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"It’s not—it's not the devil," Nannina said, unsure whether to laugh or cry. "So, what should we—"
"Step back. If you've touched him, be sure to wash your hands,"Hedy instructed, pulling out her small, self-sewn bag and taking out a syringe and some backup medicine.
Thankfully, it was a child… so the dosage didn’t need to be large.
With the current production rate at the penicillin workshop, it would take about two months to produce a full syringe. The strains and workshop scale needed improvements.
"I can’t guarantee that I can save him…"
"It doesn’t matter," Nannina said urgently, clutching Hedy’s wrist, her skin turning white from the force. "If he’s sent to the church, they’ll burn him alive as a demon!"
Lorenzo stepped forward, pulling his sister away and trying to comfort her. "We’ll try now. Your panic will only frighten the child."
Nannina let out a mournful cry, almost fainting again.
"First, we need to do a skin test," Hedy paused for a moment, then turned to the maid. "Get salt and clean water."
Fortunately, since the two families were in-laws, the riverside purification house had been supplying them with clean water consistently, and the sealing effect of the glass bottles was quite good.
Under the gaze of everyone, she mixed the saline solution and then prepared a small amount of penicillin solution in a small bowl, taking out the syringe she always carried with her.
As soon as Nannina saw the familiar object, she hurried to offer help. "Are you going to give the child an enema? I’ll help take off his pants!"
"No—no." Hedy took out her custom hollow needle and attached it to the syringe.
She had previously found it hard to imagine how people used syringes without needles to extract cataracts—did they just insert the whole steel tube?
Had this been passed down from ancient Greece all the way to the present?
The syringe and hollow needle were both designed and manufactured during the construction of the penicillin workshop. Da Vinci, who had to inspect the surrounding water systems and old canals, helped her improve many things before he left—he truly was a thoughtful and meticulous friend.
Hedy carefully drew the penicillin solution into the syringe, then selected a spot on the child’s upper arm, where the rash seemed to be lighter, to perform a skin test. She patiently waited for a while.
Please don’t let him be allergic, or there will be no way to save you.
During this time, she wrote down a simple medical prescription on paper, explaining to the maids how to use the solution to clean the child's body and how to have him gargle with saline at specific intervals.
As she whispered the instructions, Lorenzo stood behind her, his gaze gentle yet complex.
When the time passed, she checked the skin test area, silently praying.
There was no reaction—everything was fine.
"I’m going to inject this medicine into his body," Hedy said, looking at the child's parents and mustering her courage. "He may struggle and cry because of the pain, so please try not to worry too much."
"Okay—everything is in your hands!"
She had never received professional training and couldn’t guarantee that everything was done correctly.
But to save this child’s life, she had to try it just as she had seen in the hospital.
Giovanni was turned over, his bottom exposed to the air.
She followed the nurses' example, drawing a cross on his backside before administering the penicillin into his muscles.
The child whimpered, trying to escape, but the adults held himstill.
Nervously, she pushed the diluted medicine into him, praying that it would work.
