Completed Medicine for the Dead (Sain Kayun)

[Tsaba]

Summer 3, 513AV

Tsaba carefully ran her fingertips down the left side of her torso, searching for any unfamiliar cuts or marks. She caught the edge of the neat, barely visible stitching left by the person who had embalmed the body, tight enough to prevent ichor leakage from the cavities that used to contain organs instead of heavily salted rags. On her hip was her own clumsier stitching, from the time she'd been knocked into a rather sharp outcropping of stone. Satisfied that she bore no new cuts, she briefly tested the motion of her major joints before getting dressed. People with living bodies had no idea how lucky they were.

Her morning body preservation ritual always required intense focus, so once it was over, she was happy to let her mind zone out a bit and start thinking of her lessons. She slammed the door behind her as she entered the hall and had walked about ten feet before bothering to glance down at the sharp pain in her right hand.

Half of her little finger was gone. She blinked at it, watching a little drop of ichor ooze down the side of her hand.

The body was... what, a couple of months old? It shouldn't be that delicate yet. Not nearly. She went back and retrieved the finger.

Now what?

Could it be... reattached, somehow? On Sahova, nobody would have bothered; she'd simply throw it out and, when the body became inconvenient to use, replace it. But on Sahova they didn't degrade so fast, and she wasn't yet sure if that was due to the area or her current body was just a bad one. Besides, bodies seemed harder to find in Zeltiva. She was going to have to take better care of hers. Tsaba closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath; a ritual she hadn't given up just because the biological reasons behind it were gone. She needed a... a healer, or a medical professional of some kind. Fortunately there were a lot of those in Zeltiva, and she'd noted some of their locations when she was exploring the town. She picked one at random.

About a bell later, a haggled-looking Nuit with the stub of a finger pushed into her cloak to stem the leaking and the severed section tucked in her belt knocked on the door of a cottage with her free hand. "Hello? I, um, I was told a healer worked here?"

[Sain Kayun]

Having just woken up, Sain sleepily looked about his scarcely filled cottage in a daze, sitting against the wall on his bed. Even several seasons after his cottage was broken into and robbed, Sain had still not bothered to replace the various stolen items, which sadly was mostly all of his medical and philtering equipment. He had been working extensively as of late, so he had little time to go buy replacements, and there were some things that can't be replaced, like his father's journals. Stretching tiredly, he washed himself up, quickly changed into his clothes, and grabbing the third last bun of bread on his table he left the cottage to head to the university infirmary. Barely a chime later, Sain chanced to glance back at his cottage to see someone, a rather haggard looking woman, knocking at the cottage door. Stopping in his tracks, he turned around and began walking back to see who it was. Even from where he was, Sain could see the woman was obviously having problems with her right hand, as she had it pushed into her cloak. Perhaps she needed his help. Sain bit his lip a little, as he didn't want to be late to the infirmary, but he reminded himself what his father taught him: "No matter who or where, if they need help, you must help them, as Rak'keli has duly told us to." As he walked back, he heard the woman ask if there was a healer at the cottage, and Sain smiled to himself at the mention of healer, as he was now at the little gate to his house. "You won't find a healer of Rak'keli here... but you will find a doctor if that helps. Name's Sain Kayun, how may I help you? Because it seems there is something wrong with your right hand, seeing how your hiding it in your cloak." Sain calmly told his observation to the woman, gently smiling, absentmindedly spinning the half-eaten bun in his left hand.

[Tsaba]

If Tsaba could blush, she would have. Apparently she'd interrupted the doctor's day. "I, uh... I'm not sure if you'll be able to help me, but... I wasn't really sure where else to go." Going to the university infirmary would've been awkward; she didn't want to become known as 'that clumsy, clueless nuit'. Going to Aleron would have the same problem.

"Sorry. You're clearly busy, this can probably wait..." she let the cloak drop and held out her hand, displaying the wound. Almost as an afterthought, she pulled the piece of finger from her belt and held that out, too. "I'm not... sure if anything can be done to fix this? I swear I'm not normally this clumsy." She took a good look at the man, noting that he preferred the term 'doctor'. She had only the vaguest idea of what a healer of Rak'keli was, there not being much use for such people on Sahova. She certainly hadn't known any as a child, or her foster father's skill wouldn't have been in such demand. "That kind of healer probably wouldn't be much use anyway," she added. "I'm Tsaba, by the way. Just Tsaba."

[Sain Kayun]

Sain listened to the woman intently. If she had managed to find where he lived, Sain wondered why she did not go to the infirmary since they offered much better treatment than he could at his near empty cottage. "Ah don't worry about it! I'm sure I'll be able to help-" Sain stopped when he saw the woman show her right hand and the severed finger. Oh dear, what did she do... Where her little finger should have been there was only half of one, a thick white fluid trickling from the wound, which he was perplexed by. No blood?. Sain knelt down to check the hand; he looked perplexedly at the injury, it looked like a clean cut, and there was no sign of festering, only an oozing of this white liquid he couldn't identify. The little finger was intact, but he doubted he could do anything about it. This was looking like an unusual case; not only was there this white fluid instead of blood, normally someone with a cut digit would be panicking and screaming for help, but this woman was absolutely calm, like it was nothing. "I'm not normally this clumsy?!" Sain thought to himself what she said with moderate surprise. It is almost like she feels no pain whatsoever, like she has little care for her body. Standing back up, Sain placed the last piece of his bun in his mouth, chewing it thoughtfully as he reviewed the woman Tsaba's injury. For starters he should probably stop the bleeding with what little of linen bandages he had left, though it was hardly unlikely she would bleed to death. Then he should probably bring Tsaba to the infirmary for a more thorough wound closing by way of stitches. As for the finger, he had little hopes for it; the idea of it being reattached was unrealistic and the finger would not be alive and functional even if he did. Sain opened the door to his cottage and waved with his left hand to the inside, beckoning to Tsaba to enter, "Alright Tsaba, I'll see what I can do. Please, take a seat, and I'll have that wound cleaned and closed up, then I'll take you to the infirmary for the stitching since I don't have the tools to do so here. As for your little finger, I do not think reattaching it would be possible sadly, I'm sorry." Sain bowed his head apologetically to the woman.

[Tsaba]

The doctor seemed quite perplexed by the wound. It had occurred to her that he might not be able to help, but she hadn't realised he might be confused by the very concept of an injured nuit. She quickly bundled her hand back into her cloak to stem the flow of ichor. Needing to sleep after a mere finger mishap would be the most embarrassing thing ever.

"Thanks for you help," she said as she followed him inside. The cottage was... more cluttered than the personal spaces she had become used to over the past 50 years or so, but a lot barer than she'd come to expect from cottages. A neat guy who stuck to necessities, apparently. Tsaba approved. She sat patiently and waited for him to gather what he needed.

It was a shame about the finger, really. But at least it wasn't an important one. She'd have to find somewhere to dispose of it back on campus or something. "It doesn't matter too much that the finger can't be reattached," she assured him. "I'll just have to be more careful next time. Thanks for seeing me anyway." The doctor seemed to know what he was doing, at least. She just hoped that she could afford his services. How much did doctors cost? Craun had been happy to work for what the miners could spare, but their little corner of Sunberth hadn't been nearly as rich as Zeltiva...

"How much do I owe you?" she asked, holding out her hand once more so that Sain could get a proper look.

[Sain Kayun]

Sain immediately headed to the shelf at the other end of the cottage near the window. To his surprise, not only did he find bandages, he found a small spool of fine thread as well, a needle fitted between the threads. He just may be able to do it all at the cottage after all. "It is no problem Tsaba, and do be careful next time. You do only have 9 digits left, and that's hardly a number to spare." Sain called back, joking casually. While he gathered up the needed items, Sain thought about the woman's appearance, her seemingly unfazed behavior, and the unusual white fluid in place of blood. He could easily conclude that the woman was definitely not human, and Sain needed to know what race she was- that white liquid, it was called ichor, Sain recalled, and it was the fluid that flowed in the undead race known as Nuits. Sain was hardly disturbed by this realization, after all the woman in front of him looked like a good person, and he never believed the ill-conceived images humans had of other races, and that included the Nuit. In fact he was fascinated. Setting the items on the table, Sain looked up to Tsaba and shook his head, "You do not need to pay me Tsaba, since I don't do my work in my home normally. Consider this as free of charge." Sain smiled brightly at the Nuit woman, taking her hand and tightly wrapping the bandage around the wound to stop the bleeding. Touching her hand, he noticed the unnaturally clammy feeling of Tsaba's hand, like that of a lifeless hand, further justifying his suspicion. "Now, I'm sorry to be so blunt, but can you tell me what race you are?" Sain felt uneasy asking such a blunt question, but he had to clarify, because if she was a Nuit like he thought she was, there might be a chance to reattach the finger, if Tsaba so desired. Calling to mind his minimal knowledge of Nuits, he recalled that their bodies were already dead and could not heal, but since it was already dead, reattaching a finger would not cause the same problems as it would to a living person. True, it may not be functional even if he did reattach the finger, but Sain had a feeling that a mere bandage won't stop the ichor from oozing; the finger might do a far better job if his idea was right.

[Tsaba]

Tsaba frowned; not because the question offended her, but because she wasn't sure what answer he wanted. "I'm a Nuit," she said, getting the obvious out of the way first, "and this body is human. About... about two months dead, not counting cryo time, preserved by traditional embalming and frozen for storage. I couldn't tell you how long it was stored, sorry." That wasn't really information she went hunting for when she looked for a new body -- the "limbs, skin, voice" check was normally enough. Although maybe she should start, if they were going to be difficult to replace outside Sahova.

She did appreciate the doctor's effort to make her feel at ease, though; his friendly nature, the joke about limited fingers. It didn't feel right not to pay him. "I really should reimburse you for your trouble," she said. What was it Craun's patients used to do when they didn't have any money? Give him food, mostly; she remembered eating it. Or homespun cloth. Or simply the gratitude that protected him for so long. Her skill set was a little limited there, unfortunately. "Or your materials, at least. I should pay for those." It was hardly fair to use up the man's supplies without giving him the means to replace them.

[Sain Kayun]

Sain could see that the Nuit felt not right in paying him; Sain merely shaked his head, smiling gently, "As I said, there is no need to. This is all free Tsaba, don't feel so bad about it." After saying so Sain started getting a thread and needle ready. So she was a Nuit as he thought, and it looks like his idea might actually work. "Since you are a Nuit Tsaba, I think that there is a chance of saving your tenth digit from being thrown out. You won't be able to use your little finger anymore, but I can assure you that reattaching your digit would be a more effective solution to your leaking ichor than those bandages right now. That is if you so agree to go along with this." Sain continued, "It will be painful, which is why I'll have you drink this before the procedure," he placed a small vial of a murky greenish looking liquid on the table, "Iskyny tea; it should put you in a deep sleep for a while, long enough to reattach your finger." Sain glanced up at the Nuit, waiting for her response. Seeing her rather calm disregard for her finger and what little he knew of Nuits, he doubted she would go through with the procedure. Then it struck him: were a Nuit's organs even functional? If not, would the tea even work? Sain bit the inside of his cheek after realizing his mistake in thinking it would work. This might be a bit complicated, and hoped the Nuit's tolerance for pain was high.

[Tsaba]

Once again, Tsaba was glad she couldn't blush. "Actually, I don't really have a stomach any more. There are some organs that, if you leave them in a body, they can -- " she stopped. Sain didn't need details. "But I'm sure I can keep still enough for you. I've had minor wounds sewn before." She'd never had an appendage reattached, but it couldn't be that much worse, could it?

It quickly became apparent that it was, in fact, pretty bad. On the plus side, she was pretty used to pain from random body damage by now, and the... sluggishness... of her movements helped her keep her arm still. (The doctor could probably hold her arm still even without her cooperation if he needed to.) On the negative side, it still hurt, and there was nothing in her body that could deaden the pain. Once he stopped pulling thread through the finger and the pain was at least regular, she would learn to ignore it quite quickly. But that knowledge didn't really help. At least she could only feel it in the part of her finger still attached to her hand... wait, no, that wasn't a good thing. A lack of feeling in the finger was a bad sign.

He seemed to be right about the finger sealing the wound better, though. On reflection, Tsaba supposed that she should've thought of that. She'd been stitching wounds for seventy-five years and it hadn't even occurred to her to note how the wounds sealed. It was a good thing there were people like Sain around, or she'd probably bleed to death.

[Sain Kayun]

Sain set aside the small vial; looks like he should save it for another time. He was intrigued by the fact that the Nuits have no internal organs; it was always interesting to learn more of other races. Sain definitely hoped that Tsaba could stay still. Even if she was a Nuit, Sain had a feeling that her undead body still possessed a slight sense of pain, and reattaching a finger would be painful as the stitches would have to be very secure. "Alright then, I will be starting now Tsaba." Sain smiled encouragingly at Tsaba as he removed the bandages he had bound on the injury, placing her severed finger on the stub. Sain took a moment to go rinse his hands in the pitcher of water before beginning, drying his hands on a small article of cloth. Taking the needle and thread in his right hand and holding down Tsaba's hand with his left, once again noticing how cold it felt, Sain prayed silently, "Rak'keli, guide my hand to heal..." Sain always prayed this to the goddess, as his father also did, almost as a matter of habit than real devotion. But here he was serious, as it was the first time he ever attempted reattaching an appendage. Making sure he had tied a small knot on the end of the thread, Sain carefully pushed the needle vertically through the finger into Tsaba's hand. Delicately pulling the thread out with the needle, Sain prepared to do the second stitch, and slid the needle back into the Nuit's hand and out her finger. A couple chimes later, Sain began getting the feel of stitching the injury more comfortably with his hand, going in and out with the needle between finger and hand, to the point that he felt he could begin some small talk to ease the woman. It was always good to have some talk to relax a patient, Sain had learned from working as a doctor's assistant. "So what brought you to Zeltiva Tsaba? I'll make a chance guess that you are a student at the university?" And, I'll be honest now, I'm not a fully qualified doctor, only an assistant, hence why I'm not accepting any payment." Sain slightly glanced up to smile at Tsaba from his stitching; he himself was not sure why he referred to himself as a doctor; maybe it was to put people more at ease since they were uneasy when an assistant treated them...