Unexpected Client

“You’ll need to pay a bit more attention to your meals while taking the antibiotics, and please come back once more next week.”
“Yes, doctor.”
“Then, get home safely.”

A few days before the incident, Go Eunhyeok was having a normal day.
Treating and examining patients, just as his calling dictated.
His clinic’s name, ‘Joy Clinic,’ was simple, but there was a meaning behind it.
It was because Go Eunhyeok believed that health was directly linked to joy.
Most people who came to the clinic, for whatever reason, were a little distant from this joy.
Especially those who visited a surgical clinic, which meant they were injured enough to need medical attention.
He hoped that these people would see the word ‘Joy’ even for a moment and recall happy times.

“Ms. Kim, please send in the next patient.”
“Yes, sir.”

There was a moment when Go Eunhyeok became particularly vulnerable, and that day was exactly like that.

“Oh, my dear friend, how did you get hurt like this?”
“I fell while walking.”
“I see, that must have hurt a lot. Can you show the doctor?”

It was when a young patient came in.
Children, who are relatively more vulnerable to pain than adults, were especially prone to bursting into tears from such injuries.
That’s why Go Eunhyeok held the small arm and checked the wound with even more composure than usual.

“Ma’am, how long has it been since Siwoo fell?”
“Uh… I think it’s been about an hour.”

Go Eunhyeok’s expression stiffened.

‘An hour…’

If an hour had passed since the injury, the wound should have already started oozing.
As Go Eunhyeok’s expression hardened, the guardian’s face also clouded with worry.

“He just fell lightly on the street. But the bleeding won’t stop. The wound isn’t even that big… Is this okay? Doctor.”

As the guardian said, the child’s wound was not that large.
Nor was it deep.
And yet, blood continued to trickle from the wounds on his knee and arm, as if they had just been inflicted.

“Hmm, our friend’s name is… right, Siwoo. Does it hurt a lot?”
“No. It just itches. I want to scratch it, but mom said no.”

The six-year-old child mumbled his answer to Go Eunhyeok’s question, swinging his legs.
Go Eunhyeok smiled and gently stroked the child’s head.

“Our Siwoo is being a good boy even though it’s itchy, huh? The doctor will give you a candy as a present.”
“Really?”
“Yes, but shall we treat it first?”

Go Eunhyeok first sprayed a hemostatic agent on the wound.
It wasn’t a large enough wound to require sutures, so the best treatment he could provide was a dressing, including hemostasis and disinfection.
Droplets of blood quickly seeped through the hemostatic agent.

‘Something’s definitely strange…’

The guardian seemed flustered by the unexpected situation but hadn’t lost her senses.
Instead of tilting his head in a way that might make the child anxious, Go Eunhyeok asked a question.

“Has Siwoo ever been injured this much before?”
“No, he’s never been hurt enough to bleed.”
“In my opinion, you should go to a bigger hospital.”
“What? A bigger hospital for a small fall like this…”

Disbelief instantly clouded the guardian’s face.
But Go Eunhyeok continued to speak even more calmly.

“The fall isn’t the problem; it’s that the wound isn’t healing. By now, the wound should have started to close up, but Siwoo’s wound looks like it just happened.”
“Ah, yes…”
“I’ve done all the treatment I can right now. Please go to a large hospital right away and get him checked out. I’ll write you a referral.”
“Ah, no. It’s fine.”

The guardian hurriedly left the examination room with a reluctant expression.

“Goodbye, doctor.”
“Oh, bye-bye, Siwoo.”

Go Eunhyeok waved back at the child who was waving at him, clutching a candy.
The child’s farewell to him, who was staying at the clinic, was cute, but he had a feeling of foreboding…

Bang!

It seemed that uneasy feelings were never wrong.
Two days after the child and guardian’s visit, a man, his face full of anger, pushed open the clinic door as if to break it.

“Where’s the doctor here! Come out!”

At the man’s loud shout, not only the waiting patients but also the nurses at the desk stood up in surprise.
One of them hurriedly went to find Go Eunhyeok in the treatment room.

“Director… a man is looking for you, but the situation is a bit strange.”
“I’ll go out. It’s okay.”

Go Eunhyeok approached the man who was shouting and looking for him in the waiting area.

“I am the doctor of this clinic. And the director. I don’t know what’s going on, but let’s talk in the examination room first. There are other patients here.”
“Hmph.”
“I ask for your understanding.”
“Doctor, are you okay? Should I call the police for you?”
“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

Go Eunhyeok smiled and bowed to the other patients and entered the examination room with the man.

“What is the matter?”
“My son was treated here a few days ago, what kind of treatment did you give him that he had to be rushed to the hospital!”

The man pointed his finger and raised his voice even louder.
Among the many children who had visited the clinic over the past few days, one child flashed in his mind.
Go Eunhyeok opened his mouth, hoping he was wrong.

“Are you perhaps Siwoo’s father?”
“Hah, so you remember? My son is hospitalized right now! Because the bleeding wouldn’t stop!”
“…Didn’t you go to another hospital right away? I clearly told his mother that Siwoo needed to get a detailed examination at a larger hospital immediately.”

The man looked flustered, as if he hadn’t heard this before.
He forgot he had been shouting just a moment ago and now looked at Go Eunhyeok with a frown of confusion.

“…What do you mean by that? Is it true you told Siwoo’s mom?”
“Yes, she refused the referral, so I was worried, but…”

The man let out a dry laugh, wiped his face with his hands, and then raised his voice again.
His tone was convinced that Go Eunhyeok was lying, not his wife.

“Are you trying to evade responsibility right now? Saying it’s my wife’s and my fault that my son ended up like this!”

In a situation like this, and reacting emotionally to an emotional person, you end up missing important things.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, Go Eunhyeok was a doctor very well-trained for extreme situations.
He had spent a considerable amount of time in a civil war zone.
Go Eunhyeok suppressed his sense of injustice and answered again.

“If you wish, I can show you Siwoo’s medical chart from that day. Past charts cannot be modified.”

As Go Eunhyeok responded with a firm attitude, the man flinched for a moment.

“The bleeding hadn’t stopped for an hour, and as there were signs of suspected hemophilia, I clearly told the guardian to visit a higher-level hospital. You seem to be completely unaware of this.”
“He, hemophilia? Isn’t that a genetic disease! Neither I nor his mother have such a thing!”

Hemophilia was a genetic disorder where blood clotting function is impaired, leading to prolonged bleeding and slow wound healing.

“Genetic diseases don’t manifest in every generation. In fact, though rare, there’s a chance of it occurring spontaneously. Are you okay? Sir!”

The man momentarily staggered and gripped the desk.
Go Eunhyeok hurriedly supported the man and sat him down in a chair.

“My wife didn’t say anything. Siwoo didn’t look bad when we got home. But then his clothes started getting soaked with blood… and he collapsed.”
“Is Siwoo okay now?”
“They said it was excessive bleeding and that he needs to rest and receive treatment… I came straight here. Because this was the first clinic our son visited.”
“……”

The man sat silently in the chair for a few minutes.

Knock, knock.

“…Director, we have a lot of patients waiting. Should we reschedule their appointments?”

After a polite knock, a calm voice followed.
Go Eunhyeok realized that Nurse Kim was deliberately mentioning other people.
It was because she had worked with him for a long time.

“Ah, could you ask them to wait just a little longer? I think it will be possible soon.”

Go Eunhyeok replied, glancing at the man who was gradually calming down over time.

“I’m sorry. I lost my composure for a moment.”
“Not at all. I also hope Siwoo gets well soon.”
“…Thank you.”

Not long after, the man left the clinic, saying he had been rude.
If it had ended there, it would have been a clean finish.

Bang!

A few days later, when the commotion was about to be forgotten, someone burst through the clinic door just as roughly.

“Why on earth did you tell my husband such useless things!”

The woman burst through the door and immediately started shouting.
It was Siwoo’s mother, who had visited with him a few days ago.
The woman raised her voice with the same attitude as her husband, regardless of whether there were other patients.

“Ma’am, this is a clinic. Please calm down, as there are other patients,”
“Get out of the way!”

Thud!

Not only that, but she pushed the nurse who was trying to restrain her, causing her to fall.

“Ms. Lee! Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine…”

Go Eunhyeok hurriedly helped the fallen nurse up and looked at the woman.
He added with a cold face.
It would be one thing if it were just shouting, but now she had harmed a staff member.

“If you cause any more disturbance, I will call the police.”

He had experienced a lot in his life as a doctor, but the words that followed were something Go Eunhyeok had never heard before.

“Call the police! Go ahead and call them! I’m about to get divorced because of you, so what does any of that matter!”

The woman screamed at the top of her lungs.
Go Eunhyeok ushered the patients away from the agitated woman.

“If it wasn’t for you, this would have never been revealed! I could have just gotten over it somehow!”

The woman’s situation was this.
Her husband, who had suddenly run out of the clinic, came back and, after examining the child, suddenly asked.

“…Is his blood type O because of a transfusion?”
“Uh, uh-huh… I guess so?”

It wasn’t long before the man found out that his son’s blood type was different from what he had known.
His wife’s blood type was A, and his was AB.
But his son’s blood type on the chart was O.
The man, who had lived for six years believing his son’s blood type was A, was in shock.

“…Is Siwoo really my son? No, he’s already not.”

The man eventually found out that his son was not his biological son.

“Still, how could you just divorce me so suddenly. We have affection from living together, how could you abandon the child in one go like that…”
“Were you planning to deceive me for the rest of your life if you hadn’t been caught?”
“Waaah. Mom, Dad… don’t fight…”

Finding herself in a situation where she had to pay alimony, the woman came to Go Eunhyeok to take out her anger.

Crash!

“This! Is! All! Your fault for saying useless things! I won’t let this go! You couldn’t even treat a child!”

The woman threw the clinic’s potted plants and smashed fixtures while screaming.
Instead of trying to stop the woman, Go Eunhyeok had no choice but to send the patients out and call the police.
Because he knew better than anyone that an extremely agitated person is unpredictable.

“That’s what happened… Is it a bit much to consider this a medical malpractice lawsuit?”

Go Eunhyeok, who had finished his story, laughed awkwardly.
Neither Lee Ilwoo nor I could laugh.
At first, I was worried about a medical malpractice case, but…

‘This is completely different from what I expected.’

[Reality is more dramatic than a drama.]

‘I suppose that’s how it is.’

I gently rubbed my brow, looked at Go Eunhyeok, and opened my mouth.

“First of all, even if they do proceed with a lawsuit, it would likely be for defamation at most… It’s more likely that it won’t even go to trial.”

Go Eunhyeok slowly clasped his hands under the table and looked at me.

“In a marital relationship where you are raising a child together, simply telling a guardian about the child’s illness does not violate medical law.”

I slowly went over Go Eunhyeok’s story and asked another question.

“What would you like to do? You could actually countersue for business interruption losses.”

We quietly waited for Go Eunhyeok’s answer.

“I don’t want to go that far.”

The words that came out of his mouth once again defied my expectations.
Lee Ilwoo momentarily frowned, as if he couldn’t understand.
Go Eunhyeok shook his head at Lee Ilwoo and then added with an uncomfortable expression.

“Instead… there is one thing I would like you to check for me.”