Blind Stubbornness, Part 3
It wasn't because I was filled with some grand sense of duty. Holding the receiver, I stared blankly at the futile argument unfolding in the treatment room across the way. Even at this very moment, filthy fluid was likely spreading throughout the patient's abdomen. If that man didn't swallow his pride, there was a ninety-nine percent chance he would die of septic shock within a few hours. And I would have to watch it happen, completely helpless. It was just... because it would leave a bad taste in my mouth. That was it. The lingering discomfort. The moment he signed the DAMA forms and left the hospital in an ambulance. The moment we received a call a few hours later saying he was pronounced DOA at another hospital's ER. If a patient died like that, it would haunt my dreams. That lingering discomfort. The "what ifs" that might follow me for the rest of my life. I hated that. I hated the thought of that guilt keeping me awake at night. That was why I was doing this crazy thing right now. It wasn't because I cherished his life so deeply; it was purely for the sake of my own peaceful sleep. Yeah, exactly. I'm no saintly doctor. I'm just doing this for my own peace of mind. I rationalized it to myself.
I brought the receiver back to my ear. "Ah, yes, Professor. I'm sorry. I'll hand him over right away. Please hold on for just a moment." Covering the mouthpiece with my hand, I walked over to the bed.
Meanwhile, a fierce debate was still raging by the bedside. Jo Jae-shin, the General Surgery resident, was trying to persuade the patient in what looked like a final, desperate struggle. "Going to Seoul right now is extremely dangerous! If you absolutely must go to an Ohsung hospital, then at least go to Ohsung Masan Hospital, which is much closer—"
"What do you mean, Masan?!" the man bellowed. "Do you think I'm throwing this fit just to go to some backwater place like Masan? Seoul! Ohsung Hospital! If it's not there, I'm not getting the surgery!"
Standing beside them, Lee Min-jae seemed to have given up, staring at the ceiling with his arms crossed. Watching this unfold, I quietly approached the man and held my phone out in front of his face. "Excuse me, sir." At my voice, the patient, Jo Jae-shin, and Lee Min-jae all snapped their heads toward me. "Would you mind taking this call?"
"What is this now?!" the man shouted in irritation. "What kind of quack are you bringing in here? Are you trying to scam me over the phone now?!"
I spoke in a very calm tone. "It's a doctor from Ohsung Seoul Hospital."
"..."
"He's the Head of Emergency Medicine at Ohsung Seoul Hospital. He said he wants to speak with you directly."
I offered the phone to him once more. The man's eyes narrowed. He looked back and forth between my face and the screen in my hand, his gaze dripping with suspicion. Still highly skeptical, he finally took the phone. "Ah, wait a moment, sir," I said, stopping his hand. "Please put it on speakerphone. We need to hear it as well." Though he frowned in disapproval, he complied and tapped the speakerphone button. The voice of Professor Kim Hyuk-jae, sounding thick with sleep, echoed through the ER.
"...Hello?"
"Uh... Ahem! It's me! Park Sang-cheol!" The man suddenly cleared his throat, squeezing out the most dignified voice he could muster, as if he were on intimate terms with the Ohsung Hospital doctor.
"Park Sang-cheol...? Who... Ah, whatever. Are you in the Cheongjin University Hospital ER in Busan right now?"
There was not a shred of friendliness in the professor's voice. It made sense, given that he had just been woken up in the middle of the night and was undoubtedly extremely irritated.
"Yes, yes! That's right! I'm here right now, and these quacks are telling me to let them slice my stomach open here! With my status, how could I possibly get treated in a backwater place like this... So I told them I'm going to Ohsung Hospital! I told them to contact my primary care physician, Professor Cho—" Just as the man was about to launch into a long-winded explanation of his grievances and circumstances—
"Quiet."
Professor Kim's single word cut the man off instantly.
"Sir, I heard your appendix has ruptured, or is right on the verge of rupturing. Is that correct?"
"Uh... well, that's what they said..."
"And you want to come to Seoul right now? Traveling from Busan to Seoul takes at least four and a half hours—four hours even if the ambulance doesn't hit any traffic. Within that time, the filthy fluid in your abdomen will burst, peritonitis will set in, you'll go into septic shock, and there's a ninety-nine percent chance you'll end up in the afterlife. And you still want to come?"
"No, but... shouldn't I get surgery at a proper place? How can I trust this hospital—"
"Sir."
Professor Kim's voice dropped another octave.
"It's an appendectomy. A simple appendix removal. Any general surgeon in South Korea, even a second-year resident, can do this surgery with their eyes closed."
"But this surgery..."
"Whether you get that surgery at Cheongjin University Hospital, at our hospital, or at the general hospital right in front of your house, the result will be ex-act-ly the same, sir! Do you think you're getting a liver transplant or heart surgery? There is not even a one percent reason for you to risk your life to come to Seoul! Do you think our ER beds are just sitting empty at this hour?!"
Silence fell over the room. Everyone held their breath, focusing entirely on the voice coming through the speakerphone. Professor Kim Hyuk-jae's words were harsh, but not a single thing he said was wrong. The man couldn't say a word. His lips parted and closed, but he couldn't offer any counterargument.
"Unless you have a death wish, get the surgery right now as the doctors there tell you to. Once you're healthy again, you can come to Ohsung Hospital to get checked out or brag all you want. But not right now. I'm hanging up."
Having delivered his message with absolute precision, Professor Kim hung up without a shred of hesitation. *Beep— beep— beep—*
The man stared blankly into space, still holding the phone. His face flushed bright red, painted with a mix of anger, shame, or perhaps just pure shock. Finally, he muttered in a tiny, grumbling voice.
"Ahem, *cough!*" He cleared his throat for no reason. "...They should have explained it like that from the start! What's dangerous, what's urgent! Huh? Am I a doctor? You have to explain things properly for me to understand!" He shamelessly began shifting the blame, acting as if this entire ordeal was caused by our lack of proper explanation.
I let out a dry laugh, utterly dumbfounded, but Lee Min-jae and Jo Jae-shin simply nodded in silence. Right now, humoring the old man was the best course of action.
"Argh!" Right then, the man clutched his stomach again, letting out a groan.
"Give him one ampule of Ketorolac right away. We need to manage his pain," Lee Min-jae ordered smoothly. Jo Jae-shin nodded.
"Sir, we'll ease your pain first. Once you get the injection, please wait just a bit, and the General Surgery professor will be here shortly."
The man no longer whined about going to Seoul. No, he couldn't.
I approached him, holding the pre-operative instruction sheet and the surgical consent form I had prepared in advance. Only the final step remained.
"Sir, are you feeling a bit more clear-headed?"
"Ah... my stomach..."
The arrogance he had displayed earlier was completely gone.
"Once you sign the consent form, you'll go straight into emergency surgery. There are a few things you absolutely must know beforehand, so I'll explain them to you."
I began reciting the details I had received from Jo Jae-shin. "The surgery will be performed under general anesthesia. The duration varies depending on how badly it has ruptured, but it usually takes about one to two hours. It will likely be done laparoscopically, making a few small incisions in your abdomen. However, if the inflammation is too severe or if there are severe adhesions, we may have to convert to an open laparotomy, which means opening up your abdomen."
"You will need to be hospitalized for a few days after the surgery. Depending on your recovery, you might be transferred to your beloved Ohsung Hospital, but the probability is low. Complications like infection or bleeding can occur. While they aren't common, the possibility is always there."
"Alright, that's the gist of it. Do you have any questions?"
"No... no... I don't..."
"Then please read through this surgical consent form, and if you agree, sign right here."
I held out the consent form and a pen. The man took the pen with a trembling hand. "I... I agree... I'll agree..."
"You need to sign right here, sir." With a face on the verge of tears, he scribbled his name in crooked handwriting.
At that moment, the ER doors slid open, and Jo Jae-shin returned. Behind him was a middle-aged General Surgery professor who looked as though he had just arrived at the hospital.
"Is everything ready?" the GS professor asked.
"Yes, Professor. We just got the consent form. The patient's vitals are still stable, and antibiotics have been administered," Jo Jae-shin reported.
"Good. Let's take him up right away."
And so, the Ohsung Seoul Hospital fanatic was finally taken up to the operating room of a "backwater" hospital in Busan. Watching the stretcher cart rattle away, I leaned my back against the wall and let out a long, deep sigh. "Phew..." It was over.
I returned to the station, barely holding my frayed mind together, and sat in front of the computer. *Time to organize the charts.* I meticulously recorded the treatments I had administered before the surgery, the changes in the patient's condition, and the process of handing him over to General Surgery. If any issues arose later, this chart would be the only evidence to protect me.
After finishing the charting, I habitually pulled up the hospital-wide patient status board. I scrolled down to check the status of the operating rooms.
It was up. Now, it was truly out of my hands. Internally, I wished him a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. Though, of course, I wished even more fervently that I would never have to see him in the ER again.
Right then, *Ding—* a short text notification rang from the phone in my pocket. *What is it? No one should be texting me at this hour. Is it spam? Or my credit card bill...?* I casually checked my phone screen. The moment I saw the sender's name, my heart skipped a beat.
Why? With trembling fingers, I opened the message.
...^^? What was with that devilish emoticon? *Contact me again soon.* What did those words mean? Could he really be trying to recruit me? Or was it revenge for waking him up in the middle of the night? I had no way of knowing.