Paul Dies in China -- Part 1
Paul has a Bad Cough In 1987 I got a bad cold and a persistent cough. That night I had kept Bernice up all night with my coughing. In the morning I got one of my students to take me to the Unit's Clinic for a doctor's help. We walked over to the clinic while Bernice got a well-needed rest. When we got there the doctor gave me an X-ray.Pneumonia is the Problem This showed the doctor that I had pneumonia. They decided to give me a shot of penicillin. In China they always give a tiny drop under the skin on the wrist and then wait 30 minutes to see if there is any reaction. They gave me a shot on the wrist and asked to sit down and wait for a half hour. I sat down on a bench with my student and waited.
The Patient Collapses onto the Floor Sometime later I felt a very bad jolt to my nervous system. I knew I was in bad, bad trouble. The floor was concrete and I didn't want to pitch to the floor on my head so I put my head in my students lap and said, "I'm leaving now, hang on to me!" I knew I didn't have much time and that was the last thing I remember for a while. When I came to, there was someone on the floor and about six doctors were doing terrible things to him. After a short bit I began to realize that I was the guy on the floor being assailed.
As I regain consciousness Two doctors were sticking needles between my fingers while two more were doing the same to the toes. Another had a canvas bag with hoses attached and going down my throat. Another had a needle in my chest and one had her fingernail pressing hard under my nose. I was fascinated with this activity until I realized it was me who was getting the fine treatment. I didn't quite know what had happened. There were many very worried people looking on and when they saw me come to, they looked very relieved. My boss looked extremely worried. I'm sure he was also concerned about the reports he might have to write if I had not recovered.