Chapter 16 first quarter

It was a building with many windows.On our side was the corridor, and the windows in the corridor were not shaded by curtains.The light from the window allowed me to clearly see the white parking lines drawn on the parking lot.After parking the car, I took out Chiori and I's toiletries and a change of clothes from the trunk. The entrance is about the width of three rooms, and the glass automatic door is installed.After Chiori jumped onto the green mat, the automatic door opened with a "ding dong".The cement floor in the entrance is very wide, with tiles on the floor and strips of wooden boards at both ends. On the left and right walls are wooden shoe cabinets with a long history, on which are mixed shoes for men and women such as sneakers, leather shoes and High heel.Snow boots and straw sandals were also lined up, and between these were pairs of tawny house slippers facing the door, with the sanatorium's white lettering on them.

"Excuse me, is anyone there?" I stood on the concrete floor of the entrance and shouted into the corridor. There is something like a reception desk up front, but the curtains are drawn and no one seems to be there.The ceiling is evenly spaced with fluorescent lamps, the air is filled with the smell of linoleum, except for the dull and hollow echo, there is no sign of anyone. I yelled again, only to hear a woman's voice from a distance—Come right away, and then there was the sound of crackling slippers, and a figure appeared at the end of the corridor.A bright white figure trotted forward, as if leaving behind what she was busy with, looking in a hurry. After approaching, she realized that she was wearing a white dress similar to a chef's uniform.

"You are Mr. Kisaragi! I'm sorry to keep you waiting for so long." The hearty tone made me a little confused. "No, we just arrived." "That's good. I'm preparing dinner. Well, now—" she lightly touched her temple with her right index finger, thinking about it, "Okay! Come with me first, and you can wear the slippers over there." With her elastic cuffs showing a pair of slender wrists, she opened the front door, went in and turned on the light, and beckoned us in, "Please wait here a moment, I'll call Mr. Fujimoto." In the reception room, there are several tea-brown sofas and a coffee table of the same color.

"That—" I wanted to thank her who was about to leave. "What's the matter?" She turned around suddenly, rubbed her temples with her fingers, and said with an expression of instant realization, "Ah! I am Iwamura——Iwamura Mariko. This is Chiori!" Thinking about it now, it's still a bit inconceivable that Chiori didn't hide behind me at that time.He just pursed his lips slightly and stared at her with puzzled and strange eyes. "Hello! I'm Keisuke Kisaragi, please give me your advice when we meet for the first time. She's Chiori, thank you very much for inviting her to play." I unconsciously imitated her to say her full name.

"I know about you." She frowned, then lowered her eyes, and put on a smile again in a flash, "In short, you are very welcome to come from afar, and please give me your advice." After saying this sentence, which seemed particularly energetic, Mariko stretched out her right hand. I was a little puzzled, but I still stretched out her hand. She held it and shook it vigorously, and then stretched out her right hand to Chiori, "Chiori, please Please teach me!" Chiori was timidly at a loss, but still politely took a step forward and stretched out her hand, then looked at Mariko in a daze, then turned her gaze to me, after I nodded slightly at her, Chiori turned to Mariko again, Then he shook her hand vigorously.

"Qianzhi has to wait a moment, a chubby uncle will be here soon." What Mariko said is right, Mr. Fujimoto's figure is really round, and he looks like a gentle person.He shook my hand, but Chiori ran behind me and hid. "It's a long way, and I'm sorry to ask you to come here specially. There is only one way to the outside world, so it should be easy to find!" "Yeah!" I nodded and told him by the way that I mistook the building below for a sanatorium. "It's the headquarters of the research institute, and the institution with a lengthy name on the envelope is there. Although it is a hospital, it is actually a little different from ordinary hospitals. It is mainly engaged in research, and accepts some patients who cannot be taken care of by general brain surgery or neurology."

That's it, no wonder the old man has been talking about the outpatient clinic, I nodded and sat down, Chiori then insisted on getting her head behind me, intending to make herself disappear in front of Mr. Fujimoto's eyes, this has always been her first meeting The reaction in front of the audience, except for playing the piano, the rest of her head must have such a reaction. "This institute gathers the best talents in the country, regardless of equipment or staff, and the budget is quite sufficient, even having helicopters to transport emergency patients." I couldn't help but admire.

At this time, Mariko had changed her chef uniform and came back. She was wearing a light cream shirt with a dark blue skirt, giving people a different impression, and she seemed to be about the same age as me.She held a tray with four teacups in her hand, "I'm boasting again, things are so simple." Mariko's tone was not sarcasm at all, it was very lively.She served tea to everyone, and put the remaining cup on the coffee table, then moved a metal folding chair from the corner of the room, and sat down facing us. The corner of the coffee table between me and Mariko. The head stuffed behind my back suddenly disappeared.Looking back, it turned out that Mariko was waving at Chiori, and Chiori was also waving at her.Chiori stretched out her hand as if suddenly thinking of something, and asked to shake hands with her again. Mariko also reached out to shake her hand, and Chiori was so happy that she kept shaking her hand up and down.

"Come by car, you must be tired!" Chiori didn't let go of her hand, but nodded in agreement with Mariko's words. "Actually, I hope that Qianzhi can come here to play the piano for everyone to listen to. Earlier, the news published a small section of the memoir of the two of you. After reading it, I have always wanted to invite you to come, and this time it can finally be realized. As for the formal application , is entrusting Fujimoto to contact you." A long time ago, we did accept an interview—the account of a mentally handicapped pianist going to a nursing home to give condolences and performances.At first, I thought it might be a good thing for the general public to know about Chiori, but the reporter kept chasing after the severed finger incident that day, which made me very unhappy, so I stopped accepting any interviews after that.

Fujimoto said that in addition to the formal application, all other matters were handled by Mariko alone.The way he smiled and nodded as he talked made people think that the two of them were like a shrewd daughter and a relaxed father.I guess Mr. Fujimoto is about ten years older than my mother! "Because I contacted you by phone, I think Fujimoto may not have told you some details. Our place is like the name on the envelope. It is a research institute attached to a hospital, which can be regarded as a medical institution! It is like some kind of experimental hospital. , but not an official clinic or hospital, and no officially employed physicians, nurses, or physical therapists."

Mariko's words and tone were light and lively, and I nodded in response. She went on to say, "The content is a bit long, is it okay?" I replied, "It's okay, please continue." She seemed to have a habit of looking people in the eye when speaking, and I soon learned why she had developed this habit. "This can be regarded as a non-hospital hospital. General hospitals are limited by the social health insurance system and almost cover up aging or other problems. It is unbearable. You should have heard of such things. Abnormal shock effects, I think there must be a place like this. "To put it simply, if a hospital keeps patients hospitalized for a long time, it will be oppressed in terms of operation, and the medical system will change. Indeed, some patients such as fractures or internal organ diseases can be cured as long as they receive appropriate treatment from doctors." There are not a few patients who go home to recuperate on their own. But in order to reduce the burden of health insurance, the hospital hopes that patients will be discharged as early as possible and go home to recuperate. The cost of health insurance paid will gradually decrease. "Of course, the length of the patient's hospitalization will change all the personnel costs for doctors, nurses or hospital organizations. In this way, hospital operators will be even more reluctant to accept long-term hospitalized patients. But in reality Say, some patients have to stay in hospital for a long time before recovering, and the recovery time is not what we can expect. And these patients who are in difficult conditions are becoming a serious problem today. Especially patients with brain diseases, here almost set up for these people." Hearing this, I couldn't help but shrink back a little from my original gaze on her, and Mr. Fujimoto, who was opposite me, sighed softly. "Especially those patients who have left some dysfunction in their bodies regardless of whether the operation is successful or not are the most troublesome. From diet to handling trivial matters around you, you have to be accompanied by someone even when you go for a walk. What's more tragic is that even You can’t even handle it by yourself, it’s too much for a family of four to support things like this, and it’s even more pitiful if there is no hope of recovery, and the people around you won’t be able to bear it first. Do you know what I mean?” I couldn't help turning my gaze to Chiori. She can go to the toilet by herself, and although she is clumsy, she has no problem with such trivial things as serving food.It's just a big burden for us.It is not difficult to imagine that the hard work the other party said should be more difficult than what I know! At that time, Chiori stared at Mariko intently, just like seeing Dr. Shiraishi for the first time. "This is a medical institution with a strange fate. On the surface, it cannot be separated from the hospital, but in fact the main body of the operation is not the state - the hospital underneath is funded by the state. I don't know if the term operation is appropriate, but here The budget and year-end revenue settlement of the hospital are separated from the hospital and individually audited. It sounds like a system that only takes benefits, although it is true to some extent, it is not entirely true. "First of all, if there is any emergency, the staff of the hospital below will help us deal with it urgently, because it is very remote here, and almost all doctors live in the dormitory at the back, and those with children will leave because their children go to school. Singles live here, and the rest are couples who move here together. That is to say, this nursing center is completely different from the hospital ward. All patients live in single rooms, and the layout of the rooms does not look like a ward. We provide The two rooms of three ping and one and a half ping are for patients to use. They are very similar to national residences. Only toilets are provided in each room. Others such as washing facilities, bathrooms, and restaurants are shared. In addition, there are chat rooms, entertainment Centers and rehabilitation centers and other equipment. "This design is for the family members of the patients. If the family members want to live here with the patients, they can do so. For couples, two rooms are enough. If the children come to visit and take care of the patients, they can sleep at night. In a room of one and a half ping. However, there are very few cases where Bu is actually hospitalized alone, because the cost is very high, and it is not easy for ordinary families to pay. But the environment here—how should I put it, it may be said to be kind to patients. It has greatly helped, and the results have exceeded everyone's expectations, and the interaction between personnel may be more appropriately described as mutual assistance. "In the beginning, the staff were mainly responsible for organizing the environment here, such as preparing food and beverages, cleaning the shared space, or planning and implementing the entertainment center together, etc. Of course, we were responsible for the trivial matters of individual hospitalized patients. We also take care of the company and excrement of Jian Jian. Therefore, there is a very clear line of separation between us and the patient's family. The staff manages all the facilities and single patients, and the family members share their own internal affairs, etc. Just now In the beginning, the communication with patients and their families was not ideal for a while, but it gradually changed. Living together in this cramped and narrow space for a long time, gradually even the atmosphere began to change. "At first, it happened between the patient and his family. At that time, a patient's wife fell ill due to overwork and a cold, but instead of going to the hospital below, she went to a family near the national highway. General Hospital, and was hospitalized there. It is also because of this opportunity that subsequent development has occurred. Everyone knows that if a person takes care of others for 365 days, he will not be able to bear it, because it is very hard to understand each other, so when When the staff helped with the patient’s chores, they would occasionally ask the person next door to accompany him for a walk. During that period, other family members helped to clean up the dishes after meals—everyone did what they could do at the beginning Helping each other, but slowly, under circumstances we didn’t realize—for example, when a family member is sick, asking others to help take a walk with the patient, or even washing other people’s clothes together, etc.—the family members began to help each other There is communication. "Afterwards, people took turns to help even take a bath. The most touching thing is that no one suggested it, but the people who had dined separately turned into eating together. Our group of people began to create a small common life here. body. It would be remarkable if the people who designed the system had anticipated that." Mariko's eyes sparkled with excitement, Chiori's eyes were fixed on her, and Mr. Fujimoto on the side folded his arms and closed his eyes to listen.Mariko's cheerful voice continued. "I think so. A small society is like a nuclear family. It is generally very relaxed, but once something happens to this small organization, it is weak. If one person falls ill, the family may not be able to maintain the so-called Sociality. If a triangle or a quadrangle is taken as an example, the figure with one corner broken cannot be established. That is to say, this is a group composed of a group of families whose friends have broken one corner, so they will complement each other and form a Larger family. Of course, not everything can be supported in this way. If couples do not have enough savings, the cost of living in a non-single person is also quite amazing. In this way, the financial burden must naturally be borne by other people who do not live together The family bears it, because they cannot work because they live together, and I think it is also because of these invisible efforts that they can continue to live here for recuperation! "It's the same with the hospital below. It's true that we have received help and protection from all parties to form a small society. That's why I said just now that it's not that simple. The finances here are actually very tight. Fujimoto understands these problems better. If you are interested, you can ask Fujimoto. I can only say that our conditions are very bad. If it is just a job with food and housing, it should not cost much money, but here we can't even save some money. Here In principle, we work five days a week, but if necessary, we have to work 24 hours multiplied by seven days, as if we exist for this facility, and the relative pay is very meager.” Cough—Mr. Fujimoto coughed, and Mariko glanced at him. "To be honest, there is no way around this, because personnel costs cannot be turned around at all, and most of the fees collected from patients must also be paid for buildings or investment equipment. If we do not reduce expenditures to maintain the current Even if I work hard for another 30 years, I will not be able to pay off the loan. When I first heard this explanation, I asked back: "Won't this place be burned after 30 years?" Mr. laughed for a long time. "However, the staff of us think it doesn't matter. Everyone must have their own reasons for thinking this way, but we rarely talk about this matter with each other, and it is because of fools like us that we can continue. Those who can't bear it will leave immediately. You can't blame them, because staying here is really hard. "However, it was only hard at the beginning. As I said, this sanatorium began to change after people gradually communicated with each other. With these changes, should it be said that the sanitation center is full of vitality, or should it be said? It’s better to be inspired? The patients here used to be able to take care of their own affairs, but now they have to rely on the help of others, so everyone’s face will always show expressions of anger at their own uselessness and embarrassment to trouble others. But when they themselves When I am very happy and thank others for their help, I will show it directly. Although I feel sorry for them and sympathize with them, such feelings that cannot be expressed in words will shake me a little at this time. It's hard to explain this feeling." At this point, Mariko suddenly raised her head, "Oh, it's already so late." She talked for more than 30 minutes alone, "I am also a member, Originally, I only planned to say hello, but in the end I made a lot of fools!" "Where is it, haven't you always been like this?" Mr. Fujimoto couldn't help but interrupted and complained. "Oh, don't say that about me! However, I think it's perfect to be able to hear Chiori's performance in this kind of place. Of course, not only the patients, but also the family members and staff who take care of the patients are living a miserable life. What a happy life. Sincerely thank you for accepting our invitation. By the way, Kisaragi, have you had dinner? If not, would you like to have dinner with everyone?" I haven't eaten since I ate pasta at noon. I decided to accept the invitation unceremoniously. In fact, I knew that there would be no restaurant to eat at all, but before I could speak, Chiori had already agreed. ,"okay." Mariko got up and said with a gentle smile on her face, "Then put your luggage here for now, please come with me!"