Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 7

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 7 (7/502)

7. Smell and More Smell

Time was of the essence. If there was no scalpel, they would have to use a knife instead.

“Jang Deuk-chil, do you have a knife?”

“A knife?”

“Yes, a knife. Even a box cutter is fine. Just get me any knife, quick.”

“No, I don’t have one.”

“What kind of gangster doesn’t carry a knife? Ha! Damn it.”

“I left it at home today. Ah! Doesn’t Kim Seonsaeng [Mr. Kim] have a kitchen knife?”

Damn it! Unfortunately, Tae-gyeong, who never cooked, didn’t have a kitchen knife either.

“I’ll buy one. Isn’t that all we need? I’ll buy one from the convenience store.”

The moment he said he would buy one, Tae-gyeong remembered the convenience store nearby where he had bought soju [Korean distilled rice liquor].

“If you go down just a little bit more…”

“I know. I saw a convenience store on the way here.”

“Jang Deuk-chil, listen to me carefully. If you want to save your brother, go to the convenience store and buy a box cutter and saline solution. Hurry.”

“I’ll be back extremely fast. Kim Seonsaeng, just keep an eye on Deok-su.”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and go!”

With Tae-gyeong’s shout, Jang Deuk-chil quickly ran down the stairs and dashed out of the house.

* * *

“He’s usually so mild-mannered, but he turns into a different person in front of a patient. There it is, the convenience store.”

Muttering to himself, Jang Deuk-chil sprinted in his dress shoes and quickly arrived at the convenience store.

“Welcome…”

“Knife! Where are the knives here? Give me a knife.”

Jang Deuk-chil shouted for a ‘knife’ before the owner lady could even finish her greeting.

“Excuse me?”

“Give me a knife! A knife!”

“A… a knife?”

The owner lady stuttered, flustered by the man with a rough appearance and a bruise on his left cheek asking for a knife.

Bang!

“Hey, lady! Didn’t you hear me? Give me a knife! A knife!”

“Oh, geez. You scared me.”

Jang Deuk-chil slammed the counter with his fist, urging her.

“W-we don’t sell knives at our convenience store.”

“Damn it! Then what about those knives kids play with? Give me one of those. And saline solution too. Hurry!”

“The saline solution is in the back on the right, but I don’t know what kind of knives kids play with…”

“Here it is.”

Coincidentally, a box cutter in the stationery corner next to the saline solution caught his eye. Jang Deuk-chil raised his large hand and grabbed the knives he saw.

“Here’s the money. Keep the change.”

“Goodbye.”

Anxious, he threw a 50,000 won bill [approximately $40 USD] on the counter as if tossing it and headed to the rooftop.

“What a windfall. But is that guy going to hurt someone with that knife? Ugh! I should sprinkle some salt [a Korean superstition to ward off bad luck].”

* * *

“Haa! Kim Seonsaeng. I bought them.”

Jang Deuk-chil, who had gone to the convenience store at a crazy speed, placed three bottles of saline solution and five box cutters on the floor.

“But Kim Seonsaeng, is Deok-su okay? He’s not going to die, is he?”

“Of course not. Who’s going to die?”

In that moment, Jang Deuk-chil felt a strong sense of trust and aura from Tae-gyeong.

Every time he had seen Tae-gyeong until now, he had mostly looked exhausted. He wondered what kind of doctor looked like a soggy squid.

But seeing his calm demeanor as he dealt with the collapsed Deok-su, he realized that this person was a real doctor.

Click-

Tae-gyeong took out a box cutter, pushed the blade out, and placed it on Kim Deok-su’s neck. And without hesitation, he made a vertical incision.

“Uh oh! Kim Seonsaeng, did you stab Deok-su in the neck? He’s bleeding. Is he okay?”

“It’s okay.”

‘It’s definitely different from a scalpel.’

Unlike a scalpel, which has a slight weight to it, a box cutter was light. Blood flowed along the cut, but it wasn’t anything to worry about.

‘Ugh! The smell… Let’s just focus on the patient for now.’

The pungent formaldehyde smell still permeated the air, but Tae-gyeong focused on the patient.

He immediately sprayed saline solution on the incision. And he retracted the skin, mucous membrane, and muscles one by one, slightly above the suprasternal fossa [the hollow at the base of the neck].

Afterward, he had to make a horizontal incision on the cricoid cartilage (the cartilage surrounding the trachea), but in some patients, he had to lift the thyroid gland upward.

Fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Kim Deok-su, so he decided to just make a horizontal incision.

“Do you have a pen?”

Tae-gyeong, who had made a horizontal incision, now looked for a pen.

“I have a pen.”

Jang Deuk-chil, who was playing the role of assistant perfectly, quickly took out a pen from his daily bag.

“What kind do you need? A Monami [a popular brand of pen in Korea]?”

“No, not that one. A thicker one.”

When Jang Deuk-chil held out a regular pen, Tae-gyeong pointed to a thick pen with various colors with his chin.

“This pen?”

“Yes, take out all the pen cartridges and just give me the barrel.”

Tae-gyeong received the pen barrel and quickly inserted it into the incision. At that moment,

“Phew…”

Kim Deok-su’s blocked breathing began to return to normal. And at that moment, something strange happened.

‘The smell! The smell has changed.’

The smell coming from the collapsed Kim Deok-su had changed.

The formaldehyde smell, which had been so pungent that it felt stinging, had mellowed into a sour smell.

‘What is it?’

It was somewhat similar to the smell of vinegar.

“…Seonsaeng. Kim Seonsaeng?”

Jang Deuk-chil, who was moved, hit Tae-gyeong on the shoulder and called out to him.

“Awesome! Deok-su is breathing. Kim Seonsaeng saved this bastard.”

“I told you I would save him. Kim Deok-su, thank you for holding on.”

Tae-gyeong cheered for Kim Deok-su, who was still unconscious.

“Damn it! I thought this pig was going to die, and my heart was pounding. Actually, this guy is from my hometown. Thank you so much.”

It was the first time he had seen such a human expression from the gangster Jang Deuk-chil. He sincerely expressed his gratitude to Tae-gyeong.

“But why is he still unconscious?”

“I’ve done all the emergency treatment I can do now. He’ll regain consciousness when he arrives at the hospital and the doctors treat him with allergy medication.”

“Is that so? I’ve got a new respect for Kim Seonsaeng. The way your eyes roll back in front of a patient is totally charismatic.”

Jang Deuk-chil excitedly chattered as if it were his own heroic tale.

“Anyway, thank you again.”

“You’re welcome.”

“What are you talking about? I didn’t do anything.”

“You went to the convenience store and bought the box cutter and saline solution quickly. That’s a big deal.”

“Really? Well, I did go there quickly. Hahaha!”

“Hey, but did you smell anything earlier?”

“Smell?”

Tae-gyeong, who had finished the emergency treatment, asked about the ‘smell.’

“Didn’t you smell something strong coming from Kim Deok-su?”

“No, I didn’t. Why are you suddenly talking about smells?”

“You didn’t?”

That couldn’t be. The strong ammonia smell from the beginning, and the formaldehyde smell that had been there until just now, were so strong that he couldn’t have missed them.

“What about now? Do you still not smell anything?”

“I don’t smell anything.”

“Don’t you smell something sour?”

“Not at all. My nickname is Dog Nose, but I didn’t smell anything. And unlike what you see, Deok-su is very clean and showers twice a day.”

While Tae-gyeong was worrying about the ‘smell,’ the 119 ambulance [Korean emergency services number, like 911] arrived.

The paramedics who arrived at the scene quickly put Kim Deok-su on a stretcher and moved him to the ambulance.

“You’re a doctor?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The paramedics who had seen the perfect emergency treatment didn’t doubt that Tae-gyeong was a doctor, but they followed the procedure.

“Please tell me your name and contact number.”

“Yes. My name is Kim Tae-gyeong, and my contact number is 010–12340-5678.”

“Kim Seonsaeng, I’ll treat you to a great meal. Let’s meet up sometime.”

The paramedics, having received his name and contact number, left with Kim Deok-su.

Tae-gyeong felt strange as he watched the siren sound and the green lights gradually fade away. No, to be exact, his chest felt strange.

“What is this feeling…”

The thought that he had saved a real patient at this moment struck his mind.

He had definitely saved patients in the operating room as well, but he felt something different from then, perhaps because he had saved someone from the brink of death.

“So, this isn’t a dream, it’s reality? Okay. Let’s check it out first.”

Tae-gyeong went home, changed his clothes, and headed straight to the hospital.

* * *

“Kim Tae-gyeong, please come in.”

Tae-gyeong, who had visited a local secondary hospital, headed to the examination room at the nurse’s call.

“The ultrasound and CT scan are both very clear. No visceral fat and you’re healthy.”

“Excuse me? Clear?”

“Very clear.”

The doctor, who appeared to be in his late 50s, carefully examined the monitor and spoke to Tae-gyeong.

“I’m sorry, doctor, but are the results you’re seeing mine? Could they have been switched with someone else’s?”

“Excuse me?”

Switched with someone else’s results? Tae-gyeong himself thought it was absurd.

But even so, he had to ask to be sure.

“Hahaha!”

The doctor laughed loudly at the absurd question.

“Sometimes such things appear in dramas, but that’s not the case in real hospitals. It would be a big problem if we misdiagnosed a patient.”

That’s right. Tae-gyeong himself had given the same answer to a patient in the past.

“From what you said about feeling pain in the epigastrium [upper central region of the abdomen], I suspect you might be suspecting gallstones. Nowadays, the internet is so well-developed that patients often look up their symptoms before coming to the hospital and get scared.”

“Doctor, what I suspected wasn’t gallstones, but gallbladder cancer.”

“Gallbladder cancer?”

As soon as the doctor heard Tae-gyeong’s words, he turned the monitor screen to face him with a dumbfounded expression.

“Usually, when you feel pain in the epigastrium, you suspect gallstones, not gallbladder cancer.”

It wasn’t suspicion, it was a fact.

Moreover, there was no way the doctor in front of him would believe that a tumor had been eating away at his gallbladder until a few hours ago.

“You see this screen here?”

The doctor pointed to the screen with the end of a pen, adding as detailed an explanation as possible.

“This part here is the gallbladder that the patient was worried about. Usually, when gallstones or cancer occur, it’s in this area…”

Tae-gyeong could tell just by looking at the monitor screen, without having to listen to the kind doctor’s explanation.

‘It’s not there. There’s nothing there.’

The cancer in his body had disappeared. No, the CT and ultrasound results he faced were as clean as if there had never been cancer in the first place.

Any doctor would see it as the results of a very healthy person.

Click-

“Sometimes, there are people who become very sensitive even if their body is just a little bit sore.”

The doctor continued as he watched Tae-gyeong get up from his seat after the examination.

“In such cases, it’s better to come to the hospital than to look at the internet. And Kim Tae-gyeong, you’re healthy now, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Yes, thank you for the examination.”

* * *

“Please pay at the front desk and leave. Mr. Go Gil-dong?”

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Mr. Go Gil-dong, please come into the examination room.”

Tae-gyeong, who came out of the examination room, passed by a man named Go Gil-dong, whom the nurse had called.

“……!”

But Tae-gyeong’s head turned towards that person as if drawn by a magnet.

“The smell!”

Because he smelled something. It was the same ammonia smell that had come from Kim Deok-su at first.

What was clear was that it wasn’t coming from the nurse or the doctor.

“What’s wrong?”

The nurse asked Tae-gyeong, who was staring intently at the examination room.

“That patient who just went into the examination room.”

“That patient?”

“Yes, didn’t you smell ammonia coming from that patient?”

“Excuse me? Ammonia?”

“Well, how should I put it, the smell of strongly fermented urine. You could also call it the smell of pee.”

“Excuse me!? The smell of pee?”

A pervert? Or crazy?

The nurse frowned, scanning Tae-gyeong, who was asking such a serious question with a normal-looking face, up and down.

“If you’re done with your examination, please pay and leave. And there’s no smell coming from that patient.”

“Is that so. Thank you for your trouble.”

Feeling something was wrong, Tae-gyeong decided to pay at the counter first.

“You’ve paid. Do you need a receipt?”

“No, thank you for your trouble.”

“Goodbye. Welcome. Is this your first time at our hospital?”

“No. I’ve visited before.”

“Then please tell me your name.”

As he finished paying and turned around, he smelled the smell again from the person at the reception desk.

‘The smell is coming again.’

This time, it was the sour smell that had come when Kim Deok-su’s emergency treatment was over and his condition had stabilized.

“Could it be!”

At this point, a hypothesis came to mind and he began to have reasonable doubts.

“If the smell only comes from sick people…”