I won't say much about the fever. I'll just briefly mention what happened with my finger afterward.
There was a splinter over a millimeter long inside it.
I struggled with it on and off for a long time before finally getting it out.
It had gone in too deep. That little branch had originally pierced more than two millimeters in, leaving a splinter behind. I thought the blood wasn't coming out, but it turned out the splinter was blocking the bleeding.
When the flesh started growing back, it came into contact with the splinter and swelled into a huge lump. The pain was intense, and it even festered.
It hurt so badly that even a touch nearly made me pass out.
I used a needle to slowly pry the flesh open, squeezed out the liquefied pus, and amid all the squeezing and suction, the splinter finally came out...
Sure enough, the suffering that came on the first of every month was never that simple.