“Chang Soo. Did I just say ‘now’?”
“Yeah.”
“Is he going on rounds by himself to check on his patients at 6 in the morning?”
“A senior in my department said that you shouldn’t apply common sense to Last Choi. The best way is to avoid him totally. But is it ok for you to be here? His rounds should be over soon…..”
Realizing the situation, Dowook flew with lightning speed to the hospital.
Thump. Thud, thud, bang!
The members of the sharehouse who were getting ready for work looked at Dowook running in a hurry with surprise.
Seong Chang Soo shouted at his leaving friend.
“Dowook! Stay alive! Get a girlfriend while you’re at it!”
After 30 minutes.
Opening the door to Room 2007, Dowook and a nurse entered the room with a cart. The secretary met Dowook in the parlor right away.
“There’s a guest inside.”
“At this time?”
Seeing that a person was already there, Dowook stopped his steps abruptly.
‘The vice dean got here pretty early.’
Waiting in the parlor for the people inside to finish their business, Dowook discovered the piled up documents on the table.
“The director didn’t stay up all night to work, did she?”
“Yes, she slept very well.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Dowook saw the vice dean greeting Lim So Yool goodbye in the interim.
-Thank you for your understanding, Director.
-Is the doctor on the hospital side certain?
-That is what I was told by the dean.
-I understand.
Exiting from the inner room, the vice dean stood in front of Dowook. Dowook bowed his head in greeting.
“Right, Dr. Park. Can I trust you with the surgery today?”
“I will complete it without any mistakes.”
“It is certain that Prof. Choi will stand as your assistant, right?”
“Yes.”
“Tell Choi Hoo to take c…..never mind. I’ll tell him.”
Showing slight signs of nervousness, the vice dean passed by Dowook.
It was a morning wherein Dowook broke out in cold sweat for many reasons.
Pushing the cart and going into the inner room, Dowook was surprised to see more piles of paper surrounding Lim So Yool.
Looking at one of those pages, Lim So Yool looked at Dowook sideways.
“I’m just looking at it for a while. I just received it.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
Lim So Yool peeked out from the side of the paper she was holding.
“Your expression was saying something.”
She seemed to have mistaken the pressure he got from suddenly meeting the vice dean. Dowook relaxed the frozen expression on his face and calmly answered.
“It’s fine as long as you don’t push it like you did at the hotel. Do whatever you want.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“I didn’t say I understood. I still don’t know how such actions are safe.”
Lim So Yool gave him a stinging look when he criticized her past actions. However, she put away the paper in her hand on the side. Seeing the spectacle, the secretary covered her mouth and chuckled.
Putting on sterile gloves, Dowook approached Lim So Yool’s side.
“We have to shave the hair around the area the scalpel will touch. We won’t make a big incision so we just have to get rid of the short hair.”
The nurse gently gathered Lim So Yool’s shoulder-length hair and held it up. Tying the hair in a simple ponytail with a rubber band, a pale neck was exposed.
‘Even from the back, she is a beauty.’
Chang Soo’s words about destiny and what-not flashed through his mind. Dowook shook his head slightly.
He used a nebulizer to dampen the back of her neck, and holding a single-blade razor he had used hundreds of times before, his calm returned to him.
“I will start now.”
Snip, snip.
The hair around the neck fell into the plastic bag held up by the nurse.
The room became quiet for some time.
“Umm, doctor.”
Lim So Yool, who’d been sitting still with a proper posture, carefully started up a conversation.
“What advice does a doctor give to a patient who has a disease without a cure?”
“Why are you suddenly asking that?”
“That child apparently has cystic fibrosis. The genetic disease that develops in only 0.0025% of the population.”
[TN: Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inherited disorder that causes severe damage to the lungs, digestive system, and other organs in the body. ]
She was talking about the little girl she had talked to in the Sky Lounge yesterday.
Recalling the sight of her diligently drawing hundreds of bears for the girl, Dowook gave serious consideration to her question.
“Hmmm. Will you give up after you’ve tried to cure your illness until now? Please keep on being brave. There are people who approach the matter in that manner. Once the condition of the lungs becomes worse, organ transplant is recommended. Please be ready to make the decision at any time. There are some who say it like that.”
The doctors Dowook admired were almost all doctors who gave one of these answers. Warm or cold.
“I also can’t say which one is the correct one.”
“What about how long they can live? Do you not tell them that?”
“We tell them the estimated average but we don’t predict the specific patient’s future.”
“You did it though.”
“Because it was a special situation.”
Created by the special sense and the existence of Lim So Yool. Dowook didn’t mention this as well though.
She asked again.
“Dr. Park, can you calculate that child’s case like you did with mine?”
“Probably.”
Lim So Yool turned her head.
“Really?”
“I’m holding a blade close to your neck, Director.”
“Ah, sorry.”
She turned back to the front and Dowook explained his belief.
“I think it’s a pretty cruel thing to do. One can die at any day or time based on the average percentage. Such a thing can be informed too.”
“In return, at least until that day one can live without fear.”
While the rambling discussion about incurable diseases continued, Dowook finished shaving the short hair off.
“Once you enter the operating room, you will be put under general anesthesia right away.”
7:28 AM
A Gatch Bed was pushed out of Room 2007.
Pushing the bed out together with the members of the VIP department, Dowook’s sight remained fixed on Lim So Yool who had her eyes closed.
“According to the echogram, the infection has gone down. Getting a good night’s sleep seems to have helped a lot.”
Nod.
“The incision will be made close to the previous surgery scar so there should be almost no new scarring.”
Nod. nod.
‘I guess this is not helping her relax.’
There weren’t really any solutions to get rid of pre-surgery jitters. How could anyone be comfortable with the idea of someone cutting them open with a knife?
Looking for something to help, Dowook took out a pen from his coat pocket. Then he used Lim So Yool’s sense. While scribbling on the bottom of the operation chart, they reached the entrance of the D-rosette.
“Senior.”
Nam Hana, a 3rd year resident who’d been waiting in front of the operating room, ran over to Dowook. She had been assigned as the second assistant by Chief Ha for the surgery.
“Chief suddenly told me to take over your duties, what did you do over the weekend?”
“Let’s discuss that later. Check the cleanliness of the operating room one more time. Prof. Choi is very sensitive about it. Be really strict with the prep staff. Getting scolded in advance will probably be better for them.”
“I will.”
Dowook placed the scribbled chart close to Lim So Yool’s head as she was about to enter the operating room.
“It’s harder to draw a topological graph than I thought. Doctor Nam Hana will take care of you from here on.”
Lim So Yool opened her eyes.
“What did you just …….”
Dowook had already left. Her eyes moved to the chart Dowook had left behind.
Drrrk.
As soon as the gatch bed entered the operating room, the medical staff and nurses attached various electrodes on Lim So Yool.
“Ms. Lim. Can you tell me your full name and birthday?”
“Lim So Yool. 1994 October …….”
Before the breathing tube was attached, Lim So Yool placed her hand on top of Nam Hana’s arm since she was holding the surgery chart.
“That. Can you put it beside me until the anesthesia kicks in?”
“This chart?”
“Yes.”
The mask was covering half of her face so Lim So Yool only opened her eyes wide and looked at what Dowook had drawn.
–The wrinkles on the nose were placed based on differential topology. To be safe.
An elephant doodle, apparently drawn with a hyperbolic paraboloid.
It contained the formula she had used, and there was one more function. A simple straight line that converged to 100% probability no matter what number was used.
It was a composition that somehow made her feel good.
“We will start the anesthesia. 10, 9……..”
He said that there were two types of doctors. Those who were subjective and those who explained objectively. However, he comforted her in a way that was neither.
“…….3, 2, 1.”
Dr. Park Dowook was probably a new type of doctor.
Lim So Yool had the thought as she slowly fell asleep.
