When everyone heard Elion's words, Chase was the first to openly mock him: "The emergency department? You want to go to the ER at night? Sure, of course, we can help you with something like that."
"Do you have enough energy to keep up?" Cameron didn't believe Elion could sustain that workload in the long term.
Foreman, to the side, said to Elion: "Your current internship requires you to spend at least eight months in the diagnostics department. This means that even if you work all night in the emergency room, it won't count toward your record. Which means you still have to be in the diagnostics department office on time the next day."
"That's correct; otherwise, it will be considered absenteeism, which means that if you want to have full attendance, you'd have to work 24 hours a day in this hospital, which is impossible if you want to maintain a good level."
"Yes, now, if House finds out that you're under such an enormous workload and you don't perform the way you have been until now, he'll kick you out of the diagnostics department."
"So, do you want to go to the ER?" Foreman asked this question seriously.
Elion shook his head and decided to abandon the idea.
Working so many hours is impossible, even for someone young like him. And Foreman was right—if House found out, he'd get into trouble and would likely be kicked out of the diagnostics department.
That would be a loss in every sense for Elion, and most likely he would die.
Besides, even if he could handle such a heavy workload, staying up late would only weaken his immune system and worsen his condition.
According to his five-year survival rate, he would still have symptoms from his brain tumor.
That is why now that he has the opportunity to improve little by little, Elion wouldn't be foolish enough to worsen his situation.
However, he is currently facing many problems.
The effects of the brain tumor continue.
Although he temporarily recovers his health when he gains extra days of life, as time passes, he will inevitably be affected.
Therefore, to prevent his brain tumor from affecting his work, he had to find a way to earn money to buy specific medication before his internship salary arrived.
His predecessor, who was destined to die, had spent almost all his money enjoying life.
Elion currently has no money, and his temporary residence is facing a situation where the landlord comes to collect the rent every day.
Therefore, he cannot return to that house.
That is why Elion stayed at the entrance of the hospital for a moment, feeling somewhat lost.
The world is so big that it seems he can't go anywhere. The good thing about all this is that he can stay at the hospital, but even so, in the long term this kind of life is unsustainable.
After saying goodbye to his superiors, he walked aimlessly out of the hospital, looking at the starry sky and breathing fresh air, something he hadn't done in a long time.
While Elion felt lost, a man in a black suit clutching his stomach suddenly approached him from behind.
When he was close enough, the man asked in a hoarse voice: "Are you a doctor?"
Elion, lost in his thoughts, looked at a man who looked very much like Keanu Reeves, but he turned his head without paying much attention to him.
Cosplay?
"Hmm…" But when Elion suddenly realized that he was in another reality, he turned his head and said: "Yes, I'm a doctor."
"Come with me." At that moment, Keanu leaned against Elion, and something hard pressed against his waist.
At the same time, a damp and sticky sensation stained Elion's clothes.
Elion, who dealt with this type of substance in his memories, immediately recognized what it was.
"Are you bleeding?" This made Elion instantly realize how absurd his situation was.
Wasn't he only in the story of House? Why was Baba Yaga now beside him asking for help?
Only then did Elion immediately realize that this world was probably not just about the story of a doctor.
If John was standing in front of him right now, that meant there was a Continental Hotel nearby.
"Quick…"
"Yes." But despite his surprise, Elion was still willing to help someone like John, who was seriously injured.
Besides, what John was holding at his waist was not a weapon at all; it was just the handle of an umbrella.
John is the type of person who always repays kindness with kindness and evil with evil. That is why Elion was not afraid; he knew John wouldn't hurt him. Besides, it wasn't like he would mind dying at John's hands at all..
…
In a short time, John, who had kidnapped the most absent-minded doctor, took him to a clandestine clinic that looked abandoned.
John skillfully found the key to the clinic and pushed the door open to enter.
This room was simple; there was a metal bed and numerous medical instruments beside it.
Elion recognized this place as an underground operating room that assassins used to receive treatment.
"Here you have everything." John threw himself onto the metal bed and slipped his hand into his black jacket as if he had a weapon, signaling Elion to start working.
"Alright… Tell me, what am I not seeing?" Elion hurried to check John's visible wounds and asked what others were hidden.
Quickly locating the most severe one and the one that was bleeding the most.
"It's a gunshot wound. I need you to remove it and bandage that wound. Listen, if you dare to run away, I swear I'll hunt you down and find you… Argh…"
Before John could finish his threat, Elion's fingers were already pressing against the gunshot wound in John's abdomen.
The pain from the wound instantly caused John's body, which had been slightly raised, to fall heavily onto the metal bed.
Looking at John, who lay limp and helpless on the bed, Elion said with the seriousness of a doctor: "Now you're in my world. Without my help, you might not get very far."
"Therefore, before continuing, I think we should first discuss the compensation for my kidnapping. I wasn't on duty, but you came to me and put me in danger. Forget about the weapon you don't have; if I help you, the people who are looking for you right now might kill me, Mr. Wick…"
John's pupils suddenly contracted.
Why is this doctor negotiating right now as if this were something normal?
Could it be that the doctor he randomly kidnapped at the entrance of the hospital was also a member of the organization?
What a coincidence!
But now that he was involved, it seemed that what this doctor wanted was a few gold coins as a means of exchange.
Thinking this, John began to speak tentatively: "One gold coin?"
Elion shook his head once while making sure John didn't bleed out and, while placing an IV, said: "Your life and mine together aren't worth one gold coin. If you give me twelve, I'll have you leaving this place like new."
John, without showing any expression, nodded once and lay back completely: "Alright, start."
"Alright, this will hurt a bit, but I think you can handle something like this." Elion then opened John's shirt, began cleaning the wound, and started sterilizing the surgical instruments on the tray at high temperature.
Then, hearing John gasp, after a quick disinfection with alcohol, he took a scalpel and made a cross-shaped incision in the gunshot wound on his abdomen.
Then, with a single medical instrument, he precisely grasped the bullet and removed it with surgical forceps, and after making sure there were no additional internal injuries, he used the surrounding necrotic tissue to clean it.
Since Elion had volunteered in conflict zones in his student years in the past, knowing how to remove a bullet was something he was very experienced with.
That is why, in a short time, he removed the bullet and, while it was still bleeding, quickly sutured the wound.
When Elion raised his head, John had long since passed out from the pain and extreme exhaustion.
In addition to that, Elion stitched stab wounds and applied medication along with proper bandaging to each of John's injuries without missing any.
And when he finished, the message in Elion's mind clearly told him that he had once again greatly contributed to another person's life.
"[Congratulations, you have intervened and saved a life from the hands of death.]"
[Reward]: Ten days and fourteen hours.
[Remaining lifespan]: Twenty-two days.
…
Elion removed his surgical gloves and found a pack of mint candies near where he was.
Taking them, he ate one and savored it slowly. Only then did he notice that on the back of his arm there was a greenish watch that showed exactly his lifespan.
"Very useful…" Elion thought, bitter at seeing how his life was slowly running out.
But thanks to that reward, the headache had calmed down again.
Thanks to John's arrival, Elion's world now had many more alternatives.
With his current skills, Elion seems capable of working part-time as a doctor for professional assassins in Continental hotels at night.
Although the risks are high, it can significantly shorten his time to death and, with luck, help his symptoms lessen.
However, the most urgent task is to find out how far John has progressed in his story and to know whether helping him had put him in trouble.
If John were currently being pursued by the Continental Hotel, he probably wouldn't be able to find peace after this night either.
The assassins outside, whether to hunt John or to maintain order, would choose to kill him first. If that were the case, he would essentially be tied to John's dangerous life and fate.
Just when Elion was thinking about the series of chain reactions that would follow his encounter with John.
John, lying on the metal operating bed, suddenly opened his eyes. Upon noticing someone, he instinctively sat up in the bed and punched Elion in the face.
Crack!
"What the hell?" Elion, caught off guard, staggered back from the terrible blow and shouted angrily.
John, on the other hand, before he could attack Elion again, felt a sudden pressure under his feet and fell face-first to the floor.
John immediately realized that something was wrong.
When he looked down, he realized that Elion had used restraints to tie his feet while he was unconscious!
That bastard!
Seeing John lying on the floor, Elion showed no intention of approaching. Instead, he stepped back a few steps to distance himself while covering his left eye.
"Is this how you really repay your debts to those who help you? I spent two hours of my short life saving you, and this is all I get in return?"