Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 77

Fifth Vital Sign – Episode 77. Choi Mona’s User Manual

While Tae-kyung was away preparing for Lee Go-chul’s surgery, Lee Chan-hee and Choi Mona were guarding the emergency room.

“Please let me know when the X-ray for the patient in bed 4 comes out.”

“Yes, Dr. Lee. And Grandpa Yeongcheon Fruit asked for a three-month supply of digestive medicine.”

“Oh, that grandpa is doing it again.”

“He’s been coming every day, not getting treatment at the reception desk, just asking for a prescription, which is a bit awkward.”

“Grandpa Chun-bae believes in digestive medicine almost like a panacea [a cure-all remedy].”

“Digestive medicine?”

“Yes, tell him he must see a doctor and get his wife’s permission. Then he’ll probably get a little annoyed and leave.”

“Will that work?”

“Of course. Grandpa is secretly afraid of Grandma.”

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

“Ugh, my back.”

After talking to the nurse, Lee Chan-hee patted his back and sat down in the station chair.

“Choi, I heard you haven’t had dinner yet?”

“I haven’t.”

“Go and eat.”

“If I go, is Dr. Lee going to watch the emergency room alone?”

Choi Mona, who had been running around the emergency room as much as Lee Chan-hee, replied while watching the monitor.

“It’s been a whirlwind, so I think it’ll be okay for a bit.”

“Doctor, please remind patient Lee Gap-soo in room 17 that the water in his chest hasn’t drained completely, so we might have to drain it again later.”

“Yes, Doctor. And the guardian asked if he should be hospitalized. What should I say?”

“Let’s watch him for a bit.”

“I told you to go eat quickly.”

Lee Chan-hee nagged Choi Mona, who had taken the order, to eat again.

“Don’t you know you get meaner when you don’t eat? Aren’t you hungry?”

“I am.”

“Then go eat quickly.”

“Almost all the patients I’ve seen are elderly, so how can I eat when I have to keep watching them?”

Even as she answered, Choi Mona’s eyes were checking the patient’s information on the monitor.

It was true that elderly patients required more attention.

“Ahem!”

“Did you just laugh?”

“Sorry. It’s not that. I just think Dr. Kim is really amazing.”

“What is?”

“To make our prickly Choi Mona like this. It’s like he could write a user manual for Choi Mona.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, seriously. Other hospitals didn’t know how to handle you, but seeing him train you like this, I think his skills are extraordinary.”

“Am I an object? ‘Handle.’ And what training? Just…”

“Just what?”

Choi Mona didn’t say that she was just trying hard because she couldn’t agree with Tae-kyung’s words.

In fact, she had even thought about deliberately being late or taking a day off without permission. But she wasn’t a fledgling intern who had just entered the field, and her pride as a doctor was hurt, so she decided not to.

“Just what? Why are you stopping mid-sentence?”

“It’s nothing. Never mind.”

“Are you really not going to eat? The professor will be here soon, why don’t you eat and come back?”

“He said to call him only if it’s an emergency because he’s busy today. Will he come?”

“Even if he says that, he’ll come.”

“How do you know that, Dr. Lee?”

“Choi, you still don’t know the professor. As someone who admires him, you still have a long way to go.”

“Do I have to know that? You know a lot, Dr. Lee.”

Choi Mona, who was hungry and had to keep checking on patients, was slowly raising her sensitivity index.

“Oh! Choi, your fan club is here again.”

Choi Mona’s gaze followed Lee Chan-hee’s gesture and stopped at the emergency room entrance leading to the inside of the hospital.

There, Woo-jin was standing, staring intently at Choi Mona.

“Ha!”

A sigh mixed with annoyance escaped her lips.

During the dawn rounds, she had no choice but to go to the bathroom with the child at his request. But that was a mistake. Since she came to work today, Woo-jin had been hovering around Choi Mona wherever she went.

Woo-jin was always in sight, whether in the hospital hallway, in the waiting room at the reception desk on the first floor, or when she went to the ward on the third floor.

“I even looked for you when I went to dinner. At this point, Woo-jin must really like Choi.”

“It’s not like that, so don’t say weird things.”

“Why, I heard you even sang in the bathroom?”

“What! Who said that?”

“Woo-jin told me, bragging about it. Choi Mona singing for a child.”

“Who sang? I just played it on my phone.”

“Choi, with that much sincerity, you should acknowledge him.”

“No. If I do, he might get even closer. If I ignore him, he’ll leave.”

“You’re so cold. You’re too cold.”

Choi Mona didn’t budge, no matter what Lee Chan-hee said next to her. She just wanted to stop being bothered by patients.

‘I hope I don’t see any more elderly patients today.’

To be exact, elderly and child patients. An hour ago, while examining a patient, an elderly man had an accident on the bed, and his urine splashed on her face.

Of course, she knew that the patient didn’t do it on purpose, and it wasn’t the first time this had happened. But she couldn’t help but feel annoyed by this kind of thing, which she would normally just brush off, because she was repeatedly seeing only certain types of patients.

“Dr. Lee, Dr. Choi. New patients.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Beds 13 and 14. Two adult men got into a fight while drunk. They hit each other with bottles and fists.”

As expected, it wasn’t easy to get a break in the emergency room. While they were talking, the nurse announced the arrival of new patients.

“Doctors, new patients. An elderly couple fell down the stairs.”

“Are they fractured?”

“They don’t seem to have any major injuries on the surface. Go to beds 19 and 20.”

“I’ll go right away.”

“Wait, Dr. Lee?”

Choi Mona grabbed Lee Chan-hee, who was getting up quickly.

“I’ll go to 13 and 14.”

“What? Drunk male patients. It’ll be overwhelming.”

“I know. But I’ll go.”

“Choi, you might be…”

“I really don’t want to see any more elderly or child patients today. Please.”

“Are you okay?”

“It’s not like I’ve never seen drunk patients before. I’m fine.”

“It’s not that. I’m just worried you’ll get scolded by the professor.”

“He hasn’t come yet, so I think it’ll be okay. And even if he comes, he won’t know unless we tell him.”

Choi Mona hated seeing elderly and child patients more than seeing drunk patients right now.

“Okay then.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

“You and I really don’t get along.”

“That’s what I should be saying. Where did you eat your age? [Where did you learn your manners?]”

“You’re almost 50. Get a grip.”

“Don’t live your life like that.”

Clatter-

Choi Mona entered the area filled with sharp words and the smell of alcohol directed at each other.

“Patient Choi Seong-pil?”

“That’s me.”

“Patient Kim Jun-seong?”

“That’s me.”

“I heard you two got hurt while fighting drunk.”

“Doctor, that bastard broke my forehead with a bottle. Is it okay? I felt like my head was ringing earlier. I think some glass fragments might have gotten in…”

“Let me take a look.”

Choi Mona carefully examined the wound on the patient in bed 13.

“Fortunately, there are no fragments. Patient, are you currently experiencing any ringing or dizziness in your head?”

“No, I’m fine now.”

“Because you were hit on the head, you may have concussion symptoms even if you’re fine now, and there may be internal bleeding even if it looks fine on the outside.”

“In, internal bleeding?”

“Yes, that’s right. So, we’ll take a head CT scan first, then disinfect it, and suture the wound because the area is deep…”

That’s when Choi Mona was explaining the condition of patient 13.

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

Patient 13 suddenly cut off Choi Mona’s words and spewed out harsh profanity.

“Seong-pil, you bastard, were you trying to kill me?”

At the mention of possible internal bleeding, the patient suddenly became enraged and glared at his friend as if he were going to kill him.

“Bullshit.”

“What! Bullshit?”

“Patients, this is a hospital. I wish you two would stop.”

Clatter-

Choi Mona, noticing the strange atmosphere between the two men, warned them as she drew the curtain between beds 13 and 14.

But the men, who still had alcohol in their system, didn’t seem to want to stop at all. Soon, the closed curtain reopened.

Clatter-

“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”

“No, I haven’t. Why are you blaming me for hitting you when I was trying to stop you from causing trouble with a bottle?”

“Hey! You son of a bitch. This bastard is no good.”

“No matter how much you curse, do you think I’m scared of you?”

“You tried to kill someone and you’re talking so well with that hole in your mouth. You murderer.”

“What, mur, murderer?”

“Patients, I clearly told you to stop. It’s hard to treat you like this.”

“Doctor, that bastard is calling me a murderer.”

“Doctor? That jerk hit me on the forehead with a bottle, trying to kill me. You should eat some prison food [go to jail].”

“Good. Call the police here.”

“Go ahead and call! I’m going to destroy you today.”

“Patients!!”

“Don’t stop me.”

“That’s why you’re a father who can’t get recognition from his children.”

“You can’t do this here.”

“Patients, stop.”

Choi Mona and the nurse tried to stop them, but the two men’s intense emotions were escalating into a fight.

“You’re full of crap. You’re the one who got divorced by his wife.”

“What! Who are you to bring up other people’s family affairs?”

“If you don’t stop right now, I’ll call the police.”

“Doctor, get out of the way.”

“I can’t get out of the way.”

While the nurse went to call Chief Choi, Choi Mona was blocking the two men when,

“Ah, get out of the way. Why are you talking so much?”

Choi Mona was knocked hard to the emergency room floor by the excited men.

“Let go of me, you…”

Thud-

“Stop it right now!”

And at that moment, a clear voice and a scolding struck the two men’s eardrums.

Choi Mona, who had fallen, looked up at the navy blue Crocs she saw right next to her. It was Tae-kyung.

“What is going on here!”

Tae-kyung shouted again with a strong aura as a doctor.

“Excuse me, patients! This is a hospital, an emergency room. Dr. Choi, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Oh my, are you okay, Doctor?”

The nurse, who had returned with Chief Choi, helped Choi Mona up.

“Don’t you even know the basic etiquette of not making a fuss in the emergency room? Choi Seong-pil, Kim Jung-seong, can’t you see the other patients?”

Having been beaten and threatened by gangsters, dealing with these kinds of patients was nothing to Tae-kyung, who was a master of hospital life.

Now, just by looking at the type of patient, he could predict how they would act.

Tae-kyung, who had come to the emergency room thinking about Lee Go-chul’s surgery, could tell at a glance when he saw the men causing a commotion.

He knew that those kinds of patients were easy to handle, even though they were loud.

“Even young children know that they have to be quiet in the hospital.”

“Ah, no, that’s not…”

The two men, who were used to cursing and ignoring Choi Mona’s words, seemed to have their alcohol evaporate at Tae-kyung’s force.

“What are you doing, pushing and knocking down the medical staff who are treating you, when you’re grown adults?”

“My friend and I were drunk and excited… We made a mistake.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.”

The men apologized to Tae-kyung and Choi Mona.

“If you cause another disturbance, I will call the police.”

“Po, police?”

“No, Doctor. I will receive treatment quietly from now on.”

“Chief Choi, did you hear that? If these people cause another disturbance, call the police right away.”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll be watching right next to them.”

“Then I’ll treat you soon, so please sit on the bed and wait for a moment.”

“Ah, yes, Doctor. I understand.”

Clatter-

Tae-kyung, who skillfully cleaned up the scene and drew the curtain between the two men, headed to the station.

“Please dress the wound on patient Kim Jun-seong and take a head CT scan. Please prepare for suturing as well.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“And Dr. Choi…”

Tae-kyung, who had talked to the nurse, was about to say something to Choi Mona, who followed him, when he suddenly heard an apology.

“I’m sorry. Doctor.”

She was ashamed, resentful of herself, and wanted to hide in a rat hole.

She didn’t want to see elderly patients, so she confidently looked after the patients, saying she was okay, even though Lee Chan-hee tried to stop her, but she showed an embarrassing sight as a doctor. And in front of Tae-kyung.

She had been talking big all along, but she wondered what he would think of her for trying to be clever and being ignored by the patient.

She had no excuse even if she was scolded loudly right in front of her.

“Choi Mona?”

“Yes.”

But Tae-kyung asked Choi Mona, who was standing there preparing to be scolded, a completely unexpected question.

“…okay?”

“Yes?”