Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Tutoring (2)
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3:42 a.m.
The ambulance sirens that had been blaring like mad from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. had finally died down, the nurses' footsteps racing through the station had quieted, and the patients' shouts and groans had settled into a lull.
Of course, that didn't mean there were no patients at all.
From behind the curtain in Zone B came the intermittent thunderous snoring of some drunk uncle hooked up to an IV.
In the pediatric ER of Zone C, the faint whimpering of a kid with a mystery fever drifted over.
Not many patients...
And mostly minor cases.
I sat slumped in a station chair, half-melted, fiddling with a cold paper cup of mix coffee.
*Ah, I wanna go home.*
This godforsaken fluorescent glare.
The stinging disinfectant smell.
Lee Min-jae was all hyped up about becoming a fellow, yapping away, but he was still rolling in the same hellhole.
I was stuck in this ambiguous second-year spot, playing mid-level manager in the inferno.
Next to me, Baek Eun-seo kept on studying.
*Doesn't she ever sleep?*
"Doctor."
"What."
"About that Brugada syndrome suspect from earlier. Does that mean this patient—"
"Sorry, let me rest my eyes a bit..."
"Oh, yes! Sorry!"
No need to apologize.
I rolled my stiff neck, just praying this boring time would drag by faster.
Right then.
Ding.
Something popped up on the triage monitor in the center of the station.
New patient.
*Ah, please. Just diarrhea, or a cold. Or some drunk who fell and split his head open.*
*Please, something like that.*
My brain couldn't handle anything more right now.
I scanned the monitor with bleary eyes.
[Patient: Kim O-ji (F/19)] [Arrival: 03:41] [Chief Complaint: Palpitation, Dyspnea]
"......"
Full 19 years old?
Just turned twenty in Korean age.
Total baby.
But the chief complaint sucked.
Palpitation... and Dyspnea...
Heart pounding. Shortness of breath.
If those hit together hard enough to rush to the ER at 3 a.m., it sure as hell wasn't malingering.
I clicked the mouse to check the nurse's initial triage note.
[Sudden onset Palpitation and Dyspnea 30 min prior to arrival. No known past medical history. Alert.]
Sudden, huh?
In a perfectly healthy twenty-year-old?
What could it be.
My brain sluggishly churned through the differential.
Panic attack.
Most common in young women.
Drugs.
Maybe she hit a club and snorted something weird?
Pneumothorax?
Pulmonary embolism?
Nah, no way.
Or a real heart issue?
I nudged Baek Eun-seo, still nose-deep in her EKG stack.
"Eun-seo."
"Yes, Doctor!"
"Quick quiz. Check the monitor."
I nodded toward the triage screen.
"19-year-old female. No history. Sudden heart pounding and shortness of breath starting 30 minutes ago. What do you think?"
Baek Eun-seo fired her scholarly gaze at the monitor without a second's hesitation.
Her lips moved silently, mumbling her own differential.
*'Young age, acute paroxysmal... no history...'*
Then she answered with total confidence.
"Um... well. PSVT, maybe? She's young."
PSVT.
Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia.
That's the answer.
Straight out of page one of the textbook—what a first-year should think of first.
Young, healthy, sudden onset, racing like mad.
99% PSVT.
Sometimes mixes up with panic attacks, but an EKG would sort it.
"Hm. Let's go check."
I hauled my creaky body out of the chair.
The only docs lounging in the station right now were fourth-year Choi Soo-min, me, and first-year Baek Eun-seo.
Her eyes went wide as saucers at my words.
"I can come?"
"What do you mean?"
"You're not going alone? I can tag along?"
"ER's dead. Come on."
I waved her on and took the lead.
Baek Eun-seo scurried after me with quick steps.
*'Role model's here, kid. Follow and learn.'*
I chuckled inwardly.
Truth was, half of it was just messing with a first-year to kill the dull dawn hours, and half was testing if she'd actually use what I taught her on those EKGs in real life.
I headed to the triage area, where the patient had just finished registering and was coming in.
"What's bothering you..."
Before I finished, I spotted the patient and froze.
She wasn't the fresh-faced college girl I'd pictured.
Face pale as ash, bangs soaked in cold sweat, breaths coming in terrified gasps.
Lips tinged faintly blue.
She clutched her chest like she was ripping it open.
Okay, definitely not faking.
Good.
Or not.
My body reacted first.
"Miss, try to stay with me."
I gave her shoulders a light shake.
"Anyone ever tell you your heart's off? Like arrhythmia, or valve issues?"
"Ah... no."
She squeezed out the words between gasps.
"Never... my breathing... never like this...."
No history.
Sudden onset.
PSVT odds shooting up.
But that dyspnea looked bad.
I whipped around and barked at Baek Eun-seo, frozen behind me.
"Eun-seo."
"Yes! Doctor!"
"EKG, now. Fastest way—send the intern or run it yourself. Whoever's quickest. Go!"
"Yes! Got it!"
Baek Eun-seo bolted for the station, nearly tripping over her feet.
*'EKG'll tell us... but first...*
I turned back to the patient and launched into basic ER history.
"Alcohol? Smoking? Any meds? Cold pills, diet stuff, even herbal crap. Anything."
"No booze, no smokes, no meds. Really...."
She was on the verge of tears.
*'No booze or drugs?*
My mind tangled.
If not panic, not congenital heart, not drugs...
What the hell was revving this twenty-year-old's heart to 160 bpm?
PSVT it is.
"When did it start? What were you doing? Intense exercise? Or fighting with a boyfriend? Some big emotional stress? Bad news about someone close?"
I fished desperately for a stress trigger.
But her answer threw me off again.
"Ah, I... was studying...."
"......Studying?"
The words tumbled out of my mouth like an idiot.
Studying?
"Yeah, been at it since yesterday.... Then suddenly my heart started pounding, and now it feels weird. Doctor. I didn't eat anything strange.... Really, nothing...."
I couldn't help glancing at the station clock.
3:43 a.m.
"So you were studying right up until you came here?"
"Yeah.... Heart started racing, so straight to the hospital...."
...Studying?
At this hour?
A twenty-year-old grinding so hard her heart's about to explode?
*'...Then.'*
Puzzle pieces that'd seemed unrelated clicked into place.
Situation demanding all-night no-sleep studying.
Something to make the heart race like crazy.
Young age.
No history.
No drugs.
I stared straight into her eyes.
Terrified, pupils slightly dilated, fingers trembling faintly on her chest.
*'...No way, is she...'*
I swallowed dryly and checked my top suspect.
"Miss."
My voice dropped a tone.
"Any energy drinks? Coffee?"
Her eyes shook like an earthquake at my question.
Like I'd nailed it.
*Detective mode? The culprit is you, caffeine?*
"Ah...."
She looked away, coughing awkwardly.
"Ah... yes."
*Jackpot.*
I whooped inwardly.
But this was just the start.
Not if—she drank how much?
"And how much? What kind?"
She hung her head.
"Um...."
Her voice crawled like an ant.
"Can't hear you. It's fine. Won't get you in trouble."
At that, she spilled it all.
"Um... about six cans of energy drink?"
"......"
Six cans.
I was speechless.
*You crazy kid.*
*You thought chugging those at once was fine?*