Afternoons in the Oncology Department were usually not noisy, but they were never truly quiet. After lunch, hurried footsteps once again stretched along the halls. Patients were called in for examinations, family members waited outside the doors, and nurses moved constantly between rooms. The sound of medical records being printed rang out in bursts from the duty desk, mingling with nurses calling patients' names from the end of the hall.
The five students were divided into three smaller groups.
Tú Linh went with a resident doctor in Exam Room Four. Quân and Khánh were in the room next door, Room Five. Mai and Trang followed another doctor in the opposite section.
The group was no longer unfamiliar with the department's work like they had been during their first few days.
But the more familiar Tú Linh became with it, the more she realized one thing: a hospital never gave anyone the chance to predict what would happen next. So naturally, Linh ended up caught in some drama today.
The examination-room door opened, and a new patient walked in. The doctor checked the chart and began taking the patient's history. Tú Linh sat beside her, observing and taking notes. Everything proceeded normally until the man accompanying the patient suddenly barged in.
“Doctor, why haven't you examined my mother yet? For God's sake, it's already past noon! Do you have any idea how many hours I've been waiting? It's already afternoon! What the hell kind of work are you doing?”
The doctor looked up from the chart.
“Sir, please wait just a little longer. The patient ahead of your mother has an order that needs to be handled first. You took a number, so you'll have to wait. Please try to understand.”
“How much longer? How much longer do I have to wait? My mother is in a lot of pain! Can't you people see that? Oh, so you only examine people who slip you money, huh?”
“Sir, please calm down. I'd like to ask you to step outside.”
“Calm down? Just examine my mother already!”
The man glanced toward the hall, then turned back.
“My mother has been sitting out there for hours, and nobody cares at all.”
“I understand. But the patient ahead of her needs to be prioritized because they're showing abnormal symptoms. The nurse screened your mother earlier and determined that her condition wasn't serious, so we have to prioritize the patients who need it most first. Please bear with us.”
The doctor's voice remained even. The man did not calm down.
“You always prioritize everyone else. Screw all of you!”
The doctor set down her pen and signaled for the nurse to call security.
“Please calm down. I'll have your mother brought in as soon as this case is handled.”
“Wow, you make it sound so easy. Why didn't you say that earlier?”
He stepped closer to the examination desk. Tú Linh saw his hand clench into a fist. The doctor remained seated.
“If you're dissatisfied, you can file a complaint with the reception department. But please don't raise your voice in the examination room and disturb the other patients.”
“Save it. Are you trying to tell me what to do? You think I won't punch you people?”
The atmosphere changed instantly. Tú Linh looked toward the door. Several people in the hall had started turning to watch. The man took another step forward.
“Your mother—”
He raised his hand. Tú Linh barely had time to think.
“Hey, sir! What are you doing?”
She stepped forward and shielded the female doctor.
“Please calm down first.”
The man spun toward her.
“Who are you?”
“Please calm down. If you lay a hand on me, I'll call the police.”
“Get lost... or I'll beat you up too.”
The moment he finished speaking, the man's arm swung toward her.
Tú Linh only had time to twist aside.
“Linh!”
A figure rushed out of the room next door and pushed between them. The punch missed Tú Linh and slammed into Quân's stomach.
“Pow!”
Quân staggered back two steps. He lowered his head and looked at his stomach. He stayed silent for a few seconds, then looked up.
“Ow, you old bastard... That hurt.”
Khánh also ran over from the room next door.
“Quân... hey... hey, did you just punch someone? I... I got it on video, you know!”
The man was still furious. He reached out and shoved Quân. Quân had already been unsteady after the punch, and the extra push made him stumble. He instinctively stepped forward to regain his balance, and the two men collided. A second later, they both fell to the floor.
“Crash!” Our Fatty Quân hit the ground like thunder.
Quân landed on top of the man.
The entire room fell silent. Quân braced both hands on the floor.
“Wait, what the heck?”
The man underneath him turned bright red.
“Get up, oh my God! I can't breathe!”
“I am standing... I mean, I'm trying to stand.”
“Get up, you idiot!”
“I weigh a lot, so don't squirm. I can't get up yet.”
Khánh stood beside them, wanting to pull Quân up but having no idea where to begin.
“Quân! You're crushing him! You're going to kill the guy—wait, no, don't kill him by crushing him!”
“I know, but I can't get up yet!”
The man underneath him began to gasp.
“Can't... breathe.”
Quân panicked immediately.
“Wait, wait! I'm sorry!”
By then, the sound of security officers running over could be heard in the hall. Two security guards quickly entered the room and separated them.
“Sir, calm down. Don't resist.”
Đinh Thanh An appeared at the end of the hall. She had just left her office, and she was still holding a file. Her first glance did not stop on the troublemaker. She looked at the female doctor, then the nurse. She looked at the patient. Only afterward did she turn to the two students standing in the middle of the room.
“Please take this man outside first.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
The man was still shouting.
“You're all taking each other's side!”
A nurse quickly closed the door partway to keep the patients outside from gathering. Tú Linh stood beside the examination desk, looking shaken. Both her hands were ice-cold. She hadn't been hit, but the moment that arm swung down was still vivid in her mind. Just then, the sharp clack of leather shoes approached her in a hurry.
“Are you two all right?”
Tú Linh and Quân shook their heads to indicate they were fine.
Thanh An frowned slightly.
“What happened?”
The nurse quickly recounted the incident.
Thanh An listened to the whole story without interrupting.
When she reached the part about Quân being hit, her gaze settled on him.
“Where did he hit you?”
Quân pointed to his stomach.
“Here, ma'am.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No, ma'am. I'm fine.”
Khánh immediately betrayed his friend.
“He was holding his stomach for several minutes just now.”
Quân turned to him.
“Hey!”
Thanh An did not smile.
“All right. You'll get checked out with me later.”
She turned to the female doctor.
“Are you all right?”
“Yes, ma'am. I'm fine. It happened so suddenly that I couldn't react in time. Luckily, these kids handled it well, and this brave girl helped too.” The doctor spoke while turning toward Tú Linh, who was still a little frightened and could only clutch the corner of her coat.
“All right.”
Then she looked at the patient's family member, who was being held back by security. Her voice was cool but clear.
“You have the right to file a complaint about medical treatment. But you do not have the right to threaten or attack medical staff. The law is clear: resisting medical personnel in the course of their work is equivalent to resisting an officer carrying out official duties.”
The man was still angry.
“All I wanted was for my mother to be examined, but you people take forever. Fuck!”
“I understand.”
Thanh An did not argue.
“Your mother will still be examined. But you need to understand that many people here are seriously ill, and we have to handle emergency cases constantly. We screened your mother, and she hasn't reached a critical level. You should be glad about that. Do you want your mother to be seriously ill, with me having to focus on her like the patients who can barely breathe?”
She turned to the nurse.
“Take the patient to the waiting area. Once the situation is under control, continue with the process.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Thanh An turned to the doctor in charge.
“Don't worry. Continue your examinations. I'll handle the rest.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
She looked toward security.
“Make a complete incident report. If the family continues causing trouble, notify the administrative office, and security should turn them over to the local police in accordance with regulations.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Everything was assigned in just a few sentences. No one was left standing in the hall to continue arguing. The patient was taken away. The family member was separated from the examination area.
The doctor returned to her desk.
The nurse called in the next patient.
Thanh An looked at the students.
“You all go back to work too. Quân, come with me.”
Quân stared blankly.
“Yes?”
She looked at Tú Linh.
“Are you all right?”
Tú Linh nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then go back to the doctor in charge.”
“Yes.”
Thanh An surveyed the room one more time. Then she reminded Tú Linh,
“Your group stays after the shift and waits for me for a bit.”
With that, she turned and walked toward the administrative area. No one said anything else. Only after her figure disappeared around the corner did everything return to its usual rhythm.
It was almost six when the shift ended, and the five returned to the hallway outside the conference room. Quân took off his name badge and sat down in a chair.
Khánh pulled a chair closer.
“Hey.”
“What?”
“Does your stomach still hurt?”
“It really does.”
Khánh looked at Quân.
“You said it didn't hurt earlier.”
“I was trying to save face.”
Trang and Mai perked up at the story.
“So did Ms. An take you to get checked out?”
“Yep. I got checked out. Nothing's wrong. My stomach's got way too much fat padding it.”
Tú Linh laughed, the first time she had smiled since the incident.
Mai burst out laughing.
Trang was drinking water and had to choke, turning her face away.
Tú Linh sat across from Quân.
She was silent for a moment before saying,
“Thanks.”
Quân looked at her.
“Thanks for what?”
“For earlier.”
“Come on, we're friends. If I weren't a med student, I'd have punched that guy until he saw stars for messing with my friend.”
Quân draped an arm around Linh's shoulders.
“We're friends, after all.”
Tú Linh looked at him. It was a simple sentence, but it was enough to make her feel lighter. Quân rubbed his stomach again.
Khánh laughed.
“What the hell? I suddenly saw the commotion in Linh's room, and my supervising doctor told me to go check it out. Then Quân suddenly flew in, so I grabbed my ass and ran after him.”
Quân looked down at his stomach.
“Hey, I saw that guy was about to hit Linh, so I charged in.”
Quân continued seriously:
“Then, in the chaos, I fell right on top of him. And then I pretended I couldn't get up. Fuck, I used my body weight to crush him. I was dying.”
Khánh laughed loudly.
“You guys, that was so damn funny. It looked like an elephant sitting on a frog.”
“Hahahahahaha!”
Mai hugged her stomach as she laughed.
“What do you call that?”
Quân thought for a very long time.
“Passive self-defense.”
Khánh slapped the table.
“Did you just make that term up?”
“No.”
“Yes, you did.”
“No!”
Tú Linh laughed along with them.
The atmosphere finally grew lighter.
Just then, the door opened.
Thanh An stepped inside.
The five immediately sat up straight.
She looked around.
“What are you laughing about?”
No one answered.
Quân pointed at his stomach.
“Uh... professional matters.”
Thanh An looked at him.
“What professional matters?”
“Uh... passive self-defense.”
Thanh An was silent for two seconds, the corner of her eye twitching slightly. But very quickly, her expression returned to normal.
“Stand up.”
Quân immediately stood.
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Come here.”
She gave him another preliminary examination, asking where it hurt, how badly it hurt, and whether he felt nauseated, dizzy, or short of breath.
Only then did she say,
“There are no obvious abnormal signs for now. If the pain gets worse or any other symptoms appear, report it immediately.”
Quân nodded.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Thanh An turned to Tú Linh.
“And you?”
“Yes?”
“Did you get hit anywhere?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Thanh An studied her for a few seconds.
“All right.”
She sat down on the row of chairs across from the five students and loosened the tie around her neck.
“About this afternoon, you two reacted very quickly.”
Quân sat up straighter.
Tú Linh also fell silent.
“But reacting quickly doesn't mean you handled every part of the situation correctly.”
Thanh An's gaze settled on Tú Linh.
“You stepped in front of someone while the other person was acting violently. What if the punch hadn't stopped there?”
Tú Linh did not answer.
“Did you even think about whether he might have been carrying a knife?”
“No... I didn't.”
“That's a serious problem. Your parents entrust you to the school, and the school entrusts you to us. If something happened to you, what would I say to them?”
Thanh An's voice was not harsh, but it was enough to make Tú Linh lower her eyes.
“In a hospital, you may encounter family members who have lost their tempers. You may meet people who are frightened, desperate, or even furious. The first thing you need to do is not prove how brave you are.” She looked at all five of them.
“It is to keep yourself and everyone else safe.”
All five nodded at once.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Thanh An stood up.
“All right.”
Quân thought she was about to dismiss them.
But she only glanced at the clock.
“Have you eaten dinner yet?”
All five looked at one another.
Mai answered:
“No, ma'am.”
Thanh An nodded.
“Go eat.”
Quân immediately looked up.
“Right now?”
“Yeah. My treat.”
Quân turned to the other four.
“Let's go!”
The group immediately erupted.
“Hot pot!”
“No, barbecue!”
“Buffet!”
“I want Korean food!”
“Anything's fine. I'm so hungry I'm about to pass out.”
Thanh An stood in the middle of the cacophony, her expression still calm.
“You can choose.”
Quân immediately raised his hand enthusiastically.
“Boss!”
Thanh An looked at him and couldn't even be bothered to say anything.
The whole group burst into laughter. Tú Linh was the last to stand. She looked at the woman in front of her. Thanh An was the same as always—calm and sparing with words.
There was no sign that she had just put aside a mountain of work to sit here and listen to five students tell their story.
But she remembered that Quân had been hit.
She remembered that Tú Linh had stepped in front of someone else.
And she even remembered that the five of them hadn't eaten dinner yet.
It wasn't the kind of concern that was easy to notice.
It lived in the smallest things.
So small that if no one paid attention, they might never notice it at all.