Closed Drown in the Now (Lixue)

[Sliver]

9th of Fall Sliver lumbered slowly through the thick drifts collecting in the streets of Avanthal. She felt like a seal in the ocean, her thick body riding sloping waves as she lunged upward only to sink deeply into the drifts. The wolverine would have made for an amusing sight, but she was on a specific and serious mission, and it throbbed with every leap. The Kelvic didn’t care too much for healers, her philosophy was that most any wounds were better off with a bit of water to clean them out and some time. Scars weren’t something to try to prevent, they were proof of your idiocy and the trials you had been through, no use in hiding that. So when she had encountered some strangely brave wolves roaming at will through the city and stopped them with the aid of her fellow Icewatch members, she hadn’t mentioned her injury. It was just a bite after all, sure it hurt, but it was deep so that made sense, and it was only in the muscle of her calf, no harm done to any major arteries or something like that. As far as Sliver figured, it would scab up and heal in maybe a week tops. She washed it and stuff, but that was all, and in the past couple days it had started hurting, a lot. Strange colored puss had started issuing, and the area around it had turned odd colors. When she showed it to a fellow member, they had nearly bodily shoved her out the door to the hospital. There were Icewatch healers, of course, but with all the strange animal attacks occurring lately, they were a bit pre-occupied, so here she found herself at the Whitevine Healing Center. Not wanting to transform back into human form in the middle of Blizzard, the wolverine scratched and snorted and banged against the front doors until a rather confused attendant opened the door and starred agape at the smallish muscalid attempting to burrow beneath the doorframe. Sliver snorted in relief and partially limped in past the man, gazing around her. It was a well lit, well furnished area, and just as the attendant began spluttering more, a young man came out of some office area. He took one look at the wolverine favoring one paw, content in her new environment, and then disappeared. When he returned the naked female was standing, dripping and shivering in the middle of the room, and he handed her a robe to keep warm. Sliver accepted it gratefully, impressed with this person’s deductive abilities. He assessed her injury, and then had her sit in the waiting area until the next available physician was able to tend to her. Sliver waited patiently, glad to be out of the icy wind. Her nose registered many fresh scents; charcoal, disinfectant, metal, the faintest traces of death and illness, covered by fresh floral scents and food being constantly served at every hour of the day. People bustled about in a serious, but unhurried manner, focused upon their individual tasks. Mahogany eyes followed their progress, lifting her injured leg up to relieve some pressure.

[Lixue]

What was she doing at work? Only the day before, Ly was lost. Wanting to have one last escapade with his hold, Ly had chosen to go hunting. The hunting party went... wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. The wildlife was becoming unruly. Only three wolves had taken the hunting party Ly had been a part of and yet the beasts had easily taken the group. The funeral was to be later. Despite the protests of her others, Lixue had decided to come to work. She needed something normal. Something where the individuals in of what had happened involved would not look at her like she was going to break, even if she did look the part with her pale skin and haunted, black eyes. The tears had not flooded over yet and the shock had not yet worn off. The night had been lonely. Lixue tossed and turned, hugging her pillow to her. Time after time she awoke with a gasp, plagued by nightmares and thoughts of what Ly's last moments had been like. The night was too tight, too confining. Finally, early in the morning, she had given up on the idea of sleep and lit a lamp, curled up in a chair and lost herself in her thoughts. As the hours passed and the sun peeked over the horizon, teasing its way into the room, Lixue's eyes did not greet the sight. She had awoken only moments later with a hoarse scream, landing with a thump on the floor. The nightmares were... excruciatingly painful to endure. Lines from the chair decorated Lixue's cheek and her arm was asleep, but Lixue could not have told you which one. In a daze, she had dressed for work and arrived without consciously making decisions. Only when she stood outside the clinic did Lixue knock herself from the stupor. Being distracted on the job would cause death. With a heavy mind, Lixue checked in bells before many individuals would even think about beginning their shifts. She occupied her time, and her mind, with menial tasks like folding sheets, washing tools, and organizing. Anything to keep her mind on her work. When the clinic became busier, Lixue fell into the everyday tasks with a determination that was frightening. As the day wore on, however, Lixue became less aware of when she yawned or when her stomach growled (she had not eaten since early the day before), much less her surroundings. An assistant was sent to check on her after a period time had passed without sound and discovered Lixue asleep from pure exhaustion, head in her arms on the desk. Quietly, the assistant left. It took less than half a bell before Lixue awoke, covered in a light sheen of sweat and looking ruffled. The nearly purple bags under her eyes told a story of their own. Shaking off the stupor, Lixue forced herself to focus. There were lives at risk and she refused to be the one to endanger them. Besides, the work place was not where personal emotions and inner turmoil belonged. Pitying glances were cast Lixue's way as she headed toward the waiting room. The day had been busy even with.... even with the circumstances. Lixue nudged the thought away and checked with the assistant at the counter to see who was next. Though the man appeared to weighing his choices on whether to let Lixue take a patient or not, he finally nodded in the general direction of a woman huddling inside a robe with a foot off the floor. "Come with me." Lixue walked slowly, so the woman could keep up. The actual working room was neatly organized. Everything was in a specific place and nothing unnecessary was in sight. Several rags were folded and placed on the corner of the desk. The basic healing necessities were listed alphabetically in the drawers of the desk and a cot sat against one wall. "Please, have a seat and tell me what happened."

[Sliver]

Sliver waited patiently. If she had dealt with the injury thus far, a couple more chimes wasn't going to hurt her any. People went to and fro and the wolverine remained motionless until she saw two figures at the desk, one separating from the pair and approaching her. She immediately noticed the sickly pallor to the woman's skin. In fact the Vantha seemed not only a bit ill herself, but exhausted. Sliver was utterly confused about someone in this state being fit for work, but then again she thought, perhaps she was just being too judgmental. Perhaps this is always how the woman looked and she was simply being rude. She got up an followed her new physician to the indicated room. Inside it seemed to be clean and organized, as one would expect a place of medicine to be. Even that short walk had pained the Kelvic, who was grateful for her doctor's mediated pace, and she sat down with a soft sigh of relief where indicated. Sliver lifted up the robe to reveal the nasty looking injury that covered her calf, discolored skin and puss slowly oozing from the gaping wound. Bits of bandage and dirt covered the opening and it was clear that the Kelvic had no idea how to dress or truly clean her injury, even if clear attempts had been made. "I got this a few days ago from a very outgoing group of wolves. I figured it would heal on it's own, but it began throbbing yesterday and the pain hasn't stopped since." She spoke very blandly, Sliver did not care to show physical weakness, especially in the face of a stranger, and just proffered the leg for inspection.

[Lixue]

Wolves. For a moment, Lixue was lost in her thoughts. Her black eyes glazed over and, without a doubt, the patient would most likely feel as though there was only one living person in the room. Ly had been killed by wolves. Though she wanted to, Lixue was afraid to ask for more information. She was afraid of what the woman would say. Snapping back to the present by shaking her head imperceptibly. No need to let her mind wander. There was a patient to take care of. Lixue eyed the wound. Besides the torn bandages and dirt, the wound oozed pus. Roughly judging, Lixue could only guess whether or not the wound would need stitches. The length was worrisome, but not as much as how the wound gaped open. Reaching out, she held a finger across the width. The wound's width was the same as Lixue's first knuckle to the tip of her finger. About an inch and a half. No, the wound would not need stitches. Tightening bandaging would fix the problem and allow the skin to grow back to together, plus let the injury breathe. Glancing up at the woman huddling inside the robe, Lixue spoke clearly, "I am Doctor Lixue. Tell me a little about your normal schedule. Will you be able to sit back and rest your leg for a couple of days or will you be constantly moving?" As she awaited an answer, Lixue retrieved a basin from the floor under the cot. She quickly wiped it out and set it on the floor under the woman's calf. She proceeded to retrieved two canteens from a drawer in her desk and grabbed a rag off the desk. Working kept Lixue's thoughts on task. They did not wander onto topics better left alone and surely did not allow Lixue to sleep. She could focus on the task at hand and not worry about how lonely her home would be without Ly, how devastated his mother had been, and not worry about losing her job. At least this woman had yet to give her a pitying glance. "I am going to clean the wound. At least enough to remove some of the dirt and pus, the thick yellow liquid seeping out." Before, however, Lixue would need to remove the horribly tied bandage. The task proved more difficult than expected because it clung to the skin, glued by the pus. Carefully, occasionally soaking it with water, Lixue coaxed the bandage to let go. Finally, it did. The bandage was quickly disposed of and Lixue rinsed her hands once more before beginning. Gently, she offered up the advice, "Next time, you should clean the wound with water at the very least and let it dry before applying a bandage. To clean a wound with water, you should gently pry the skin apart and let the water seep in. I will show you how in a minute." With confident fingers, Lixue pulled the girl's foot up until it rested on her knee, angled inwards. "Do you see how red the skin is around the injury?" Lixue pointed to the area surrounding the torn flesh, where the inflamed skin nearly pulsed. "This means it is infected, or on its way. All wounds from an animal should be disinfected, or thoroughly cleaned with a cleansing unit." Lixue glanced up to meet the woman's eyes.

[Sliver]

Sliver sat patiently as the woman seemed to drift into space for a moment. Perhaps she had worked a long shift at the Center, and was almost done. Sliver was almost tempted to encourage her doctor to get some rest, but something nagging at the back of her mind prevented her from extending the advice. Instead she watched the Vantha's gaze and absorbed her question. "I am of the Icewatch, so I will not be able to just rest, unfortunately, is that a problem?" Sliver imagined the question would just result in how her doctor was dressing the wound, but she couldn't be sure. "My name is Sliver, wolverine Kelvic." Sometimes it helped to be up front about one's identity, who knows what information might be valuable to a doctor, she of all Kelvic certainly didn't. She winced slightly as Lixue removed the bandaging, catching a glimpse of her opinion of the dressing. This caused the Kelvic to smirk a bit at her own folly, she knew the most basic things of medicine, but that didn't get one very far. She listened carefully to the Doctor's words. It was true the water she had used to clean the wound was only the most peripheral scrubbing, no soaking like she mentioned. "I suppose that explains the pain, then," The wolverine said casually as she watched Lixue work. It wasn't as if her injury was some great calamity, but she had an instant respect for the cool confidence the woman exhumed when gathering her materials and working, Sliver imagined she would never be so apt with tools of medicine, and the things she excelled in were by far more messy and did not require the same sort of finesse.

[Lixue]

Lixue nodded when the woman spoke but said nothing else. If the woman was of the Icewatch, she would not be able to rest. Training and patrols would require her to work, especially with the events of late. Being a Kelvic would also pose a problem. Shifting could cause the wound to tear again, which could be a high risk problem. Tearing the skin apart again and again could cause the wound to leave a terrible scar when it did heal, not to mention it could cause the body to heal slowly if and when it was harmed in the same location. A nod. "Even if a wound is not red, or inflamed, you can tell if it is infected by touching it. An infected wound will be hotter than the rest of your body. However, feeling for infection directly after an injury is sustained is useless. It will be hot, yes, but because the body is trying to heal. The soonest I would check for an infection by this method would be a day." A pause as Lixue gently pushed at the skin around the injury. Hard, with infection. Careful to keep the woman's leg still on her knee, Lixue fetched the same canteen she had used before and a fresh rag. "I am going to properly clean your wound. This will be multi-stepped and a couple of the steps will be slightly painful." As she spoke, Lixue soaked the rag from the canteen. "I am first going to allow the wound to relax. The skin around it is hard and by soaking it, the outer layer will become softer. There will be less pain when I open the wound." Dabbing the wound with the wet rag, Lixue's attention trailed away from the patient and focused only on her task at hand. Every so often, she would hold the rag against a spot. Between the dabbing and holding, Lixue would gently wipe at the oozing pus, fold her rag, and continue. Every fifth dab, the rag was rinsed. Only when she was certain the scab was soft, a touch revealed it was, did Lixue set her tools down. The canteen was closed and the rag was dropped unceremoniously into the basin below. Again, Lixue rinsed her hands before continuing. "This is going to be a painful task. Using my hands, I will break open the wound and remove the pus." It definitely sounded like a messy task! "By removing the pus, I am allowing the wound to breathe and release its infection." Without further ado, Lixue set to work. She first turned the woman's calf so it was facing upward. Next, Lixue set two fingers within an inch of either side of the wound. Pressing downward, she pulled the pairs of fingers in the opposite direction. Lixue could feel the wound fighting to stay together and pushed her fingers closer together before pulling apart again. She repeated this action until the wound would pop apart and then move down, completing the action all the way down the length of the injury. But that was not the most painful part of this task. Instead, the most painful part was still to come. After once again rinsing her hands, Lixue pointed to the inside of the wound. "See how infected it is? The thick, yellow liquid is called pus. We need to get that out of wound in order for it to begin healing. If an infection is not removed, it will continue to get worse. If you ever see a red line going in the direction of your heart coming from the injury, seek medical attention immediately." Leaning forward, Lixue once again placed two fingers on either side of the injury. She pressed down into the calf before gradually bringing the fingers closer together. This time, the wound puckered and liquid began to seep out. Lixue kept going until her fingers hit the outer edge before repeating the process. This, too, was done along the length of the injury. Lixue completed the task once again before sitting back and inspecting. Though there was still liquid inside the wound, this time it was clear. "Do you see how it is not bleeding? A bad infection will cause a wound not to bleed."

[Sliver]

Sliver watched carefully. Any tiredness of perhaps the hints of sadness the Kelvic had received from the woman upon being guided into the room seemed to vanish as she focused on the leg injury. It was an ugly thing, the wolverine noted, but it wasn't as if she was unfamiliar with her wounds generating strange oozings, so she was a bit amused by Lixue's description of pus, an excretion the Kelvic had always had a perverse fascination with. She prepared herself for the pain, teeth gritted as the woman widened the wound in order to better clean out it's contents. Her eyes held a morbid fascination with her own injury, and Lixue would not that scars ran up and down the Kelvic's legs, and truly, anywhere that didn't sport dark and tribal tattoos seemed to have the faded white color of some sort of scarring, some smooth and shining, others a bit more puckered, resembling a gallery of injuries that clearly marked her entire lifetime, short as it may have been. A soft growl issued from Sliver's lips as she squeezed out the liquid, watching it drip out. She had vaguely noticed the heat emanating from her leg, and tried to grasp the difference between the heat just after a wound was received and when one was infected. The wolverine also tried her best to process why a wound that was worse bled less. Perhaps it was the amount of pus, there did seem to be a lot of it seeping out. Lixue would receive no complaints from her patients, and few words. Unless Sliver was asked a specific question, she found she always learned better when she listened and observed, and she was clearly concentrated on Lixue's directions and how she illustrated her procedure, even if some of it made little sense to the Kelvic.

[Lixue]

Lixue always assumed an individual knew nothing about medicine. This way, she could freely explain her procedure and feel as though she was both educating the patient and keeping their mind off the pain she might be causing. Less pain equaled a more comfortable patient and a more comfortable patient made for an easier healing experience. If a patient was not comfortable, Lixue would try her hardest to make their stay better. The body seemed to heal better when it was relaxed and a complaining patient trying to move all over the place was not a good idea. Lixue rinsed her hands before grabbing a braided ball and handing it to Sliver. She proceeded to also fetch the second canteen and a clean rag. "This will be even more painful. Which is why I gave you the ball to squeeze." If she had been in the Spires, Lixue would have given the girl a stick to bite down on. But this was Avanthal and slightly more refined. There was less survival and more comfort. Lixue was still adjusting. "I am going to use alcohol on the wound. This will kill any lasting dirt and infection." And perhaps make her more cautious toward letting an injury fester for long in the future. Lixue could hope, at least. Cupping the bottom of Sliver's calf with the rag, Lixue carefully poured alcohol onto the injury. The clear liquid dribbled down her skin into the wound. While Lixue waited for the burn to set in, she set the canteen off to the side and tightly gripped the woman's ankle to keep her from moving. The rag caught the extra droplets that slid past. A couple of chimes later, Lixue repeated the process again with the alcohol. This went on for several chimes until the injury was red, not from infection, from irritation. Only then did she cap the canteen and set it off to the side, replacing it with the canteen full of water. Using the rag she had cupped Sliver's calf with, Lixue soaked it with water and set it against the injury. "Hold that there." While the woman did, Lixue scratched through her desk and came up, triumphant, with a clean cloth and bandages. These were set off to the side before Lixue searched through her drawer of herbs for the jar of honey she kept. Sure enough, it was there. Ly loved honey. In fact, one time he went shopping with her and, on the way back to his hold, he had tripped. His arm was scraped. Through improvisation, Lixue managed to use a torn t-shirt, a basin of water, and honey, to heal him. Ly was so proud of her, even though he knew nothing about medicine and claimed the scrape had not needed so much care. He enjoyed the attention, though. She could tell by the way he had let her baby him and coo over his care. Lixue shoved the thoughts away and faced the Kelvic again. Taking the rag away, Lixue nodded her thanks.

[Sliver]

Sliver held the ball a bit gingerly, guessing at it's purpose just as Lixue explained it to her. More pain, wonderful. At least alcohol was useful for something, Sliver had seen people use it on wounds before, though had never tried it herself, and as the burn set in and her fist tightened around the provided ball, she knew why. She did feel, cleaner, however. As if the pain was because a type of scrubbing, the alcohol eating away at whatever undesirable contents of her wound. Perhaps this easily gotten material was a good thing to keep in mind considering she injured herself so frequently. She moaned softly with the pain, letting out a relieved gasp when the alcohol was replaced was with water. She obediently held the cloth over the wound until instructed, examining the gash that remained after the doctor was finished. Apart from being inflamed the wound looked substantially better than it had before, and though the leg was hot from the alcohol, the throbbing had already lessened. Sliver looked at it proudly as if it had been her to patch it up and not the much more knowledgeable Lixue "Thank you, it looks so much better."

[Lixue]

Lixue enjoyed healing. Her life had been about helping other people and this career really helped Lixue to shine, stand out in a way would not otherwise. People knew her. Not because she was a famous person or popular in the community, but because she was a doctor. A person who sought to heal people day in and day out. Someone who fought Dira on a daily basis and worked hand in hand with Rak'keli. Someone whose job it was to remain optimistic in even the worst of times, to help the patients feel more comfortable, to help keep a population healthy. Someone who helped life in general. The Spires had highly respected their doctors. When Lixue had first stumbled into the camp, she had been amazed at the order of the medical situation. There was none! People did as they could and, more often than not, improvised because of the lack of necessary supplies. Someone who could go into the wilderness to save the lives of their few precious citizens was definitely someone to honor. Lixue very quickly learned to earn her place in the rank, becoming part of the pecking order. She cried, bled, and struggled along with everyone else. Between she and the other few doctors, Lixue had placed more than one Jamoura or other race back on their feet to fight for the city, where feral creatures resided after the Djed Storm. When Lixue was young, just a tiny girl who barely reached her father's knees, her mother would allow Lixue to tag along to work. Natal, Lixue's mother, and Lixue would make the trek to the hospital, hand in hand, early in the morning. So early, in fact, the air would crystallize when they exhaled. They would be nearly silent, as the morning seemed to require. There was no point in waking the sleeping. Young Lixue would jump into snowdrifts and slice across ice, holding onto the safety link that was her mother's hand. And Natal would laugh, sometimes joining in. It had been good to see her mother smile so much. At work, Lixue would fetch any items Natal needed. Besides the sharp ones, which could slice her skin. Lixue had learned the hard way, grabbing onto a scalpel one day. Three stitches and a verbal lashing from her mother, Lixue sat in tears holding her palm. The incident had not been repeated. Lixue was also not allowed to carry water. The basin was too heavy for her weak arms and, in one instance, Lixue dropped the hot water on the floor. The basin tipped and splashed all over Lixue's little legs. She had screamed bloody murder from the scalding water. Two bandaged legs later and second degree burs, Natal decided Lixue should only carry the non-dangerous tools. The daily visits continued until a horrendous event one day. Keeping up with her mother one day, early in the morning, Lixue was playing as usual. She jumped in the snowdrifts, flicked the white fluff at her mother, and just plain having fun. The morning was especially cold and ice lay all over the place. For this reason, Natal kept Lixue's hand locked inside of her own. In only a split second, however, Lixue managed to slip away from Natal and toddled, laughing, down the street. When Natal called her back, a warning tone inside of her voice, Lixue hesitated. She tried to slow down, but found she could not. Lixue tried to keep her balance by flailing her arms, but this only served to toss her body back and forth on the ice. Natal lurched forward, trying to catch her daughter, to save her from harm. Lixue hit the ice with a scream and a crunch. Her legs twisted at odd angles on the ice, especially her right leg. Natal cried even as she tried to keep Lixue calm. The noise had awoken several people who stayed nearby and, upon seeing the scene, a healer was fetched. Hour upon hour, Lixue was in agony. People tried to bend her leg this way, then that. Apparently, her left leg was cleanly broken. Her right was the worry. So young was she, she did not understand. Surgery did not help. Splinting the leg did not help. Trying to set it in a position where it could heal properly did not help. Healers blessed by Rak'keli were left dumbfounded. Nothing helped. The doctors told Natal to start teaching Lixue how to use a cane. Lixue's mother heeded the words, had a cane carved, and began to teach Lixue how to use it. Even though Lixue was both too small and too disabled to. The visits to work with her mother were discontinued until further notice. They were never picked back up. Snapping back to the present, Lixue nodded at her patient. The wound did look better. When the burn from the alcohol left, Lixue was certain it would also feel better. "We still need to keep it from being infected. I will put a layer of honey over the wound, which you will need to clean and redress in four bells. And continue to do so for a day. After that, you can put a simple bandage on and expect it to be okay. I would assume you are not planning on running or fighting with... wolves in the next few days?" A half assed joke, but still a joke all the same. Given the circumstances, a joke was an amazing feat. Lixue held up the jar of honey. "I will be giving you a good portion of this to take with you and several bandages. Enough to last until tomorrow, if you follow your instructions. For now, however, I need you to pay close attention to how I care for the wound. You will be, after all, doing it yourself." A pause. "I am sure there is someone in the watch who can do it for you, if necessary." If the woman could not manage herself. "Also, you cannot. Cannot shift. It would risk reopening your wound and, given your form, allowing dirt inside."