"My name is Elion Whitmore, and I have died—at least, that is what I believed."
Elion shook his head, somewhat dizzy, and slowly opened his eyes.
What appeared before him was a bright light and a scantily dressed woman kneeling at his side.
That woman looked as if she had been crying, as though something terrible had happened. And only after seeing Elion open his eyes did she frantically murmur words like, "Thank God…"
Then, she quickly gathered her things from the floor, grabbed her small bag, got dressed, and ran out of the room without looking back.
This entire scene happened in less than two minutes, leaving Eliot quite confused. What had just happened?
Just a moment ago, he had been lying on the floor in his own pool of blood, waiting for the moment his death would arrive. But after closing his eyes for only an instant, was he now in an unfamiliar room, in a condition he had not experienced for a long time?
His body felt less tired, his hands had three times the strength that cancer had taken from him, and now he seemed to breathe more fully.
Just as Eliot was reflecting on these questions, partly glad that he no longer felt dead while alive, his head began to buzz.
From one moment to the next, countless fragments of memories that were not his frantically entered his brain.
Memories that felt strange yet familiar integrated into him successfully within just a few breaths.
Soon, he realized that this was not his body, but that his name here was also Elion Whitmore.
Unlike him, this Elion was a diagnostic intern at Princeton University Hospital.
Everyone would think that being accepted into this hospital would change his life forever, with a bright future ahead of him—until he suddenly began to experience prolonged physical discomfort.
After secretly going to other, unrelated hospitals to receive a diagnosis in secret, he was unexpectedly diagnosed with an advanced-stage brain tumor.
He would die in a short time!
He did not want that!
But as a doctor, he knew it would happen regardless of what he wanted…
With little time left to live, he only wanted to enjoy life as much as possible.
That was why something as absurd as sleeping with a patient during his working hours happened.
Unfortunately, he did not imagine that the intense pleasure from the release of dopamine would stimulate blood flow to his brain.
What were originally days of life were shortened to an instant, and he died abruptly at the exact same moment Eliot did in his own reality.
At that moment, Eliot's weary soul was drawn to this place, creating a fantastical scene in which someone who was dead returned to life.
At this moment, Eliot was aware that he had awakened in a reality that was not his own, with an illness that was not his own, yet in both realities he was condemned to die.
Being aware that he would also die here, he was extremely calm.
He had already died once; he would not do it a second time under grotesque suffering.
"Maybe here…" Eliot thought about doing it himself if things became too unbearable.
"That's fucking ridiculous!" Eliot slammed the bed he was now sitting on with force.
A sharp pain shot through Eliot's hand, making him shudder in pain. In contrast, the bed returned to its stillness.
"To hell with it, whatever this is, they won't mock me…" Eliot, who had thought about it coldly, was unwilling to suffer before dying and was thinking of preparing himself to end his miserable fate.
Having also died of cancer in his previous life, Eliot understood very well the pain of forced treatment at the end of life.
It is like wanting to die and not being able to.
It would be better to do it now and end everything.
But at the moment he stepped out of his rest room in the hospital, it seemed as if something perceived his will to die.
A voice, seemingly out of nowhere, appeared in Eliot's mind, causing him to stop just as he was about to open the door.
[Saving lives is the process that binds this system to you, great savior of lives.]
[In this new opportunity, saving lives will extend your lifespan.]
…
Those sudden words in Eliot's mind made him step back, quite confused.
Saving someone could extend his life? If he still had the chance to live a second life, did he really want to die?
Moreover, as a doctor who could help others, wouldn't he be despicable if he didn't take everything in his hands and at least use it?
Thinking this, Eliot's eyes were no longer filled with death, but instead showed an indescribable spark of vitality.
He wanted to live!
Even if he no longer had anyone to live for, fate itself was telling him to save more people.
Who was he to refuse? Since he was young, his parents had taught him to help those in need, and that was exactly what he would do.
At that moment, on the other side of the door, Eliot heard voices.
"Twenty-nine-year-old woman. First epileptic seizure one month ago. Since then, she has presented severe aphasia: unable to form words, barely babbling like an infant. Her cognitive capacity is progressively deteriorating."
After those words, before Eliot stopped listening to what the two voices were discussing, one of them said:
"She has a brain tumor and doesn't have much time left to live. Well, I'm done with my diagnosis—how boring."
Upon hearing such a hasty diagnosis, Eliot, who previously had no idea about medicine, instinctively murmured, "Brain tumors are not common at this age."
The doctor who was speaking moved a bit farther away, following a man. He was a man dressed in civilian clothes, leaning on a cane, who stared fixedly at Eliot as he came out of the room.
"No wonder you're a renowned diagnostic prodigy. You're great at diagnosing—you don't need much to know what's going on."
"You're the oncologist. I just see annoying diseases."
Elion made a strange face and froze in place.
It wasn't because of the sarcastic and mocking tone of the person staring at him; rather, it was because he recognized that man's face.
"It's Gregory House…" Then, thinking of Princeton University Hospital, a brilliant idea crossed Eliot's mind!
He knew where he was: one of the most famous medical television series—Dr. House!
Realizing what reality this was, he became immediately excited. Saving someone could extend his life? He could live as long as he wanted if he wished! He had watched countless TV shows out of boredom while lying in his hospital bed, recovering from the different types of cancer that had tortured him for years, so he knew a lot about what would happen in this kind of environment!
"You there, intern—what was it that you muttered just now?" House, who had stopped when he heard Eliot's words, asked loudly and clearly, pointing his cane at him.
"Oh, I just said that brain tumors aren't common at this age… Sorry, I overheard your conversation and murmured it unconsciously." Eliot composed himself and answered Dr. House's question somewhat nervously.
The doctor who had been standing next to House, reporting on the patient's condition, assumed that Eliot was being intimidated by House and immediately intervened to calm the situation. "My judgment was similar to yours, so I had the patient undergo brain tumor cell tests."
"However, the three most common brain tumor protein markers were negative. There was no family history or environmental pathogenic factors. And she showed no response to the radiotherapy we had previously administered. Therefore, it cannot be a brain tumor."
Elion turned to look at the doctor next to House, another familiar face—a doctor named James Wilson, someone Elion knew quite well due to the importance of his friendship with House.
In the story, James Wilson is Gregory House's best friend and primary emotional support. He is a brilliant oncologist, empathetic and morally balanced, which makes him the perfect contrast to House's cynical and self-destructive personality.
His influence is crucial, as he acts as House's conscience, mediator, and human anchor, protecting him from his excesses while tolerating—though not without consequences—his behavior.
Without Wilson, House would lose the little emotional bond that keeps him connected to the world and to others.
With the insistence of his best friend and having heard that this was not an easy case, House resigned himself, looked at Wilson, and said, "Fine, you've piqued my interest. Take me to see the CT scan.
Oh, and we'll take this intern along too and see if he's as brilliant as everyone in this hospital says."
Elion's expression filled with surprise, as he did not remember being such a social person in this hospital. His only job was to help some doctors with their diagnoses and attend to people with simple cases.
This kept repeating during his stay at this hospital, but in a way, his good behavior earned him a reputation among all the patients he treated, and this reached the ears of many doctors.
At this moment, although it might seem like the perfect opportunity for Elion to stand out, it was actually the opposite, because all House wanted was to discredit that annoying fame he had earned.
But unfortunately for him, Elion remembered exactly who the patient Wilson was talking about.
Before long, House's team was assembled.
The three assistants then entered the examination room, whose curtains were drawn.
In the room, Elion stood out as he entered alongside House. Like the others, they all remained seated in silence, looking at the X-rays taken of the patient.
Once the case was presented, everyone waited to hear House's judgment to see if it was similar to theirs.
House, leaning on his cane, approached with a limp and glanced once more at the board before drawing his conclusion:
"It's a lesion."
"I thought you'd want to talk to the patient before making such a rushed diagnosis." Upon hearing House's words, his assistant, Dr. Eric Foreman, immediately felt disappointed by his boss's attitude.
"Is she a doctor?" House asked sarcastically.
"No, but—"
"I'd like to hear diagnoses only from doctors, not from patients. They lie to hide things I neither have the desire nor the time to decipher."
Everyone knew that House detested dealing with patients personally.
After a heated argument about humanity and medicine, House, noticing that Elion had not participated, looked at him and asked, "Whitmore, can you share something different with us?"
Foreman was even more dissatisfied with House's attitude.
How much practical experience could Elion, a freshly graduated intern, really have? Letting him speak would only give more weight to House's words, and that would not benefit the patient.
While training interns was something they should do, wasn't it a bit inappropriate to ask for their opinion on such a serious illness from the very beginning? Moreover, Elion would most likely favor House's attitude to gain his favor.
"I think it's fine to let him attend the meeting; that doesn't mean there's any need to take his opinion into account, right?"
The three assistants, either explicitly or implicitly, expressed that they only wanted to hear House analyze the condition.
But House remained impassive, then grew annoyed and asked, "What are you doing standing there in silence? Let me remind you of something—weren't you the one who shared a medical diagnosis without consent? Why hesitate to speak now?"
At House's prompting, Elion smiled faintly, nervous under the gazes of all the doctors. He took a step forward without flinching, pointed at the patient's CT scan, and said with confidence, "I think everyone is looking at the wrong place for the problem."