Day 38
"So if you look at the screen you can see that this part of the lung...", the doctor said and gestured for the gray shape. He reminded Warner of a weather man presenting tomorrow's forecast.
"You can see that the alveoli, this right here", he used the tip of his pen to bring attention to the small, barely circular, shadows in one corner of the larger shape.
"...are damaged."
"Damaged how?", Warner asked.
He had been called out of his breakfast meeting to be informed that they had had a breakthrough concerning the plague. He had been in there for fifteen minutes and he still had no idea of what they were talking about.
A few nurses were milling about in the background of the room, but it was Doctor Veens who was guiding him through it.
"It's an extreme case of COPD, if that tells you anything", Veens said.
"It doesn't", Warner curtly replied. He sat down in an awaiting chair by one of the desks, tired of having to stand up like a medicine student.
"So please enlighten me", he continued.
"COPD, short for Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is when the walls in the alveoli; the walls that take up oxygen", he clarified,"Break because of mucus in the lungs."
The chief commander could agree that it sounded bad. And painful.
"You mentioned an extreme case…", Warner reminded.
"COPD was, and still is, a common lung diseases among ordinary citizens. It occurs in heavily air polluted areas, and among chainsmokers", the doctor explained.
"But that's after about twenty years of untreated lungs. Our Alice developed it during the span of two weeks."
"Two weeks?"
The doctor shrugged.
"According to Mrs Nelson that's when the blood started appearing."
Suddenly 'extreme' seemed like a very appropriate choice of wording. Two weeks. How long would the rest of the population have if they weren't immune?
"But there are good news as well!", the doctor assured as he saw Warner's grim look.
"With this discovery we now know where the mutation is located, to attack the alveoli. And since we are already familiar with COPD we may actually be able to treat her! Which is good, because that means more lung tissue can be saved."
Warner felt his face go from annoyed to confused.
"Doctor, when you say saved…?"
"There has been permanent damage to the lungs, sir. As you can see… here", he showed on the screen while returning to the lecturing tone of voice.
It was a dark rim to the shape where he pointed. It was mesmerising. How could something so dark and foreboding reside inside of that blonde little girl?
"This tissue is dying, and will be dead in a few days", Veens informed him.
"How will she be affected?", Warner heard himself ask.
"When we're rid of the plague we'll have to remove the dead tissue."
"Why wait?", Warner wondered.
"If we operate before she's healthier there's a risk of drawing more infections", Veens said,"Which could kill her."
"But if you wait more tissue may be damaged, correct?", Warner questioned. He looked at the screen. The dying alveoli stared back at him with their dark color.
"Sir, the human body only uses about a third of the lung capacity", Veens told him.
"People have had one of two lungs completely removed and survived. Alice have lost five percent so far, will lose ten percent at most. Which leaves ninety percent. She won't suffer from anything besides being weaker against other infections."
"That does not sound reassuring, Doctor", Warner commented, but did get ready to leave. He had heard everything he needed to hear. He rose from his chair and headed towards the door.
"I want a long and detailed report explaining everything you just said that I can send to capitol, doctor!", he announced from over his shoulder.
"As always, sir", the doctor assured.
He was one step outside the door when he remembered something. He spun around on his heel and looked back in.
"Wait!", Warner shouted.
The nurses jumped. Veens looked a little surprised, but nodded for him to continue.
"Did you look at her brain?", he demanded.
"Ah", Veens said as he remembered.
"Yes. There was no damage", he replied.
A beat.
"What?"
"As far as we can detect there was no damage to the girl's brain. Which is something good commander."
Warner realized he was scowling.
"But her amnesia…!", he started. Like a protesting child he realized too late.
"Sir", the doctor said,"There are other causes for amnesia."
"Such as?", he snapped.
"Shock", Veens said.
"Shock?", Warner dittoed.
"Yes, sir, shock. Trauma to the psyke", he said and tapped his temple with the pen.
"I've heard a few examples of soldiers returning from battles not remembering their own name or that they're even soldiers to begin with. Remember commander, she could have died that day if you hadn't found her when you did. She saw her own blood being coughed up; don't you think that leaves some mental scars for an eleven year old?"
Warner took a minute to think this new possibility through.
"And how long does it take to recover from that?", he asked.
The doctor shrugged.
"Depends I think. I'm not a therapist, but I'd say it differs. She's in a completely new setting from what she's trying to remember, normally amnesia victims have their family with them to remind them who they are and how their life looked like before the trauma. We don't have that privilege."