo Jun-woo didn’t know anything about the drug. So, he decided to tell him the truth.

“Get up!”