Chapter 41
Meanwhile, in the Education and Training Department conference room after Han Hyunjae had left.
Professor Oh Manseok, seated at the center, let out a deep sigh and took off his glasses, setting them on the table.
"Ha... what do you all think?"
The first to respond was Choi Jeonggil, head of the hospital's legal team.
"Professor, there's no room for discussion here. This is a clear violation of regulations. Without the patient's consent, an unqualified resident performed an invasive operation in an unsterile environment without a superior's order. This is just crazy. He should be sent to a formal disciplinary committee and given at least a suspension-level punishment."
At his firm words, Lee Sunyoung, a section chief from the administration office, immediately stepped in to object.
"Aren't you assuming the worst-case scenario? Reality is the exact opposite. The patient lived—very successfully, in fact. If word leaked that we disciplined this kid, what do you think would happen? The press would have a field day tearing us apart. The headline would be, 'Hero doctor saves patient, gets disciplined at the hospital.' It's obvious what that would do to our hospital's reputation."
"Reputation matters? The hospital's system and rules matter!"
"Those systems and rules could have left the patient to die!"
The temperature in the conference room shot up instantly.
Law and reality, rules and results, collided head-on.
"No, but wasn't that laparotomy in trauma surgery perfect? I heard Professor Kang Hyunjun praised it to the skies. Then isn't this not a mistake but talent? Aren't we talking about someone we should protect and help grow, rather than punish?"
At Orthopedics Professor Ahn Jaeseon's defense, Team Leader Choi from Legal snorted.
"Talent? A talented lunatic is more dangerous than a plain lunatic. He saved a patient today, but how do we know what kind of accident he'll cause with that talent tomorrow?"
"But in the end, he did save someone, didn't he!"
As the voices rose, the meeting was on the verge of turning into a disaster.
Right then, a man who had been sitting in a corner with his arms crossed, listening silently the whole time, slowly spoke.
He was Vice Director Yoon Taeryong, formerly a professor of general surgery.
"No, but..."
He opened his mouth.
"That packing was art, wasn't it?"
He looked at the head of the legal team and continued.
"Rules matter, of course. The system matters, of course. But what's the essence of our job? Saving patients, right? I don't know what that first-year kid was thinking when he picked up the scalpel. He may have been crazy, or he may have truly unleashed superhuman ability. But one thing is certain. Because of that crazy stunt, the patient is alive and lying in the ICU. While we're sitting here doing armchair theorizing, that kid went out there and produced results."
Once Vice Director Yoon finished speaking, the atmosphere in the conference room changed completely.
The legal team's momentum wilted, and faces among the other committee members also showed anguish.
'How do you punish a hero who broke the rules?'
The argument went on for quite a while after that.
The opinions that punishment for overstepping authority was unavoidable and that leniency should still be granted remained deadlocked.
And finally, they reached a conclusion.
Give him a very, very small punishment.
Make him accountable for breaking the rules, but keep it at a level that won't stain his medical career.
It was an exquisite tightrope-walk of a conclusion, one that protected the hospital's system without crushing the mad talent that might one day become a famed doctor.
***
How long had I been slumped on the cold hallway floor, staring blankly into space? My mind had become a garbage dump filled with every worst-case scenario imaginable.
Three months' suspension? Six months' pay cut? Or maybe an extra year in training?
Just imagining it was horrifying.
Right then.
Clack.
The heavy conference-room door opened.
Startled, I almost reflexively sprang up from the floor and bowed at ninety degrees.
Huh?
Heavy, expensive-looking shoes. Keeping my head down, I rolled my eyes upward to identify the person.
Vice Director Yoon Taeryong.
Fuck, what is this.
He definitely hadn't been in that seat when I went in earlier.
Did he come in partway through?
No, wait—did the hospital's vice director actually attend a meeting to discuss the training of a lowly first-year scrub like me?
Was the scale of how fucked I was even bigger than I'd imagined?
My mind went blank.
Someone lightly tapped my shoulder.
"?"
Startled, I turned around, and Vice Director Yoon was somehow already standing right behind me, looking down at me with a smile I couldn't tell was kindly fatherly or sly as a snake.
"Ho ho, so you're that fellow from Emergency Medicine."
I thought my heart had stopped.
I barely managed to steady my body, which had nearly gone into convulsions, and bowed again.
"Yes, that's right. I'm Han Hyunjae, a first-year resident in Emergency Medicine."
"Yes, yes. I just wanted to see your face. You've had a rough time."
He patted my shoulder a few more times and then laughed heartily like a neighborhood uncle.
"Let's hear the result from the chair. Don't worry too much."
With that, the vice director left.
...What?
A first-year at his own hospital slit a patient's belly open in the ER, and he says I've had a rough time? Tells me not to worry?
Damn, I couldn't make sense of him.
It was while I was scratching my head in confusion.
"Doctor Han Hyunjae!"
Professor Oh Manseok's voice called to me through the gap in the conference-room door.
The moment of truth had come.
Swallowing dryly, I walked again toward the room where my fate would be decided.
Once again, I stood in front of the chair at the center of the conference room.
After reviewing the documents one last time, Professor Oh Manseok opened his mouth to speak to me.
"Doctor Han Hyunjae. The committee members have finished their discussion."
My heart felt like it had stopped. I squeezed my eyes shut.
"I'll get to the conclusion first. Regarding this matter, the training committee..."
Please. Please. Let it end with just a pay cut. Please, please don't let it be a training extension.
"...We hereby issue a reprimand and a one-month pay cut to resident Han Hyunjae, who is subject to discipline."
...
"We will close this matter by the committee's own decision and have decided not to refer it to the formal disciplinary committee."
...Huh?
I couldn't believe my ears.
My brain couldn't process the situation and started buffering. Seeing my blank expression, Professor Oh pressed a finger to his brow and repeated himself.
"A reprimand and a one-month salary cut. That's it."
In that instant, a giant firework exploded in my head.
...Fuck yes!!!!!!! I did it!!!!!!! I did it!!!!!!! I survived!!!!!! My doctor life!!!! Extended!!!!!!!
I'm the legend who survived after doing a laparotomy as a first-year!!!!
Who cares if they cut my pay! I can just eat ramen next month! I didn't get fired! My license! My career! I survived, you bastards!!!
While my inner self roared, the real me suppressed all that joy and replied in a very calm, polite voice.
"Yes, understood. I will humbly accept the committee's decision."
At my robot-like response, Professor Oh chuckled and stood up.
The other committee members also began gathering their things one by one.
"I probably don't need to explain the reason in length, right? It was clearly a crazy and dangerous act, but... in the end, the biggest factor was that Doctor Han saved the patient. You can't exactly fire a doctor who saved someone who was going to die."
Professor Oh paused briefly, then added,
"Well, of course Professor Kang Hyunjun from trauma surgery and Vice Director Yoon Taeryong also had a big say in it. When those gentlemen praise someone that hard, what can we do? Doctor Han, you must have learned a lot from this. Good work."
With that, Professor Oh and the committee members began leaving the conference room one by one.
"It's over...."
I let out a dazed laugh and left the conference room.
I walked down the corridor and stood in front of the elevator.
A text message had come in telling me to return to the ER starting tomorrow.
***
I crossed the hospital lobby and stepped out through the automatic doors.
A cool air rushed over me.
Only then did I realize I was still alive.
Let's go home.
I wanted to shower with warm water, drink a can of beer, and fall asleep without thinking about anything.
It was while I was trudging toward the bus stop like that.
Vroooom
A black sedan silently pulled up beside me and stopped. Then the passenger-side window slid down.
"Hey! Get in!"
The face visible through the window was Park Woong, our department chief.
"Oh, Chief! I'm fine! If I take the bus..."
"Shut up. Just get in, punk! I've got something to say."
I had no choice but to bow and open the passenger-side door.
As I sank into the soft leather seat, all the fatigue I'd built up over the day came crashing over me at once.
After a long silence, Chief Park finally spoke.
"Why did you do it?"
"Pardon?"
I asked back like an idiot.
"I asked why you did it."
"Well... I... I could only think... that I had to save the patient."
At my answer, the chief let out a short snort of laughter. Then he looked forward again and muttered quietly.
"Yeah, that's EM for you."
But that was the extent of his acknowledgment. The light changed, and the car pulled off smoothly again.
"But..."
His voice grew heavy again.
"There's a reason the system exists. Your seniors all went through every imaginable hardship on this ER floor. The rules and procedures we've put in place were made from the blood of countless patients and the tears of doctors. If you go off trying to be a hero on your own, you're not just risking yourself—you're putting the whole team in danger. You got lucky this time, but there's no guarantee you'll be lucky next time. That wasn't a good thing to do."
I lowered my head.
"Yes, Chief. I'll keep that in mind."
'Fuck, it wasn't me... it was the crazy bastard inside me who did it....'
The scream inside me never made it out of my mouth.
After a long silence, when we were almost near my officetel, Chief Park brought up a completely different topic.
"Ah, come to think of it, you're due for the KTAT provider
(*Korean-style Specialized Trauma Treatment Training)
course, aren't you?"
"Pardon? Ah, yes. I need to prepare for it soon."
"Good. Since you're going to get that anyway, how about using the opportunity to really prepare and go do a dispatch training stint over at the trauma center?"
At that suggestion, my heart dropped. The trauma center? He wanted me to go to that front line?
"What? No, no! I'm fine! I still have a lot to learn... The ER is better for me!"
I refused, waving my hands as if I were screaming. At my desperate reaction, the chief looked at me in surprise, then burst into hearty laughter.
"Hahaha! I see. So for now, the more dynamic general ER is more fun for our genius first-year doctor, huh? Well, the trauma center is boring if all you ever see is blood."
I just laughed along awkwardly.
"Haha... genius? Not really...."
The car came to a stop at the officetel entrance.
"Go on in. See you tomorrow."
"Yes, Chief. Thanks for the ride. Take care."
I bowed and got out of the car.
The black sedan smoothly disappeared into the night.
I looked up at the sky with a deep sigh.
A cool breeze brushed my cheek.
By now, the autumn wind had turned quite chilly.