Dahyun had barely slept. The excitement and pressure of her recent cardiac surgery had kept her tossing and turning all night. But when her pager buzzed at 5:00 a.m., signaling that she was being assigned to the ER for the day, her heart sank a little. The Emergency Room was chaos personified. It was non-stop, high-pressure, and unpredictable. She had mentally prepared herself for more OR time, maybe even another shot at cardio. But the ER?
She sighed as she got dressed, her scrubs feeling slightly heavier than usual. Still, this was part of the journey. Being a doctor wasn’t just about the glamorous surgeries; it was about being able to handle everything. And the ER was where she would prove her versatility.
---
The hospital's Emergency Room was already buzzing with energy when Dahyun arrived. The waiting room was crowded, filled with people nursing various injuries or illnesses, from kids with scraped knees to adults holding ice packs to their heads. The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and panic, a constant undercurrent of stress running through the room.
As she stepped inside, she spotted Sana, Jungkook, and Jihyo already there, along with Dr. Kwon Eunbi, one of the hospital’s ER attendings. Eunbi was known for being tough but fair, a doctor who expected quick thinking and even quicker actions. There was no time for hesitation in her ER.
"Kim, you’re late," Dr. Eunbi said the moment she spotted Dahyun, her sharp eyes were cutting through the room like a scalpel. "We don’t have time to wait around for anyone here. Get moving."
Dahyun felt a flush creep up her neck but nodded quickly. "Yes, Dr. Kwon. I’m ready."
"You better be," Eunbi replied, already walking toward a patient’s bed. "Today’s a busy day. Multiple trauma cases coming in from a pile-up on the highway, and we’re short-staffed. I expect you all to handle things without falling apart."
The group of interns exchanged nervous glances. The ER was always chaotic, but a highway pile-up? That meant multiple serious injuries, all at once. It was a trial by fire, and they all knew it.
"Let’s get started," Dr. Eunbi said, motioning them forward. "You’re each going to handle a different case. I’ll supervise, but I expect you to make decisions on your own. Let’s see what you’ve got."
---
Dahyun’s first patient was a middle-aged man who had been in the pile-up. He had a gash on his forehead, a fractured wrist, and was complaining of chest pain. As she approached him, trying to recall everything she had learned about trauma assessments, her mind raced. Airway, breathing, circulation… she mentally ran through the ABCs.
"Mr. Lee, I’m Dr. Kim," she said, keeping her voice steady as she examined him. "I’m going to take care of you today. Can you tell me how you’re feeling?"
The man groaned, wincing as he shifted slightly in bed. "My chest… it hurts. It’s hard to breathe."
Dahyun’s heart skipped a beat. Chest pain could mean a lot of things—anything from broken ribs to something more serious, like a punctured lung or a heart attack. She needed to act fast.
"Okay, we’re going to take care of that," she said, keeping her voice calm as she motioned for a nurse. "Let’s get a chest X-ray and an EKG. We need to rule out any cardiac issues."
As the nurse hurried to comply, Dahyun quickly assessed the man’s vitals. His blood pressure was low, his pulse rapid. Not a good sign. She glanced over at Dr. Eunbi, who was supervising from the other side of the room, working on a more critical case but still keeping an eye on the interns.
"Keep him stabilized until we know more," Eunbi called over, barely looking up from her patient. "Don’t make any moves without knowing exactly what’s wrong."
Dahyun nodded, feeling the pressure mount. She turned back to her patient, keeping him as comfortable as possible while they waited for the tests. The minutes felt like hours, and the tension in the room was suffocating. Every second felt crucial.
---
Meanwhile, Sana was working on a young girl who had been brought in with a broken arm and possible internal bleeding. The girl’s mother hovered nearby, her eyes wide with fear.
"Doctor, is she going to be okay?" the mother asked, her voice trembling.
Sana, who had always been known for her compassion, smiled gently, though Dahyun could see the strain in her eyes. "We’re doing everything we can, ma’am. We need to run some more tests to make sure there’s no internal damage."
As she spoke, Sana’s hands moved with practiced ease, wrapping the girl’s arm in a temporary cast before ordering an ultrasound to check for any signs of internal bleeding. Her calm demeanor seemed to soothe the mother, at least for the moment.
"Hey, how’s it going?" Jungkook asked as he passed by, his own patient temporarily stable.
Sana sighed, glancing at him with a tight smile. "I’ve got a broken arm and possible internal bleeding. What about you?"
"Burn victim from the pile-up. First and second-degree burns on his hands and arms," Jungkook replied, his face serious. "Not fun."
Jihyo, who had been dealing with a case of an elderly man with a suspected stroke, chimed in. "The ER is a madhouse today. I barely got time to assess my patient before they were wheeled off for a CT scan."
"Tell me about it," Yoongi said, joining the group after finishing with a patient. "Dr. Kwon’s running us ragged."
As they exchanged their war stories, Dahyun felt a sense of solidarity with her fellow interns. They were all in the same boat, trying to navigate the chaos of the ER while keeping their patients alive and stable. No one had it easy, and they were all learning on the fly.
---
Hours passed, and the ER never slowed down. Dahyun’s patient was stable for the moment, but the chest X-ray had revealed a small pneumothorax—a collapsed lung. She needed to act fast.
"Mr. Lee, you have a small collapse in your lung," she explained, keeping her voice calm. "We’re going to insert a chest tube to help your lung re-expand and relieve the pressure."
The man’s eyes widened in fear, but Dahyun smiled reassuringly. "You’re going to be fine. I’ve got you."
Dr. Eunbi was there, guiding her through the procedure. Dahyun’s hands were steady as she made the incision, carefully inserting the chest tube and watching as the man’s vitals slowly began to stabilize.
"Good work, Kim," Dr. Eunbi said, her voice approving for the first time that day. "You handled that well."
Dahyun felt a swell of pride. She had successfully treated her patient under immense pressure, and it felt like a victory. She knew she still had a long way to go, but moments like this made the grueling hours and sleepless nights worth it.
---
As the day wound down, the group of interns collapsed into chairs in the staff lounge, exhausted but satisfied. The chaos of the ER had pushed them to their limits, but they had made it through.
"Dahyun, I heard you put in a chest tube today," Jungkook said, his voice full of admiration. "That’s insane."
Dahyun smiled tiredly. "Yeah, it was intense. I wasn’t sure if I was going to pass out or not."
"You didn’t," Sana pointed out with a grin. "That’s what matters."
Yoongi leaned back, closing his eyes. "We all survived. That’s a win in my book."
Jihyo laughed, though she was just as exhausted as the rest of them. "Survival is the bare minimum, Yoongi."
"Exactly," he mumbled, already half-asleep.
