Golden Time

“Dr. Lee...”

The the man holding her hands looked at her, asking,

“Who is he?”

“Oh, he is the doctor that I work with in the same building...”

“Really?”

Approaching Suhyuk instantly, he held out his hand politely and said,

“h.e.l.lo, my name is Han Jisok.”

With a smile Suhyuk held his hands.

“h.e.l.lo, my name is Lee Suhyuk. I’m glad to meet you.”

Then he turned to Binna.

She said, “I hear you took vacation, sir. I wonder what happened to you...”

“Well...”

Binna did not look at his eyes. She just looked down at her feet, lowering her head.

How much she wanted to see him, now standing before her eyes.

After Suhyuk left, she would look at the pictures of him every night, which she had taken secretly with her cell phone. She would also visit the Sky Park and walk on the lobby he used to go around. Days after days pa.s.sed like that. And her father, her only family member, died.

She wept and wept to the point that she was take to the emergency room from becoming unconscious due to dehydration symptoms. During that difficult time there was a man who took care of her whole-heartedly. He was always there to keep and protect her. One year ago he said he loved her, and then stayed with her. He was her high school cla.s.smate. Han Jisok.

Han was the man who shared her pain during her most difficult times. The she began to open her heart to Han, and soon became his lover like this.

“I’m glad to know you’re now okay. You look fine.”

Suhyuk never knew her father had died, but knew one thing clearly.

This man holding Binna’s hands. His eyes looking at her were warm.

“When are you coming back to work?”

At Suhyuk’s asking, she said with a smile, “I think sometime next week.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then.”

Suhyuk then pa.s.sed by her.

A little sigh came out her trembling lips.

She thought that she could stay calm when she met him again, but clearly she could not.

“Boohoo...”

When she lowered her head, tears dropped from her chin suddenly.

Han asked with a surprised look,

“What is the matter with you, Binna?”

He turned his head and looked at Suhyuk’s appearance from behind.

But it was only brief, and he now looked at Binna worriedly.

Was she thinking of her father again?

Keeping her head down for a while, she raised her head now, wiping her tears.

With a smile she nodded her head, saying,

“Yes, I’m alright. I’ll be alright.”

She calmed down her heart now beating strongly.

The man she had to look at now was not Lee Suhyuk, but the man before her eyes.

Dr. Lee had a woman, who he used to call his “friend.”

But it was not just that, in her eyes.

Their eyes looking at each other clearly showed their relations.h.i.+p was more than just “friends.”

—–

When Suhyuk went back home, there were some strangers visiting it.

They were his parents’ friends having a late housewarming party.

And he had to get a scolding from his parents because of the gifts he was holding with both hands.

Soon their scolding turned to praise, though.

All of them looked at his parents with envy.

Their son visited the Blue House, plus he would also receive a n.o.bel Prize.

That night Suhyuk had many gla.s.ses of soju refilled by them wis.h.i.+ng him well.

The next morning.

As soon as he went out of the house, he stopped by a convenience store.

He bought a hangover drink and emptied it in one gulp.

He felt he was not yet sober from intoxication last night.

If it were only like last night, he felt he could go on eating and drinking like that.

For he saw his parents’ happy smiles.

Thinking of the happy event last night, he soon moved to Daehan Hospital.

“h.e.l.lo, Dr. Lee!”

“h.e.l.lo, sir!”

As soon as he came into the lobby, those medical staff in the lobby said greetings here and there, at which Suhyuk responded by lowering his head.

He ma.s.saged the back of his neck once he got inside the elevator.

Now he was accustomed to the greetings by even those medical staff he did not know.

Ding dong.

With a bitter smile he headed for the cardiothoracic surgery department.

“Uh?”

The nurse who was putting data into the PC was surprised to see him.

“I thought you were taking a break until you get the n.o.bel award.”

Such a rumor was already spreading.

Shrugging his shoulders, Suhyuk said with a smile,

“What is the point of idling away time?”

“Slow down, doctor,” said the nurse.

Then the phone rang, and she picked up the phone.

“Yes, it’s the cardiothoracic surgery... Oh, TA patient? Got it.”

As soon as she hung up the phone, Suhyuk said, “Let me go and check him.”

Suhyuk quickened his pace.

At that moment Park Sungjae approached the desk after turning around the corner.

“Isn’t he Dr. Lee Suhyuk?”

“Yes, he went right to the emergency room.”

Park quickly moved to find him.

“Sir!”

Before Suhyuk pressed on the b.u.t.ton of the elevator, Park pressed it first.

“Can you allow me to go with you?”

Suhyuk nodded his head.

Going into the emergency room, Suhyuk looked around quickly.

He was near the entrance of the room.

Oh Byunchul, who took the defibrillator to a middle-age man’s heart, checked his vital signs.

Letting out a sigh, Oh wiped off sweat from his forehead.

Fortunately his heart beat again.

“Is he the TA patient?”

At Suhyuk’s asking, Oh turned his head.

“Oh, you came here?”

Oh knew Suhyuk had come back to Daehan Hospital, but he saw him now for the first time since then.

Though he was glad to see Suhyuk, it was not the right time to exchange greetings.

And that was the same feeling for Suhyuk.

Suhyuk scanned his body from head to foot.

The bandages around his arms and legs were stained with blood, which was now spreading gradually.

“Boohoo! Please open your eyes, uncle!”

A high-school girl beside him was nervous, and sobbing uncontrollably.

Looked like she was a family member of the man.

Then her face seemed familiar to him.

She was the patient who had been hospitalized after swallowing a razor.

Even with naked eye it was obvious that the patient’s condition was serious.

“How long did the patient’s heart stop for?”

At his asking, Oh opened his mouth,

“It stopped for a moment because of shock. He won’t have any big trouble.”

“Got it. Mr. Park, contact the guardian of the patient.”

Suhyuk pushed the stretcher to the intensive care center for a thorough checkup.

“Looks like there was damage to his liver...”

Murmuring to himself, Suhyuk looked at the patient with the oxygen respirator.

Also the patient had a slipped disc in cervical spine. No.5 and No.6.

He might have felt numb even on his hands along with extreme pain.

“We will start surgery immediately.”

At Suhyuk’s direction, the medical staff prepared surgery.

Suhyuk was no more a resident.

He was a doctor recognized by the medical faculty.

Above all, he was like a personal hospital on the move.

“Sir!” Park came in urgently, with an embarra.s.sed look.

“Looks like he doesn’t have any family or relatives.”

Letting out a sigh, Suhyuk swept up his hair, and then said,

“Okay. Let me be his guardian from now on. I’ll be responsible for any surgical mistake.”

There was a smile on the faces of the medical staff inside the room.

It was the moment they could confirm why everybody called him a doctor.

Heading for the operating room Suhyuk asked Park,

“Wasn’t the patient the father of that high school girl?”

Park, shaking his head, looked at the man on the stretcher.

At first he did not recognize who he was, but soon knew him after seeing the girl crying in the emergency room several times.

The middle-aged man visited the hospital several times while the girl was hospitalized.

It was he that paid the bill for her.

He thought the man was her father, but he was not.

There was no way of finding out their relations.h.i.+p.

“Looks like she is not his daughter. I don’t know exactly their relations.h.i.+p.”

Nodding his head, Suhyuk hurriedly went to the operating room.

The automatic door opened, and the patient and the medical staff went in.

Closing his eyes, Suhyuk began disinfecting himself.

Though he arrived at the hospital, he might have to fight over the patient’s bleeding now.

Really, there was bleeding from all over his body.

What about the condition of the organs inside his abdomen?

He could only make an educated guess based on the shots.

As soon as he was done with disinfection, he opened his eyes, and made a judgment.

Inside the operating room Suhyuk checked the IV and blood packs tied to the patient.

“There will be lots of bleeding while we’re performing the surgery. So, please get enough blood packs...”

Suhyuk looked at the patient’s arms and legs wrapped with bandages.

“Please press on the wounds as hard as possible. We’ll get into surgery after checking the condition of his organs first.”

The medical staff began bandaging the wounds, not too hard or too soft.

While they were doing it, Suhyuk took a look at the patient with the oxygen respirator.

“You have to overcome it.”

“TA patient, we start surgery now.”