Chapter Text
(-6580)
“Dr. Ahn, Dr. Jang, the Jane Doe from this morning is up. She specifically asked for you two.” Nurse Huisu informed the duo, who were currently finishing up on lunch in Yulje’s cafeteria.
“Oh, okay okay, we should check up on her. Let’s go Huisu,” Gyeoul said frantically, almost a bit too eager to leave her lunch date - scratch that, companion at the time, probably to avoid whatever tension that’s been building up between each other ever since their unspoken truce.
Jeongwon let out a disappointed sigh as he took both his and Gyeoul’s trays and started catching up with the two retreating figures.
“Her vitals look good and there seems to be no signs of post op complications,” Gyeoul said, eyes trained on Jane Doe’s charts while heading towards the patient’s room. She closed the file and glanced at Nurse Huisu expectantly.
“But you seem rather agitated about her,” she continued.
“Despite her positive recovery, I can’t help but to consider the possibility of post op delirium or at least not rule it out until Professor Ahn takes a look at her,” Nurse Huisu replied awkwardly, while refusing to make eye contact with Gyeoul which she found rather strange even for the nurse she grew close to recently.
A firm hand softly landed on Gyeoul’s shoulders causing her to squeal in surprise.
“Hey, it’s just me,” Jeongwon said, slightly out of breath but still looking as good as ever. Focus Gyeoul, she told herself. This isn’t a time to be distracted.
“But wow, you two walk fast. I heard something about post op delirium, is there something I should be worried about?” he asked and by this time Nurse Huisu was already sliding the door to the private room open.
“You know what, it’s probably best that you two should probably talk to her to see if -” she replied as they entered the room only to be interrupted by Jane Doe herself.
“Took you long enough to find them,” Jane Doe said sternly to the nurse continuing with an eye roll.
“I find it hard to believe it took you that long to find Eomma and Appa, they literally live here. And you two,” Jane Doe said in an equally audacious tone to the two doctors in front of her.
“What must’ve been so pressing that you wouldn’t immediately see your daughter who’s been admitted?”
“So you’re telling me she’s exhibiting post operative delirium? That’s usually more apparent in elder patients no? If I’m not mistaken she’s around 16 to 17?” Gyeoul asked Nurse Huisu while going over Jane Doe’s charts again, intrigued by her statement.
“Yes she seems to be around that age, however I can’t be certain as she refuses to answer me when asked. She’s showing promising recovery from the surgery. However, her delusions are pretty serious.”
“I’ll ask her a few questions and gauge how she is but I’ll probably need details of what was prescribed to her during the perioperative period from Dr. Kwak , see if they might trigger the delusions and discuss with Prof. Ahn if a neuro consult is necessary. We still didn’t get a name from her? Or family?” Gyeoul said just as they reached Jane Doe’s room.
“See that’s where things get complicated and where I went with the assumption of post-operative delirium. Jane Doe thinks that her parents are -“
Nurse Huisu didn’t get to finish her sentence before being interrupted by Jane Doe, again.
“I’m right here you know.”
Jeongwon cleared his throat before addressing Nurse Huisu, “Thank you Huisu, we’ll take it over from here.”
She nodded in reply and made a beeline to the door but still had time to stick her tongue out at Jane Doe before leaving, receiving another eye roll from her.
“Alright, if you’re done picking fights with the nurse, do you mind answering some questions for us?” Jeongwon said to Jane Doe, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs by the bed, and gestured to Gyeoul to do the same.
Jane Doe let out a somewhat tired scoff before replying, “Not even an ‘are you okay?’”
Jeongwon ignored the question before asking the next question.
“Okay, you were brought over to the ER after a lady found you unconscious following a car accident. The two men who were with you are also being treated but you were the only one who had to be operated as your fractured ribs affected your internal organs.”
“I was in a car accident… Okay sure. I don’t remember this though” Jane Doe replied, the snarky tone from earlier slowly dissipating.
Jeongwon made exaggerated eye contact with Gyeoul and telepathically hoped she figured out his request to jot the whole interaction down, which earned him an eye roll from her, not yet noticing the similarity in actions from Jane Doe just moments before.
“Makes sense with the nature of your injuries and the fact you only woke up three days after your surgery. Do you remember anything before that? Certain memories come to mind or what you were doing?”
“It was…nighttime and I was crying my heart out because you told me you were getting a divorce. After you both left, I was still crying and I just….slept I guess”, Jane Doe said with a forlorn expression donning her tired, tired face.
Gyeoul stopped jotting down in her notebook and looked at Jane Doe. She felt a weird pull to come close to her and console her and had no idea where that even came from. She immediately shook the thought away and re-focused on Jane Doe’s earlier statement and how she kept referring to herself and Jeongwon as a second person point of view, as if she personally knew them.
“I’m sorry your parents are getting a divorce, I know how that feels,” Gyeoul said without thinking.
“You cannot be serious, Eomma.” The forlorn look was no longer there replaced with nothing but anger and sadness, such combination only possible by a teenager who feels everything and everyone has wronged them.
“I-”
“Can you describe your parents for us? It’s common for post-op delirium to confuse identities due to similarities in an individual's facial structure and -” Jeongwon interrupted, looking sternly at Jane Doe.
“I do not have post-op delirium, I already told the nurse just now multiple times and can you both please both for the love of God stop following protocol and talking to me like I’m your patient! I’m your dau-” the words died at the tip of Jane Doe’s tongue as her attention fell to the TV playing in the background, the news currently being displayed.
“Language please! We are trying to help you-”
“I- I’m sorry I - what’s the - what’s the date please?” Jane Doe asked suddenly.
“The date?” Gyeoul asked curiously. What a weird inquiry, she thought, continuing to note this in her notebook. Jane Doe has been speaking well and rather sharp too - albeit rather rudely to Jeongwon and herself which makes post-op delirium less likely.
“Yes, please.”
“It’s April 4th.” Jeongwon replied on her behalf.
“Of?”
“Of what?”
Another eye roll.
“Of what year App- my bad, Doctor Ahn.”
“2019,” he replied matter-of-factly. “You saw it just now on TV, right?”
Jane Doe took a while to answer his question.
“Right.”
“If we can move on to other ques-”
“I’m sorry Doctor Ahn, I feel a headache coming on, can we do this later?”
“I think we can try to -”
Gyeoul interrupted him before he could finish the sentence which she predicts will earn him another eye roll.
“Rest up, and whenever you’re ready, call for us again yea?” Gyeoul said reassuringly. The interaction with Jane Doe and her mannerisms have not matched anything she remembers about post-op delirium. She considered temporary amnesia as well, however Jane Doe described her last moments clearly despite quite the gap between that and her accident.
A part of Gyeoul is excited to read up on this and help Jane Doe out, she always loved these kinds of cases. Something new and something different that serves to continuously challenge her and help her grow as a doctor. On top of that, there is just something about Jane Doe that Gyeoul can’t help but be drawn to which heightened the need to help.
As Gyeoul and Jeongwon were leaving she heard Jane Doe mutter something under her breath.
“What was that?” Jeongwon inquired worriedly.
“Jungri.That’s - that’s my name. Ahn Jungri.”
“What a pretty name Jungri, rest well,” he replied, sliding the door of the room closed.
“I can hear you thinking all the way from Gyeoul,” Jeongwon said, eyes still locked on Jungri’s chart, identifying any abnormal brain activities during the post op period.
“It’s just so…weird. She might be right in saying she isn’t delirious but the way she clearly describes her last moments? How she casually calls us Eomma and Appa numerous times, like it’s the most natural thing in the world? It’s quite jarring. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Gyeoul stated, not noticing the pair of eyes besides her looking at her in admiration.
“I’d ask you if you’d like to continue lunch since we were interrupted, but I have a feeling you’ll blow me off to go through the archives to see how we can help little Jungri?” Jeongwon said, flashing his trademark smirk that always leaves Gyeoul feeling some type of way.
“I-”
Jeongwon interrupted her by leaving a kiss on her temple.
“Go on love, I’ll go to Songhwa and see if she’s had cases like Jungri before,” he said.
She replied with a kiss on his cheek before speeding along in the other direction, heading towards the GS room to get started on her research. Jeongwon waited until she was no longer in sight before making his way to Songhwa’s office unaware of two lanky figures - one with a bandaged head and the other with a cast on their arm - suspiciously heading towards Jungri’s room.