CouId Change My Mind?

Writers: Aaron, Ames, Suzee
Date Posted: 25th October 2019

Characters: Wirnan, Bryvin, Katreen
Description: Wirnan get's his leg tended to
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 11, day 9 of Turn 9
Notes: Ames wrote the first part of this post and has allowed adoption
of Wirnan by Aaron. Aaron helped finish it. Sorry for the long LOA's
that caused the delay.
Signed for Ames with permission

Wirnan

Bryvin

Wirnan winced a bit as he shifted on the chair they'd brought him. He'd
met with the healers here and they immediately said he had to get off
his leg. The rest wasn't so pleasant and now a wound he'd thought had
once healed was now open and bandaged again.

He didn't want to be sitting here doing _nothing_. There was
unfinished business out there waiting for him somewhere. Bryvin had
assured him he would help him handle things, but had also made it
clear that the first priority had to be Wirnan's health.

He heard the knock on the door. It was the established knock of the
one and only healer Bryvin had granted permission to tend Wirnan so
far. He'd been told another healer would be assigned to tend to the
wound as the master healer had too many other duties. However, to keep
things as secret as possible, Bryvin had assured him it would be only
one healer and he would see to it that the healer was always available
to treat and tend Wirnan during his recovery.

"Enter," he called, lowering his leg from the table they had placed
and turning to look towards the door.

"Hello," Katreen smiled as she came through the door. "I'm Katreen,
they sent me from the Weyr." She'd been briefed that this man who was
a cousin of the Lord Holder had run into some bad people who were
still trying to find him. So a healer that didn't look like one was
sent and without her knots. That felt extremely strange to her along
with having to wear a dress like other women of the Hold. "How are you
feeling today?"

"From the Weyr, eh?" Wirnan hadn't expected that. "I'm feeling
alright. A bit antsy, truth be told, but I was _told_ to stay put and
keep my leg up as much as possible." He grumbled a bit. "So, what all
have you been told?" He wasn't sure if she'd been given his real name
or his pseudo-name and he felt it would be best to be upfront with
finding out how much information had been passed along.

"You're the Lord Holder's cousin and the Weyr is doing him a favor,"
she smiled and tilted her head. "You have an abscess and other
injuries that haven't healed properly. Do I need to know more than
that?"

He nodded, "That sounds about right." He remarked. "They are telling
me the wound on my leg will take some time to heal and needs treated
multiple times a day." He said the last with a heavy sigh. "It's been
awhile, so I'm not really sure it can be healed, to be honest, but
then again. I'm not healer. I'm lucky I kept it from killing me." He
shrugged a bit. It still ached so he wasn't sure if any of the initial
things they'd done had really made a difference. Wirnan had just
accepted that it was part of his new normal.

"Well, that's my job isn't it? I may be female sir, but I assure you I
am a fully qualified journeyman healer." She shook her head at him.
"Now sit back and let me get to work."

Wirnan's eyebrows climbed a bit for half a moment. Very direct at the
weyr, weren't they? Still, he was not about to make a show of arguing
that he had never entertained a thought to the contrary. Maybe had,
and maybe he had not, but he was not going to add fuel to the fire of
the man doth protest too much.

"By all means, madam journeywoman," he said, a smile tugging briefly
at the corner of his lips. There had been little call to be hopeful
for a long while, but if he had found a safe harbor after all that
time of feeling next to hopeless, perhaps he could find it in himself
to be a little more optimistic about the prognosis for his leg.

Perhaps.

"Thank you for seeing me. Favor or no favor."

"No problem," she said with a glint of a smile in her eyes. "But If
I'm going to see that leg, the trousers are going to have to come
off." She waited a heartbeat. "Unless you'd rather I cut them?"

"Well, don't get too excited to grab the scissors," said Wirnan,
chuckling a bit. "The weyr bleeds into you quick like, then, doesn't
it? Haven't even made me dinner yet, and already..." He grinned and
winked and then blushed a tiny bit despite himself.

"Ah... You'll forgive me, but this gets a little easier if I can at
least start by facing away." He pushed himself up on the arms of the
chair and then stood, putting all his weight on his good leg. Then,
bracing himself on the chair, he turned to face the wall and pulled
the trousers down before turning back.

"Do you need them all the way off, or is around the ankles good
enough?" At least he could keep his pants up, he supposed.

She kept a bland expression on her face and just shook her head. Then
she took a towel from her stack of equipment and laid it across his
lap. She forced herself not to sigh at holder humor about the Weyr but
her eyes twinkled at him. "I don't cook," she said dryly as she bent
to examine his thigh closely. There were no indications of gangrene or
sepsis yet the wound hadn't really closed well. "Forgive me," she
said. "But I'm going to need to touch it." She turned to wash her
hands with redwart.

"No, no, of course," said Wirnan, holding up his hands. No choice in
the matter, of course. And he had endured pain before. Not that he
was thrilled at the opportunity to repeat the experience.

"I won't hold it against you." He sat back down and then reached down
to grip the seat of the chair, but he tried to relax as much as he
could.

She probed the wound with gentle fingers or as gently as she could.
"This looks like it was quite a deep wound," she said. "Have you had a
Healer look at it before," her brows drew together in puzzlement. It
was almost acting like there were something foreign like a knife tip
or something still down deep inside the wound which would explain why
it hadn't really healed. And why it would close and then reopen. "What
were you stabbed with?"

"Oh, you know," said Wirnan working to keep his wincing under control.
"Little o' this, little o' that. I assumed it was a belt knife.
Something stabby," he said, his tone changing with each answer as
though it were very nearly a laughing matter.

"I suppose I never quite needed a Healer – it kept doing it's own
healing. Keep it clean, change the bandage, you know. Standard fare.
And then a bit later, it'd open up again, and then I'd start over. I
suppose I could have seen a seamstress to get it stitched up," he
joked, though for half a moment, he wondered if that might not have
helped.

"But I heard you can't really stitch it properly once it's healed a
bit already. I thought I'd have a nice, manly scar by now to be quite
honest..."

She sighed and licked her lips. "Right, you know all this because
you're a healer?" She just shook her head and turned back to her
supplies.and began laying things out on a tray. She looked up and
around the room, they had fairly good light where they were so she felt
comfortable doing this here. The room and area were obviously clean
but she would have to tend to him for at least a sevenday.

She leaned on the arm of his chair and looked directly into his eyes.
"I think there is something down in the wound that needs to come out.
Then I need to stitch you up. You can do this awake or asleep but I'll
also need an assistant." She knew there were constraints with this
patient so she laid it out for him to make his choice.

"Awake," said Wirnan without hesitation. Asleep and vulnerable with
people he did not know was going to take some time yet to get used to,
and he was certainly not ready for it then. Still, he did not want to
give any more thought to pulling something out of the wound while
cognizant than he had to. He was sure numbweed would not reach down
far enough to make it a painless proposition.

"Do you need a proper healer apprentice," the man asked, putting aside
the jesting for a moment, "or will any pair of hands do as well as
another?"

"I need a pair of hands with a brain if that is available," she said.
"Why? Do you have someone in mind?"

"Well, my cousin might be a touch short on the brain, but he's got
hands." Wirnan chuckled for a moment and then coughed. "Well, that's
only a joke, of course. He'll know who to send."

"Alright," she looked a bit severely at him and went to the door. The
guards who'd brought her to the room still stood outside. "He wants to
see his cousin," she said and at the startled look she frowned. "Can
you handle that?"

"Yes, of course," one of them said. "I'll tell him."

She popped back into the room, "I've sent someone to fetch your
cousin," she said and began sterilizing the tools.

"Well. I can see you're a bit cross that I've gone this long without
seeing a healer," said Wirnan, looking a bit sheepish after Katreen
spurned yet another attempt – poor though it may have been – at
levity. "And you're right. I hope you won't hold it against me. Not as
hard as you can, anyway."

He wanted to explain that he had been afraid for his life and not
simply a bullheaded woolheaded man who refused to see a healer. That
would have invited too many questions, and Bryvin had gone to enough
trouble on Wirnan's behalf to avoid questions as it was. But moreover,
Wirnan could not let the relief of finding sanctuary lead him to
become complacent with his tongue.

Her eyes narrowed. This man was obviously used to a far different kind
of woman than she was. "Sir," she snipped. "I am appalled at the
condition of that wound. I am asked to care for you in secret without
the facilities or assistance that would make that an easy task. You
tell me what healer wouldn't be just a little cross."

At that moment the door opened and Bryvin walked in. "You _sent_ for
me," he asked rather blandly.

"Are you this man's cousin," she asked.

"I am," he said with a slight smile at Wirnan.

"Then wash your hands in redwart," she snipped at him in the same tone
pointing at the bowl. "You're going to assist me with him," she
pointed her chin at Wirnan.

Bryin's brows lifted and then he grinned "I like her," he said to
Wirnan and began to removed his coat and roll up his sleeves.

"I'm beginning to think that being awake for this wasn't the best idea
I ever had," said Wirnan, averting his gaze from the rankled healer.
With Bryvin there to watch over him, it would be safe enough, anyway.
"Could I change my mind?"

Last updated on the October 26th 2019

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CouId Change My Mind?