Chapter 64: Arteriovenous Malformation and Eddie's Request for Help (5000 words) (Page 1/2)
After listening to David, Giles unsurprisingly chose the latter.
In his words, if his lungs couldn't function, what use would his hand, which could lift a trumpet, be?
As for death, that was exactly what he wanted.
Just then, Pete, who had received emergency treatment for his hand, returned to the ward.
When he saw David standing there, he was instantly furious.
"David! What are you doing standing here? Did I tell you to talk to the patient?
You..."
Before Pete could finish the word 'out', he was interrupted by the weak Giles on the hospital bed:
"I allowed him to come. From now on, you are no longer my attending physician, House is."
Pete was stunned, forgetting to vent his anger by cursing David, and quickly said:
"But House violated the DNR protocol. This Dr. House won't respect your choices at all.
Choosing him for your treatment will only worsen your symptoms!
Believe me, House is not a good choice."
Giles grinned, showing a relieved smile:
"Do you know what this young man just told me?
He said after accepting the treatment proposed by House, there were only two choices: either cure or death.
I am satisfied with both outcomes.
As for you, you cannot give me what I want.
So Doctor Pete, you're fired."
Hearing that he was kicked off this case, Pete's inner rage surged again.
But the guy lying on the hospital bed was not an ordinary person without connections like yesterday's patient.
This guy has a lot of influence in the music industry. If he loses his temper with him, he'll probably be on the front page of tomorrow's New York Times.
If things blow up like this, it won't be so easy to sweep under the rug.
At that time, the medical board will certainly impose heavy penalties.
Therefore, Pete could only glare fiercely at David before turning around and leaving.
He knew it must have been this kid's doing, because House couldn't contact Giles due to the restraining order.
So the only one who could make Giles change his mind was this silver-tongued David!
Damn it!
He was outsmarted by this intern again!
He is now almost giving up on his initial idea.
Forget about death not being the best punishment.
He wants David dead today!
But when he thought of the call from the elite security company personnel yesterday, he got a headache again.
This David actually spent serious money hiring bodyguards? Does his security awareness need to be this high?
Since he couldn't issue a contract through the Continental Hotel, he could only privately find assassins he had good relationships with to take on jobs.
But he wasn't sure if the assassins he found could break through the protection of an elite security company.
After all, not everyone was the 'Baba Yaga' John Wick.
No matter what, this self-proclaimed elite security company was not a piece of cake. They were a steel wall, mostly recruiting from active-duty Marines and Special Forces operators.
Pete, who couldn't find a good solution after much thought, could only endure it again.
He kept reminding himself that as long as his friend successfully bought into this hospital, both David and House would be under his control.
At that time, he could just arrange some cases with fatal complications for them. Not only could he make them lose their medical licenses, but he could also send them to prison!
Thinking this way, Pete felt much better, and the throbbing vein on his forehead gradually eased.
"I'll bear with him a little longer. Just a few more days."
...
With the patient's own consent, the surgery was quickly scheduled.
The lead surgeon was Chase, with Cameron and David assisting as second and third assistant.
The main pressure of this surgery was entirely on Chase.
Fortunately, Chase's skills were excellent, and there were no complications throughout the procedure. He successfully removed the blood clot from the cerebral blood vessel.
After the surgery, the patient was still conscious and had regained sensation in his arm.
This meant that Giles was no longer a patient with complete paralysis.
And unexpectedly, Giles's legs also regained sensation!
This made Giles, who hadn't felt anything in his legs for two years, unable to help but show a surprised smile.
"My legs... I can feel them!"
The discovery of this immediately stunned Chase and Cameron.
If Giles's legs regained sensation, it meant that ALS was just a misdiagnosis!
Otherwise, it would be impossible for Giles's legs to recover normally!
Although David and House had basically relied on intuition when diagnosing earlier, the facts proved they were both right!
This was not a paralyzed patient at all!
Chase immediately gave the two a look, and then congratulated Giles with a professional expression:
"Congratulations, it's clearly not ALS.
As for what disease it is, we will make another diagnosis after consulting with Dr. House."
Giles, in a great mood, immediately spoke:
"Please help me tell Dr. House that the court case was my fault, and I will have my lawyer withdraw the lawsuit.
Also tell him thank you.
Of course, and you, young man. If it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have given up on life long ago."
Hearing Giles's praise, David smiled:
"Because we will not give up on any patient with hope of recovery. This is the philosophy of our diagnostics department.
So, while we honor our Hippocratic oath, we are very reluctant to see patients with hope of recovery sign a DNR protocol."
Giles, who could already feel sensation above his calves, immediately gave an awkward smile:
"That's because all the doctors I met told me my symptoms had been diagnosed as ALS.
If there had been good, truly responsible doctors like you telling me there were other possibilities back then, I would never have given up.
I know words of thanks are inadequate, but I still want to say it again: thank you for saving my life."
David patted Giles's leg, filled with emotion:
"Live well. There are many people in this world who want to live well but cannot."
David originally meant to lament Giles's behavior of not cherishing life, but Giles misunderstood it as something else.
He just nodded slightly and then said:
"After I am discharged from the hospital, I will set up a charity foundation in your and House's names specifically to help those who want to live well."
David originally wanted to refuse, but on second thought, perhaps this could also be a new way to continuously gain lifespan, worth a try.
So he finally acquiesced to Giles's understanding.
After they reported the results to House, House gave the simplest solution.
"Stop all medications. Stop everything we've been giving him, and we'll understand exactly what's wrong with him."
Chase frowned:
"But if we stop the medications, the patient's condition will rapidly deteriorate."
House closed the chart:
"So we need to find the real cause before he completely deteriorates. Stop the meds now."
After speaking, House directly propped himself up with his cane and prepared to leave.
The diagnosis had reached the final stage of elimination now; it was the same whether he was there or not.
Just then, David suddenly spoke, attracting House's attention.
"If he can feel his calves again now, perhaps doing another MRI scan on him now will show a different change.
Even if the MRI doesn't change, we still have time to stop the medications.
If there's a new discovery, then we don't have to risk stopping everything."
Chase was clearly more puzzled by David's suggestion:
"The MRI was done before, doing it again won't make any..."
Before Chase could finish, he was interrupted by House:
"No, David is right. Now that Giles's legs have regained sensation, perhaps there will be changes in the spinal column.
Let's do this. Give him another MRI. If there's no change, stop the meds immediately.
All right, I'll wait for your good results."
With House's decision, everyone immediately took Giles back for another MRI.
By scanning thin sections through the entire spinal cord, Cameron quickly noticed something unusual.
"It's different here. It's an arteriovenous malformation within the dura, compressing his spine and causing paralysis!"
Chase was stunned and looked at David with some surprise:
"But why didn't we find it before?"
David pointed at the bright spot next to the spine on the screen that looked like image noise:
"It should have been there before, but the lesion of the arteriovenous malformation was very small and often overlooked.
We found it now because the inflammation here was reduced by steroid medication, and the pressure from the arteriovenous malformation on the spine was decreased.
That's why Giles was able to regain some leg sensation."
Upon hearing David's explanation, Chase nodded in deep agreement. Giles's seemingly paralyzed condition was actually influenced by multiple factors, which led to the misdiagnosis.
First, there was the blood clot in the cerebral blood vessels, followed by the arteriovenous malformation within the dura.
Under the dual impact, everyone believed that Giles had ALS. If it weren't for David and House's persistence, Giles's fate would likely have been death.
The current outcome is the best possible outcome.
Because once the true illness was known, the subsequent treatment became much simpler.
Chase performed the surgery under general anesthesia, successfully clearing the blood clots on the surface of the lesion using electrocautery during endoscopic therapy and performing thermal coagulation to stop the bleeding.
When Giles woke up again, although his whole body was weak, he couldn't stop himself from smiling.
Because he also felt the presence of his toes for the first time in two years!
What does this mean?
It means that with just a few weeks of physical therapy, he can stand up and walk again!
And all of this is thanks to David and Dr. House's refusal to give up!
Feeling the beauty of life once again, Giles became even more determined to establish a charitable foundation in their names!
Money can be earned again, but you only get one life!
David and House have been like saviors to him; he is determined to establish this charitable foundation!
On the other side, upon hearing that Giles could stand up again, Pete was instantly dumbfounded.
Didn't Giles suffer from ALS? How could he possibly stand up?!
Could it be that they were right, that Giles's illness wasn't ALS?
But Martin is a renowned neurologist at Johns Hopkins. Could he also misdiagnose?
What kind of freaks are this David and House, that they could figure this out?
Pete vaguely felt that if this David was not eliminated now, he would become a major threat in the future.
"Wait a few more days, just a few more days. He won't grow much in a few days.
It would be too easy to let him die like this. It's much more satisfying to take his life when he has nothing left!
Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing justice to my repeatedly injured hands!"
While Pete was thinking about David, David hadn't forgotten about Pete either.
It's too dangerous to keep someone who wants to kill you nearby.
Having gained two extra days of lifespan, David was already prepared to take matters into his own hands.
Just then, David received a call from an unknown number.
Very few people knew David's phone number, and recently he had only given it to one person, Eddie Morra.
Thinking of this, David could only put aside the matter of dealing with Pete for now and answer the call.
As soon as the call connected, a voice filled with extreme panic came from the other end:
"Help me, help me, my brother-in-law is dead, he was murdered, oh my god, he's dead!
I just went downstairs to get takeout, and when I came back, he was dead!
If I had stayed here just now, I would have died too!
What is going on? Why? Why would someone want to kill him..."
Listening to Eddie's incessant rambling about his fear, David patiently waited for Eddie to calm down again.
Without having taken NZT-48 and without having experienced the various events, Eddie was still the same useless Eddie who couldn't write at his computer, couldn't pay rent, and drank heavily all day.
Therefore, this kind of reaction was within David's expectations.
However, fortunately, David had left him a business card, preventing him from being foolish enough to call the police at this time.
As expected, the crime scene was full of his fingerprint evidence.
But Eddie being at his brother-in-law Vernon's apartment at least proved that Eddie had used one NZT-48 pill yesterday.
Roughly understanding how far the plot had progressed, David calmly said:
"So, you are at your brother-in-law's apartment right now, right?"
Hearing David's voice from the other end of the phone, Eddie was also infected by David's calmness and was no longer as panicked as before:
"Yes, he's dead..."
Without waiting for Eddie to continue repeating those meaningless words, David spoke first:
"Listen to me first, I'm sure you've tried that NZT-48.
Then you should understand what those people killed your brother-in-law to find.
This also means that your brother-in-law hid a large amount of NZT-48 somewhere.
So now put on gloves, find your brother-in-law's oven, and you'll find a surprise in the compartment underneath."
Guided by David's hint, Eddie on the other end of the phone immediately found a bag containing hundreds of NZT-48 pills.
Eddie excitedly said into the phone:
"I found it, I found it, it's really here!"
"Shh—keep quiet, take one now, then recall everything, clean up any traces of your visit, and leave there.
Don't try to ask the cops for help, they are connected to the killers.
That way you will only expose yourself.
After you leave, come find me. I think you should know where I am."
"Beep beep beep—"
The dial tone of the hung-up call came.
Eddie was very confused by what David said.
He knew where David was? Did David say where he was? Isn't this ridiculous?
However, Eddie still followed David's instructions and took the NZT-48 in front of him.
He had experienced the benefits of NZT-48 and naturally understood how much change this drug would bring.
After 30 seconds, everything around him became crystal clear.
The scenes where David had appeared also began to replay in Eddie's mind.
Details he hadn't noticed before immediately surfaced in Eddie's thoughts.
Combining the smell of disinfectant at the hospital, the off-hours schedules of various hospitals, the calluses on David's hands from medical work, and other information.
The place where David worked naturally appeared in Eddie's mind: Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
But even if Eddie's brain development was now infinitely close to 100%, he still couldn't figure out how David knew all of this beforehand?
Unless David had been tracking him all along!
But the current Eddie was very sure that no one was tracking him.
It seemed that to solve these mysteries, he had to go find David.
Eddie shook his head and began to clean up the scene.
After erasing all traces of himself from the apartment, he walked towards Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.
So when David got off work, he saw Eddie, wearing a faded button-down shirt, waving at him from across the street.
David casually found a Starbucks by the roadside and sat down.
As expected, the first thing Eddie said was:
"Who exactly are you? Why do you still have bodyguards following you?"
David smiled and then said:
"That's the first thing I want to tell you, even if you take NZT-48, you are not omniscient and omnipotent."
Eddie frowned:
"It sounds like you know a lot about this cognitive enhancement drug?"
"No, I don't know everything, I only know that this drug has significant side effects, and long-term use can even cause blackouts and memory loss.
If you stop taking it at that point, you will experience symptoms such as hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, muscle atrophy, mental deterioration, and rapid aging.
Simply put, this drug is developing your brain while also burning through your life force.
Additionally, the effect of this drug varies from person to person. On you, its effectiveness can even reach 99%."
Eddie looked at David with a grave expression.
Although David said he didn't know everything, he clearly knew much more about this drug than Eddie, who was taking NZT-48 for the second time.
The current him could naturally distinguish the truthfulness of David's words.
Because he recalled a method mentioned in a forensic psychology journal he had casually flipped through, which involved judging truthfulness through micro-expressions.
And he could now confirm that everything David said was true.
"Then you came to find me before I took the medication, so you must have known something, right?"
"Yes, because I need you to be able to take the medication continuously, not you who might die from taking it."
David's straightforwardness caught Eddie somewhat off guard.
He now sincerely understood the meaning of the first sentence David said when they met.
Even with NZT-48 developing his brain, he was still not omniscient and omnipotent.
Although he could now understand a person's preferences, speech patterns, and behavioral habits through various details,
There were still some people he couldn't figure out.
At least, the David sitting in front of him, he couldn't read, not at all.
"Then... what exactly do you need me to do?"
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