Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 296

Mental Drowsy

Clutching the room key, the manager rushed back up to the third floor.

‘It can’t be… Please!’

He couldn’t even spare the few moments it would take to wait for the elevator to reach the top floor.

‘This can’t be happening… It’s not really that, is it?’

The manager, a large man, hurried up the stairs, repeating similar words as if chanting a spell.

‘It can’t be. It just can’t.’

Having run the lodging for 20 years, the manager had seen all sorts of things while managing the motel.

There was the couple who were rumored to be lovebirds, only to have a dramatic falling out after cheating on each other in the room next door. There was also the criminal who had killed someone and was hiding out.

There was the college student couple who gave birth in the motel without telling their parents, and the pervert who came once a week, naked under his coat, to perform his ritual.

Besides these, he had encountered countless other guests, enough to fill many nights with stories.

Over time, he had become so hardened that he wouldn’t bat an eye at most things.

‘Ah, these two are having an affair.’

‘Oh dear, oh dear. They’ll break up within a month. Their faces look like death.’

Moreover, now he could tell just by looking at the people who came to the front desk, getting a sense of what kind of people they were.

Among them, there were some who gave him a particularly strong feeling.

They had lifeless eyes, an expression of disinterest, and a remarkably detached demeanor.

Whenever such a person checked in, he felt a chill down his spine and his legs would tremble. And that was exactly how he felt now, heading towards room 307.

‘Let’s live, let’s live… Please! Let’s all live.’

Terrified that a moment he never wanted to experience again was about to become reality, the manager’s hands trembled as he began to open the door to 307.

“Ah! Damn it, why won’t it open?”

The slightly shaking hands made it difficult to open the door, frustrating the manager.

“Haa!”

Clunk-

After a short sigh, the door opened, and the manager entered the problematic room 307.

“Excuse me, ma’am?”

He entered slowly and cautiously, looking at the bare bed that showed no signs of use.

“Ma’am? This is the motel manager. Where are you? Ma’am?”

Knock knock-

He continued to look for the guest, knocking on the bathroom door before slowly opening it. That’s when it happened.

“……!”

The manager, who had been searching so hard for the guest in room 307, was momentarily speechless.

The young woman was collapsed inside the bathroom. And next to her, a soju [Korean distilled rice liquor] bottle and an unfamiliar bottle were lying on the floor.

The unfamiliar bottle didn’t feel like it contained alcohol.

“M-Miss? Can you hear me?”

The manager gently shook the woman’s shoulder, trying to wake her up.

“Hey? Hello?”

Eventually, when the woman didn’t respond, he carefully carried her on his back and hurried out.

“M-Manager? What’s going on?”

The front desk employee, seeing the manager rushing out of the elevator, asked with a surprised look. The couple who saw the woman limply carried on his back were equally surprised.

“Gijeong, lock room 307 so no one can enter. I’m going to the hospital, so please take care of the front desk.”

“But, Manager, what about the woman’s USB?”

“That’s not important right now. Tell her to come back tomorrow!”

“Ah, okay. I understand.”

After giving the employee strict instructions, the manager quickly took the woman to the hospital.

* * *

Two days ago, Kim Ilsang, a friend of Lee Chanhee who had a cyst removed from his butt, visited our hospital again for disinfection.

“Hello. I’m here for disinfection. Is Dr. Lee Chanhee here?”

“Are you perhaps a friend of Dr. Lee?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Dr. Lee said that if his friend comes today, please guide him. Do you see the emergency room entrance over there? Please go that way.”

“And this……”

Grateful to his friend for the good treatment, Kim Ilsang bought coffee for Lee Chanhee and the staff and handed it to the reception desk.

“You shouldn’t have bought us anything like this.”

“Then, have a good day.”

“Thank you. We’ll enjoy it.”

“Oh!”

Kim Ilsang, who was heading to the emergency room after giving the coffee, stopped and smiled when he spotted Choi Mona coming out of the emergency room.

‘Alright, Chanhee. You probably won’t be able to confess even if you die and come back to life. Shyness is useless in the face of love. This brother will help you.’

Kim Ilsang, volunteering to be a Cupid without being asked, adjusted his clothes and approached Choi Mona to talk to her.

“Hello. Are you Dr. Choi Mona?”

“Yes, I am, but who……”

“I’m Kim Iljung, Lee Chanhee’s friend who greeted you two days ago.”

“I remember.”

“Doctor, I was treated by Dr. Lee Chanhee two days ago and came for disinfection.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I was wondering if I could get the disinfection from Dr. Choi.”

“From me? Why not from Dr. Lee……”

“Well, our Chanhee has feelings for…… Ah!”

Kim Ilsang, who was speaking with sparkling eyes, suddenly had one eye twitch upwards, and a high-pitched sound like a roe deer’s cry was heard.

Lee Chanhee, who saw his friend with Choi Mona, was horrified and ran out of the emergency room, grabbing Kim Ilsang’s sideburns.

“Dr. Choi? I’ll disinfect this friend, so please go back to the ward.”

“Then, please get your treatment and have a good day.”

“Yes. Dr. Choi, I hope to see you again soon. Even better if it’s sooner rather than later.”

Kim Ilsang greeted brightly, watching Choi Mona’s back as she headed to the ward.

“You crazy bastard! What are you doing?”

“Ouch. I almost got my skin ripped off. What do you mean? I’m trying to connect you with Dr. Choi Mona.”

“Connect? What connect?”

“You can’t express your feelings to Mona, so this brother is stepping in directly.”

Kim Ilsang, frustrated with Lee Chanhee for not expressing his feelings, wanted to help his friend.

“When did you start calling her Mona?”

“I call Mona ‘Mona.’ I can’t call her ‘Mona-ya’ [an informal way to call someone’s name in Korean], can I?”

“You really! I’ll take care of it, so don’t do anything unnecessary and quickly lie down over there. You’re driving me crazy.”

“Hey, you shouldn’t go crazy.”

“Ha! I shot myself in the foot. Why did I even say anything……”

Swish-

Lee Chanhee, annoyed by his friend’s excessive meddling, yanked open the curtain and entered the bed.

“I’ll help you without making it obvious. You know, Chanhee, I’ve connected quite a few couples in high school.”

“Shut up and lie down quickly. But why do you only come at night?”

Lee Chanhee quickly changed the subject so his friend wouldn’t talk about Choi Mona anymore.

“Because I’m busy during the day.”

“What’s a jobless person busy with?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not jobless. I’m a graduate student.”

“Really? You went to graduate school? When?”

“No, I’m planning to go now.”

“You’re amazing. What are you doing? Lie down quickly.”

“Chanhee, you don’t have any pain today, right?”

That’s when Kim Iljung was about to lie down on the bed and take off his pants.

“Dr. Lee?!”

Nurse Im Jeongsook was calling out in a urgent voice.

Swish-

When Lee Chanhee opened the curtain, he saw a middle-aged man carrying a woman, with Im Jeongsook running behind him.

Judging by the woman’s arm, which was hanging limply, she seemed to be unconscious.

“What is it?”

Lee Chanhee left his friend and immediately went to the man. The cyst removal disinfection was not the priority now.

Kim Iljung, who had been laughing and chatting, also quieted down at the sight of the serious situation.

“What are the circumstances?”

“Well, I……”

“First, check all vitals and insert an IV line in her arm. And CBC [Complete Blood Count], CRP [C-Reactive Protein], EKG [Electrocardiogram]. Check her blood sugar too.”

“Yes, Doctor. Understood.”

“And are you a guardian? Please explain what happened.”

“I’m the motel owner. I opened the door because this young lady wasn’t responding, and she was collapsed in the bathroom.”

The manager’s face was filled with worry as he explained the situation to Lee Chanhee. The moment he never wanted to experience while running the motel was people attempting suicide.

He had encountered such people several times.

The first time was 20 years ago.

When he first started the motel in another area, a middle-aged man hanged himself.

When he didn’t come out after the check-out time, he went to check and found the man hanging and struggling, and the manager was able to save him quickly.

The middle-aged man, who was taken to the hospital, was fortunately not in life-threatening condition. However, the manager spent a difficult time for over a year, receiving psychiatric treatment.

Since then, he had encountered people attempting suicide several times while running the motel.

Seeing a dying person in front of you was more shocking than he thought.

For a while, he was more troubled by the moment constantly appearing in his dreams than worrying about the drop in sales.

So, the manager developed a habit of checking on people who seemed like they might commit suicide by making excuses.

But this woman was not like that.

She didn’t look like someone who was trying to end her life at all.

Now that he thought about it, it seemed to be because she was a young woman.

The common denominator of the people who had done it so far was that they were all middle-aged or older.

So, he couldn’t imagine that such a young woman would do such a thing.

“Okay, I understand. You’re not acquainted with the patient, are you?”

“No, I don’t know her at all.”

Although he didn’t know her, the manager’s heart was heavy. Looking at the woman lying down, the expression ‘young’ seemed more appropriate than ‘young.’

“I’m sorry, but could you wait in the waiting room because of the treatment?”

“Ah, yes. I will.”

The motel manager headed to the guardian waiting room with a bitter expression and a wish for the woman to be okay.

Lee Chanhee examined the woman lying on the bed in detail.

“……Ooh. Hoo……Ooh.”

Her breathing was slow.

The breath the woman exhaled flowed out slowly and weakly, like a stretched rubber band in the hot sun.

Her forehead was covered in cold sweat, and she smelled strongly of alcohol.

‘What is it……?’

And an unknown strong odor was emanating from the woman.

‘What is this smell?’

There were very dark circles under the woman’s eyes.

With her short bobbed hair and generally thin build, she looked like she was in her 20s at first glance, but on closer inspection, she looked a little younger. And the jeans and shirt she was wearing seemed a bit old.

“Dr. Lee?”

While he was examining the woman to assess her condition, Taekyung’s voice was heard from behind.

“Yes, Doctor.”

Taekyung, who had run so urgently, was breathing heavily.

“Report!”

“Yes, she was found in a motel in a mental drowsy state (conscious but about to fall asleep and slow to respond). Currently, her vitals are unstable, and her BP is……”

“No.”

Taekyung, who had been listening to Lee Chanhee’s report, raised his hand and ordered him to stop.

“Chanhee.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Taekyung, who had been staring intently at the woman lying down, continued with an expression that seemed somewhat detached.

“Stop it.”

“……Yes!? Stop?”

Lee Chanhee asked back with a seriously surprised expression.