Chapter 31 - Workaholic

“Of course, I’m sure you can take care of yourself, sir. But I have to do my job,” Yiyoung said with all the cheer she could muster, putting a brief end to his screams.

This drunkard was quite well-known in the neighborhood. His neighbors had to call the cops at least five times a month to deal with him. He was a self-centered prick who treated the paramedics and doctors as his servants, but the fear of being sued or getting complained against stopped Yiyoung from putting the man in his place.

Unfortunately, the paramedics were duty-bound to respond to every call and report to the scene, and whenever they brought him into the ER, the man seemed ready to go to war against the doctors. His favorite line was, “Do you know who I am?” He would throw the same words at them repeatedly and create a scene. Calling the cops on him wasn’t an option. He never damaged any property, so all the police could do was convince him to stop. But the man never did. 

Yiyoung signed the chart to confirm that the man had been safely escorted to the ER and handed it to the paramedic. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Hope you have a good day.” The paramedic turned around to leave. 

But the man instantly shouted, “Hey! You! Where are you going?”

“Where do you think he’s going?” Yiyoung snapped, “He’s leaving so he can save other people.”

“Where does he think he’s going when I’m still here? He needs to drive me home!” His corrupted mind thought of the ambulance as his personal car.

 Yiyoung waved her hand and signaled the paramedic, ignoring the drunkard’s whines. “Bye.”

“Okay, bye.” The paramedic made his way to the exit.

The drunkard’s face turned red. “You! Who do you think you are?”

“Mister, the ER is meant for emergency cases. We will escort you to the waiting room,” Yiyoung said with a firm tone.

 “Wh-who… who do you think I am? The waiting room? I should be your priority!” 

Right at that moment, a patient was wheeled into the ER, his condition looking extremely critical. One of the paramedics rattled off the details, “Car accident. Patient experienced a cardiac arrest—”

Yiyoung glanced around. No other doctor was available to deal with this emergency. She quickly flagged down a nurse and warned her about the drunkard before jumping into action.

That crazy boozehound’s eyes flashed with violent fury when Yiyoung attempted to leave. He rushed at her, swinging an arm at her head. The onlookers screamed in fright and surprise at the sudden savagery. Fortunately, before the blow could land, someone snatched the man’s hand.

“What the—” the man turned around, agitated at the interruption, but calmed down when he came face to face with the security guard.

“If you disturb the patients in the ER or hit someone, you’ll be arrested,” the 6 feet 2 inches tall, bulky guard warned.

The drunk man tried to defend himself, “When did I hit—”

“If I hadn’t blocked you, you would have hit her. Why don’t you come with me over there.”

“What did I do? I didn’t do anything! I got mad because she ignored me,” the man sputtered before turning to Yiyoung, “Hey! You! Come here.”

But Yiyoung was long gone, too unconcerned to even turn and look at him. The moment the other patient was wheeled in, he had become her priority.

Suddenly, the drunk man’s wife walked in. She grumbled, “Oh my, you’re crazy! You’re embarrassing me.”

“Why did you come here?” the man yelled at her irritatedly, “I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, right. You sure are in a state to take care of yourself, huh? Whatever, just hurry and go home,” his wife huffed.

“Hold on, sir,” the security guard butted in their argument, an amicable smile on his face, “Why don’t you both follow me? I’ll brief you on our safety policy, let you know what happens when someone continues to create a ruckus at the ER.”

“No, that’s not necessary…” the pair stuttered.

But the guard’s eyes crinkled at the edges as his smile grew. “Let’s go.”

* * * 

Yiyoung leaned over the sink and splashed her face with the cold water in an attempt to keep herself awake. 

“So tired,” she muttered. Despite all the coffee she had downed and the cold water she shoved up her nostrils, Yiyoung was still drowsy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, noting how bloodshot her eyes looked, and bent down to splash her face again.

Yiyoung tore off a paper towel from the dispenser and was drying her face when the bathroom door opened and her colleague and close friend, Dr. Park, entered.

Dr. Park’s eyes widened when she noticed Yiyoung. “You still haven’t gone home? How many hours have you been here?”

“Well… it just ended up this way,” Yiyoung said sheepishly.

“Dr. Yoon, don’t do this to yourself,” her friend frowned, “The shifts are based on rotations, you can’t take up others’ shifts as well.”

 Yiyoung hummed carelessly as she applied lotion on her face. “I’ll leave in a bit.”

The victim of the car accident who had been rushed in earlier had been in a critical condition. His heart rate had deviated by a large margin and refused to fall back to normal, so Yiyoung had no choice but to perform CPR on him for god knows how long. She recalled the way his family members had begged her to save him; Yiyoung could still hear their cries. When she saw how deeply they loved him, it pricked her heart. 

“That patient…” muttered Dr. Park, “he was really lucky to meet you.”

“It was his will to live that saved him,” Yiyoung humbly replied.

Dr. Park sighed defeatedly as she looked to her workaholic friend. She had learned about Yiyoung’s past a long time ago, but her heart still suffered from sorrow whenever she thought about it.