Chapter 63
We carefully took off the child’s hospital gown and started examining every inch of the body.
Back, belly, arms, legs.
We both widened our eyes so we could inspect everything one by one, down to the smallest detail.
That way, the two of us were able to finish the inspection in no time.
Of course, it wasn’t a positive outcome.
Faint bruise marks remained all over the child’s back and buttocks.
And what’s more, they looked like bruises that had formed over several hours.
The police officer said nothing, merely looking down at the bruises that seemed to have layered up over the course of several hours.
“I’ll contact Child Protective Services right away.”
“Ah, yes. Could you do that? I’m not really familiar with these procedures….”
I replied, at a loss.
I could make medical judgments, but I knew absolutely nothing about the administrative and legal procedures that came after.
“That’s our job.”
The officer opened his notepad.
“For now, please prepare all of today’s medical findings, the related medical records, and, if possible, a medical opinion stating that child abuse is strongly suspected. The child protection agency and our side will send an official request for the records.”
“Ah, yes… a medical opinion….”
A single page I write becomes legal evidence that decides one child’s fate and one family’s future.
Me, of all people.
No matter how I looked at it, a medical opinion written by a first-year resident would probably be used against me in court, not help me.
‘Hmm, I probably shouldn’t be the one writing the medical opinion. This should be the specialist…’
That was when I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“You okay? What did the police say? What’s going to happen to the kid?”
It was Lee Min-jae.
He had come back at some point and was looking back and forth between the officer and me.
“W-well, for now I guess we need to leave behind some legal evidence… they’re saying I should write a medical opinion. If I write it….”
“What? You? No, no, don’t worry. This is obviously something the attending physician should write. I already reported it to Professor Kim Seong-chan, who’s on duty today, and he’ll write it himself. Don’t worry about it.”
At those words, I let out a sigh of relief.
Phew. Thank goodness.
Because anything I wrote would have relatively low credibility.
The officer gave Lee Min-jae a slight nod and headed toward the station for the other procedures.
Only then did Lee Min-jae seem to relax as he approached the bed where the child was lying.
“So, how’s the kid doing?”
He carefully pulled back the thin blanket covering the child to check the child’s condition.
Lee Min-jae’s gaze fixed on the mottled bruises left on the child’s back.
Soon, every expression vanished from Lee Min-jae’s face.
The sly, cheerful face of the fourth-year resident who had just been reassuring me was nowhere to be seen.
With trembling hands, Lee Min-jae began checking the other bruises, being extremely careful not to leave any marks on the child’s body.
The inner arms, thighs, even the soles of the feet.
“…What kind of crazy bastard does this? To a kid, no less…”
“…Doctor?”
“Ah, sorry, sorry… no… ha… the child… a child who can barely talk yet… until it got to that point….”
Lee Min-jae’s shoulders shook violently.
“Crazy… crazy bastard…. What the hell…”
I felt a kind of madness I had never seen before.
Maybe it was rage on a completely different level from the childish anger he usually directed at me—a rage close to pure murderous intent.
No way.
If I left him like this, he looked ready to storm out right this second and grab the child’s father by the collar.
“Doctor, um, I think you need to calm down. The guardians are still nearby. If you make a scene for no reason…”
I carefully grabbed Lee Min-jae’s arm.
If that temper he used to unleash on me burst out in the wrong direction here, all these legal procedures could be ruined.
Please, just calm down.
I’ll take whatever theatrics you’ve got, so just bear with it for now, old man.
At my words, Lee Min-jae finally seemed to come to his senses as he gulped down rough breaths.
He covered the child’s body with the blanket again and left the bed area without saying a word.
I was left alone, looking down at the sleeping child’s face.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine the depth of the pain and fear the child had gone through.
How much had it hurt?
What else could I do for this child here and now?
Just as I stood there dazed, the curtain opened again with a rustle.
“Ah, right!”
It was Lee Min-jae.
Lee Min-jae slapped his forehead as if he’d forgotten something important and came back in.
“I forgot to tell you something important. The on-call pediatrician will be here soon. I reported it to the professor earlier and had him add a pediatric consult too. A case like this should be seen with pediatrics from the start.”
And a moment later, the on-call pediatrician appeared, looking exhausted.
“I’m Min Ji-woo from pediatrics. Where is the child?”
She looked like a doctor about my age.
She gave us a slight nod and went straight to the child’s bed.
Then she immediately began examining the child’s body thoroughly, just like Lee Min-jae and I had.
She checked the skin turgor, felt to see whether the fontanelle was bulging, and even pulled the eyelids back to check the conjunctiva.
After finishing the physical exam, Min Ji-woo walked to the station and pulled up the X-ray images we had taken on the monitor.
“Hmm, this is abuse.”
I asked Min Ji-woo cautiously.
“Doctor, the guardians are currently being separated because of the police investigation, but what should we do with the child? There’s nothing medically urgent that needs to be done right away, but for child protection reasons, wouldn’t it be better to admit the child first?”
At my question, Min Ji-woo fell silent for a moment, thinking.
“Yes, I think so too. We definitely shouldn’t send the child back to those parents now. For now, we should contact the social work team and the child protection agency and proceed with admission along with temporary protective measures.”
And just like that, the plan going forward was set.
The child’s fate had now moved out of the hands of us ER doctors and into the hands of the police, pediatrics, and the child protection agency.
I went back to the station and started sorting the backlog of charts.
That was when it happened.
The consultation room door flew open, and the child’s father stormed out, fuming.
A young police officer was following behind him, desperately trying to restrain him.
“What evidence do you have to treat us like criminals!”
He shouted loud enough to make the entire emergency room shake.
“I know my kid best! What do you know after seeing him for only a few minutes! You quacks are writing fiction based on a single X-ray image right now!”
The moment that voice hit my ears, an unbearable rage surged up inside me.
I stopped typing and rose from my seat.
I didn’t know.
Apparently, instinct had gotten ahead of reason.
When had it been?
The moment I checked that child’s X-ray?
The moment I saw the comment telling me to report it?
Or the moment he called me a quack?
Just as I was about to step toward him, a figure slipped past me like a shadow.
It was Lee Min-jae.
Lee Min-jae, with a face that clearly said, “I’m angry,” had the exact opposite expression as he strode over and blocked the child’s father, who was shouting at the top of his lungs.
“Sir, you said we knew nothing because we only saw the child for a few minutes, right?”
Lee Min-jae took out his work tablet.
Then he lit up the screen and shoved it in the father’s face.
On the screen was the CML X-ray image I had taken earlier.
“This. This picture. Do you know what it is?”
“…….”
“No, right? Of course not. There’s no way you’d know. How could an ignorant man like you possibly know?”
A sneer full of contempt rose to Lee Min-jae’s lips.
“Fine, I’ll explain it for you. This almost never shows up unless it’s child abuse. It’s a fracture that simply can’t happen unless you twist and yank a child’s leg around like a toy. And this came from your son’s leg. And you still say it isn’t abuse?”
His voice kept getting louder.
“You son of a bitch. And you call yourself a father? Have you even counted how many bruises are on that tiny body? Have you ever once properly looked into why the kid can’t even walk and cries all night? A walker? Don’t give me that bullshit. Do we look stupid enough to fall for that lie?”
“What did you say, you bastard?! Are you even really a doctor? Have you said enough? I’m remembering your name! Do you know who I am!”
The child’s father threatened him, his face red with rage.
But Lee Min-jae didn’t even blink.
“Oh. Remember it real well, then. Want an autograph or something? By the time you’re out of the clink after diligently writing your apology letters, I’ll already be way over in Seoul, so you won’t even be able to find me.”
At that, a faint memory surfaced in my head: Professor Chun Eun-jeong’s voice saying, ‘I heard you were looking into a fellowship position at Aseong Hospital.’
‘…Was this guy really preparing for a fellowship at Aseong Hospital?’
My brain zeroed in on a strange detail.