Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 74

74. ‘Shoulder’ and ‘Bulge’

“How have you been?”

“I came with the teacher’s husband.”

“Please, have a seat over here.”

Lee Go-chul entered the examination room with a hearty laugh. Phuong, beside him, was also smiling brightly with joy. However, Tae-kyung was more worried than happy.

‘It was a scent I was sensing for the first time.’

He couldn’t help but worry because of the fifth vital he had smelled in the lobby a little while ago. Moreover, even now, an overwhelmingly strong smell was building up in the examination room.

Even though the examination room window was open, Lee Go-chul’s scent relentlessly invaded Tae-kyung’s sense of smell without showing any signs of stopping.

‘It’s definitely a stage 4 scent.’

The fifth vital’s indicator pointed to stage 4. But if stage 4 was divided into upper, middle, and lower, it was definitely in the upper range.

This was because it was the most toxic formaldehyde smell he had ever encountered. And the subtle sulfur smell that followed like a tag made him feel even worse.

“Have you been well? Teacher. It’s been a while.”

“I saw Phuong first, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Lee Go-chul.”

“I was working at a construction site in the countryside and just came back a while ago. But my wife suddenly insisted on going to the hospital, so I had no choice but to be dragged here.”

“Teacher, I scolded my husband and brought him here.”

“You did a good job. What brings you here today?”

“It’s really nothing much. Phuong nags me so much. I don’t feel any discomfort, but something has bulged out here on my shoulder.”

“That’s right. Teacher, please take a look at his shoulder.”

The moment he heard the words ‘shoulder’ and ‘bulge,’ Tae-kyung’s brow began to furrow rapidly.

“But it doesn’t hurt at all. I really only came because my wife kept telling me to see a teacher.”

“Is that spot above the collarbone? And there’s more than one, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right. I think I did well to come to you, teacher. Haha!”

Unlike the still jovial Lee Go-chul, Tae-kyung’s expression grew increasingly distorted.

“To get an accurate look, I’m going to order a CT scan of your neck and head. You usually have to wait a day or two, but I’ll contact the CT [Computed Tomography] room so you can get it done right away.”

“Oh, teacher. A CT scan? I really don’t have any pain at all.”

Lee Go-chul was still confident in his health. In fact, Tae-kyung might have been the one who most desperately hoped that nothing would happen to Lee Go-chul at this moment.

“I think it’s just a lipoma [benign fatty tumor] or something. Just cut it out.”

“Honey, just get the scan. Listen to the teacher.”

Phuong, who was sitting next to him, urged him with a worried voice.

“Teacher is worried about my husband’s shoulder. There is another one next to it.”

“Honey, it’s okay. It’s nothing. If you look here, it’s not even that big.”

“We’ll get you in for the scan quickly. Please make sure to get it done this time.”

Tae-kyung’s expression was more serious than ever, and his voice was firm and earnest. If he couldn’t break Lee Go-chul’s stubbornness this time, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen next.

“This is a request as a doctor.”

He didn’t want to experience that uneasy and uncomfortable feeling toward a patient ever again.

“So, please get it done now.”

“……Yes?”

Lee Go-chul seemed slightly taken aback by Tae-kyung’s serious expression and tone, which he had never seen before.

“Honey, stop being so stubborn and get it done quickly.”

“But CT scans cost a lot of money……”

“Don’t worry about the money. The cost probably won’t be too burdensome. It’ll probably only be about 10% of the original cost.”

“Really? Then I’ll ask you to do it.”

He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this. Lee Go-chul changed his mind when he heard that the cost wouldn’t be too high.

“Um, teacher. What kind of disease do you suspect?”

“I’ll tell you exactly after the scan and after I check the results.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

“I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll guide you, sir.”

The puzzled husband left the examination room with Phuong, following Nurse Im Jeong-sook.

The scent that was chained to Lee Go-chul’s body followed him out, but the smell that remained in the examination room persisted.

“Hah!”

The sigh that came out involuntarily seemed to spread through the toxic smell.

Lee Go-chul must have been taken aback by Tae-kyung’s strong attitude. It was rare to have a CT scan done without any examination as soon as he arrived. Moreover, it was the first time he had heard that he would only have to pay 10% of the medical bill. However, from Tae-kyung’s point of view, it was a natural action.

‘Something has bulged out here on my shoulder.’

The problem was that shoulder. The swelling above the collarbone could be a simple lipoma or an inflammation.

However, that location is also a place called the lymph node. It is also one of the paths through which stomach cancer or thyroid cancer spreads.

That’s why he told him that it would only cost 10% of the medical bill.

This is because if cancer progresses, it is registered as a serious illness, and you only have to pay that amount.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions yet.”

Of course, he desperately hoped that all these suspicions were unfounded.

He sensed the fifth vital from Lee Go-chul, but Tae-kyung continued to pray and pray inwardly.

‘Please, let it not be a serious illness…….’

Tae-kyung was serious. He had resolved himself earlier, but he didn’t want to miss it this time. No, he definitely wanted to find the cause. He decided not to just send the patient back like before.

“Did Lee Go-chul go for a CT scan?”

Tae-kyung called Nurse Im Jeong-sook.

-He’s waiting now.

“And we’re going to do a biopsy on Lee Go-chul later. Please prepare the sonography [ultrasound].”

-Yes, teacher. I understand.

Tae-kyung calmed his frustrated heart and left the examination room.

* * *

“Here! This chicken leg is very meaty. Be careful, it’s hot.”

“It’s delicious. This braised chicken is so delicious.”

“Eat slowly, it’s hot.”

“Husband, eat quickly. It’s delicious.”

“Don’t worry about me and eat a lot. Kkan-ddam, eat a lot too.”

Lee Go-chul and Phuong, who came to a restaurant near the hospital, were having a meal.

“Our Kkan-ddam will eat a lot too.”

Phuong, who was eating braised chicken deliciously, looked much more comfortable than she did at home. Anyway, she felt much more at ease after bringing her stubborn husband to the hospital and having him examined.

“Eat a lot. Tell me if you need more rice. I’ll order more.”

“It’s enough now. But husband, I hope there’s nothing wrong with your shoulder?”

“Hey, no. If there was, the teacher would have told us right away. I really wouldn’t have come to the hospital if it wasn’t for my promise with you.”

“Still, it’s good that you came. It’s good to check what’s on your shoulder.”

“Yes. You’re right. What I mean is that if it was something bad, it would have hurt a long time ago. I’m just saying don’t worry and eat your food quickly.”

“Okay. Husband, eat quickly too.”

Even at this time, Lee Go-chul did not know what was about to happen to him.

* * *

“Dr. Jung?”

Tae-kyung called Ui-jin, who had come down to the emergency room.

“Yes, teacher.”

“I heard you did an ultrasound on Phuong earlier, is there anything wrong?”

“Anything wrong?”

“I was just wondering if the baby is growing well.”

The worry that started with Lee Go-chul was extending to Phuong and the baby. In fact, Tae-kyung knew that there wasn’t any smell coming from Phuong.

According to the fifth vital check, she was healthy, but he still wanted to ask Ui-jin to confirm.

“Of course. She’s growing well. She was so happy when she heard the heartbeat earlier. It made me feel good too.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“I heard a rough story from Phuong earlier. Are Lee Go-chul’s results out yet?”

“That’s…… I’m waiting.”

Ui-jin was about to ask, ‘What do you expect the results to be, senior?’ but she omitted the words.

It wasn’t easy to ask, looking at Tae-kyung’s expression.

“The video has been uploaded.”

“Really? Dr. Jung, I’ll go take a look.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Tae-kyung, who was talking to Ui-jin, quickly headed to the examination room when he heard that the CT video had been uploaded.

He could have checked it on the emergency room monitor, but today he wanted to concentrate and watch it in the quiet examination room.

“Teacher?”

As Tae-kyung left the emergency room, Lee Chan-hee approached Ui-jin slyly.

“Oh. Dr. Lee, why?”

“Isn’t Dr. Kim a little different today?”

Tae-kyung’s appearance was clearly different from usual, both when he came to work earlier and when he was seeing patients in the emergency room just now.

Originally, he would have evaluated the homework as soon as he arrived, pointed out the wrong parts several times, and corrected them immediately. Moreover, the atmosphere was so calm when he greeted him or spoke to him that it was chilling.

“Does he look different?”

“Yes, he’s too calm and I feel a chilling coldness flowing from him.”

“I hope he’s not angry with me about something?”

At this point, he had to think about whether he had done something wrong and reflect on it.

“Dr. Lee, did you do anything wrong to the teacher?”

“I don’t think I did anything particularly wrong.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about. He’s probably like that because of a patient.”

“A patient? Do you know what happened?”

“I think it’s better to listen to the teacher directly later? I don’t know well either.”

Ui-jin knew, but she pretended not to know on purpose. She judged that it was right to hear it directly from Tae-kyung even if she heard the story.

“This is just my feeling, but I think it’s better to be careful today.”

“I think the same thing.”

“Dr. Lee, new patient. Bed number 7.”

“Yes. I’ll go right away.”

“And Dr. Jung, I got a call that a reserved patient came early.”

“Okay.”

While Tae-kyung headed to the examination room, Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona focused on the emergency room, and Ui-jin returned to the examination room.

* * *

Thump, thump-

Tae-kyung’s heartbeat echoed in his ears.

The heart, which repeats contraction and relaxation in a short period of 1 second, seemed to be beating faster today.

“Please……please.”

Why do so many thoughts come to mind in this short moment of clicking on the video? Fortunately, the only good thing among the many thoughts was that there were no patients requiring emergency surgery yet.

In other words, he could concentrate on Lee Go-chul right now anyway.

“Oh! It’s up.”

Click- Click-

As soon as Tae-kyung confirmed that the list had been updated, his urgent fingers brought up the CT video.

Click-

Then, he rotates the video from the front to the back of the patient with the mouse wheel. Around the time when the upper right part of the collarbone that Lee Go-chul mentioned was visible,

Squeak- Tak-

With the sound of the mouse hitting the desk surface, Tae-kyung, who had been in close contact with the monitor, leaned back in his chair.

“Damn it!”

At the same time, a sigh and curse flowed out of his mouth.

“Shit. It’s cancer.”

The CT was clearly saying it.

That fucking cancer was growing inside Lee Go-chul’s body.

“Ha!”