Episode 89: Mercury. Mercury Chloride [3]
The mercury treatment lasted quite some time. In fact, even if Killian had been dipped in and pulled out after only one second, it would have felt like an eternity. Something like that… because it was a terrible thing that shouldn’t be done to a person even for a moment.
“Woah, wow. Wooweeeek!”
Should we call this a side effect? Did the bastards who soaked people in mercury really call this a side effect? Shouldn’t we just call it a predictable nightmare?
“Good, good.”
“Good, Professor.”
“It’s as expected.”
Even Jémel and his assistants, standing in a row behind him, were laughing. Since coming to this bloody era, I often thought there was no such thing as hell… but I didn’t think I had ever been as sincere as I was now. I was holding on tightly because I was afraid I would faint if I lost focus even a little.
“Okay then, it looks like he’s vomited enough, so let’s take him back to the ward.”
“Yes, Professor. I’ll move him again.”
“If it seems effective, leave it for now… We’ll do it a few more times while checking his condition.”
It was then that Killian, the strong sailor who had endured all kinds of treatment and even torture, fainted. No matter how many times he had crossed the Atlantic, he couldn’t bear the thought of going through this a few more times. Honestly, it was impressive that he endured it once. If it were me, I would already be dead.
“Utcha.”
Since there were no beds available to wheel around, the assistants loaded Killian onto something like a stretcher. Then they returned him to his hospital bed, showing off their strong forearms. Only then could I get a proper look at Killian’s face. He looked almost dead. The word “pale” seemed fitting for moments like this, but he had lost even that.
“Oh, I see you were treated well.”
“I know. Haha. Syphilis is poisonous. They say this hospital doesn’t skimp on mercury, and it’s true! Haha.”
“Someone I know is having a hard time. Maybe I should call them here.”
As Killian came back looking like a zombie, the patients started talking among themselves. Even though all of them had limbs cut off or were scheduled for amputation, in other words, they were in terrible condition, they were filled with affection. It must have been because he took the medicine I made. Of course, some still wore the Medal of Oman. Since it wasn’t a complete medicine and was an extremely primitive painkiller and anti-inflammatory drug, great results were hard to expect.
“Eww… Eww…”
Anyway, I came back after seeing my patients, doing a brief dissection in between, and listening to a lecture. Killian was awake. That meant he wasn’t dead, and his eyes were open. Once again, he was a tough man. Surely… was he the kind of man who could seduce countless women even though he had syphilis? He was unusually tough and persistent.
If you want to date a man, try being a little harsh. I don’t like it when it’s pointless.
I remembered the advice a senior once gave me when I was nearly a motherfucker.
“Are you okay?”
Of course, I wasn’t particularly interested in foreign men, so I focused on taking care of patients. It wasn’t that I wasn’t, but Killian’s appearance was so terrible that even a cold-blooded person would feel sympathy.
“It’s okay… Are you okay?”
“Yes, I don’t think so.”
Killian suddenly got angry at me. That was unacceptable. How could he be mad at Dr. Liston? What would he do if they told him to cut off his hands and feet when it was obvious he had syphilis? It was a scary story, but it wasn’t unheard of. We lived in an age when no one knew about incubation periods, outbreaks, or blood tests. Doctors focused only on visible symptoms. As a result, many wanted to directly remove lesions that looked like papules.
Doesn’t that sound common? People like Liston, who cut with the patient in mind, were noble. Others cut out of curiosity.
“Yes, well. I don’t look okay. But did you hear? I might have to go through the treatment I had today a few more times.”
“Rather… kill me…”
Anyway, I continued speaking with a generous heart. Then Killian reached out his bound hands toward mine and began begging. It was useless. They were tied so tightly not even a gorilla could escape. In fact, if I received the treatment he had today, I would stretch out like an elephant, not a gorilla. How dare they submerge a person in mercury?
Something like that. Some hospitals apparently released mercury vapor like a sauna. How effective would that be? I’m jealous… The director won’t give permission.
What Jémel said to me was truly shocking. If you looked closely, it seemed these bastards didn’t care about saving people, only about killing them in shocking ways.
I just want to die now.
Killian’s words pulled me into a very old memory. This happened when I was a resident. A patient who postponed surgery to attend his child’s wedding missed his chance. I tried every treatment, but timing was the most important thing in all treatments. Especially cancer. The professor and I… in the end, we lost the patient. Before that, he lost the will to live and his mind.
“To die. I will try anything.”
I decided then: even if the treatment seemed excessive, if necessary, try it. If it was extreme and insane like this, exceptions applied, but anyway.
“Don’t do it… please don’t…”
Killian, unaware of my true feelings, waved his hands. My heart ached as his hands, tied to the bed railings, moved back and forth. Considering what happened today, this wasn’t unreasonable. No, cooperating with the treatment would have been the problem.
It would mean you’re crazy.
“I’m glad.”
“No, thank goodness… Help me… No, kill me…”
Thinking he wasn’t crazy, I tapped a one-centimeter patch of Killian’s body still free of feces and vomit.
“Hi.”
Killian crouched as if that wasn’t a good sign.
The next treatment will be decided in three days.
Looking at Killian, I remembered Jémel’s words from earlier.
Three days.
Jémel had spoken casually, but to me, it felt like a time-limited sentence. From my perspective, it was a miracle Killian hadn’t died today.
“See you later.”
“Don’t do it… Don’t do anything, please…”
I left Killian’s desperate pleas behind and went out.
“Is it better? How can he give that precious mercury to a man like that? The real Dr. Jémel is a true doctor.”
The person who greeted me was a completely nineteenth-century doctor. Before that, he was also my close friend, Joseph… I tapped his shoulder without expecting a response.
“Let’s go see our senior first, then come back here.”
“Huh? Why don’t you go home and rest?”
“Killian… if we leave him like this, he’ll die.”
“Syphilis usually kills.”
“No… it’s not like that.”
These bastards. You look like killers, as always. I barely held back my last words and got into the carriage. Fortunately, Joseph was always obedient to me, and after what happened yesterday, even more so, so I didn’t have to say anything else.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yes, everything’s okay, right?”
“Yes, if anything had happened, I would have sent a message.”
“I’ll see him.”
As soon as I arrived at my senior’s house, I ran to my room. Alfred was there.
It seems like nothing much is happening… which means nothing more or less than that.
Even in the twenty-first century, guardian statements were only for reference. Detailed symptom descriptions helped, but decisions were for the medical staff. In the nineteenth century, when higher education wasn’t common, even the existence of such a thing was doubtful. It was a shame, to say the least.
“Hmm…”
I started by checking his pulse. I kept thinking how nice it would be to have a blood pressure monitor. I had heard there was a way to measure it, but it seemed like it would never be commercialized. To measure blood pressure, you had to insert a needle into an artery, not a vein. We had arterial blood pressure monitors, but their use was limited to critically ill patients.
In the grand scheme of things, even if he’s weaker than me… I don’t think it’s that low.
Thanks to this, the blood pressure I measured was just a guess. Even so, I could make more accurate judgments than any other doctor of this era.
“He doesn’t have a fever… it doesn’t seem like the inflammation is getting worse…”
I felt his pulse and forehead at the same time. Since I couldn’t measure his exact temperature, it was just a guess. Then I checked his abdomen. At first glance, nothing seemed wrong. Since the stitching thread wasn’t medical grade, there was some redness around it, but I thought this level of local inflammation was manageable. No, it shouldn’t be like that… I ignored it because there was no alternative.
“Huh…”
“Are you coming to?”
“Uh… my mind is fine.”
“It doesn’t look okay… anyway, how’s your stomach?”
As I looked at my senior, he suddenly opened his eyes, moaned, and spoke. His face was honestly a mess. He couldn’t eat, so I had no choice. But I was worried because I couldn’t just inject fluids. From needles to tubes to IV fluids, there was nothing I could trust.
Unless he’s dying… let’s not do that.
I felt I shouldn’t intervene unless he was as bad as the person dug out of a grave. The good news was that my senior had appendicitis. If it had been another disease, recovery would take forever, but this would only take a few days.
“I’m going to press here a little. Just a little, so don’t start making a fuss.”
“Ugh.”
“How is it?”
“Hmm… a little painful.”
“Good. The progress is good.”
“Uh… thank you.”
“Thank you? It’s natural for a doctor to treat a patient.”
“Still, thank you for saving my life. If it weren’t for you, I would have died twice already.”
“I don’t know yet, so let’s wait a week and talk again.”
“Ugh.”
I spoke defensively, but honestly, I didn’t expect anything special. Who would after surgery?
Maybe I’m a real genius…
With my shoulders raised, I started wandering the house looking for the pieces of bread I had hidden. The plan was to see if bacteria growing on agar would die, then select the effective ones and feed them to Killian one by one. If that went well, I would feed some to my senior as well. I felt a bit like I was being assimilated into the nineteenth century, but I couldn’t help it.
Great progress comes from a sense of adventure.
Thinking of words that weren’t even in any genealogy, I put the bread pieces in a colander.
Footnote 1 — Translator’s Notes
Mercury treatment — Historical syphilis treatment involving mercury exposure. It was toxic and could cause vomiting, neurological damage, and death.
Mercury vapor — Toxic vapor released from mercury. Inhalation can cause serious poisoning.
Syphilis — Sexually transmitted bacterial infection that was difficult to treat before modern antibiotics.
Incubation period — Time between infection and appearance of symptoms.
Blood test — Laboratory test using blood; modern syphilis diagnosis often relies on blood testing, which was unavailable here.
Papules — Small raised skin lesions that can appear in secondary syphilis.
Cancer timing — The narrator refers to the importance of treating cancer before it progresses beyond curative treatment.
Blood pressure monitor — Device used to measure blood pressure.
Arterial blood pressure monitoring — Direct blood pressure measurement through a needle or catheter placed in an artery.
Medical-grade thread — Sterile thread designed for safe surgical use.
Local inflammation — Inflammation limited to a small area, often around a wound or suture.
IV fluids — Fluids delivered directly into a vein for hydration or treatment.
Agar — Gel-like medium used to grow microorganisms.
Colander — Bowl-like kitchen tool with holes, used for draining food; here used to collect moldy bread pieces.