Invisible Numbers (1)

“What all did we send out from the ER?”

Yoo Jungmin, a third-year neurology resident, asked while looking at one side of the monitor.

I recited the list of orders I'd entered.

“Routine labs, and because the patient was showing abnormal tachypnea and altered consciousness, we sent acetaminophen and salicylate screening, serum ketones, serum osmolality, and ABGA to rule out toxic or metabolic causes.”

For a patient suspected of stroke, that was a pretty broad and unusual set of orders.

Even if it looked like a brain problem on the surface, we couldn't miss the systemic symptoms that show up when the body's metabolic machinery is completely wrecked.

‘Once I'd seen the Kussmaul breathing, that was the obvious move.’

“Haah... this is...”

Yoo Jungmin let out a sigh.

Lee Minjae, Yoo Jungmin, and I all held our heads and stared side by side at the station monitor...