Chapter 248: How about you come?
Chapter 248: How about you come?
"Billy, are you sure this is the clinic where you can cure your illness? Is there a great doctor inside?" Jenny asked, looking at Billy with a strange expression at the entrance of the Abyss Clinic.
"Abyss Clinic, yes, this is the place," Billy nodded, looking at her admiringly. "You know a lot about the Abyss."
"Are you sure the person who passed the message to you isn't a fraud?" Jenny frowned. It's not that she knows a lot about the Abyss, but this clinic belongs to Charlotte. She came to the Abyss for the first time to find him.
Charlotte used to be a pretty skilled doctor, at least a promising one.
But that was before he lost his source of magic power. Now he can't even use magic, how could he cure people?
Besides, he's a heartless man with major character flaws.
"It's not a fraud. The person who informed me about this is in an even worse condition than I am. There's no benefit to tricking me," Billy shook his head.
"Let's go, let's get in line."
"Alright." Jenny didn't want to say anything negative to Billy. He has been suffering so much from this illness for the past two years, so having a glimmer of hope is better than nothing.
And indeed, the business of Charlotte's clinic is quite good. Even before it officially opens, there are already two lines forming in front, each with about twenty to thirty people.
Half of them are here for treatment, while the other half are here to buy potions.
"Why, do you know this doctor?" Billy looked sideways at Jenny and asked.
"If I tell you the name, Uncle, you might know him," Jenny shrugged.
"This clinic is owned by Charlotte."
"Charlotte Clayton?" Billy looked surprised.
"Yes, that's him," Jenny nodded.
"Isn't he the one who lost his source of magic power?"
"Shall we go somewhere else? I know another promising young doctor," Jenny cautiously suggested.
"You want to take me to that kid from the Duru family?" Billy smiled. "Do you think he can cure an illness that even Hayward couldn't treat?"
Jenny blushed and said, "Well... he must be better than Charlotte, right? After all, Charlotte can't even use healing magic anymore."
But Billy shook his head and said, "Charlotte Clayton is a genius. His father, Nolan Clayton, was also called a genius. Even though he can't use healing magic, he can still open a clinic in the Abyss and have so many patients line up early in the morning. That's his ability."
"Young lady, Doctor Charlotte is a good doctor. Without him, where can poor people like us go for treatment? Other clinics would charge you tens of thousands of copper coins for a minor injury, but at the Abyss Clinic, you can get your wounds treated for just three to five hundred copper coins, and even save your life for one or two thousand copper coins." An elderly man at the front of the line turned around and looked at Jenny. "Young people only care about fancy magic, but what we poor people care about is always the price and the final result."
Jenny didn't argue with the old man, but she wasn't fully convinced.
Billy, on the other hand, grabbed onto another point. "Sir, why do you seem so familiar with all this?"
"I had two arrows in my chest last time, and they were removed just like that," the old man chuckled and lifted his shirt, revealing scars on his chest.
This time, both Jenny and Billy fell silent.
"That's why I'm saying, Doctor Charlotte is a great doctor. Without him, I would have been done for. Two arrows, and he only charged me 1200 copper coins," the old man said with emotion. "Any other clinic would demand 30,000 or 50,000 copper coins for this kind of treatment."
"That fee is indeed very low," Billy nodded in agreement. In the past two years, he had visited countless clinics, whether in the Imperial City or the Elven Forest, and the starting fee was always 10,000 copper coins.
To be able to treat a patient for just three to five hundred copper coins like this clinic is unheard of.
The clinic opened, and the patients at the front started entering.
Jenny waited by Billy's side, gradually moving forward with the line.
The injuries of these patients were of varying severity, but the efficiency of treatment was high. Each patient's treatment time was within ten minutes, and those with minor injuries would come out in three to five minutes.
Even the patient with two arrows stuck in his back, barely able to stand with the support of others, walked out on his own, jumping around as if he was perfectly fine, just ten minutes after entering.
"No magic, all technique. This Doctor Charlotte is quite impressive," Billy murmured.
"It's your turn now." The old man who came out of the clinic came over and told Billy.
Jenny pushed the door open and walked into the clinic with Billy.
"What are you here for?" Charlotte looked at Jenny as she walked in, furrowing his brows. She didn't seem like someone who needed medical treatment.
"What, can't I come?" Jenny retorted.
"Well, not that you can't," Charlotte's gaze shifted to Billy, the tall and thin man with a sunken face and eyes. "Hello, Doctor Charlotte, I'm Billy. Jenny brought me here to see you."
Billy smiled and introduced himself.
"This is my uncle," Jenny said seriously. "He heard that you can treat his illness here, so he specifically asked me to bring him."
"Hello," Charlotte nodded, motioning for Billy to sit down.
Jenny's uncle, Hayward, is from the very wealthy Cromwell family and is the younger brother of President Hayward.
"What's the condition?" Charlotte looked at Billy and asked.
"I came here after receiving a letter from Mona. It's the same disease as Fat Tiger," Billy said.
"Diabetes?" Charlotte was somewhat surprised.
He didn't expect that Fat Tiger and the others would have a network of fellow patients, and after finding a treatment method, they would recommend it to each other.
"It should be the disease you mentioned," Billy nodded.
"How long have you had these symptoms?" Charlotte asked.
"For two years. It started with just some thirst, but then I suddenly lost a lot of weight. Now, I rely on various herbal medicines to keep me alive," Billy said calmly.
Charlotte saw fatigue and pain in his eyes and nodded, "I do have medicine here that can treat your disease."
"Really...?" Billy's eyes lit up suddenly and he stood up subconsciously.
"Really?!" Jenny also looked at him in surprise.
"Fat Tiger will write you a letter, and you will come here personally, which shows that you believe in it," Charlotte looked at him calmly. "But I need to let you know in advance that this medicine cannot cure your disease. It can only restore your normal bodily functions, and you need to use it daily. Once you stop using it, the symptoms will recur."
"I understand. As long as I can return to a normal state of life, I can accept anything else," Billy nodded.
These years, he has been protected like a delicate porcelain piece. Everyone is afraid of him getting hurt because even a small wound on his body may not heal.
He used to be the third-in-command of the Kalwa Chamber of Commerce, leading a merchant caravan and living a life that he didn't desire.
"Okay, now that you understand, I will go and prepare the medicine for you," Charlotte stood up and walked towards the alchemy room. Soon, he came back with a makeshift syringe in his hand.
The dosage of the medicine is based on Fat Tiger as the standard, and Billy is about 0.2 times the size of Fat Tiger, so the dosage is also 0.2 times that of Fat Tiger.
"This medicine isn't taken orally?" Jenny asked.
"No, it's an injectable medicine," Charlotte nodded, gesturing for Billy to lift his shirt.
"Are you sure this will be okay?" Jenny asked with some mistrust. Charlotte's device with a large needle in his hand looks more like some kind of torture instrument, which is chilling.
She was entrusted by her uncle and father today to bring her uncle for treatment. If anything happens to her uncle, how can she explain it when she goes back?
"Do you want to do it?" Charlotte glanced at her.
"You... me..." Jenny took two steps back and closed her mouth.
"Thank you," Billy said calmly.
Charlotte controlled the strength and injected insulin into Billy's abdomen.
This suggested syringe is indeed not very usable. He must go to the glass factory today to get custom-made syringes, and by the way, he also needs to find Gayle to customize a batch of finer needles.
Billy grunted, but before he could feel it, it was already over.
While Charlotte was putting things away, he said, "Alright, starting from tomorrow, you will come here at noon every day to inject insulin. It will cost you 1,000 copper coins each time."
"Just like that? Just a little poke?" Jenny asked with a puzzled expression.
Billy was also a little dazed. He thought it had just begun.
"What's wrong? Not used to having no additional charges?" Charlotte smiled and asked.
"Are you sure that just injecting like this every day will prevent my uncle's illness from recurring?" Jenny stared at Charlotte. "You can't deceive him, you know what our family does."
Charlotte couldn't be bothered to argue with this young lady and looked at Billy, saying, "Apart from injecting the needle every day, try not to eat too much sugar and rice, and then live a normal life."
"Okay, thank you, doctor," Billy stood up, bowed to Charlotte, and then took out ten silver coins and handed them over.
"Let's go, Jenny, don't delay the doctor from seeing other patients," Billy called out to Jenny, who wanted to say something, and walked out of the clinic.
"Thank you," Jenny said to Charlotte as she left. She hurriedly caught up with Billy.
Charlotte smiled and put the money away, then began to receive the next patient.
Fat Tiger and Mona, through their network of fellow patients, have shown diabetic patients scattered around the world the path to salvation. The clinic may soon experience a small surge in demand for insulin. He must prepare a batch of insulin in advance to meet the increasing needs of patients.
At the same time, he needs to quickly produce the first batch of devices so that patients can inject insulin at home, which not only benefits the patients but also significantly reduces his workload.