Emergency Instinct - Chapter 22

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Ji-an, who had switched to night shifts, was now volunteering for on-call duties and practically living in the hospital.

She preferred the hospital at night over the noisy daytime. There was definitely less attention from people, and she could focus more on her work.

But even that came to an end today.

“Doctor, here’s a warm cafe mocha. I made it a large size with extra whipped cream for you.”

The cafe owner handed her a larger size than what she had ordered.

“Oh, that’s not necessary.”

“It’s on the house. I saw the video on the hospital channel.”

“…Yes. Thank you.”

Ji-an awkwardly lifted the corners of her mouth.

“I saw it too. I heard you’re also taking promotional photos for the hospital. Congratulations.”

The cafe employee next to her also stepped forward, acting familiar.

Ji-an couldn’t help but be surprised.

It seemed like there were no secrets in this hospital.

She couldn’t understand how the cafe employee already knew about something she had only been offered a few hours ago.

“It’s not decided yet.”

Ji-an shook her head in denial and turned around.

It was true. She hadn’t signed the contract yet.

With quick steps, she avoided people’s gazes and sat in a corner of the lobby where she could see the Emergency Room. Looking at the Christmas tree decorated at the entrance, she took a sip of the sweet mocha coffee first to clear her head.

Ah, it’s sweet.

Ji-an, whose whole body tingled from the sweetness, let out a satisfied sigh.

Ji-an, who repeatedly swallowed the sweetness melting on her tongue, blankly looked back on the hectic day.

Today, the hospital’s promotional channel had opened.

Starting with the establishment process of Hanyeong Hospital, videos introducing the foundation and medical staff were uploaded one after another.

And at the end, an edited video of Ji-an saving the child was uploaded.

The video showed the correct posture of the Heimlich maneuver through Ji-an and explained emergency first aid methods in an easy way.

It was much more systematic than the CCTV footage that had already spread once.

Even Ji-an found it educational and sufficiently entertaining.

And the hospital’s publicity department formally proposed that Ji-an participate in video production.

They said the response was good, so they planned to continue producing emergency first aid videos.

They also proposed Ji-an as a promotional model and requested her to work with them.

The contract contained an amount that was hard to refuse easily.

Also, the conditions offered by the publicity department included tremendous benefits such as moving her hospitalized mother’s room and providing a professional therapist.

She examined the contract carefully, but there were no problems.

Thinking only of her mother, she should have accepted immediately.

However, Ji-an, who thought of Tae-jun, couldn’t readily accept it.

It was hard to believe that Tae-jun’s influence hadn’t worked at all.

In fact, even if it was an opportunity he had given her, she didn’t have the confidence to refuse such conditions outright.

Wouldn’t she be able to take care of her mother in a better environment?

Even if it was worldly, it couldn’t be helped.

Refusing these tremendous conditions was foolish no matter how she thought about it.

Even knowing this, it somehow felt like poison she shouldn’t consume.

Even though she tried not to connect it, it only felt like the price of desire flowing between them.

As a heavy sigh escaped, she saw an ambulance coming in.

Realizing that break time was over, Ji-an hurriedly got up from her seat.

When she entered the Emergency Room, a drunk person reeking of alcohol was lying there.

“It’s a drunk patient.”

“Yes. He’s a man in his 40s, and he was found lying completely drunk in the alley of a karaoke building.”

The man was holding a tambourine in his frozen hands. He had thrown his jacket somewhere and was wearing only a shirt with his tie wrapped around his head.

It seemed he was discovered quickly by heavenly luck. If he had fallen asleep outside in this condition, it would have been dangerous due to hypothermia.

After examining the patient, Ji-an spoke to the nurse standing beside her.

“First, let’s do a blood test and start an IV.”

But was he afraid of needles? The patient, who hadn’t been communicating properly, suddenly jerked his body up and struggled.

“Hold him down.”

As always, drunk patients had tremendous strength.

Ji-an struggled with the patient for a while and finally calmed him down by mobilizing even the hospital security guard.

By the time she had given the patient an IV and finished the blood test, she was completely drained.

This Christmas seemed to have unusually more work.

It was when Ji-an had barely sat down at the station with her exhausted body.

“Dr. Hong. There’s a call from upstairs.”

A nurse quietly approached and whispered.

“Upstairs?”

“A VIP came in as an emergency.”

Senior Kyung-seok is here too, so why are they telling me?

Ji-an, who glanced at Kyung-seok working with her, tilted her head.

“Why are you telling me? For VIPs, you should call Professor Cha directly.”

Come to think of it, if it was a VIP, Kyung-seok wasn’t in charge either. Professor Cha had to be notified unconditionally.

Professor Cha absolutely never took calls at dawn. Usually, he dumped everything on Kyung-seok, but when VIPs came in, the situation was different.

She wouldn’t not know this, so it was strange.

When Ji-an looked puzzled, the nurse approached as if she had no choice and whispered in her ear.

“It’s a call from the Vice Director. He said only Dr. Hong should come up quietly.”

The Vice Director wants me?

“It seems like a real VVIP. There’s no name, it’s an alias. Room 1501.”

It was a VIP ward that cost tens of millions of won per day.

If they came in suddenly at this hour, it was definitely an emergency. Since the Vice Director personally stepped in and they were even using an alias, it must be someone who absolutely couldn’t be known to the outside world.

Who could it be?

As Ji-an furrowed her brow, the nurse lowered her voice even more and whispered.

“Hurry up. Our Vice Director is the personal physician of the Royal Family.”

At those words, Ji-an jumped up and left the Emergency Room.

The only member of the Royal Family who would secretly call Ji-an at this hour was Seo Tae-jun.

She kept getting anxious in front of the name that naturally came to mind.

If it’s an emergency, was it an accident?

He had said he was on a business trip to the provinces.

Thinking of the road conditions that were a mess from the snow that had been falling for days, her steps quickened and her heartbeat grew louder.

Her fingertips trembled slightly as she got on the elevator and pressed the 15th floor.

It wasn’t easy to calm her mind even when she tried.

If it was on the highway, there was a possibility of a major accident.

When exactly did it happen?

Since she was on duty, there hadn’t been any ambulances that came in without Ji-an knowing all day.

The elevator opened, and she headed to the VIP ward.

After knocking softly, she opened the door and entered.

But the Vice Director who had called her was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, Seo Tae-jun was looking up at her with a haggard face. Lying on the bed wearing a patient gown.

She had hoped it wasn’t the case, but seeing him lying there as a patient, Ji-an was at a loss for words.

He looked completely different from her last memory of him.

His eyes were dim, and there was a bandage on his straight forehead. An IV was going in, and even at a glance, his condition didn’t look good.

Ji-an somehow felt short of breath. But swallowing her trembling, she calmly examined him.

“Dr. Hong Ji-an, why did you come so late?”

He spoke first in a low voice.

Countless questions came to mind. However, Ji-an, who swallowed her dry breath, answered calmly.

“I came right after receiving the Vice Director’s call.”

He slowly blinked his eyes and looked at her drowsily.

His pupils were half-dilated.

It seemed like sedatives were mixed into the IV drip.

“What happened?”

Ji-an asked the question that had been lingering in her mind.

As plainly as possible. Pretending it was nothing.

“Sleep deprivation. I couldn’t sleep.”

He couldn’t be lying there as if exhausted just from lack of sleep. Especially not with a large bandage stuck to his forehead.

If it wasn’t an accident, could there have been something wrong with his body severe enough to make him collapse?

No, that couldn’t be.

He was a man who always seemed unshakably healthy. It definitely wouldn’t be a lack of stamina.

Then it really meant sleep deprivation. If it was severe enough to cause exhaustion, it meant he had endured several days straight without eating or sleeping.

What kind of business trip had he been on to end up in this state in just a few days?

Judging by how drugged he looked, the examination was already finished and treatment and prescription were complete.

There didn’t seem to be anything for Ji-an to do right now. Especially if the Vice Director was his attending physician.

Still, she couldn’t help but speak up about the wound on his forehead that had been bothering her all along.

“What happened to your forehead?”

“…I fell.”

He muttered nonchalantly in a slow voice. Then, as if asking her to come closer, he slowly raised his hand.

Perhaps from running over, her heart was beating loudly.

She bit the inside of her lips and hesitated for a moment before approaching him.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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