Kidnapped
I walked out of the residency committee conference room in a daze. I survived. I made it through once again. I really am lucky. But why? I couldn't understand it at all.
I pressed the elevator button and stepped inside. Just as I was about to press the close button, someone rushed over and caught the door.
"Wait!"
A familiar voice. It was the Department Chair.
Park Ung stepped into the elevator, catching his breath. The doors slid shut, and an awkward silence filled the cramped space. This feels like déjà vu. My mind was in a tangle. What on earth had happened? A Bulmun ruling. I was absolutely certain I would be disciplined, but could it be...?
"Chief."
"Yeah?"
"About today... the result." I struggled to find the right words. What should I say? 'Thank you for saving me'? Too blatant. "How did I..." In the end, I asked the most fundamental question. "Did you, by any chance..."
Before I could even finish my sentence, Department Chair Park Ung let out a chuckle. "What? Did I what?"
"No, just, well... I was wondering if you might have pulled some strings for me behind the scenes..."
Yes, that had to be it. The most common cliché in medical dramas: the touching story of a department chief shielding a troublemaking subordinate with his own body. Had Chief Park Ung gone out of his way to protect me? Maybe the reason he had his head bowed in the conference room earlier was because he was utterly exhausted after fighting with the other professors to defend me?
At my cautious inquiry, the Chief finally turned his head. "Huh? What are you talking about?"
...Excuse me?
"No, well, I mean... like, did you defend me or something..."
"What are you talking about?" The Chief looked genuinely baffled. "I barely did anything. I just heard the committee was meeting, so I had the administration team submit a few of your performance evaluation documents. You know, the usual stuff—diligent in daily duties, maintains good relationships with colleagues, possesses a high passion for learning... basically, that you're a decent kid. That kind of thing."
Just a few formal documents? "Then today's disciplinary action... why did it end up like this...?"
"Disciplinary action?" the Chief countered. "There was never any grounds for disciplinary action in the first place."
I doubted my ears.
"Think about it. Did you perform the entire procedure by yourself from start to finish? No. Associate Professor Jeon Tae-jeong came in midway and finished it. So your responsibility ends there. And while you were performing it, Clinical Lecturer Lee Min-jae was standing right next to you. Sure, he's still a trainee too, but he's a licensed specialist nonetheless. Under the regulations, it can be argued that the procedure was performed under supervision. Most importantly, did you clearly violate any of our hospital's regulations? Is there a rule saying you can't perform a REBOA in the emergency room? No, there isn't."
Well... that was true. Of course, there was an unspoken rule that a second-year resident shouldn't perform it alone without a specialist's supervision, but it wasn't a written regulation.
"Then that's that," the Chief said, shrugging his shoulders.
The elevator arrived at the first floor, and the doors slid open. Still in a daze, I watched the Chief's back as he stepped out first. To think it really just ended because there were no grounds to begin with. I stepped out of the elevator with a hollow laugh.
Perhaps because lunchtime was approaching, the hospital lobby was quite crowded. Patients, guardians, and countless medical staff in white coats. The Chief was walking a few paces ahead of me.
"Ah, right." The Chief suddenly stopped and turned around. "You." He gestured toward me with his chin. "Your hands actually seem pretty decent."
...Excuse me? I'm the designated clumsy-hands of our department, though.
"Well, that laparotomy incident you caused last year, and this REBOA thing or whatever this time. In the end, you succeeded in both, didn't you?"
Actually, Mes-ui Sin was the one who succeeded.
"Ah, no. I was just lucky. Thank you." I activated my mechanical humility mode.
"Tsk. A resident who pulls crazy stunts two years in a row rolled into our department. I really don't know if I should be happy or upset about this..." The Chief sighed. "And then there's that guy Lee Min-jae. We have two absolute lunatics in our department. Two. What sin did I commit in my past life to deserve this?" Shaking his head, the Chief started walking again.
I felt a sudden urge to refute the Chief's last remark. They're lunatics, sure, but isn't it three, not two, Chief? Including you.
We crossed the hospital lobby in silence. Dazzling sunlight poured in through the glass doors.
"And," the Chief spoke again. This time, his voice was a bit more serious. "What I mentioned last year about the trauma center dispatch training. Do you remember?"
"Ah, yes. I remember." My heart sank. Surely he wasn't bringing that up again at a time like this... right? No way, surely not. I was literally just called into a disciplinary committee.
"About that..." The Chief paused to choose his words. My heart pounded. Please say no.
"Uh... you probably won't be going."
The words I had been desperately waiting for finally spilled from his mouth.
...YEEESSSS!!!!!
What a relief. What a massive relief. I had avoided the hellish training collaboration between Professor Kang Hyeon-jun and Mes-ui Sin. Suppressing the overwhelming emotion that almost brought me to tears, I replied as casually as possible.
"Ah... I see. Understood." I threw in a disappointed expression for good measure.
"Hmm." The Chief nodded. And then, he added a follow-up sentence that completely shattered my newfound peace of mind.
"Instead."
Instead?
"How about riding the Doctor Helicopter?"
... ...What?
I doubted my ears. What did he just say?
"Excuse me?" I asked back like an idiot.
I didn't know if my reaction was just that funny, or if my entire existence was a joke to him, but the Chief burst into a boisterous laugh.
"Hahaha! Why, you don't want to? An emergency room in the sky! How romantic is that! Professor Kang Hyeon-jun kept singing praises about wanting you, so I decided to compromise with this instead of the trauma center! Go and learn a lot!" The Chief slapped my shoulder.
The Doctor Helicopter. An emergency room in the sky. A cramped, suffocating space. Insane noise and vibrations. Romantic? What a load of crap. A helicopter? Me? An emergency room in the sky? This was madness. I was just a second-year resident who couldn't even walk properly on solid ground yet.
"Ch-Chief." Almost instinctively, I began searching for an excuse to escape this absurd command. Yes, regulations. Those damn regulations that had always beaten me down might actually save me this time. "But as far as I know, the emergency medical helicopter—the Doctor Helicopter—requires an emergency medicine specialist or a trauma surgery specialist to board and perform on-site treatment. I'm still..."
"Ah, really?" The Chief paused at my words. A brief look of embarrassment crossed Park Ung's face, as if thinking, Oh, was there such a rule?
This was it! I got him! I cheered inwardly. Yes, a low-year resident like me obviously couldn't do it!
"Ahem!" The Chief suddenly cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. Then, he looked down at me with an incredibly confident expression. "Who do you think I am!" The Chief tapped his chest twice. "The very conscience of Cheongjin University Medical Center's Emergency Medicine Department, who strictly abides by laws and regulations more than anyone else! Department Chair Park Ung! Do you really think I would try to put you on a helicopter without checking something so basic?!"
Yes, that's exactly what it looked like, Chief.
The Chief pulled his smartphone from his pocket. A document file was already open on the screen. He shoved the screen right in front of my nose. "I looked it up beforehand! Here, look!"
[Qualifications of Air Medical Team Personnel]
1) Physician
A) A specialist affiliated with a Regional Emergency Medical Center, Local Emergency Medical Center, or Regional Trauma Center.
The moment I read that first line, I saw a glimmer of hope once again. "...First of all, Chief, clause [A] doesn't apply to me. Do I look like a specialist to you?"
"Ahem! Come on. I told you to read to the end! Keep looking!"
At his urging, I reluctantly read down the next clauses.
B) A person who has completed the designated aviation medicine training prescribed by the Director of the National Emergency Medical Center.
C) A person who has completed on-site training by boarding the corresponding emergency medical helicopter (primary helicopter) at least 5 times.
D) A person deemed physically or psychologically fit for aviation duty even after 5 or more helicopter boarding training sessions.
I finished reading all the clauses and looked up. "...Chief, I have never received the training mentioned there, nor have I undergone boarding training. And as for my psychological state, I feel like I need a psychiatric consultation right this second."
At my heartfelt plea, the Chief burst into laughter once again. "Ahem! You still haven't seen the core of it! Look here!" He scrolled down just a little further and pointed to a clause written in tiny print.
※ Notwithstanding the above principles, the Director of the National Emergency Medical Center may allow separate personnel to board the Doctor Helicopter for purposes such as disaster response, helicopter maintenance and inspection, education/training, and project evaluation and investigation.
The Chief tapped his finger on the words "education/training" to emphasize them. "See? Education! Training! You're not boarding as an official doctor of the air medical team! You're boarding as part of your trauma center dispatch training! As a resident! For education and training! Haha. Got it? No legal issues, no procedural flaws!"
"...Yes, Chief." I gave up on everything and replied in a soulless voice.
"Great! As long as you understand!" The Chief put his smartphone back in his pocket with a highly satisfied expression. "Coincidentally, our hospital is scheduled to have a training and education course for new Doctor Helicopter personnel in August, so I'll let you know the details when the time comes! I'll make you a doctor of the skies! Hahaha!"
The Chief babbled on, excited all by himself. August. There were still a few months left, but that time would fly by in the blink of an eye. I could already hear the auditory hallucination of helicopter propellers whirring in my ears.
"W-Wait a moment, Chief!"