Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 417

418. Legs Giving Way, No Energy

While Kim Mal-ja, Gu Dong-gon, and Lee Ye-rim were causing a commotion in the hospital room, Gu Ji-yeon, having left the hospital, was enjoying a meal with her boyfriend.

“Here’s the steamed egg you ordered.”

“Thank you.”

“Take your time eating. You said you weren’t hungry earlier, but you seem to have worked up an appetite.”

“I really didn’t want to eat before hearing the results, but afterward, I suddenly felt ravenous. Hyun-joon, the soft tofu stew here is amazing.”

“Glad you chose rice instead of *sujebi* [Korean hand-pulled noodle soup], right?”

“Yeah, definitely. I guess Koreans really do get their strength from rice. The side dishes are fantastic too.”

“Better than your mom’s side dishes?”

“No way! My mom’s the best cook.”

“I’ll concede that. Your parents also rave about your mom’s cooking. Anyway, you’ve been through a lot this past week.”

“No, you’re the one who suffered, putting up with all my worrying.”

“You weren’t whining. You just suffered in silence. I’m so relieved the results are good. Are there any dietary restrictions or anything you need to be careful about?”

“No, nothing like that. I just need to come back for another ultrasound in six months.”

“That’s a relief. It would have been nice if your mom could have joined us.”

“Yeah, Mom didn’t even eat breakfast because she was so worried about me. I wonder if she’s having lunch with Aunt.”

“She left the hospital in a hurry. Shouldn’t we call her to see if she arrived safely?”

“I was just about to call her to see if she got there okay. Oh!”

As Gu Ji-yeon was talking and eating with her boyfriend, her phone rang. The caller was her aunt, Kim Mal-ja’s younger sister.

“It’s a call.”

“Your mom?”

“No, it’s my aunt.”

“Answer it quickly.”

Gu Ji-yeon touched the screen of her ringing phone and answered the call.

“Hello? Aunt?”

-Ji-yeon?

“I was just about to call you after eating, Aunt, but you called just in time.”

-Are you okay? I was so shocked to hear you had a breast biopsy.

“You already heard? Mom told you?”

-Your sister called me first thing this morning, sighing dramatically. When I asked her what was wrong, she said you had a biopsy. I haven’t been able to focus on work since I heard that. How did the results come out? Is everything okay? Are you alright?

“Everything’s fine.”

-That’s a relief. You’ve been through a lot. I don’t know how much I prayed while working all day today.

“I guess it was thanks to your prayers that everything was okay. Thank you.”

-What thanks between family? By the way, why isn’t your mom answering her phone?

“Huh?!”

Gu Ji-yeon was taken aback by her aunt’s sudden question about her mother.

“Mom’s not answering her phone?”

-Yeah. I’ve called several times, but she’s not answering no matter what. Your mom isn’t usually like this. I keep worrying that the results weren’t good, so I called you.

“Aunt, wait a minute! Weren’t you with Mom?”

-Why would I be with your sister? Didn’t your mom go to the hospital with you?

“Yes, she came to the hospital with me, but after hearing the results, she suddenly said she had something to do and was going to meet you.”

-Your sister said she was coming to meet me? Are you sure you heard correctly? I have something important to do today, so I told her I would go on the weekend…

“Aunt, I’ll hang up and call Mom. Okay?”

-Okay, I understand. Tell your mom to call me, and Ji-yeon, you’ve been through a lot.

“Yes, goodbye.”

Feeling something was off during the phone call, Gu Ji-yeon quickly hung up.

“My mother didn’t go to meet my aunt?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“She clearly said she had something to do with my aunt in the parking lot.”

“She did. She definitely said that…”

“Could your mother have something else going on?”

“…”

“Ji-yeon?”

“…”

“Gu Ji-yeon? Honey?”

“Hyun-joon.”

Gu Ji-yeon, who had been lost in thought, not even hearing her boyfriend, quietly put down her spoon with a serious face and stood up.

“Why?”

“Let’s go.”

“Go? Where? You haven’t finished your meal yet.”

“That’s true, but I don’t think food is the priority right now. Hyun-joon, let’s go to the hospital now.”

“The hospital? Why? Are you not feeling well?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s about my mom. I think Mom is at the hospital. I have a feeling.”

“Okay, I understand. Let’s go.”

* * *

Our Hospital-

“Are you the guardian of Kim Geon?”

“Yes, I’m his older brother. What happened to my brother?”

Dr. Tae-kyung was examining a college student patient who had been brought to the emergency room by ambulance.

“Your brother fell at school and was brought in by the ambulance.”

“What? Is that true?”

“Yeah. Some idiot threw a banana peel on the floor, and he was looking at his phone, stepped on it, and fell down the stairs.”

“That’s what happens when you’re glued to your phone. I’m going crazy. Doctor, what’s my brother’s condition?”

“He has a crack in his right tibia and a crack in his tailbone. He complained of back pain when he first came to the emergency room, but fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with his spine.”

“It’s a relief he didn’t break anything more serious.”

“Doctor, how long will I have to wear the cast?”

“In your current condition, it looks like you’ll have to wear it for about 10 to 12 weeks. Please wait, and we’ll put the cast on for you.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Clatter-

“Please put a cast on number 7.”

“Understood.”

“Director?”

“Director!”

As soon as Tae-kyung came out of the examination area after seeing the college student patient, Nurse Im Jung-sook and Team Leader Choi urgently called him.

“I think you need to go to the ward.”

“It’s a complete madhouse right now. The worst mess ever.”

“Is it an emergency? Who is it?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s like a scene from a soap opera is unfolding.”

“What?!”

Tae-kyung, who was about to rush to the ward thinking a patient was in critical condition, stopped and asked.

“A soap opera what?”

“Team Leader, really! How can you joke in this situation?”

“No, I’m not joking, it’s the truth.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Gu Dong-gon’s wife came, and the room is a disaster. That wife is Kim Mal-ja.”

“Kim Mal-ja, you don’t mean…? The mother of Gu Ji-yeon who came earlier, that Kim Mal-ja?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Tae-kyung, understanding the situation from Nurse Im Jung-sook’s words, quickly followed them up to the ward.

“Oh, that crazy woman is really something.”

“I know, right? There are all sorts of things in the world, but how can something like that happen?”

“It’s unbelievable.”

The hallway in front of the room where the three were was crowded with patients who had gathered to listen.

When Kim Mal-ja first brought the trash can into the room, she opened the door so forcefully that the sliding door slammed shut and then bounced open again.

In addition, patients were gathering more and more as they heard the three people’s voices getting louder.

The ward nurses tried to stop them, but people were determined to eavesdrop.

“Oh my gosh! Did you hear? That woman is pregnant.”

“What a load of garbage. Those awful people are putting on a show. It’s ridiculous.”

“Everyone, please go back inside.”

“You can’t do this here.”

“I know I can’t, but even the nurse thinks that’s not right, right?”

“That’s right. They both deserve to be struck by lightning! Ugh! Disgusting.”

“I get so angry when I see people like that. Getting pregnant at that age after cheating, in this world… That’s why they say reality is stranger than fiction.”

“Okay, okay! Patients, please go back inside.”

“Oh my, even the director came.”

“Director, that woman is pregnant.”

“Please return to your rooms.”

While Nurse Im Jung-sook and Team Leader Choi were trying to manage the crowd, Tae-kyung entered the room and closed the door.

“Hey! What did you just say? Honey, it’s not true. You know me. It’s really not true. I’ve never even slept with him.”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m pregnant.”

Lee Ye-rim, as if Tae-kyung’s entrance was irrelevant, strongly insisted that she was pregnant again.

“Lee Ye-rim!”

At that moment, Tae-kyung stepped in front of Lee Ye-rim and said with a firm expression.

“She is not pregnant.”

“Excuse me?”

“The test results say she is not pregnant.”

Tae-kyung knew Lee Ye-rim’s condition better than anyone else, as he had overseen all the health checkups at the hospital.

Both the blood test and the ultrasound were perfectly normal, with no abnormalities.

Above all, a pregnant person should not undergo a sleep endoscopy, and someone who is old enough to know better, and who knows she is pregnant, would not have an endoscopy.

In the end, Lee Ye-rim was telling an obvious lie.

“Pregnant? Ha!”

Kim Mal-ja, who had been listening to the story quietly, quietly approached Lee Ye-rim, let out a laugh, and continued.

“I trapped that man.”

“…!”

Lee Ye-rim, whose lie was exposed, closed her mouth tightly without saying anything. And Kim Mal-ja began to throw cider [a type of soda] at Lee Ye-rim.

“You asked me earlier if I didn’t take care of myself? I did take care of myself. However, I spent my life taking care of my children and my family. I spent my life feeding and clothing my children and working instead of focusing on myself. I lived diligently and earnestly without having an affair with a married man like you. Young? Pretty? That’s all temporary. Do you think it will last forever? You’ll get old like me too.”

“…”

“Do you know why humans are different from animals? It’s because they have a conscience. At least a human being doesn’t sleep around like an animal in heat. I’m very conscious of hygiene because I run a restaurant. I can’t stand seeing dirty things. In my opinion, you two are smelly trash, so do whatever you want!”

“Honey, Mal-ja?”

“Let go of me! I feel like I want to kill you, so don’t follow me.”

Kim Mal-ja, who dropped that truth bomb, was about to leave the room, but Gu Dong-gon tried to grab her arm. But he couldn’t follow her because of his wife’s fierce glare.

“Look at this. Patient Gu Dong-gon, patient Lee Ye-rim. I asked you not to make any more noise, right? What is this right now?”

“I, I’m sorry.”

Tae-kyung looked at Lee Ye-rim, who was stunned, and Gu Dong-gon, who was apologizing, and expressed his displeasure about the disturbance.

After that, he left the room in a hurry, instructing them to move the rooms of the two people who had one day left before discharge, and asked Nurse Im Jung-sook to clean up.

There was a reason why Tae-kyung hurriedly left the room, because he was more worried about Kim Mal-ja than those two right now.

“Are you okay?”

Kim Mal-ja, who was walking towards the elevator, paused for a moment and staggered. Tae-kyung, who ran from behind, supported her.

“I’m sorry. Director. I thought I was okay, but I’m not okay. Suddenly, my legs are giving way, I have no energy, and I just… I don’t know. I want to be alone right now.”

“I’ll support you.”

Tae-kyung, who got off the elevator, supported Kim Mal-ja and quietly headed to the staff on-call room.

“Please sit here.”

“Thank you.”

The reason he brought her to the on-call room was for Kim Mal-ja, who looked like she was about to burst into tears at any moment.

He quietly gave her a place so that she could vent the resentment that had built up in her heart and calm her mind.

“Have a glass of water and sit here comfortably.”

“Thank you… Heu!”

Kim Mal-ja, who was handed a paper cup filled with warm water, instantly released the knot of emotions she had been holding onto and burst into tears.