Chapter 72 – Wealthy Coal Mine Town, Moeundong Village (2)

“Ah, yes. How much is the cola?”

“Forget it. Money, my foot! Just drink it cold! How could I take money from the doctor?”

Waving her hand, the woman scanned Kim Ji-hyuk instead, as if looking at a monkey in a zoo.

“No. I cannot do that. I must pay the proper price.”

The moment Kim Ji-hyuk was about to pull out his wallet like that,

“Geumsandaek, give me a pack of cigarettes.”

Drrr, a customer walked in opening the door. It was an elderly grandfather.

“Min-ju’s grandfather! Come over here quickly!!”

“What is it? Why are you making such a fuss?”

Leaning on a cane, an elderly grandfather walked in slowly.

“This young man is the doctor for our clinic. Greet him quickly!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes! He is tall and quite handsome!”

“Ah, hello. I am Kim Ji-hyuk. I have been appointed to the clinic here this time.”

When the woman nudged his side with her elbow, Kim Ji-hyuk greeted with an awkward expression.

“You are right! He is handsome, just like a pretty boy!”

The grandfather also scanned Kim Ji-hyuk’s entire body, as if he found it fascinating.

“Th-thank you.”

‘Ah, shoot, I think I have gotten myself into trouble.’

Although he greeted the grandfather awkwardly, Kim Ji-hyuk found the current situation burdensome.

Had they said that bad feelings are never wrong?

Once it became certain that Kim Ji-hyuk was a doctor sent here on dispatch, the store proprietress began to chatter.

‘My goodness, did she swallow a megaphone? How is her voice so loud?’

“By the way, Grandfather. Didn’t you say a few days ago that your head felt like it was splitting open and you had a severe fever? Your cough was also severe, are you alright now?”

The store proprietress was now openly trying to play the role of a nurse.

“Well. When I went to town, they told me to try going to a big hospital. They said I need to go and get a detailed examination. Talking about the meninges or something, they said some inflammation arose in my head.”

As the store proprietress opened the floodgates, the grandfather rattled off his symptoms one after another.

‘Meningitis?’

Since he was a doctor, Kim Ji-hyuk could not listen to the grandfather’s words lightly.

“Goodness, why go to a big hospital just for a little cold! We have our doctor who came from a big hospital in Seoul. That is right. Our doctor can just take a look at you. Right, Doctor!”

“Pardon? Here…?”

Kim Ji-hyuk had a bewildered expression.

“Ah! I remember now! Listening to Secretary Kim in town, he said you are a doctor from an incredibly large hospital in Seoul, right? Where was it?”

“It is the National Medical Center in Seoul.”

Kim Ji-hyuk felt as if he was falling deeper and deeper into a swamp.

“That is it. National Medical Center! That is a very fancy hospital, right?”

“……….”

“Then it is a hundred, a thousand times better than going to some rural clinic crawling with quacks! We can just examine you sitting on that wooden bench over there. Please examine Min-ju’s grandfather. He doesn’t even have time to go to the hospital because his coal mining work is so busy, you see?”

The store proprietress chattered, pointing to the wooden bench.

‘This is crazy. What do I do?’

Since he had no proper medical equipment, treating him was awkward, but it was also a situation where it was not easy to refuse.

“Then I will just listen to your chest sounds briefly. For details, I think it would be best to go to a large hospital in the city to get a detailed examination.”

Thus, Kim Ji-hyuk ended up performing the examination reluctantly.

“Indeed, since he is a doctor from a big hospital, his heart is very generous. Grandfather. What are you doing? Sit down over there quickly.”

The store proprietress pointed to the wooden bench with a chin gesture.

“Thank you, young doctor! I never knew I would receive an examination from a Seoul doctor.”

Min-ju’s grandfather sat on the edge of the wooden bench in front of the store, and Kim Ji-hyuk pulled out a stethoscope from his bag and began an untimely examination.

“Where is it the most uncomfortable?”

Kim Ji-hyuk asked, placing the stethoscope on the grandfather’s chest.

“My head has been hurting tremendously.”

The grandfather frowned and toyed with his head.

“Yes. Other than that?”

“I had a boiling fever, and the cough and phlegm would not stop.”

“You are fine now, right?”

Even checking his temperature roughly, there seemed to be no fever.

“Yes.”

“By any chance, have you ever fainted or vomited?”

“No. I have not.”

“Did your neck stiffen, or did rashes appear around your arms and legs?”

Kim Ji-hyuk questioned him to see if there were typical symptoms of meningitis.

“No. None of those either.”

“Yes. Grandfather! Thank you for your cooperation. You may pull down your shirt!”

“Is it alright?”

‘No vomiting, no history of fainting… Considering the grandfather’s age, if it were meningitis, he would be too dizzy to even sit like this. The headache induced by meningitis also defies imagination. The diagnosis was excessive. Just because the fever is high and the headache is severe does not mean it is all meningitis. However, it is not a simple cold either. Although it is not severe, looking at the auscultation sound that crackles like a campfire burning, fluid must be accumulated in the alveoli. That is why it makes fine crackles when air goes in and out. If so, while the grandfather does not have meningitis, he must be suffering from pneumonia. Fortunately, it is a mild, early-stage pneumonia.’

This was the conclusion Kim Ji-hyuk reached after the examination.

“Yes. It is not meningitis, but it seems you still need to receive medical treatment, so not today… Please come to the clinic in about two days. It is not severe, but it seems like pneumonia.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Since various medicines will be airlifted from Seoul around this afternoon, you can come to the clinic after that.”

“Then, do I not need to go to a big hospital?”

“Mmh, in my opinion, it seems there is no need, but just in case, try taking the medicine for a few days, and if it still doesn’t heal, it would be good to go. I will write a referral note for you. But, you will probably see improvement once you take the medicine.”

Kim Ji-hyuk smiled warmly.

“Is that so? You are truly skilled. Then, I can just go to the clinic the day after tomorrow?”

“Yes. As soon as the clinic is organized, I should be able to examine…”

It was right at that moment.

‘Gasp! Who are those people?’

Rumble—

A group of grandmothers and grandfathers was walking toward the corner store.

And leading them was the store proprietress, who had disappeared at some unknown point.

“He really looks like a pretty boy!”

“Look how pale his face is. He is incredibly tall too? He looks like General MacArthur! So dashing!”

“How many years has it been? There has been no doctor in our village since the war broke out, so now we do not have to go all the way to town?”

The gathered elderly scanned Kim Ji-hyuk’s body as if he were a curiosity.

‘Sigh, I have gotten myself completely cornered!’

Kim Ji-hyuk could not hide his bewilderment at the sudden situation.

‘Surely, I do not have to examine all of these elderly people, do I?’

And the ominous premonition proved correct without fail.

“Doctor! Take a look over here. Since the day before yesterday, my knees have been throbbing as if they were going to fall out? I cannot even walk whenever it rains, you know?”

A grandmother frowned, pointing to her knees.

“That old woman does that day in and day out! Ignore her and take a look at me. My heart flutters dozens of times a day, and I am dying. I do not know if I might end up in the grave while sleeping. I am dying. Please look at me first!”

A grandfather stepped forward, pushing aside the grandmother.

Pandemonium!

Kim Ji-hyuk was overwhelmed by the elderly who gathered in an instant.

“Wait a minute! I told you our doctor just arrived today! Old women, grandfathers, you cannot do this. Our young doctor will examine you one by one. So keep order. You must not invade like puppet soldiers! Line up. Get in line!”

The store proprietress began to tidy up the front of the store, which had turned into a mess.

‘I am telling you, you are the one who made it this way! Wow, so everyone wants to receive an examination here right now? Should I just go back?’

Kim Ji-hyuk had an absurd expression.

But he could not do that.

Every single one of them had a bent back and fine wrinkles.

He could not ignore those who, dressed in shabby clothes, dragged their aging, frail bodies here just to receive a single examination from a doctor who had appeared in this village for the first time in years.

“Wait a moment! I will look at everyone, so do not fight, and since it is hard on you, sit on this wooden bench here and wait.”

Absurdly, the neighborhood corner store had become a clinic.

* * *

Had about two hours passed?

Before long, the sun was gradually setting.

“Grandmother! How much did it hurt? Why didn’t you go to the hospital until it got like this?”

“What hospital? It is not a fatal illness. I endured even during that harsh war, so what glory would I enjoy now by going to a hospital.”

“Mmh, your shingles is too severe. I will prescribe medicine for you, so make sure to drop by the clinic when you have time.”

Without showing a single sign of annoyance, Kim Ji-hyuk finished examining all ten elderly people.

“Thank you! Young doctor. This is dried pollack. It is perfect to snack on when you are bored. Take it and grill it.”

A grandmother pulled out a bundle of semi-dried pollack from a worn cloth bag and placed it down.

“This is semi-dried persimmon, dried persimmon. It is sweet and tastes quite good. Enjoy it, Doctor.”

“I have something too. This is bomulcho. If you stir-fry it gently over a charcoal fire and season it, it is sweet and tastes quite delicious.”

In that way, instead of examination fees, the elderly brought and laid out this and that.

“It is alright…”

“Now, now. I will pack them here, so take them. Do not refuse. Those folks have nothing else to give but these.”

“Yes. Then I will enjoy them.”

As Kim Ji-hyuk did not know what to do, the store proprietress brought out a bundle cloth and carefully packed the items.

“I told you, right? Go a little that way and the clinic will appear. You had a hard time today, Doctor!”

Handing over the bundle, the store proprietress guided the way again.

“Yes. Ah, and that grandmother leaning on a cane over there has very severe shingles. It must be extremely painful. Since she has difficulty moving, please make sure to bring her to the clinic, Ma’am.”

“Huhuhu, our young doctor’s heart is as soft as silk. I will make sure to bring her.”

“Yes.”

A moment later,

It was around the time Kim Ji-hyuk finished the examinations and was turning his steps toward the clinic.

“W-wait a minute!”

A man ran toward the corner store carrying an old woman on his back.

‘What is going on?’

“………!”

Judging by a doctor’s intuition, it was definitely an emergency patient.

Murmuring—

The man ran over, pale with fright, and the villagers took down the old woman on the man’s back and laid her down on the wooden bench.

“What happened?”

Kim Ji-hyuk immediately asked the man.

“Please save my mother! My mother suddenly cannot breathe!”

‘She cannot breathe?’

Looking at the old woman’s complexion, her face was pale with all blood drained.

‘Cyanosis?’

Kim Ji-hyuk immediately spread open the old woman’s hand to examine it.

“First, please loosen the grandmother’s clothes. Ma’am! If you have a blanket or something, please bring it.”

“O-okay.”

The woman rushed inside the room and brought out a blanket.

Then, Kim Ji-hyuk spread the blanket on the wooden bench and laid the grandmother down properly on it.

Click—

Kim Ji-hyuk immediately pulled out a portable penlight and examined the old woman’s pupils.

‘Ah, what do I do? There is no pupillary reflex!’

From respiratory failure to the loss of pupillary reflex.

The old woman was in an extremely critical situation.