New Babbage: A Very Memorable Evening

After my leg was savaged by the beast and stitched up by Blackberry Harvey, I was put under the care of Dr Watson at Dr Kaligawa's Free Clinic.

Due to the efforts of Dr Watson and Myrtil, I didn't become addicted to morphine or laudium, but unfortunately after hobbling around snowdrift filled New Babbage on crutches on the trail of beasts and mysteries, my wound became infected. By the 5th of December my wound was swollen and smelly and I was highly feverish.

Visiting hours at the New Babbage free clinic

Quite the crowd had gathered at my bedside when Gadget woke me up to say the doctors were coming...

The surgeons arrive to look at my infected leg

The doctors were very concerned about how feverish I had become, worried that the infection had spread into my body.

Amputation will be necessary

Removing my leg would be the only answer. They could only hope that I would recover once the wound had healed.

I'm feverish, weak and generally not feeling my best

Dr Watson reassures me by telling me that many men lead good long lives with only one leg, he should know as an army surgeon.

Watson prepares me for surgery

Tepic realises what the doctors mean to do with my leg and attempts to defend it with violence!

Tepic tries to save my leg ...by attacking the doctors with his knife!

In the end Myrtil has to hold Tepic back and an adult decides to send him on an errand to distract him!

Doctors Kaligawa and Watson wash in preparation for surgery

I was so feverish that I wasn't really aware of what was going on. None the less, the surgeons needed to sedate me, so a pad soaked in chloroform was put over my face.

Chloroform pad applied to the face to sedate the patient

Dr K ties a tourniquet and Dr Watson removes the dressing and cleans the wound with alcohol.

A tourniquet is tied around the leg above the wound

Watson makes an incision and cuts away to reveal the bone

As the first cut is made, I started to groan and squirm, Gadget tells me it was quite scary to witness but I don't really remember it. Watson added more drops of chloroform until I stopped reacting.

Dr K begins to saw through the bone

Watson inspects the bone - a very clean cut!

Dr K sutures up the skin flap, covering the bone

Dr K continues to suture the wound closed

The surgery is almost complete

Watson dresses the wound, Gadget is shocked!

Everyone tells me I was very brave, but I don't really remember any of it. I think Gadget's the brave one for standing in the room while they sawed through me!

With the chloroform pad removed, I briefly realise what's going on!

 I do remember this bit - blimey!

The surgeons cover my leg while Gadget distracts me

Back in my sick bed, now dosed up on morphine

I was in bloody agony before they dosed me up though! And I threw up by Watson's foot while he was trying to inject me!

Gadget promises to watch over me 

Gadget takes over from Myrtil with the laudium rationing too...

What's all that commotion outside?

Suddenly there's excited shouting and even some screaming from outside, Tepic returns from his errand, pushes the food into Holmes' hands then runs off again!

It's the dreaded beast!

 The beast is in the street! Everyone's shouting for Gadget to get to the trap!

It's in the trap! But where's Gadget to set it off?!

But Gadget wants to guard me from the beast, it could come back for more and finish me off! Mr Holmes vows to protect me, so Gadget runs to the trap.

Gadget traps it!

It's a close thing, the beast goes through a few times, but Gadget finally gets it. But suddenly there's a loud blast and the beast appears to be gone!

But someone blasts a hole into the trap from below!

Someone must have used explosives to blast a hole into the trap from the sewers below, releasing the beast. The citizens of New Babbage debate whether this means the beast has been released once more or if some unknown person has captured the beast for their own nefarious means...

The Babbagers debate who could've broken the beast out!

Meanwhile I was going to require a week or two of bed rest before I'd be back on my feet. My wound will take several weeks to heal, during which my stump will require its dressing changing every day. After two or three months, my bone should become strong enough to bare my weight again and I'll be able to have some kind of wooden leg. Until then, I'll be getting around the streets of New Babbage on crutches.

(NB, These events took place on the 5th of December, after a week of RPing being on my sick bed in Second Life I found myself ill for a week in real life! I'm now out of bed in both cases, although on crutches in SL!)