Chapter 28 – A Terrible Illness (3)

“Argh!”

As Kim Ji-hyuk lifted the girl’s hood and her face was revealed, the girl screamed.

“It is okay. Do not worry about anything.”

“……!”

The girl stared at Kim Ji-hyuk with terror-stricken eyes.

Was she about twelve or thirteen years old?

Her face was younger than Kim Ji-hyuk had expected.

“Do not be afraid and raise your face a little. Shouldn’t we do that to treat it? Here, trust me.”

Ji-hyuk coaxed the girl in a gentle tone.

To be honest, it was true that it was burdensome, but currently it was a situation where he had to leave everything to his sense of responsibility as a doctor.

“…….”

Trembling, the girl slowly raised her face.

A face full of severe dermatitis and dark red rashes.

Severe discharge was flowing slowly down her cheeks. Especially, the rash was severe around her eyes, and her tearful eyes, shaking pitifully between the rashes spreading on her eyelids, were heartbreaking.

At a glance, it was similar to the symptoms of Hansen’s disease.

‘The fact that the rash has spread widely…’

Kim Ji-hyuk tilted his head.

Although he had never personally treated a Hansen’s disease patient either, since he had a lot of interest in infectious diseases, he had studied papers and materials related to Hansen’s disease in depth.

However, he could not declare for sure yet that the disease this girl was suffering from was not Hansen’s disease.

‘If it were the era I lived in, I could know immediately by performing an anti-phenolic glycolipid-1 antibody test, but currently I have to grasp it only through visual inspection and palpation, which is frustrating!’

Still, he could not give up. Ji-hyuk made efforts to diagnose as accurately as possible.

“Let me look at your arms.”

Kim Ji-hyuk put on sanitary gloves and nodded as he carefully examined the patient’s arm.

“…….”

“Let me look at your legs too.”

“You shouldn’t… What if you catch it…”

She was fundamentally a good child.

‘It’s okay. Even if it is Hansen’s disease, it won’t be transmitted through this level of contact, and if the disease I have in mind is correct… it is not a disease that will be a big problem! Was it Sang-ah Elementary School? I saw it a lot because there was a massive outbreak there, indeed!’

Kim Ji-hyuk nodded.

“It is okay. Because I have met many patients like you.”

Ji-hyuk tried to calm the girl down.

“Is that true?”

“Of course. So there is no need to worry. Rather, since I need to see your legs, excuse me, but I will lift your skirt a bit.”

“You shouldn’t…”

The girl blushed.

She was a natural child, no different from other kids.

“I must see the lesions to cure the illness!”

Ji-hyuk chided the girl in a slightly firm tone.

“It’s not that, but if you catch it from me, Doctor…”

Though she spoke sharply, this child was definitely a pure teenage girl.

“It is okay…!”

And after examining the state of the girl’s legs, Kim Ji-hyuk let out an exclamation in spite of himself.

“Why are you doing that?”

At Kim Ji-hyuk’s reaction, the girl asked cautiously.

“Ah, no. I will examine your back one last time.”

“M-my back?”

The girl looked even more troubled.

“Yes. Because I must examine it.”

“It’s embarrassing…”

“It is okay. I am a doctor, not a man. Surely, you aren’t thinking of me as a man, are you?”

“It’s not that.”

A red flush rose from below the girl’s neck.

“Let me see!”

Regardless, Kim Ji-hyuk lifted the girl’s top again and examined her back.

“Ah!!!”

The exclamation was definitely different from before.

This time, a short exclamation burst out as if he were certain of something.

‘This child does not have Hansen’s disease!’

While Hansen’s disease lesions are mainly concentrated on the limbs, this girl’s lesions were concentrated on her back.

Furthermore, the pattern of the lesions was also different from Hansen’s disease.

“Patient, listen to my words carefully from now on.”

Kim Ji-hyuk lowered the girl’s top and wore a smile on his lips.

“By any chance, is there any medicine you are taking right now?”

She must have been thought to have Hansen’s disease and received a corresponding prescription. If this girl had taken that medicine, it could have caused severe side effects.

Ji-hyuk was thinking he must stop that first.

“Medicine?”

“Yes. I think there must be medicine a doctor gave you?”

“Are you talking about Doctor Cho Dong-gi?”

‘Indeed, Professor Cho Dong-gi has treated this child before?’

“Yes. There is. This.”

The girl took out a medicine envelope from a drawer near the bed and handed it to Kim Ji-hyuk.

“Aspirin?”

Checking the contents inside the medicine envelope, Kim Ji-hyuk blinked in surprise.

“How long have you been taking this?”

“Mm, I took it for about a week.”

“A week…”

Kim Ji-hyuk knitted his brows.

“Yes.”

“Have you vomited severely recently?”

As if he had an inkling, Ji-hyuk kept asking the girl.

“Yes. I did it severely every time I ate.”

“I see. What about convulsions? Like your body trembling, or symptoms of your arms and legs stiffening?”

“I have them! My whole body trembled and my arms felt stiff and hard. Originally, leprosy…”

‘Sigh, if this is the case, it seems my thoughts are gradually proven right.’

“By any chance, have you seen hallucinations or fainted?”

When he asked once more, the girl’s mouth fell agape.

“How did you know? Actually, not long ago I saw my mother and ran to her, but it wasn’t her. She disappeared in an instant.”

‘She even shows symptoms of confusion? Then, it is highly likely this child is suffering from Reye’s syndrome.’

Reye’s syndrome.

It was a disease that could occur when non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as acetaminophen or components of aspirin were administered to young patients suffering from viral illnesses, and it was a dangerous disease that particularly affected the liver and the brain.

Since it caused symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, hallucinations, and fainting as liver cells were rapidly destroyed, it matched the girl’s symptoms exactly.

‘Since she showed eccentric and irritable symptoms, people must have been even more terrified, fearing it as a divine curse. Moreover, if this girl’s mother really had Hansen’s disease, they wouldn’t have doubted that this child also had Hansen’s disease. Because they would have believed Hansen’s disease is hereditary! However, this child does not have Hansen’s disease. This child is surely suffering from chickenpox!’

Kim Ji-hyuk stared blankly at the girl trembling in fear.

‘To a patient suffering from high fever in the early stages of chickenpox, Professor Cho Dong-gi administered aspirin as an antipyretic in a hurry, and Reye’s syndrome must have occurred as a side effect of this aspirin. If so, she must stop taking aspirin first. Sigh, is that man named Cho Dong-gi really a doctor?’

It was the moment Kim Ji-hyuk reached a conclusion.

“Listen to my words carefully from now on. You must absolutely never take this medicine from now on.”

Now that he knew the cause, it was time to enter treatment in earnest. Certain that the disease this girl was suffering from was not Hansen’s disease, Kim Ji-hyuk gently held both of her hands.

Finch—

At that, the girl flinched and pulled her hands away.

“It is okay. In any case, we must stop the medicine first.”

“The medicine?”

The girl tilted her head.

“Yes. I will take this medicine and discard it. You don’t have any hidden medicine, right?”

“No.”

“And from now on, I will treat you. So do not meet anyone else under any circumstances.”

“Can I really be cured if I just do that?”

The girl asked with eyes full of fear.

‘If it is chickenpox, she will recover naturally as time passes. Of course, treatment will be unavoidable due to Reye’s syndrome, but chickenpox itself is bound to peak this week and gradually disappear!’

“Of course. I will definitely cure your illness.”

“If only that could really happen!”

The child’s eyes welled with tears.

“I told you, didn’t I? There is no incurable disease in the world. There are only incompetent doctors. So trust me. You will surely get better. I promise.”

“Yes. I will do that!”

No doctor had ever examined her while touching her body. Since hope arose that her illness could be cured, the girl must have wanted to believe Kim Ji-hyuk’s words.

“Here, promise!”

As Kim Ji-hyuk offered his pinky finger.

“…….”

She still hesitated.

“Come on, you do as the doctor tells you. Quick!”

“Y-yes, I understand.”

Tightly—

Unable to resist Ji-hyuk’s insistence, the girl reluctantly hooked her pinky.

‘Huhuhu, thank goodness. It wasn’t Hansen’s disease!’

Kim Ji-hyuk smiled with a pleased expression.

* * *

After finishing the examination, Kim Ji-hyuk came down to the first floor. Butler Hwang ran to him as if he had been waiting.

With a face full of terror.

“How is our young lady’s condition?”

Gulp. He swallowed his dry saliva. He must be burning with anxiety.

Seeing him so tensed, it seemed he had suffered a lot of heartaches.

“I think I need to examine her a bit more.”

But the words that came out of Kim Ji-hyuk’s mouth were not very hopeful.

“Is treatment possible?”

“I cannot guarantee it, but I will do my best to treat her.”

Although cautious, it was not a hopeless answer.

At those words, Butler Hwang asked like a drowning man clutching at straws.

“Is that true?”

“Yes. I will do my best.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much, Doctor! Please save our young lady. I beg of you, Doctor!”

The girl whom all doctors had given up on.

Since no doctor who examined the girl had shown a positive reaction like Kim Ji-hyuk, Butler Hwang clung to Kim Ji-hyuk like a drowning man clutching at straws.

Because the fate of the young lady he served was also his own fate.

“Then I will return to the hospital for now.”

“Ah, no. Please wait for a moment. Soon, the Chairman will return. The Chairman said he wants to meet you by all means…”

It was right at that moment.

Beyond the window of the reception room, a black car was spotted, and an elderly gentleman wearing a fedora and a black suit got out of the back seat.

It was Chairman Han of Hanchang Textile.

“Oops, the Chairman has arrived. Please wait here for a moment.”

As the master he served was spotted, Butler Hwang rushed outside in a hurry.

Not long after, the elderly gentleman walked inside the house with Butler Hwang.

He was Chairman Han Chang-gyu, the head of Hanchang Textile and the top tycoon and conglomerate owner of the 1950s.

As he entered the reception room, Kim Ji-hyuk stood up and bowed politely.

“Chairman, this is Doctor Kim Ji-hyuk, who has decided to treat the young lady.”

“Nice to meet you.”

How many doctors would he have met.

As Butler Hwang introduced Kim Ji-hyuk, Han Chang-gyu swept his eyes over Kim Ji-hyuk’s body and nodded.

“Hello. I am Kim Ji-hyuk.”

“You are a younger doctor than I had expected.”

It was a dry, emotionless attitude.

‘What does being young have to do with being a doctor.’

“…….”

“So, how is the state of our granddaughter?”

Chairman Han, who still did not seem to have any expectations.

“I think I will know after examining her a bit more.”

“Hmm, that sounds like a lack of confidence?”

A short period. Yet, numerous doctors had visited and there was no improvement in his granddaughter’s illness, so Chairman Han Chang-gyu thought Kim Ji-hyuk would be no different.

“I did not say I lack confidence. However, even if it is a light illness, one cannot guarantee a cure.”

Kim Ji-hyuk wore a confident expression.

‘Since it isn’t Hansen’s disease!’