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Nurse Eom just finished stacking the new supplies of syringes and gauze pads. She was looking forward, and praying really, that they would have a quiet day today at the ER. They had one major vehicular accident earlier, but so far, no other patients came in after that. She was definitely not gonna jinx this.
As she was getting ready to leave the station, she noticed Dr. Park made his way towards them. The sight of the doctor reminded her of the task he asked her and her heart jumped to her throat when she realized she failed. Ugh, why did I not leave right away?
“Dr. Parks, good morning,” she greeted, hoping he’d forgotten by now his ask.
The doctor nodded and gave a small smile. “Is the patient already in the OR?” he inquired as he reached for the charts, looking for a particular patient’s file.
“Yes, doctor. Dr. Shim and Nurses Park and Joo are already there too,”
“Nurse Park?” Dr. Park’s head shot up as he heard the name.
“Yes, sir. He’s scrubbing for you,” Nurse Eom responded, her voice already quivering though she tried to cover up the fear rising in her chest.
Dr. Park’s jaw clenched, “I think I specifically recall that I requested you to book Nurse Oh to be my scrub nurse. Didn’t I?” he grumbled.
Nurse Eom let out a small squeak, “Yes, sir, but we had an emergency earlier and Master Kim had to operate and he asked Nurse Oh to scrub. I couldn’t–”
Dr. Park raised his hand to stop Nurse Eom from explaining. The nurse automatically moved away, fearing Dr. Park would act like a petulant child and hit her. “Nurse Park was here too, why didn’t he scrub for that? I asked for Nurse Oh. I want her–”
“You want who now?” Dr. Shim interjected and teased.
Dr. Park was caught off guard, not realizing Dr. Shim was already standing beside him. He could feel blood rushed in his cheeks, like an embarrassed child caught doing something illegal.
“Master Kim wanted Nurse Oh, Dr. Park, so I couldn’t stop them–I’m so sorry!” Nurse Eom spluttered and then immediately dashed towards the exit. She didn’t wait anymore for Dr. Park’s response, thankful Dr. Shim came in when she did.
Nurse Eom's words echoed in Dr. Park’s mind, “Master Kim wanted Nurse Oh..” and he wasn’t sure why but it made him angry.
He sighed and didn’t bother to answer Dr. Shim but gave her a sideways, almost irritated glance and then sauntered towards OR 2. Dr. Shim had a hunch of what’s happening and chuckled at how ridiculous men can be. She felt like she’s back in college, watching two jocks fight over a girl. And here she thought it’s gonna be quiet now at Doldam.
That afternoon, Dr. Park ran across Nurse Oh at the Staff Lounge. He was looking for some tea because he didn’t have any left in his office. Nurse Oh stood beside him, waiting for him to finish his perusal of their tea supply.
When he was done, he faced her and gauged her before he started, “Didn’t I ask you last night to scrub in my surgery?”
Nurse Oh was caught off guard, not by the question, but his tone. He was trying not to whine, but failed at it. Nurse Oh bit her lips together to suppress her smile and decided not to poke fun at him.
“I’m sorry, doctor. We had an emergency operation earlier and Kim Sabu asked me to scrub in for him,” she consoled. She was about to touch his arm to comfort him somehow but was stopped in her tracks–
“Did I hear my name?” Kim Sabu asked.
Startled, both Nurse Oh and Dr. Park looked up towards the door, seeing Kim Sabu joined them in the room.
Dr. Park sighed, knowing he’d never win over Kim Sabu when Nurse Oh’s involved. He shook his head no and gazed at Nurse Oh’s face before he turned his back to leave the two in the room.
He knew where he stood.
FIN