Episode 13
Monica rolled up the sleeves of her green dress, the kind her grandmother might wear.
The weather was hot, so she couldn’t help it. She was wondering what to do with the long hem of her skirt, so she folded the waistline twice and pinned it. It seemed a little better than before when she exposed her calves.
Still, there was no way she wouldn’t break out in a cold sweat.
The doctor that came to visit Martinel was a young man named Mekel.
He really looked dull and gloomy, just like most doctors of that age.
His nose was slightly hooked, with round glasses hanging from it, his lips were thin, his body was thin, and his fingers had bulging joints.
Monica, who had always met nervous doctors on the battlefield, had expected the impression to be exactly as she had thought.
His speech was the same.
“Nice to see you.”
It was a voice that sounded like a grumpy, irritable goat talking to a human. Monica cringed involuntarily, then forced a smile and greeted him.
“Master Martinel went in to be examined first and then to wash up.”
“To wash up?”
“Oh, I just tried a new treatment.”
Only then did Monica notice that inside Martinel’s room, in the washroom, two maids were quite busily cleaning up something.
When Monica asked with her eyes, Mekel answered with a smirk.
“It’s mud massage therapy. You cover your body with mud and stay there for a while. It lowers your body temperature and helps to drive away illness with the energy of the earth.”
Mekel shook out his sleeve a couple of times. There was a little mud on it.
Now she saw that his fingernails were also covered in dirt, which was unusual for a young gentleman. Of course, that suited Mekel. Monica smiled awkwardly.
‘Mud massage…’
If that could drive away disease, would the children in the orphanage, who were covered in mud every day, be dying of fever so helplessly?
But Monica didn’t bother to open her mouth.
Monica wouldn’t have much to gain by interfering in that way with a doctor who was much more educated than she was.
‘He doesn’t seem to have a particularly gentle personality…’
Instead, Monica sat quietly on the chair in front of Mekel.
“Oh.”
Mekel’s gaze turned to Monica’s legs.
Monica shrugged and said, “Ah.” She quickly pulled up her dress, but the old petticoat pinned inside was all crumpled and pushed to one side, exposing her calves.
“Are you hurt?”
Monica froze, but Mekel was at least a doctor with a strong sense of professionalism. He could guess what was happening just by looking at the bloody piece of cloth wrapped around Monica’s leg.
The man rolled his eyes for a moment, then quickly opened his medical bag and said he would treat her.
It was a blessing that she could show a scratch like this to a doctor. Monica felt sorry for gossiping about Mekel’s personality.
“I went to the market briefly this morning and someone pushed me, and I fell.”
“Oh, man. He might be a bad person.”
As he was unwrapping the piece of cloth wrapped around her knee, she accidentally exposed her scratched palm.
Mekel took Monica’s hand and pulled out a brown bottle, soaking the liquid inside on a cotton ball. Monica’s eyes sparkled.
“I’ve seen this before.”
“Oh, have you seen it? I heard Mrs. Mollett saying that you worked in the war zone.”
The red liquid was a disinfectant supplied to the front lines toward the end of the war. It had a bad smell, but once applied, it did not come off easily, so the nurses liked to call it red medicine.
But if you just try to buy it, it’s expensive.
“But it’s a medicine that’s only been out for a short time. I heard that our country only supplied a very small amount because it was too expensive to supply to the front lines.”
Mekel’s eyes lit up. He had been looking gloomy, but now that she was talking about his major, he seemed to be getting interested. Monica happily held out her palm and chattered.
“I was at Arvid’s hospital.”
“Ah, Arvid.”
Although not at the forefront, Arvid was a strategic point.
Because of the terrain close to the fortress, it was very well defended and did not fall until the end of the war.
So, most of the important personnel at the front line were treated at Arvid’s hospital until the middle of the war.
“I’ve also heard a lot of stories about people fighting in Arvid. I really wanted to go, but…”
Mekel coughed, “Hmm, hmm.”
It’s a common story. The more educated children from good families are, the more they stay away from war.
But judging from the embarrassed look on his face, it seemed like he did feel embarrassed.
“The ‘green pill’ is only meant for the front lines.”
Monica narrowed her eyes.
The ‘green pill’ was a drug given to patients suffering from mental distress on the battlefield.
It seemed that he was simply interested in the drug, and not embarrassed about not having gone to the battlefield.
So, he really is a man who loves his job. Monica revised her assessment of Mekel again.
“I was curious. I heard that eating it makes you feel better…”
Even as she spoke, Mekel steadily untied the cloth wrapped around Monica’s knees.
As he unwrapped the poorly wrapped piece of cloth, the wound on her knee, completely ground to the ground, was revealed. Mekel frowned and said, “Oh my.”
“Even that troublemaker Martinel has rarely been hurt like this.”
Monica shrugged her shoulders in embarrassment, but glanced at the piece of cloth Mekel had thrown down.
Mekel soaked the cotton in the red medicine and disinfected Monica’s knee. Monica reached out and grabbed the dirty piece of cloth. Mekel glanced at it and waved it away.
“Okay. Let the maid clean it up.”
“Oh, I can clean it up.”
Monica answered sheepishly, rolled up the cloth, and stuffed it into her pocket.
She didn’t think the rude guy would want back the piece of shirt he had torn off, but she still felt bad about just throwing it away.
Whether Monica did or not, Mekel began to treat her wounds and talk more earnestly about the ‘green medicine.’
“There was a guy among my college classmates who volunteered for the war, and I wasn’t that close with him, so I asked him for the recipe for the ‘green medicine’, but he said he left it all up to the nurses! How shameful as a doctor…”
It’s a doctor’s shame. It’s a bit much for someone who hasn’t been to war to say something like that, Monica thought, and intervened at an appropriate time.
“What tasks can I perform for Master Martinel?”
“Do what master says.”
Fortunately, Mekel didn’t seem to notice that Monica had changed the subject.
“Fresh air and moderate exercise are the best. You should take him on a walk twice a day.”
“Yes.”
“Just treat him well.”
Is that all? Mekel smirked as Monica blinked.
“What I’m saying is, let him do whatever he wants.”
“Anything he wants?”
It was meaningful. Mekel shrugged.
“Master Martinel is weak, but his body temperature is high. Children naturally have high body temperatures, but his temperature is especially high. Anger is poisonous to such children.”
“I see.”
“When anger builds up, he quickly becomes hot, and when he gets hot, his head melts.”
Mekel made a motion to tap the side of his temple.
The story continued to go on and on about how if a child has a high fever, she should be the first to tell him, cool the child down, and give them a proper medicine. Monica just kept nodding.
Mekel continued to talk while tending to Monica’s wounds. Soon both of her knees were wrapped in clean bandages.
“Okay, leave your palms well for today, and wash them with water tomorrow morning and disinfect them again. This medicine is a gift.”
“Oh.”
Mekel also gave her an unexpected gift. He gave her a bottle of red medicine. Mekel smiled when Monica was delighted.
“What’s your name?”
“Oh, it’s Monica.”
“I’ll give it to you for yourself, and for Martinel, to use on him whenever he gets hurt.”
Well then, that’s right. How could he just give away this expensive medicine? There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.
That was when…
“Teacher!”
Monica opened the door and Martinel came running out. She had met him yesterday too, but he was a very spirited boy.
“When did you come?”
And he was very approachable. The boy quickly started talking to Monica before she could even say hello.
“Teacher, have you had lunch? I thought you were going to eat lunch with me today, so I was surprised you didn’t come. What’s that? Are you hurt?”
Monica blinked twice before barely answering the boy’s last words, thanks to his incessant chattering.
“I went out for a bit today and fell.”
“Wow! Look at this!”
At those words, the boy clapped his hands and looked at Mekel.
“You said adults don’t fall right?”
Mekel wrinkled his nose. Monica unconsciously noticed. It was clear that the doctor had lied to the boy who wanted to grow up quickly, saying things like, “Adults don’t fall.”
But what if someone around him is even a little careless and ends up falling?
Of course, there was no blaming Monica for the fact that Mekel had been caught lying to the little boy in an attempt to make him fall a little less often.
The doctor closed his case and quickly left, leaving the boy and Monica alone.
“Teacher, what should we play?”
“Oh, Master Martinel.”
Monica smiled and took out the book she had prepared in advance.
“I also serve as your tutor, Young Master.”
Martinel’s face, once full of anticipation, frowned.
Monica continued to laugh brightly. So how great would it be if she could just play with him?
But that’s what it’s like to be an adult. Even if you fall down in the morning, you still have to work at lunchtime.
Martinel whined and whined that he didn’t want to do it, crumpling up his pretty blue jacket. Mekel had told her to ‘let him do whatever he wanted,’ so she didn’t intend to tease him for long, but the boy was more mature than she thought.
Monica finally succeeded in putting Martinel back to his work.
