Tokyo, 1994, starting with medical training

Chapter 79 Let's go to a hotel.

After giving up the idea of ​​going to the nightclub, a chill rushed in from all directions, seeping into my collar, penetrating my stockings, and piercing straight to my bone marrow.

"hiss……"

Imagawa Ori took a deep breath, took a step, gritted her teeth, and walked towards the station.

step.

Two steps.

Her gait was somewhat strange, like she was drunk, or like a toddler who had just learned to walk, her steps unsteady.

Where are you going?

Kiryu Kazusuke's voice rang out from behind.

"Station, home."

But Imagawa Ori's voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of her throat, with a distinctly unclear quality.

"Senior, it's 1.5 kilometers from here to the station."

"At your current pace, it will take about 30 minutes to walk. With wind resistance and snow accumulation, the actual energy expenditure is three times that of usual."

"Your core body temperature is currently around 34 degrees Celsius."

"By the time you get halfway to the station, your body temperature will drop below 32 degrees Celsius."

Kazusuke Kiryu crossed his arms, speaking calmly and coldly, as if he were reporting a case at a morning meeting.

He didn't finish what he was saying.

Imagawa Ori was, after all, a specialist in medicine. Although her mind was dull, she still had basic knowledge of pathology.

Sure enough, she stopped after hearing the warning.

He was right.

Even though the distance to the station is only two or three kilometers, she can't walk it anymore.

Many people mistakenly believe that exercising in this situation will warm them up and that they will be fine.

But that won't work in this situation.

The intense cold forces the body to generate heat through violent shivering, which rapidly depletes glycogen in muscles and the liver at several times the normal rate.

If you have to walk, that would be adding insult to injury.

When glycogen is depleted, the trembling will stop.

At this point, the body can no longer generate heat on its own, while the cold air outside continues to steal away heat.

The gap between supply and demand cannot be filled, and the core temperature begins to drop sharply.

Next, the hypothalamus's thermoregulatory center will completely fail.

The peripheral blood vessels, which normally constrict to conserve heat, will suddenly dilate due to paralysis, and the hot blood that was originally accumulated deep in the core will rush to the limbs.

At that time, she didn't feel cold; on the contrary, she felt hot.

It's hot.

It's so hot I want to take my clothes off.

This is the famous "abnormal undressing" phenomenon in forensic medicine.

Finally, the cold blood flows back to the heart, triggering ventricular fibrillation, and ultimately cardiac arrest.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, tomorrow morning's headline will be "A female doctor from a well-known university hospital allegedly froze to death while running naked in the street due to excessive work pressure."

This is so embarrassing.

Even death shouldn't be like this.

Even if I'm going to die, I want to die on a bed covered in banknotes, not like a madman stripping naked and dying in a snowdrift by the roadside.

"Then you'll give me your coat?"

Imagawa Ori turned around and glanced at Kiryu Kazusuke's thick woolen overcoat.

Even though his coat was a simple style, it looked very warm.

If this were a scene from a TV drama, the male lead would elegantly take off his coat, drape it over the female lead, and then give her a princess carry.

At the very least, as a junior doctor, seeing your superior so cold, shouldn't you offer your coat as a sign of loyalty?

If he gives me his clothes, I think I can manage this short distance... right?

However, Kazusuke Kiryu shook his head.

"Impossible."

"Imagawa-senpai, this is reality, not the soap opera you watch on TV."

"The current outdoor temperature is at least minus five degrees Celsius, and the wind force is level six."

"I'll give you the clothes, but I'll also suffer from hypothermia in 15 minutes."

"Moreover, what you need now is active rewarming, an external heat source, while my coat, although it can keep you warm, does not generate heat."

He not only showed no intention of taking off his clothes, but even pulled the zipper up his collar until it covered his chin.

In this kind of weather, the rate at which hypothermia worsens is exponential.

Giving clothes to someone whose core body temperature has dropped will not stop her from losing more body temperature; instead, it will put yourself in a desperate situation as well.

This is basic common sense in emergency medicine.

But Imagawa Ori's remaining rationality told her that Kiryu Kazusuke was right.

Even so, she still felt that this man was a complete scoundrel with absolutely no gentlemanly manners.

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Imagawa Ori gritted her teeth, which were still uncontrollably chattering due to the cold.

To call an ambulance, you have to use a landline or a public phone, but the only place around here where you can make a call is the grocery store we just visited.

When she turned her head to look over again...

The grocery store's shutter door was pulled all the way down, with only the vending machine at the entrance emitting a faint light.

Clearly, the shop owner couldn't stand the awful weather either, so he closed the shop and went home.

"Let's go get a room."

Kazusuke Kiryu stretched out his hand and pointed to the opposite side of the road.

Imagawa Ori looked in the direction he was pointing.

Amidst the wind and snow, a pink neon sign is flashing.

Although the words were illegible due to the heavy snow, the iconic heart pattern held a profound meaning in the conservative Gunma Prefecture.

Lover's Hotel.

Where to go?

With Kazusuke Kiryu?

He wouldn't mean that, would he?

"Oh."

Imagawa Ori's lips twitched slightly; it was a cold smile she managed to squeeze out under the combined pressure of extreme cold and utter absurdity.

"Kiryu Kazusuke, is this your purpose?"

"They watched me make a fool of myself in the snow, and then made this request when I was about to collapse."

"You really are scheming."

Imagawa Ori's voice was broken and intermittent, each word sounding like it contained shards of ice.

She finally understood why the resident doctor hadn't left and why he had been watching from the sidelines.

So that's the opportunity they were waiting for.

That's despicable.

He used this method to coerce the female doctor in charge to satisfy his despicable desires.

Kiryu Kazusuke laughed, amused by her words.

"Imagawa-senpai, have you gone mad from the cold?"

"Didn't I tell you that taxis wouldn't stop in this kind of weather?"

"Did I tell you to find somewhere to shelter from the snowstorm?"

Did I warn you that you would suffer from hypothermia?

"Didn't you say yourself that you're a specialist in medicine and that this little bit of snow won't kill anyone?"

"You haven't forgotten these words so quickly, have you?"

He crossed his arms, spoke with an air of self-righteousness, and gave me a look as if I were an idiot.

Imagawa Ori was stunned.

Memories are like rewinding a tape, playing back rapidly in my mind.

Yes.

About half an hour ago.

Back then, the snow wasn't this heavy, and the wind wasn't this biting.

Kiryu Kazusuke did indeed pull her aside, did indeed advise her to hide in the tobacco shop, and did indeed warn her not to stand there like an idiot on the roadside.

At that time, all I could think about was the two large suitcases filled with cash that the manager had mentioned.

What's a little snow and wind?

Kiryu Kazusuke did remind her at that time.

But he not only ignored it, but also used his status as a specialist doctor to pressure him, saying that he was meddling in other people's business.

Imagawa Ori opened her mouth.

She wanted to argue, but found that she couldn't find any reason to do so.

His current sorry state is entirely his own fault.

We are in the wrong.

Speechless.

The shame of being reprimanded in front of a junior doctor made her cheeks feel a burning sting, more painful than if ice and snow had scraped across them.

(End of this chapter)