Healer Visit

Colby Wintertree heard some confusing things, the facts a bit difficult to put together. One thing he\'s certain on is that some boy is hurt and no one felt qualified enough to deal with the injury.

The Breelander was led in and he makes his way to the patient, a heavy leather pack carried in one hand, a mug of hot water in the other.

[Nob(#16122)] Gidon is lying on a bed. His arm is bandaged and immobilized and strapped down so that he cannot move it. The boy himself looks to be about 13 or 14 yrs of age his nearly-black hair is damp with sweat and clings to his pale face. He is sleeping, it seems, but restlessly, turning his head and breathing heavily. There is a bucket of cool water by the bed, and a wet cloth that was on his forehead moments before has slipped down to a pile by his ear.

Colby approaches slowly, setting the mug down on the nearest surface and moving to stand over the bed. He watches the boy for a few long moments, carefully studying him with a somber expression on his face. Then the man reaches for the fallen rag and reaches to dip it into the bucket. He lifts it free of the water, wringing out most of the excess before he gently presses it against Gidon\'s face again.

While he holds the cloth in place, Colby sets the pack down on the floor next to the bucket and reaches to begin loosening the straps holding the boy\'s arm down.

[Nob(#16122)] Even in his sleep, Gidon groans as his arm is touched. But the cooling rag seems to comfort him, and he stops moving his head so restlessly. As Colby continues to unbind the arm, the boy\'s eyes blink partly open and he looks without recognition at the man who bends over him.

Colby applies just enough pressure to the cloth to keep it held in place, but not enough that the boy might feel trapped or too much discomfort from the interferance.

When he sees Gidon\'s eyes flutter open, the man speaks in a softly pitched voice. \"Just relax, lad. My name is Colby. I\'m a healer and I\'m going to get you fixed up, okay?\" Even as he speaks, he continues loosening up the bindings, freeing the boy\'s arm and glancing at the blood-stained banadages. \"Do you think you can drink something?\"

[Nob(#16122)] Gidon\'s eyes are huge, darkly shadowed with pain and fogged with sleep and fever. And there is something else in them as well. Despair, perhaps. \"Yes...\" he says listlessly. His voice is a thread, and he winces, shutting his eyes again as the man continues to work with his arm. \"Hurts.\"

\"I would be worried if it didn\'t hurt, lad.\" Colby responds in the same, soft, gentle voice. He has a way of speaking that doesn\'t jar on the nerves.

The healer reaches down to dip the cloth into the bucket again, then applies it to Gidon\'s brow once more but doesn\'t hold it now that the boy is awake. \"I\'m going to make a drink for you, it should help with the pain a bit, and your fever.\" He explains as he begins searching through his pack of supplies, pulling out various small glass jars with different dried herbs and ground powders in them.

Once he finds what he was looking for, Colby sprinkles some of the medicine into the mug of hot water and watches it slowly mix into the liquid. He moves back to hold it to Gidon\'s lips and help him drink it.

[Nob(#16122)] Gidon doesn\'t even try to lift his head, though he opens his mouth obediently. Some of the liquid dribbles down his chin, but some of it gets swallowed. The boy coughs, twisting his face into a grimace at the taste. The cough jars his body, and he groans again.

\"Drink a bit more, lad.\" Colby urges, reaching his free hand behind the boy\'s head to help him lift it and swallow more easily. \"I haven\'t gotten much of any story on what happened, but I did hear something about you gettting the wrong side of an axe. Can you tell me about that?\" The healer asks, though his attention is more on what he\'s doing than the conversation.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Tastes nasty,\" Gidon whispers, but he drinks a little more before shutting his mouth and refusing the concoction. At the healer\'s question, his expression turns desolate and he shuts his eyes again. Slow tears begin to slide down the sides of his face.

Colby sets the mug aside and begins delicately untying the bandages. He glances at Gidon\'s face when he gets no answer, frowning. \"No? Well, maybe I\'ll just ask around then.\" He says quietly, not pressing the issue. \"What\'s your name?\" He has to lift the arm a bit to unwind the bandages, but he\'s making an effort to be as careful as possible.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Gidon,\" whispers the boy. \"Leaf - Leafthicket. Ahhh!\" It is an indrawn breath of agony. The damp cloth on his forehead is nearly dry again - his skin is very hot.

Colby stops as Gidon reacts so sharply, frowning and watching the boy again carefully. He waits until the boy has a chance to catch his breath, then reaches for a pillow and slips it under Gidon\'s arm, elevating the injured area. \"Give it a few minutes, Gidon, the medicine will help. Try not to move too much.\" He reaches for the cloth and again wets it from the bucket, applying it to the youth\'s brow once more.

[Nob(#16122)] Gidon dips his head in what might be assent. After a while, he opens his eyes again, they are fever bright and brilliant with tears. \"What..\" he rolls his head to look at his arm, and closes his eyes for a minute before looking back to Colby. \"Are... you going to cut it off?\"

The healer carefully peels away the remaining bandaging, pulling a small pair of scissors from his pack to cut through the bindings. He wrinkles his nose for a fleeting moment when he smells the taint of the infection and gazes at the deep wound for a long time, evaluating it.

\"What? Your arm?\" Colby tilts his head faintly to one side, then his brown eyes move to Gidon\'s and he speaks in the same passive calm. \"No, I don\'t think so. I\'m going to clean the area really well with some medicine, then sew it. Is that okay?\" Already he\'s digging more supplies from his bag -- a skin of some liquid, needle and thread, some clean bandages, a small sharp-looking knife.

[Nob(#16122)] There is silence while the lad tries to follow all those words. Finally, he says, mumbling a little, \"Seen... feller get\'s arm caught inna trap once. Had t\'cut it off.\"

\"Lucky for you, your arm isn\'t in a trap, right?\" Colby responds with a hint of a smile. When he drops his gaze to the deep, infected wound though, his eyes are anything but smiling. The healer picks up the skin, \"This is going to sting, lad. Brace yourself.\" He pulls the stopper from the container, then reaches his free hand to rest on Gidon\'s shoulder to hold him if neccessary and slowly pours a trickle of alcohol over the wound.

[Nob(#16122)] Sting is an understatement. Gidon jerks, and screams. But hopefully the treatment will do the trick, and curb the infection.

Colby presses down on Gidon\'s shoulder, preventing him from flailing too much and jostling the already injured arm. \"I\'m sorry, Gidon. It will pass in a few moments. You\'ll have to be tough, lad.\" He says quietly, his words sympathetic. \"Just close your eyes, the worst is almost over. Try to hold as still as you can.\" The man continues speaking in a soothing tone, reaching for the knife so that he can cut away the tainted, dead flesh where the infection is the worst. \"What did you say your family name was, Gidon?\"

Once he is done with the blade-work, he reaches for the cloth from the youth\'s brow and dunks it into the bucket again, but this time wrings it out over the open wound, rinsing it clean again.

[Nob(#16122)] \"Leaf...\" Gidon starts to say, and then screams again, tries instinctively to jerk his arm away from the blade and shrieks once more before he faints. This makes it much easier for the healer to finish his work.

Colby frowns as Gidon passes out, concern crossing his face. He takes a moment to make sure the youth is breathing evenly, then goes about his business of cleaning and sewing up the wound. A poultice is applied to fight the infection, and the injury is bandaged with clean cloths. Then he splints the arm and positions it elevated on the pillow again, and goes to find a chair so that he can take up vigil in reducing the feature by routinely applying a fresh damp cloth to Gidon\'s fevered flesh.

[Nob(#16122)] The boy lays limp and white, his mouth slack and two dots of fever-red burning on his cheeks. Eventually he slips from the faint into sleep again.