Chapter 138
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Italian Patient
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"An Italian's coming."
Italy. All that came to mind was pizza, pasta, Rome, soccer...
It felt like just yesterday I'd studied European history in social studies class decades ago.
The only image that surfaced was the vague boot-shaped landmass at the bottom of the European map.
Not that it had to be Italy specifically,
but seeing Western patients happened maybe ten times a year at most.
Patients from China, Japan, or Southeast Asia showed up several times a week, though.
"Everyone, an Italian patient is coming the week after next."
I let the staff know as I was heading out for the day.
There wasn't anything special to prepare, but it was better if they knew.
"Pardon?"
"Out of the blue like that?"
"It's on Nam Hyunjeong's referral, a kid with tics. For a herbal consult."
The staff looked pretty surprised too.
"Wow, what language do they speak in Italy?"
"Italian, obviously."
"Oh, right?"
Gong Nari scratched her head after absentmindedly asking Seo Ina.
"So what do we do? Do any of the directors speak Italian?"
"We've always gotten by with gestures whenever foreigners came. Besides, Europeans all speak good English since their languages are kinda similar."
Hwang Sanghun joined in as he came out after changing.
"Europe varies by country. Some places everyone speaks English no matter who you ask, but Italy's not one of them."
"Oh, Director Hwang's been to Italy? Me too—Rome! The Vatican! I wanna go so bad!"
Yeah. Gong Nari seems like a traveler, but she'd never taken a long vacation.
I'd have to suggest she take some time off for a trip.
"But didn't you just say it was a referral from Nam Hyunjeong? They must speak good English then."
Well, that was that.
Nam Hyunjeong and the new patient probably hadn't chatted in Italian or Korean, like Seo Ina said.
"I can't even speak a word of English."
But charging in trying to communicate in English would be a bigger disaster?
"Come on, don't be modest. Don't you need top scores in Korean, English, math, and electives to get into Korean medicine school?"
Gong Nari pouted, but acing the CSAT Korean, English, math, and electives was...
something from decades ago?
Sure, I'd gotten perfect English scores back then, but that was ages ago.
In the murim world, I occasionally met blue-eyed foreigners, but they all spoke good Chinese.
"I've forgotten it all. Even back then I couldn't free-talk, and now it's just 'Hello? How are you? I'm fine, thank you!' That's it."
Those lines stuck because they were so memorable, but they weren't enough for daily chat, let alone medical consults.
I'd reviewed muscle names prepping for the national exam, but herbal consults? No way.
"I don't even know what 'tic disorder' is in English."
"Tic is English... tic disorder."
So that's my level.
But Hwang Sanghun's pronunciation of "tic disorder" was beautiful.
"Oh, oppa's good at English? You can interpret if needed!"
I'd worried for nothing with Hwang Sanghun right upstairs.
"Weren't you a returnee student, oppa? I think you interpreted at some school event before!"
"That was just the professor dragging me into it. I went abroad as a kid, so..."
"I'll count on you, oppa!"
I gave him a thumbs-up, and his eyes shook.
"No, if it's Nam Hyunjeong's referral, won't they bring an interpreter? Friend or hired help."
Probably.
I didn't hear details on the patient's background, but if Nam Hyunjeong had to meet them in person, they were likely someone big in Italy.
Coming to Korea and planning Busan sightseeing, bringing their son—probably an owner's family from some corporation?
"Yeah, makes sense. Just in case!"
"No... I'm really not confident. Why not ask Director Yi Areum or Teacher Seol Yuhee..."
Hwang Sanghun tore at his hair.
I headed home, relieved.
No matter how unconfident, he'd be better than me.
Two weeks later, fourth floor of the clinic.
"An↗nyeo↘ng↘ha↘se↗yo↗!"
A portly white man burst in, greeting(?) in fluent Korean.
Blond hair slicked back, suited up.
He looked like a movie character who'd smoke a pipe while counting cash, but his energy was infectiously upbeat.
Seol Yuhee had been a bit tense since it was her day at the desk and a foreigner was coming, but he was super jovial.
"Hello~ First time here?"
Two people were with the middle-aged man.
The chiseled Western boy was probably the patient.
The Asian woman? Guide or interpreter, maybe.
Relieved at the sight, Seol Yuhee stuck to her standard Korean script.
"Adji! Jfei! Pqjh! Kdksl!"
"Ejhdskjfowjk!! Elsfddsf! Jkdsls! Bravo!"
But hold up—the middle-aged man spotted a painting on the clinic wall and lost it.
One the director bought from Grandma Heo Sun-nam's gallery.
He seemed thrilled by it.
"Teacher Yuhee, do you speak Italian by any chance...?"
"I can't even do Russian. Born and raised in Korea!"
Seo Ina asked hopefully in her panic, but Seol Yuhee could only shake her head.
What now? Try English?
"Hello?"
Right then, Director Hwang Sanghun emerged from the consult room, hearing the commotion.
He held an English medical guidelines book.
Probably grabbed it absentmindedly.
"Hello, are you the interpreter?"
Director Hwang calmly addressed the woman.
If not, that guideline would shine.
"Yes, that's me. Are you the director?"
Luckily, she was.
"I'm the deputy director. Director Han Yeowon, who's doing the consult, is downstairs. I told her to come up, but could you register first?"
"Ah, sure. I'll handle registration. Sorry for the noise. Patient's Paolo Ricci, age 9. Here for tic symptoms."
Seol Yuhee fumbled out the registration form.
"Could you fill this out here?"
Paolo RICCI
The moment name and age hit the chart, Director Han Yeowon arrived on the fourth floor.
"Akjfpioqwejfwepiofko!"
Even seeing the middle-aged man still exclaiming in alien tongue, Director Hwang stayed cool.
"Is he saying the painting's cool?"
"First he said it had an Eastern aesthetic charm, now he's marveling at being in the heart of Eastern medicine."
"...I see. Tell him thanks, no need. Director Han Yeowon's room is downstairs, and there's an even cooler painting in the waiting area there—please wait below."
Thanks to that, we smoothly sent the new patient downstairs.
Just a brief interaction, but they were quite the chaotic bunch.
Director Han Yeowon would handle it fine.
The moment they entered the consult room, the guardian lit up at the dongin acupuncture model.
No words needed—his expressions were so clear, I knew he was thrilled.
Come to think of it, when I first dropped into the murim world, I'd muddled through with my basic hanja too.
"Have the patient sit here."
"...?"
"You're the interpreter, right? Please relay. Patient here, guardian in the side chair."
I'd gotten the upstairs rundown via messenger, but communication wasn't smooth—maybe she was hired last-minute in Korea.
Anyway, once I asked her to relay, they sat as directed.
I checked the chart name and asked.
"Paolo, is that okay? Nice to meet you."
"Buongiorno."
The patient finally spoke.
Oh, buongiorno. I'd prepped for that.
Unlike his boisterous dad, the son was incredibly well-mannered.
Even factoring in foreign land and hospital vibes, he was quiet for a 9-year-old.
"Mr. Ricci says he's brought his son to Korea to show him the wide world, and if we can treat the tics too, he'd be overjoyed."
"I see."
The interpreter added he owned multiple hotels in Europe, was in Korea for business with family for tourism.
And had long been into Eastern stuff.
Hmm, shoulda sent them to the Jeju branch?
"Could the patient describe his symptoms?"
After brief intros with Mr. Ricci, we dove into the consult.
I asked Paolo directly, nodding at the interpreter.
One step later, symptoms reached me.
"He says he wrinkles his nose, blinks a lot. Lately, nodding too. Dad and teachers tell him to stop, but he can't—it's troublesome."
"Please check for convulsions. If told to stop, can he hold for 1 minute, 5 minutes?"
"Yes."
"It's an irresistible urge, happens unconsciously?"
"Yes."
No disagreement on tic diagnosis then.
"When did it start?"
"About 3 months ago."
The interpreter answered first, then reconfirmed with the guardian.
"Three months ago, Mr. Ricci noticed and scolded him not to, but the school teacher contacted saying it might be tics, so they went to the hospital."
"Aha. Any other treatments so far?"
He explained his son's situation at length.
"Hospital said they could prescribe dopamine blockers, but for kids this age, tics often appear temporarily and vanish, so they advised observation."
"Ah."
Yeah. Psych meds right away would be too much.
As he said, pediatric tics often improve naturally in months.
"They said avoid stress triggers, try exercise—so he stopped scolding and signed up for swimming, but it stressed him more and symptoms worsened. Then at a meeting, a CEO's sister said she had the same as a kid, cured by herbal meds, so here they are."
Interpreter nailed the super long spiel perfectly. Rookie?
"You've come to the right place."
"He says please take good care."
"Just a few questions first. Symptoms started with nose wrinkling—were you caught a cold around then?"
Confirming with Paolo and Mr. Ricci, the latter looked shocked, like how'd you know.
"Exactly! It happened!"
My hunch was right.
"Three months ago, bad cold, stuffy nose—he thought it was sniffing, but two weeks later cold gone, symptoms persisted and similar ones appeared!"
Not just Mr. Ricci—even the interpreter's eyes widened.