Chapter 38
Chapter 38
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Translator: crow
Chapter 38
Chapter Title: Aftermath (1)
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When I opened my eyes, the first thing to greet me was the familiar fluorescent lights on the emergency room ceiling.
And following right behind came excruciating pain, crashing over me like waves.
“Ugh… Ack…”
Along with my groan, I turned my head and saw the IV line stuck in my arm.
Here I was, lying in a bed in the corner of the ER, hooked up to fluids.
A glance at the clock showed that three or four hours had passed since I’d blacked out.
If I’d known the penalty would hurt this bad, I never would’ve used it… Aaaah…
I wailed inwardly.
This wasn’t muscle soreness—this was torture.
God’s Scalpel, you bastard.
You just peaced out to the afterlife nice and easy.
As I writhed in agony, the curtain beside my bed slid open with a soft rustle.
It was Park Se-young.
Her face was a mix of exhaustion and complicated emotions.
“…Hyun-jae.”
Park Se-young pulled up a chair and sat by my bed.
“How’s your body feeling?”
“Like I’m dying…”
“Blood tests and EKG are all normal, so don’t worry too much.”
Park Se-young fell silent for a moment before speaking in a heavy voice.
“For now… you seem pretty shocked, so write it tomorrow.”
I was touched for a second by her consideration.
She was worried about my condition.
“Huh? Write what…?”
I asked innocently.
Did she mean to do the backlog of charting tomorrow?
“The incident report.”
…
…Pardon?
That incident report I knew?
The cursed document detailing the sequence of events and causes, kicking off any disciplinary action or lawsuit?
“You did save the patient. In the end. But the process… you know? This isn’t just ignoring protocol—it’s a massive incident that could turn the whole hospital upside down. Professor Kang Hyun-jun from trauma surgery seems willing to let it slide, but the ethics committee and legal team won’t see it that way.”
Each explanation stabbed into my chest like a dagger.
“For starters… write exactly why you made that call, what the situation was, from beginning to end. Very detailed. No excuses—just the facts. Who, what, when, where, why, how.”
She stood up from her seat.
“Submit it to me by tomorrow morning. Got it?”
With that, Park Se-young drew the curtain and left.
Left alone on the empty bed, I stared blankly at the fluorescent lights overhead.
***
As I lay there in a daze, murmurs started filtering through the thin curtain.
I couldn’t tell if they were nurses, medical techs, or just admin staff—anonymous voices.
“Hey, did you hear? The chaos in the resuscitation bay earlier.”
“What happened?”
“They cut him open.”
“Cut what open?”
“The patient’s belly!”
“What? They cut open the belly? But why? Wasn’t it emergency surgery? In the OR? By surgery?”
Yeah, that’s the sensible reaction.
But the conversation soon veered into insanity.
“No, get this… it wasn’t surgery—it was an emergency medicine doc who did it.”
“What?”
“And not in an OR—right here, in the ER resuscitation bay!”
“No way. Is he insane?”
Shock laced their whispers.
I closed my eyes.
Please stop there.
“But do you know who did it? It’s even crazier.”
“Who?”
“A first-year resident! You know, the one who caught the MI from a sore throat!”
“That guy? He cut open a belly? Why? He’s totally nuts, right? Like, snapped completely and tried to kill the patient?”
No.
I did it to save him.
But my silent defense didn’t reach them.
“And the funniest part? The patient lived! Super successfully, too!”
The murmurs peaked.
To them, I was already something beyond human.
A genius lunatic.
That’s when I was forced to overhear my reputation yo-yoing between rock bottom and the heavens in real time.
Shrrrk.
The curtain flew open with a loud whoosh.
It was fourth-year resident Yoo Sung-hoon.
Yoo Sung-hoon dragged a chair over and plopped down by my bed.
“…Your body.”
His first words were short.
“I’m okay.”
My reply was short too.
We stared at each other in silence for a bit.
In the awkward quiet, Yoo Sung-hoon spoke first.
“Hey… uh… you know…”
He rubbed his stiff neck, struggling to start.
“Dr. Han.”
“Nothing else.”
He took a deep breath and finally got to the point.
“Are you insane?”
His voice was dead serious.
Pure, 100% bafflement.
“Honestly, were you just trying to socially suicide? Laparotomy in the ER? Wanted to go down in legend? Or did you just say fuck it to life?”
Yoo Sung-hoon rambled on without waiting for my response.
“And what about that hand of yours to begin with? I remember clearly—you couldn’t even place an IV properly until mid-year, bruising patients’ arms black and blue. I had to clean up after you, remember? And you held a scalpel with that hand and sliced open a belly? In that chaos?”
“No, sir, that… I… it was…”
I tried to defend myself, but he wasn’t listening.
“Do you even grasp what you did? How serious this is, this situation? Have any clue? Ha… whatever. Never mind.”
Yoo Sung-hoon ruffled his hair like he wanted to tear it out, then sighed in resignation.
“Anyway. Incident report by tomorrow morning.”
He looked at me again.
“The casual talk… why… the hell… did you talk like that?”
He looked genuinely baffled.
“Stressed out? Or what, watched too many medical dramas? Or… possessed by a ghost or something?”
I froze at those words.
‘Oh, last one’s the answer.’
But Yoo Sung-hoon shook his head like, ‘Nah, what am I saying?’
“Anyway, ethics committee or disciplinary board or whatever the fuck—it’s gonna happen. Not confirmed, but probably. Even if you saved the patient, ignoring protocol is fact. Training rules, regs—they’ll throw every bylaw at you. Just write the report properly.”
He stood up.
“Rest up. See you tomorrow morning.”
The curtain closed again.
***
I sat up in bed, laptop open, staring blankly at the blank Word file in front of me.
At the top of the screen, the words “Incident Report” loomed like a death sentence for my medical career.
‘How the hell do I write this…?’
How could I justify yesterday’s madness even a little?
I racked my brain, brainstorming scenarios.
First: Admit I was crazy.
‘Subject Han Hyun-jae, in the patient’s critical state, became mentally confused, lost reason, forgot his duties as a doctor, and acted impulsively…’
…Certifies me as insane.
Submit that, and I’m branded a ‘stressed-out danger who slices patient bellies,’ straight to max disciplinary. Lucky if it’s just suspension.
Second: Bullshit that I’m a hidden master.
‘Subject Han Hyun-jae has long harbored deep interest in emergency trauma care, secretly honing surgical skills, and judged the situation fully within his capabilities…’
…’I’m kinda badass, patient was dying, so I did it.’ No senior likes a cocky junior spouting that.
I’d be buried in the doctors’ lounge forever, called ‘that psycho fuck’ for life.
Third: Give up and write nonsense.
‘Subject Han Hyun-jae, faced with a fading life, burned with hot mission to save the patient and unwittingly received divine revelation…’
…Straight to psych ward. Ethics committee gets a psych eval request instead.
“Haa… Fuck.”
I slammed my head on the desk.
No answers.
Every path led to hell.
That’s when the one escape route popped into my head.
Those lunatics might know some outlandish trick to turn this around.
Like grasping at straws, I logged into the Fallen Medics Gallery.
At the top of the popular posts, a steaming fresh one.
Title: Spilling the Tea on Emergency Laparotomy Using Today’s 1st-Year Body.txt
Author: God’s Scalpel
That bastard…!
…Everyone around was panicking, milling about. ER setup was crap, but my hands don’t care about petty variables. Perfect damage control in the end.
I trembled with rage as I scrolled to the comments.
Anonymous (210.94): Holy shit, insane. Possession is real. Straight out of fantasy novel.
OR Ghost 3: So how’s the OR these days? Diff from your latte era? What’s the latest lap scope model?
Hippocrates’ Heir: How does it feel to experience the mortal realm again through living flesh, great surgeon?! Air different? Lighting hue?
With my career on the line, these assholes were giggling like it was a VR game review.
Hell Joseon Slave 1: Hey, you socially dead ghost fuck.
Hell Joseon Slave 1: Because of you! Just you! My med career’s about to shatter! Gotta write the report, disciplinary’s coming, pissed off the seniors with your casual bullshit! You just slice and dip happy, but all this shitty cleanup’s on me, you fuck!!!!!
My scream brought God’s Scalpel gliding in.
Re: God’s Scalpel: You mad, bro?
…You mad, bro?
Re: God’s Scalpel: So he lived?
I lost my words at that comment.
Yeah, that’s what matters. Status now.
Suppressing fury, I logged back into the hospital EMR.
『Admitted to TICU (*Trauma ICU).』
I devoured the trauma surgery op notes and progress reports.
‘…Patient vitals stable currently, prognosis expected positive…’
I let out a hollow laugh and replied in the gallery.
Re: Hell Joseon Slave 1: Yeah, he lived, you fuck. In TICU. Prognosis great, thanks to you.
God’s Scalpel left a satisfied short reply amid my cursing.
Re: God’s Scalpel: Good enough lol
I nearly punched the table at that ‘lol.’
Clinging to sanity, I got to the point.
Re: Hell Joseon Slave 1: Advice on the incident report, you culprit.
My question unleashed a ghost horde with their “wisdom.”
Hippocrates’ Heir: Tell the truth! Say the soul of a great ancient surgeon possessed your body! Truth is the only key to salvation from crisis!
…That’d land me in psych, not save me.
Latte is Just Words: Been to disciplinary a ton back in the day. Just brute force it. ‘I don’t remember’ ‘I was out of it’ ‘Only thought was saving the patient.’ Repeat like a parrot. They’ll tire out and lighten the punishment.
Anonymous (118.235): Get a lawyer. Fastest way.
Truck-Hit Bitch: Been to disciplinary. Slam your head on the desk hard before starting—gets sympathy votes.
Staring at the bullshit parade on screen, I sank into deep despair.