A competent doctor can cure everything

“Wonil, let me see your wrist for a moment.”

After spending a blissful day off, my intern shift began again. The interns had finished their regular duties and were spending their time in the intern education room when I held out my hand to Wonil.

“Hyung, why?”

Though confused, he obediently offered his wrist. I tried to stay calm as I placed my fingers on the inside of Wonil’s wrist. Would what I was expecting actually happen?

“…”

As expected, nothing happened.

“Oh, were you checking my pulse because I look tired? I think I just need more sleep. I’m fine, really.”

He smiled warmly, making an “okay” sign with his thumb and index finger.

First Dongsoo, then that woman I met yesterday. After experiencing it twice, I became certain. It seems like I can see the future appearances of patients.

“It must be another ability of these glasses.”

Just as I could see future patient charts through the glasses, it seems I can also see future images directly. But how does it work? The charts naturally appeared to show the next three days’ future once I had “opened my eyes,” without any particular effort. But as for these future visions, I still hadn’t figured out the trigger conditions.

“When I think about it, both Dongsoo and that woman had the phenomenon appear when I touched them.”

So I’ve been anxious every time I touch someone since yesterday. But it seems it doesn’t happen with just anyone.

“What could it be? Does it have to be a patient?”

Considering I can only see the charts of patients under my care, there must be some condition. Now that I think about it, the first day I saw a future chart, my vision “flashed” and golden letters appeared on the chart. But after that, the future chart appeared without such a flash.

“What the heck is this!”

As I was silently worrying, my phone rang. Seeing the extension number, it was a call from the Oriental Medicine ward.

“Doctor, this is Ward 52. In Room 34…”

“Hwang Byung-man?”

Without realizing it, I blurted out the expected name while listening to the report.

“Yes, that’s correct. His blood pressure is high again, 180/110. Please come and check on him.”

The nurse finished the notification in a business-like tone and hung up.

Inpatients have their vitals checked three times a day, including temperature, pulse, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. Since 11 PM is the time for vital checks, it’s likely to receive a vital call at this hour.

“A vital call from Room 5234? It’s definitely Mr. Hwang Byung-man.”

A man in his 70s was admitted to the acupuncture pain clinic yesterday due to back pain, but his back pain isn’t the only problem. He was diagnosed with high blood pressure a long time ago but seems to have neglected to manage it.

So, every time vitals are checked, I, the intern in charge, get a call without fail.

“But 180/110 is pretty serious.”

I furrowed my brow as I quickly walked toward the patient’s room. Normal blood pressure is a systolic of 120 mmHg and a diastolic of 80 mmHg, or 120/80.

Up until now, this patient’s blood pressure had been below 160/100. But now he was also complaining of a mild headache, which was concerning.

“Let’s notify the resident on duty first.”

Today’s on-call resident for the acupuncture department is… I checked the duty chart and clicked my tongue in annoyance.

“Why do I keep getting stuck with the troublesome ones?”

After a few rings, Choi Jin-seong answered the call.

“This is Intern Seon I-jun. I’m reporting about Mr. Hwang Byung-man in Room 5234. He has hypertension.”

I briefly reported the patient’s blood pressure and condition.

“What? Why is it so high? We’ll have to arrange a consultation tomorrow. For now, perform blood transfusion at the daechu point (below the seventh cervical vertebra) and recheck the blood pressure in 30 minutes.”

The third-year resident grumbled as he gave the order. However, during the day, light cupping ( blood extraction) at the daechu point had been effective, but tonight, the patient’s blood pressure showed no signs of decreasing. Even after rechecking it three times at 30-minute intervals, the blood pressure remained high. Now, even Choi Jin-seong seemed a bit concerned and was out at the ward station asking the nurse,

“Who is the on-call doctor at the CV (Cardiovascular) ward tonight?”

Usually, consults should be requested through outpatient services during the day, but at night, the on-call doctors of different departments often help each other out unless it’s a matter serious enough for the ER.

“It’s Fellow Lee Hyun-seung.”

“Ugh, of all people, it had to be Lee Hyun-Seung.”

At the nurse’s words, Choi Jin-seong grimaced. I quietly asked another nurse nearby,

“Why is that?”

“You don’t know, Intern? He’s got a bit of a fiery temper. He’s known for getting angry if you call at night for anything other than a real emergency. Plus…”

The nurse lowered her voice.

“He usually doesn’t take consults from the Oriental Medicine ward.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know either.”

The nurse gave a vague answer, but I had a rough idea. It seemed this fellow, Lee Hyun-seung, wasn’t very friendly toward Oriental medicine. At Hanbit University, both the medical school and the school of Oriental medicine existed, so integrated treatment between Western and Oriental medicine was common, and many doctors and Oriental medicine doctors were personally close.

“But there are some doctors who dislike Oriental medicine.”

Choi Jin-seong grumbled but eventually called the on-call doctor at the CV ward. However, Fellow Lee Hyun-seung didn’t answer.

“Damn it.”

The third-year resident didn’t give up and called the CV ward station.

“Hello? This is the CV ward, right? Isn’t Dr. Lee Hyun-seung on call today? Oh, you’re saying I should go directly to the professor’s office?”

Choi Jin-seong hung up the phone and looked at me with a peculiar expression.

What is it? Why is he looking at me like that?

“Intern, you heard that, right? Go over there.”

‘This jerk…’

Is he sending me to see another department’s fellow in the middle of the night? The one known for having a bad temper, no less?

“Yes, understood.”

Sigh, what else can I do? Orders are orders.

Knock, knock—

Professor Lee Hyun-seung’s office was tucked away in a corner of the CV ward.

“What is it?”

When I knocked, the door swung open abruptly, accompanied by a voice filled with irritation.

“Professor, I apologize for bothering you at this late hour. I’m an intern from the Oriental Medicine Ward…”

I began to recite the lines I had prepared in advance, but when I saw the person in front of me, I was struck speechless. The person, too, seemed very surprised to see me, as their furrowed brow quickly relaxed.

“Huh?”

“Are you the person I saw on that mountain yesterday?”

For a moment, we both stood there, speechless, with expressions that said, “What are you doing here?”

“This is Professor Lee Hyun-seung’s office, right?”

“Yeah, I’m Lee Hyun-seung.”

It turned out that ‘Lee Hyun-seung’ wasn’t a man, but a woman—and not just any woman, but the very one I had seen the previous day.

“What? You’re an intern at our hospital? What are you doing here?”

The fellow looked at me with a frown and said.

Why am I here? I’m here because you weren’t answering the call.

I struggled to suppress my frustration and explained as politely as I could.

“Yes, Professor. I came because…”

After listening to my explanation, the fellow pursed her lips.

“Let’s see just how urgent this patient is by looking at the vital charts.”

She then turned toward the computer inside the office.

“What are you doing? Come in.”

As she accessed the hospital’s EMR (Electronic Medical Record) system, she spoke curtly to me, noticing that I was still standing by the door.

‘Now that she knows I’m an intern, she’s treating me casually.’

With that thought, I walked over to stand next to the fellow.

“It looks like the current medication isn’t controlling it well. Put in a consult for the CV outpatient clinic tomorrow.”

“Yes, Professor, but the patient’s blood pressure is high. Shouldn’t we address it immediately?”

The fellow snorted.

“What, 180 over 110? Their head’s not going to explode from that. It’s fine. Just observe and send them to the outpatient clinic tomorrow.”

“Yes, understood.”

When I replied reluctantly, the fellow, as if doing me a favor, added,

“To be honest, if it were someone else, they’d have gotten chewed out for coming here at this hour for something like this.”

Chewed out…?

Suppressing a laugh, I brought up a different topic.

“How’s your ankle?”

“I went to orthopedics today. The X-ray didn’t show any fractures, so they just prescribed painkillers and anti-inflammatory medication.”

I glanced down and saw that her ankle was still quite swollen.

“That looks like a Grade 2 ankle sprain. If you’re not careful, it could become a chronic recurrent sprain, so I suggest getting some acupuncture treatment as well.”

Ankle sprains are categorized into three grades, from mild to severe.

The fellow’s ankle seemed to be at Grade 2, where the ligament was partially torn.

“Oh, the orthopedic professor also said it was Grade 2. Not bad. So, since you’re here, why don’t you give me some acupuncture?”

…She’s quite brazen.

But since she had just helped me, I decided to take out my acupuncture needles without complaining.

While waiting for the needles to take effect, I made some small talk.

“If you come to the outpatient clinic, we can do a lot more treatments.”

“Like what?”

“We can do moxibustion, cupping, and use electroacupuncture devices. We can also prescribe herbal medicine.”

“What? Herbal medicine for a sprained ankle?”

The fellow laughed dismissively but then hesitated when she saw my serious expression.

“What’s wrong with herbal medicine? There are plenty of herbs that can treat bruises.”

“I mean, I can see acupuncture working to some extent, but herbal medicine…?”

“Why not?”

The fellow’s expression shifted from slight regret to irritation.

“What are you trying to say?”

Honestly, it didn’t make sense for an intern to be having this kind of one-on-one discussion with a fellow. It was like a new employee arguing with a department manager.

‘But so what?’

Managers are only intimidating when you’re in the same department.

Considering that we’re in different departments—or rather, different fields entirely—it’s almost like we work for different companies.

In a firm tone, I asked her a question.

“Professor, do you know what percentage of doctors in Japan prescribe herbal medicine?”

The fellow narrowed her eyes as if wondering what on earth I was talking about.

“What? Doctors prescribe herbal medicine?”

“Japan has an integrated medical system where medical schools teach Oriental medicine. Since you didn’t know that, it’s clear you don’t know the answer to my question either.”

I took a breath and then answered.

“83.5%. And do you know why they prescribe herbal medicine?”

“…?”

“The top reason was ‘because herbal medicine was effective for conditions where Western medicine wasn’t.’”

“Ha, seriously? This kid…”

Despite her exasperated sigh, I continued speaking.

“You don’t like Oriental medicine, do you, Professor?”

“Well, to be honest, no, I don’t.”

“It’s not that you don’t like Oriental medicine, Professor. It’s that you’re ignorant of it.”

“What…!”

“You’ve never studied it or taken the time to learn about it. Your ignorance has led to a vague aversion.”

As I removed the needles, I quietly added,

“Sorry if I spoke out of turn. Please make sure to get proper treatment for your ankle.”

Without waiting for a response, I bowed and left the room.

At first, I felt relieved, but as I made my way back to the Oriental Medicine Ward, my steps grew heavier.

‘Did I go too far with the fellow?’

‘No. It would be stupid to just stand there and take that kind of blatant disrespect.’

As I wrestled with these conflicting thoughts, I arrived at the ward to find third-year resident Choi Jin-Seong and some nurses waiting for me.

Or more precisely, waiting for the answer from the CV duty doctor that I had brought back.