Chapter 66: Sometimes the Cause (2)

[You think you know?]

Baruda asked, her voice as if her eyes would have widened in surprise.

It was a completely different kind of question from the ones she had asked so far.

It wasn't a question to build on logic, but one asked out of genuine curiosity.

‘Oh.’

In contrast, Suhyuk maintained his usual calm expression.

Even as he stood up, leaning on his cane, he showed no change in his expression.

[Where, where are you going?]

‘To the Department of Laboratory Medicine.’

[Why there?]

‘I want to look at some patient samples. Even if a culture test was done, the remaining samples wouldn’t have been discarded, right?’

[That… That’s true.]

If it were a hospital that operated haphazardly, they might not have been so meticulous about storing samples.

But this was TaeHwa Medical Center.

It was, in every sense, the best hospital in South Korea.

The level of medical staff was well-managed, but more importantly, the system was exceptionally well-maintained.

“Where is it?”

[On the map, it’s here… Ah, that’s the entrance.]

Although Suhyuk had the entire hospital map in his head, finding a place he had never been to was still a bit difficult.

Especially a place like the Department of Laboratory Medicine, which was not exposed to the general public but only to those who needed to go there.

With Baruda’s help, it wasn’t too difficult, though.

Anyway, he approached the small sign and knocked on the window next to the door.

“Who is it?”

The staff member, realizing Suhyuk was not a familiar face, asked somewhat curtly.

Apparently, she was tired from dealing with many doctors who often rushed for test results.

“I’m Suhyuk, a first-year internal medicine resident. I’m here about the samples I requested for testing recently.”

“Test results? We follow the scheduled timeline for those.”

“No, I’m not here for the results.”

“Then what for?”

Suhyuk hesitated for a moment, looking at the staff member, who had become even more curt.

[Should I mention Professor Shin Hyuntae? Or Director Lee Hyunjong?]

Baruda, who had become accustomed to subtle bullying, suggested the most underhanded method.

But Suhyuk, originally from a humble background, didn’t want to make others feel the same frustration he had experienced.

“I want to see the samples here. I understand that some of the samples used for testing are stored for a month.”

“Hmm.”

The staff member seemed to be calculating the regulations in her head.

Reading the underlying annoyance, Suhyuk quickly added:

“It won’t take long. It’s a matter of life and death for the patient.”

“Hmm…”

Indeed, as a hospital staff member, she was different.

As soon as he mentioned the patient’s life, she made a face indicating she had no choice and opened the door next to the window.

“What’s the patient’s name? Do you know the registration number?”

She still sounded unfriendly but was now more cooperative, guiding Suhyuk inside.

Of course, her attitude didn’t last long.

“Oh? Dr. Suhyuk? What brings you here?”

A professor from the Department of Laboratory Medicine, who happened to be coming out of the lab, recognized Suhyuk and greeted him warmly.

[It’s Professor Hong Changgi. He’s a classmate of Shin Hyuntae and has co-authored many papers with him. One of his major papers is “Test Results in the Pathophysiology and Natural Course of Riketsia.”]

Suhyuk felt a bit uncertain, but Baruda was not.

She had already datafied the names and faces of all the professors in the hospital and was continuously updating their relationships based on conversations with key figures like Lee Hyunjong and Shin Hyuntae.

It was not particularly helpful from a medical standpoint, but it was useful in other ways.

“Oh, Professor Hong Changgi! Hello.”

“Oh. You know my name? We haven’t met before, have we?”

“I’ve seen you before when I was a student. Your papers on Riketsia were very impressive. They’ve been very helpful in my treatment.”

“Wow.”

At first, it seemed possible that he only knew her name.

But to know her papers so well…

Professor Hong Changgi couldn’t help but believe that Suhyuk, the hottest figure in the hospital recently, had genuinely admired her all along.

“Right. I heard you’re the son of Director Lee Hyunjong. You’re really smart. Let’s meet often. We can co-author some papers. We have a lot of data, you know?”

“Yes, Professor. Thank you.”

“Alright, take care of your business. Oh, Mr. Kim, take special care of Dr. Suhyuk. He’s a key figure in the hospital.”

Professor Hong Changgi, feeling very pleased, left after making a somewhat burdensome request to the staff member who had been irritable with Suhyuk.

“Uh…”

It was natural for the staff member, Mr. Kim, to turn pale.

He had not been particularly friendly, to say the least, and had been quite unfriendly.

“Um…”

Thinking about apologizing, Suhyuk waved his hand.

“Please guide me.”

“Uh… Are you really the director’s son?”

“Yes? Ah, yes. But don’t worry too much about it.”

Seeing the staff member’s face, which had changed drastically compared to before, Suhyuk waved his hand again.

But it’s hard to ignore something you’re told not to worry about.

The son of the director, no less.

The son of the prestigious Professor Lee Hyunjong.

“Um… Please wait here. I’ll bring the samples right away. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

Thanks to this, the staff member became overly polite.

He was more bowing than being polite.

Of course, Suhyuk, not being a complete saint, didn’t discourage this attitude.

Walking with his cane in the narrow corridor of the Department of Laboratory Medicine was difficult.

“Yes. Please bring me the samples I requested for abscess. The blood samples are fine.”

“Sure.”

So Suhyuk could sit leisurely in the lab with a microscope and wait for the samples.

Originally, he would have had to go to the sample storage room and search himself.

This was a good turn of events.

“Here, here they are. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

“Yes.”

Indeed, the staff member, skilled at finding samples, brought them quickly.

[If I had done it alone, it would have taken me several minutes. Good.]

‘I didn’t realize before, but having power is really a good thing.’

[If the director’s son is this, imagine what it will be like when you become the director.]

‘Isn’t that too far ahead?’

While they chatted, they properly positioned the sample slide under the microscope.

Suhyuk, confirming that the slide was securely in place, brought his eye to the microscope.

[Hmm. I can’t see anything other than the typical pus form.]

‘If it were obvious, they would have found it and contacted me already. This won’t be visible unless you look for it carefully.’

[What exactly are you suspecting?]

‘Look for yourself.’

[Hmm.]

Baruda, initially impatient, showed a brief complaint as Suhyuk kept changing the slides.

But as an AI designed for diagnosis, she soon focused solely on the slides.

[Ah.]

When Suhyuk placed the fifth slide, she exhaled in realization.

Only then did she understand what Suhyuk was suspecting and looking for.

[This…]

‘I found it. I was a bit anxious because it might not have been there.’

They both looked at the long blue line stretching between the dead white blood cells and the bacteria they had consumed.

Following the blue line, a round, oval shape, resembling a tadpole’s head, appeared.

[Fungi… What kind…]

‘Scedosporium.’

[Ah, there’s an analysis from a case report. I didn’t think to connect it with organ transplantation.]

Baruda sighed, almost as if scolding herself.

Suhyuk, with Baruda’s human-like reaction in the background, recalled the information about the Scedosporium he had just discovered.

‘A fungus that lives in contaminated water.’

In general, there was no need to worry about infection from this fungus.

But in cases of immunosuppression, it could easily cause infection.

Even if not, there were cases where it could cause infection.

In the case of drowning.

‘The brain-dead donor must have been infected with this fungus before passing away.’

[It wouldn’t have grown in a regular culture test…]

‘It would have been recorded as a fever of unknown origin.’

If the main issue for the patient had been fever, a more thorough examination might have been conducted.

But the brain-dead donor was already in a state of rapid brain death due to hypoxia after being rescued.

The occasional fever was not a concern for the medical staff.

‘Patient Son Geum-suk received the infected kidney and was taking immunosuppressants.’

[Of course, the infection would have progressed.]

‘It explains why antibiotics were ineffective.’

[We need to go up immediately. We don’t have time to waste.]

‘Right.’

Fungi generally do not harm people with normal immune systems.

But for immunosuppressed individuals, it is a shock and a terror.

Some types of fungi can change the infection range at any moment.

This Scedosporium, fortunately, was not that severe.

But time was not on their side.

It had already begun to invade the lungs.

If left unchecked, it could go wrong in just a day or two.

“Excuse me. Can you please take care of the cleanup?”

“Ah, yes, of course.”

“I’m sorry. I just saw something very important. I need to go to the patient quickly.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Be careful, young… Dr. Suhyuk.”

So Suhyuk, leaving the cleanup to the staff member, hurriedly left the Department of Laboratory Medicine, leaning on his cane.

He then went straight to the ICU.

“Huh, what? What’s the cause?”

Shin Hyuntae was still deep in thought, his head in his hands.

He could see patient Son Geum-suk, who was dying.

Although he had not known the patient before and their relationship had only formed after she was brought to the emergency room, as a doctor, any patient who had entrusted their life to him, willingly or not, was always special.

“Sigh…”

By the time he had almost sighed a hundred times, Suhyuk stood in front of him.

Recognizing the sound of Suhyuk’s cane, Shin Hyuntae immediately looked up.

“You….”

He also noticed the look on Suhyuk’s face, which he only had when he had discovered something very certain.

Suhyuk handed his phone to Shin Hyuntae, who was overjoyed.

It was a photo taken with the microscope in the lab.

“This… What is this?”

“I found it in the pus. Look at this blue color here.”

“Hmm? Is it a fungus… What kind…?”

“It’s Scedosporium.”

“Scedosporium… The donor… was a drowning victim, right?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, this. This! This is it!”