When he had set out not to stand out too much compared to the other doctors who far surpassed him in medical knowledge, Elion found himself influenced by his selfish desire to ease the pain that was certainly killing him.
Deep in his thoughts, he knew that everything he had proposed was due to the hard work of his mentors, and he always felt bad about stealing credit for all their contributions in the cases he had participated in so far.
But he didn't want to die of the same thing in this second opportunity, and if his selfishness served any purpose, it would be to save the people who came to this hospital suffering from discomfort.
Elion, whom House had assigned to run errands, quickly found the patient. He was a young male patient, but his condition was not very good at the moment.
His weakness had caused his lips to turn pale, his head to be constantly covered in cold sweat, and his once normal neck to be filled with rashes.
Even so, his girlfriend, wife, or whatever she was, still held his hand firmly by his bedside and whispered to him.
Those eyes, clear as water, were filled with tenderness.
The overwhelming sweetness in the room struck Elion hard, who had never experienced such treatment before.
Expressionless, Elion couldn't help coughing twice, interrupting their private moment.
The woman looked up when she heard the sound, and upon seeing a doctor she didn't recognize, her eyes immediately became cautious.
"Who are you?"
"I'm Dr. Whitmore, and I'm here to provide advice regarding some related medical conditions." Elion showed a genuine professional demeanor as he looked at the papers in his hands.
The woman looked at the name badge on Elion's white coat and raised an eyebrow: "Are you an intern? Be honest—those newly arrived doctors can't diagnose the true cause of the illness, can they?"
"Now they want you, an intern, to take the blame? I'll tell you this: you don't have to take the blame at all. Their incompetence is their problem; you should firmly refuse their unreasonable demands!"
"Mindy!" Brandon, the patient, spoke to stop his partner's bluntness, then looked at Elion apologetically. "I'm sorry, that's just how she is; she can't stand workplace bullying."
"Oh, I didn't mean that you were being bullied at work…"
Seeing that Brandon was about to explain, Elion shook his head and interrupted him:
"It's fine. Things aren't as she thinks. We already have the diagnostic results. But before we can begin symptomatic treatment, I need to review the cough medicine you've been taking."
Mindy asked in confusion, "A cough syrup? What's wrong with it? It's just an ordinary cough syrup."
"Do you have it with you? Let me see it."
"Wait a moment." Mindy began rummaging through her small purse and quickly took out a small brown bottle.
At that moment, there was only a small, round, yellow pill left in the little bottle.
Elion opened it and poured it into his hand. Sure enough, there were no letters on the back of the small yellow pill.
After confirming his suspicions, Elion put the pill back into the bottle and gestured to Mindy. "I need to have it tested, and I'll let you know when I have the results."
As Elion left the room, Mindy whispered to the boy, "I'll go ask about the current situation."
Then Mindy caught up to Elion's retreating figure. "Dr. Whitmore, wait a moment."
Elion stopped abruptly and asked with a gentle smile, "What is it? Do you still suspect I'm being bullied at work?"
Mindy smiled shyly, looked around, and then whispered, "I want to ask you—before he got sick, we were doing, well, you know."
Elion smiled knowingly and whispered back, "Don't worry, his illness isn't contagious.
We already ran tests for infectious diseases when he was admitted to the hospital, and the results were all negative."
Mindy explained, her face slightly flushed, "No, that's not what I want to ask. I want to know if I caused this illness. Because I was the rough one during the act—I just want to put my mind at ease."
Elion never expected that to be the question Mindy wanted to ask. Although he truly wanted to know just how rough it was, it was clear that Brandon's illness had nothing to do with such violent exercise.
"Um… don't worry, this has nothing to do with you. If we're right, he'll recover quickly."
After hearing Elion's explanation, Mindy breathed a sigh of relief. She had feared that she was the one who caused Brandon's injury, which would have made her feel guilty for the rest of her life.
"Thank you. Even though you're an intern and your conclusions might not be reliable to many people, thank you—I trust you." After saying that, Mindy returned to Brandon's room with light steps.
However, Elion was still troubled by what the experience of so-called sexual brutality was really like.
In his previous life, he had spent most of his adult life in a hospital bed, but in this life, that experience had been enjoyed by his predecessor.
Now, with his new life as Elion, some different thoughts had awakened within him.
Fortunately, the sudden headache dispelled all his concerns. With the constant threat of death hanging over him, he truly didn't have the energy to engage in an activity that was extremely physically demanding.
Because during such sexual activity, a person's pupils dilate, arteries constrict, body temperature rises, heart rate increases, and blood pressure spikes.
Moreover, breathing becomes shallow and rapid, the brain emits electrical impulses, glands release secretions, and muscle contractions are equivalent to lifting three times one's body weight.
This was a marathon for the former Elion, a disaster that would worsen his condition.
Elion sighed sadly and murmured, "Even if I die beneath a beautiful lady, I'll still be a romantic ghost."
In this world, who wouldn't want to die beneath the flowers of fertility?
Elion shook his head, banishing his erotic thoughts, and went straight to the laboratory with the "cough pills." Soon, the report proved that Elion had not misremembered the development of events.
This small brown bottle meant to treat a cough did not contain cough medicine, but medication for gout.
Elion handed the report back to House. House looked at it, then at Elion, filled with doubt.
"Does this intern really have a supercomputer in his brain? How can he accurately identify the relevant symptoms among so many diseases—without an initial trial treatment?"
Seeing that House remained silent, Foreman was the first to speak and ask:
"What's wrong? Was he wrong?"
"Do we start with alternatives?" Chase and the others had already been looking for alternatives in case Elion's diagnosis was incorrect.
"No, he's right. The patient did indeed take gout medication as a remedy for his cough. Let's treat him according to Elion's diagnosis and inject the FAB fragment.
We should see results soon."
Everyone fell silent once again; a sense of defeat lingered in their minds.