Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 409

Fifth Vital – Episode 410 (409/502)

410. Strange Things Happen in Hospitals

“Honey, when you think about it, aren’t we really meant to be?”

Two middle-aged women in hospital gowns were sitting side by side in the ward lounge, deep in conversation.

“Young-ah’s dad saw that you had surgery and then I had surgery, and he joked that we must be sisters in a past life.”

“My husband said the same thing. Seriously, the more I think about it, the more amazing it is. How did you end up like this after coming to visit me?”

“Tell me about it. I just thought it was a bad case of gastroenteritis because my stomach was hurting so much.”

The two were close neighbors, like sisters to each other.

The older of the two women had been suffering from gallstones for a long time, and when the pain became severe, she had surgery. The younger woman came to visit her.

But the younger woman, who had been having stomach pains for several days, suddenly experienced severe abdominal pain. After an examination, she was diagnosed with appendicitis and had to undergo surgery.

In the end, the two neighbors were hospitalized in the same room.

“I was so shocked when you said you were going to the doctor because you were in pain and then ended up having surgery.”

“You think you were shocked? But I’m laughing about it now because the surgery went well. When I think about it, I still feel dizzy. It was my first surgery ever, and I was so scared… The doctors here reassured me, or I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

“Why first surgery? What about when you gave birth?”

“Honey, I had a natural birth.”

“Oh! That’s right. Still, we should be grateful that neither of us has a serious illness. Being healthy is a treasure these days.”

“That’s right. Health is the most important thing. Health is more important than money.”

“Speaking of which, I don’t think I’ve ever been this comfortable.”

“Oh, come on! You like having a needle stuck in your arm for a surgery?”

The younger woman, sitting next to her, tapped the IV stand and looked dumbfounded at the word ‘comfortable’.

“What’s there to say? Of course, I like it. What about this? A needle in my arm? It’s in my body to keep me alive, so what’s wrong with it? I don’t have to cook for my husband, I don’t have to clean the house, housework is bye-bye. I lie down, and they give me food on time, I can watch all the dramas I want, it’s like the best vacation ever.”

“Now that I hear you say that, you’re right. Just not having to cook three meals a day is so easy.”

“Right. Cooking is no joke. It’s hard to earn money as a salaried worker, but being a full-time housewife is no joke either.”

“Nothing in this world is easy.”

“Excuse me…”

Just as the two women, freed from housework, were enjoying their conversation, a woman who had been lingering in front of the vending machine quietly approached.

The woman who approached was also wearing a hospital gown, but there was something different about her compared to the other hospitalized patients.

Usually, when people are hospitalized, they live their hospital life in the most comfortable way possible.

In other words, they don’t dress up. Like when they are at home, it is difficult to wash their hair every day, and women rarely wear makeup.

But this woman had put a lot of effort into her bangs and had waves in her shoulder-length hair. In addition, she was wearing rings and bracelets on her hands, and her slippers were also noticeably flashy.

In short, she was dressed to the nines despite being hospitalized.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you have something to say to us?”

“Yes, I’m really sorry, but do you happen to have any change?”

“…”

“…?”

“Ah! It’s because of this.”

The woman tapped the vending machine and continued, seeing the two women looking at her with bewildered faces, not saying a word.

“This hospital has the best coffee. I like vending machine coffee so much that I brought some coins, but I’m 100 won short [approximately 10 cents USD]. So, I was wondering if you might have any change.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any change…”

“Oh, I have change. Here’s 100 won.”

One of the women sitting side by side took out 100 won from her hospital gown pocket and handed it to the woman. The woman was flustered and grateful.

“Oh my! Really? Thank you. Thank you so much. Mmm! This is the taste.”

The woman took a sip of the coffee she had 뽑은 [pulled/dispensed] from the vending machine and exclaimed in a sweet voice.

The two women bit their lips, holding back laughter at the woman’s reaction, which was like something out of a drama.

“Hey, sisters!”

“Oh, sisters?”

“Oh my! We’re not your sisters…”

“Come on! You look older than me, so you must be sisters. Aren’t you in your fifties?”

“Well, we are in our fifties, but…”

“You are in your fifties, right? Let’s see, you’re in the first class of the fifties, and you’re in the second class of the fifties?” [referring to the early and later years of their 50s]

“Oh my gosh! Is that how we look?”

“I’m fifty-seven, and this sister is fifty-nine.”

“Really? No way. You both don’t look like it at all.”

“Everyone can see that, what are you talking about.”

“Oh my! No. Your skin is so good… Ah! That’s right. Take this.”

The woman, who was drinking coffee, took out a bunch of luscious Shine Muscat grapes from a black bag she was holding and handed them to the two women.

“You gave me change to buy coffee.”

“Giving a 100-won coin and getting a Shine Muscat bunch is too much…”

“That’s right, this is quite expensive?”

“It’s okay. I have so much that I can’t eat it all. Share it with each other.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“We’ll enjoy it.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m much younger, so feel free to speak comfortably. I’m in my forties.”

“These days, being in your forties is still young. You’re young. Young.”

“That’s right. These days, we live to be 100 years old, so my husband says that being in your forties is like being a baby.”

“A baby, a baby?”

“Yes, my husband often calls me baby.”

“Your husband must love you very much.”

“That’s right. Hehehe! And I’m in a two-person room over there.”

“Really?”

“By the way, did you get lip fillers?”

The woman, who seemed a little ditzy, told them which room she was in without being asked and 혼잣말을 이것저것 [muttered to herself about various things], then suddenly started talking about lips.

“What kind of injection would I get in my lips? I’m afraid of even getting a shot in my butt, so I can’t do that.”

“I also find it easier to just live the way I was born.”

“Looking at it, you all have pretty lip shapes. I get fillers regularly.”

“Oh, really? I have something I’m curious about…”

Just as the older of the two women sitting side by side was about to say what she had been wanting to ask since earlier, the younger woman nudged her and stopped her.

“Why, what is it? Don’t do it.”

“What is it? Feel free to say it.”

“That’s… How did you and the man you’re hospitalized with…”

“Of course, he’s my husband.”

The woman blinked her long eyelashes and answered as if it were obvious, with a bright expression.

“Hu, husband?”

The two women reacted with genuine surprise at the word husband.

“But your husband looks a little older?”

“Yes, that’s right. There’s quite an age gap between him and me.”

“How much… I’m sorry. I asked something unnecessary.”

“No. It’s okay. About this much?”

The woman answered, showing two fingers with a thick gold ring.

“Oh my goodness!”

“My husband and I met a little late. We’re still newlyweds.”

“Ah! I see.”

“I dreamed of being a singer, but every album I released flopped, and I really wanted to die, but my husband was a fan of mine. So, he comforted me a lot, gave me strength, and we became close and ended up together. At first, I was worried because of the age difference, but this man was really different. Now, I don’t care about what others think at all.”

The woman spoke her mind confidently, as if it were nothing.

“Well. These days, people don’t care much about age if they like each other.”

“Ye, yes. But your husband must be very good to you.”

“Of course. This might sound 주책이긴 [like I’m being a busybody], but he loves me so much.”

“Honey?”

While the woman was engrossed in the story, her husband, whom she had been 자랑하던 [bragging about], called her.

“What are you doing instead of coming?”

“Sorry. Sisters, I’ll go now.”

“Okay. We’ll enjoy the grapes.”

“See you next time.”

The woman waved goodbye to the two women, hooked her arm around her husband’s, and walked affectionately back to the room.

“Did you wait for me, honey?”

“Of course. I was worried that someone took the person who went to get grapes.”

“Am I a kid? Who would take me?”

“Of course. You’re a baby in my eyes, Yerim. Baby~”

“Tch! I’m old, what baby. Do you think I’m that pretty?”

“Pretty, of course, you’re pretty.”

The women, who unintentionally heard the conversation of the two people walking, widened their eyes and were dumbfounded.

“Oh my goodness…”

“I didn’t think they were a couple, but they were really a couple.”

“It looks like the man has a lot of money. I’m sure of it.”

“Do you think so too?”

“Of course. Of course, a man has a lot of money, so he lives with a woman who is twenty years younger.”

“Why? I heard them say they love each other. It could be real love, as the kids say these days.”

“Real love? 아나 떡이다 [That’s ridiculous/nonsense].”

“Oh, come on. Say something nice.”

“Sigh! I’m a little jealous, though.”

“What? Of having a lot of money?”

“No. I’m jealous of being loved like that. Aren’t you jealous?”

“No. No matter how jealous I am, I don’t like people like that.”

At the older woman’s words, the younger woman shook her head, looking at the backs of the man and woman walking down the 복도 [hallway].

“Why? Do you know those people?”

“How would I know those people? It’s not that, but those are the people the 창문가 아주머니 [woman by the window] was talking about yesterday.”

“The two of them in the corner of the hospital yard…”

“Oh my! Is that them?”

“Yeah. It’s them.”

After hearing the younger woman’s story, the older woman, who remembered something, got up from her seat, glanced at the man and woman, and clicked her tongue.

“I thought they were younger… Still, how can people who are old enough to eat do that?” [a Korean idiom meaning ‘old enough to know better’]

“They must be blind with love.”

“No matter how blind they are, they should know the time and place. The man looks like he’s old enough to see his grandchildren, they’re amazing.”

“Well, that 아저씨 [middle-aged man] does look like he’s old enough to see his grandchildren.”

“아저씨 [middle-aged man]? He looks more like a grandfather. Didn’t they say that man came to get treatment for his back?”

“That’s right.”

“Looking at it, I know why his back is hurt.”

“Oh my! 언니도 참 주책이야? [Sister, aren’t you being too nosy?] You’re saying all sorts of things.”

“What did I say? I just said I know why he’s hurt. Anyway, it’s amazing. That’s why reality is more than drama.”

“재규 엄마 [Jae-gyu’s mom] said that if you’re hospitalized in a hospital, strange things happen and you won’t be bored, and it’s really all kinds of things.”

“Were you here?”

Just as the two people’s conversation was heading towards its climax, nurse Lim Jeong-suk, who came out of a nearby room with Tae-kyung, called out to the two.

“I couldn’t see you during rounds, so I wondered where you had gone.”

“Oh my gosh! We were so busy chatting that we didn’t even see the director enter the room. I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. It’s okay. Are you both uncomfortable anywhere?”

“Of course. There’s nothing uncomfortable. Director, I really want to eat meat, but I still can’t eat greasy food, can I?”

“Of course. Because you had your gallbladder removed, it’s best not to eat it for the time being. I’ll let you know the diet on the day you leave the hospital.”

“I don’t have any strength if I don’t eat meat…”

“Just be patient.”

“I will.”

“Has patient Kim Ja-yeon passed gas?”

“No. Director, not yet.”

“If you walk around a bit without overdoing it, you’ll pass gas.”

“Yes, so I’m working hard to walk. Thank you.”

Tae-kyung, who checked the condition of the two people in the lounge, moved to the next room with nurse Lim Jeong-suk.

“Next is patients Gu Dong-gon and Lee Ye-rim. This is the last room.”

“The rounds are ending early today.”

“There should be days like this. I’m going to go to Jin’s place tonight.”

“Shall we adjust the 진료 [medical treatment] time?”