A/N: Thanks to AY for the donations once again! Last day of the double chap week. Cheers!
Dowook, who returned to the hospital, immediately went into the office and turned on the desk light. Under the light of the LED, a paper from 12 years ago was revealed.
Dr. Ji Gang Cheol's research theory, which remained only in documents, with no records left online or publication in academia.
He looked over the paper with some expectation that there would be an answer there.
Like that, he read about 10 pages carefully.
"Hmmm…"
The basic gist was not much different from the content seen in the previous lecture video.
‘My concept is very special. Aren't you curious?’
If there was anything added, it was a way to realize it.
The "Braingate" was referring to an electrode insertion technique that he had read while studying.
A device that captured electrical signals in the brain by attaching sensors to the head of a patient with general paralysis and replaced the action the patient wanted with a computer.
It was a research field that attracted attention 12 years ago, but now it was already in use for special treatment in many parts of the medical community.
‘And this, you tried the concept of braingate technology in reverse. Accepting the other person's electric signal, not one’s own.’
After Dowook read the last page, his heart sank. None of his questions had been resolved.
Maybe. Somehow. This was an unusual accident, and he just happened to get the ability.
He could not guarantee that he would not suffer from side-effects, either. The three participants who were suffering from side-effects and Dr. Ji Gang Cheol, who was brought in unconscious.
Dowook sent a text with his cell phone.
[Prof. Na, the patients who participated in the experiment. Can you send them to the hospital? There is a surgeon in this hospital that can cope with any brain problems.]
After texting, Dowook looked down at his right wrist.
Why did the flash from the machine suddenly penetrate his hand? Was it because his neural circuits had been stimulated so much that he had the ability to handle electricity, like in the comic books?
"Yap."
[T/N: This is like a ‘magic spell’ in some children's stories that make things happen. The closest Western version that I can think of would be ‘open sesame.’]
As the cartoon character did, he stretched his right hand forward.
Rather than anything happening, it was dinner time, so only his stomach rumbled.
Perhaps the direction was the problem, so he turned the chair around and reached out to the door.
Tingle.
The feeling of someone passing through the hallway was conveyed through his fingertips.
The urge to hold onto the tools needed to operate on spinal tissue. It was Professor Lee Yeon-beom, a detailed spinal nerve specialist. Seeing that he hadn't left work yet, he seemed to have an important surgery.
Dowook scattered the sense.
"It wasn't anything."
It was no different from yesterday when nothing was revealed. He lamented, but the door to the office suddenly opened.
Choi Hoo entered with a convenience store bag.
"Dr. Park? Didn't you say you had a test today?"
"Oh, I just dropped by."
"Since you're here, why don't we perform a mock surgery? Since the error in deep tumor extraction is fatal."
He meant Tom Brand’s case.
"Of course."
Choi Hoo threw a triangular kimbap to Dowook.
Placing the moderately heated triangular kimbap in his mouth, Dowook thought of the difficult brain tumor extraction surgery scheduled for next week.
Since it was not a problem that could be supplemented by devising a new technique, there was a high possibility that it would be a more difficult operation than any other surgery that he had done so far.
Nevertheless, it was because of Choi Hoo that he was not very afraid of failure.
As long as the skilled Choi Hoo was beside him, he was confident that no matter what the neurosurgery symptom was, they would succeed.
He was confident that this surgery, performed by the two of them, was going to be the best choice.
‘I guess I'm crazy. It's my day off, but I want to get into the operating room.’
After the simple meal, the mock operating table was set.
"It's done."
Choi Hoo looked at the clock on the wall and declared.
"Tumor cells are about to take root into the leptomeningeal membrane. Steroid prescriptions accelerated the response, and 15 minutes. We have to get everything out by that time.”
"Let's finish it in 12 minutes."
At Choi Hoo’s nod, Dowook reached out to accept his sense as usual.
‘Huh?’
However, no feeling was conveyed at his fingertips.
‘What is this?’
Dowook tried to accept Choi Hoo’s sense again, but no stimulation occurred. He turned his hand toward Professor Lee Yeon-beom in the next room.
Tingle.
“……?”
* * *
Tuesday morning.
Dowook quickly passed the hospital lobby with his cell phone ringing crazily. He pressed the elevator button and put his cell phone to his ear.
"Yes, chief."
-Where are you?
"You asked that 3 minutes ago."
-It's already been 3 minutes! We don't have much time!
"I'm going, I'm going."
He pressed the button to the fifth floor and tried to press the close button, but saw a doctor running from far away and pressed open.
Seeing him rush in quickly, although it was in the middle of the night, the patient under his care must have a problem.
The doctor rushed in and bowed his head to Dowook.
"Phew, thank you.”
"It was nothing. Are you going to the ward floor?"
"Yes, the 8th floor."
While smiling and pressing the button to the eighth floor, a shout sounded from his cell phone.
-You just did something to make me angry, didn’t you?
"No way. I just followed my conscience."
When he got off the elevator at the neurosurgery floor and walked down the hallway, he saw the resident chief stamping his feet in front of the staff room.
"Hana."
"Senior!"
Nam Hana, who had been running fast, handed out the printed document to Dowook.
"These are the people who will respond to the video call."
A sudden consultation with Tom Brand's agent at the request of the film company.
Tom Brand, who organized his schedule and returned to Korea two days ago, was adjusting his condition. He clearly expressed his intention to operate again this time, but the people around him were strongly against it.
This chaos at dawn was because of that disagreement.
Dowook confirmed the positions and identities of the five professors in the document and realized the power of those around Tom Brand.
Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and UCLA Medical Center.
The places he’d asked Chief Ha to send him to for training and had gotten chewed for. Medical professors from famous hospitals in the United States were here.
While walking to the public conference room, Nam Hana carefully asked.
"If you get rejected by this panel, will you still be able to perform Tom's surgery?"
“Probably not.”
"How can you not get dissed by these people? Here. Steven Lyle from Mayo Clinic, is the author of the neurosurgery textbook that we're using right now."
"Hana, if you get rejected, you'll get rejected. Do you think the resident chief can be anxious like that?"
"How are you so fine? It's not just a celebrity, it's Tom's Brand.”
Just before opening the conference room, Dowook told Nam Hana.
"You're asking the wrong question, Hana. It's not just a symptom, it's a malignant lymphoma. And we suggested that we should operate on it instead of chemotherapy. That’s what you should be nervous about as a surgeon."
"But you're not nervous at all."
"I know. I think my head’s gotten too big. These days."
Dowook smiled as he entered the conference room.
Inside, he could see the medical staff yawning and preparing for a video conference. Chief Ha was sitting in the middle.
"Seongtae! Is it time for you to yawn? Check the connection status one more time!"
Dowook pulled a chair and sat next to the screaming Chief Ha.
"Calm down."
"Hey, Park Dowook! Why are you so late?"
"Can't you see that I ran out as soon as I got the call?"
Chief Ha lowered his raised finger when he saw Dowook’s tired face.
"That’s why, brat. Why did you have to stick your nose out and suggest operating to Tom Brand? Those experts are waiting to chew out our hospital’s neurosurgery department. At this late hour, too. They should have scheduled it when it was dawn there, attacking us with time difference on top of everything else."
"Calm down."
"How can I calm down? What about Choi Hoo? Why isn’t he here yet?”
"I told Hana not to call Professor Choi."
Chief Ha’s jaw dropped open.
"You didn't call the person in a situation where you needed one more brain to defend that logic? Hurry up and call!"
"I think it's better to handle it by ourselves. Professor Choi has more surgeries tomorrow.”
"Why are you so considerate of the surgery time? If I get embarrassed today, I'll be humiliated all over the world!"
Dowook felt that his remaining drowsiness fly away at Chief Ha's loud yell.
"We won't be humiliated. I guarantee that.”
"You? How?"
To Chief Ha's counter-question, Dowook briefly lowered his gaze to his own hands.
"It's just my gut feeling."
"Whatever! You take responsibility for everything!”
"Our neurosurgery department is one body."
"Don't say that anymore!"
Today, Chief Ha's scolding, which seemed to have risen to the maximum level, was leisurely received, and Dowook organized the surgical data on a laptop on the table.
After 10 minutes
A series of faces appeared on an 80-inch TV in front of the conference room.
On the split skype screen, doctors who were renowned in the field of neurosurgery briefly greeted each other.
『It's been a while, Dr. Lyle.』
『Dr. Mitchell. I see you’ve gotten a lot prettier since I last saw you.』
The age range of the people on the screen was between late 40s and mid 50s. Among them, Steven Lyle was the oldest.
After greeting each other, their eyes turned to Chief Ha.
『Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Ha, section chief of neurosurgery at Myeong Sae Hospital. This is Dr. Park, the surgeon.』
Chief Ha winked at Dowook. Tom Brand's chart immediately appeared on the laptop screen, helping him to get to the point.
A chart also appeared on the monitor. Chief Ha quickly read the outline of the discussion while looking at the chart.
『As you can see, Tom Brand's diagnosis is primary central nervous system lymphoma. About 3% of all primary brain tumors have occurred, and the prognosis is extremely poor, with only two months of survival if not properly treated…….』
『Hold on, Dr. Ha.』
Steven Lyle of Mayo Clinic cut off Chief Ha's words and intervened.
『Unlike other cases, Tom Brand's tumor was confirmed very early. Since it has not yet shown widespread metastasis, it is not called malignant, but there is a risk of becoming malignant. In other words, it should be classified as a developmental risk tumor group.』
When detailed criticism of the terms came out from the beginning, Chief Ha complained internally as he said.
"Dowook, they're trying to drive you to chemotherapy."
"That's what I expected. Just finish the outline."
"Development Risk Tumor. Oh, my tongue’s all twisted."
Chief Ha, who practiced pronunciation for a while, continued.
『Okay, a developmental risk tumor. The medical staff at the hospital completed a thorough examination and analysis of prognosis to remove this DRT surgically. The results are recorded in detail on the chart. Do you have any suggestions on this?』
Johns Hopkins's Ronshaw Mitchell raised her hand first.
『Please send me an MRI of the angiography.』
As soon as Dowook posted the relevant data, another MRI picture appeared on Ronshaw Mitchell's screen.
『This is an MRI record taken three years ago when Tom Brand was brought in due to a stunt injury. It's clean compared to recent ones, right? I don't even see that common vascular edema. At that time, he had lymphoma, but there is only one reason it couldn’t be seen. X-ray, CT, MRI. The lymphoma was sensitive to weak radiation injected from these devices, causing the tumor that had not already developed to shrink. I can't believe that the surgical extraction claimed by the hospital can provide more stable treatment.』
Chief Ha, who listened to the opponent's long argument, looked at Dowook.
"Johns Hopkins’ Head of neurosurgery said that. I have nothing to argue against it. It's too accurate."
"The comparative analysis with MRI data from three years ago is surprising. We got hit with this one."
"Hey…!"
Dowook spoke to Dr. Mitchell before Chief Ha screamed.
『Dr. Mitchell. Didn't you tie a knot in a hurry a few years ago because a patient's blood vessel burst? Four neurosurgeons rushed in and saved the critical cerebral arteries…….』
『Oh? Do you know that case?』
『Thanks to that attempt, we also saved one patient.』
Dowook bowed politely to Dr. Mitchell and continued the conversation.
『Dr. Mitchell's claim for treatment would be the use of whole brain radiation, but there is only one problem. Delayed neurotoxic side effects. Tom Brand, who has to continue his acting career, may end up with a walking disorder. However, surgical extraction can get rid of this side effect.』
『I don't know how extraction can rule out side effects. If you touch any deep blood vessels in the lower ventricular zone, you will damage the neuroscopes. The degree of walking disability will not a problem, but there will be after effects.』
『That's right. If you touch it even a little bit.』
Dowook opened a folder and displayed Kim Suhan’s surgical video to the part where the knot came out well on the screen.
『We won't touch anything else.』
The eyes of the five doctors who watched the video of four surgical tools suturing the patient's blood vessels with fantastic synchronicity grew bigger.
Among them, Dr. Ronshaw Mitchell's expression, who recognized that they had created a perfect technique based on their case, was close to astonishment.
Dowook asked calmly.
『Next person?』
