Chapter 50: If Left as Is, I Will Die (3)

Rattle.

While Seohyuk was on the phone, the MRI scan seemed to have finished, and the patient was being pulled out. The intern, who had been pulling the patient out, didn't look too good, probably because they had been in a noisy environment for over 20 minutes.

‘I’m sorry, but I need to make this worse.’

[There’s no choice. It was a mistake to miss the problem with the ECG.]

‘That’s true… But what else can we do?’

[Director Lee Hyun-jong agrees. I’m 100% sure.]

‘Okay.’

Seohyuk, emboldened by Baruda’s words, limped over to the intern, more accurately, in the direction that would block the bed’s path. Despite his reduced mobility, he was faster than the intern, who was struggling to pull the bed alone, and successfully obstructed the path.

“Huh?”

Naturally, the intern looked very confused as they stared at Seohyuk. The neurology resident, who had just come out of the imaging room, also looked at Seohyuk, but their face was more angry than confused.

“Why haven’t you left yet?”

“Doctor, taking an ECG isn’t that difficult, is it? Please check it once. The patient’s level of consciousness… The stroke we saw earlier isn’t enough.”

“What… You can take it upstairs. We need to give the medication first.”

“You’re saying we should give medication instead of intervention… Isn’t that different from a stroke caused by a blocked blood vessel?”

“What…?”

Just as the neurology resident, who had been hit where it hurt, was about to yell, someone ran up to the bed and spoke.

“Intern, take an ECG.”

Unlike Seohyuk, who had almost begged, this was a commanding tone.

“Yes, yes.”

Of course, the intern couldn’t refuse, as the order came from Lee Hyun-jong, the director of Tae-hwa Medical Center and one of only two distinguished professors in the entire hospital.

Thud, thud, thud.

So the intern had to rush to get the ECG machine.

“Where’s the image? Did it get lost?”

Without even turning to the neurology resident, Lee Hyun-jong looked at Seohyuk.

Seohyuk tilted his head slightly before answering.

“No, the examination just finished. We need to check it in the imaging room.”

“Is that so? Then we need to see the image. Hmm…”

Lee Hyun-jong was about to head to the imaging room when he noticed Seohyuk, who had just run over, was now squeezing the patient’s artificial respiration bag.

Judging that he couldn’t just walk in like this, he glanced around and spotted the neurology resident.

‘Damn.’

Even if the neurology resident had completed an internship at another hospital.

Hadn’t they heard rumors about Seohyuk?

Everyone had laughed it off, thinking it couldn’t be true.

But seeing him with the director now, no one could laugh.

‘If it had been for a medical reason, I would have taken the ECG immediately… Honestly, I felt uneasy…’

He had planned to give the stroke medication first and then take an ECG as soon as they got to the ward.

After hearing Seohyuk, he realized that the cause of the loss of consciousness might not be in the brain.

Although he had no such experience, he had heard about it at a conference once.

But it was too late, and by the time he realized everything was wrong, Lee Hyun-jong spoke up.

“Hey, you squeeze this while I go check the image.”

“Huh?”

“Were you just passing by? Sorry. Just squeeze this for a moment.”

However, Lee Hyun-jong wasn’t as calculating as the neurology resident thought. He was more of an oddball who focused only on interesting things and properly treating patients.

So, fortunately for the neurology resident, he entered the imaging room without any resistance.

“Hey, Director. Wait a moment.”

“Huh? Oh, where’s your cane?”

“It’s inside.”

“Inside? You really… You have a bad memory. How can you leave it behind?”

Lee Hyun-jong shook his head and casually sat down in a chair. The radiologist, who had just finished the examination and was about to sit down, stepped aside with a puzzled look.

“Where’s the image?”

“Probably… This one.”

Meanwhile, Seohyuk, having received the cane from Lee Hyun-jong, reached the monitor. Although it might have been considerate to notice someone with a leg disability, Lee Hyun-jong only paid attention to what interested him.

So, he didn’t move from his chair even as Seohyuk fumbled with the controls.

“Hurry up and bring it up.”

Seohyuk, who didn’t take his disability seriously and was more focused on whether his hypothesis was correct, didn’t care about Lee Hyun-jong’s attitude. He just followed the instructions and moved the mouse as quickly as possible.

[The most prominent area is from 48 to 60 on the T2-weighted image.]

Seohyuk, as usual, could rely on Baruda’s help, which once again pleased Lee Hyun-jong.

‘Damn… Look at how he finds the images. Anyone would think he’s a radiologist.’

Honestly, there were many second-year residents who couldn’t read MRI images properly.

How could this guy, who had only been there for a few months, pinpoint the most important images?

‘It’s amazing.’

Lee Hyun-jong, thinking this, looked at the image Seohyuk had brought up.

“Hmm.”

“This doesn’t look like it’s caused by a blockage in a single blood vessel.”

“Right. The affected area is quite wide. But…”

“The range of cell damage, which occurs when a blood vessel is completely blocked, is very narrow.”

“That means there’s likely a problem with the brain’s blood flow or oxygen supply.”

“I think the most likely cause is a heart problem.”

“Good.”

Lee Hyun-jong nodded and looked around. The door was still open, so the patient and the neurology resident could see everything.

“Hey, are you here?”

“Yes, Director!”

The neurology resident, a bit flustered, responded to his call.

Lee Hyun-jong, thinking he was indeed a bit odd as the rumors suggested, continued.

“Hey, Seohyuk. Let’s go. We need to check the heart. If not, we’ll quickly transfer the patient to neurology for further workup. I’ll do it myself if it’s correct.”

“Yes, Professor.”

Lee Hyun-jong, who seemed much younger, sprang up from his chair and pulled Seohyuk along. Seohyuk, almost falling, managed to steady himself with his cane.

“What did you get?”

The intern, approaching them, respectfully held out the freshly printed ECG results with both hands.

Lee Hyun-jong glanced at it and pushed it directly to Seohyuk.

It wasn’t because he didn’t know.

‘This guy really likes to test people…’

He wanted to see how well Seohyuk could read it.

[There’s no problem. ECGs are like reading a flat line.]

‘I trust you, Baruda.’

In fact, interpreting ECGs was one of the most difficult tasks for internal medicine residents, as the heart, unlike other organs, moves through electrical signals, making it quite unfamiliar.

However, it had been over 10 years since AI had made ECG interpretation possible.

For Baruda, it was a piece of cake.

“The ST segment is elevated in lead 1.”

“And?”

“The ST segment elevation in lead 3 is greater than in lead 2.”

“What can we suspect?”

“We can confirm an infarction in the lower part of the heart.”

“Which part of the lower side?”

Lee Hyun-jong, checking his wristwatch, continued to ask questions while subtly pushing the patient’s bed.

The neurology resident, realizing his intentions, started to help push the bed toward the catheterization lab, hoping to make up for the earlier mistake.

Seohyuk, without hesitation, answered the final question.

“Both the left and right ventricles are possible.”

“Then how do we differentiate?”

But he didn’t answer immediately.

Of course, it wasn’t because he didn’t know.

“The lead placement needs to be changed to the right side.”

The ECG leads, which were currently attached to the left side of the patient’s chest, needed to be moved to the right.

Naturally, when Lee Hyun-jong saw this, his face showed a mix of admiration and shock.

This was the first time he had seen a resident do this.

‘What a lunatic?’

A first-year resident doing what a cardiology fellow would barely manage was beyond absurd.

“Hmm…”

But Seohyuk, who was almost leaning on the bed while walking, had already finished changing the lead placement.

“Can we stop for a moment? We need to wait for the elevator anyway. There’s noise.”

“Sure, stop for a moment.”

“Yes.”

When both Seohyuk and Lee Hyun-jong said to stop, the bed had to stop. After all, Lee Hyun-jong’s authority in the hospital was as strong as the president’s.

Whirr.

The ECG machine started to print out the ECG again. This time, it was in a state of confusion, as the settings were almost the opposite of the usual ones.

Of course, this setting was only useful for someone who didn’t need the ECG machine’s help at all.

“What about this?”

As soon as the paper was fully out, Lee Hyun-jong, who had started walking again, asked.

[There’s nothing difficult about this.]

Baruda snorted at the paper, and Seohyuk, without hesitation, gave his opinion.

“The ST segment is still elevated here, especially in leads 3, 4, 5, and 6. In contrast, it’s not prominent in lead 1 and has even descended in lead 2.”

“What should we suspect?”

“RVMI. Right ventricular infarction.”

“Good. What about treatment?”

“If it’s within the golden hour, a stent must be inserted. Otherwise, it could lead to heart failure or death.”

“Perfect. You’ll assist in the procedure today.”

“Huh? Shouldn’t a fellow… Doctor?”

“Did he diagnose it? No, you did. You’ll assist.”