Chapter 84: I have to go to America (1)

‘Do you think this is good?’

After having dinner with Hayoon and taking her back to the dormitory, Suhyuk returned to the hospital. Throughout his time with Hayoon, he consulted Baruda for advice, but honestly, even Baruda found it difficult to provide any useful input.

[I do not know.]

‘You don’t know? An artificial intelligence doesn’t know?’

[Hayoon’s reaction isn’t typical… Normally, when the topic of genetic mutation was raised, the game should’ve been over.]

Baruda recalled numerous dramas, comics, and movies that Suhyuk had watched previously. Among them, there wasn’t a single relationship quite like the one between Suhyuk and Hayoon.

The male protagonist continuously brought up strange topics during their conversation. Instead of criticizing him, the female protagonist’s eyes sparkled at his words. Wouldn’t this story fail immediately if it was made into a movie?

‘Wasn’t the atmosphere good?’

[Th-th…that seems to be the case.]

Reality appeared slightly different. From Baruda’s perspective, tonight’s dinner went quite well. The conversation continued without interruption. It was quite odd that most of the discussion revolved around her illness, but what mattered was that they kept talking.

[Firstly, Hayoon looked very happy.]

‘Really? I told you so.’

Suhyuk could vividly recall Hayoon’s smile even with his eyes closed. This wasn’t surprising, considering he had spent almost an hour gazing at her face.

Baruda observed Suhyuk’s dreamy state and spoke again,

[Still…do not get too excited.]

Unlike his usual blunt tone, Baruda sounded worried.

‘Why?’

[Suhyuk, aren’t you inconvenienced by your leg? It will be quite disadvantageous in romantic relationships.]

‘Hmm. That…is true.’

[I have been researching treatments for your leg, but currently, it is difficult to find a solution. Today was promising, but do not expect too much. I am concerned that you might get hurt otherwise.]

Concerned about him getting hurt…

Suhyuk felt slightly touched at this moment. Of course, he didn’t appreciate the implication of not allowing himself any hope or dreams.

‘What is going on? Why are you so worried about me?’

[Based on data analysis, Suhyuk’s cognitive ability dropped to less than half after his breakup compared to before. Since it was mentioned in past data, I couldn’t help but be concerned.]

‘Did this bastard just indirectly insult me?’

[I am not insulting you…]

‘Let’s move on. Do you think I have no dating experience? I know what showing interest looks like.’

Suhyuk briefly recalled his dating experiences during his pre-med days as he plopped down at the station computer within the hospital room. He had practically lived in this on-call room since his first year of residency, and now the station computer felt almost like his personal device.

Nobody dared to use it since it belonged to the director’s son. As a result, the computer was always vacant, and Suhyuk could easily access it whenever he visited.

‘Let me check the patient’s CT scan.’

[Ah, you mean that patient earlier? Sure.]

‘Oh my… The extent is…’

[It’s not a typical aortic dissection. It aligns with Royce-Diaz Syndrome as expected. The post-surgery tissue examination will likely show similar findings.]

‘By the way, how is the surgery progressing?’ Suhyuk wondered while pulling up the patient’s chart.

From the nursing records, he saw that the patient had already been taken to the operating room, but there was no indication yet of the surgery’s completion.

[I am curious about how it is progressing.]

‘Me too.’

He wanted to immediately enter the operating room, but his damn leg was the problem. He could force himself to go, but it would be too difficult and cumbersome walking around with crutches inside.

‘I should wait first. It will probably end at dawn…or maybe even morning.’

[Yes, that’s likely. Considering the extent of the arterial dissection, they may need to perform reconstructive surgery, which typically takes approximately eight hours or more.]

‘Okay, then I’ll sleep for now.’

Suhyuk tried to calm his troubled mind and fell asleep. In his hazy dream, he vaguely saw himself running on two legs, but upon waking up, it turned out to be just another dream. All he could see was his left leg, weakened due to nerve damage, appearing noticeably thinner than before.

Every time he saw his leg, it inevitably reminded him of the accident. He often wished the incident had never occurred, but…

No… If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have met Baruda.

Of course, for most people, having two legs is crucial to their daily lives. However, Suhyuk chose the path of internal medicine with the goal of becoming the world’s best internist, and thus, Baruda held greater value to him.

In fact, thanks to Baruda, Suhyuk had received numerous benefits already.

Drip.

Drip.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Suhyuk quickly washed his face, left the on-call room, and sat down at the computer station where he usually worked.

The patient’s surgery…

[It ended three hours ago.]

While Suhyuk was lost in his thoughts, Baruda remained silent like a ghost before finally interjecting. For a moment, Suhyuk found this creature somewhat cute as he continued their conversation.

‘At least it wasn’t table death. They went to the intensive care unit.’

[Please look at the surgical records.]

‘Okay.’

[A reconstruction of approximately 2.6 cm in the ascending aorta… and also the aortic valve was reconstructed. The descending aorta was rebuilt for 7.2 cm. It was a massive surgery. Taehwa Medical Center’s thoracic surgery department is truly exceptional. To save someone with such a procedure…]

Suhyuk refrained from mentioning Lee Hyunjong’s role and continued reading the surgical records.

‘The expansion of the artery can be seen with the naked eye… Hmm? There hasn’t been any request for genetic testing yet?’

[It could be due to the surgery ending early this morning. Please leave your opinion in the collaborative notes just in case.]

‘Ah, that sounds good.’

Although Suhyuk was currently rotating through the Hematology-Oncology Department, he found it slightly monotonous seeing only patients admitted under Professor Taejin Jo. Both Suhyuk and Baru found routine patient visits too simple now. As a result, Suhyuk felt like he needed to search for more challenging cases, while Baru justified their wandering as data collection.

[Perform genetic testing for Royce-Diaz Syndrome. Clinically, there is a high possibility of this condition, so it would be advisable to start with ‘Angiotensin Receptor Blockers’.]

As Suhyuk was writing this, someone behind him cleared their throat. Turning around, he saw Lee Hyunjong standing there with an expression as if he had witnessed something very interesting.

“Royce-Diaz Syndrome? Did we have such a patient?”

His face conveyed, ‘If so, I should have been informed immediately.’

While Suhyuk searched for patients partly due to Baruda’s request and partly out of his own interest, Lee Hyunjong had dedicated half his life to this pursuit purely based on his own will.

“Oh, yes. I briefly saw them in the emergency room before logging off yesterday.”

“But without genetic testing… were you able to diagnose it?”

“The patient came with chest pain, and there was almost complete dissection of both ascending and descending aorta.”

“Did he have any unique features on his face or elsewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…” Lee Hyunjong’s expression became increasingly intrigued. He nodded thoughtfully before making a phone call.

“Hey, what’s my schedule for this morning?”

“Oh, Dr. Lee. You have the admission team meeting today.” The person answering the call was his secretary, who let out two deep sighs before reminding him about the crucial appointment. Most directors would acknowledge it and hang up at this point, but Lee Hyunjong had a different approach.

“Start without me first.”

“Pardon? That’s not possible! How can we hold the admission team meeting without you?”

“I didn’t even know there was a meeting today. Would anything change if I attended?”

“Well…that’s true…”

He wasn’t wrong. Lee Hyunjong rarely attended meetings anyway, and when he did, he often fell asleep during them despite numerous complaints. Nothing changed because his stance remained firm.

“Let the Business Strategy Department handle making money. Why is the admission team discussing finances? Everyone’s busy with patients as it is. And I’m not going elsewhere; I’m seeing another patient. Just take care of things here.”

“But Dr. Lee—“

“I’ll grab some sandwiches and coffee on my way back. You like ham with mozzarella cheese, right?”

“That’s true, but no, that isn’t it.”

“I’m leaving.”

“Director!”

Lee Hyunjong forcefully interrupted the meeting with department heads and turned towards Suhyuk again. From their first encounter, Suhyuk knew Lee Hyunjong would accompany him to see the patient, but he was surprised that Hyunjong would cancel such an important meeting.

“What are you waiting for? Lead the way.” Lee Hyunjong spoke confidently to Suhyuk.

Suhyuk found himself in a bit of a difficult situation.

“Well…yes. However, she is currently in the thoracic surgery intensive care unit…”

“Huh? Why? Did we not accept her?”

Lee Hyunjong believed all heart-related patients should be under his care, although the thoracic surgeons might find this absurd as well.

Even Lee Suhyuk found it absurd.

“He underwent surgery. We don’t handle surgeries.”

As stated earlier, they were Internal Medicine. It was hard to understand why they should deal with surgical cases.

“We can manage them after the surgery. Is there any department better than us at handling critical patients?”

Of course, Lee Hyunjong’s logic was always perfect - or rather, he could force his argument through.

“Well…that is true.”

Moreover, this statement held for Lee Hyunjong and Lee Suhyuk specifically. Currently, within the entire Taehwa Medical Center, no one took care of patients as well as these two.

“Yes. So let’s go see him first. Then we’ll bring him over.”

“Um…I am still on Blood Type duty.”

“Huh? Oh right. You’re still a resident.”

“Still? He is already in his second year. Aren’t you showing too little interest publicly as his father?”

“Haha. It’s because he is doing so well. Haha.” Lee Hyunjong laughed embarrassingly and made another phone call. This time, Taejin Jo answered it.

“Hey, Taejin.”

“Yes, Dr. Choi.”

“Where are you?”

“I…I am heading to the hospital rooms for rounds.”

“With Suhyuk?”

“Yes. Ah, working with him this month has been quite easy?” Taejin replied enthusiastically.

This was natural since Suhyuk could be considered a professor. The patients under Suhyuk truly required no attention at any moment.

“Ah… Yes, you can handle today’s rounds alone.”

“What?”

“I’ll borrow Suhyuk for a moment.”

“No… No way.”

“Just for today.”

“No… Why?”

“Tsk. Don’t yell like the director. Are you becoming similar to Hyuntae? It is quite funny.”

“No, that isn’t it.”

“Then hang up.”

“Um…”

Lee Hyunjong completely disregarded Taejin Jo’s mood and looked at Suhyuk. Was he feeling better by making others uncomfortable? Or was it because he was going to see a rare patient? His face appeared very bright.

“It’s fine. Let’s go, Suhyuk.”

“Uh… Yes.”