"You look a bit silly."
Joseph laughed as he watched me with a kettle stuck in one nostril, my head tilted to the side.
"Not just a bit, very silly."
Alfred joined in.
Those bastards.
Why am I even doing this...
"Tsk."
Even the patient chimed in.
Shouldn't you be on my side?
What?
I even brought the tools for you, didn't I?
Literally, I'm your lifesaver, and you're laughing just because I stuck a kettle spout in your nose?
"Ugh."
What made it worse was that I couldn't even speak in this situation.
I was pouring water into my nose, what else could I do?
Besides, the nose and mouth are connected, so now water was pouring out of my mouth.
"Hahahaha!"
"What is this!"
"Hahaha!"
The three of them, seeing this, burst into laughter in unison.
Those damn bastards...
This is such a good treatment...
My ENT colleague said so.
He said that if people did this, half of the sinusitis patients would disappear.
"Sigh."
The good thing was that I was only demonstrating.
I didn't actually pour the water properly, so my show ended quickly.
"If you do this... Ugh."
Even so, the water left in the sinuses kept flowing into my mouth for a while.
Because of that, my speech kept getting interrupted.
"Hahaha!"
Every time, they burst out laughing.
I thought I'd make them all do it later.
Anyway, I managed to finish my explanation.
"This helps to drain the pus from your sinuses more effectively. Since your condition seems quite serious right now... let's do this twice a day."
"Ah... What? You're joking, right?"
The patient chuckled and waved his hand.
I wanted to smack him.
But I couldn't actually hit him...
"Hold him down."
"Huh? Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Didn't you come up with anesthesia thinking of the patient's pain?"
"Not all treatments can be that peaceful."
So I had the two of them tie the patient down.
Then I stuck the kettle spout into his nose.
"Saline solution works best... but if the concentration is too high, it could damage the mucous membrane, so let's do it like this until I find the optimal concentration."
"Huh? Huh? P-please, spare me."
"I'm not trying to kill you, I'm trying to treat you."
"What kind of treatment is this? Where in the world does this exist?"
"If you were such a sensible person, why did you stay quiet while your head was bleeding?"
"..."
The patient, seemingly at a loss for words, closed his mouth while one nostril was stretched by the kettle spout.
Yeah, that's right.
That's how it should be.
"Now, tilt your head like this."
"The water's going in, hold your breath."
"Don't talk. Just keep your mouth open. The water's going in now."
I poured the water into the patient's nose as he stayed quiet.
"Ugh."
"Ugh."
As I poured, I realized why doctors don't do this.
It looks a bit...
Doesn't it feel like the water knows the answer?
I'm clearly treating him, but it looks like I'm torturing him.
"This is..."
"Is this even okay?"
Even Joseph and Alfred, who had lived through barbaric times, were frowning.
Ugh.
What kind of reaction is this?
But it was fine.
'You bastards.
You've actually caused harm. This might look bad, but it's actually a great treatment.'
I had no shame looking up at the sky.
Splash.
As proof, the water coming out of the patient's mouth was murky.
Yellow pus was flowing out.
No, not pus, but hardened mucus.
It was coming out in chunks.
"Ugh."
After some time passed, and the kettle was empty, I asked the patient when no more water was coming out of his mouth.
"How do you feel?"
"Much better. My nose stings a bit... Achoo. But... uh... my head feels lighter..."
"It's better."
"Good."
I turned around with a look that said, 'What do you think now, you bastards?'
Unsurprisingly, Joseph and Alfred looked quite impressed.
Without even drawing blood, his headache was better.
This was truly evidence that directly contradicted the outdated humoral theory that still persisted.
I was about to open my mouth to say something.
But they spoke first.
"So it wasn't blood, but pus that needed to be drained."
"As expected..."
"There was a lot of something causing the pain."
Are these guys idiots...
Damn.
I can't help but curse, seriously.
Why are they so obsessed with draining something...
Huh?
That's not how this disease works, headaches aren't usually caused by that!
'Tension headaches, migraines, cluster headaches... What's there to drain?'
Now that I think about it, how do you treat headaches again?
Ah.
Right.
Medication.
'Should I start digging up some willow trees?'
I know aspirin is made from willow trees, but...
'The problem is I don't know how to make it.'
While I was lost in these thoughts, saving humanity and all, the two quacks were still going on about Hippocrates and humoral theory.
It was maddening, but at least the patient was somewhat satisfied.
With this treatment, it was clear that the patient would improve without any invasive procedures.
"Thank you. Really, thank you."
"You're welcome. Now, you can do this at home, but there are some precautions."
Of course, there were conditions.
Only if the treatment was continued properly would it be effective.
Besides, in this situation, even consistent treatment might not work.
For example, what if you poured water straight from the Thames River?
'Ugh...'
Just the thought...
I shook my head and continued.
"You have to boil the water before using it. You can't just use it as is. It has to be clean water. Understand?"
"Ah, yes. But..."
"No, even so."
"It's a bit far to get water at my place."
"Yes, yes. I'll do my best."
It didn't seem easy.
Well, the situation in London's slums was hellish, wasn't it?
Boil water?
Boil...?
You need water and fire, but do they even have that?
He said he'd try, but I couldn't take his word for it.
"Dr. Pyeong."
Anyway, a few days after sending the patient off, Zemel came to see me.
He seemed agitated, but there were too many things to guess why.
"Yes, Dr. Zemel."
I turned around and answered.
'Hoho.'
Now that Dr. Liston is here, what can you do?
No matter how much you rant, it's useless.
"You...
Why are patients coming to you?"
Zemel asked, his cheeks trembling.
I nodded quietly and rolled my head.
Patients are coming to me...
'First of all, he doesn't seem to know that I revived a patient he killed.'
Well, that's natural.
Even if I were the patient, I wouldn't go to the doctor who gave me that nightmare.
It's strange to even go near the hospital.
Anyway, that wasn't the reason, so I could be a bit more confident.
"Well?"
"Answer properly. Why are headache patients coming to you instead of me!"
"That's...
I really don't know."
"You're really going to play dumb......."
"Wait, Dr. Zemel."
""
I maintained my silence, and Zemel got angry.
It wasn't an overreaction.
Normally, when someone plays dumb, it's frustrating.
Of course, admitting it would make him even angrier, so I just kept silent.
Besides, I had something to rely on, and that something just stepped forward.
"Why, why are you doing this?"
"What did my brother do to you?"
"Brother?"
"Oh, didn't you hear? Dr. Pyeong is my sworn brother."
"No... There's the professor's honor! How could..."
"Are you trying to argue about honor?"
Let me remind you, the 19th century, the 1800s, was a time when science and barbarism were mixed.
It's no wonder Lovecraft wrote the Cthulhu Mythos.
He must have been influenced.
Probably not in a good way.
Anyway, Dr. Liston pretended to adjust his gloves.
Isn't throwing them at someone's face a challenge to a duel?
Some traditional nobles supported this, so Zemel quickly stepped back.
"No, why are you doing this all of a sudden!"
"Do you think it's gentlemanly to act like this without even hearing the whole story?"
It was quite brave of him to act like this in front of Dr. Liston.
Huh?
"Let's go. I'll ask."
"Fine."
Zemel had no choice but to step back.
Before leaving, he gave me a look that said he'd deal with me later, but what could I do?
Blundell was already on my side.
Besides, Liston is here, right?
"What happened?"
Anyway, I had to answer Liston's question.
A very proper answer.
After explaining the situation, he laughed as expected.
"
So Zemel, that quack, thought the patient was dead and buried him, but you revived him, is that it?"
"Yes. Brother."
"
That bastard. Hahahaha.
I thought it was completely ineffective. But draining the pus to save someone... That's a novel method.
It's worth trying......."
"I'm not a doctor yet, so I can't see outpatients."
"Don't worry about that. I'm a doctor, right? I'll take the outpatients, and you can see them."
"Ah."
Then he suggested a slightly unconventional solution.
Typical of Liston, right?
It actually worked out well.
"Shall we?"
Headaches......
It's not really my specialty, but I can't just leave them in Zemel's hands.
And leave them to Robert?
That's not an option either.
Both of them are quacks.
"Alright, let's start today."
"Yes."
"
Your license hearing will be soon. It won't take long. I don't know how you did it, but Blundell was very positive about you?"
"Yes, haha. We had some work together back then."
And so, I started seeing headache patients in Liston's outpatient clinic.
Mostly, it was a good thing.
Even if I couldn't cure them, at least I wasn't harming them.
Besides, as I expected, sinusitis was rampant in London at this time.
Almost everyone had it, really.
"Hmm... It's getting better, but it's not completely relieving, right?"
"Yes, doctor. Please fix me."
The problem was that many patients couldn't be completely cured with just nasal irrigation.
In that case, surgery would be needed...
How was it done again...
'I guess I need to practice more?'
I'll have to frequent the dissection room again.