Chapter 9 : All Charts in the World (2)
Chapter 9 - All Charts in the World (2)
“I think chicken would be good. Don’t forget the carbonated drinks.”
Sihyeon said with a completely serious expression.
Before the regression.
The guardian of a patient in the same room as Lee Gong-ho had once brought chicken to the ward.
— Hey there, young man, have a piece too.
He remembered that Lee Gong-ho had eaten very well back then when several people sat around sharing the chicken.
“Chicken? He’s someone who says he won't even eat hospital food; would he even look at something brought from outside?”
Hwang Jin-ho had an expression as if he didn't think it would work.
“If he doesn't eat it, you can just consider it treating the ward to a late-night snack.”
“I-Is that so?”
There was a strange persuasiveness in Sihyeon’s words. Hwang Jin-ho soon began searching for nearby chicken places.
……
Late Night in Ward 9
“Delivery is here.”
The delivery man’s hands were full of food.
“Pardon? We didn’t order anything.”
The nurse talking to the delivery man over the intercom looked puzzled.
“Ah, I ordered it. I thought you all should have a late-night snack while working.”
“Really? Thank you!”
At Hwang Jin-ho’s words, the nurse’s face brightened. It was an expression of perfect timing; she had been worrying about what kind of snack to order after work anyway.
“But isn’t this too much?”
The nurse’s eyes grew wide.
The evening shift (3 PM – 11 PM) had only three people. Even including Sihyeon and Hwang Jin-ho, who were practically living at the hospital due to the ‘100-day on-call’ period at the start of their first year, there were only about five people at the station.
“We’ll eat well. It looks like we could manage two chickens per person!”
“I didn’t know what you nurses would like, so I ordered various kinds. If there are leftovers, the patients watching TV in the hall can have some too.”
Just then, Lee Gong-ho, who was out in the central lounge of the ward, caught his eye. He was leafing through a newspaper while keeping his distance from other patients, just as he usually did.
“I’ll go give it to them.”
It was Lee Seon-ji, the youngest nurse in Ward 9. She spread aluminum foil over a large tray used in the ward and transferred the chicken onto it.
The chicken, piled high by variety, looked quite appetizing.
“The doctor on duty today is treating us. Eat before it gets cold. This place's chicken is really delicious.”
“Ch-Chicken!”
The eyes of the patients, who were tired of the bland hospital food, lit up.
“Oh, we’ll eat well. My! It’s delicious, truly delicious. If I could just have a glass of somaek* with this, whew! Just wait until I get out of here.”
[N: Somaek is a popular South Korean cocktail combining soju and beer, creating a refreshing, bubbly drink often paired with Korean BBQ.]
A middle-aged male patient said while tearing into the chicken.
“Didn’t you tell the professor yesterday that you’d quit drinking? That you’d never be hospitalized again?”
“When did I say that? I said I’d control it we~ll and drink in moderation!”
He was a patient hospitalized for severe alcohol dependence, but it seemed he still had a long way to go before discharge.
“Hey there, young man, have a piece too.”
The middle-aged male patient, perhaps feeling a bit self-conscious, offered food to Lee Gong-ho, who had been watching tentatively from the corner.
“Ah, yes.”
Lee Gong-ho sat at the table hesitantly. However, he only agonized over which piece to pick and couldn't quite bring himself to eat.
“Good grief! You’re making me restless. Just eat anything. There isn’t much left anyway.”
“Ah, yes, yes.”
At the middle-aged male patient’s urging, Lee Gong-ho began to eat the chicken reluctantly.
Ding-dong!
[System: Lee Gong-ho's treatment progress is rising!]
[Treatment Progress 15/100 -> 17/100]
‘As expected.’
Sihyeon cheered inwardly. It was the first time since being admitted to the ward that the patient had eaten food with others.
“Attaboy. You’re eating well. Have some cola here too. Huh? No paper cups?”
“I... I’m oka—”
“Since there aren’t any cups, use this for now.”
The middle-aged male patient emptied the cola he was drinking in one gulp and handed the glass to Lee Gong-ho. It was a sight much like a department manager pressuring a new employee to drink.
“Thank you.”
Lee Gong-ho took the glass offered by the middle-aged male patient with both hands. He then downed it without the slightest hesitation.
Watching that scene, Hwang Jin-ho’s eyes grew wide.
“Sihyeon, did you see that just now? Mr. Lee Gong-ho is eating well!”
Ding-dong!
[System: Lee Gong-ho's treatment progress is rising!]
[Treatment Progress 17/100 -> 34/100]
Sihyeon grinned as he checked the contents of the pop-up window.
‘I can move up this patient’s discharge date too.’
It seemed certain that Lee Gong-ho would also show a different course of progress compared to the past.
……
“I will begin the patient report.”
The following morning’s rounds. The residents were in the middle of reporting the progress of their inpatients.
“Room 902, patient Kim Su-yeong, was discharged yesterday following improvement in her manic symptoms. The discharge prescription is Abilify 10mg, Lamictal 12.5mg, Depakote 500mg, and Rivotril 0.5mg HS.”
Professor Jin Cheol-yeong nodded.
“Right. She improved faster than I expected. No other unusual issues?”
“Yes. Outpatient treatment is scheduled for two weeks from now.”
“Good. We can slowly adjust the medication at the outpatient clinic. Did Dr. Cheon mention changing it to Lamotrigine last time?”
“Yes, Professor.”
“Alright. I understand.”
Jin Cheol-yeong scanned the patient’s discharge record and gave a satisfied smile.
“How is Dr. Hwang’s patient doing?”
Jin Cheol-yeong was particularly interested in the patients assigned to the first-year residents.
“He has been consuming food since last night. He also took his morning medication well.”
Hwang Jin-ho’s voice was filled with a fair amount of strength. The image of him being restless because there had been no progress for over a week had vanished.
“Oh, really? How did the interview go yesterday?”
“To be honest, the interview didn't go well... but after having chicken with the other patients, he improved immediately.”
“What? Chicken?”
Pfft.
At the fresh answer—the likes of which she hadn't heard in a long time—the head nurse almost spat out the brown rice green tea she was drinking.
Ahem.
However, sensing the suddenly chilly atmosphere, she barely managed to stifle her laughter.
“Ah, well, that is... Since the patient had persecutory delusions regarding the hospital and refused food, but since he ate leftovers from other patients or food shared together in a group...”
“Did Dr. Hwang buy that chicken?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes...”
Jin Cheol-yeong frowned for a moment but soon relaxed his expression and said with a smile,
“It’s a very interesting idea. It reminds me of a story I heard from my mentor.”
Jin Cheol-yeong began the story with a kind look in his eyes, as if gazing at a distant mountain.
Sihyeon already knew the story Professor Jin Cheol-yeong was about to tell.
It was a story Jin Cheol-yeong told every year whenever new residents arrived.
A long, long time ago, there was an old closed ward, and there was a patient with persecutory delusions who acted strangely, plugging every door and window crack with newspaper every day.
No one could treat this patient, but one doctor eventually succeeded.
By helping the patient plug the cracks and finding drafty spots together every day.
“The patient was worried that someone might spray poison gas into the room at night to kill him, and he couldn't trust anyone. But he felt that at least the doctor who helped him plug the cracks was on his side.”
How much comfort does the fact that there is even one person on your side in this world provide?
The story went that the patient began interviews with the attending doctor and his symptoms gradually improved.
Hearing the story again after returning four years into the past made him feel deeply moved.
Regardless, Hwang Jin-ho had scored points with Professor Jin Cheol-yeong.
Perhaps in the distant future, junior residents might start their first year listening to the ‘Story of the Psychiatrist Who Treated a Patient with Chicken’ told by Professor Jin Cheol-yeong.
……
“It feels like only yesterday that I heard that story last year,” Kim Seok-yong said once the rounds were over.
“Since it’s my duty today, Sihyeon and Jin-ho, you guys go out for the evening.”
“Pardon?” Sihyeon and Hwang Jin-ho asked back simultaneously.
“Just don't get caught by the upper-year doctors.”
“Ah... thank you, Doctor!”
This was the period of so-called ‘100-day on-call,’ where they worked continuously without any days off.
It was customary for new residents to live and eat at the hospital for a certain period at the beginning of the semester without going home.
In the past, that period was quite long, so it was called ‘100-day on-call,’ but recently it had been reduced significantly to about one or two months.
Excluding sleeping time, they were essentially stuck with work; even on days when a second-year was on duty, if an ER call came, they would go down with the second-year to see patients and learn how to write charts.
It might seem harsh at first glance, but there was a lot to learn as a new resident, and it also meant seeing firsthand how a second-year treats patients, so it had been done that way at the beginning of the semester.
‘To have time off during this time.’
Of course, it was an unofficial one. It was something that would have been unimaginable in the past.
Ding-dong!
As expected, the notification sound rang out without fail.
[System: Achievement rewards are being issued.]
[Day-Off-Day - Obtained time off during the 100-day on-call period! (Very hard difficulty, +700P)]
Counting from the end of his internship, it was his first outing in three weeks. The hearts of the two first-years had already begun racing toward the outside of the hospital.
……
“Sihyeon, what should we eat?”
“Anything that isn't hospital food will be delicious.”
“I suddenly want to eat a fresh salad.”
“Salad... sure, let's go.”
Sihyeon was someone who naturally thought eating out meant meat, but did the menu really matter in this situation?
The two of them were excited just by the fact that they were leaving the hospital for a short while.
……
A moment later.
A family restaurant near the hospital.
Between neatly dressed men and women,
two men in scruffy shirts, looking distinctly worn out, were hurriedly piling food onto their plates.
Eating like this, just the two of them near the hospital, could be counted on one hand across all four years.
Because whenever one was off, the other was always on duty.
After sharing various stories, Hwang Jin-ho asked.
“Sihyeon, do you have a girlfriend?”
Sihyeon had to think for a moment before answering the sudden question.
He felt like there was someone he had been casually seeing during the middle of his internship, but at this point, whether they were still in touch was a blur.
Still, there was no definite romantic relationship.
“Nope. What about you?”
“I do have one. But we've both been so busy lately that it's been a while since we've seen each other's faces.”
Hwang Jin-ho said with a bitter smile.
“I see.”
In truth, he knew, but asked out of politeness.
Hwang Jin-ho had a girlfriend he had been dating since medical school.
‘There’s no need to mention that they’ll break up because she cheats.’
Supposedly, she said she hated a man who was always on duty and had no interest in her.
‘Well. Who would like a private slave tied to a hospital 365 days a year?’
As his thoughts reached that point, a bitter smile naturally formed.
“It’s perfect timing. Want to go on a blind date soon?”
[System : A new quest has arrived.]
————
[Quest - Delinquent Resident]
Difficulty E
A blind date offer has come in during the very early stages of the first year.
Love blooms even in the midst of war.
Do not miss this golden opportunity!
Success Condition : Acceptance of the blind date and development into a romantic relationship
Success Reward : Title of Hero + 5,000P
Failure : ???
————
[Will you accept the quest? Accept / Decline ]
Quest.
Moreover, it was a request to go on a blind date during the ‘100-day on-call’ period.
Sihyeon couldn’t take his eyes off the notification window for a long time.