Chapter 2:
Takeji rushed back to Satoru, signaling a nurse to follow him. He tried to maintain a calm demeanor for Satoru's friends, but the seriousness of Satoru's illness weighed heavily on him. The nurse swiftly set up multiple IVs, loading fluids and medicines onto the IV stand while Takeji turned Satoru onto his side. Satoru groaned, his aching body becoming more unbearable by the moment. It felt like everything was on fire, and he couldn't find relief no matter what he did.
"We're going to give you some pain medication," the nurse said as she administered something through one of his IVs. Satoru felt a wave of relief wash over him, and he finally managed to take a deep breath as the nurse and doctor began removing his clothes to examine him.
Quickly realizing the severity of his condition, Satoru confessed to Takeji, "I've had encephalitis before." Takeji was surprised, "So, you knew the symptoms and didn't seek help earlier?" "It didn't feel as bad before." Satoru explained.
"Well, it's good that you're here now. My cursed technique allows me to see internal structures, and your brain is inflamed, I'm afraid," Takeji informed him. Satoru nodded in acknowledgment. "We still need to do a lumbar puncture to confirm, but I'm pretty confident it's encephalitis," Takeji continued. Satoru knew the procedure, but knowing didn't make it less daunting. "Just do it as quickly as possible," he mumbled, trying to reach for a pillow, but the nurse stopped him, stating that she was still setting up his IVs.
As the nurse prepared his IVs, Satoru glanced at her to see a giant needle in her hand. "Why the large needle?" Satoru asked, clearly nervous. She explained, "I'm going to put in an arterial line. We'll need to do a lot of monitoring and this will make it easier. It might hurt for a second, but it should be fast."
"Quick prick," she remarked, injecting him with lidocaine first. Satoru felt intense pain as she inserted the line into his wrist. The nurse seemed cheerful, which annoyed him, but he couldn't muster the energy to react.
Takeji used the opportunity to administer lidocaine to Satoru's back while the nurse was preoccupied. Though he wouldn't typically act so recklessly, he sensed that Satoru might not be cooperative regarding his health. Takeji took the opportunity to place the needed into his patient's back. Satoru sucked in a painful gasp. The nurse held Satoru still while the spinal fluid dripped into the container.
Takeji pulled the needle out of Satoru's back and placed a small bandage over the punctured area. The nurse gently laid Satoru on his back and said, "You'll have to lay down like this for another hour." Satoru nodded gently focusing more on his breathing. Every breath felt more laborious than the last. Like he was fighting his lungs to work. Takeji handed the sample to a lab tech, but turned around when he heard Satoru's wheezes. He quickly used his technique again to see the issue, but his lungs looked structurally sound. So, it was more likely that his the inflammation in his brain was getting worse.
"Up the dose on the steroids." Takeji told the nurse. "Satoru, can you look at me?" Takeji stared at the young man as he barely cracked open his bright blue eyes. His pupils were still reacting to light thankfully. "Is it getting harder to breathe?" Takeji asked. Satoru nodded and in between breaths, "chest feels heavy." Takeji saw that the pulse ox still read 94%.
"Put him on high flow oxygen and monitor him 24/7. We may need to intubate." Takeji told the nurse. She nodded and finished attaching Satoru to an EKG. She double checked the arterial line was providing an accurate blood pressure, then placed a high flow nasal cannula on Satoru's face. She attached it to the ventilator and watched as Satoru's body began to calm and he seemed to take a deeper breath in. His pulse ox went up to 95% as he took deeper breaths.
She moved Satoru's arms again to place a hospital gown over him. She removed the rest of his clothes, and placed a nice thick blanket on top of him. The warmth was such a welcome feeling for him after the stressful day he'd had. "Try to get some sleep." She mentioned.
Left alone, Satoru focused on regulating his breathing. Though the oxygen helped, he couldn't shake the fear that he might not wake up again if he fell asleep. However, exhaustion won, and he succumbed to sleep.
Suddenly, loud speaking brought him back to consciousness. It annoyed Satoru greatly that people wouldn't let him sleep when he was so clearly sick. "Satoru, can you hear me?" Takeji said as he gently rubbed Satoru's sternum. Satoru groaned. "I'm sorry to wake you, but I have news." He attempted to open his eyes, but was thwarted with the bright lights. The nurse turned off the lights in his little section. So, he cracked his eyes. The darkness was still to bright, but it would have to do.
"You do have autoimmune encephalitis. We're giving you supportive care right now, but we're about to start some IVIG which should give you some relief." "Okay." Satoru said, but his voice was quite hoarse. "Are you feeling okay?" "No. Body hurts everywhere." Satoru said. "We can give you some more pain meds." Takeji responded as the nurse pushed some meds through one of Satoru's IV lines.
"You can go back to sleep while we set up IVIG," Takeji suggested. Satoru asked how long he had been asleep before, and Takeji replied that it had only been a few hours, hoping he could rest more.
As the fatigue overpowered him once more, Satoru drifted back into darkness.
"Did you talk to Yaga?" the nurse asked. Takeji confirmed that he had, and they arranged a private room for Satoru. The nurse agreed that a quieter, darker environment would be better for him.