Chapter 86
Chapter 86
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Tutoring (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Just fucked.
Get back to work.
That devilish emoticon (^^) from Professor Kim Hyuk-jae wouldn't leave my mind, but what could I do?
Tomorrow's disaster would be handled by tomorrow's me somehow, and tonight's me just had to survive the on-call shift.
I sat down at the station computer and finished charting for that Oh-seong maniac uncle who had just treated me like a fraud and nearly grabbed me by the collar.
"You turn writing one line of chart into a damn drama."
I slammed the Enter key and leaned back in my chair.
Adrenaline faded, leaving brutal fatigue in its wake.
Even after the Oh-seong maniac uncle left, the ER doors didn't stop swinging.
The post-midnight ER was more a gathering of abnormals than normals anyway.
"Doctor! My head feels like it's splitting! Can you do a brain CT?"
The 30-something guy stumbling in reeking of booze insisted he definitely had a brain hemorrhage.
When I shone the penlight in his pupils,
"Agh, eye dope! The doctor's doping the patient!" he frothed at the mouth.
After an hour of wrangling, his guardian showed up, smacked his back, and dragged him out asking for hangover meds.
Next came a 20-something woman carried in clutching her ankle.
"I twisted it dancing in heels at the club last night. Bone's definitely broken! X-ray please!"
X-ray was clean.
Obvious sprain.
"Miss, just some ligament stretch. Bone's fine."
"Liar! It hurts this much, no way the bone's not broken! No ortho doc here? Quack?"
...Yeah, total quack.
I silently wrapped it in a splint and prescribed Tylenol.
By the time all the chaos settled, it was pushing 3 a.m.
The station hit a brief lull, and the first-years waited for the next patient or pored over charts studying, no sign of exhaustion.
Tough kids.
Next to me, first-year Baek Eun-seo was flipping through EMR charts with sparkling eyes.
Wonder how long that fire'll last.
"Eun-seo."
At my call, Baek Eun-seo shot upright in her chair like she'd been zapped.
"Yes, doctor!"
"Not tired?"
"Huh? Oh, I'm totally fine!"
Baek Eun-seo blinked brightly behind her glasses, grinning.
"I think I'm built for emergency medicine! Not tired at all, my heart's actually pounding! That appendix guy earlier, and all the patients coming in—it gets my heart racing!"
...Built for it?
I doubted my ears.
Just hasn't been ground down yet.
A few more all-nighters, and it'll be your heart stopping, not pounding.
I couldn't bear to drop that harsh truth, so I gave her my rotten pollack eyes.
"I see... I'm beat though...."
"Oh, doctor. Then maybe nap in the on-call room..."
"Weirdly, I can't sleep on that bed."
True story.
Better this station chair than that mattress stinking of sweat and mystery funk.
And.
'...If only sleep would come.'
Baek Eun-seo hesitated at my answer, then thrust a stack of EKG strips she'd been holding toward me like she'd made up her mind.
"Doctor! Then look at this EKG real quick. Pulled it off the net, copied it for study...."
"What is it?"
I reluctantly picked up one sheet.
"72-year-old guy, just chest tightness. But no ST elevation or depression, no inverted T-waves... Looks normal, right?"
At her innocent question, I stared holes through the EKG paper.
Normal?
This?
"Eun-seo."
"Yes?"
"You don't see this?"
I pointed to the T-waves in V2, V3, V4 leads.
"Peaked. Symmetrical. What does that look like?"
"Hmm... Super peaked. How'd I miss it."
"Tent city. Pointy tent. Classic hyperkalemia T-wave shape."
I stabbed the paper with my pen tip.
"Check potassium or a few hours later, V-fib hits, arrest comes, no complaints."
"Ah...."
I flipped to the next.
"What's this? 80-year-old grandma? Dizziness."
"Slow, but..."
"Slow ain't the issue, right?"
I tapped the gap between P and QRS with my pen.
"PR interval. Way long? Baseline 0.2 sec, this is over 0.3. First-degree AV block."
"Oh, that one just needs observation..."
"Grandma's chart lists digoxin. First sign of digoxin toxicity shows like this. Order dig level and hold the med stat."
Baek Eun-seo bit her lip, speechless.
I grabbed the last sheet.
"This one... ha...."
Sigh escaped. Oddly elevated ST in V1, V2.
"That's... Brugada...?"
"Bingo. Suspected Brugada syndrome. Even asymptomatic, sudden death time bomb. Call cards right now, admit for workup."
I slammed the EKG stack on the table.
Baek Eun-seo's shoulders flinched.
I rubbed my stiff neck.
"Get your head straight. We stay sharp, patients don't die."
......Sorry."
"No sorry needed. Studying in downtime's good.... Bring anything confusing to me or other seniors from now on."
I stood, rolling my shoulders.
"Go review. Start to finish. Find what else you missed."
"Yes! Got it! Thanks, doctor!"
Baek Eun-seo hugged the EKGs like treasure and dove back into charts with fiery eyes.
I stared blankly.
Just half a year ago, I was looking at EKG scribbles like 'what worm doodles are these.'
Those psycho ghost bastards force-studying me all night with double curses worked wonders.
Now I can handle any first-year question easy.
Hell, even second- or third-year ones.
I dumped another mix coffee packet into my empty paper cup and returned to the monitor.
Station was miraculously quiet.
Past 3 a.m., the drunk troublemakers and feverish folks had gone home or upstairs.
Left: soul-crushing fatigue and backlog charts for the next shift.
Beside me, first-year Baek Eun-seo clutched the EKG stack I'd roasted her on, scribbling notes in red pen.
Eyes behind glasses burned with weird scholarly zeal, no fatigue.
'...One tough cookie....'
I tsked inwardly.
Doesn't that freak ever sleep?
Bet she'll burn out and cry quitting in two days.
Then again, that passion made her apply to EM after seeing that insane open-abdo scene.
I stirred my hot coffee and blankly refreshed the EMR patient list.
Then Baek Eun-seo timidly called from the side.
"Doctor!"
"What now. Another disaster? What EKG's tormenting your brain this time."
I answered without looking.
"No, not that! Um..."
Baek Eun-seo was shrinking, fidgety.
I finally turned.
She twisted her red-pen hand, asking carefully.
"Doctor. You free tomorrow?"
"..."
Brain froze.
"Tomorrow? Why. Off day."
Tomorrow: god-given holiday.
Sleep 20 hours, wake for chicken and OTT binge. Sacred, no interruptions.
Why's this first-year asking about my off?
'...Wait. Date invite?'
Kimchi soup went down wrong.
Me?
Rotten pollack eyes, pickled in antiseptic and exhaustion? Fresh first-year on me?
I spun my brain fast.
'Nah, first-year me? Romance? Bullshit. Gasped passing seniors, scarfed cup ramen on the fly.'
Yet this newbie, not even a month in, hitting up second-year senior on off day.
'What gall. Hmph....'
Kids these days.
So bold.
No way Baek Eun-seo could read my rotten face and inner rant, so she took my silence as yes and plunged in.
"Then, if I hit something confusing studying alone tomorrow, can I ask you?"
"...Huh?"
Dumb noise escaped.
Study?
Off day?
Alone?
"Why? Why me?"
I blurted.
Plenty other healthy second-years, fellow Lee Min-jae, or just crack a textbook faster.
Why me?
My question lit her face.
Like she'd waited for it, no hesitation.
"You're my direct second-year! My role model! And your answers in rounds are the best!"
Role model.
That word twitched my lip.
'Hmm, yeah, I kinda am.'
Sure, I'm badass.
Caught MI on sore throat, sliced bellies, REBOA, TTP dx.
And just nailed EKG teaching.
Role model qualified AF.
I swallowed the boiling glee, nailing cool, aloof senior tone.
"Oh yeah? Uh... ask away... casually... no, uncomfortably."
"Huh?"
Baek Eun-seo's pupils shook in confusion.
"Kidding. Ask easy."
I waved it off, back to monitor.
Tired now. Chicken tomorrow, Kakao ping incoming.
But corner of my heart itched oddly.
'Sure, I can answer anything.'
I smirked evilly at the empty mix coffee cup.
'Even beyond my skills.'
I pictured the familiar blue interface in my head.
Bring it.
Ask away.
Whatever you throw, centuries of dept-stuck med ghost spirits wait in study group behind me.
EKG? Summon cardio ghost.
Blood? Hematology hellhound.
I just copy-paste answers nicely.
I keep role model dignity.
You get answers.
Psycho ghosts get knowledge dump outlet.
Perfect win-win-win ecosystem.
Heh heh heh.