Fernand was conflicted.
He didn't care about the lithotripsy that exposed his private position to everyone more than a month ago. It's already big, not embarrassing, and it's like a stone in the bladder, a symbol of absolute hardness. But what hangs on her chest now is a pair of soft and drooping fat, which will ruin a lifetime of fame.
The more he thought about it, the more tormented he became.
On the one hand, facing the open environment of the hospital, he extremely did not want to be hospitalized due to personal privacy. On the other hand, he asked many surgeons and found that only Kawei could perform double mastectomy with a small incision. The postoperative scar was very small, and he had to choose the surgical theater of the Municipal General Hospital.
Fernand put on his pants and stood by the stove, warming himself over the charcoal fire. He hesitated for a long time. Finally, he looked at his unsatisfactory body and sighed, and asked, "Doctor Carvey, can you perform surgery as soon as possible?"
"Since it is highly suspected to be a tumor, we will definitely perform surgery as soon as possible." Kawei was washing his hands next door. "Because there is only one surgical theater in the hospital, it has to be scheduled. The specific time will not be known until I go back to see it."
"Schedule..." Fernan suddenly had some ideas, "By the way, if the time is changed to midnight, will no one watch it?"
Kawei wiped his hands and walked out of the bathroom: "I don't have the final say on this matter alone. The hospital's income also has to be considered. If you can convince the director, I personally don't care."
"Haha, let's forget it then."
"I just checked the schedule at the hospital. If nothing goes wrong, the operation will have to wait until the afternoon of three days later, on May 2." Kawei said, "No matter how fast it is, unless something goes wrong with other surgeries."
"All right."
Fernand was very dissatisfied with the result, but among all the bad news there was finally one piece of good news: "If the left one can be successfully removed, can the right one be kept?"
"After opening it and looking at it, if I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it, I won't touch it."
Kawei had just had an examination and found that there was a hard lump in Fernan's right gallbladder, which was also very swollen. The left side was fairly normal in size and should not have been invaded. But the doctor has always been reserved in his words: "I can only say this much. No one can guarantee what will happen during the operation." [1]
"If I can keep it, it won't have any impact on my personal life."
"It shouldn't have any impact."
Fernan took the hot tea from Kawei and took two sips: "So can the small incisions on both sides of the breasts really be completely invisible?"
Kawei explained: "I can only ensure that the incision is small enough. As for whether you can see the scar, it depends on your own body."
"How much does the surgery cost?"
"Same as the previous lithotripsy, you only need to pay for hospitalization. Since you don't plan to be hospitalized, you don't need to spend money. Anyway, the theater can make a lot of money." Kawei sat at his desk and turned out something in his hand. He received the letter from Liszt, but he was still asking Fernand, "Where is your wife? This is not a minor operation. It is best to have her accompany you."
Fernan shook his head: "She doesn't understand anything. She will only get in the way when she comes. It's better for me to be alone."
"What should I do when I get home?"
"Just put me in the carriage."
Kawei has seen many patients since he came here, and this is the first time he has seen a man who does not need his wife to take care of him: "Okay, then the operation is decided. Since your wife is not here, and you have to undergo anesthesia, what about the operation?" Any problem that arises is my own choice.”
"You are a professional, there must be no problem..."
Taking into account the special request of not being hospitalized, Kawei left his address and asked him to move less and take good care of himself to wait for the notification of surgery.
After seeing off Fernand that night, and after reading Liszt's letter [2], Kavi went to bed early. He got up early the next day and took a carriage directly back to the hospital.
The surgery schedule is in Ignatz's office. In the column on the afternoon of May 2, Kawei wrote Fernand's surgery "Right Gao Ball Mass Removal + Bilateral Mastectomy": "Teacher, I need it in the afternoon in three days. We don't have surgery."
Ignatz was organizing his surgery box and replied: "If it's not written, it's empty."
"Well, let's set that day." Cavell omitted the patient's name and bed number, only wrote down his name as the surgeon, and then asked, "Does the teacher have an operation that day? If not, you can come and visit. "
"Hmm? What are you visiting?"
Ignatz thought it was another ordinary cesarean section and was not interested, but when he looked up again, his eyes suddenly lit up, "Gao pill...bilateral mastectomy? Where did you get it?" patient?"
"Fernand, who had lithotripsy last time, is tentatively diagnosed with high-ball tumors and bilateral breast hyperplasia, so he has to move two positions in a row." The operation is not difficult, and Kawei is not stressed. "Actually, I still want to Let’s take a look at his liver, but his physical condition doesn’t allow it, so we can only temporarily deal with these two areas. We’ll see how his body recovers after the operation.”
"Oh, it turns out it's him..."
Ignatz was very interested in the operation and the patient, but he kept his hands on it and seemed to be in a hurry to get out.
"Teacher is going to have an operation?" Kawei glanced at Ignatz, "It's Heman and Damirgang's surgery this morning. Teacher is going to have an operation in the afternoon."
Ignatz was wearing a more formal black coat, not the flashy clothes he usually wears for surgeries. Although there was a box of dissection instruments at hand, the cane and white cotton gloves were always placed by the table: "Yes, it's an afternoon operation."
He stood up, picked up his beloved high hat, straightened his appearance in the mirror, and said: "Muzier came to me specially last night and told me to go to the police station this morning. They encountered a problem. .”
Medicine and forensic medicine both study people, and they have certain similarities to some extent. In particular, there is not much difference between a surgeon like Ignatz, who often dissects dead bodies, and a forensic doctor who develops more slowly.
Usually he would discuss some operations or homicide cases with Musil in private, but this time he accepted a formal invitation from an old friend.
Out of curiosity, Kawei also got on the carriage to the police station: "I won't go to class. I have medical Latin and anatomy in the morning, and I am exempt from taking them."
"In this way..." Ignatz took out his pipe from his pocket, lit it and held it in his mouth, "This matter has even alarmed King Franz. It doesn't matter if you go, there are many All my old acquaintances are here, so you might as well give me some advice."
"Old acquaintance?"
The carriage stopped at the door of the police station. As soon as they opened the door, they ran into Werther and Musil walking towards them. The two people hurriedly got out of the carriage, were dragged into the police station's special carriage, and then drove all the way to the outskirts of the city.
"Why did you bring him too?" Werther was a little surprised, "This is not something a child should mess with."
"He's also a surgeon."
"But he's only 17."
"He is exempt from taking anatomy, and his strength is by no means worse than mine."
"But he's still too young."
Ignatz sighed: "He is also the attending military doctor specially appointed by the Ministry of Military Affairs. This reason is sufficient."
"This... forget it, never mind, I'm going to help anyway."
Werther looked at Kawei and could only nod his head without saying anything else. But with the sound of horse hooves and wheels outside the window, Kawei vaguely heard him mutter: "The empire wants to send even a child to the front line..."
During the discussion between Ignatz and Musil, Kawei learned the ins and outs of the matter.
The destination of the carriage was a manor in the southwest suburbs of Vienna. The owner was Ludwig von Benedek, the commander of the Italian Austrian Army. If nothing unexpected happens, he will receive a promotion order from the king in the next half month and become field marshal, leading the northern front against Prussia.
2k
But before he was promoted, he ran into some trouble.
"Three days ago, the manor housekeeper received a letter, which said some unknown things. Then that night, a piece of pink and white frozen meat was stuffed into the gate of the manor." Musil said, "The housekeeper just started The servant didn't think anything was wrong and thought someone was playing a prank, but then a second letter was stuffed into the mailbox."
"What did you write?"
"[How does the Marshal's son's leg meat taste?], [What cooking method did you use?], [If it's not enough, don't worry, it'll take a few days]...messages like this," Witte said, " That person’s expressive ability was very poor and his language was fragmented.”
After listening to the general idea, Kawei basically guessed something: "So the marshal's son did not appear."
Werther stretched and said, "Otherwise we wouldn't have to rush to their house early in the morning."
"I think it was the Prussians who did it." Musil said confidently, "I'm afraid they just wanted to use this thing to destroy the old marshal's determination to fight."
Kawei only met the marshal at a mobilization meeting and did not recognize him. He doesn't care who becomes the marshal, or whether this incident will affect the outcome of the war. Anyway, Austria will lose sooner or later: "Why are we going to the manor?"
Musil solemnly said: "Go and tell whether that piece of meat belongs to the marshal's son."
...
An hour and a half later, the speeding carriage passed through the large iron gate and entered the manor.
This place is much larger than the mansion in Vienna, and even Laszlo's manor is less than 1/3 of it. Not only do the woods on both sides belong to the marshal, but most of the towns they just passed through are also the marshal's property.
It's just that now the entire manor is enveloped in a very depressing atmosphere. There is no smile on the faces of the housekeeper, servants, guests, and the marshal himself.
There were already many people in the huge living room, and Kavi knew several of them, including Waterman, Orji, Corigo, and "old friend" Mick, whom he hadn't seen for many days.
Ever since the [Baron Hereditary Order] was obtained, Kawei has been avoiding Mick. Even on the day Li Ben was discharged from the hospital, he, the attending doctor, did not show up. Now that they have encountered each other, Kawei certainly wants to hide.
Mick was still wearing his favorite black suit and carrying a cane.
When these people from the police station entered the living room, he saw Kawei. However, Mick did not rush to find him, but nodded to Ignatz first. After the polite words were finished, he took Kawei to the corner to talk: "Why are you here too."
"It's my turn to ask you this, right?" Kawei looked innocent.
"I'm here to help."
"Me too. I'm a military doctor. You should have known that early on."
"This matter is considered a military and political secret. You shouldn't get involved." Mick said seriously.
"Confidential?" Carvey smiled, pointed to Charles who was chatting with Waterman not far away, and said, "If I remember correctly, although Dr. Charles has superb medical skills, he is a Royal Dentist of the United Kingdom. British."
Mick was only here to assist in the investigation, and the whole matter was not under his control, so he could only shake his head when he heard this: "Oh."
"I'm afraid in a few days there will be reports in the British newspapers [that the son of the Austrian Marshal was killed...]" Kawei made a very subtle gesture of wiping his neck, "..."
Mick looked like he couldn't help his teammates, so he could only try to avoid the topic: "By the way, why can't I find you when I go to the hospital recently? You must have forgotten the agreement you made with me."
"I'm in medical school."
"Nonsense, of course I know you are in medical school. If I can find you in medical school, why would I go to the hospital?"
"Uh, what about..." Kawei shrugged and spread his hands, looking particularly helpless, "Then I should be at the pharmaceutical factory. After all, it just opened. I have to go see more and collect more goods for the surgery. .”
Mick didn't want to hear these excuses, and what he asked for was information. Kawei continued to pretend to be confused, don't ask, you just don't know if you ask.
The two quarreled with each other for a while, and finally dragged the butler into the scene: "You should have heard what happened. Thank you all for coming to the manor to help out of your busy schedule. Now I will take you to see the piece of meat. .....”
The old housekeeper has been under tremendous pressure for the past three days and is on the verge of mental collapse. His mouth couldn't face the word directly, so he could only force himself to skip it and finish what he said next: "That thing... is stored in the ice cellar in the basement. Everyone, follow me."
[The meat] was stored in a huge block of ice, and when Kawi first saw it, he thought it was the wrong color.
Ordinary meat will have some blood color no matter what animal it comes from, but this piece is like white jade, without any blood color.
I thought that the ice would confuse my vision, but the other party made the piece of meat too clean. No matter from the perspective of skin, bones or hair, it was definitely human flesh.
"Old housekeeper, it is indeed human flesh. I think all the doctors present also think so."
Waterman expressed his opinion directly, and was quickly agreed by everyone: "The cut here should be the root of the thigh [3]. There is a thick femur. The distribution of muscles can be seen through the fascia. You can also see femoral artery and vein. Unless he is a skilled surgeon, the owner of the meat must be dead."
"I think it's time for all the police in the city to go out and search."
"It's better to find the body first."
Everyone was talking about their opinions. The housekeeper was mentally prepared, but when he heard these words, his head was buzzing. He couldn't make up his mind for a while, and just wanted to report the results to the master as soon as possible.
But just as he was about to go up the stairs, a maid came into the basement carrying a simply wrapped brown paper bag.
"Mr. Butler...this, this was just delivered by the postman."
