Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 323

324. Who Do You Think You Are to Interfere!

“Since you went into the operating room, Doctor, people have been trickling in, and now it’s like this. And they all have the same…”

“The patients all have the same symptoms.”

Before Nurse Lim Jeong-suk could finish, Tae-kyung stated with certainty, “Yes, that’s right.”

“They all have enteritis, right?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

As he entered the emergency room, Tae-kyung could tell it was enteritis just by listening to the patients’ complaints and the medical staff’s orders.

Fortunately, the Fifth Vital [Tae-kyung’s heightened sense of smell] felt from the patients complaining of abdominal pain and diarrhea wasn’t too severe.

It was mostly the sour smell of stage 1 and the ammonia smell of stage 2 [referring to the stages of Fifth Vital’s perception of illness].

Still, the smell was quite unpleasant for Tae-kyung.

Even a mild odor became quite strong when concentrated from multiple people, assaulting his sense of smell.

“Did they all eat together at a specific restaurant or gathering?”

“Yes. The patients all ate at a brunch cafe.”

Yesterday, there was a parent observation day at a nearby elementary school.

After the observation, parents gathered in groups of three or five at a popular cafe nearby, chatting about their children’s education over desserts and drinks.

But something they ate must have been bad, because several hours later, they all began complaining of abdominal pain and diarrhea, showing symptoms of enteritis [inflammation of the small intestine].

The problem was that the cafe was quite large and had become popular for its fancy interior. So, in addition to the parents who attended the observation day, many others were complaining of enteritis symptoms.

“I didn’t know at first, but then I got inquiries from several internal medicine clinics asking if we could take patients, and that’s when I found out the details.”

As Nurse Lim Jeong-suk said, there were quite a few people who had eaten at the cafe at local hospitals in the surrounding area.

“Here’s what we’ll do. Emergency patients can come in at any time, and we also have scheduled surgeries today, so let’s only take a maximum of 85% of the patients with enteritis.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

The people with enteritis would be struggling, but the hospital couldn’t have all its staff see only patients with enteritis symptoms.

They also had to consider the hospital’s circumstances and emergency patients.

Enteritis might not be a severe symptom, but if they saw all the enteritis patients who came in, there could be a situation where patients with life-threatening conditions couldn’t get treatment.

That’s what Tae-kyung was trying to adjust.

“Also, call the nearby hospitals to see if they have room for patients and let the patients know. Tell them the approximate wait time when they register.”

“Yes, Doctor. I’ll also let the patients who might have to wait too long know.”

“Okay. And if there are no emergency room beds available, prepare mobile beds and secure space for IV patients.”

After hearing the order, Nurse Lim Jeong-suk asked Team Leader Choi for help and hurried into the emergency room.

“I’ll help out for a bit and then leave when things are somewhat settled.”

“That would be good.”

Lee Dong-hoon, who had been watching the situation, also postponed his departure and moved to the emergency room.

After that, to prevent the crowded emergency room from becoming even more crowded, Tae-kyung began seeing patients with relatively mild symptoms in the examination room.

“Hello, Doctor.”

“Hello. You’re having abdominal discomfort?”

A woman holding her elementary school child’s hand greeted him and sat down.

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Did you also eat at the OO Cafe?”

“Yes. I went to the observation day and went with some of the other mothers from the same class to order some drinks and desserts to share. But something must have been wrong, because my stomach started hurting in the afternoon, and I kept having diarrhea… I had a terrible night.”

“That must have been rough. Are you still having diarrhea now?”

“No. It continued until late in the evening, but after I got it all out and drank some warm water and sports drinks, I felt better.”

“That’s good. Let me take a look.”

Tae-kyung examined the patient carefully with a stethoscope.

“It’s enteritis, but you don’t have severe dehydration or anything too serious. I’ll give you an injection and prescribe some medication. Be careful with what you eat for a few days and avoid cold foods. And use separate towels from your children.”

“Yes, Doctor. Thank you.”

“Goodbye.”

For a while, Tae-kyung didn’t get up from the examination room chair and continued to see patients.

“Looking at your current condition, you need to get an IV.”

“Yes, Doctor. I think that will give me some energy.”

“But right now, the emergency room and the IV room are full of patients, so you’ll have to get it on a bed set up in the hallway. Is that okay with you?”

“It doesn’t matter at all. What does the place matter? I just need to get an IV because I’m struggling.”

“Then I’ll get it ready for you.”

“Thank you, Doctor.”

After the patient bowed and left the examination room, Nurse Lim Jeong-suk came in.

“Doctor, the next patient…”

“Excuse me! Is that what you’re worried about right now?”

The loud shout abruptly cut off Nurse Lim Jeong-suk’s words as she was about to announce the next patient.

“What’s going on?”

Tae-kyung, who was preparing for the examination, was also surprised and got up from his seat.

“I’m not sure… I think I need to go see.”

With the shouting continuing, Tae-kyung eventually headed to the waiting room.

“We’re sorry.”

A man and woman in their 50s were bowing and apologizing to the patients at the reception desk.

“Director, you’re here? Those two are the cafe owners.”

Team Leader Choi, who had been watching the situation, approached Tae-kyung and explained.

The two cafe owners, who were a couple, had been going around to nearby hospitals apologizing to the people who had enteritis.

Then, a man who was particularly angry couldn’t hold back his anger and raised his voice at them.

“We are investigating what food is the problem. We will take responsibility for the medical expenses of those who came to the hospital because of this incident and will be careful to prevent this from happening again. We are very sorry for the inconvenience.”

“What! Take responsibility for medical expenses? Hey, mister, is that something to say right now? I’m someone who lives day by day, and I lost a whole day because I ate your food. What are you going to do about it?”

“We’re sorry.”

“We’re sorry, customer.”

“Sorry, my foot! Aren’t you supposed to be responsible for my daily earnings? Those who mess with food should get a slap in the face.”

The angry man’s words were becoming increasingly harsh.

“That man was playing a mobile game until just now. He also seems a bit lecherous, and seeing how energetic he is, he doesn’t seem to be that sick. Don’t you think so, Director?”

“I agree.”

Team Leader Choi said in a small voice, covering his mouth.

In fact, Tae-kyung somewhat agreed with Team Leader Choi’s opinion.

As a doctor, he had experienced countless patients and many similar incidents, so medical staff could get a sense of what kind of person a patient was just by looking at them.

But that man seemed more interested in other things than his stomach pain.

He judged that the man’s symptoms were considerably milder than those of the other patients in the waiting room.

Even a small scratch on the body can be concerning, so how much more would enteritis be?

If you have abdominal pain, constant diarrhea, and feel drained, you don’t want to do anything and just want to lie down.

The difference was clear just by looking at the other enteritis patients in the waiting room.

Of course, people couldn’t be lenient towards the cafe owners after getting enteritis from eating their food. But everyone was too tired to say anything and just wanted to get treatment quickly and rest.

But that man seemed to be the only one full of energy. Moreover, as Team Leader Choi said earlier, he had been playing a game until the cafe owners arrived.

And the most decisive thing was that the Fifth Vital felt from the man was at the most minimal level.

Considering all of this, the man might be trying to get a lot of medical expenses under the guise of enteritis symptoms rather than being physically ill.

“What are you going to do? Huh! I had a stomachache and diarrhea all night, and I almost died. You almost killed me by eating your cafe food!!!”

Just as Tae-kyung was about to say something to the man, whose tone and actions were getting louder and louder, it happened.

“You don’t die.”

A boy who had been sitting somewhere among the patients in the waiting room suddenly came out and said.

“Having a stomachache and diarrhea from eating food is not dying, but a symptom called enteritis caused by bacteria and viruses in the food.”

“What, what did you say? Enter-what?”

The man, seeing the boy who spoke with a calm expression and composed eyes, asked back in bewilderment.

“Enteritis is called enteritis in Korean, and the spelling is E, N, T, E, R, I, T, I, S. And you shouldn’t raise your voice like that in a hospital where sick people are being treated. You should speak quietly in hospitals if possible.”

At the boy’s sudden words, the eyes of the people in the waiting room focused on him, and the man began to raise his voice even louder as if he felt unpleasant.

“What, what? Hey! Who do you think you are to interfere in adults’ conversations! Huh?”

“Who’s interfering? Come here, sweetie. You’re so smart.”

A grandmother who had been watching the scene brought the boy to her seat and snapped back.

“The child only said what’s right, but you’re just loud and ignorant, not even as good as a child.”

“What, what did you say? You old woman?”

“Hey, you! Patient!”

Tae-kyung, who couldn’t stand it any longer, approached the man and said.

“What are you doing in the hospital right now?”

“……Yes?”

The man seemed slightly flustered as Tae-kyung spoke with an uncomfortable expression.

“Are you a doctor here?”

“Can’t you see the gown? He’s the director of our hospital.”

Team Leader Choi, who had been stepping back, said in a sulky tone as if he didn’t even know that.

“Ah. So you’re the director here. If you heard what I said, you’d know. Because of those people, I had diarrhea all night like I was dying, and what was it… yes, dehydration. I even had dehydration…”

“Excuse me for interrupting, but you don’t have dehydration symptoms.”

“Yes?”

“And to say one more thing, you probably didn’t have severe diarrhea either, and your enteritis symptoms don’t seem to be severe.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, no matter how I look at him, he doesn’t look like a sick person.”

“That’s right. Everyone who came here saying they have enteritis is weak and has no energy, but he’s the only one who’s as lively as a steam train.”

“That’s right. He doesn’t look like a sick person at all.”

The people in the waiting room added a word each and looked at the man with strange eyes.

“These people are framing me. Why are you making a fuss when I’m sick? What’s wrong with you people? And what did you say to me earlier? That my enteritis doesn’t seem severe? Are you even a doctor? Are you a quack? I’m so upset, I should go to another hospital.”

“Please do.”

Tae-kyung stated firmly to the man who was still shouting.