Chapter Text
Junhoe woke up to ten missed calls from his mum, twenty from Jinhwan and his battery was almost dead from all the missed calls. “Fuck fuck fuck!” Junhoe cursed under his breath, ran to the toilet to gargle some mouth wash, gathered what he could and dashed out of his door. “Where’s the car keys, Fuck Junhoe! Not today!!!” As he frantically searched all his pockets, his car keys magically fell out from his lunch bag. “Seriously? What the fuck” Junhoe cursed his disorganised self. This is definitely the best way to start the day. Junhoe wished he could speed his way to the hospital but he did not wish to add a speeding ticket to today. Any other day, just not today.
Junhoe parked his car, slam the doors and put his pair of long legs to great use. He wished he could sprint but he was not sure where he should sprint to. Time was ticking against his luck and he decided to head to the main lobby instead. There would be better directions from the main lobby. Definitely, that would be the safest bet.
As the elevator stirred, Junhoe quickly did a quick check of his reflection. He did a quick pat to his bedroom hair, tucked in his loud print shirt into his jeans and wipe the sleep from his eyes. Thankfully he managed to do all that before the elevator opened to the main lobby. Junhoe took a deep breath and scanned the area for more directions.
At the corner by the main entrance, there was a small booth set up to welcome others like him. Junhoe walked over nervously as he cooked up excuses for his tardiness. “My cat died? My tire was flat? I had a medical emergency? My uncle di—”
“Welcome to Hanbin University Hospital” The lady enthusiastically greeted passers-by.
“Hi, I am sorry, I am Koo Junhoe and I am here to erm, rep—"
“Hi! Are you here for your medical residency?” She asked with a welcoming smile. Junhoe assumed she should be a medical resident volunteering for this. “You are going to need a photo ID, you need to head over to the Human Resource Department, they have a cute corner set up for your photo taking. Once you have verified your details with their data, they will issue you with the ID. Without the ID, you might not be able to access some of the floors here. You may head over there first.” Junhoe could have sworn she was a cheerleader in school. No one was naturally born this chirpy and happy in the morning. She gave him a piece of paper containing all the information he needs. Steps for registration, map to the HR Dept, the auditorium and the itinerary for today.
Junhoe bowed gratefully and continued to make his way. He managed to make his way to the HR Dept without a hitch. The map was so detailed, it took him no effort to understand it. Despite his rough start to the day, photo taking is something he could do without any worries. Junhoe was blessed with good amazing looks. Good looking enough for him to be scouted by multiple entertainment agencies. A day will not be complete if a stranger did not approach him to ask him if he was interested to be a model or to ask if he is already a model.
Standing tall and proud at 6ft tall, muscular and ripped from his gym sessions, looks that will put some idols to shame and smart enough to be a medical student. It was as though his parent made a deal with the devil to have the most perfect child. The only flaw, he was a sleepyhead. Sleep has gotten him into so much trouble. The perfect example was today. The most important day in his life and he woke up half an hour late.
Junhoe could have sworn the lady who took his photo gasp at the results. Junhoe pretended he did not hear that and acted busy with his phone. “Here you go Koo Junhoe, aigoo… I wish my ID looked that 25% as good as yours.
Junhoe took the photo ID in his hand and stared at it for a while. Wow, my first day as a real doctor. Am I dreaming? Junhoe bowed and thanked them and left for the auditorium. Go through the main lobby, exit building and head to the building named Hanbin Memorial Hall was what the instructions indicated. Junhoe walked slowly while he put on the photo ID with the red lanyard. Woah now I feel like a real Doctor. He bumped into Jinhwan and was immediately received a punch from his Senior. “I swear you need someone to punch you awake every morning! How are you going to attend to urgent calls when you are on duty? Or if you are on-call duty?”
“Hyung, I swear I already set a million alarms. My handphone, my clocks and even set the timer so my Air conditioner will go off, so I will wake up cause of the heat. But I don’t know how I managed to sleep through all that”
“You have to learn how to control your sleepy head. By the way, congrats on today. We will grab some beer later. I was in your shoes a few years ago, believe me, as crazy as med school was, it is nothing, NOTHING compared to this. Three tough years of residency but it will still be amazing. Get ready for your first year though, it will be crazy hectic as you intern your way through”
Junhoe nodded taking in Jinhwan’s word of wisdom. “Hyung, since you are already a Fellow, any more words of advice?”
“Be friendly to EVERYONE. And I mean EVERYONE. Fellows, interns, your senior residents, your patients, the janitors, the lunch lady in the cafeteria, even strangers you come across with on hospital grounds. You may never know if the person you were rude to would one day be your patient or their guardian. You do not wish for them to have a bad first impression of you even before you treat them” Jinhwan tried to remember if he left anything out “OH, DO NOT ANNOY THE ATTENDINGS, DO NOT GET ON YOUR BOSS’S BAD SIDE”
“Noted!” Junhoe felt better knowing Jinhwan was in the same hospital with him. At least he would have someone familiar guiding him like a guardian angel. The two friends walked quietly side by side when Junhoe overheard a commotion behind them. They turned around and realised a lady had fainted in the main lobby. Jinhwan immediately went into action as he politely suggests for the onlookers to give her space. “Trust me, I am a Doctor” Despite the severity of the situation, Junhoe had to stifle a laugh. His dear friend Jinhwan was taking control of the situation like a boss and he could not identify this Jinhwan in the act. Junhoe now has to differentiate Jinhwan the silly Hyung and Jinhwan the Fellow.
Shortly after, another male in his white coat knelt by Jinhwan side. Junhoe tried to take a peek but he could only see the back of the Doctor’s head. From what Junhoe gathered, he could hear that the lady’s pulse was weak and he was unresponsive. The 2nd Doctor picked her up gently and placed her on a gurney brought over by whom Junhoe assumed was a nursing staff. Jinhwan immediately wrapped a blood pressure cuff around and peered at the numbers as he pumped the bulb.
Everything was happening so fast. Words like hypotensive, fluids were thrown in the air so naturally. Junhoe felt so useless as he observed the nurse assisted to set up an IV (intravenous) line for the lady. Junhoe noticed something and called out for his Hyung. “Hyung! Erm. Dr Kim, her elbow, there are some bruises and her blue fingertips too”
Unknowing to Junhoe, the Doctor kneeling was also Dr Kim. Both Doctors turned around and Junhoe’s mouth dropped. Jinhwan just nodded to acknowledge Junhoe’s observation and said something to 2nd Dr Kim. “low blood saturation…. haemophiliac…. lungs”
Junhoe was so eager to join in but he knew both Doctors already had the situation in control. In an instant, the 2nd Dr Kim used his stethoscope and listened in to her lungs. “Doctor Kim, I cannot hear anything, her lungs are struggling, she is suffocating”
Junhoe paid attention to the 2nd Doctor as he used the Ambu (Artificial Manual Breathing Unit) bag to assist the lady to breathe. Junhoe tried to listen in again as he realised both Doctors looked at each other with a look filled with worry.
“We have to do it”
“We should”
The nurse seems to understand what Jinhwan meant and pass him a scalpel. Junhoe’s mind went wild! Are they going to do surgery out here? The 2nd Doctor calmly with Jinhwan guidance moved the tip of the scalpel towards the lady’s ribs after the nurse assist him to lift her shirt. Junhoe, although not involved in the emergency assist, prayed under his breath. He made an incision at the fifth intercostal space, anterior to the midaxillary line. Junhoe was quivering at the side as he witnesses the procedure. Dr Kim made the perfect cut in between her ribs and blood started to spurt, gushing out of her chest. Finally, the lady started to breathe without assistance. Junhoe let go of the breath he was holding in in anticipation as well.
The nurses updated Jinhwan the operation room was already prepped and ready. Jinhwan thanked Doctor Kim and the nurse for their assist. The nurse pushed the gurney towards the surgical theatre while Jinhwan walked over to me.
“I am still required to educate you. It should have been an eye-opening experience for you. So what happened just now?”
“Haemophilia, low blood oxygen, no lung expansion, I guess it was haemothorax. Thus, why she was unable to breathe. Her lungs could not expand as blood was filling up her pleural cavity” Junhoe hoped he was partially right. It would be embarrassing if he got the answer wrong.
“Yeap. You were right. Great job Junhoe. Sorry though, I cannot accompany you to your orientation, I need to change into new scrubs. See you for beers later” Jinhwan turned on his heels and walked away
“Hyung!” Junhoe stopped him
“What?”
“Was that….”
“Yeap”
Junhoe stood there in a daze. The confirmation from Jinhwan hurt his heart yet it also brought life back into him. It was him. It was Kim Jiwon.