New Gods of North America

After the exorcist priests surrounded him, Wayne turned to assess the casualties on site.

The situation was better than expected. When that guy was "running down the stairs," he was in a desperate sprint, not so much "afraid of death" but more like "having something more important to do."

Fortunately, his focus in that final wave was on "breaking through" rather than "inflicting casualties." Many exorcists were injured, but only two sustained relatively serious injuries.

The patrol officers arrived quickly, and after preliminary identification, the exorcists searched nearby private clinics for medicines and materials for bandaging. Those with more serious injuries stayed behind to await support and further treatment, while the captured guy was restrained after a preliminary assessment of his injuries.

During this process, the exorcists continued their search and apprehended two more individuals in two rooms on the third floor.

They claimed not to know Anton Zeig, but they obviously lacked his daring and fighting spirit. Wayne questioned them briefly and confirmed from their vague and evasive statements that they were "small fry" in the know.

They knew a little, but not much. However, it was certain that they were "part of the gang."

If he wanted to delve deeper into the details, he would probably have to spend time with them.

Fortunately, Wayne already had a preliminary understanding of what they might be planning to do tonight. After checking the map for nearby public facilities and bluffing them a bit,

the public hospital that was already on the suspect list now had its level of suspicion raised directly to "red alert."

Hospitals" in this era are not quite the same as the "hospitals" of modern society.

Because large and expensive medical equipment had not yet been invented, "going to a specific place to live in order to receive treatment" was not yet a sufficiently necessary thing. So, given a choice, wealthy people and even ordinary people would prefer to receive treatment at home or buy some medicine from a pharmacy and get through it themselves.

Even going to a private doctor's clinic was usually just for "check-ups," "bandaging," or relatively complex "clinical procedures." Wealthy people often preferred to have even major surgeries done at home—large-scale private hospitals had not yet developed, and the good doctors who made money were almost all "sole proprietors," at most forming a "firm" model with a few partners.

The "hospitals" that publicly and freely provided medical care in this era were more like almshouses that "specifically helped patients." Sometimes they also served as the "last resort for the poor and those without medicine," "testing grounds for new medical techniques," and "compulsory isolation facilities for patients with infectious diseases,"

which is the so-called "helping those with infamous reputations and caring for the most vulnerable groups."

"Church hospitals" had a better reputation in comparison because "insiders" in the church and some higher-status members of the congregation would also go there for treatment. The medical conditions and the people they treated varied from church hospital to church hospital.

As a voluntary "good deed," church hospitals also had the right to refuse some patients who did not meet the criteria. They could provide some medicine and suggest that patients go home to recuperate, or declare that they had "reached their treatment limit" and require patients to seek treatment at public hospitals.

No one had the right to criticize those who "do good deeds."

The same applied to hospitals affiliated with some universities. They had no obligation to treat patients on a large scale, and the treatment effects were usually uncertain. If the relationship was not good, coming there was tantamount to agreeing to cooperate with the professors' research or to let medical students practice, which was a matter of "one willing to hit and one willing to be hit."

"Public hospitals" were at a disadvantage in comparison. Because they could regularly receive appropriations from the state or city government, treating eligible patients became an unavoidable "obligation."

However, if they relied solely on those appropriations, even with the support of charitable organizations and philanthropists, most public hospitals in this era could not provide sufficient treatment capacity.

Therefore, due to many practical considerations, in order to maintain operations, there would be some behaviors such as "claiming a cure before the illness is healed," "using methods that may not be feasible," and even "fake treatment."

In some public hospitals, the "proportion" and "total number" of these behaviors could even reach a level that was "startling."

Added together, "public hospitals" at this time were not considered a "good place" in the public's mind, nor were they "relevant to everyone."

Most people at this time were unwilling to go to the hospital for treatment unless they were in dire straits. Even if they went, they might not meet the conditions for admission, and the treatment they could receive might not really be better than waiting to die at home.

Of course, public hospitals and church hospitals also had their "advantages." For example, because many urban mothers who could not afford doctor's fees had to choose to give birth in public hospitals or church hospitals, the experience and proficiency of the medical staff here in obstetrics were more than sufficient compared to many expensive family doctors.

Some upper-class families who sought stability or had truly unfavorable fetal signs began to choose to go to hospitals in big cities for the final stages of pregnancy in order to avoid accidents, but the temporary residence was "like another world."

After a virtuous cycle formed, the hospitals became happy to see this happen because "welcoming new life" was something that the public liked to see, and the use of medical resources was less and easier to predict than that of long-term patients. Politicians could also use some data as achievements, and the hospitals themselves often received a large or even larger donation.

Compared to "treating illnesses," "childbirth" was a more "win-win" part of the hospital in this era.

But no matter what, "public hospitals" and "church hospitals" were clearly non-profit organizations. For doctors and nurses, they were a good way to accumulate experience, qualifications, and case studies, and for many ordinary people, they were the last hope for themselves or their families to survive.

Therefore, although social celebrities and the general public would try their best to avoid falling into the situation of "having to live in a public hospital due to illness," people would often verbally or financially and actively care about the construction of local public hospitals,

whether to accumulate votes or to show that they were loving or enthusiastic about public welfare, this was an excellent topic.

Conversely, once something happened in this place, the reaction and uproar from all walks of life would easily be greater than if the matter occurred in their homes.

...

When they arrived at the public hospital, there were only a little more than two hours left until midnight.

Considering the time it would take on the return trip and to allow Tom Hagen as much time as possible to make decisions and for the exorcists to prepare,

the time left for Wayne and the others to investigate was probably less than an hour, and the shorter the better.

Hospitals and dormitories in colleges at this time were not "high-rise buildings," but more like "small buildings" or "small courtyards."

An exorcist priest in charge of leading the team suggested that Wayne first investigate the inpatient ward for the seriously ill because, from the perspective of "potential deaths and injuries," the patients in the seriously ill ward were obviously generally weaker, and the consequences of encountering the influence of sealed objects would probably be more serious.

Wayne sighed slightly upon hearing this. He didn't know when he had gathered another follower next to him, who was shaking his head unconsciously after listening.

So, the group that had already been reduced by half split into two groups to first investigate the maternity ward in the hospital, then the so-called "outpatient area," and finally the inpatient ward for the seriously ill.

No matter how many seriously ill patients from poor families or those with nowhere to go die, they are just numbers in the news. Politicians, the wealthy, and the middle class will certainly express indignation, but they may not really care at all. They may just scold a few times and let it go.

The special delivery rooms facing the upper class, and the inpatient delivery rooms theoretically facing people of all social classes, may be the places that can truly shake public opinion.

The former has fewer people, but may have a significant impact. Although the probability of members of wealthy or political families appearing in public hospitals is not high—they are more likely to appear in hospitals under the names of churches or some college medical associations, or even have expert teams stay at their homes—but as long as the probability is not zero, the attackers may choose there.

The latter has a wider impact, and what is shaken may be the cornerstone of votes in the electoral district. If there are also some middle-class or special citizens who live there because they want to show closeness to the people or for various objective reasons, whether they are councilors, lawyers, or newspaper editors, reporters, or even leaders of trade union organizations, then it is like winning the "grand prize," and wait to see the public opinion being guided to boiling point.

Even leaving these factors aside, from the perspective of "human nature," people are more likely to be indignant because "the beauty that could have come has been destroyed" than "letting the poor usher in a bad ending ahead of time."

While lamenting that he was indeed black-hearted, Wayne went to the inpatient maternity ward for people of all social classes.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go to the other small courtyard, which was said to be quieter and more luxurious, to see the world, but that it was a bit far away, and even the gate was not the same as the main body of the hospital. Even if he took the emergency internal passage for medical staff, he felt it was a bit of a waste of time.