Golden Time

The practice students were walking around the hospital in great excitement and tension.

It was the same for Suhyuk. No, he looked around and gave a silent sigh.

There were so many sick people out there who were in dire need of help.

At that moment a nurse came to him, pushing a stretcher car on which a patient was lying. Suhyuk moved to the side and unconsciously read the name attached to the label.

“Other peripheral vascular diseases… does the patient smoke or have any hypertension? Also suspected of having hyperlipidemia, and there is a family history of diabetes … what if the patient has ischemia…?”

Suhyuk continued to mutter, “Using heparin, incense coagulant and removing embolization…”

“Where are you going Suhyuk?”

At Choi Suryon’s voice, he got his head screwed on and stopped walking.

He was following the patient without realising it.

“What is the matter?”

“Nothing.”

Suhyuk was following his peers walking ahead, and once again he looked back. He look at the patient with pupils full of regret, but he turned back instantly.

After that he repeated the same action several times.

Suhyuk himself was not aware of it.

The students briefly listened to the PK practice to be held in the conference room.

2 weeks with the Emergency Department, 12 weeks with Internal Medicine, 7 weeks with Surgery… They should complete a total of 36 weeks of experience and practice to finish the third-year in regular courses. Plus, they should pass a school test and get practice credits. Far from easy.

If they get lazy, getting flunked is a sure thing.

‘I can make it. Definitely,’ Suhyuk promised to himself.

He vowed he would master what he did not understand, and refresh on what he already knew.

‘I’ll run toward my goal without hesitating.’

“Don’t be too scared,” said Park Ganghyun, a first-year resident, who was supposed to contact the interns most often. Park, with his slim jaw and tough beard, melted the frozen atmosphere among them.

“You do not prescribe to the patient directly, nor do you do the surgery. It is literally a practice. If you do it as instructed, and make no mistake, you will be able to complete PK practice well. Of course, you should be working hard.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Just feel relaxed as if you were looking around the hospital today, okay?”

“Yeah!”

Their voice, like that of new-born chicks, made a smile rise on Park’s face.

‘I had those days too.’

Practice is no big deal. When they pass the state exam and enter the internship, that is the beginning of hell. No more personal time.

“Today, there is no making the rounds with the professor. Instead, you come with me to look around the patients building for a taste of the practice. Anybody have any complaints?”

The conference room was quiet. Park opened his mouth again, “Let’s go.”

They went out of the conference room. When Suhyuk was about to go out, Park stopped him to say, “You must be Lee Suhyuk.”

He scratched his head awkwardly.

“Yes, please give me a lot of guidance.”

“The professors have a lot of expectations for you.”

Park then moved to check the condition of the patients.

Suhyuk’s unit followed him.

The unit assigned to PK practice does not change throughout the year. Never, ever.

“I’m shaking,” said Choi Suryon quietly, but Suhyuk relieved her, saying,

“He told us we were just looking around, so we don’t have to worry about it.”

They arrived at a patient’s room.

A patient in his 40s.

Park asked about his condition, “How are you feeling?”

“I feel okay, but I’m not sure.”

“Let me see the surgery area.”

When Park lifted his clothes, the students behind him focused with glaring eyes.

“Thoracic empyema …”

Recognizing the patient’s illness, Suhyuk moved forward before he knew it.

Then one of the students grabbed Suhyuk’s gown and whispered.

“Hey, do not go too close. You stand in the way of him checking the patient.”

But it was already too late.

Park turned his head toward Suhyuk who was up close, and looked at him.

With a slight smile, he asked, “Early thoracotomy in empyema. Why?”

Then he fixed his gaze on the affected area again.

Suhyuk opened his mouth without hesitation, “I think the patient has undergone early thoracotomy because the fibrinolytic enzyme and pleuroscopy failed to induce drainage.”

Park, who was looking at the affected area, suddenly turned his head to Suhyuk again.

He showed an expression wondering how he could know as far as that.

But he soon laughed, thinking that’s why the professors were interested in a chick-like student, who was not an intern.

“Oh, it’s hard to understand. How about you?”

Park asked the other students playfully. There was no reply.

They were just silent like a mute that ate honey.

Laughing gently, Park finished disinfecting the patient’s affected area, and then he looked at the practice students. They wore a blank expression as if they heard an alien language. This is normal. Looking at Suhyuk, he moved to the next patients’ room, shaking his head. It was the same with other students.

***

Lunch hour.

People in the hospital lobby were watching TV and clicking their tongues.

“Nowadays, police are busy sparing themselves even when they see brutal criminals. Tut, tut.”

“That guy must become a cop!”

When each and every one of them said that, with a frown, Suhyuk moved his eyes to the TV.

And he had to look blankly because someone he knew was reported on the news.

<An ordinary citizen caught a wanted murder suspect after he had a violent fight. This brave citizen is a law student who graduated from law school…”

At that moment his phone was vibrating, but Suhyuk received the call with his eyes fixed on the TV.

“Hello.”

“It’s me brother.”

It was Dongsu.

“I see you on TV right now.”

“What? Am I on air already? I heard they would report about me on the 9 o’clock news.”

Suhyuk sighed deeply.

“Hey, why did you meddle like that? If something goes wrong, what are you going to do? You’re still a student. It’s not too late even if you catch criminals later.”

“Don’t you monopolize the TV, okay? It’s about time I were on the TV news at least once. Ha ha ha!”

Suhyuk shook his head.

Unlike the personality of someone who wants to be a lawyer, Dongsu throws a punch first without thinking deeply… What if he’s a prosecutor?

At that moment Suhyuk conjured up an image of him cracking his knuckles before a suspect.

‘I can’t believe he would do that in that kind of situation.’

“Where are you now?” asked Dongsu.

“I came to the hospital for practice.”

“You must be busy. Which hospital are you at?”

“Daehan Hospital, where are you?”

“Huh? I am now near that hospital”

“Why are you there?”

“I just got out after I wrote a report at the police station nearby. Shall we see each other? It’s lunch time.”

“Okay, let’s have lunch together.”

***

The two who met in front of the hospital went into a restaurant.

“Were you hurt?” asked Suhyuk.

Dongsu just chuckled.

“I’m your brother, nobody can touch me,” he said.

Shaking his head, Suhyuk ordered food.

Suddenly, he looked at the back of Dongsu’s hands.

A faintly visible blood stain, which he washed carelessly.

“What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, this?”

Dongsu looked at the back of his hands, “I had it lightly scratched.”

“Wasn’t it scratched while you were fighting with the suspect? Let me take a look,” said Suhyuk.

Dongsu waved his hands.

“It’s nothing. Just scratches.”

“Let me see then.”

Grabbing his hands, Suhyuk rolled up his sleeves. There was a wound drawn like a solid line on the forearm. With a frown, Suhyuk looked at his forearm carefully.

He could see the damage done where the epidermis was entering the dermis.

Though it was not serious enough to worry about, Suhyuk stared at him with a hardened face.

“Did you get scratched by a knife?”

Dongsu replied, scratching his head, “He challenged me with a knife, so I crushed him out of shape.”

Suhyuk shook his head, saying, “Get it disinfected. Also get a tetanus shot, just in case.”

“Your order is here.”

Freshly cooked ox bone soup was served, with steam rolling up from the pots in which chopped green onions had been sliced.

“Huh? Are you…?”

The waitress serving them recognized Dongsu.

He scratched his head with a smile.

“Yes, yes, I am that student.”

“Huh?” This time she was amazed at Suhyuk.

That medical student who found out the cause of that body.

She looked at Suhyuk and Dongsu in turn.

Not only she, but also all of the customers recognized both of them.

“Yes, yes I am that very student, hahaha.”

Dongsu’s laughter grew bigger, and Suhyuk only moved the spoon quietly.

So, they ate without knowing whether they were eating with their mouth or nose.

***

“It’s okay, really,” Dongsu said.

“Come on. Just follow me,” Suhyuk insisted.

After failing to break Suhyuk’s stubbornness, Dongsu was entering the hospital entrance.

Then they heard an ambassador siren. Suhyuk’s head turned to the side.

The ambulance stopped, and a patient on a stretcher was taken out.

White bubbles in his mouth. Suhyuk’s feet moved before he knew it.

“Well, the hospital is really big. If you become a doctor, you may work here…”

Dongsu was busy staring at the hospital.

“Hey, are there pretty girls in your class? Please introduce me to…”

Dongsu, turning his head to the side, shook his head with a silly expression.

Wondering why there was no answer from him, Dongsu saw Shyuk walking slowly toward the emergency room.

“Hey,” Dongsu grabbed his shoulder.

Then, Suhyuk turned back.

“Where are you going? You said you’re going to do the disinfection for me?”

“Oh, yes, let’s go to sterilize.”

Suhyuk, guiding Dongsu, looked back again.

But soon they disappeared into the building.

***

After Dongsu went back, Suhyuk’s group members moved along again with Park Ganghyun.

They had already seen several patients and become acquainted with the faces of the hospital employees. During that time, Suhyuk barely managed his dizzy spirit.

Whenever he look around, he saw many patients everywhere.

Different illnesses and treatments for them came to his mind in a messy way, which kept coming out of his control.

“Wuwheck.”

Choi Suryon was surprised at his retching.

“Are you okay?”

Suhyuk, wiping his lips, nodded his head.

Though he said that, he did not feel at ease at all.

His dizziness has made him feel like vomiting.

Suhyuk closed his eyes to clean up the clutter in his head as much as possible.

“Well, ten minutes break. If you want to go to the bathroom, do it quickly.”

The students were scattered as if they had waited for it.

Suhyuk sat on a chair in the hallway.

“Are you really okay?” Choi Suryon asked, sitting next to him.

“I felt a little dizzy,” said Suhyuk.

Her anxiety was reflected on her face.

“Don’t you think you have to take medicine? How, and where in your body are sick?”

Suhyuk looked at her grinning, “It’s okay now.”

“Hold on a little bit, it will be over soon. Can I bring some medicine? If I ask, probably they will give some…”

Shaking his head, he put his head on the wall and closed his eyes.

His uvula protruded convexly. She was looking at it quietly.

“…”

What was she thinking? She just fixed her gaze on it without saying anything.

Ten minutes passed.

As soon as Suhyuk rose from the seat, Park came up to him and said, “Lee Suhyuk, Prof. Kim Jinwook is looking for you.”

“Yes? Why me?”

“Well, I’m curious too,” said Park shrugging his shoulders.

Suhyuk pondered over it in his mind.

‘Professor Kim Jinwook…’

No familiar face came up.

He was left alone after Park and the students left for another place.

‘Why is he looking for me?’

Suhyuk went to the office Park gave him, with a doubtful mind.

With the knocking sound, he heard a man’s voice.

“Come on in.”

When he opened the door, the man, who had been looking into a book, lifted his head.

“Hi, Professor, I hear you want to see me.”

Suhyuk could not speak further. The professor in his early or mid-30s, familiar face, which he saw a few years prior.

The professor smiled and said, “It’s been a long time since we met, right? I see you bringing about storms.”