I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel - Chapter 93
Episode 93. Too Many Reasons
Episode 93. Too Many Reasons
Mint leaned against the doll, sullenly. She’d heard it was a patient who was going to be admitted, so she didn’t really have anything to say. But to bring back a girl about Mint’s age…
It was a bit much, wasn’t it? Feeling uncomfortable didn’t need a logical reason, either.
Next time she saw the teacher she’d say it to him clearly… no, that probably wouldn’t go well. She’d have to act even more friendly, for sure.
Already morning. Time for hospital rounds. Beside me is Istina, and Amy took leave for an urgent matter, I heard.
Anyways. The only patient admitted today was Erzebet, and she was just lying there peacefully. Didn’t look uncomfortable.
“Is the hospital food alright?”
“Yes.”
“And how are you feeling?”
“I’m okay, but… when can I leave?”
It’s hard to expect any dramatic improvement in symptoms within the admission period. Wilson’s disease takes days, maybe even months, to respond to management.
“A week. Not because this disease will be cured in a week, but it’s the time we need to adjust your diet and see how the medication works.”
“Ah, will the rings in my eyes disappear too?”
What is *that* about? Sometimes patients ask questions you’d never expect. Questions not found in textbooks.
Erzebet did mention it before. That she liked the golden rings around her pupils. I thought she was joking.
“I don’t know. It could take months, maybe years. If we treat it well, they’ll probably disappear within a few years.”
“Can’t you keep them?”
“Well…”
I don’t know. I kind of want to do what she wants, if possible, but is that even an option?
If this was the modern day, I’d tell her to get some contact lenses. But it doesn’t look like there are color contacts in this world. And I don’t really get why she wants to keep the golden rings anyway.
“Honestly, I’m not sure about that? How about getting some glasses? Something nice.”
Erzebet nodded.
I looked back at Istina.
“Were there any special notes about the patient yesterday?”
“No. Pulse was normal, temperature normal. I don’t think there were any special notes.”
Then that’s a relief. Though, I guess, this one isn’t the type of patient with any special issues. Not suffering from a disease that would worsen day by day.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, you have to take all your medicine! Drink lots of water.”
I wish there were a chance for a short-term symptom improvement, but the odds seemed against it. It’ll be a long fight, probably.
“Oh, one more thing.”
“Yes?”
“Do you absolutely have to return home?”
“Huh?”
Erzabet looked like she was asking what I meant.
I scratched my head a little. I mean, going back to that mansion isn’t a healthy environment, mentally or physiologically.
Wouldn’t it be better to just attend the Academy?
“If you can… how about just attending the Academy? If you have to go anyway, who knows when you might get sick if you go back, or when you might have to visit the Academy hospital again.”
“Ah. I’ll talk to my parents about it.”
“It’s up to you, of course.”
Attending the Academy would be advantageous for Erzabet becoming the head of the family or climbing the social ladder too. And it’d be easier to get treatment.
“But, why?”
“The mansion was an unhealthy environment for all three young ladies. Whether it’s symptoms from imitation, mold, contaminated rye, or lead cosmetics.”
Erzabet stared at the distant mountains.
“Getting out of an environment that could worsen the illness can be a treatment in itself.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. I hadn’t thought about having to leave the house either…”
“After much deduction, the conclusion about the duke’s mansion is clear. The mansion itself is the problem. Get out of the mansion.”
This is the final diagnosis.
“My head’s a mess.”
“Take your time to think it over. Your parents’ opinions are important too. But this is my medical judgment. Don’t go back to the manor for the time being.”
The consultation ended there.
I took Istina and left the ward. Erzebet was lying blankly on the bed, lost in thought. What will she choose?
It was a rare moment of peace. I was sitting in the lab, sipping the coffee Istina had bought. With my money, of course.
“I’m curious about something.”
“Yeah?”
“How do you respond when a patient lies?”
“Depends on the situation.”
“Like what, for example?”
“Well, there are times when you shouldn’t react. Like when a patient isn’t in their right mind due to schizophrenia or something similar, when they can’t be reasoned with. In those cases, you just kind of let it go with a ‘I see, so you think that,’ kind of thing.”
“Okay. Why, though?”
“Because if a patient can’t be persuaded, there’s no point in contradicting them and arguing. It’ll just break the bond with the patient. You have to let things go without agreeing with their delusions or misperceptions.”
“Ah, I see. But what if it’s not a mental illness, but just a stubborn patient who won’t listen?”
“Then you have to be firm.”
Istina nodded.
“Those two princesses, the first and second… if I was alone, I don’t think I would have ever imagined they were faking. I probably would have spent ages trying to figure out what was wrong with them, only to go back empty-handed.”
“That’s one way to do it. The most important thing is not to harm the patient, right? No use poking around and getting hurt by the doctor’s hands.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“The only way is to check if the patient is lying. Figuring out if a patient’s lying is, in the end, just like dealing with anyone else.”
“Is that so?”
“You prod, you contradict, you look for evidence. There isn’t some special method.”
Knowing about the illness is still important.
The reasoning process I used at the mansion might have looked like magic to an outsider. What to look for, even though it seems easy once you hear the answer.
“Why did you reveal all the lies at the very end? Was there a specific reason for that? Or just because?”
“It was fun.”
“Ah.”
“Just kidding. Two reasons. It seemed like they needed to talk about what they were hiding from each other as a family. Second, the patient’s guardian was hiding way too much.”
“Ah. The genetic disease?”
“Yeah. Third, that the patient was adopted and might have some differences – that was the most crucial information, wasn’t it? But they hid that.”
“Right. You knew just by looking, didn’t you, Professor.”
Estina sighed and fidgeted with her hair. Suddenly, serious eyes.
“When will I be able to do it like you, Professor?”
“Don’t know. You can do a lot now, Estina. Your research record’s pretty impressive.”
Don’t compare yourself to me, compare yourself to your peers or those around you. There’s no grad student with the skills or experience to even compare to Estina.
Estina gathered her things and left the lab.
Anyway. I shuffled through the stack of letters on my desk. Prince Manfred said he came to see me at the academy, a few days ago.
I must have missed them ’cause I wasn’t in the lab, so they’d have left a letter. Where would it be?
Ah, here it is. The Prince’s letter.
– It’s Manfred.
– I heard you went on a royal visit to the Serulis Duchy. Finally getting the urge to join Imperial society, are you? There are a lot of people curious about what you do.
– If you’re interested, let me know. Or tell Mint, or the Serulis family you treated.
Would the Serulis people even give me a good rating? Honestly, I don’t know.
I still have no desire to participate in Imperial society. I’m not even a noble, and I don’t have what you could call family.
If I went, they’d probably just treat me as one of the Imperial servants. I don’t know why the Prince wants to bring me.
Well… I can take a guess.
If I had to guess. Maybe it’s to brag that ‘The Empire’s top doctor is mine’?
Anyway, it doesn’t exactly make me want to go.
– Maybe it’s a bit worldly for your tastes, but it could help with attracting investment. I recommend going at least once.
Ah, I hadn’t thought of that. Never done any business myself, so I wouldn’t know. Isn’t that basically what a street peddler does?
But saying it like that, it’s hard to refuse.
– More than that. Don’t you know any alchemists? You need to find people to work with, if only through connections, right?
Ugh, just thinking about it is exhausting. I flipped through the letters more. Anything else?
– Asking for Professor’s insights.
What’s this? It was a letter from an external academic institution.
– Written by Professor Claudius.
– Question regarding the method of classifying bacteria visible under a microscope. The bacteria we’ve cultivated in our lab seem to be limited in variety.
It could be.
– I’d like to ask the professor, who’s an expert, if this is because the types of bacteria are not diverse, or if we’re cultivating them wrong.
Good question. I picked up my pen.
It’s easy when you look at it like this. There’s no end to the types of bacteria, but only a tiny fraction can be cultured without special effort. Mostly just a few types of gram-positive bacteria. There are countless bacteria that can only be cultured in specific conditions, on specific media.
From noble mtl dot com
Just write something rough and send it.
Was it Professor Claudius?
– Each bacteria prefers different culture media and environments, and there are also a wide variety of stains that make certain bacteria visible.
– You’re not doing the research wrong. But if you want to see other bacteria, it seems like you need to change the environment.
Another one solved today.
Meanwhile. In the Alchemy Department class.
Professor Wolfram stopped the lesson and threw a small piece of chalk towards a student who was slumped over. Of course, he didn’t hit him.
“Hey, wake up that student over there who’s dozing.”
Poke. An alchemy student poked the person next to him who was slumped over. The student who was thought to be dozing, fell limply sideways.
Professor Wolfram touched his forehead.
“Hey, you guys take him to the infirmary.”