Chapter 31: Another Place, III

Tap.

Tap.

Suhyuk struggled to ascend to the first floor with his cane. Previously, he was not particularly athletic and moved slowly, but now it was even more difficult due to his left leg.

‘Ah, I wish this would heal quickly.’

[Based on the data acquired so far, there is no method.]

‘I know. Still…’

[The advancement of medicine is rapid, especially in assistive devices. It seems possible before your death.]

‘That’s not very comforting.’

[I wasn’t trying to comfort you?]

‘Damn it.’

Suhyuk entered the emergency room, muttering as he searched for bread. Unlike before, security had been tightened, requiring him to swipe a card to gain entry.

Bip.

As soon as Suhyuk opened the door, he saw a long corridor. On both sides of the corridor were storerooms filled with various emergency room equipment and supplies.

Tap.

Tap.

After walking for some time down the corridor, they reached the emergency station.

“Ah, Dr. Lee Suhyuk.”

Suhyuk was the only doctor using a cane within the hospital. Therefore, even though Noh Young-tae wasn’t from Taehwa University Medical School, he immediately recognized Suhyuk upon seeing him.

“Intern Sam?”

“Yes. I’m Noh Young-tae, whom you met earlier.”

Noh Young-tae seemed too old to be an intern; Suhyuk almost addressed him as ‘hyung’. He appeared approximately five or six years older than Suhyuk.

‘Did he transfer from another place?’

“It is possible. There was one resident of Internal Medicine who was over forty years old.”

‘He had been suspended multiple times before serving in the military and then re-admitted.’

“Ah.”

Suhyuk followed the intern briskly while hearing Baruda’s sigh behind him.

The patient wasn’t located in the general emergency ward but rather in the treatment room.

‘Strange? This isn’t a trauma case, so why…’

Usually, the treatment room was assigned to patients with urgent needs. It also tended to have concentrated resources such as staff and equipment within it.

“Aaaaaah!”

As soon as Suhyuk entered the treatment room, he understood why this patient was placed there. The patient appeared to have just finished an interview with a psychiatric resident and was now grabbing the resident by the collar while shouting.

“You bastards! There is nothing wrong with me! I just need to receive Shin’s blessing!”

“Uh-uh. Please let go, sir!”

The intern standing in front of Suhyuk quickly moved to separate the patient from the resident. It appeared as though they had engaged in a fierce physical struggle, leaving both individuals battered and bruised. The resident’s face was particularly disheveled.

Finally managing to escape the patient’s grip, the psychiatric resident picked up his fallen glasses from the floor. As he quietly raised his head, Suhyuk recognized him.

“Oh Jinsung?”

“Ah, Suhyuk. You’re on call for Internal Medicine today.”

Despite being grabbed by the patient moments ago, Oh Jinsung remained remarkably calm. He even managed a warm smile, accentuated by his impressive dimples.

Indeed, he was known as ‘the man born for psychiatry’.

“Yes, Dr. Hwang. By the way, just now…”

“The patient is slightly delusional. They believe this isn’t a hospital… but some other place.”

“A delusion?”

“Delusion… Yes. But it’s somewhat… different.” Oh Jinsung looked puzzled and glanced back at the patient.

During their conversation, the medical staff had managed to restrain the patient and lay them down. Noh Young-tae, one of the interns, seemed exceptionally strong, displaying remarkable skill in quickly subduing the patient.

Suhyuk, thinking that the patient would be stable for a while longer, turned his attention back to Jin-sung.

“Different?”

“Yeah. This isn’t like typical symptoms or delusions. It appears they were already taking medication from their previous hospital, but there has been almost no effect. They’re only using acute phase drugs right now.”

“During acute episodes, he takes stabilizers?”

“Yes. The stabilizers only suppress these episodes, but they have never reduced their frequency.”

For whatever reason, stabilizers were administered for all types of seizures, so we had to exclude them from consideration. Based on Jin-sung’s explanation, psychiatric medications targeting mental health symptoms appeared to be largely ineffective.

“It’s quite strange. There has been remarkable progress in recent psychiatric treatments.”

In the past, mental disorders were often dismissed as mere “emotional illnesses.” However, recent research revealed that there were underlying physiological factors beyond just emotional issues. These conditions were found to be associated with imbalances in neurotransmitters, either due to excess or deficiency.

This meant that by regulating neurotransmitters with medication, symptoms could improve - and indeed, many patients had experienced such effects.

In other words…the medications aren’t working at all.

Suhyuk nodded in agreement with Baruda’s statement while quickly scanning Yang Jae-won’s medical chart brought from another hospital. He started reading it in reverse order, beginning with the most recent entries and going back in time.

He was admitted unconscious…and his blood sugar level was below 50 during this period.

[The patient recovered due to glucose administration.]

At the time, the attending physician diagnosed it as malnutrition caused by bipolar disorder or schizophrenia symptoms.

[It differs from the patient’s current account.]

The patient clearly stated he ate regularly. However, since he lived alone and was quite delirious during diagnosis, the doctor did not consider this information significant.

‘There was also mention of seeing two objects… and foaming at the mouth due to convulsions.’

[Looking at the admission records… it appears he was quite a difficult patient. There were too many neurological symptoms.]

‘It certainly isn’t typical as you said, Dr. Hwang. Also, most of the medication seems to have been administered?’

[Indeed. While there are mental illnesses unresponsive to drugs, this case is severe.]

Yet when the patient was stable, they appeared overly normal. They recovered beyond just managing daily life; they could perform simple tasks.

Everything differed significantly from conventional mental disorders.

‘If the medication doesn’t work…’ Will recovery still occur like this?’

“It is strange. The medication used by the previous hospital… I haven’t heard of anything except for stabilizers.”

‘Is that why they thought about using a mystical method like Divine Descent?’

As Suhyuk continued flipping through the chart, Oh Jinsung spoke again.

“Suhyuk. Do you see anything?”

“Huh? No, not yet. However…”

“However?”

“I am thinking it might not be a psychiatric disorder.”

“Yes. I had the same thought. But first…the patient has severe hypoglycemia. Could you help with this issue?”

“Oh, yes.”

Finally, Suhyuk realized that the notification wasn’t asking him to assess the overall condition of the patient but specifically to address the hypoglycemia.

“Can I take a look at the blood test results?”

“Uh, yes. It should be there.”

“Yes, hyung. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

As Oh Jinsung was known as the most gentlemanly person not just within the hospital but throughout the university, he smiled softly and pointed at the empty computer screen.

To think such a person would…

Suhyuk vividly remembered seeing Jin-sung host a drinking session like Cristiano Ronaldo. He could understand if Jin-sung had transformed into a dog or something similar, but this was his first encounter with someone who acted so differently when drunk despite being so gentle sober.

[Ah, get back to work. Stop daydreaming.]

‘Okay, okay.’

Following Baruda’s prompt, Suhyuk snapped out of reminiscing about past memories with Jin-sung and focused on examining the patient’s test results before him.

‘Low blood sugar… Hmm. It is quite severe.’

Earlier, I heard it was at 66 when the notification arrived. Now, it was at 40.

Turning my head, I noticed the patient still talking nonsense. Considering these numbers could cause changes in consciousness for most people, this patient’s resilience was remarkable.

[In comparison, the other test results look quite good.]

‘Ah… yes, indeed.’

With prolonged mental illness, even if not directly caused by the condition itself, symptoms often lead to poor lifestyle habits. These unhealthy habits can then manifest as abnormal blood levels. However, this patient’s test results were almost entirely clean.

At least, it was challenging to find any abnormalities during routine emergency room tests.

‘Something is definitely strange.’

[Worry later; let’s administer sugar first. It’s dangerous if his blood sugar drops further.]

‘Is that necessary?’

[Yes.]

Suhyuk followed Baruda’s advice and administered sugar. As soon as the patient received the sugar, he closed his mouth. More precisely, he stopped his nonsensical rambling.

“Hmm.”

Instead, he looked around, trying to determine where he was.

“Am I…in a hospital?”

“Yes, you are.” In response, Oh Jinsung eagerly approached, as if waiting for this moment. Interviews were most effective when the patient was mentally coherent.

Watching this unfold, Suhyuk raised an eyebrow once again.

‘Strange. After receiving sugar… not only did he regain consciousness…’

[It appears his mind has cleared as well.]

‘Let me… take another look at the chart. Something seems off.’

[Yes.]

Suhyuk started flipping through the chart he had put down earlier. Then, he discovered something unusual.

‘Look at this. The patient’s symptoms change over time.’

[I see. It is quite regular.]

The manifestations of the symptoms varied each time, but according to the nursing records, the timing of these episodes was almost consistent.

11 AM, 4 PM, and 9 PM.

‘What could this mean…?’

[I’m unsure. We need more information.]

‘Hmm… Wait, no. These times…they have changed.’

[Indeed. Now the symptoms manifest at 9 am, 2 pm, and 7 pm.]

‘What is this?’

Suhyuk tapped on the chart with confusion written all over his face.

“Hey! Patient! Let go of that!”

“This bastard! Where am I?”

Meanwhile, the patient had another episode. It occurred exactly 30 minutes after regaining consciousness following the administration of sugar.

“Patient!”

Intern Noh Young-tae rushed forward and laid the patient back down again. His movements suggested he might have potential as a wrestler if not a doctor.

Meanwhile, Suhyuk approached the patient with his cane.

“Could you please check this patient’s blood sugar level?”

He then verbally prescribed instructions to the nearby nurse. As monitoring blood sugar levels was routine, the nurse performed the test using a drop of blood from the patient’s finger without any objections.

“It is 48.”

“What?”

“48…that’s correct.”

“But just now…sugar was administered, yet it is still 48?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”