It was after regular consultation hours had ended at Geumsan Clinic.
Taeho was once again looking over Jang Yuna’s brain scans.
“Rema, start a detailed analysis of Yuna’s AVM structure again.”
-Loading patient Jang Yuna’s imaging data······.
-Analyzing······.
Taeho’s eyes never left the hologram screen Rema displayed. He had already seen the images countless times, but after seeing Yunho’s case, he found himself viewing them from a new perspective.
When he looked at the branching and connection structure of Yuna’s blood vessels, his chest prickled. There was definitely something unusual there, but he could not tell exactly which point was the problem.
‘There has to be something I missed.’
Just then, Rema’s notification window appeared.
-Analysis of intracranial micro-pressure fluctuation records complete
-Patient Yuna’s brainstem blood flow is being maintained at 70%, cerebral cortex blood flow reduced to 30%
-However, a consistent rhythmic intracranial pressure waveform has been confirmed
Taeho rose from his seat. Pulling the monitor closer, he examined the analysis graph.
“Rema, what do the blood flow patterns in the brainstem region look like on the recent CT?”
-Brainstem blood flow pattern at 70% of normal range
-Cerebral cortex blood flow reduced to 30%, but not complete ischemia
-Maintained above minimum survival threshold
Taeho drew in a deep breath.
Ordinarily, if someone had been in a vegetative state for two years, there was a high likelihood of brain tissue damage. A vegetative state was typically accompanied by widespread necrosis of the cerebral cortex—that is, functional and structural loss of brain tissue.
But no such damage had been found in Yuna.
“You were holding on so bravely, Yuna.”
Taeho murmured with a bitter smile.
Jang Yuna’s cerebral cortex activity was suppressed, but her brainstem function was being maintained to some extent. That meant there was still a possibility of recovery.
At that moment, Rema’s notification sounded.
“As expected······.”
After checking the image Rema displayed, Taeho’s eyes flashed.
A girl who had endured alone in the darkness for two years.
Now it was time to wake her.
To do that, he first needed to be able to treat Yuna directly······.
Moving Yuna, who had been in a vegetative state for two years, all the way to Geumsan Clinic was no ordinary matter.
The first hurdle he had to overcome was Yuna’s parents.
Thanks to the Jang Yunho incident, a certain degree of trust in Taeho had been built, but would they be able to make the decision to move Yuna here?
And it was important to move her as quickly as possible, at that.
Taeho began drawing up a new treatment plan.
“Rema, compare and analyze the AVM treatment protocols between the siblings.”
-Analysis initiated
-Estimated time required: 50 minutes
Taeho leaned back in his chair and drank his coffee.
It seemed he would have to stay up all night again tonight.
***
Taeho called Representative Han Miyeong.
“Representative, please apply for copies of Yuna’s medical records at Seyoung Hospital. Everything from two years ago to the present.”
“Understood.”
Taeho did not explain further. Han Miyeong did not ask any further either.
Under current medical law, a patient or immediate family member was guaranteed the right to view medical records and request copies. If there were errors in the records, they could even request corrections.
After he hung up, Rema spoke.
-Kang Taeho. If you need patient Jang Yuna’s medical records, please tell me.
“I know.”
-······Is there a reason you are requesting copies of documents already in your possession?
“What I need isn’t the documents. It’s justification.”
-What do you mean?
“You’ll find out if you wait and see.”
Thirty minutes later, a text came from Han Miyeong.
-I’m heading to Seyoung Hospital now. I’ll submit the application for copies of the records.
Taeho continued seeing patients as usual and quietly waited.
Around 5 p.m., he received a call from Han Miyeong. Judging by the sound of her breath, she seemed to have had quite a fight at the hospital.
-Director Kang, Seyoung Hospital is saying something strange.
“What do you mean?”
-They say the original digital imaging data from two years ago was damaged. So they say issuing copies will be difficult. They said they’ll provide whatever materials are available later······.
“I understand. Thank you for your trouble.”
Taeho calmly hung up.
‘So they’re coming out like that, after all.’
On Rema’s screen was a clear image of Yuna’s brain. A perfect original with no damage whatsoever.
Seyoung Hospital’s lie was obvious.
-What will you do now?
“The tide will change soon.”
-In what way?
“You’ll know if you wait.”
That evening, Chief Prosecutor Jang Cheolmin contacted him.
-Director Kang. This is Yuna’s father.
“Yes. Hello, Chief Prosecutor.”
Compared to Jang Cheolmin’s somewhat agitated voice, Taeho greeted him calmly.
-I heard Seyoung Hospital is refusing to provide Yuna’s medical records.
“I heard they used the excuse that the images were damaged.”
-How does it look to you, Director? As a doctor, what do you think the chances are that records from two years ago were damaged?
“Speaking from my experience working at Seyoung Hospital in the past, it is a one-hundred-percent lie.”
Taeho answered firmly.
From the other end of the phone, he could hear Jang Cheolmin grinding his teeth. The anger that had built up over two years of watching his daughter’s condition was beginning to explode.
“Those bastards······. They dare try to hide the records related to my daughter’s case? Does this make any sense?”
“But it would be difficult for you to investigate it yourself, wouldn’t it?”
“Since I have a conflict of interest, I can’t do it myself. I’ll immediately order the medical investigation team at the Western District Prosecutors’ Office to investigate. We’ll have to start with a search and seizure warrant.”
“A search and seizure as well?”
“If they refuse to provide the records, we have to secure them by force.”
Taeho’s plan had succeeded. Seyoung Hospital’s lie had provoked Jang Cheolmin’s fury. It was an investigation that would have proceeded anyway, but now its speed had increased dramatically.
What Taeho needed right now was that speed.
Soon, all the truth would be revealed.
It was also the last chance to save Yuna.
***
“We need to transfer Yuna to Geumsan Clinic.”
At Taeho’s words, Han Miyeong’s breath stopped for a moment.
“Will it be all right?”
Han Miyeong’s voice trembled. She had steeled herself to some extent, but now that she actually thought about moving her daughter, who had lain in a vegetative state for two years, worry came first.
“It’s possible. No, it must be done. I’ve found a way for Yuna to wake up. But it is absolutely impossible at Seyoung Hospital.”
“Then I’ll trust only you, Director, and sign the transfer consent form.”
Thanks to Taeho’s firm attitude, Han Miyeong was able to suppress her uneasiness.
At any rate, there was no longer any trust left for a hospital that even tried to hide medical records requested by the guardian. From now on, she had no choice but to trust Director Kang Taeho completely and move forward.
Thirty minutes later, Park Seongho, the director of Seyoung Hospital, personally called Taeho.
The phone rang, and the moment Taeho saw the number on the screen, he answered as if he had been waiting.
“This is Kang Taeho.”
Director Park Seongho’s furious voice burst through Taeho’s phone at once.
-I’m Director Park Seongho. Kang Taeho! What do you think you’re doing right now?
Just two years ago, he had been a hospital director who seemed like the sky itself to Taeho.
Taeho spoke calmly.
“I’m trying to treat a patient.”
-Patient Jang Yuna is under our hospital’s care! You cannot transfer her however you please!
Deep anger could be felt in Park Seongho’s voice.
By contrast, Taeho’s voice was endlessly calm.
“What is the problem when I have the guardian’s consent?”
-E-Even so······!
Park Seongho was unable to continue for a moment. Legally, there was no way to stop it.
Seeing Taeho respond calmly, he gradually regained his composure.
-You know that for the patient’s sake, professional facilities and personnel are necessary. You know it’s impossible at a small primary-care clinic like Geumsan Clinic! You’re going to care for a PVS patient without an intensive care unit and with insufficient specialized medical staff? This is putting the patient’s life in danger!
“What Yuna needs right now is not facilities, but proper treatment.”
Taeho’s voice turned as cold as ice.
“What exactly has Seyoung Hospital done for Yuna over the past two years? Wasn’t all you did lay her in a bed and stick an IV in her?”
-We did our best!
“Your best?”
Taeho laughed cynically.
“You neglected her for two years without even properly identifying the cause or having a treatment plan, and you call that your best?”
-······.
From the other end of the phone, he could hear Park Seongho grinding his teeth.
-Kang Taeho, now that you have some reputation and a bit of fame, it seems you can’t see straight. But treating a severely ill patient like Jang Yuna alone at a rural clinic is reckless!
“That is for me to judge.”
-If something happens to the patient during the transfer, can you take responsibility? If the media all start shouting at once that the “miracle doctor” killed a patient, are you confident you can handle it?
Park Seongho played his final card. It was a threat that used Yuna’s life as collateral.
Taeho did not waver.
“Director Park. I know how you have treated Yuna up until now. Including how you covered up the improper treatment.”
-W-What?
Park Seongho’s voice suddenly began to tremble.
“The transfer team will go there tomorrow at 3 p.m. I’ll take over Yuna along with all of her medical records. The real records, I mean.”
-You really······!
“Oh, and Director Park.”
Taeho added just before hanging up.
“Starting tomorrow, the media will begin reporting on Yuna’s case in earnest. You had better prepare yourself.”
Ring—
The call ended.
Director Park Seongho collapsed into his chair. Cold sweat ran down his back.
‘What does that bastard Kang Taeho know?’
From the way he answered the phone, there was no trace of the once-respectful resident he used to be. Back then, he hadn’t even been able to meet the eyes of him, the hospital director······.
Could a person change this much? What on earth had happened in the meantime?
Surely, two years ago, Kang Taeho had been ordered to pay a huge sum in a civil lawsuit on the grounds that there had been negligence in Jang Yuna’s surgery.
Could he have discovered some truth he had not known back then? Or had he obtained some new evidence?
Park Seongho felt as if he were suffocating from an ominous premonition. Just as he loosened his tie, his secretary rushed in.
“Director! We have a serious problem!”
“What is it?”
“The prosecution is here with a search and seizure warrant! They say they’re taking all materials related to patient Jang Yuna······.”
Park Seongho’s face turned pale.
The investigation team from the Western District Prosecutors’ Office had appeared at Seyoung Hospital. They were prosecutors acting under the orders of Chief Prosecutor Jang Cheolmin.
The instructions Prosecutor Kim Daeseong, the head of the investigation team, had received were extremely specific.
‘Secure all electronic records, diagnostic reports, all intraoperative records, and prescription histories related to Jang Yuna. Thoroughly verify whether the original images were damaged as well. If anything has been hidden, find it all.’
They were an investigation team composed of the most thorough prosecutors and investigators even within the Western District Prosecutors’ Office.
After receiving the report, Park Seongho asked his secretary.
“What is Professor Kim Haseong doing right now?”
“He’s off today.”
Park Seongho hurriedly took out his cell phone and made a call.
“Professor Kim! Are you at the golf course right now?”
-Yes, I am. What’s going on?
“The prosecution has stormed into the hospital! Regarding the Jang Yuna case!”
-What? What do you mean, all of a sudden······.
“Oh, and Kang Taeho seems to know something. You need to come here immediately so we can come up with a plan!”
Just then, the secretary hurried in again.
“Director! The investigation team has sealed off the computer room! They said not to access any of the servers······.”
Park Seongho slammed his fist down on the desk.
“Damn it! If I’d known this would happen······.”