Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 36

36. Are You Even a Doctor!?

“Everything okay?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk asked the nurse at the emergency room station while checking the monitor.

“Yes. Did the surgery go well?”

“It went well. There are still plenty of beds available.”

“It’s not quitting time yet.”

“That’s right. I must have misread the time for a moment. I guess I relaxed after leaving the operating room.”

“Do you even get nervous, Nurse Soo?”

The junior nurse found it hard to believe that her senior of over 20 years could be nervous.

“Of course, I do.”

“You always seem so relaxed that I thought you never got nervous.”

“I was more nervous because it was my first time assisting a pregnant patient in a while, but I’m always nervous.”

“I don’t think anyone working at a hospital doesn’t get nervous.”

Lee Chan-hee added as he approached the station.

“That’s right, Dr. Lee is correct.”

“Especially in the operating room, even if you calculate everything, unexpected variables can arise, making you even more nervous.”

“Wow. Dr. Lee, you did great in the operating room earlier, and now you’re speaking so eloquently.”

“Heh! I’m just naturally like this.”

“Nurse Soo, Dr. Lee?”

Amid the friendly conversation, the junior nurse called out to them with an increasingly stiff expression.

“What should we do?”

“Why?”

“It seems like something’s about to happen.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Over there…”

The junior nurse was about to reach out when a suddenly raised voice caught their attention.

Their gaze turned to where Choi Mona was talking to a patient’s guardian.

“I’ll go check…”

“No. I’ll go. Dr. Lee, please see the patients.”

* * *

Choi Mona, who had just finished treating a second-degree burn patient, replied with her usual expressionless face.

“Is this your first time in the emergency room?”

“Huh? No, it isn’t.”

“Then, please wait a little longer.”

“What, what did you say?”

The man retorted with a dumbfounded expression after hearing Choi Mona’s words.

“My child is sick, and you’re telling me to wait? Are you serious?”

“Didn’t you say you’ve been waiting a long time?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Excuse me, but you haven’t been waiting long.”

“What?”

“You entered the emergency room 30 minutes ago, so you’ve been waiting exactly 15 minutes. Fifteen minutes is not a long time to wait.”

“What kind of doctor…”

“The emergency room is a place where waiting is expected. Goodbye.”

With those concise words, Choi Mona walked towards another patient, causing the man’s brow to furrow deeply.

“What kind of doctor is that?”

“I told you to sit down. You haven’t been waiting that long.”

“Does she think she’s everything just because she’s a doctor? Is she going to die if she’s kind?”

“Honey, stop it. Just come and sit down.”

“Doctors always think they’re something special.”

The man reluctantly sat down, suppressing his anger at his wife’s urging.

“Hello. I’m the head nurse at our hospital.”

“Is that doctor always like that? Why does she talk like that?”

“Honey, stop it. We haven’t been waiting that long.”

“Still, you saw it too. The way she spoke to me angrily.”

“Oh, no. She wasn’t angry. She just only says what’s necessary, so there might have been a slight misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?”

“Oh, how lovely. What’s our princess’s name?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk deliberately changed the subject by asking for the child’s name.

“Ye-sol.”

“Ye-sol. What a pretty name. I heard there’s a foreign object in her nose?”

“Yes, she was playing with a toy.”

“Please wait a little longer, and we’ll get you seen.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, already accustomed to such situations, calmed the guardian’s agitation.

* * *

“How are you feeling today?”

Having finished his rounds, Tae-kyung went up to the ward to check on his patients.

“I don’t feel bloated anymore.”

The patient who had undergone cholecystitis [inflammation of the gallbladder] surgery a few days ago greeted Tae-kyung with a bright face.

Since the family of Jo Mal-rye, the first patient to have gallbladder inflammation surgery, had left a comment on YouTube, there had been a steady stream of cholecystitis surgery patients.

“Before, I couldn’t digest anything after eating, and I felt so uncomfortable, but I haven’t felt that way since the surgery.”

“That’s great.”

“The doctors at the big hospitals kept recommending robotic surgery or something, so I resisted and didn’t do it.”

The older male patient, who lived alone, couldn’t stop talking whenever he saw the medical staff.

“No matter what, a human hand is better than a robot. So, I was worried, but then I saw a video of you on YouTube and something…”

“Excuse me, sir, are you experiencing any particular discomfort?”

Lim Jeong-suk, a nurse with maxed-out experience points, appropriately cut off the patient’s words.

“Not at all.”

“That’s good. Then, rest well and have a good discharge tomorrow.”

“Yes, thank you, doctor.”

Creak-

“Doctor?”

As soon as she closed the door, Nurse Lim Jeong-suk called out to Tae-kyung, twitching her eyebrows.

“I told you to listen to the patients just enough during rounds, didn’t I?”

“Did I make the rounds take longer again because of me?”

“It probably takes you twice as long as other doctors.”

Tae-kyung always took a long time on his rounds because he listened to the patients’ TMI [too much information].

“Actually, I’ve been told to keep my rounds short at my previous workplace too.”

It wasn’t easy for Tae-kyung, who preferred to reduce the distance between himself and the patients and communicate with them, rather than appearing as an authoritarian doctor.

“What can you do? You’re just a natural doctor who only thinks about patients.”

“Is it hard to work with me?”

“Not at all. It’s the opposite.”

Tae-kyung was slightly puzzled by Nurse Lim Jeong-suk’s nonchalant response.

At Shinwha University, the medical staff who worked with Tae-kyung were always complaining behind his back.

-Dr. Kim, isn’t he being too fussy?

-What’s wrong with him? A doctor should have an authoritative side.

-He’s too meticulous about patient care, making him tiring to work with.

-He should be sucking up to the professors, not just taking care of patients. He’s only taking care of patients; that’s why he still can’t become a professor with his skills.

“Do you know what kind of look patients give you when they see you?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk asked Tae-kyung, who was momentarily thinking about the past.

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“Unwavering trust. A look that says, ‘Ah, I’m glad I came to this doctor.'”

“Haha! That can’t be true.”

“Don’t laugh. It’s true. Because you always treat patients with sincerity, the staff next to you also work hard.”

It wasn’t just empty words. It was true.

The atmosphere of the hospital had changed a lot overall because of Tae-kyung.

Kim Cheol-gi, the director, knew why he had been so desperate to bring him in.

There aren’t many doctors who still passionately dedicate themselves to patient care even with that level of skill.

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, who had been feeling bored after 20 years of hospital life, also had many realizations.

“And the patients’ attitude towards the medical staff also changes, which in turn increases work efficiency. That’s the positive effect.”

“You’re giving me too much credit.”

“We haven’t even taken off yet.”

The two exchanged pleasantries and headed to a private room where a pregnant woman was staying.

* * *

“I’ve applied medicine and bandaged the wound, so be careful not to get it wet until tomorrow.”

“Thank you. Excuse me, doctor?”

The patient who had finished the examination called out to Choi Mona as she got up from her seat.

“Yes.”

“This is my first time in the emergency room. So, how much more will the medical bill be?”

“I don’t know. I’m a doctor who sees patients. You should ask the staff at the payment counter.”

“……!”

The patient’s face flushed slightly, seemingly embarrassed by the unexpected answer.

“Ha! Does she think she’s everything just because she’s a doctor?”

The patient, feeling upset, muttered in dissatisfaction as she watched Choi Mona’s back.

“Still, even if she’s a doctor, she shouldn’t talk like that and embarrass people.”

Choi Mona headed to the station as if she didn’t care about the complaints coming from behind her.

-38 months old. Female. Foreign object in the right nose.

“Where is Dr. Lee Chan-hee?”

Choi Mona asked the nurse while checking the next patient on the EMR (Electronic Medical Record).

“Is he seeing a patient?”

“Yes, Dr. Lee is currently suturing a fall patient in the treatment room.”

“Suturing a fall patient will take a while.”

“You’ll see the next patient right away, right?”

“I have to.”

“Um, Doctor, are you going to be okay with that guardian from earlier?”

“I’m fine.”

She wasn’t exactly in a good state. In fact, Choi Mona didn’t like children and the elderly very much.

To be exact, she didn’t like it when children and the elderly came as patients. That’s why she asked about Lee Chan-hee’s whereabouts to switch with him.

‘If it’s a child, it’ll take quite a while…’

The male guardian who had raised his voice earlier, whom the nurse was worried about, wasn’t a problem. The real problem was that the patient was a child.

Children are more difficult than the elderly. It wasn’t easy to have a smooth examination when they came to the emergency room.

Moreover, if the child started crying, the guardians would become sensitive, making the examination even more difficult.

“Hello. I’ll be examining you now.”

“Hello. Sola, you have to greet the doctor.”

“Hello, Docthor.”

The father who had raised his voice at Choi Mona was nowhere to be seen, and the child was there with her mother.

“I heard there’s a foreign object in the child’s nose.”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s in her right nose. The child was playing…”

“Honey?”

The wife, who was continuing her explanation, turned her head at her husband’s urgent call.

“Are you getting an examination?”

“Yes. The doctor is here.”

The husband, who had gone to the bathroom for a while, hurried towards his wife and child.

“Oh!”

The husband’s expression hardened as he confirmed that the examining doctor was Choi Mona.

“Sola put a toy in her nose while playing.”

“Do you know what kind of toy it is?”

“It’s a small plastic piece like a grain. I think it was originally a bracelet, but it broke.”

“Wait a minute!”

The husband interrupted the conversation as soon as his wife’s explanation was over.

“Excuse me, but can we get an examination from another doctor?”

“Honey? What are you talking about?”

“I want to get an examination from another doctor.”

“Oh, why are you doing this? I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s fine. However, you’ll have to wait if you want to get an examination from another doctor. Is that okay with you?”

“No. We’ll get an examination from the doctor. Honey, let’s get it out quickly and go home.”

“Okay. There’s no other way since we have to wait longer. We’ll just get the examination.”

“Okay. Both of you need to hold the child still.”

“Yes, we will.”

“Please prepare a speculum and forceps.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

The nurse handed Choi Mona a nasal speculum and forceps, instruments for examining the inside of the nose.

“Ugh!”

As Choi Mona slowly inserted the speculum into her nose, the child started crying.

“Waaaaah! I don’t want to!”

* * *

“Okay! Then, Mrs. Chukbok [meaning ‘blessing’ in Korean]. You must take your pain medication regularly for Chukbok’s sake.”

“Sob!”

The mother, who had been listening carefully to the explanation, suddenly burst into tears at Tae-kyung’s words.

“Honey, why are you crying again? Does it hurt?”

“It’s not that, it’s just that it’s the first time I’ve heard someone call me Chukbok’s mom other than you, and I’m so…so happy.”

Tae-kyung and Nurse Lim Jeong-suk could understand how the mother felt.

The two quietly left the room so that the mother could rest comfortably.

“I really don’t know how to thank you, Doctor. Thank you again.”

The mother’s husband followed Tae-kyung out of the room after the rounds.

“It’s nothing. The mother has suffered the most.”

“It’s a blessing to meet a good doctor, and it seems like our Chukbok is a lucky charm.”

“Chukbok is a filial daughter. And as I said earlier, please make sure the patient takes her pain medication well.”

“The doctor told me to make sure she takes it, so she will. I’ll check it well too.”

“Okay. The patient will be alone, so please go in quickly.”

“Oh, and thank you, Nurse.”

The husband smiled and said goodbye as he entered the room.

“I’m glad the mother said she would take her pain medication well.”

“Me too. Are the rounds all done?”

“Yes, they’re finally over.”

“Would you like a drink?”

“Sure. Are you buying?”

“The rounds took a long time because of me, so I should buy.”

The two headed to the ward lounge where the vending machine was located.

“Choose what you want.”

“Oh, really? Then I’ll choose the most expensive one.”

“It doesn’t matter. Choose as much as you…yes.”

Tae-kyung stopped talking and answered the urgently ringing phone.

-Doctor, this is the emergency room. Are you on rounds?

“The rounds are all done. Did an emergency patient arrive?”

-No, it’s not that. There’s a problem here.

“A problem?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, who was choosing a drink, paused and watched Tae-kyung.

-You need to come quickly. It’s Choi Mo…

-Hey!!

There was no need to hear any more explanations. The rough voice of a man heard behind the nurse’s voice gave a hint of the situation.

-Are you even a doctor!?

As soon as he heard that, Tae-kyung ran out of the lounge, and Nurse Lim Jeong-suk followed him.