Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 347

Reversal of the Examination Results

Tiririk-

A middle-aged man with a considerable physique opened the apartment door and carefully entered the living room.

“Ahem! Is that you?”

“What, you weren’t asleep?”

As his wife, who had been sleeping in the bedroom, came out, the husband wore an apologetic expression.

“I must have dozed off while waiting until just now.”

“You woke up because of me. Why did you get up?”

“How can I not get up when it’s the day you come back from training?”

The man who returned home late, past midnight, was Gong Sae-chan’s father, the coach of a corporate sports team.

He was returning from a periodic training camp.

“Did the training go well?”

“Of course. Maybe it’s because we did well last season, but the players are all full of fighting spirit.”

“That’s good. But it seems like you finished even later than usual today.”

“I had dinner with the coaches and we talked about training and the players, so it got a bit late.”

“You’ve worked hard. You must be tired, so go wash up and sleep.”

“Alright. You go to sleep too. I’ll go in after washing up.”

“Oh, right. Did you say you went to see Sae-chan?”

“I went last week.”

“Did he seem strange or anything?”

“You’re something else. What would be strange about him? Sae-chan has come to his senses now, so stop suspecting him. Because you kept at it, I checked the parking lot and inside the house thoroughly, but there wasn’t a trace of a motorcycle or keys.”

A few days ago, Gong Sae-chan’s mother went to her son’s house and cleaned, looking closely at every corner of the house.

She was hoping that no motorcycle-related items would turn up. But contrary to her worries, no such items were found at all.

From a few days before his mother came, Gong Sae-chan had moved everything he thought he would get scolded for, from the motorcycle to the camera and helmet, to a friend’s house nearby. That’s why he wasn’t caught by his mother.

“What about school? Is he attending school diligently?”

“Yes, he’s attending diligently. From what I see, he seems to have come to his senses. He hasn’t mentioned motorcycles even once.”

“Then that’s a relief. If he rides a motorcycle again, that Sae-chan is not even human. Then it’s really either I die or he dies.”

“Alright, stop it and go wash up.”

As her husband went to the bathroom, the wife, who had gone into the room to get underwear, answered the ringing phone as she came out to the living room.

“Oh, honey. What’s going on at this hour?”

“-Mom, well… something happened.”

“What do you mean, something?”

“-Well, that is…”

“Is something really wrong? Are you sick somewhere?”

Since her daughter had only focused on exercising without causing any trouble while growing up, the mother wondered if her daughter was sick at the sudden call.

Clang-

“Why? Is Sae-yoon sick?”

The husband, who was about to wash up in the bathroom, hurriedly came out in his underwear at the sound of his wife’s rising voice.

“-I’m not sick. Is Dad next to you?”

“Yes. He just came back from training camp. What’s really wrong with you that you’re beating around the bush like this? You’re making Mom worry. Tell me quickly.”

“-Mom, put it on speakerphone and listen with Dad.”

“Sae-yoon, this is Dad. What’s wrong?”

“-It’s not me, but you two… Don’t be surprised when you hear this.”

“Alright, don’t worry and just tell us quickly.”

“-Sae-chan is in the emergency room right now.”

“Sae-chan is in the emergency room? Sae-yoon, what are you talking about?”

“Is it the motorcycle?”

The husband, snatching the phone from his wife’s hand, threw out a word in a subdued voice.

“-…”

“Sae-yoon? Is it the motorcycle?”

“-Yes, Dad. It seems he’s been secretly riding a motorcycle. He took it out earlier, ran a red light, and had an accident.”

“Oh, my! I’m going crazy. How badly is he hurt?”

This time, the surprised mother snatched the phone from her husband’s hand and spoke.

“-I spoke with the doctor a little while ago, and it seems like we’ll have to wait for the test results to know the details. He seemed okay on the outside, though.”

“Which hospital is it?”

“-It’s Woori Hospital in Yeoul-dong.”

“I knew it. I was so uneasy because it was too quiet… That son of mine!”

Gong Sae-chan’s father, furious, quickly picked up the clothes he had taken off and grabbed something from one side of the living room.

“Mom, Dad is going, so hang up. Oh, my! Goodness! Honey? What’s wrong?”

The surprised wife quickly hung up the phone and tried to stop her husband.

“Sae-chan is in the hospital because of an accident right now.”

“Is it the first time that rascal has been in the hospital because of an accident? I won’t let that bastard off today.”

“Honey, calm down a bit.”

“Is this something to calm down about? Don’t stop me.”

Slam-

“Oh, my, honey!! This is a disaster. It’s a disaster.”

Despite his wife’s pleas, the angry husband kicked open the front door and left the house.

* * *

Emergency Room-

“Choi, the CT scan is up.”

“Okay, I’ll check it.”

“I heard this patient flew about 5 meters after the accident, but he’s really incredibly lucky.”

The nurse at the station said, looking at Choi Mona, who was looking at the monitor.

“How did he only fracture his leg? He’s really a lucky person. Oh, right! Did you see the tattoo earlier, Choi? He had quite a few tattoos on his body. He seemed like a bit of a thug, don’t you think?”

“……”

Even at the nurse’s question, Choi Mona stared intently at the monitor without saying anything.

“Choi?”

The nurse couldn’t understand why Choi Mona seemed so serious, beyond just being earnest.

Although a fracture wasn’t a good result, she didn’t think the result of a patient who had a motorcycle accident was something to be taken so seriously.

Moreover, as she said earlier, flying 5 meters and only getting this much was practically using up a lifetime of luck, no, a stroke of divine luck.

“Choi, aren’t you being too serious about a fracture?”

“It’s a fracture, but I don’t think the fracture is the problem.”

“Yes?!”

“Doctor. This is Choi Mona.”

Choi Mona, who had been looking at the monitor, quickly called Tae-kyung.

“The TA [Traffic Accident] patient I reported earlier has a CT scan that’s a bit strange. I think you should come and take a look.”

Shortly after, Tae-kyung, who had been in the intensive care unit, came to the emergency room and focused on checking the monitor with the CT scan results.

“He’s got a fracture.”

“What do you think, Choi?”

“First of all, this side is fractured into three pieces.”

As Tae-kyung lowered the CT scan, the long bone below the knee was clearly fractured into three pieces.

“That’s right. But that’s not the big problem. Here!”

Tae-kyung was pointing to the muscles around the fractured bone, not the bone itself.

“Do you see this here?”

“Yes, Doctor. There are bright fragments.”

In the middle of the muscle that Tae-kyung pointed to, there was a faint and thin, unidentifiable bright light.

Those were the fragments he had mentioned earlier.

“Choi, do you know what this is?”

“Well… I think it might be a contrast agent.”

Choi Mona said cautiously.

“That’s right.”

A contrast agent is a drug injected into the blood vessels to see the CT scan better.

While the contrast agent can make the entire organ or blood vessels appear brighter, it couldn’t just appear bright on its own like that.

“If the contrast agent appears so bright on its own like that, there must be only one case, right? It means the contrast agent is leaking out. So what would that be?”

Choi Mona, who had been thinking about why the contrast agent was there, suddenly remembered something as soon as she heard Tae-kyung’s words.

“Ah! Could it be a blood vessel?”

“That’s right.”

“This patient has a torn blood vessel due to the accident.”

That was it.

At the time of the accident, there didn’t seem to be any major external injuries, and before the hospital examination, the medical staff thought he wasn’t seriously injured.

But the test results were a reversal. It wasn’t just a fracture that was the problem, but a torn blood vessel.

“Doctor, if the blood vessel is torn, this patient’s leg…”

“If we’re not careful, his foot might rot, and he might have to have his leg amputated. No… !”

Tae-kyung stopped talking and rushed to Gong Sae-chan.

The fifth vital sign, which had been felt from the station, was at level 3, and as he entered the treatment room where the patient was, the smell was everywhere.

Tae-kyung reached out and placed his finger on the tip of Gong Sae-chan’s foot, where the artery should be flowing.

‘It’s not there. There’s no pulse…’

As expected, the pulse that should have been felt was not felt.

“Ultrasound! Bring the ultrasound quickly!”

At the urgent cry, the staff brought the ultrasound, and Tae-kyung activated the ultrasound on the inside of the patient’s foot, along the artery.

Blood flow appeared on the screen, but when Tae-kyung reached a certain point with the ultrasound machine, the blood flow disappeared.

“Prepare this patient for surgery right now. Quickly!”

“Yes, I understand.”

At those words, the medical staff around him began to move frantically, and the face of his sister, who was watching the situation from outside, was growing increasingly worried.

“What is it? What’s wrong? Is something big happening?”

“Doctor, is something wrong with my brother?”

Gong Sae-chan, who had been complaining of pain and had fallen asleep, opened his eyes and asked, and his sister also approached Tae-kyung, curious about what was going on.

“The patient has damage to a part of the lower extremity artery.”

“Lower extremity artery?”

“Lower what? Sis, what is this doctor saying?”

“Be quiet, you. What does what you just said mean, Doctor?”

“In simple terms, blood is not being supplied to the foot.”

“Is that serious?”

“If blood continues not to be supplied in this state, then…”

Just then, as Tae-kyung’s expression explaining and the expressions of his sister and Gong Sae-chan listening were all serious,

“Hey! You bastard!!”

A shout that startled everyone echoed loudly in the emergency room.

“You son of a bitch! What are you so proud of lying down for? That bastard even has tattoos on his body?”

The owner of the tone, in which anger was felt in every word, was Gong Sae-chan’s father, who had rushed over after receiving the call.

“Ah, Father?”

Gong Sae-chan, who had been acting cocky, was startled as if he had seen a ghost when he saw his father, not knowing what to do.

“Please calm down, guardian.”

“Please don’t do this and talk to me outside.”

“Let go of me! I came here today to kill that bastard. He’s not even human.”

Jang Deuk-chil and Team Leader Choi, the security guards, followed him, trying to stop him, but it wasn’t easy, seeing him holding a golf club in one hand.

Gong Sae-chan’s father was as tall and burly as Jang Deuk-chil.

Everyone couldn’t help but be surprised when such a person approached the treatment room with a golf club.

“Honey! Talk it out. Talk it out, okay?”

“Yes, Dad. First, put down the golf club and talk.”

“That guy is not someone who listens to words.”

His daughter, as well as his wife, begged him to stop, but the father, greatly disappointed in his son, was not easily willing to listen.

“You, Sae-chan, you bastard, aren’t you coming out right now? What are you so proud of lying there for?”

“Ah, Father, I was wrong. I didn’t cause the accident on purpose. I’m sorry.”

“Wrong? Do you know what’s wrong? A guy who knows what’s wrong goes behind his mom and dad’s back, even taking a leave of absence to buy and ride a motorcycle again! Are you even human? Huh! When are you going to become human?”

“I’m, I’m sorry, Father. Mom? Sis? Stop Father from coming in!!”

Gong Sae-chan was terrified and nervous, afraid that his father would enter the treatment room.

“There’s no need to say much. Today, you die, and I die too.”