170 – Poison

"Incoming, male, in cardiac arrest arriving to the ER," the radio over the ER signaled the response team to prepare. "40s, no prior known medical history, works in an office. Unknown cause."

Fan Geng arrived first and assisted Doctor Han in transferring the patient from the gurney to the bed. An Luchang arrived a moment later as Doctor Han was preparing the defibrillator.

"The first responder was there just in time, but we aren't sure why his heart isn't stable," said the technician.

Doctor Han, who was drenched in sweat, continued with the defibrillator, but still no response. Fan Geng took over to perform CPR, pounding his body over his fist and onto the man's heart. There was a sound of the rib fracturing, but no response from the patient.

The line flattened and a sharp beep vibrated through the room. The sound frightened Fan Geng was a moment, but was nudged aside. An Luchang quickly moved on top of the patient, not giving up the chance, they had already lost a few patients already. He pumped his fist into the chest, hoping for a different response.

"Dr. An, it's enough," Doctor Han made the decision to call the time of death.

"Dammit!" An Luchang swore under his breath and left the ER in a foul mood.

"I've never seen Dr. An like this before," the other residents gossiped. "He's usually so poised even after a patient's death."

"It's already the third case in two weeks of a patient coming in and dying while being admitted. If Dr. Li was here, it wouldn't have happened."

"Ah, you're right, it's very rare to have major complications when Dr. Li is here."

"You bitches shut up!" Fan Geng removed his eye covering and glared at the residents from his sofa. "No one can save patients from cardiac arrest if there's a potential chance of tampering."

"Tampering?"

"Don't you guys read the toxicology report for all the patients? There are unknown substances discovered in all of them."

"What? Are you suggesting that they were poisoned?"

Fan Geng wasn't the only one who had noticed the toxicology report. Chief Gao met with Chief Lim and Zhang to review whether there was a need to report their findings. Cardiac arrest was uncommon symptom of poison, but there was no guarantee that a man made substance could trigger a response.

The problem was, the toxicology was incomplete. One blood test may not be able to detect every single type of substance in the blood. A blood test checked for the basic component of blood, basic metabolic panel, and complete metabolic panel. It provided a snapshot of what was in the blood, but it could not tell everything that was in it. Unless someone knew what they were looking for, blood results could come back normal.

"How certain are we that there is foul play?" Asked Chief Zhang. "Do we know what type of poison was used?"

"We are not sure," said Chief Gao. "We only have the complete report from the most recent case. The other two were cremated, so we aren't even sure."

"Then why do you think it may be connected?" Asked Chief Zhang.

"An Luchang thought the victims may all had similar habits," said Chief Gao.

"Oh? Meaning?"

"They had a history of unexplained rashes," said Chief Lim. "It's likely sexually transmitted. So they may have a history of soliciting prostitutes."

"Hmm… Prostitutes and drugs often go hand in hand. An unknown drug on the street could be dangeorus. If there is something going on, we should report it to the police."

An Luchang had been waiting for three weeks for the police to respond, but he didn't want to see another victim die under his care.

"Hey, you have a moment?" Asked An Luchang after Li Yun finished his last surgery for the day.

"Hey, what's up?" Li Yun had sensed that An Luchang had been bottling up something during their surgery.

"There is this unusual case going on," An Luchang responded.

"Oh?" Li Yun asked.

“When the first patient came in, their pulse felt very unusual,” An Luchang explained the situation. “Like a drug or poison, but the toxicology report came back negative.”

Li Yun wasn’t sure whether he should be impressed that An Luchang was starting to recognize external drugs and poison from reading the pulse.

"Do you have blood samples?"

“I have the blood samples from the first patient, but we also have kept the body from the latest victim,” An Luchang had known Li Yun long enough to know that if there was anyone that could detect something odd in the blood, it would be Li Yun.

"No one came to take the body, but we have been keeping the body in the morgue for a few days." An Luchang escorted Li Yun to the morgue area.

The last time Li Yun was in the morgue, it was to test Qivi on the dead bodies. As they entered the chilled room, An Luchang pulled open the drawer. Li Yun moved close and brushed the hand with the back of his fingertips.

Li Yun curiously examined the CV system of the victim. There was certainly something odd in the blood, but it was a substance he recognized.

"It's the opiate from Shudi's underground gang," Li Yun knew as Bing Tou had similar substance in his body. 

He switched his focus to the patient's dantian. Li Yun had been reviewing in depth the differences between everyone's dantian. The particular male had very little Jing, but it was difficult to tell whether it was his state of death or if it was like this before his death.

"Luchang, you have already notified the police?" Li Yun asked.

"Yeah, but they haven't been able to find anything."

"And they won't be able to solve this one. My advice, document everything internally."

An Luchang raised his eyebrow. "You know something?"

"But not enough to solve this problem either. Do you notice anything odd lately downtown?"

An Luchang hadn't noticed anything strange, but after Li Yun’s question, he had to reconsider.

“There have been a lot of stabbings lately,” An Luchang commented. “As well as more gang activities.”

"Don't go out late," Li Yun warned, although most residents stayed in the hospital anyway.