Taeho’s expression hardened in front of the CT room monitor.
He enlarged the screen and studied Yunho’s brain scan closely.
Around the left temporal lobe, a faint but abnormally tangled vascular structure had been captured.
A small abnormality that would be easy to miss at a glance.
But Taeho’s extraordinary intuition immediately sent out a warning signal.
Taeho gave Rema an instruction.
“Rema, analyze the scan and check for the possibility of an AVM in the left temporal lobe.”
-Analyzing CT scan……
-Abnormal vascular structure detected in the left temporal lobe.
-Findings suspicious for arteriovenous malformation (AVM).
-MRI angiography recommended for detailed examination.
Taeho let out a deep breath.
‘Just as I expected.’
The fact that sixteen-year-old Jang Yunho was having trouble controlling his bladder could have been a psychological issue caused by stress, but there was also the possibility of a problem in the central nervous system of the brain. In other words, Taeho had been leaning more toward a neurological cause.
After finishing the examination, Taeho approached Jang Yunho, who was sitting and resting.
“Yunho, the test results are out.”
Jang Yunho looked at Taeho with a frightened expression.
“Because you’re a minor, I’ll explain the illness to you after your parents arrive.”
“Is it very serious?”
Taeho smiled gently and said,
“You don’t need to worry too much. It’ll get better with treatment. I’ll tell you one thing. You said it was hard to control your urine, right?”
“……Yes.”
Jang Yunho lowered his head in embarrassment and barely answered in a small, fading voice.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. It was all because of the illness.”
“What? What do you mean……”
“I mean it happened because of the illness, regardless of your will. It’s the same as coughing and having a runny nose when you catch a cold. So there’s no need to blame yourself, and no need to be ashamed. It’s not your fault.”
His tone was calm, but his words were clear and decisive.
At those words, Jang Yunho held his breath for a moment. Then, at last, he let it out and began to cry.
“Hah…… Thank God. I didn’t even know that, and I wanted to die. I really wanted to die.”
Without a word, Taeho patted Jang Yunho’s trembling back.
Yunho wiped away the tears running down his face with his forearm. The shame and despair that had tormented him all this time were melting away like snow.
“Doctor. Thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing…… This is just the beginning. Once you’re treated, you’ll get much better.”
Taeho patted Yunho on the shoulder.
“And from now on, even if you make a mistake at school, don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
“Yes!”
For the first time, a light of hope appeared on Yunho’s face.
Taeho suddenly recalled the image of Yunho’s brain that had appeared on the monitor.
The structure of the arteriovenous malformation (AVM) in the left temporal lobe, and the memory that rose with it.
After letting Yunho rest, Taeho walked out into the corridor and spoke quietly.
“Rema, check Yuna’s imaging records from Seyoung Hospital two years ago again.”
Records found based on the diary of Kim Miran, who had been a pharmacist at Seyoung Hospital.
Rema broke through the access privileges of Seyoung Hospital’s database and found Yuna’s records.
-Rechecking imaging……
-Patient Jang Yuna’s images
Taeho narrowed his eyes and compared the two imaging records in detail. The AVM structures of the two siblings were astonishingly similar.
“Hmm……”
Taeho let out a groan without realizing it.
***
It was after closing time at Geumsan Clinic.
The door burst open, and Chief Prosecutor Jang Cheolmin and Assemblywoman Han Miyeong hurried inside.
Their faces were filled with confusion, fear, and anger.
“Where is Jang Yunho?”
“Patient Jang Yunho is on the second floor with the director……”
Before the nurse’s aide could finish speaking, Jang Cheolmin and his wife ran up to the second floor.
At last, the couple found Yunho lying in a hospital room, with Kang Taeho sitting in front of him.
Jang Cheolmin asked in a low, growling voice,
“Mr. Kang Taeho? What happened to my son?”
“Why is our son here?”
Han Miyeong also shouted in a voice full of hostility.
“Dad, Mom.”
Yunho got up from the bed and spoke hurriedly.
“I’m really okay. Thanks to the doctor here, I was saved from something terrible.”
“What terrible thing? Yunho, what happened?”
Jang Cheolmin’s expression hardened as he looked at Yunho in a hospital gown.
Yunho quickly continued speaking to stop his parents.
“I suddenly had a seizure. I collapsed, and the doctor here gave me emergency treatment right away.”
“What? A seizure?”
“What do you mean, you collapsed?”
Taeho carefully spoke up.
“Yunho suffered an acute epileptic seizure. So we carried out an emergency examination.”
“W-what did you say? Epilepsy?”
Jang Cheolmin furrowed his brow and pulled his head back.
“As a result of the CT scan, an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM, was found in Yunho’s brain.”
“What are you talking about? An arteriovenous malformation?”
“An arteriovenous malformation is a condition in which, due to a congenital abnormality of the cerebral blood vessels, the vessels become abnormally tangled without normal capillaries between the arteries and veins. It may not cause obvious symptoms in daily life, but in situations involving severe stress or overwork, there is a risk of sudden seizures or cerebral hemorrhage from that area. Also, rarely, depending on the location of the lesion, neurological symptoms such as problems with urinary control may accompany it.”
Han Miyeong frowned as if she found it absurd.
“What kind of sophistry is this man using now to deceive people……”
“Mom! Stop it! He saved my life!”
Yunho cut off his mother and shouted.
Jang Cheolmin and Han Miyeong stared at Yunho in shock.
As if he had made up his mind, Yunho poured out his words.
“Lately, I haven’t been able to hold my pee. It would come out before I could even get to the bathroom. I’ve made mistakes in my sleep too. But this time, it happened at school. In front of everyone. So I tried to die. Since, anyway, Mom and Dad wouldn’t really care if one child like me disappeared……”
“What are you talking about? Yunho!”
“Then you should have told your mother. Why would you……”
“Did Mom ever listen to me? Did Dad ever care what I was thinking about? Did either of you ever listen to what I wanted to say?”
Yunho shouted, his face turning red.
“……”
“……”
The couple stared at their son, utterly dumbfounded. Their son’s face was more grown-up, more unfamiliar than they remembered.
Taeho opened his mouth.
“Yuna had the same symptoms as Yunho.”
Jang Cheolmin and Han Miyeong widened their eyes and looked at Taeho.
Taeho continued.
“Yuna also had the same AVM. At the time, Seyoung Hospital took a contrast-enhanced CT scan, but missed the diagnosis.”
“Is that true? But we never received a diagnosis saying Yuna had a cerebrovascular disease……”
“I can’t believe it. Are you saying it’s some kind of hereditary disease? But there was no one on either side of the family who had such an illness.”
Han Miyeong frowned and shook her head.
Taeho nodded as if in agreement.
“AVM is not a hereditary disease, so it’s almost unheard of for siblings to have it together. It’s extremely rare. There may have been an external factor.”
Taeho carefully asked Han Miyeong,
“Ma’am, were there any medications you took for a long period during pregnancy?”
Han Miyeong shook her head at first, then opened her mouth after a moment.
“When I was pregnant with Yuna and Yunho, I was working as an aide to a National Assembly member. I always had severe headaches, so I did take ibuprofen.”
Taeho’s eyes flashed. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.
“How often did you take it?”
“Once or twice a day, sometimes two or three times. Almost every day.”
“That’s it. There’s a high possibility that excessive ibuprofen use during pregnancy affected the formation of the fetuses’ cerebral blood vessels.”
“But it was medication prescribed by a doctor at the time. They said it was fine for pregnant women.”
“The first study showing that ibuprofen could have neurological effects on a fetus during pregnancy came out in 2015. Since then, it hasn’t been commonly prescribed to pregnant women.”
With a pale face, Han Miyeong spoke as her hands trembled.
“Then I did this to my children……”
When Han Miyeong staggered from the shock, Jang Cheolmin grabbed his wife’s shoulders and supported her.
Taeho immediately cut her off in a firm voice.
“It is not your fault, ma’am. At the time, even the medical community didn’t know about that risk.”
Jang Cheolmin said with a heavy expression,
“It was something we passed over without knowing.”
Taeho reassured the couple and continued.
“Now we know the cause. Yunho can improve sufficiently with Gamma Knife treatment. As for Yuna……”
Han Miyeong widened her eyes and asked,
“Don’t tell me Yuna ended up that way because……”
“The drug called nimodipine, which was prescribed after surgery, is extremely dangerous for AVM patients.”
“They prescribed a drug dangerous to AVM patients?”
“That’s right. Nimodipine greatly increases the risk of bleeding due to its vasodilating effect.”
“Who did?”
“Yuna’s attending physician at the time.”
“Then Professor Kim Haseong?”
Han Miyeong raised her head and looked at Taeho with blank eyes.
“The reason Yuna ended up that way…… was Professor Kim Haseong’s mistake in prescribing medication?”
“That’s right. Yuna’s condition was stable until immediately after surgery. After nimodipine was prescribed postoperatively, she deteriorated rapidly.”
“Do you have proof of that?”
Jang Cheolmin clenched his fist and asked sharply.
“I have obtained both the initial medication order record from that time, and the altered chart after that order record was deleted. I’ll send them to you as files.”
“So the higher-ups at Seyoung Hospital intervened. Those bastards dared to do that to my daughter……”
Jang Cheolmin bit his lip and could not continue.
Han Miyeong covered her mouth with her hand and let out a deep sigh.
“Then we had misunderstood?”
“Yes. Of course, at the time, even medical staff could easily miss an AVM. But the problem is how they responded afterward.”
Taeho continued calmly.
Chief Prosecutor Jang Cheolmin calmed his agitation and asked coldly,
“So what should our Yunho do from now on?”
“Because Yunho was discovered early, he can absolutely be treated. He can be treated safely with radiosurgery such as Gamma Knife, and rebleeding or seizures can also be prevented.”
Han Miyeong looked at Taeho and bowed her head.
“Director, I am truly sorry. We misunderstood you all this time.”
“We made a terrible mistake. I apologize. We will compensate you as much as we can for anything we can make up for. And thank you. For helping our child.”
Jang Cheolmin also spoke with a deep sigh.
Taeho nodded gently.
“I’m glad I was able to reveal the truth to you, even now.”
“Is there any chance…… that our Yuna can recover too?”
Jang Cheolmin asked.
Kang Taeho, called the “miracle doctor.” If it was the current him, couldn’t he treat Yuna?
Taeho nodded.
“We’ll have to do a detailed examination again to know for sure, but we may be able to find a way.”
As soon as Taeho finished speaking, not only Jang Cheolmin, but also Han Miyeong and Jang Yunho all looked at Taeho with overwhelmed faces.
The hope that they might be able to get Yuna back.
For this family, it was what they had dreamed of most.
After a brief silence, Jang Cheolmin spoke with determination.
“From now on, I’ll take action. I will uncover every part of this matter properly. Seyoung Hospital and Professor Kim Haseong will definitely be held responsible.”