TIME AFTER TIME ; jjk

46

Chapter 46

PARK SOOHYUN

I'd gotten better at navigating fellowship, even if the reality of it was a little jarring than I had initially thought. I tried to get as much rest when I was off work which had also been scarce, but every time I took some tasks off my pile, it still seemed to multiply the second I turned away. I got a nicer attending on my team, though, and that was a great bonus.

“Put in a Venflon,” I instructed the first year resident under my team attending surgeon's supervision before I could clear out another chart for the day. We'd just even started. I went to bed four hours ago after a surgery and doing post-ops. My body had grown accustomed to waking up just exactly in time for morning ward rounds that I didn't need an alarm to jolt me awake. I would get up to early messages from my boyfriend although we texted and called less lately. I couldn't wait to finish my shift and catch up on some sleep. Between all these things I was busying myself with, I was also anticipating when I was going to see my family next—Jungkook staying on top of that list. It didn't make sense that I was on call all the time. The CT surgery department had been short-staffed over the past few months; they certainly needed more hiring. It didn't help that the department chief had been complaining about the number of resignation letters being sent to and placed on his desk, at least two of them every month. It had been rough for us.

“I—I've never tried it yet, Doc.”

I failed to hide my frown, feeling it sit on my face as I stared her down. Being stationed at the ER wasn't ideal, and I desperately wanted to make it less unbearable for all of us. It would be great if the people in my team would make a conscious effort to keep up with things. “What do you mean you've never done it?”

The resident doctor's eyes casted downwards, almost embarrassed about her admission. “I've never had the chance to try it in med school. Or in my training so far… I know how to do it, just in theory.”

I had to remind myself I needed to be kind about the lack of experience, just let it slip this time—we’d all been there—but I'd been running around for sixteen hours now, and I still had a few more patients to see before I could wrap up my rounds this morning. I worked more than a twenty-four-hour shift by then, which was probably illegal but I couldn't complain because I, for one, was a new fellow avoiding trouble, and my job required me to care more about making sure the patients were doing fine than losing hours of personal comfort.

Maybe next week I could go home and spend a lot of time doing nothing there. I could be doing just paperwork, without being scrubbed. I could go out for dinner on my own and not worry for some time about seeing patients on the wards or teaching junior residents.

I pursed my lips and looked away, touching the back of my neck. I grabbed a pair of gloves from the tray. It wasn't the time to be an asshole senior. “Great. Get me a Venflon and I'll do it. I want you to try cannulating yourself before you turn up tomorrow morning for the ward round or never show your face to me again.”

“Practice on me, Doc?”

“It would be much more convenient if you tried it on me, wouldn't it?” I sighed. I could feel how largely intimidated she was so I masked my frustration. I didn't get annoyed at simple things like this, but I was being particularly nitpicky that time. Unfair, too. So I stopped talking and went on with the teaching rounds.

When we were done I pulled the first-year resident with me to the cafeteria, bought her a meal and apologized for how I acted earlier.

 . . .

Are you busy right now?

No. Just having my coffee. 

Can we FaceTime?