Chapter 110
Chapter 110
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Rope (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The door closed, and a heavy silence descended.
I clasped my hands together like a criminal awaiting judgment.
*It's come at last.*
I'd already received the summons for the disciplinary committee, but the director calling me in separately meant something else.
A harsher punishment? Or maybe a recommendation to resign?
No, did the director even have the authority to impose something bigger...?
A recommendation to resign?
But why?
Didn't he hold me in such high regard?
As all sorts of worst-case scenarios danced in my head, the director finally spoke.
"Hyun-jae."
"Yes, Director."
"Well, you know about the recent doctor helicopter incident. The training committee's been convened."
"Yes, sir. I was notified for Friday morning."
I bowed my head.
"Yeah. Well, that's that."
Park Woong leaned back, interlocking his fingers.
The chair creaked.
"Hyun-jae, do you even realize how many other departments' territories you've encroached on?"
"...Pardon?"
His sudden question made me blink.
Other departments' territories?
Was he asking how many oversteps I'd made?
I mentally started counting on my fingers.
First, last year when I opened up the abdomen... Surgery.
Then this time on the helicopter, stabbing the neck... Anesthesiology?
And... um...
"...Two...?"
When I answered cautiously, Park Woong chuckled and shook his head.
"Two? What two?"
Director Park began listing my offenses(?) one by one, extending his fingers.
"SGB. That's Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine territory. Doing it on a helicopter? That's one."
One.
"REBOA. Puncturing a vessel, inserting a catheter, injecting contrast. That's Trauma Surgery or Vascular Surgery territory."
Two.
"And last year, opening the abdomen and controlling the splenic rupture bleeding. Straight-up Trauma Surgery territory."
Three.
"Even just the big ones come to three. Add in the minor ones, and it's more."
"...Yes, sir."
I had no rebuttal.
Hearing it laid out, I realized I'd been living not as an Emergency Medicine resident, but like some unlicensed all-in-one medical practitioner.
"No, I'm not scolding you."
Park Woong waved it off.
"Just... reconfirming that your talent—or guts, whatever you call it—far exceeds our department's normal scope."
"Yes, sir."
I stayed quiet as he said words that could be praise or insult.
The director fell silent for a moment, fiddling with a document on his desk.
"Originally speaking."
He began.
"When I told you to train on the doctor helicopter. Remember?"
"Yes. You said it instead of dispatching to the trauma center."
"Right. Honestly, it was just meant to be a short experience. A taste of training or something. Ride it a few times and done."
"...Yes."
My eyes widened.
A taste?
Just a few rides and that was it?
"Honestly, what does a second-year know? Adapt to the special helicopter environment, learn the transport system, maybe get a bit airsick, then back down. That was the education. So I planned a one- or two-month rotation, then back to the ER."
The director confessed bluntly.
"I figured once you got your boards, we'd put you on officially. Assuming you stayed at our hospital after residency, of course."
"Ah... yes."
So that's how it was.
I'd thought it was hell, but it turned out to be just a field trip.
Relief and betrayal washed over me at once.
So now back to the ER?
After the chaos on the helicopter, they'd probably kick me off for lacking qualifications.
Good riddance.
The ground is best.
I secretly cheered inside, waiting for the director's verdict.
Those sweet words sending me back to the ER.
But.
"But you know."
Park Woong leaned forward.
"What you pulled off on the helicopter this time. The SGB."
"Yes."
"Professor Kang Hyun-jun said it himself. 'That kid's the real deal. Put him on the helicopter.'"
"...Pardon?"
A bad feeling crept in.
"Think about it. In that extreme helicopter environment, where even attendings would shake, a second-year pulls it off. Saved the patient. What does that mean?"
The director grinned.
"You're helicopter material."
"No, Director, that was just a fluke..."
"Once is luck, twice is skill, three times is fate."
He cut off my excuse.
"So I changed the plan."
He slid the document across the desk toward me.
[Air Medical Team Duty Roster Revision Proposal]
"Just hop on from now on."
"...Pardon?"
A dumb sound escaped my lips.
From now on?
Not after boards?
"Director. If I may very, very cautiously offer my opinion, I'm just a resident? Not an attending, I need training, night shifts... Regulations-wise, this..."
"Regulations? Don't worry. I checked it all."
The director smiled brightly, citing the clause that had plunged me into despair before.
"Extend the training period by two years or so?"
Two years?
The rest of my residency?
"And Professor Kang Hyun-jun's all for it. The Air Medical Team wants to groom you as dedicated helicopter staff. So on your flight days, we'll count ER on-call as off-duty. How's that? Generous terms, right?"
Generous, sure.
Generously ruining my life.
"Director, you said I encroached on multiple territories. Won't Anesthesiology and Surgery hate me flying?"
I made a last desperate political jab.
"What are you talking about?"
He wagged his finger.
"You save patients via helicopter, that's our hospital's record, boosts their surgery counts. Why hate it? They'll welcome you."
Park Woong stood, gripping my shoulders firmly with both hands.
"Hyun-jae. You're our department's treasure. No, the hospital's treasure."
"..."
"From now on, you're Cheongjin Medical Center's eagle. Be a magnificent bird soaring the skies."
Eagle? More like a flying slave.
"Just ride."
The director landed the knockout blow.
"It's all for you. Wait 'til you get boards and do fellowship. See how much your value skyrockets with helicopter experience?"
"..."
"I've submitted the revised roster for approval, but if it's too tough, say so. If airsickness hits hard, we'll pull you."
He tapped the calendar on his desk.
"Weather's great. Perfect flying conditions."
I stared blankly at the director's face.
Is that what the devil looks like?
I'd thought it was a demo.
Planned to sample and bail.
Now I'd been forced into an annual membership.
"And you'll get dispatch allowances, extra pay too."
...Allowances?
A ray of light pierced my despair.
"Uh... Director, exactly how much...?"
He beckoned me close and whispered the amount.
...
Maybe the helicopter's worth it?
Hearing the pay, I compromised with money and slammed my seal on the roster revision like a dog.
As I turned to leave.
"Hyun-jae."
The director called from behind.
"Yes, Director."
"When professor slots open... there's the Geoje branch too."
"Yes, sir."
Obvious.
New hospital needs doctors, professors.
What does that have to do with me...?
"If lots of slots open, after just one year fellowship, we'll fast-track you to non-tenure track professor or something. Already loosely agreed with the clinical deputy director too..."
"...Pardon?"
My eyes bulged.
One year fellowship?
If unlucky, it's years of professor teases before bouncing to local practice. That's the game.
But one year to clinical professor...
Emergency Medicine isn't some new department; given the past few years—not too hot, not avoided—compared to slots...
Not highway HOV lane. Private jet insertion.
The super fast-track of legends.
"Anyway, got it?"
The director flashed a meaningful smile.
Devil's temptation right there.
*Ride the helicopter. I'll HOV your professor spot.*
I nodded like enchanted and left the office.
***
Days passed, and Friday arrived.
Judgment Day returned.
East Wing 14th floor, Education and Training Department conference room.
The atmosphere differed sharply from the last disciplinary hearing.
At the head of the table, Education Director Oh Man-seok held documents with a weary face. Beside him, Clinical Deputy Director Professor Yoon Tae-ryong sat relaxed, arms crossed.
I clasped my hands, awaiting judgment.
"This committee has reviewed the procedure performed by Emergency Medicine second-year resident Han Hyun-jae aboard the doctor helicopter..."
Professor Oh Man-seok adjusted his glasses and read the decision in a dry voice.
"The act was an unavoidable measure taken in a life-threatening emergency for the patient..."
Standard up to here.
The key was next.
How they'd gloss over the regulation breach.
"Anticipating such incidents becoming routine, this hospital has revised regulations considering the unique nature of Air Medical Team operations..."
Professor Oh paused, clucking his tongue.
"...Per the newly established Emergency Medical Helicopter Boarding and Procedure Training Regulations, Article 4, Paragraph 2: Emergency procedures under supervising attending physician are deemed training. Thus, this case violates no regulations and is dismissed."
...New regulation?
Professor Oh Man-seok sighed deeply, his face screaming, *Is this a hospital or a circus?*
Known as a stickler for rules, this must bruise his pride.
Last dismissal cited existing regs; this retroactively applied new ones for dismissal.
Meanwhile.
"Heh heh."
Clinical Deputy Director Yoon Tae-ryong beamed beside him.
He met my eyes and nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing that smile, a chill ran down my spine alongside a strange thrill.
The director wasn't bluffing.
*Whoa, I've got backing now?*
Turbulent second-year resident life.
I'd lined up.