Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 461

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 462

Episode 462. Emergency Room

“Excuse me, are beds number 8 and 9 occupied?”

Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona turned to see who was speaking.

The beds had curtains drawn, except for a gap in the middle, revealing two couples.

“Looks like a lovers’ quarrel,” Lee Chan-hee observed.

“They are couples, but it’s more complicated than that.”

“Pardon me?!”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, seeing their confused expressions, elaborated, “The woman in bed 8 and the man in bed 9 are a couple.”

“So, the man in bed 8 and the woman in bed 9 are also a couple?”

“Exactly. The four of them are friends who were cheating on each other.”

“Cheating with each other’s partners?”

Lim Jeong-suk nodded. “That’s right. They all betrayed each other and got caught.”

The ensuing confrontation led to a brawl on the street, landing them all in the emergency room.

“Father, Mother! Where are you?” A man’s wails cut through the air, interrupting the briefing on the cheating couples.

“Mommy!!!!!”

The man sang a line from a famous song, then cried out for his mother again, clutching at his solar plexus as if in agony.

“What’s he doing?” Choi Mona asked, puzzled by his behavior.

“Maybe his mother is injured, and he’s here as her guardian?”

Lee Chan-hee thought it might be a case of a distressed child unable to cope with their elderly parent’s emergency.

“He has stomach cramps.”

“A stomach spasm?”

“Yes, his wife explained his symptoms.”

“So, he’s clutching his solar plexus.”

“But why is he calling for his parents like that? Did they pass away recently?”

“No. His parents are alive and well, living on the second floor of the same building, according to his wife.”

“Pardon me?! Then that is……”

“It’s the booze.”

“He’s drunk?”

“Yes, he’s got stomach cramps from drinking, and calling for his parents is part of his drunken routine.”

“Wow! The emergency room is really something today.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk had only highlighted the most dramatic cases, but the emergency room was a whirlwind of activity.

It had been relatively calm until the afternoon, but after dinner, chaos had erupted.

Well, this is the emergency room, after all.

The emergency room is a stage for stories, incidents, and accidents more dramatic than most people can imagine.

“Be careful not to get hurt,” Lee Chan-hee said.

After the patient briefing, Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona began attending to the most urgent cases.

“Okay! You’ve had the basic tests done, right? X-ray, blood test, and urine test results are normal.”

Lee Chan-hee was assigned to the severely drunk man calling for his parents.

“Doctor!!! Please call my mother, our mother! I’m such an unfilial son, my heart is breaking!!!”

“I think my mind is going to break because of you,” his wife muttered, clearly used to this behavior.

“Doctor? I caused my mother a lot of trouble when I was young.”

“Caused your mother trouble when you were young, and now you’re causing your wife trouble… You’re quite the character.”

“Soon-ah, your husband is talking to the doctor. Stop the theatrics.”

“Theatrics, my foot! You be quiet and listen to the doctor.”

“Guardian, please calm down a bit; your husband is still hungover,” Lee Chan-hee said, trying to mediate.

“Oh! I’m sorry. He lives in a world of alcohol, so it’s hard to reason with him. I apologize.”

“It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry too, Doctor. The reason my heart feels like it’s being torn apart is because I was unfilial, right?”

“No. It’s because you have stomach cramps from drinking. The contraction of your stomach and intestines is causing the pain. You need to quit drinking.”

“How can I live in this world without alcohol? Aagh! Doctor, it hurts so much!”

The man suddenly grimaced in pain, clutching his stomach.

“Stomach cramps can be quite painful. We’re giving you a painkiller and an antacid, so please wait a little longer.”

The patient, who had been shouting moments before, was now silent, writhing in pain.

“Doctor, he really needs to quit drinking, right?” The wife asked, looking at her husband with a worried expression.

“Absolutely. As I said, abstaining from alcohol is definitely the best course of action.”

“Don’t even mention it. He’s practically an alcoholic and can’t quit.”

“Once you become dependent on alcohol, it’s very difficult to quit on your own. Visiting a professional treatment center or a psychiatric clinic would be very helpful. Please consider it.”

“Yes, I will. I’m sorry for the commotion.”

When patients were drunk, unexpected and dangerous situations often arose.

Drawing blood could be difficult, and verbal or even physical abuse was common.

Lee Chan-hee, relieved to have finished the examination without major incident, moved on to the next patient.

Meanwhile, Choi Mona was preparing to examine the warring couples. Their shouting could still be heard clearly.

“Die! You’re both shameless and inhuman!”

“Hey! You two were making out in the living room while I was sleeping! You’re in no position to talk!”

“Don’t you know that cheating is also assault? It’s mental assault! You scumbags!”

The couples continued to fight even while getting blood tests and providing urine samples, demonstrating the depth of their animosity.

“Doctor, should we call security? The cleaning lady saw the women grabbing each other’s hair in the bathroom earlier. What if they start fighting again during the examination?”

The nurse accompanying Choi Mona was anxious.

“Are you worried?”

“Of course. I have a feeling something big is going to happen in the emergency room today.”

Choi Mona, raised in a military family, was unfazed.

“Shut up!”

“You shut up!”

“Okay! Okay! Everyone, please sit down,” Choi Mona said, clapping her hands and positioning herself between beds 8 and 9.

“Lower your voices and listen to the results. Are you going to get examined or not?”

“Doctor, I have at least three weeks’ worth of injuries, right?”

“I think I have a month’s worth. I got more, right?”

“Hey, both of you calm down and sit down.”

“Yeah, lower your voices too.”

“Shut up! You bad guys!”

The men’s attempts to intervene were met with harsh rebukes.

“From now on, if you raise your voice, swear, or fight during the examination, all four of you will be examined last,” Choi Mona said firmly.

“Everyone has been to the emergency room before, right?”

“I’ve been here before.”

“I’m here for the first time……”

“You all know that the emergency room always has patients, and if you’re not an emergency, there’s usually a long wait. Even the person who came for the first time knows that much. If you keep interfering with the examination, you’ll be seen last. Even if you leave after the basic tests, you’ll still be charged for the examination. So, are you going to keep fighting, or are you going to get examined properly? Decide. If you get examined last, there will be a lot of patients, so I can’t guarantee how long it will take.”

Silence fell over the four people. Without a word, they quietly sat on the beds.

“I’ll get examined.”

“Good choice. Everyone, find your respective owners, and I’ll start the examination.”

Choi Mona retrieved the cosmetics and e-cigarette from her gown pocket, and the women took them.

“All four of you have normal test results. The wounds on your arms and necks aren’t deep, so I’ll disinfect them and apply medicine. Kim Cheol-min needs about two stitches to close the slight tear under his eye.”

“Excuse me, Doctor. Will the scar on my face remain?” The woman who took the e-cigarette pointed to the fingernail mark on her cheek.

“I’m a model, and I have a photo shoot in three days, so I can’t have any scars.”

“No, I don’t think there will be any scars if you apply the medicine well. Don’t pick at the scab, and don’t smoke.”

“Not even e-cigarettes?”

“Are you stupid? Isn’t an e-cigarette a cigarette?”

“Can you please shut up?”

“My examination isn’t over yet. If you’re going to fight, go out and fight after the examination is over.”

The four people fell silent again, and Choi Mona examined them in order. The injuries were relatively minor, except for one person, so it didn’t take long.

The last remaining man was anesthetized, and the tear was stitched up.

“Hey, guys?”

While Choi Mona was stitching up the man, the quietest of the three spoke.

“We can’t go back to the way we were before, can we?”

“I don’t think so. Can’t we just stay friends?”

The woman who threw the cosmetics looked at Choi Mona and answered quietly.

“How long have the four of us been together……? Is it too much to end our relationship like this? We have so many memories together.”

The woman who took the e-cigarette chimed in.

“It’s all done,” Choi Mona announced, finishing the stitching. The three people turned to the injured man.

“Hey, Bong-gyu. What do you think?”

“Can we be friends? I don’t think it’ll be easy.”

“Excuse me, Doctor?” The woman across from him suddenly called out to Choi Mona.

“Doctor, you went to medical school, right? You were a good student too, right?”

“Ah, yes. Well……”

“Then what would you do if you were us?”

“Pardon me?!”

Choi Mona was taken aback by the sudden question.

“Doctor, you’ve heard our situation while treating us, so you know roughly what’s going on. They say smart people make rational decisions well, so we’re asking if you think we can even be friends.”

Why was she being asked about their personal affairs?

Choi Mona wondered if she really had to answer, but the four people’s eyes were too serious to ignore.

So, she decided to give a short answer.

“Whether you become friends or not is something you have to decide. But personally, I wouldn’t be able to be friends.”

“Why?”

“What’s the reason?”

“Whether it’s friends or lovers, the most basic foundation in a relationship is trust. Is there any meaning in a relationship where trust has already been broken?”

“……”

“Every time you face each other, you’ll be reminded of what you did wrong, and even the good memories will be tainted and painful. I don’t dwell on relationships where trust has been broken. I’d consider it an expensive life lesson, pull myself together, and live my life to the fullest. That’s what I think.”

“If your boyfriend did something like this, would you still say that so firmly?”

“This isn’t about being firm; it’s about stating the obvious. My boyfriend has a healthy moral compass, so he’s unlikely to do anything like this. You’re all done with your examination, so please pay and leave. Goodbye.”

Choi Mona, having clearly stated her thoughts, left the bed and headed to another patient.

“Doctor, you’re so girl crush [a Korean slang term for a woman who is admired by other women].”

“That’s right. That’s the answer.”

The four people left the emergency room quietly, unlike their boisterous arrival.