Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

"It was not easy to find you."

After the rain, there were puddles among the weeds, reflecting the blurry and gloomy sky between the treetops, and endless drops of water fell casually from the top of the head.

Decay and broken are the themes here. Mosses are like natural fingers, climbing up along the cracks of the tombstones, dragging these man-made objects and the information of their owners into the mud.

Wading found the person they had been looking for all morning at the edge of the cemetery.

The back of the figure wrapped in a black doctor's gown stood in front of a group of small tombstones.

One of them was obviously newly erected, and even had a shrunken bouquet of flowers from the previous night, which had begun to yellow and fade. It was only a matter of time to blend in here.

"Not in the college or the clinic. If someone hadn't pointed the way, I would have had to look for you all day."

The man turned around, and Wading saw other things blocked on the ground, abandoned empty swaddling clothes and baby clothes. There were also some gadgets that looked like they were made with poor craftsmanship. Although the shape was average, they were polished very smoothly without burrs.

"Who is this?"

"A patient." Kraft flicked the water droplets off his clothes. His hair and shoulders were a little wet, and he had obviously been standing here for quite some time.

The priest who showed Wadin the way was a little uneasy when he mentioned this mysterious man. If he hadn't seen that the other party didn't carry any tools, he might have thought that he was here to disturb the dead.

"Your patient?" This experience was quite special. Brother Wadin had never thought that one day he would be so calm and chat with people from the medical school in the cemetery.

He swore that if the other party really had disrespectful thoughts about the bodies of the dead under the protection of the Heavenly Father, he would stop him, or at least clearly express his opposition.

This idea made his subconscious mind feel a little ridiculous. Maybe he could tell this joke to those twisted things that solidified into petrified corals in the underground lake - maybe they would laugh and come alive?

However, the professor did not seem to have such intention at present. He nodded, "Yes, my patient, we announced his death just three days ago."

"God has mercy on us." The monk drew a circle on his chest, mourning for the soul that was called back to God before having the opportunity to experience life.

He was not surprised. Looking at the small tombstones around him that were also arranged here, he knew that there were many such cases. There were even more who did not have the opportunity to get a place in the church cemetery, but were buried privately in the garden or land near the family, or even hastily abandoned and buried.

At the end of his short life, he received the last love of his parents and had a decent ending, which was considered the better one he knew.

But he didn't understand why Kraft appeared here.

After all, babies are as fragile as wheat sprouts, and some of them are destined to die prematurely for various reasons. It is a natural law.

Death is really common, and there is nothing to blame, just like no one is qualified to criticize the fate given by God. Those children with congenital defects will spend a painful life even if they survive by chance.

But since Kraft is willing to spend his rare rest day here in a daze, he must have his reasons. Usually people would want to talk at this time, and Wadin was also very curious.

"What was the cause of death?"

"Our negligence and limited conditions."

"I remember that your expertise does not seem to include fertility and children." As someone who has done background checks, Wadin has some understanding of the professions of the focus objects, "What exactly is the situation?"

"The earliest medical record of this family was later found to be traced back to the child's father. He had visited David's clinic about two months ago because of "chronic cough", which was probably when we just started to establish the medical record system."

"Thirty-five years old, an individual cotton spinning workshop operator, inhaled a lot of cotton dust and fibers in the working environment. His current wife has been married to him for nearly ten years and had no children before this pregnancy."

"Considering that there was only a common cough symptom, David opened a bottle of cough syrup and let the person go back without doing more treatment-in fact, no matter who was in charge, there was nothing better to do, but thinking about it afterwards, it was obviously a step less thought."

He recalled these things like a treasure, almost making people feel that there was an invisible book in his hand for him to read at any time.

"Aren't we talking about the child?" Wadin had the urge to ask why the other party didn't start from the Genesis, but considering that there was no need to humiliate himself in front of professionals, he held back.

"Forty-seven days ago, the mother of the child came to the clinic for treatment and said that she had a "little cough". At that time, we were rolling in the sewer, and we only had time to review the case at night, but there were too many repeated surnames, and it was impossible to save them by family when arranging them, so we couldn't connect them at all."

"Fifteen days ago, the child was born, the gestational age was thirty-six weeks, and it was said that the general condition was good, and he cried less than ordinary children, and looked very well-behaved. In addition to celebrating the smooth delivery and the safety of mother and child, they began to prepare for the full moon and invite neighbors to a party."

"Seven days ago, the child had a significant fever. The parents used traditional methods at home for two days, but the situation did not improve. Finally, he was sent to the clinic again, and this time it was in my hands."

"What disease?"

"Tuberculosis."

In all the narrations, Wadin only grasped this one word of effective information: "No, isn't tuberculosis a chronic disease? And how can a newborn child have tuberculosis?"

"In the cotton spinning industry, a large amount of cotton dust fibers are inhaled every day, which is a high-risk factor for lung disease. Later it was proved that the child's parents were tuberculosis patients. It is impossible to trace who infected each other or whether they were infected outside the family."

"They have been married for nearly ten years and have no children before. After questioning, there are even two or three unexplained miscarriages." The seemingly unrelated clues were connected in series, "Reproductive system tuberculosis, manifested as difficulty in pregnancy and repeated miscarriage history."

"Due to the special physical condition during pregnancy, tuberculosis manifestations are often not typical, and there may be no symptoms or mild symptoms. , such as a small cough. "

"Then the disease spreads along the placenta and umbilical cord blood vessels, skipping the step of slowly eroding from the lungs and directly entering the blood. The first stop is to form granuloma lesions in the liver, which return to the heart through the hepatic vein and inferior vena cava, and enter the lungs from the heart, going through the entire circulation and entering the course of disseminated tuberculosis, which usually occurs two to three weeks after birth. "

"When it came to me, it was already the last step, with fever, shortness of breath, drowsiness and dullness, and patches of lesions in the liver, lungs and even the brain, with obvious positive pathological signs. "The professor's chest rose and fell, and it was hard to say whether it was breathing or self-calming.

Wading seemed to understand, but he probably understood the key point: after a tragedy, the more you recall it, the more you will realize how many signs have quietly passed by under your nose before.

"Even at this time, if we have targeted drugs, we can still give it a try. We can try to administer drugs according to the metabolic characteristics of infants. If that doesn't work, we can also inject them into the spinal cord to control central infection."

Kraft paced in the puddles, as if he was doing some kind of delicate puncture in his hands, using an imaginary long needle to penetrate the bone joints and penetrate into the cavity of the human body.

A whole set of ideas simulated that situation, and he couldn't help but believe that there was such a way.

"Unfortunately, we didn't." He used one sentence to summarize all the content, "So three days ago, we announced his death."

Wading didn't respond and fell silent.

It's not that he was infected by the tragedy, but that he felt that this thing seemed to be closer to some congenital diseases. Such things are at least double-digit in the row of old graves behind, and it's not new.

"Can't you treat tuberculosis?"

"I never said that. Before the real anti-tuberculosis drugs appeared, all the side door methods were just a slight delay." Kraft easily denied the most famous deed since arriving in Dunling, and reported a string of cold numbers.

"Since arriving in Dunling, there have been 327 recorded cases of artificial pneumothorax and 208 follow-up records. Only about 40% have achieved significant short-term symptom relief, 50% have received repeated infusions more than once, and 45 cases have developed complications such as excessive pneumothorax, pleurisy, pleural effusion, and atelectasis, of which five cases have been more serious or even fatal."

"Well, I wanted to consult for my friend." Wadin was a little embarrassed. Since Kraft has become a little famous in the church, everyone has a few sick relatives and friends, right?

"But this is indeed the most effective method at present."

Considering that Father Green was not present, the monk asked his own question in a low voice: "Then... will those special methods work?"

Kraft stared at him in disbelief.

"Hey, don't be like that. I'm here with good news."

"Good news?"

"Yes, because we got you the experimental site." A large envelope was handed to Kraft. On the wax seal, there was a double-winged circular pattern with a seal, and the lines of the unfolded feathers were finely visible.

"It's all over. The application for the experimental site was finally approved? I almost forgot there was such a thing."

The two moved outside the tree canopy and opened the envelope. Inside were several thick parchment papers similar to land deeds, with two seals and several signatures that they had never seen before. The official documents to the local family were attached to the letter, and the last page was enclosed... engineering drawings?

It was obvious that the place was not in Dunling or nearby, but a building built on the mountain, with multiple floors above and below the ground, as well as a set of warehouses and towers.

The most surprising thing was that in the center of the building, there was a tall space with an arch, which was a rare and distinctive structure.

"Which parts can I choose inside?" Kraft felt that the church was unlikely to give him the hall, and the warehouse next to it would be a good choice.

Wadin smiled mysteriously, "No, you don't have to choose."

"What do you mean?"

"From now on, this place belongs to you, and it will be assigned to the name of the society. Of course, you can't make it too public."

"?"

The suspicious eyes scanned Wadin from head to toe, and then scanned the carefully drawn engineering drawings up and down to make sure that he didn't misread the size or something.

If I'm not mistaken, this building property that is larger than the family castle will fall into his hands?

When receiving a windfall, people's initial reaction is definitely not ecstasy, but disbelief.

"Oh, don't look at me like that, the Heavenly Father is always generous."

It's hard to say whether the Heavenly Father is generous or not, but it's a little unbelievable that the church is so generous. No matter how rich it is, it's impossible to give it away for free. Kraft absolutely doesn't believe that there is no problem.

"Don't worry." Wadin patted the professor on the shoulder, trying to calm the suspicion of this ally who had fought together for half a month, "This document has been approved by the archbishop, and the one above Green is willing to sign it. The king can't deny your ownership even if he comes."

"Consider it as a thank you. Our work has brought great advantages to the church, including but not limited to directly announcing that the power of the Lord has quelled the evil that caused the earthquake, which made the group of people who went out to "hunt" very embarrassed. This may be the peak of the prestige of the bishops in the past thirty years."

"After all, it is a real miracle. In comparison, it makes sense for the bigwigs to approve a monastery that has been vacant for a long time."

"Monastery..." Kraft flipped through the parchment back and forth. The value of the real estate is unquestionable, but reason tells him that things can't be that simple.

"The only drawback is that the place is a bit remote. I believe you can understand that no one wants such a place to be arranged too close to them." Wadin added, "For the sake of the monastery, respected professor, are you willing to answer my little doubts?"

"Of course, I am very happy to do so." Kraft put the parchment back into the envelope and put it close to his body, "The answer is no."

"Why? You can split that monster in half and make it into a stone sculpture, but you can't deal with a disease in a mortal?"

"Destruction is always easier than construction. It only takes a few seconds to know how to kill people with a sharp weapon, but it takes more than ten years of training to learn how to remove the correct lesion without killing people, and the research behind it takes even longer."

"I often wonder if knowing more is also a curse." The professor walked slowly along the path to the outside of the cemetery, and the swollen and blackened leaves rustled under his feet.

"Including this child, if I had collected the medical history initially, I might have realized the risk of congenital tuberculosis a month before he was born, but I couldn't do anything either. In practical terms, apart from providing anxiety, there is not much difference between me and Dr. David."

"Clear cognition does not bring openness, but only the pain of realizing limited ability."

"Think about it, we saved the lives of a city, and you don't need to regret a life that is doomed to be irreversible." Wadin comforted.

"That's not how it works." Kraft shook his head, "Let God give me more time to do something else."

"If you need help, please tell us."

"That's great, I just need it." Kraft's eyes lit up, and he suddenly remembered what he envied Green the most, "Now we have a venue..."

"Does your church school have the kind of talents with good physical fitness, qualified reading and writing skills, and preferably some medical electives, but with average family backgrounds, and have not yet found employment or have difficulty in promotion within the church?"

"I am willing to give a group of people with higher than average salaries, food, drink, and accommodation, weapons and equipment, and affiliated to the Duke's organization , regular study and training, stable promotion path, high-quality counterpart positions, the only drawback is that they may need to travel frequently. "

"It is best to have some basic training in armed forces, a stable mental state, careful and courageous, and no rigid requirements in terms of faith. You must have such people, right?"

"Yes, but we generally don't introduce them to outsiders..."

"It doesn't matter. This is a subsidiary of the society that is full of faith and self-financing. I even thought of a name. Since it is mainly for the great cause of medicine and is affiliated with a medical institution, how about calling it the Knights Hospitaller?"

"Has anyone ever said that you are not good at naming?"

Two in one!o(〃'▽'〃)o