Chapter 232
Episode 232 A Mind So Clearly Visibly (1)
A spring day with cherry blossoms fluttering in the wind.
On that day, as always, I was walking along the artificial trail near the Hospital with Son Jongwoon.
One 4th Year Resident from the Emergency Room.
And one Fellow from Pediatrics neurology.
Slurp—
The sound of someone sucking on a straw was heard from my side.
Despite the still chilly early spring cold, Son Jongwoon was persistently holding a Venti-sized iced Americano in his hand.
“Ah, this Americano is sweet…. Why is that? Is it because my life is so bitter today that it feels relatively sweet?”
Son Jongwoon closed his eyes tightly and struck a ridiculous, pretentious pose.
With my hands inside my pockets, I gave him a reality check.
“Because you pumped a shitload of syrup into it.”
A moment ago, I saw with my own two eyes how he was frantically pressing the pump at the cafe’s self-bar, so where is he trying to pull this emotional act from?
At my cold reaction, Son Jongwoon snapped his eyes open and started clearing his throat.
“Uh-hum, where does a mere trainee Resident dare to talk back to a Specialist who is like the sky?”
Specialist.
He was no longer a Resident now; he was indeed a guy who held a state-certified Pediatrics Specialist license.
“Yes, yes. Doctor Son Jongwoon of Pediatrics neurology? Are you satisfied now?”
When I grit my teeth and answered with a highly distorted accent, only then did Son Jongwoon raise the corners of his mouth into a smirk and nodded his head.
“Very good.”
‘Act like an idiot, seriously.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
“So, how is the Fellow life of a Specialist who is like the sky? Is it manageable?”
At my question, Son Jongwoon’s shoulders, which had been high and mighty until a moment ago, instantly slumped down.
“I feel like I’m going to die, seriously. Sigh… Why did I choose neurology, shit.”
A groaning sound was dragged out from the depths of his abdomen.
Child epilepsy.
Developmental disorder.
Cerebral palsy.
Son Jongwoon, who had to fight against the damaged nervous systems of children and absorb all the complaints from parents who had become as sensitive as they could get, sighed as he looked up at the sky.
“Ah~ If I had known it would be like this, I would have just majored in pediatric ER and gone down to the Emergency Room. At least there, once you stop the bleeding, you can send them upstairs.”
“Oh, really? You’re coming to the pediatric ER?”
When I asked with sparkling eyes, Son Jongwoon answered without a single second of hesitation.
“Of course it’s a lie, you crazy bastard. Why would I go there?”
“…”
I quietly pulled my right hand out of my pocket, nicely extended my middle finger, and gave him the law.
“What a piece of shit anyway.”
Slurp—
Son Jongwoon lightly ignored my middle finger and drank the syrup-filled Americano again.
“By the way, Hyeonjae.”
“Uh, what.”
“What the hell have you been doing lately?”
At the sudden words, I stopped walking and looked at him.
“Uh? What.”
“A rumor about you spread all the way through Internal Medicine too.”
‘…Ah.’
A chill ran down my spine.
Son Jongwoon continued talking while chewing on his straw.
“During your 1st Year, a rumor spread all over Surgery for cutting open an abdomen, and as if overturning Thoracic Surgery with an Aorta during your rotation wasn't enough, this time it spread to Internal Medicine again? D-lactic acidosis or something.”
Rumors within a hospital do not just have feet; they have wings.
In the closed society of a university hospital, the story of a Resident showing crazy performance across other departments' domains could not be a better side dish for drinks.
“What rumor.”
“That you’re a genius.”
“Bullshit.”
Genius, my foot.
‘There is a community window where the ghosts of the medical world are gathered floating in my head, you punk.’
There is no way this guy would know the fact that those old men grab me by the collar and give me pointers so that I can barely make a diagnosis.
“Right? The Han Hyeonjae I know is absolutely not a genius.”
Son Jongwoon nodded his head in agreement.
Since he was a junior who knew my past better than anyone else—having average grades throughout medical school, drinking alcohol, and just hanging around PC cafes.
“But this bastard… somehow, I think he really is a genius.”
“…Suddenly?”
“In the first place, when I called for help. You diagnosing that DADA2 or whatever rare hereditary vasculitis.”
“Uh.”
“Who else but a genius can diagnose that? You take a glance at a disease that has only a few patients in South Korea and get it right? And an Emergency Medicine doctor at that?”
“I didn't just take a glance and get it right.”
“Whatever it is.”
Son Jongwoon pointed his finger at me and said with a look of great solemnity in his voice.
“So, this is my conclusion.”
“What.”
“You were pretending to be an ordinary person and fooling us on purpose, you bastard!!!!! Are you like a loser who hides his strength or something!!!”
“Argh, shit! The coffee is splashing, you crazy bastard!”
“Oh! Sorry! Anyway. My deduction continues. My de… what is deduction in English? Deduction is continuous….”
I let out a hollow laugh and brushed off the coffee droplets on my sleeve.
Bzzzzzzz—
Just then, a heavy vibration echoed from Son Jongwoon's gown pocket.
“Yes, this is Son Jongwoon from Pediatrics neurology. Yes.”
Anyway, that guy is indeed a doctor.
“Yes. There is a fever. GTC? Ah, yes, yes.”
Fever.
And GTC.
Generalized Tonic-Clonic seizure.
Son Jongwoon, who was continuing the phone call, glanced at me and waved his hand away.
It meant for me to go back inside the Emergency Room.
“Yes, I will go down right away.”
Click—
Son Jongwoon, who hung up the phone, tapped the screen and opened his mouth.
“Hey, I got a call.”
“Where is it?”
“Pediatric ER.”
To save a child having a seizure, this poor Fellow had to jump into the fires of hell once again.
I casually said goodbye toward that figure.
“Good luck.”
“You too~”
…
…
The Emergency Room that day was also busy without exception.
“Doctor Han!”
From the Treatment Room side, the urgent voice of 3rd Year Baek Eunseo (Female) calling me was heard.
“Why?”
As I took my eyes off the monitor and snapped my head around, I saw Baek Eunseo’s face holding an Ambu bag.
“Suspected Acute Epiglottitis!”
I jumped up from my seat.
Acute Epiglottitis.
It is the worst ENT emergency disease where the airway lid swells up heavily due to a bacterial infection, completely blocking the airway.
“Ah shit, I’ll call ENT!”
I shouted while pulling out the on-duty phone from my pocket.
“Yes! I will enter the orders and prepare for intubation!”
“Be careful because the swelling might be severe and the airway might not be visible! If it doesn't work, we’re going to cut the neck right away, so let’s unpack the crico set!”
“Yes!”
…
“Teacher, since we don’t have an on-duty doctor from Plastic Surgery right now, it’s difficult for us to suture it meticulously so that it won’t leave a scar….”
I was repeating the exact same words like a parrot in front of the guardian of a female patient in her 20s who came holding a torn wound on her face.
“This is supposed to be a university hospital, does it make sense that there is no doctor to suture a face? If a scar is left on her face, will you take responsibility, Teacher?”
“We do suture it for you. The Emergency Room doctors here will suture it…”
“Won't it leave a scar?”
“I understand your feelings, but the Emergency Room is not a place for cosmetic suturing. Right now, we will only perform suturing to stop the bleeding, and tomorrow when it becomes bright, you can go to the Plastic Surgery outpatient clinic…”
“Can't you call a Plastic Surgery doctor?”
‘How can I call a person who isn't here….’
I swallowed a deep sigh inwardly and broke a sweat trying to soothe the guardian somehow.
…
“For now, there is no problem. But in the case of a migraine, a definitive diagnosis isn't made right away. So, you need to visit the outpatient clinic of Neurology…”
We took a brain CT that cost hundreds of thousands of won and ran all sorts of labs, but the result was perfectly normal and clean.
There is no such thing as a magic medicine in the Emergency Room that can open up a head and fix it right away.
The symptoms were also consistent with a migraine.
“If so, can you not be certain about a migraine here?”
“Emergency diseases that threaten life, like brain hemorrhage or cerebral infarction, have all been ruled out. For now, the symptoms match a migraine, but neurologically, we cannot make a definitive diagnosis here. For fundamental migraine treatment, an outpatient clinic appointment…”
…
“This is Han Hyeonjae, 4th Year from Emergency Medicine. Yes. I am calling to consult regarding acute appendicitis…”
[Ah… appendicitis? Did the patient’s lab values and abdomen CT come out by any chance?]
“Yes, on the CT, the appendix is swollen to 1.2 cm, and fat stranding around it is clear.”
[Phew… Yes. Understood. Keep the patient NPO (Nil Per Os) and give antibiotics in the Emergency Room, then I will call you back. I will check if there is a spot in the ward.]
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”
I hung up the phone and massaged my stiff back neck.
…
Ring ring ring ring—
As soon as I put my buttocks on the chair, the main phone at the station rang noisily.
“This is Cheongjin University Hospital Emergency Room.”
[This is the Kimhae Samjeong Hospital Emergency Room, and I’d like to speak with you regarding a patient transfer.]
“A transfer? Inquiries about transfers should not be directed to the Emergency Room, but…”
[This is a patient who has already been discussed with the Thoracic Surgery of Cheongdae Hospital. It’s an aortic aneurysm patient, and they will arrive in about 5 minutes.]
I hurriedly checked the memo left by the previous on-duty doctor.
“What? Ah, understood. Yes, yes. How are the vitals?”
[Right now, the BP is 90 over 60.]
“Yes, yes. Arriving in 5 minutes, right?”
...
The commute home that I welcomed after finishing such a busy day.
3rd Year Baek Eunseo (Female) and I were walking side by side.
Normally, we would have casually said goodbye to each other and scattered, but for some reason today, she was walking right next to me, stuck to my side.
Well, it wasn't that days like this didn't happen once or twice.
Two shadows moved with a steady stride.
“Eunseo.”
“Yes, Senior,” Baek Eunseo answered in a light voice.
For someone who looked completely drained of fatigue right after work, she looked strangely full of life.
“Aren't you taking the bus…?”
Baek Eunseo’s studio apartment was a distance that required going a few stops from the bus stop in front of the hospital.
I also had to take the bus.
However, I couldn't understand the reason why the two of us were walking side by side, purposely passing by the stop.
Baek Eunseo, with both hands thrust into her outerwear pockets, kicked the floor with the tip of her foot and answered.
“I told you I wanted to walk today.”
“But there’s no reason to drag me along with you, is there…?”
When I grumbled in a voice full of tiredness, Baek Eunseo glanced up at me and pouted her lips.
“No~ The friend I usually call after work said they are busy today.”
“So?”
“So that’s why I need you, Senior.”
Baek Eunseo shrugged her shoulders and said very confidently.
I looked at Baek Eunseo with a look of disbelief.
To use a 4th Year Senior who is dying of tiredness as a commute home mate just because she needs someone to talk to.
“Why don’t you just say you want to walk with me?”
At my provocation, Baek Eunseo’s footsteps halted very minutely.
“Senior, you have a bit of self-consciousness excess…”
“I knew you would say that.”
As I looked straight ahead with a smile, a small laugh leaked out from the side.
“Hehe.”
The night street was quiet.
Only the exhaust sound of a car passing by in the distance occasionally broke the silence.
We walked the night street, chewing on trivial Emergency Room gossip and the clumsy mistakes of the 1st Years as a side dish.
After walking like that for a long time, we reached the familiar spot where the direction Baek Eunseo was going and the direction to my Officetel diverged.
It was right in front of a small three-way intersection where an old convenience store stood.
From here, I had to go straight, and Baek Eunseo had to turn into the left alley.
Just as I was about to casually say goodbye.
“Senior.”
She suddenly called me.
Her lips were strangely stiff, and her eyes were shaking, reflected by the streetlight.
“Why?”
When I asked, feeling puzzled, Baek Eunseo pulled out her two hands that had been inside her pockets and opened her mouth while fidgeting.
“I have something I want to say after all.”
“What is it? Why not say it next time at the hospital.”
“Because I feel like I absolutely must say it right now.”