Chapter 76: Dyspnea (6)

Based on Baruda’s words, both Shin Hyun-tae and Lee Hyunjong appeared quite anxious. The patient was not only in bad shape but also required Ecmo support. In the past, this would have meant certain death.

Suhyuk didn’t waste any more time and promptly spoke his mind. Of course, it followed Baruda’s plan.

“No, we need to add him immediately to the heart transplant waiting list. Naturally, there is a possibility that he won’t require a transplant, but if heart function does not return within two weeks, we will consider it permanent damage, necessitating a transplant.”

“Transplant waiting list…”

Shocked, Shin Hyun-tae gripped onto a nearby table for support. His legs seemed unsteady.

On the other hand, Lee Hyunjong wasn’t too surprised, as he had somewhat anticipated this outcome.

“Hmm. Yes. Let’s proceed with Ecmo. There is no reason not to use it since she is already on life support.”

“Yes. If her condition improves, we can cancel the procedure.”

“Right. Good. Then…for now, let’s start Ecmo… Ah…this might be a long battle.” Lee Hyunjong pulled up a chair nearby and sat down, waiting for the thoracic surgeon he had just paged.

Although it was Saturday morning outside of regular working hours, his patient’s condition under his care was deteriorating. It would give him peace of mind to stay until things were more stable. Shin Hyun-tae shared this sentiment and took a seat next to him.

“You sit down as well. By the way, Suhyuk. Who is that friend behind you?” Lee Hyunjong leaned back and noticed An Dae-hoon, directing his question towards Suhyuk.

Indeed, amidst the conversation among adults, there was one restless junior doctor. Upon closer inspection, he wore an Internal Medicine badge around his neck.

“Yes, Dr. Lee! I am An Dae-hoon, who recently joined our team as a first-year resident,” replied An Dae-hoon with a crisp, disciplined greeting.

Lee Hyunjong remained unimpressed; such formalities didn’t particularly move him.

“What brings you here? First-years aren’t assigned to critical patients yet.”

“Oh…I’m the primary physician for this patient. Dr. Lee Suhyuk has been overseeing my work.”

“Hmm. Suhyuk, isn’t it your turn next?”

Lee Hyunjong initially had no interest in whether it was An Dae-hoon or some other first-year resident, so he turned towards Suhyuk. Suhyuk, accustomed to such conversations, wasn’t flustered.

“Yes, I am observing his case.”

“Ah, An Dae-hoon is getting old. You being Baek’s primary physician… It should be just like having a professor supervise him.”

“N-no, not at all. I still have much to learn.”

“Not true. If you’re far from your goal, then we all are. Anyway, An Dae-hoon?” Lee Hyunjong laughed heartily, seemingly cheered by merely looking at Suhyuk, before turning back to An Dae-hoon.

An Dae-hoon, who had been attentively following their conversation, promptly responded, “Yes!”

“You should feel honored to work under Suhyuk.”

“I-I applied to Internal Medicine because I wanted to be like you, Mr. Lee Suhyuk! It is truly, truly an honor!”

He always sounded so enthusiastic that it felt like being in the army instead of a hospital.

Lee Hyunjong blinked at An Dae-hoon’s voice.

“Huh? Ah, you’re An Dae-hoon?”

“Yes!”

“Ah…you’re the one who requested opening a fan club for Suhyuk within the hospital.”

“Yes!”

“You know it can’t happen, right? Clubs should have social activities such as hiking, tennis or wine tasting. Even I tried creating something similar but was unsuccessful due to the board of directors.”

“Yes!”

Lee Hyunjong shook his head while observing An Dae-hoon’s unwavering enthusiasm.

‘A fan club…’

I wondered if he was crazy. When Suhyuk heard about the fan club for the first time while observing this scene, he had similar thoughts.

[Trolls seem abundant in hospitals. I want to try some clinical trials.]

‘So…what kind of fan club is it?’

[By the way, I am curious about something.]

‘About what?’

Bardu took a moment before responding to Suhyuk’s question. As an artificial intelligence, Baruda should have quickly provided output. Was it due to experiencing too many diverse senses? Or because data analysis was being done by a human brain? It was becoming overly human-like.

[According to regulations, ten initiators are required to apply for a hospital club. That means…]

‘Does my fan club already have ten members? We’re not students but in a hospital?’

[Yes, that’s correct. Who could they be?]

‘Ah.’

[Don’t think about Woo Hayoon. You will get hurt.]

‘Wh-Who said I was thinking of her?!’

Suhyuk vehemently denied it, but internally, he had been pondering Woo Hayoon. It couldn’t be helped. They already ate separately together, and she demonstrated impressive intellectual abilities.

Drrr…

Just as his imagination started to run wild, someone entered the intensive care room by opening the door. The individual appeared quite hurried, which was understandable since they were from thoracic surgery.

“Director Choi. Where is the Ecmo patient?”

“Oh. Over there.”

“Hmm.”

The surgeon didn’t seem particularly pleased, which wasn’t surprising given Lee Hyunjong’s strained relationship with the thoracic surgery department. Moreover, just recently, Lee Hyunjong published a case report on anatomical variations of coronary arteries in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Perhaps the swift resolution after receiving the call made them feel even more cheated.

It made Dr. Shin feel even more robbed.

“Disinfect.”

“Yes sir.”

“Lay out the instruments. We will start immediately. Why is the patient’s blood pressure like this? We need to hurry.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Of course, they didn’t neglect treating the patient due to personal feelings. No one was unprofessional enough to bring their emotions into work, especially at Taehwa Hospital. All the medical staff here were professionals. While not as famous as Lee Hyunjong, they were renowned scholars in their own right internationally.

“Alright, it is connected. Don’t worry; we will check on the connection and equipment daily.”

Thanks to them, Ecmo was quickly connected, and the patient’s blood pressure normalized. It was natural since the machine took over the role of the damaged heart. However, this wasn’t something to celebrate.

“We have to proceed with our original plan.”

Suhyuk’s face looked grim despite never having experienced any setbacks with his patients before. He thought everything would be fine as he had already planned ahead, but seeing the patient on Ecmo was disheartening.

Lee Hyunjong approached Suhyuk and gently patted him on the shoulder. “Sometimes, waiting is the most important thing to do. Especially in Internal Medicine… you need to know when to wait. It is also part of treatment.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Still, we’ve come this far thanks to your efforts, right? As I heard earlier, it could have easily gone downhill.”

“Hmm…”

“In any case, I’ll continue monitoring the echocardiogram. Let’s just wait for now.”

“Understood, Dr. Lee.”

As Lee Hyunjong mentioned, he knew the importance of patience. Instead of trying to immediately change Suhyuk’s stance, he quietly left the ICU.

Instead of trying to persuade Suhyuk immediately, he quietly left the intensive care unit.

“Then I’ll be off now. Thank you for your hard work today. It’s Saturday… Although we can’t leave due to patients, try to rest.”

“Yes, Professor.”

After giving some words of praise and encouragement, Shin Hyun-tae also exited the room.

Suhyuk and Dahoon were finally alone, able to look at each other.

“Doctor, thank you… truly…”

Dahoon spoke first. After all, his patient survived thanks to Suhyuk. Of course, there was still a high chance that the patient might not make it, but at least they had bought more time. There was much to be grateful for.

“No, it’s nothing. Just doing my duty as a doctor.”

“Nope. You truly are my idol.”

“Idol… I’m just one year older than you…”

“But your skills are at the professor level! It’s fitting to admire you!”

“D-Don’t say that too loudly. There might be people who don’t view it favorably.”

As they say, ‘the nail that sticks out gets hammered down.’ Although with Suhyuk having the director as his supporter, no one would dare criticize him directly, but one never knew. It was always wise to be cautious about public opinion.

“People not viewing me favorably? How dare they question my upperclassman?”

“How dare they indeed. Anyway, since we can relax now, let’s grab some food. Aren’t you hungry? We barely ate earlier.”

“Oh, you’re right.”

Both of them had only managed half their lunch before rushing upstairs. They attended to the patient from a regular hospital room straight to the intensive care unit, where he eventually required Ecmo support.

It was already past lunchtime and closer to dinner time.

“[Suhyuk, I have something very important to discuss.]”

As they were heading towards the employee cafeteria, Baruda approached them. Suhyuk paused due to the serious tone matching the content of Baruda’s message. Although it was quite unexpected, Dahoon stopped as well, assuming there must be a reason for this interruption. Having attempted to create a fan club for Suhyuk, he knew about Suhyuk’s quirks all too well. Moreover, An Dae-hoon’s admiration had reached a point where he would believe Suhyuk even if he claimed to have pooped on the street for a good cause.

‘What is it? About that patient?’

[No, the situation with that patient has been resolved.]

‘Then what? Don’t keep me waiting. You’re making me anxious.’

[Aren’t you going to the employee cafeteria now?]

[Yes, we are.]

[This is concerning.]

‘What nonsense.’

Despite Suhyuk treating Baruda’s words as rubbish, Baruda remained serious.

[Have you forgotten? The employee cafeteria on weekend evenings is hell.]

‘Oh.’

As Suhyuk heard these words, his expression turned grave. As Baruda mentioned, the menu at the employee cafeteria during weekend evenings made one wonder why they even bothered serving it. While most people avoided eating there, Suhyuk couldn’t understand this sentiment.

‘For those who have to eat at the cafeteria even on weekend evenings, shouldn’t we provide decent meals?’

[Exactly.] Baruda agreed with Suhyuk’s thoughts before continuing. [Anyway, let me suggest something else to order. If you insist on consuming that… I, Baruda, will declare a strike.]

‘Crazy…’

Suhyuk shook his head at Baruda’s suggestion, but unconsciously, his hand moved towards his phone. He was going to order something for delivery.

“Dahoon. Let’s order food. We’ve worked hard today, so let’s eat something delicious.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, upperclassman.”

“Pizza?”

“I’m fine with anything.”

“Okay.”

Thus, Suhyuk ordered pizza, and it arrived promptly due to the pizzeria being located near the hospital. After paying at the ground-floor lobby, they used the freight elevator to reach their on-call room upstairs. Taking a bite of warm pizza felt like heaven.

[This is good.]

Baruda particularly enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure why this artificial intelligence favored greasy cheese flavors, but regardless, he had a preference for unhealthy, fattening foods.

“It’s tasty.”

Of course, Suhyuk shared these preferences, so he had no complaints.

“It’s delicious, Ms. Sellner.”

An Dae-hoon was thrilled rather than unhappy as he loved spicy food. Naturally, having dinner with Suhyuk, whom he admired immensely, was enjoyable for him.

Woooom.

At that moment, a phone call interrupted their meal.

“Ah… Damn it.”

‘Don’t swear, you artificial intelligence.’

“You won’t be able to make it?”

Baruda cursed immediately upon seeing the number on An Dae-hoon’s phone. It displayed the emergency room, which explained his reaction.

“Yes, this is first-year resident An Dae-hoon. Oh, a fever?” As Dahoon answered the call, he glanced at Suhyuk.

“Should I…go down and check first?”

Suhyuk found it difficult to accept such a question from Dahoon.

“I’ll have to call you back right away if you go alone.”

‘Of course, knowing Dahoon’s skills.’

Dahoon understood Baruda’s reasoning due to his own abilities.

“No, let’s go together.”