Apr 7
Words are the physicians of the mind diseased.
Aeschylus (525 BC - 456 BC), Prometheus Bound
Ducky saw a lot of disease in his work as a medical examiner. Both physical and mental disease crossed his table on a regular basis.
His guests had usually suffered a physical blow by death. Missing limbs or heads were common, often located after they had already suffered the indignity of lying on a cold metal table. Predators liked to run off with them as a quick snack. But physical disease in his mind also included gunshot wounds, trauma of various types and the occasional heart attack or poisoning.
Mental disease sometimes played a role. The suicides were the most depressing. With help, Ducky hoped they could have lived happily for much longer. To see a life cut short by one's own hand was painful. Mental disease to him also included the accidental overdoses, any death involving alcohol, and the simply insane things some people did that took them out of the gene pool.
He wished to add a third disease to his list, although he was not sure everyone would accept it as such. Evil. A disease which was responsible for the vast majority the guests requiring his services, a disease which infected everyone in some way. Perhaps it was a disease, spreading from person to person. Some people were carriers. The treatment was a quarantine away from the rest of the healthy world, and often ended in death.
Disease to him seemed so common as he worked with those who suffered. But he preferred his role, helping those who were affected by the diseased people. To Ducky, it was the most important job anyone could do.
