Golden Time

Chapter 129

Suhyuk raised Phillip up and whispered,

“Your mother is right here, so try to show her that you’re a reliable and great son.”

Phillip, who was lowering his head, looked at him.

 

There was something different about him.

Suhyuk was far from being arrogant.

Maybe he was a man like that from the beginning.

“Thanks so much…”

Then Suhyuk turned back with a smile.

Suhyuk thought that seeing as her son was here, he was not needed here anymore.

When Phillip grabbed his mother’s hands again, Daman fixed his eyes on Suhyuk who was leaving the room. He felt that Suhyuk was just like Han when he first saw him.

“Let me go now, Phillip,” said Daman, tapping him on the shoulder as he left.

Daman said to Han, walking side by side with him,

“What a terrific guy!”

Actually he was stunned when he heard from Han that he would put Suhyuk in charge of the surgery.

How could he let a junior doctor take care of severe trauma patients?

Daman could not believe his ears everytime he had hear Han say,

“He is at least as good, or better than me.”

As soon as Han gave the go-ahead, Suhyuk moved briskly like a fish in water.

His fast handling of the surgery along with the incision of the belly, partial incision of the liver and the ensuing smooth anastomosis.

It was as if he had been thinking of all that in his head prior to the surgery.

Han smiled at Daman’s praise of Suhyuk,

“Actually I’m surprised myself from time to time about him.”

“You’re great, Dr. Han.”

Obviously Han must have taught Suhyuk.

Han just smiled. Of course he had never taught him before.

The one thing he taught him was about caring about the patient’s feelings.

That made Suhyuk what he was today.

The next day, Suhyuk was in the room of the patient who underwent intussusceptions.

As he performed the surgery, he was just like the head surgeon.

Of course, other medical staff thought so too.

“Hi, Dr. Lee,” said the patient, welcoming him.

Though he had the surgery only 3 days ago, he was already up and running.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m feel quite normal now. I owe it to you, Dr. Lee! Thanks a million.”

Suhyuk showed the chart to him, adding,

“This is your blood pressure, pulse, and this…”

He heard Suhyuk’s step-by-step explanation, and glanced at him.

He was such a queer doctor in his eyes.

‘Why is he showing me a chart with such a kind explanation?’

It was the first time he’d seen a doctor like this.

However, the patient was beaming brightly, with his questions like that left behind in his thoughts.

He was moved by the doctor’s behavior.

“Then you can just go ahead and get discharged, if that’s what you want.”

Nodding his head, the patient memorised the name on his gown.

That day pa.s.sed quickly.

Suhyuk was heading for the elevator to go to William’s office just like he did the day before.

Then his cell phone buzzed.

It was a call from intern Park Sungjae.

When he touched the display of his phone, Park’s face appeared on it.

“How are you, sir?” asked Park, bending his head.

“How are you?” asked Suhyuk back.

Given his rugged and tangled hair, it was obvious that he worked day and night.

“I sent you the package you mentioned. Looks like it will be delivered tomorrow.”

Before he left for the USA, he had asked Park to find the package he left behind in the taxi and s.h.i.+p it to his address in the USA.

As soon as he heard Suhyuk’s request, he instantly put it into action.

“Thanks, Mr. Park.”

“I miss you, sir”

At Park’s flattering words, Suhyuk just smiled.

“Other doctors also miss you, and there are many patients looking for you.”

That was true.

Since Suhyuk moved to the USA, the cardiothoracic surgery department was simply just too busy.

The vacuum he left behind was too big.

“Are you on call tonight, sir?” asked Suhyuk.

“I think so. Oops, my primary doctor wants me now. Let me give you a call again later.”

And Park added, “By the way I applied for the cardiothoracic surgery department, sir!

By the time you come back, I’ll have turned into a resident.”

If there was any department that the interns hated the most, it was the cardiothoracic surgery department.

Suhyuk was just proud of him, though he did not sense that Park had been affected by him so much.

Soon Suhyuk hung up the phone, and pressed the elevator b.u.t.ton.

Ding dong.

The door opened, and Suhyuk went in.

Then he heard some calling from behind suddenly, “Dr. Lee!”

It was none other than Phillip.

“Are you available this evening?”

“I have an appointment. What’s up?”

“Well, I wanted to dine with you. It’s regrettable…”

Strangely enough, their conversation seemed rigid, but their look toward each other was different from before.

“Though it’s regrettable we cannot, then…”

Phillip walked with his back to him.

“How is your mother, Phillip?”

Though he performed the surgery, he was not the main surgeon.

At his words, Phillip nodded his head indicating that she was doing well.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Soon Suhyuk disappeared into the elevator, and Phillip looked at the door quietly.

And he made a smile of thankfulness.

***

Day by day there happened to be some dramatic event.

And those events were mainly happening around Suhyuk.

Suhyuk looked at the picture on the viewer, and the medical staff gathered around him.

They were interns and first-year residents.

Suhyuk, looking at the CT, opened his mouth,

“Usually gas is not formed in the small intestine, but this patient is different. It’s full of gas. Do you see an increase in the size of intestine on CT? It is a case of typical intestinal obstruction.”

The medical staff nodded.

This time another picture was shown on the viewer.

“At this angle, a part of the abdominal wall is widened, and the bowel is pushed into it. So movement in the intestine was blocked, and it had to be stopped.”

The small intestine was swollen and at the same time the abdomen was swollen with it.

“Spigelian Hernia. In this case, the patient may go into a state of shock without urinating. Immediate surgery is required.”

Suhyuk only gave a brief explanation about the CT, because the patient was an emergency case.

Surgery was scheduled immediately, and the medical staff gathered around Suhyuk.

Suhyuk took a scalpel to the patient’s belly.

As small as possible, he made an incision of about 8cm.

Then the red intestine came out.

As seen on the CT, the bowel was stuck between the muscle defects.

The medical staff stood on tiptoes to take a look at it.

“Pull it!”

At Suhyuk’s instruction, an intern pulled it with a retractor.

A snake-like organ was clearly visible before their eyes.

Suhyuk examined the small intestine carefully, and opened his mouth,

“I think we had better put it back in its original position as it’s not as damaged as we thought.”

In this situation a doctor might ask them about the next step, but Suhyuk did not.

The sooner the surgery was done, the pain the patient would feel would be much less.

“Before we closed the belly, the part where the intestine was stuck was st.i.tched. A patient with a hernia should undergo surgery at the moment of its confirmation. Otherwise, as you saw in this patient, intestinal obstruction may occur and the patient may go into shock. Despite having a hernia, the patient put up with it as the best he could. After all, when he could not bear the pain any longer, he was brought to the emergency room.”

Suhyuk looked at the medical staff slowly.

“I don’t know how well the hospital operates here, but I hope I could be of help to the patients.”

The patient was worried about the bill even when he was brought into the emergency room.

And the surgery lasted about 30 minutes.

Suhyuk was very busy everywhere like a fish that had met water.

How frustrated had he been back in Daehan Hospital where he could not see the patients as much as he wanted? Han thought such questions to himself like that.

Daman had the same thought.

“Dr. Han, I think you created a monster!”

It was so spectacular to see resident Suhyuk teaching the residents here.

Regardless of position or t.i.tle, any doctor was given the best treatment and compensation at St. Hopkins Hospital as long as he or she was capable enough.

***

Going out of William’s office, Suhyuk walked through the hallway, sweeping back his hair.

It was already past 10pm.

He let out a little breath.

“Huuuuh…”

He felt that he had quite a busy day, performing surgery after surgery.

He was hectically busy, but felt good about it because the patients could laugh thanks to his service.

Suhyuk smiled, thinking like that.

Ding dong.

Going out of the elevator, Suhyuk went out past the lobby.

Then his cell phone buzzed.

It was a call from Han who arrived back at the apartment first.

“Can you buy some beer when you come back?”
“Of course.”

Suhyuk took the bus to the apartment.

It took about 30 minutes for him to get to the bus stop near the apartment.

Wasn’t there any convenience store nearby from the beginning?

He could not find one no matter where he looked around.

He then saw a black guy coming out of an alley with a convenience store bag, and left for that direction

A bell rang when he went into the store, signaling the entrance of a customer.

Suhyuk looked around. It was quiet inside.

He could not see the owner, either.

Then he head some sort of moaning from a man from somewhere inside.

Suhyuk turned his head to the counter, where he saw some sticky blood coming out of the white tiles on the floor.

Suhyuk rushed toward the counter.

“Please report to the police! I was shot by a gun…”