READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 12
Chapter 12
There’s a Malignant Among Us (3)
“Ouch…”
“Doctor, please see this patient quickly.”
“Stroke patient, call neurology stat!”
“My father arrived first, shouldn’t you see him first?!”
“Patient in bed 6 suspected of MI (myocardial infarction)[mfn]A myocardial infarction, commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction to the heart muscle.[/mfn]!”
The emergency room was in chaos.
Despite the early hour, many patients were already waiting in the ER beds.
A male patient in his 20s with stomach pain.
A female patient in her 50s was brought in due to severe constipation.
An office worker in their 30s with dizziness and vomiting.
A 10-year-old elementary school student was bitten by a neighbor’s dog.
A foreign worker in his 30s with a finger injury from a construction site.
And so on…
There was a wide variety of patients.
It was a completely different scene from the internal medicine ward, where patients with similar symptoms gathered.
Here, everyone had different symptoms.
100 patients, 100 symptoms.
That’s the emergency room.
“Alright, shall we get started?”
Swish, swish, swish!
Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol started examining patients as he moved around the ER.
We quickly followed behind him.
“Is your stomach hurting a lot?”
“Yes…”
“Okay, bend your knees, and tell me where it hurts. Here?”
“It doesn’t hurt there… Ouch… I think it only hurts in the upper part.”
The patient complaining of stomach pain winced.
Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol, after examining the patient’s symptoms, turned to us and said,
“This patient has no abnormalities in their X-ray and sono (ultrasound), and their lab (blood test) results are fine too. Doesn’t seem like appendicitis[mfn]is inflammation of the appendix.[/mfn], probably gastritis.[mfn]is the inflammation of the lining of the stomach.[/mfn]”
“Yes.”
“If your lower right abdomen starts to hurt, you need to come back. It could be appendicitis.”
Just like that, he assessed the patient’s symptoms and took the most necessary measures.
“You might have to see simple cases like this as primary (first visit) patients. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Swish, swish, swish!
He immediately moved on to the next patient.
Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol’s diagnosis continued.
“Ma’am, you’ll need an enema. Let’s clear you out nice and clean.”
“It seems like there’s a slight problem with your ear. We’ll have the otolaryngology[mfn]a specialty which is focused on the ears, nose, and throat.[/mfn] department take a look.”
“Fortunately, the dog bite isn’t deep. We’ll disinfect it and give you a tetanus shot.”
“You understand Korean, right? The wound is a bit deep, so we’ll have someone from plastic surgery come down and stitch it up.”
We followed Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol around, receiving brief explanations about various parts of the ER.
He moved with a whirlwind of energy, seemingly unstoppable.
He definitely seemed more active compared to doctors who only worked in the wards.
‘Cool.’
Is this the aura of a third-year EM (Emergency Medicine) doctor?
As expected, a specialist who is proficient in their field shines brightly.
I looked at Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol with sparkling eyes.
“What are you looking at?”
“Nothing.”
“If we can treat patients within our department, we do. If we need to notify another department, we contact them as soon as possible. Got it?”
“Yes!”
We answered loudly.
Yeo Bong-cheol pointed to a monitor mounted on the wall.
“Basically, interns can each take one task from the work list displayed on this monitor.”
We followed his gaze to the monitor.
“Gulp…”
Joong-won hyung’s face was already filled with dread.
It hadn’t been long since our shift started, but the list was already full.
I wondered if there were really this many emergency patients in the heart of Seoul.
I realized that Dr. Yeo Bong-cheol wasn’t exaggerating when he called this place an “apocalypse.”
“Wow, are you already happy to see so much work?”
“Yes…”
“We’re not going to grade you based on who does the most work, so don’t fight over tasks.”
“Yes!”
“Well, you won’t even have time to fight amongst yourselves because you’ll be so busy.”
Scratch, scratch.
Yeo Bong-cheol scratched his head with a pen and then gave us instructions.
“For now, Seon-han and So-dam, you assist the OS (orthopedic surgery) and TS (thoracic surgery) teams when they come down. The other two, take care of the tasks on the list one by one.”
“Yes!”
We dispersed in unison.
Thump, thump!
So-dam and I moved quickly.
We cared for dozens of patients, disinfecting wounds, performing various procedures, contacting other departments, drawing blood, and conducting tests.
This is the emergency room, where you have to work non-stop for 24 hours.
It’s a true battlefield.
***
“Whew.”
We finally finished the morning shift.
There was still a mountain of work to do, but we had some time to eat in shifts.
So-dam and I headed to the cafeteria.
It was a bit awkward being alone with her, but it was still much better than being paired with Jo Jin-gi.
Well, it was the first day, so we could gradually become closer.
“It’s good that we can make it to the cafeteria on time.”
“Yeah.”
So-dam replied curtly and picked at her food.
Glance—
I looked at So-dam sitting across from me.
…She had a strange aura about her.
She definitely seemed like someone who grew up showered with attention from her parents.
But her expression was always gloomy, and she seemed to lack confidence.
Should I try to strike up a conversation?
“Eat a lot.”
“You too.”
“Want to try some of mine? Should I share a piece of shrimp tempura?”
“No.”
Pick, pick.
…This is awkward.
It felt like I would only get curt replies no matter what I said.
To break the awkward silence, I tried starting a different conversation.
“Where did you rotate for your first rotation?”
“Pathology.”
“I see. I was in internal medicine.”
“Yeah.”
“It was quite interesting there, but it’s even more interesting seeing various patients here in the ER.”
“…Interesting?”
Flinch—
So-dam’s eyebrows twitched.
Emotions flickered across her usually expressionless face.
“What’s so interesting?”
“Huh?”
“We have to be on call 24 hours a day, can’t even see the sunlight, and get harassed by patients… How is that interesting?”
Her retort was unexpectedly sharp.
It was as if her small voice was filled with thorns.
I looked at So-dam with surprise.
It seemed like she was finally venting her pent-up frustrations.
“Touching patients’ blood, cleaning up their excrement, getting yelled at for the slightest mistake… I don’t find it interesting at all.”
“You don’t like working as a doctor?”
“I really hate it. Especially seeing patients. It’s utterly disgusting.”
She answered resolutely.
This girl had more spirit than I thought.
So-dam flinched and apologized.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh.”
“It’s okay. Go on.”
I chuckled.
Even the most closed-off and timid people often let their guard down around me.
I don’t know why. Maybe I have a friendly face?
So-dam continued,
“Actually, I hate the ER the most. Especially after what happened yesterday at Seomun University Hospital. Did you see the news?”
“What news?”
“It’s on TV over there.”
Glance—
So-dam pointed at the cafeteria TV with her chopsticks.
[Amidst an incident at a hospital in Gyeonggi-do, where a drunk patient inflicted injuries on an ER doctor resulting in three weeks of medical leave…]
A blurry CCTV footage played on the screen.
A drunk patient, causing a commotion, was seen striking the doctor on the back of the head for some reason.
Thud!
The doctor collapsed.
Nurses tried to intervene, but the patient’s indiscriminate assault continued.
Thud, thud!
The doctor fell to the floor.
The footage ended with security guards finally arriving and pulling the patient away.
…It was a horrifying scene.
Although it was an absurd situation, it was also something that happened quite often in the ER.
After all, the emergency room was where conflicts with patients occurred most frequently.
“Scary, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Honestly, I don’t understand why everyone is so desperate to become a doctor. Even if you break your back treating patients, this is the kind of treatment you get in return.”
So-dam let out a hollow laugh.
I asked,
“Then why did you become a doctor?”
“Because my parents told me to.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
She answered firmly.
I looked at So-dam with curiosity.
It seemed like she lived in a completely different world from me, someone who desperately wanted to become a doctor.
“Seeing patients doesn’t suit me. I’ll do my internship for a while and then switch to a department where I don’t have to see patients.”
So-dam said self-deprecatingly.
Of course, not everyone is suited to be a doctor, even if they become one.
Perhaps most people become doctors because they got good grades on the CSAT—
Or because their parents told them to—
They rush through six years of medical school, graduate, and become doctors.
“Well, anyway, I’ll try my best not to be a burden for the next month, so don’t worry.”
I had nothing more to say to that.
Once she opened up, she was easier to talk to than I initially thought.
I thought she was just closed-off and timid, but surprisingly, we had quite a few conversations on the first day.
So-dam stared intently at my plate.
“Can I try that?”
“What?”
“The shrimp tempura. You said you’d give me one earlier.”
“You said you didn’t want it.”
“It looks delicious now… I’ll give you a piece of my pork cutlet. If you want.”
So-dam mumbled timidly.
I chuckled and gave her a piece of shrimp tempura.
She had a peculiar personality, but she seemed honest and straightforward in her own way.
***
The first week in the ER.
“Hmm…”
Yeo Bong-cheol sat at the department’s computer, staring at the monitor.
An Excel sheet with the interns’ names was open on the screen.
Although he could do the evaluations at the end of the month, it was Yeo Bong-cheol’s habit to meticulously check their performance weekly.
Of course, he wasn’t the only one who decided.
Intern evaluations required a comprehensive assessment from all the residents.
However, Yeo Bong-cheol effectively held the key to public opinion.
This was because he had the full trust of the fourth-year chief residents.
There was a reason why he was jokingly called the “power behind the throne” in the ER.
Tap, tap, tap.
Yeo Bong-cheol started typing on the keyboard.
————–
Jo Jin-gi C-
: Unable to perform normal duties due to injury.
: Poor self-management.
: Lack of sincerity.
————–
Jo Jin-gi was injured, so there was no point in evaluating him.
It would be different if he was at least working hard, but he wasn’t. He was too busy trying to suck up to the senior doctors.
Yeo Bong-cheol didn’t feel like giving him a good evaluation in the slightest.
————–
Oh Joong-won B
: Quick-witted.
: Decent work ability.
: Tendency to cut corners.
————–
Although Oh Joong-won had a tendency to slack off, he was the only one who stood out.
Perhaps experience that came with age couldn’t be ignored.
In the ER, where quick thinking was crucial, Joong-won was doing quite well.
That was why the strict Yeo Bong-cheol gave him a ‘B.’
‘And as for Ham So-dam…’
She was the most troublesome.
A royal among royals.
But her work ability was somewhat lacking.
She seemed intelligent, but she kept making mistakes.
Was she lacking confidence? Or was she simply not suited for this?
Perhaps it was both.
“It can’t be helped. Even if she were the president’s daughter, not just a professor’s, the evaluation has to be objective.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Yeo Bong-cheol’s fingers moved across the keyboard.
————–
Ham So-dam C
: Poor patient interaction.
: Poor procedural skills.
: Seems to lack confidence.
————–
Lastly, Shin Seon-han.
Scratch, scratch.
“I still can’t quite figure this guy out.”
He was definitely performing better than expected.
Yeo Bong-cheol had been worried because he was from Ilun University, but he was actually better than most graduates from prestigious universities.
And his most commendable quality was his exceptional diligence.
But was he an eye-catching elite? That didn’t seem to be the case either…
“He’s a tough one to judge.”
————–
Shin Seon-han B-
: High level of diligence.
: Evaluation of other abilities pending.
————–
That was it for now.
It seemed like there was no one deserving of an ‘A’ yet.
Of course, it was still early, and things could change depending on their future performance.
“Don’t cause any trouble.”
Yeo Bong-cheol muttered as he closed the Excel sheet.
In the ER, as long as interns didn’t cause trouble, they were considered average.
***
The second week in the ER.
Busy days passed by.
Even though I worked hard, the workload kept increasing instead of decreasing.
It felt like playing an endless defense game.
I looked at the list of tasks on the monitor.
“Joong-won hyung! Are those three pairs of blood cultures done?”
“Ah, I was on my way to do those when I suddenly had to change a dressing. I’ve prepared the culture sets, so please do them when you have time!”
“Who is it?”
“That elderly woman in Zone B over there.”
I looked at the patient Joong-won hyung was pointing at from afar.
She was an elderly patient, and it didn’t look easy to find her veins.
“Then Seon-han, I’ll leave it to you.”
Joong-won hyung winked.
Was it just my imagination that he kept pushing the difficult tasks onto me?
It must be my imagination, probably.
“By the way, where’s So-dam? I haven’t seen her around.”
“She went to do an ABGA (arterial blood gas analysis)[mfn]a diagnostic test that measures the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood, as well as your blood’s pH balance.[/mfn], but there’s been no sign of her since~”
Roll, roll, roll—
Jin-gi, with his arm in a cast, replies as he pushes an ECG machine.
Jo Jin-gi was in charge of getting consent forms signed, taking ECGs, and doing simple dressings.
Naturally, the workload of the other three interns inevitably increased.
“Hey… Jin-gi, every time I see that green cast on your arm, my blood pressure goes through the roof!”
“If you’re so upset, why don’t you get drunk and roll down the stairs too?”
“Oh, forget it. Anyway, it seems like the task list is piling up faster than we can clear it. Let’s focus!”
Joong-won hyung encouraged us.
Just then, a loud commotion erupted from Zone A.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!”
Clang!
Someone was yelling loud enough to be heard throughout the entire ER.
What was going on?
The atmosphere was tense.
We all turned our heads towards the source of the commotion.
—————–
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