Fifth Vital [EN]: Chapter 89

89. Knife Fight on Friday

“Hey, hey! Did you see that earlier? The guy being carried into the ER was flopping around like a flatfish.”

“That was so damn weird. He looked like an actor from a medical drama. I bet that guy’s already dead.”

“You crazy bastard, watch your mouth. But I filmed it.”

“You idiot, you’ll get arrested for posting stuff like that these days.”

“I’ll blur his face. Should get a lot of likes. By the way, haven’t we been waiting for Hyun-wook for too long?”

“How long have we been waiting?”

“Feels like it’s been over 40 minutes?”

“He said it would only be a little longer, why is it taking so long?”

Gu Hyun-wook and his two thug friends were getting increasingly annoyed, their irritation slowly turning into anger.

“Hey, Nurse!”

“Yes, patient?”

Gu Hyun-wook stopped a nurse who was hurrying past the ER waiting area with an unpleasant tone.

“Instead of telling sick people to keep waiting, how much longer do we have to wait?”

Patients getting frustrated with the wait was a common occurrence for the ER staff.

“I’m very sorry, but please bear with us a little longer.”

The nurse politely replied and was about to guide the next patient when a vulgar curse came from behind.

“You, you little bitch!”

The nurse, startled while guiding the patient, turned around to hear blatant profanity.

“What the hell? What kind of bullshit is this? Do you think I’m a joke?”

“…….”

The nurse was so dumbfounded that she was momentarily speechless.

“And I came way earlier, why are you seeing that old man first? Huh! What, are you discriminating against people?”

“Wow, this hospital discriminates against people.”

Gu Hyun-wook and his crew started acting like mad dogs when they saw a patient who arrived much later than them being guided for treatment.

“Patient, there seems to be a misunderstanding. This patient needs urgent care, so we are seeing him first.”

“Ah! So, I’m not urgent, only that old man is?”

“Oh, Hyun-wook is pissed.”

“Nurse, you’re in big trouble now. This guy doesn’t know what he’ll do when he’s angry.”

Medical staff are also human. Even though they are used to it, dealing with such difficult patients drains them.

“We are seeing patients in order…….”

The nurse was about to calmly explain again, trying not to get annoyed. But then, dull sounds were heard.

Clang!! Thud-

The IV fluids and medical supplies on the mobile table flew off, hitting the wall and falling to the floor.

“Nice shot, Hyun-wook!”

“Oh! The nurse looks scared.”

Gu Hyun-wook, unable to contain his anger, slammed his hand down on the items.

The waiting patients also showed signs of unease at the group’s rough behavior.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Mr. Kim, let me handle this.”

At that moment, Head Nurse Lim Jeong-suk came out from inside the ER.

“Take the patient inside. It’s okay.”

She reassured the junior nurse and the patient, sending them inside, while tidying up the fallen items with a veteran’s touch.

“What’s this now?”

“Hello, I’m the head nurse of our hospital.”

“Is the old lady the boss of the nurses?”

“Shut up and look at my thumb, see this? It hurts like hell, and I’ve been waiting for over 40 minutes. What do you think about that?”

“I’m sorry, patient. The ER prioritizes urgent patients, and the rest are seen in order.”

“Bullshit. Stop talking nonsense and get a doctor now.”

“The doctors are all currently seeing patients. We will make sure you get treatment as quickly as possible.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk calmly responded with a smile once again.

‘Calm down! I am a tree. I am an intellectual. There’s a dog barking in front of me.’

Having experienced a wide range of human types from A to Z, she knew that the answer was to listen to these dog babies and move on.

She was better than anyone at handling difficult patients, but dealing with this type of patient was just a waste of time. And more than anything, she didn’t want to make things worse when she was already busy.

“I understand how you feel. We will take action as quickly as possible, so please wait a little longer.”

“Where do you think you’re going?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk responded with a smile until the end and then bowed. But Gu Hyun-wook forcibly turned Nurse Lim Jeong-suk around as she turned away.

“Who said you could leave?”

* * *

“Oh! I’ve never seen such a terrible person!”

Team Leader Choi frowned as he watched the commotion in the ER entrance hallway.

It seemed like an unruly patient was verbally abusing the medical staff.

“You might be a little surprised, but this is common in hospitals. So, I was wondering if you two could help us out?”

“Yes!? Us?”

Kim Geon-hoon, who had been lost in thought, asked back with a surprised expression.

“Actually, this is what security guards do, and you two said you worked out. Kim Geon-hoon, you said you did boxing earlier.”

“Well, yes, but…….”

“No, that guy is going too far.”

Team Leader Choi, who had asked the two for help, got up to stop the patient who was going too far.

“Hey, mister?”

Kim Geon-hoon urgently called out to Jang Deuk-chil as Team Leader Choi walked away.

“Don’t go.”

“What?”

“Don’t help. Just looking at them, they’re complete thugs, and if you mess with those guys, you might get stabbed these days. It’s a world full of crazy people.”

“Weren’t you here for a security guard interview?”

Jang Deuk-chil was dumbfounded by Kim Geon-hoon’s clearly changed attitude, like a two-faced man.

“Earlier, you said you would take care of them with a family-like heart.”

“Have you never been to an interview before? Family, my ass [a crude expression meaning ‘nonsense’]. I just said that to get the job.”

He himself hadn’t lived a life that was worthy of judging others, but he thought this guy was something else.

“Anyway, I’m leaving, so do whatever you want.”

“What! Leaving? Didn’t you want to work here?”

“Didn’t you see the news yesterday? Some crazy guy stabbed a person walking down the street and left them in critical condition. Well, I’m leaving.”

Kim Geon-hoon, who had chickened out, turned around and left through the main gate without looking back.

“Unbelievable.”

Jang Deuk-chil, who had been listening quietly, said briefly and moved towards the ER.

“Shall I repay the debt I owe Mr. Kim?”

* * *

“Hey! Old lady. What do you know as a nurse? Go get a doctor. How much longer are you going to make me wait!”

“Patient, don’t curse, speak properly.”

“Hyun-wook, the nurse is going to cry. Take it easy.”

“Patient, this is a hospital. Lower your voice.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk asked him to lower his voice. Then Gu Hyun-wook shouted even more fiercely.

“The person is sick, you little bitch.”

“If you keep doing this, I will call the police.”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, feeling that she couldn’t take it anymore because of Gu Hyun-wook’s arrogance, mentioned the police. It was a kind of final warning.

“Call them! Call them! Go ahead and call them. Are you threatening a patient as a nurse? Huh?”

“Hey, patient, what are you doing to the medical staff?”

“What’s this now!”

Thud-

Team Leader Choi shouted and approached, but the group next to him tripped him.

“Team Leader, are you okay?”

“Ms. Lim. I’m okay.”

“Hey! Do you really want to get in trouble?”

Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, whose patience had exploded, threw a fact bomb, choosing only the right words.

“Why are you causing trouble in the hospital? Can’t you see the people next to you?”

“What?”

“Patients who are sicker than you are waiting their turn. Is this your living room? If you want to get treatment, wait quietly. Got it?”

“Is this old lady really crazy? I’m going to……!”

Gu Hyun-wook, who had gone mad, grabbed Nurse Lim Jeong-suk’s collar and shook her. And as he raised his other hand to slap her cheek,

Thud-

Along with the sound of skin touching, the raised hand was forcibly stopped in mid-air.

“Young man, stop it.”

The owner of the thick, low voice was Jang Deuk-chil. He grabbed Gu Hyun-wook’s wrist and twisted the arm holding Nurse Lim Jeong-suk’s collar, putting it back in place.

“Ms. Lim, are you okay?”

In the meantime, Team Leader Choi, who had been blocked by the group, took care of Nurse Lim Jeong-suk.

“Yes, Team Leader. I’m okay.”

“What! Who is this old fart?”

Gu Hyun-wook glared at Jang Deuk-chil as if he would kill him, his pride hurt by the sudden interference.

“Hey, mister, what are you doing?”

“You’ll get in trouble for causing a disturbance in the hospital.”

“Old man, it’s good to be righteous, but you have to know who you’re messing with. You’re going to die if you do that. Are you laughing?”

“My Ggot-bun [a term of endearment, possibly a name] told me to smile today. Stop here and get treatment quietly.”

At this moment, Team Leader Choi, Nurse Lim Jeong-suk, and even the patients and guardians waiting nearby were all cheering for Jang Deuk-chil in their hearts.

“Where, can you still laugh even if I do this?”

Gu Hyun-wook took something out of his pocket and smiled nastily.

“See this?”

What Gu Hyun-wook took out was a knife.

“Team Leader, watch the situation here.”

Seeing the knife in front of her, Nurse Lim Jeong-suk headed to the reception desk to report to the police.

* * *

Unlike usual, the tense operating room was filled with a bright atmosphere.

“Ah. Good, good. You’re the best. My honey is the best.”

The male patient undergoing hemorrhoid surgery sang along to his favorite song playing from the headphones.

All surgeries were important, but hemorrhoid surgery was not as difficult as other surgeries. Therefore, the expressions of the operating room staff did not show any signs of difficulty.

“The patient was so worried before the surgery, but now he’s even singing along.”

“Hemorrhoid surgery is usually like that. They are scared to do it before, but once they have the surgery, they wonder why they didn’t do it sooner.”

“You’re right, doctor. My mom put it off for 5 years, but she said she should have done it sooner.”

Beep-

“Doctor, I’m sorry to interrupt.”

The operating room door opened, and a nurse entered while Tae-kyung and the nurse were talking.

“Something terrible is happening outside right now.”

The nurse, who had dressed in surgical attire and rushed in, looked anxious and didn’t know what to do.

“Terrible……? What’s wrong?”

“So Team Leader fell, and Teacher Su [likely a title or respectful term for a nurse] was grabbed by the collar. But suddenly, that patient got excited and is threatening with a knife.”

The nurse sent by Lim Jeong-suk explained in detail the whole story of what had happened so far.

“Are there any injured patients or medical staff?”

“Not yet.”

“First, contact the police quickly and carefully move the waiting patients inside the ER.”

“Yes.”

“And just in case, contact each ward to prevent inpatients from coming down to the first floor. The surgery will be finished within 10 minutes, so I’ll go right away.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Beep-

The nurse who heard the order left the operating room, and Tae-kyung’s expression, who had been happily performing the surgery, became serious.

‘A knife…….’

Having someone with a knife around is dangerous regardless of the location, but if it’s a hospital, the risk factor increases even more.

Because there are patients. In a hospital full of patients with physical discomfort, if an excited person is wielding a knife, it often leads to accidents.

That’s because he had seen a case where a medical staff member was injured when a drunk person wielded a knife during his internship a long time ago.

‘Why does this happen on a Friday when there are so many patients?’

But there was something the surprised nurse didn’t tell him. The fact that Jang Deuk-chil is currently at the scene.

Tae-kyung, who had no way of knowing that fact, was filled with worry.

‘Nothing should happen…….’