In which
there is one last helping hand before the storm
Henshaw, Missouri
October 13th, 1875
Mrs. Hane,
I pray that this letter arrives at a good time. I had some concerns after your last visit, and since I may be occupied with a certain matter very soon, I wanted to address them now.
I’ve talked with a certain person in town. I understand that you have a propensity for little accidents. I do not intend to pry, not do I intend to stop giving you pain relief as requested. That said, it would be remiss of me as a man of medical manners to not offer alternative treatments.
I’ve included a card with two addresses: one in St. Louis and one in New Orleans, Lousiana. The former is for the office of a shipping concern, and the latter is for a charitable organization I’ve worked with in the past, the Francois Home of Helping. It has been able to assist women with habitual bruises in the past; I believe it may be able to help you. If you go to the shipping office in St. Louis and tell them I sent you, they’ll let you ride down to New Orleans on the Mississippi River for free. You may use these as you see fit. If this is not helpful for you, please disregard this message and forget I said anything.
I am offering this free of charge and do not expect any recompense. However, there is one personal matter where I could use your assistance. If you would be willing to help, leave your answer under a rock at the tree to the West with the crooked trunk.
To your health,
October 15th
Patient:
Ms. Sarah Walker, age 21, former fisher’s wife
Ailment:
N/A
Treatment:
EF sample extracted successfully. Afterwards, patient suffered symptoms similar to those of blood loss. Used a reversed variant of the French Communion to stop dizziness and nausea.
Payment:
N/A
Note:
An unpleasant experience in every aspect besides its success. Hopefully Mr. Francois and Mother will be able to handle any subsequent complications when she gets to New Orleans. The sample is sitting on my desk right now; it’s vibrating at such a frequency that it puts cracks in nearby glass. I’ll have to refine the procedure. Right now it’s slow, messy and resists anesthesia without careful monitoring. Besides being suspicious beyond reason, it was an awful thing to subject someone to, even if they did volunteer willfully. Perhaps I’ll regret this when the danger has passed, but what’s done is done. I’ll perform the follow-up surgery on myself shortly, and if all goes well, my friends from the South will find that I am not so easy to kill.