At that moment, Taesu’s eyes went to the test results in his hand.
Right now, Dr. Wallik’s atmosphere was cold and frightening.
Even so, the test results were more important to Taesu.
“I apologize again, but I’d like to check the results.”
“It’s not an immediate problem.”
“She’s a patient with hepatomegaly, and even her bile ducts are affected.”
“Is that all?”
“She has very severe symptoms of delayed hemorrhage. That’s why we need to look at the test results and take appropriate measures.”
Taesu put strength into his voice as he emphasized that part.
At that moment, Dr. Wallik looked dumbfounded.
“Are you trying to teach me?”
“That’s not what I—”
“Or does it look like I checked the results first and am telling you to neglect a patient in danger?”
Dr. Wallik’s voice grew even colder.
He strongly projected the dignity of the Internal Medicine Team Two chief.
Taesu had not forgotten that he put patients first in any situation.
“I’m sorry. I was just in too much of a hurry.”
“When I tell you to sit, sit first.”
“Yes.”
As Taesu took his seat,
Dr. Wallik called out to Dr. Sandro, who had frozen like a plaster statue.
“Dr. Sandro.”
“Gah—uh, yes!”
“What kind of response is that?”
“You startled me by calling me all of a sudden. Ahem. Please go ahead.”
As Dr. Sandro answered, stiff with tension, Dr. Wallik said,
“Go into the operating room.”
“Me… too?”
“Do you bear no responsibility at all?”
“I’ll go in.”
Dr. Sandro moved quietly and entered the operating room.
Now only Taesu and Dr. Wallik remained in the surgical waiting room.
Dr. Wallik looked heavily at Taesu, seated across from him.
“Now tell me. Why are these things happening secretly at dawn?”
“First, I’ll tell you that I received James’s permission.”
“So you’re telling me to let it slide?”
When Dr. Wallik sharply pointed that out, Taesu immediately shook his head.
“No. I was stating the facts.”
“Then the proper order would be to answer my questions first.”
“Ahem. We had to proceed… quietly.”
At Taesu’s words, Dr. Wallik frowned and pressed him.
“That’s exactly why I’m asking.”
“It’s because the patient came from Jammu.”
“Jammu?”
“Yes. So…”
Taesu told him the truth as it was.
He was not someone Taesu could fool by covering his own eyes and pretending nothing was there.
It would be easy to tell a few lies, but if they were exposed, the repercussions could be considerable.
So he had to speak honestly.
“…That’s why I was waiting for the test results.”
“So you knew it would be a problem that she came from Jammu.”
“Yes. I knew.”
“And you did it despite knowing it could have a negative effect on Dr. James?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Taesu answered obediently.
Dr. Wallik’s face grew more distorted by the moment.
“You committed this knowing what kind of fallout there would be if it became known?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“You knew and still did it? Is that something you should be saying in front of me right now?”
Dr. Wallik pressed him harshly.
For the first time, Taesu looked Dr. Wallik straight in the eye and asked in return,
“Then what should I have done? Should I have turned away from her just because she lives in Jammu?”
“What did you say?”
“Mr. Hanto’s wife passed away without even knowing the cause. And now his daughter is in a similar situation.”
“So?”
When Dr. Wallik asked coldly, Taesu answered with a firm gaze.
“My conscience would not let me ignore that.”
“I hope the conscience you just mentioned isn’t a medical conscience.”
“No. It is. I’m doing this because of the conscience as a doctor that is stated in the Hippocratic Oath.”
Taesu enunciated each word clearly.
Dr. Wallik stared at him quietly, then asked,
“So do you know the name of the disease?”
“No. The test results still—”
“You’re saying you’ll know if you see them. Here.”
Srrk.
Dr. Wallik immediately pushed the test results toward Taesu.
Taesu picked them up at once and checked them, turning them page by page.
The first page was the CBC (complete blood cell count, general blood test) result.
Various blood-related test items and results were written there.
The normal range was listed for each item, with the resulting value recorded beside it, making comparison easy.
Among them, MCHC (mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration) stood out.
It was far below the normal value.
The next thing that caught his eye was the decreased MCV (mean corpuscular volume on a blood test).
‘It’s too low.’
And the bilirubin and haptoglobin levels were also considerably outside the normal range.
It seemed Dr. Sandro had also strongly sensed something abnormal.
From the next page onward, specialized blood test results were laid out.
Among them, the osmotic fragility test came first.
The test results that followed were things Taesu did not know well either.
He could not understand all the specialized medical terms and numerical values handled by the Department of Laboratory Medicine.
Medicine was like that; if you strayed even slightly outside your specialty, an entirely new world unfolded before you.
‘Damn.’
Taesu felt a helplessness as if his eyes were open, yet he could not see ahead.
Then Dr. Wallik asked,
“So what’s the diagnosis?”
“The red blood cell count is extremely low, and the lifespan of the red blood cells is short.”
“Didn’t I ask for the name of the disease?”
“…I’m not sure.”
Taesu spoke honestly.
At that moment, Dr. Wallik said in a low voice,
“Hereditary spherocytosis. That’s the diagnosis.”
“Pardon?”
“Do I need to say it again? Hereditary spherocytosis.”
Dr. Wallik repeated it.
At first, it was unfamiliar to Taesu, but after hearing it twice, he was able to recognize the name of the disease properly.
If converted into Korean medical terminology?
Hereditary spherocytosis.
It was by no means a common disease.
It was an intractable disease he had vaguely heard of at some point, and Taesu’s eyes wavered slightly.
“Damn.”
“From what I heard, the cause of the wife’s death and Nashu’s symptoms are quite similar. Nashu simply developed it early at a young age.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Thanks to Dr. Choi’s explanation, many of the things I found strange have been resolved.”
Dr. Wallik was speaking as if Taesu had explained the disease to him.
Taesu found that puzzling.
“I only got a sense of it just now from what you said.”
“When you were receiving training in internal medicine before, I must have mentioned it in passing once.”
“That’s right. I did feel like I’d heard it somewhere.”
When Taesu agreed, Dr. Wallik said,
“The treatment method is quite tricky. We’ll have to plan for a fairly long period as well.”
“Would surgical treatment be impossible?”
“If we touch the hepatomegaly and gallstones now… No, if we put a scalpel to her, she’ll die on the table from excessive bleeding.”
“Hup!”
Taesu was greatly shocked, as if he had not imagined it would be to that extent.
In contrast, Dr. Wallik asked seriously,
“Does the father, Hanto, have enough means to provide treatment?”
“Not at all. That’s why I brought her all the way here.”
“And Rajkumar asked you to help.”
“I made the decision.”
Taesu asserted that part clearly.
Dr. Wallik’s cold expression slowly faded, and he spoke gently.
“Dr. Choi isn’t the only one with a conscience as a doctor.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s not as if an NGO treats people for money, so what’s the point of calculating the cost?”
“You’re saying you’ll treat her?”
“Did you think I was wasting time here for no reason?”
Dr. Wallik asked in disbelief.
To Taesu, those words sounded even more absurd.
“Until just now, you were coming down on me so hard…”
“You’re the one who put her on the operating table first without knowing what was what.”
“That’s, ahem.”
“Even in the field, when a patient arrives, aren’t basic tests supposed to be performed first? You ignored that procedure, and now you’re asking why I was angry?”
When Dr. Wallik scolded him, Taesu’s shoulders shrank slightly.
“They said she’d been examined in Jammu.”
“Do you think every doctor in the world is conscientious?”
“Even if that isn’t the case, I couldn’t openly schedule her for the lab.”
When Taesu made an excuse with a bitter expression, Dr. Wallik casually asked,
“Because she came from Jammu?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“What’s so difficult about that? You just have to fill it out appropriately.”
Dr. Wallik answered with an expression that said it was nothing.
Taesu’s eyes widened.
“If we get caught doing that, it would be bad, wouldn’t it?”
“Just say she’s from a town next to Jammu. If you say she lives there, who’s going to object?”
“Doesn’t that count as falsifying an official document?”
“That’s my specialty.”
Taesu did not immediately understand Dr. Wallik’s easygoing answer.
“What is?”
“Falsifying official documents is my specialty. Sometimes even Dr. James asks me to do it.”
“Is… is that all right?”
Taesu was even more shocked by the fact that James knew about it.
Without batting an eye, Dr. Wallik answered in a tone that made it sound only natural.
“It probably isn’t, but there are unavoidable things in this world.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Then I’ll take charge of Nashu.”
Dr. Wallik made the decision right away.
For a moment, Taesu stared at him with a blank expression.
Then he soon came to his senses and quickly spoke to Dr. Wallik.
“Will that really be all right?”
“What’s the problem?”
“It’s not that there’s a problem. I just feel like I’ve needlessly troubled you with an improper matter.”
There was a hint of self-reproach in Taesu’s voice.
Hearing that, Dr. Wallik immediately shot him a glare.
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting so naturally?”
“Pardon?”
“Nashu is unquestionably an internal medicine patient suffering from an internal medicine disease.”
“That’s true. But…”
Just before Taesu could say something, Dr. Wallik added,
“What’s wrong with transferring her from surgery to internal medicine?”
“That isn’t wrong, but…”
“I said it was fine and that I’d take care of it. Is Dr. Choi trying to pick a fight with me right now?”
When Dr. Wallik asked in an intentionally cold voice, Taesu quickly waved his hands.
“That’s not it.”
“Good. Then it’s settled, isn’t it?”
“I suppose it is.”
“This matter, to Dr. James’s ears…”
When Dr. Wallik began, Taesu spoke first with a solemn expression.
“I’ll make sure he never finds out.”
“Let it slip.”
“Pardon?”
Taesu did not understand right away.
At that moment, Dr. Wallik explained it clearly.
“I’m telling you to make sure it goes straight into Dr. James’s ears. So that I can be praised for my proud achievement.”
“Ah, yes.”
“And you must be sure to say that Dr. Wallik even handled the follow-up cleanly. Make sure you include that. Understood?”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
Taesu answered with his eyes rounded.
Meanwhile, Dr. Wallik, wearing a satisfied smile, picked up his phone.
“Dr. Gallion? Bring some packed red blood cells and folate here… Dr. James’s surgical tent. Come quietly.”
After finishing what he had to say, Dr. Wallik took the phone from his ear and winked at Taesu.
That burning ice could make an expression like that?
Taesu was even flustered by Dr. Wallik’s expression, which he was seeing for the first time.
Still, for now, it was fortunate that Nashu’s problem had been resolved.
And a little while later,
under Dr. Wallik’s lead, Nashu was moved to internal medicine.
Hanto naturally accompanied her, and Raku went along as well to serve as interpreter.
Only Taesu, Jeong Minsu, Kim Hyeokgwon, and Jo Uncheol remained in the operating room.
They were in the middle of tidying up the operating room.
In truth, since nothing had been used, there was not much to clean up.
As they were nearly finished, Jeong Minsu looked at Taesu and asked.