Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 63

63. The Head of Our Hospital

“Ugh!”

Waking up to the alarm, Tae-kyung stared at the ceiling for a while.

‘A doctor without roots. I like you, sunbae [senior colleague or mentor].’

The most impactful words from yesterday swirled around in his head like a mixed-up stew.

He hadn’t felt anything at the time, but the words ‘a doctor without roots’ bothered him more than a slap in the face.

Tae-kyung, unable to understand what ‘a doctor without roots’ even meant, scratched his head and changed the subject.

“Me, a confession? And from Ui-jin? No. It can’t be.”

Having lived as a perpetual bachelor due to his rough life, Tae-kyung didn’t believe Ui-jin’s confession was genuine.

It didn’t make sense that Ui-jin, who had been the most popular student in pre-med, would like him.

“Okay, stop thinking about it and go to work. Work!”

There was still time before work, but Tae-kyung wanted to go to the hospital quickly. Being at home only made him overthink.

Like a pine caterpillar should eat pine needles, Tae-kyung felt most at ease at the hospital. Specifically, Our Hospital.

Rrrrrrrrrrrr

Tae-kyung, who had just finished washing up, picked up the ringing phone from his desk.

“Hello!”

His face brightened the moment he saw the name on the screen.

“Dr. Lee! How have you been?”

-Yeah, Dr. Kim.

The caller was Lee Dong-hoon, an anesthesiologist from Shinhwa University Hospital.

-How have you been?

“Great. How about you, sir? Nothing special, I hope?”

-Me? Always the same. But it’s good to hear your voice, Dr. Kim.

“I should have called you first. I’m sorry.”

-Don’t mention it. If you’re free, let’s meet up sometime soon.

“I’d love that, of course. Is everyone doing well?”

He asked about the well-being of his colleagues at Shinhwa University Hospital, whom he hadn’t wondered about since he quit.

-Yeah, everyone’s doing fine. They miss you too. But I have something to tell you. Is now a good time to talk?

“It’s fine now. Please go ahead.”

-To cut to the chase, do you still have any thoughts about becoming a professor?

“A professor?”

It was a word he hadn’t thought about even once since he came back to life.

-Yes, a professor.

“Why are you suddenly saying that?”

-You’ve received a professor offer.

“To me? From whom?”

-The hospital director promised. If you come back to our hospital, he’ll give you a surgery professor position.

“Sir?”

-Dr. Kim, I have to go into surgery now. Let’s talk in detail when we meet up. Think about it carefully.

“Okay, I understand. Go ahead.”

Lee Dong-hoon hurriedly hung up, saying he had to go into surgery.

“A professor…!”

It felt like the climax of the events that had been rushing at him since yesterday.

“Hmm!”

Tae-kyung stared at the box containing the things he had used at Shinhwa University Hospital for a while before hurrying out of the house.

* * *

“Hello.”

“Hello, Doctor.”

“Doctor!”

As soon as he saw Tae-kyung, Lee Chan-hee, who was on duty, approached him happily. As if he were Tae-kyung’s 바라기 [one who only looks up to and follows someone], he was as happy as a puppy seeing its owner return from vacation.

“I missed you, Doctor.”

“I didn’t.”

“Did you have a good weekend? What did you do to relax?”

For some reason, Lee Chan-hee was very active in asking questions, even following him into the office.

“Lee Chan-hee?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why are you following me into the office? Do you have something to say?”

“Of course, I have something to say. How did it go?”

Lee Chan-hee, who was shorter than Tae-kyung, gave an 부담스러운 [burdensome or awkward] smile and chuckled.

“It’s 부담스러운, so go back there and talk. And what are you talking about?”

“You know. The blind date. Did it go well?”

Come to think of it, he had vaguely said he was going on a blind date to Lee Chan-hee. Seeing the expectant look on his face, as if waiting for an answer, Tae-kyung decided to vaguely answer again this time.

“Of course, I’m curious. It’s not every day that you go on a blind date, Doctor.”

“We just had a cup of tea and it ended.”

“Why? Oh, you got rejected.”

“Yeah, I got rejected. Happy now?”

“Well, you’re too serious and not fun. These days, humorous people are more popular than handsome people.”

“Quiet. If you can’t answer the questions I’m about to ask, you better be prepared.”

‘I’m screwed.’

Did I joke around too much? Seeing Tae-kyung’s suddenly serious eyes, Lee Chan-hee was filled with regret.

‘Is it starting again?’

He was already feeling a bit dazed from lack of sleep due to being on duty, and if he couldn’t answer, the aftermath would be obvious.

“A previously healthy person experiences difficulty swallowing, occasional shortness of breath, and a feeling in the lower neck area……”

“Doctor, I’m sorry to interrupt, but it seems like there’s an emergency call.”

“Don’t say nonsense because I know it’s not true. Listen.”

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“A lump is felt in the lower neck area, and an ultrasound confirms a mass. What is the suspected diagnosis?”

“Thyroid cancer.”

“Among thyroid cancers, what is the most common type, and what are the other types of thyroid cancer?”

“Papillary carcinoma accounts for more than 90%, and the others are follicular carcinoma, medullary carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma, and poorly differentiated carcinoma. There was a section on thyroid cancer that was intensively covered during this conference, and it was interesting.”

“Well, it was worth sending you. Prepare within 5 minutes and go to the operating room.”

“Now? Is an emergency patient coming?”

“Surgeon Lee Chan-hee, assistant Kim Tae-kyung. We’re operating on a papillary carcinoma patient.”

The reason Tae-kyung came to work earlier than his scheduled time was for this. It was to see patients, but also to do even one more image surgery for Lee Chan-hee, which he hadn’t been able to do because he had been busy.

“You said your head was dazed, right? Wash your head with cold water on the way. Aren’t you going?”

For some reason, Lee Chan-hee’s expression was excited.

“What, why are you smiling?”

“I’m not smiling. I’ll wash my head and go right in.”

Honestly, at first, Lee Chan-hee was overwhelmed by the homework that didn’t decrease every day. But as time went by, he gradually gained confidence and felt himself changing, and he became grateful for Tae-kyung’s teachings.

“When are you going? Are you going to keep standing there?”

“No. I’m going. I’m going. Doctor?”

* * *

Choi Mona, who had come to work a while ago, was having a particularly overwhelming day.

“Doctor, Lee Yeon-na’s patient results are in.”

“AGE (acute gastroenteritis).”

Choi Mona quickly wrote something in the notebook she took out of her gown pocket and handed the paper to the nurse.

“I’m sorry, but my throat is sore today, so it’s hard for me to talk. Please prescribe as is.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Choi Mona went straight to the patient’s bed and explained the diagnosis based on the results.

“If you wait a little, the nurse will give you an IV.”

“Oh no. Does our Yeon-na have to get a shot?”

The guardian hugged her young child, whose tear marks had dried, and was upset.

“Why does this little one have to get a shot?”

“You can go after getting the IV and the prescription.”

“Excuse me, Doctor?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Is it really acute gastroenteritis?”

“Yes?”

“It’s just that she’s in so much pain. She was in so much pain at home and on the way here. Could it be something else?”

Occasionally, there were guardians or patients who were full of worry and anxiety and did not easily believe the doctor’s diagnosis. Choi Mona, who was already accumulating mental fatigue, was not happy to see such a guardian.

“No, not at all.”

“But she’s in so much pain? Really, so much pain.”

“Guardian, with all due respect, acute gastroenteritis can be quite painful. Even adults have a hard time with it.”

“I’ve never had it, so I don’t know.”

“Yes, I understand. If you have a hard time believing my results, you can go to another hospital. But it would be less difficult for the child to get the IV. Then.”

“Why is she so stiff! What a strange person. That’s why you have to go to a university hospital.”

As soon as she closed the curtain, she heard the guardian’s complaints, but Choi Mona headed to the next patient without a word.

“The patient has a fracture in their leg……”

“Huh? What about the rubber?”

She had already said the same thing ten times, but the elderly patient couldn’t understand.

“Excuse me, I think the guardian was here a while ago. Where did they go?”

“They said they left their wallet and went home in a hurry.”

“Yes?”

To have to deal with an elderly patient who couldn’t hear well, and who wasn’t even wearing hearing aids. Choi Mona closed her eyes tightly and swallowed her frustration.

“They said their house is nearby and they’ll be back soon……. It’s a bit late. Oh right, the grandmother said she was going to bring her hearing aids too. Doctor, wouldn’t it be better to do it again later?”

The grandmother, who was a regular at the emergency room, had difficulty communicating without hearing aids. Moreover, she was in a state of dementia. Therefore, the nurse recommended doing it again when the guardian came.

“No. The results of the patient’s CT scan from earlier are out.”

“What? What’s out?”

“No, that’s not it…… Can you hear me well, patient?”

Choi Mona, whose frustration had reached its limit, finally knelt on the floor of the emergency room and said each word clearly into the patient’s ear.

“Do you remember taking an X-ray because your leg hurt? The results of your X-ray are out.”

“Hey! Doctor?”

But the grandmother’s reaction was unusual.

“Who are you mistaking for a dementia patient? Why are you yelling in my ear?”

Unfortunately, at this timing, the grandmother’s mind, who had dementia, had returned to clarity.

“That’s not it. I’m doing this to communicate well because you don’t have your hearing aids.”

“What? I can’t hear anything. Speak up.”

“……”

“Why are you staring at me like that? Aren’t you going to explain what happened to my leg?”

Like all working people, doctors have those days. Days when they feel particularly overwhelmed and frustrated. Today was one of those days for Choi Mona.

“Why am I in the hospital?”

The grandmother patient, who had been serious until just now, started asking again why she had come to the hospital, as if her mind was going back and forth again.

“Hoo!”

“Oh my! Doctor, I’m sorry. Am I late?”

Just when she felt like she was going crazy with frustration, the guardian fortunately returned.

“The traffic was heavy at the intersection, so I was a bit late. I’m sorry. Is my mother okay?”

“Fortunately, the CT results show a clean fracture of the long bone, so you don’t need surgery.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“We’ll put on a half cast first, and then change it to a full cast after the swelling goes down.”

After that, Choi Mona explained the rest of the schedule and the medication to be prescribed to the guardian and quickly left the bed.

‘Something’s wrong.’

And to resolve this unsettling feeling, no matter how much she thought about it, she headed to nurse Im Jung-sook at the station.

“Doctor? Do you have a moment?”

“Of course. Dr. Choi. What is it?”

“I don’t know if it’s just me, but there’s something strange, so I need to check something.”

“What could have made our Dr. Choi feel strange? Ask me anything.”

“The patients I’ve seen in the emergency room and outpatient clinic since I came to work today have almost all been elderly or children.”

That was true. Strangely enough, compared to usual, she had focused on seeing elderly and child patients, except for exactly three people.

For Choi Mona, who had been seeing elderly and child patients appropriately until now, this situation was difficult to understand.

“Oh, really? And?”

“Did you adjust it that way, by any chance?”

Im Jung-sook thought that what was coming had come and answered with an unfair expression.

“Then is it just a coincidence?”

“No, Dr. Choi. It’s not a coincidence.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can tell you that it’s not a coincidence, but it’s predetermined.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“There were instructions to do so starting today.”

“Instructions…… I’ve never heard of such instructions, nor did I know it was decided like this.”

Bewilderment was spreading across Choi Mona’s face, which rarely showed any change in expression.

“Who gave the instructions?”

“The instructions of Dr. Kim Tae-kyung, the head of our hospital.”

“Yes!?”