Warm Cloths, Hot Tea, Compresses

Writers: AL, Ames, Chelle
Date Posted: 17th July 2013

Characters: Wirnan, Kaya, Chupsin
Description: Kaya seeks the help of Chupsin after Wirnan returns from his trip unwell.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 1, day 12 of Turn 7

Wirnan

Wirnan woke up with a splitting headache. He still ached all over. He
remembered coming home. He remembered Kaya was there, but he didn't
honestly remember much else. He felt awful. Rolling over, he realized
he was in bed. That was when another bout of coughs overtook him.
Afterward, he flopped back on the bed with a groan. He hadn't felt
this bad in a long, long time.

Kaya had spent the night in the room though she spent it on the floor.
The chair had been too uncomfortable so she'd just lain some bedding
out on the floor and stayed there. So she heard him when he stirred.
She pulled herself to her feet and leaned over the bed. "Wirnan?"

"Hmm," he replied, "Yes?" His voice sounded hoarse even to his own
ears. He wanted to go back to sleep.

He didn't sound good. In truth, he sounded worse than he had the night
before. "I'm going to go order breakfast. I'll get you some soup.
You stay in bed." And Kaya was also going to see if a healer could
come take a look at him. She didn't think it was anything life
threatening, but it might be best to be safe rather than sorry.

He coughed again. His chest hurt when he coughed so hard so he didn't
argue with her when she ordered him to stay put. Instead, he fell back
to sleep.

Kaya took a moment to fold up her bedding and put it away. She paused
over Wirnan to listen to his breathing, then moved out of their
quarters. An order was put in to the kitchens, but her next stop was to
the healers. She moved inside and waited to be seen. She wasn't _too_
worried, not yet, but the illness had sprung up rather quickly and she
didn't want to take chances.

He'd been told the steward's wife was there. The last time Chupsin had
seen her, she'd been near death so he was glad this time she appeared
healthy, though worried. The senior journeyman quickly made his way over.
"Mam, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Healer, I was wondering if you'd be willing to come see my husband."
Kaya managed a small smile. "He seems to have caught a bad cold, but I
want to make sure it's nothing more serious."

"Ah that's no good." Having worked with Wirnan for sometime at this point,
Chupsin had a better feel for the man, though he still thought of him as an
outsider. Zathris was also an outsider but that man had Holder's rights now.
"Just a moment." He let his fellow journeymen know where he was going and
then stopped to grab his things. Turning around with instruments in hand, he
nodded to her. "Lead the way." Tourniquet followed at a safe distance in
case
he was needed.

Kaya turned and moved back into the hallway and then to the quarters
she shared with Wirnan. She closed the door behind the healer then
moved into the bedroom. "Wirnan...I've got Healer Chupsin."

He stirred from his sleep and instantly started to cough. The cough
sounded raspy at times. Finally the coughing subsided. He lay on the
bed, feeling rather spent from the effort. "I think I caught something
from the hold I visited this past sevenday," he managed to remark to
Chupsin.

"Which Hold was that and how long have you been doing this?" Chupsin
stepped forward and immediately rolled up a tube and pressed it to
Wirnan's chest to listen to what was going on in there. After a few
moments, he gestured for Kaya to help him as he tried to get to the
steward's back gently.

Kaya stepped forward to assist the healer in whatever way he told her.
She took a firm but gentle hold on the sick man and helped hold him in

a position that would make Chupsin's job easier.

He coughed as they shifted him about. "Hidden Meadows. A few of the
folks there had similar coughs. Even the holder had come down with
it."

Sighing, Chupsin made a mental note to dispatch Tourniquet with a message
to the hold to see if they needed assistance and what people were
suffering from
so he could get a better picture of Wirnan's problems. Listening for a
moment,
he was satisfied. Continuing his examination slowly but thoroughly, he
nodded.
"Lady Kaya, I need some warm cloths, hot tea, and a bowl if you have it."

"Well Wirnan, right now with it being a little colder...you need to
stay warm first
of all. Stay inside. And then we're going to give you some tea and
some compresses
against your chest to see if we can't get things to slow down."
Stepping back, he opened
his case on a nearby table and began pulling out what he wanted.

"Alright," he replied, pleased to know that Chupsin would take good
care of him. "I hate colds like this," he grumbled.

Kaya nodded to the healer then hurried off to do the bidding of the
healer. It took a few minutes, but when she returned, she had the
cloths, tea, and the bowl. She set the small tray she'd put them onto
the dresser.

Chupsin nodded for Kaya to put one of the warm cloths on Wirnan's
chest and then put one around his neck and throat. Meanwhile his hands
dropped some herbs into the bowl which he ground up further. Using the
tea tray, he let the concoction steep.

Kaya eased one of the cloths on Wirnan's chest and then gently wraped
one around his neck. Her hands carefully pressed them down, just a
little, then she straightened and stepped back to await any other
instruction.

Wirnan patiently waited for them to finish their ministrations. He
would break into coughs every now and then. He hoped Chupsin could
make things better. He hated feeling sick like this.

Once the tea was ready, Chupsin brought it carefully over with a spoon
and handed it to Kaya. "Give him this a little at a time." Moving slowly,
he helped to prop Wirnan up some with the pillows. "When you're done,
I'm going to have a listen again." In the meantime, he started to prepare
packets of tea for her so that she could give him some for the next few
days.

"Sip slowly." The spoon wasn't that big, but it would still be easy
to drink too quickly even with such a small amount. Kaya held the
spoon to Wirnan's lips to carefully feed it to him.

He did as they told him, sipping the tea slowly. It felt good as he
drank the liquid. He hoped it would help ease the coughing and ache in
his chest.

Finishing his work, Chupsin watched that for a bit, then decided he would
give Kaya instructions and then check on Wirnan the next day. "Allright,
so get him to finish the tea and keep the warm compresses on for awhile.
I've given you packets here. One packet every few hours should do it. I'll

check back in tomorrow."

"Thank you Chupsin," Wirnan called from the bed. He trusted Chupsin
and knew with his help this cold and cough would be gone sooner rather
than later.

Last updated on the July 19th 2013

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Warm Cloths, Hot Tea, Compresses