Ning visited the imperial medical institute with Qinghe and Yan. Physician Fan met them in a small reception room with a model of the lungs on one shelf. He asked Ning where she wanted to sit. She chose the chair closest to the door.
Fan read the refinery notes she had brought. He asked about shortness of breath, sleep, appetite, and the days when the cough worsened. Ning answered each question. When Yan began to explain one symptom he remembered, Ning finished her answer and looked at him.
“Let me answer first,” she said. “If you remember something I missed, I’ll ask.”
Yan lowered his hands. “All right.”
Fan listened and asked how long her cough had lasted. Ning gave the dates from her notes. She described the difference between working near the furnace and the lower-exposure sorting shift. The cough had eased on some mornings but not disappeared.
“Do you get breathless when walking?” Fan asked.
“Sometimes after a long shift. Less on the new schedule.”
“Have you had fever?”
