Chapter 3.5

"I'm back."

Ritsuko looked up from the magazine as that voice called out. Looking in the open break room doorway, Toshio had just returned through the back door, examination bag in hand. By Saturday afternoon, the only one left was Ritsuko who volunteered to house-sit.

"Welcome back," Ritsuko said, entering the waiting room where Toshio stood. "How was Shou-kun?"

"Mild case of heatstroke."

"Oh dear."

Toshio didn't mind house calls. If he was called, he'd grab his bag and head out, carefree. Even if he wasn't specifically called out, he'd go out to take care of some business like today, seeing if the kids were well, consulting on whether it'd be better to bring them in or not. If it was far, he'd take the car, if it was nearby he'd walk, or requisition one of the nurse's bicycles, as even if it was close, summers were hot. Even now he was soaked in sweat.

"The heat is just terrible isn't it, this year." Ritsuko turned up the air conditioning. "Would you like something cold to drink?"

"A beer," Toshio said wearily, throwing down his bag.

"Yes, yes. A dark brew with no foam, yes?"

"When I say beer, I mean beer."

Smiling at the ever obstinate Toshio, Ritsuko stepped out of the room. She went to the tea room and poured cold barley tea into a glass. While she was at it, she took a small cup of sherbet from the fridge and a spoon. When she brought them back to the waiting room, Toshio was in front of the cooler vent, letting the breeze blow down his collar.

"A snack with your drink."

"Now that's service."

Setting the glass and cup on the table and watching Toshio sit, Ritsuko held the tray to her chest. "A bit ago, the Maebara's Obaa-chan had come by. Maebara Setsu-san. She was out of medicine and said to give her more."

Toshio peeled the top off of the sherbet and thrust the spoon in. "The Maebara's Setsu-san---she's on thyradin for her Hashimoto's disease, wasn't it?"

[TL/N:- Hashimoto's Disease - An autoimmune disease where the patient's own immune system attacks their thyroid, leading to hypothyrodism with bouts of hyperthyroidism. Generally treated with hormones replacing those the thyroid can't produce.

Ozaki is going to throw out a lot of medical terms throughout this series and right now I don't tend to translation note them all as they're not exactly a cultural matter unless you count medical culture, but Hashimoto's disease sounds terribly Japanese, even if it's not more particularly prevalent in Japan than anywhere else. If readers want me to summarize them rather than having to slog through a potentially technical Wikipedia article, I probably can, but I'll be sticking with technical terms in the text to the extent Japanese technical terms are used (it's usually him talking to other medical professionals). Despite how uneducated I seem, I am, at least in theory, involved in the investigation of crimes in medical facilities, so I'm unusually familiar with basic medical terminology for a blithering idiot otaku]

"Yes. That condition doesn't seem to be going well. It seems she didn't feel it was working, so she decided to take more of it."

"How stupid. Setsu-san is prone to heart attacks. That is the dumbest idea, that right there."

"I explained as much to her but she said she was out of medicine either way, so to give it to her."

"Old people get like that. They get to thinking they can just make medicine more effective by taking more of it."

"I had told her that I would not dispense medications without the doctor's orders and to please wait for you to return but she wouldn't listen. There was no choice, I did as her last prescription said and dispersed only two days' worth. I wouldn't give any more medicine than that, so I sent her off to return on Monday."

"That old woman hates needles, so she tries to miss me. She knows if she has an exam there'll be a blood test with it."

"I hope that she comes to her appointment properly, though. If she doesn't, I don't know what we'll do."

"Mix it with some methimazole on her."

"Doctor."

Ritsuko sighed.

"What's wrong? If we have a hormone and an anti-hormone, the balance sheet checks out, doesn't it?"

"That is not the problem."

Ritsuko looked up to the ceiling, realizing there was no treatment for him. That was when the phone rang. When Ritsuko moved to answer, Toshio, spoon held in his mouth, raised a hand. "Ah, it's fine. I got it. Go on home."

As he had said as much and she had seen him pick up the receiver, Ritsuko bowed her head indicating her intent to leave. Toshio nodded in his own answer of a gesture, then, suddenly, his voice rose with a "What?" Ritsuko stopped in her tracks without thinking, watching Toshio's suddenly grim expression.

"All of them? Really? ---The police."

At the word 'police' she startled, still clutching the tray as she took a long, hard look at Toshio's face. She subconsciously strained her ears, but she couldn't hear the voice on the other end.

"It needs to be reported. No, it's fine, I'll call them from here. ---Yeah, don't, definitely don't move them. Don't touch anything, just wait outside, all right?"

Somebody must have collapsed. Ritsuko tensed slightly.

"So, you haven't confirmed Gigorou-Jii-san's body's dead, huh?"

Ritsuko's brows knit together. Gigorou---was that Yamairi's Ohkawa Gigorou?

"Confirm it. The hell's a monk getting wound up over a corpse? If he is breathing, a doctor'll be there. You're sure about Murasako-san at least, right? --- No, it's fine. Anyway, I'm coming, so wait there. In the meantime, check out Gigorou-jii-san, if he's breathing call an ambulance. I'll be right there."

Talking fast, Toshio hung up the phone, looking at Ritsuko who stood there. He kept it short.

"A catastrophe in Yamairi."