Chapter 369: Tree by the Roadside
On the night of Chinese Valentine’s, Gu Jun and Wu Siyu left behind many beautiful mories.
But the next morning, the call ca. Inside the suite, they were briefed about the latest bad news. An abnormal Tourette Syndro was affecting young girls across the country. It had an unknown transmission thod but all recorded patients so far were located around Eastern State. Thus far, there were 75 registered patients and they all called out the na, Gu Jun. On the other hand, Kedou did not show further symptoms. It was hard to tell if there was any connection. Could this be the ‘small new year present’ ant by Gu Jun’s big sister? Gu Jun boiled from anger as headache threatened to split his head. ‘Who is this big sister...?’
“Eastern State, Eastern State...” He made the connection, “Clearly soone wants to go back...” Speaking of, it had been so ti since he returned to Eastern State. Before 7 am, the duo checked out of the hotel and returned to Shen Hai Phecda Division.
“The patients were all read bedti stories before they acted up.” Inside the car, Wu Siyu was reminded of sothing, “Could they all be stories about man-eating monsters?”
“You an like the ones told by the smiling buddha?” Gu Jun groaned, resisting the headache.
“After all, it’s quite a common setting in fairy tales.” Wu Siyu gave a few examples on the spot, there were the man-eating wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, the man-eating witch in Hansel and Gretel...”I wonder if the parents read such stories to their children.” Wu Siyu’s hunch was proven correct. The investigation team discovered that most patients had listened to or read such stories one week before the surfacing of their symptoms. The pathology between that and the illness was unknown but it had to be related. The stories were probably the pathological origin.
Phecda imdiately made a statent, requesting parents to cease reading such dark stories to their children for it would affect the child’s psychological growth. Furthermore, they warned any family to visit the hospital should their child showcase symptoms of Tourette Syndro; The television studios were also banned from broadcasting cartoons with violent thes for the foreseeable future. Even though Phecda did not go into details, the public knew to pay attention to their announcents.
When Gu Jun and Wu Siyu arrived at the base, they dropped in to check on Kedou. The girl was rascally as ever, there was nothing wrong with her. But by then, the number of sick children had climbed up to over 100 and they were all girls between ages of 5 and 8.
...
At Nan Xiang City’s Third People Hospital, the hospital staff bustled in and out. Over the morning, they had already accepted 15 sick children. So of the results also ca back from examination. There was no sign of pathogen in any of the samples, the illness did not appear to be contagious by normal standard. The MRI scan eliminated deformation in the patients’ brain; and TSH evaluation eliminated the possibility of hypothryeosis; examination of ceruplasmin and serum copper eliminated the possibility of Wilson-broncqdisease... It was not caused by bacterial infection, drug use, head trauma, cerebral inflammation or monoxide poisoning either. Biologically speaking, this was an incurable Tourette Syndro.
There is an academic hypothesis regarding the cause of Tourette Syndro as having a relation to the dysfunction in neural circuits between the basal ganglia and related structures in the brain. This was sothing beyond current human dical comprehension. Even brain experts like Prof Ma Jun from Phecda could only prescribe antipsychotic dication as trials. Human technology was very advanced but the understanding of human anatomy was limited. When it ca to issues regarding the brain, even the best doctors were stumped. If a doctor could treat Tourette Syndro, he’d be capable enough to treat multiple neurological illnesses. That contribution would earn him more than 2 Nobel Prizes, he’d be a na forever rembered in human dical history.
Despite the challenge, the hospital staff worked non-stop. They tried their best to co up with ideas. Liu Guolin resuscitated from his slump. After the lecture from Superior Zhang, he threw himself back into work. He knew it was ti to act more like a doctor. Perhaps inspired by Liu Guolin or perhaps feeling sorry for the girls, Yu Chunhui and Zhang Wenyu worked extra hard as well. Led by Superior Zhang, they worked so tirelessly that they missed lunch. What they replaced it with was a few hurry bites of bread. More patients appeared at the hospital as the day went on. Their work continued to pile on. Seeing how tired the staff was, the hospital director ordered them to take a break. Other doctors would take over their shift. Therefore, the four doctors and a few of their colleagues found themselves on the way to the hospital canteen.
“The gap between each tic is too long.” Superior Zhang observed. His flabby face frowned with consternation. “It has been almost 12 hours since their last paroxysm... Even though there is no rhy and reason to the tics of a Tourette Syndro patient, the gaps between each tic shouldn’t be this long.”
There was a sizable garden that connected the paediatrician clinic and the canteen. As they passed through the trees, they found the change of scenery quite refreshing.
“Superior Zhang, we know too little about what we’re dealing with.” Yu Chunhui said to change the subject, “It’s a waste of ti to dwell deeper on it.”
“We have nothing better to do anyway!” Superior Zhang groused, “Think of your own daughter or your relative. What would you do if this illness claims them...”
“Sigh, why would the illness only target girls? Those poor things.” Zhang Wenjun sighed. “I wish we could know more.”
Liu Guolin was about to share his thoughts when he noticed a looming shadow beside him. He lifted his head from instinct and saw a giant shadow toppling towards him. His heart squeezed... The people around him scread, and tried to run for cover...
Accidents always ca without warning.
Another group of hospital staff, who was walking from the canteen to the pediatrician clinic, yelled in fear as they saw the giant tree creak and tumble. There was no wind or rain. The tree trunk appeared to have rotted from inside. It leaned over and crushed the passing crowd.
One of the nurses collapsed to the ground. Even though her colleagues imdiately attended to her, she still looked quite numb. She saw the group of doctors being crushed by the big tree. The rotund middle-aged man who led the group was skewered through many parts of his body by tree branches. Blood flowed like rivers. The chance of him being alive was zero. A female doctor had her waist crushed by a thick log. A young doctor had his head whacked off his shoulders by a thick branch...
The severed head rolled for several tres. The nurse recognized the bloodless face. It was Liu Guolin, the paediatrician doctor.
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