Pain.
His whole body felt like it was on fire, and his internal organs were on fire.
Especially his lungs. Every time he breathed, it felt like he was inhaling a large amount of hot smoke. Every time he coughed, there would be sparks coming out of his trachea.
His eyelids seemed to be swollen, as if they were made of lead. It was difficult for Richard to open his eyes. He could only half-close his eyes and observe the world through a very narrow gap.
The sound he heard was echoing. Sometimes it sounded like it came from the distant sky and was so vague that he could not hear it clearly. The next moment, it seemed like it was roaring in his ears and piercing his brain like a steel needle.
This painful feeling was very familiar. It had experienced it once before, and this time, his senses were even more acute. It was even more painful than that time.
His consciousness became very vague, and he felt like he was back in the laboratory again.
"Irene, please calm down and listen to me. It's aspergillosis. You know how terrible this disease is."
"My God! Are we going to lose it? "
"No, we won't lose it, at least not now."
"What should we do?"
"We have a way to treat aspergillosis, but it is designed for large birds of prey like eagles. We must explore carefully until we find the right dose. Listen, Irene, I will do my best, and then we will pray to God that it will not be taken away! "
…
"Irene, I am sorry. The medication did not work as expected."
"No! No! "
"Please calm down, Irene! We are not at the point of despair yet. As your friend and veterinarian, I suggest that we do a thoracotomy to scrape the mold out of its chest. "
"Thoracotomy? Are you kidding me? It is a bird that weighs only one pound! "
"Listen, Irene, this is our last resort. You don't want to lose it, right?"
"… Yes, you are right. Will you do the surgery? My friend. "
"No, I have contacted the best veterinarians in the country for you. They are all experts in microsurgery. They will cure it, I promise!"
…
"Irene, I have good news for you — the surgery was very successful!"
"That's great! I have been waiting for your news … I … "
"Are you crying? Irene. "
"No, I … I am not crying. They cleaned up that damned mold, didn't they? It will be fine, right? Please tell me! "
"Yes, Irene, their operation was very successful. It will be back with you soon – there may be some side effects, but it will be fine."
"Thank God!"
…
"Doctor …" Richard murmured.
"Richard, are you awake?"
A hand gently stroked its back. It was warm, strong, and had the unique alkaline smell of a soft sterile soap.
His head was spinning.
It struggled to open its heavy eyelids and carefully identify the person in front of it.
Its vision was a little blurry at first, and it really thought that it was her from its memory. Unfortunately, although the temperament was similar, it was not her. Sun Xiaomeng had the same short hair as her, and she had a younger face that belonged to an Asian. The care in her eyes was the same.
Its eyes were not as agile as before, but it could still recognize the furnishings around it. It was not a laboratory, just a very ordinary living room, located on the second floor of an ordinary pet shop.
Richard did not know how long he had been asleep. It was already night outside the window. The construction noise downstairs had disappeared. It was probably late, and the workers were worried that they would disturb the residents, so their work for the day was over.
"Doctor …" It struggled to stand up, and it staggered a little.
Sun Xiaomeng held it and let most of its weight rest on her hand. Until then, she was shocked to find that its weight was so light that it was even less than half the weight of a human brain. It was a miracle of nature that such a small body could give birth to wisdom that was comparable to that of a human.
But now, the miracle was disappearing, as if nature was trying to fix a small mistake in the evolutionary chain.
"Don't move, Richard. Take some medicine."
Sun Xiaomeng held two capsules to its beak.
"What are these?" it asked.
"Do you really want to know? Well, I poured out the original medicine in the cold capsules and put in my own medicine, which includes nystatin, ciprofloxacin, and multivitamins. You will feel better after you take them. "
The fatality rate of acute fungal disease was very high, because the shortest time from the onset of symptoms to death was only three hours. If it happened at night, the owner might not even have time to notice it — even if they did notice it by chance, they might not be able to send it to the hospital in time. This was the terrible thing about acute fungal disease.
Richard was unfortunate, but at the same time, it was also lucky. When it got sick, Wang Qian and Li Kun happened to be there, and they called Zhang Zian immediately, which bought them precious time. After that, whether it was Wang Qian and Li Kun repeatedly running errands, Sun Xiaomeng's prompt decision, or Jin Er's speeding car, they were actually all racing with death.
Richard stared at the two capsules for a few seconds before it opened its beak and swallowed them.
"Don't bite, swallow them whole," Sun Xiaomeng reminded.
Richard did as she said and swallowed the two capsules.
"Great." She let out a long sigh of relief. Richard's understanding was a great help. She was worried that it would refuse to swallow the capsules out of instinct.
Sun Xiaomeng used the chopping board and rolling pin in Zhang Zian's house to grind the pills into powder, and then she poured them into the cold capsules for Richard to take. If the usual method of mixing the pills with food was used, the effect would be too slow, and it would be too late.
"Come on, drink some water." She took out a small porcelain wine glass — this was what Zhang Zian's father used to drink, and it could only hold half a gram of wine.
At this time, the small wine glass was not filled with wine, but with a slightly blue clear liquid.
"This is a 0.5% copper sulfate solution. It's poisonous, but it can cure your disease. In China, this is called 'fight poison with poison.'"
Sun Xiaomeng saw that Richard was staring at the liquid, and thought that it did not dare to drink it, so she explained to it.
"Doctor, I will drink it, but it can't save me."
Richard said calmly, and lowered its head to sip the copper sulfate solution.
It understood that the old nightmare had not been completely eradicated, and it had quietly recovered. Last time, these drugs could not save it, and it had to go thousands of miles away for microsurgery. This time, it could not save it either. It did not think that it could perform microsurgery in this simple pet shop.
To its surprise, Sun Xiaomeng nodded and agreed with it.
"You're right, these drugs can't save you."
Despite this, her face was still full of firm confidence. Even the famous veterinarians on the other side of the ocean did not have such confidence in the face of aspergillosis. Richard could not help but be stunned, and it was even infected by her strong confidence.
She smiled, stretched out an arm, and signaled it to stand on it.
"Come, let's take a walk together."
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