Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 353

Five Vital Signs – Episode 354 (353/502)

354. It’s Been a Little Over a Month Since He Came to the Hospital, Right?

“Saechan, I heard you made up with your father?”

Summoned to the ward, Taekyung went to Gong Saechan’s room.

“How did the Director know about that?”

“I just overheard your mother talking about it, very happily, in the hallway.”

“Mom really talks about everything.”

“I’m glad you two worked things out.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Director. After hearing what you said in the recovery room, I was stunned, like I’d been hit over the head—no lie.”

“Wasn’t that because of the anesthesia?”

“No way! Anyway, I really appreciate you giving me the courage. Thank you.”

“Really thankful?”

“Of course.”

“Then focus on your rehab and get discharged in good health. Got it?”

“Of course. Even if I seem a bit reckless, I’m all about diligence.”

“And one more thing! You absolutely must not ride a motorcycle again.”

“Don’t worry about that at all. I won’t ride anymore.”

“Okay. I’ll be watching.”

The reckless Gong Saechan who first arrived at the emergency room after the accident seemed like a completely different person now.

Taekyung believed his promise not to ride a motorcycle again and left the room with a satisfied expression.

“Seriously, what did you say in the recovery room?”

Nurse Lim Jeongsook, who had come with him, asked with a curious expression.

“I just seriously told him the obvious: to stop riding motorcycles and listen to his parents.”

“Do you know that you’re really good at counseling patients, Director?”

“Me?”

“Yes, Grandma Boksoon also says every time she comes that you listen to her so well. She praises you, saying that doctors who listen to patients are rare.”

“Really? I’m not that good.”

“You are that good.”

“Stop!!!”

As they were talking and walking down the hallway, the two turned their gaze to where they heard a firm voice.

“There’s one enemy at 12 o’clock. Charge!”

Where the two were looking, a male nursing assistant was playing with a boy in a patient gown on his back.

“He’s playing with him again. That’s not easy… Mr. Oh is really amazing.”

“I know. It’s been a little over a month since he came to our hospital, right?”

“Yes, I wonder if a person can be that diligent.”

The target of Taekyung and Nurse Lim Jeongsook’s warm gaze was Oh Changgyu, the male nursing assistant who had recently joined the hospital.

When he first came for the interview, he was quiet and shy.

Since working at a hospital involves dealing with and caring for patients, they had been trying to hire someone with an outgoing personality.

‘If you hire me, I will work hard with a diligent attitude.’

However, he showed a firm commitment to working hard, and Chief Choi and Nurse Lim Jeongsook, who had interviewed him, hired him to work together.

But their worries about whether he would do well were quickly dispelled, as he was amazing.

When dealing with patients, he put his heart and soul into it as if he were dealing with family.

In particular, he approached elderly patients first, helping them with bathing and washing their hair, taking the initiative in tasks that weren’t easy.

And when child patients were admitted, as he had just done, he often approached them in a friendly way and played with them so that the children wouldn’t be afraid of the hospital and could receive treatment comfortably.

Moreover, he came to work 30 minutes early and left 30 minutes late, even helping his colleagues with their work.

“This job isn’t easy, but it seems like he genuinely enjoys it.”

“You’re right, Director. I asked him how he could work so hard. Do you know what he said?”

“What did he say?”

“He said he had been working in a factory since graduating from high school, but the work was so hard that he thought he should learn a skill. So he registered for an academy and studied hard to get a certificate, so he finds the work so fun and precious.”

“That’s so admirable and commendable for a young person.”

“I know, right? These days, every patient I meet praises Mr. Oh like crazy.”

“It’s good for me too that not only the patients but also a good employee has joined us.”

“Me too.”

The two praised Oh Changgyu and walked towards him.

“Mr. Oh, aren’t you overdoing it?”

“Ms. Lim? Director?”

“I know, right? Take it easy.”

“No, I just really like kids. This much is… Ah!”

The moment Oh Changgyu spoke to the two, the child on his back pulled his hair hard.

“Oh my! Goodness, Minjoon-ah?”

The child’s mother, who had come out of the bathroom after taking care of business, was startled and took her son off Oh Changgyu’s back.

“I’m sorry, teacher. What are you doing to the teacher right now? Minjoon, if you keep doing this, you’ll get in trouble with the Director.”

As the child’s mother scared him, the child looked up at Taekyung with wide eyes.

“Director, will I get in trouble?”

“Minjoon-ah, if you pull someone’s hair, it hurts. You shouldn’t do that.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose, I’m sorry.”

The child, knowing he had done wrong, apologized to Oh Changgyu with an embarrassed expression.

“It’s okay if Minjoon didn’t do it on purpose. You won’t do it again next time, right?”

“Yes, I won’t.”

“I’ll go down first. Mr. Oh, take care.”

Taekyung and Nurse Lim Jeongsook went down the hospital stairs, and Oh Changgyu comforted the child.

“You can scold him sternly in situations like this. It seems like Minjoon only teases you when he sees you because you keep letting him get away with it.”

“No. Even adults have a hard time in the hospital, so how hard must it be for children? It wasn’t on purpose, and I’m okay.”

“You have such a big heart. All the teachers [nurses and staff] in our hospital are so nice. And thank you for taking good care of my child. It seems like Minjoon is having an easier time in the hospital because of you.”

“You’re welcome. Minjoon is brave, so he’s not scared of the hospital at all.”

“Yes, I’m not scared of shots either.”

“Wow! Really! Minjoon is the best. You have to eat your meals bravely later too.”

“Yes. Teacher.”

“Thank you.”

The mother and child went into the hospital room, and Oh Changgyu briefly stopped walking towards the stairs to go down to the first floor.

Click- Click-

Then he took out his cell phone from his pocket, pressed the camera button, and took several pictures of the inside of the hospital.

“Oh! Mr. Oh, are you taking pictures again?”

The ward station nurse, who happened to be coming up the stairs, saw him and approached.

“I saw you taking pictures last time too. What kind of pictures are you taking so much? There’s nothing to see in the hospital.”

“Ah, I was just taking pictures of the hospital.”

“Can I see? Oh my! You take good pictures.”

The nurse admired the cell phone screen that Oh Changgyu showed her.

“How did you take such good pictures of the inside of the hospital? It’s like a sentimental photo. You have a sense for it.”

“Ah~ so that’s why you only took pictures of the building? But you’re really good at it.”

“I like taking pictures, so I guess my skills have improved little by little, and they come out pretty.”

“If you have a chance later, please take a picture of me too.”

“Of course. It’s not a difficult task. I will.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“No problem. I’m going down now…”

“Excuse me! Teacher?”

Just as Oh Changgyu was about to say goodbye to his fellow nurse and go down, a guardian in a nearby two-person room came out into the hallway and called them.

“Please help me here. Grandpa is acting up again.”

Hearing the guardian’s words, the two quickly ran to the two-person room.

“You bad bitch!”

As they entered the room, an old man with graying hair was grabbing his wife’s hair, shouting sharp curses.

The grandfather, who had been hospitalized after having several large polyps removed during a colonoscopy [a procedure to check the colon for abnormalities], was suffering from dementia.

It wasn’t relatively severe dementia, and he only woke up in his sleep or occasionally lost his mind, but the problem was that he made things difficult for his wife whenever he had dementia.

He usually acted so affectionately and lovingly towards his grandmother, but he mistook her for his deceased father’s affair partner and spewed harsh words.

“He woke up and is doing that again. I called the teacher because I can’t stop him even if I try.”

“Do you know how much our mother suffered because of you?”

“Old man? It’s me? Malsun. Your wife, Go Malsun.”

“Where are you lying, you bitch?”

“Grandfather!”

Oh Changgyu quickly approached the grandfather and hugged him from behind, and the nurse who came with him tried to remove the hand holding the grandmother’s hair tightly.

“Why is our grandfather doing this again? It’s Grandma Malsun.”

“What are you talking about? My wife is at home!”

“Ah! Old man. Let go of this.”

“Should I call the other teachers?”

“No. It’s okay. Now! Our grandfather, look at me. Im Jiryul Grandfather! This is a hospital.”

Oh Changgyu began to skillfully soothe the patient without panicking.

While doing so, he inserted his index finger into the grandfather’s hand holding the grandmother’s hair tightly, and succeeded in removing his hand by applying force.

“Im Jiryul! Grandfather? Can’t you see Grandma? Grandfather!”

“Huh?”

“Come to your senses? Grandma isn’t a bad woman, she’s your wife.”

“……!”

As a result of hugging the grandfather and calmly making him aware of the situation for a while, the old man’s mind returned before long.

“Are you feeling a little better now?”

“No, teacher, why are you hugging me?”

“Old man, are you feeling a little better now?”

“Oh my! Goodness, honey. I lost my mind again. Right?”

Looking at a few strands of hair in his hand, the grandfather realized that his mind had gone back and forth again.

“It ended quickly this time.”

“Jiryul acted up again. I really feel like I’m going to die. I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry, teachers.”

The grandfather, whose mind had returned, threw a joke as usual with his pleasant personality and was at a loss for what to do because he was sorry.

“No. It’s okay, elder.”

“I have to grow old gracefully, but what’s so good about my father that he even passed on dementia, making his wife suffer in his later years… I’m sorry, everyone.”

“Honey, I’m okay. My head doesn’t hurt at all.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Because her husband had never given her a hard time in her life, the grandmother didn’t find her grandfather’s dementia that difficult.

“Stop being sorry. The teachers here have suffered more than me.”

“Teachers, I’m really sorry.”

“No. Then we’ll be on our way.”

“Okay. Take care.”

The situation was over, and the nurse soothed the grandfather and called Oh Changgyu, who was in the corner.

“Mr. Oh, aren’t you going?”

“Yes, I’m going.”

“Excuse me, teacher, just leave that there.”

The grandmother hurriedly grabbed Oh Changgyu as he was taking the recyclables in the hospital room.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“It’s okay. Then rest.”

Oh Changgyu brushed off the grandmother’s dissuasion and left the hospital room. After that, he went into each hospital room and collected all the recyclables and headed to the station.

“I’m going to throw away the recyclables, so if you have anything to throw away, give it to me.”

“Oh my, it’s okay. We’ll take care of it here.”

“Don’t do that, give it to me.”

Oh Changgyu quickly picked up the take-out coffee cup that the nurse at the station was trying to clean up with an embarrassed expression.

“I’m sorry. Mr. Oh has a lot of work to do, why are you doing this?”

“That’s right. There are cleaning ladies.”

“I just do it whenever I have time. I can’t do it when I’m busy. I really like the front gate garden of our hospital. I use recycling as an excuse to go out once in a while. I’ll be back then.”

“Yes, take care.”

“How can a person be so diligent and have no flaws?”

As Oh Changgyu went down from the ward, the nurses spared no praise for him.

“Who says no? He’s been throwing away hospital room recyclables like that every day since the day he came to the hospital.”

“It’s not easy to do every day.”

“Yesterday, the cleaning lady told him to stop because she felt sorry, but he said he liked it.”

“Goodness! I’m not as good as our Soo Teacher [likely a senior or respected nurse], but I’ve been a nurse for a while, and I’ve never seen anyone like that.”

“Me too. I gather my mind by looking at Mr. Oh even when I’m having a hard time because of some patients.”

“Anyway, a very good employee has joined our hospital.”

“I know, right? I hope we can work together for a long time.”

* * *

While the nurses were praising him, Oh Changgyu came out of the hospital building.

He gathered the ward’s recyclables in a large bag, came out the back door of the hospital, and neatly organized the recyclables in the collection box in the parking lot.

After finishing the organization, Oh Changgyu slightly tilted his head back from that spot and carefully looked at the hospital building.

“One, two, three, four……”

Click- Click- Click-

“It came out well.”

He muttered to himself, diligently took pictures of the hospital building with his cell phone camera, and after being satisfied with the results, he went back into the hospital.