Completed Traveling Doctor

[Elann]

Timestamp 30th of Summer 515AV (Evening)

Sitting in her apartment she quietly hummed to herself as she brushed her teeth. It had been a just earlier in the day she had sent a young messenger boy to go find a doctor. Much time had passed since her injury and yet it still felt strange. She didn't know if that was normal or if something had truly happened that was bad to her. She figured a doctor could tell her. She brushed her teeth with the crushed and splintered end of the twig she gathered and some carbon powder from the ashes of her fire. It kept her teeth very clean and pretty where as some women and even men here probably have never brushed their teeth. It was customary as a young girl to do this and so even now as an adult it is something she does.

After few moments she spit into her spare basin and then drank some water to swish her mouth out. Spitting again she felt the grinding sand-like feeling disappear. In the water she cleaned off her brush and set it down to dry out near the the warm hearth. She wore her tunic of new make today as she hoped to see the doctor sometime soon. She wasn't sure how long all that would take, but it did make her nervous. What were the doctors like up here? What did they know? Did they know how to clean a wound? To do surgery? To eat healthy and right? Sometimes her views of those here were a bit barbaric, but she tried to love them in her heart.

[Devi]

Devi scribbled away in her journal, detailing in it the specifics she had learnt about her newest patient. He was a baker who had fallen in a corridor on his way to work in the morning and sliced his hand open on a piece of jagged stone. It had been roughly bandaged at home but without proper attention had not sealed cleanly and ended up infected. She had visited the man in his home a number of times, first to help cleanse the wound of infection and most recently to stitch and seal it. She finished her entry by drawing with her charcoal what the wound had looked like when she first saw it. With just the one colour it was difficult to detail and she had to label and describe the colours and other details with her ink stick to ensure it would be of any assistance in the future. A knock at the door interrupted her and she opened it to find a small boy waiting for her. He explained in a breathless rush that a young woman staying in Traveller’s Row had asked him to seek out a doctor and that he was from this neighbourhood and that he remembered her from that one time that she had visited their apartment to treat his sister. She slowed him down with raised hands before he passed out from a lack of breath. “Now slow down and tell me calmly, is the woman hurt badly? Did she seem like she was in a lot of pain?” She saw the boy visibly calm and breathe deeply before responding. From what he told her it didn’t sound like the woman was in grave danger, more that she was new to the city, needed some attention for an injured hand and didn’t know where to go to seek it. Devi wasn’t all that surprised. That Syliras did not have a centralised location for the healing of its residents was a serious shortcoming. She didn’t count those doctors and healers that could be found at Soothing Waters. Many of the residents, like her, avoided the rather pricey bathhouse in favour of cheaper and simpler home remedies. The boy’s face wrinkled slightly as he described the appearance of the woman’s hand. It sounded like it may be a burn or disfigurement of some kind so Devi flitted to her shelves and retrieved a sealed ceramic jar filled with pale ash, Rhinedale, before turning back to the boy, kit in hand. With a firm voice she gestured towards the exit. “Lead the way young man.” They weaved through the corridors of the Maiden District, heading towards the gates of the city next to which was nestled Traveller’s Row. She followed the boy right up to a door and watched him knock on it, waiting expectantly for the occupant to answer.

[Elann]

.

Calmly Elann brushed her hand as she stood above her wash basin. She slowly poured in the boiling water she had been heating so that it could eventually cool and be used later as drinking water. This was common for her people to do as water was often times bitter there and could kill you. She could hear the voice of a young child coming up the hall that sounded vaguely familiar. She was certainly glad she had reached out to her neighbors in the hallway as they had been very useful in providing her information and telling her where to get maps of the city; various things like that.

As the boy moved up the hallway she stuck her finger in the water to see just how hot it was. As she did the knock on the door came. She was shocked that it hadn't even been that much time since asking the boy to go find the doctor, which was more realistically the boys father telling him to go find the doctor. Elann would never presume to tell a young boy to go into the city alone without permission of the parents. The only instance that would be fine is if it were his job. Yet being a family that had a daughter who needed treatment they advised her to contact Devi. Reaching down onto the hearth she pulled up a towel and dried off her finger.

Elann moved to the door with soft graceful steps and reached out with her injured right hand to the doorway to pull it open. She could see a woman with beautiful complexion, cute freckles, verdant eyes and hair like the leaves in fall. Her eyes were her most stunning feature of her and while she was pretty, she seemed to be there for business. She looked to the little boy.

"Go tell your father thank you." The little boy darted off and Devi could hear that Elann had quite the Benshira accent. While her words were decently formed, it was said in a much different way than the people up here. Beckoning toward the interior of her house she asked "Please, won't you come in?"

Devi could see inside the home to the right was a steaming wash basin of boiling water set near a fire on the hearth just inside the door. It was a nice layout for a room, perhaps not the best, but having the hearth near the door kept the warmth inside the house and that was all important to Elann. Looking behind the Benshiran there was a table for six, a sofa with a nice piece of fabric over it, tucked into the cushions as a cover, a very beautifully elegant chair and a not so well looking coffee table. In the far corners of the room was a hutch full of dishes, pots, and cups, and in the other corner was a somewhat large decorative bush soaking up what little sun came through the window during this time of day.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Devi]

The door was answered by a young woman just a little bit taller than Devi herself. At first glance the doctor thought she wouldn’t have been able to pick her prospective patient out from the crowds in the corridor behind her. She held herself in a way that was unassuming, almost subservient. Her clothes were simple and practical, her voice soft with a lilting tone. It was her eyes that hinted at an origin somewhat more exotic. They were shaped slightly different to the eyes she had seen on native Sylirans, shining out at her with shades of bright green and blue. Devi’s trained eyes then dropped to the woman’s hands, one of which was haphazardly wrapped in a sheet of material. Since the woman didn’t seem the sort to jump straight to the point, Devi decided give her a verbal nudge, social niceties be damned. “My name is Devi. Yours is...?” As she waited for the woman to respond she walked over to the dining table, setting down her kit and opening it at once. With deft fingers she reached inside and picked out the few implements she knew she would need, regardless of the specifics of the injury. She pulled out a packet of dried Vyfox and started grinding it into smaller pieces, ready for a tea infusion. A familiar thought crept into her mind as the ghost of her old mentor crept through her mind. He had always made his thoughts on teas and tonics very clear. He would call the women who handed them out all manner of things. Needless to say, it had taken Devi a while to fully appreciate their usefulness. For the majority of her patients, every little helped where people couldn’t afford expensive healing treatments and exotic medicines. Devi helped herself to a kettle and set some water to heat for the tea. As she did so she asked the woman a series of questions, carefully noting the answers before she examined the woman’s hand. “Now, please tell me how you got the injury and how long ago it was. I’ll also need to know what healing or treatments you’ve had for it previously, if any.” She turned to face the woman then, continuing with her questions, watching the woman’s expression. “Are you in much pain?”

[Elann]

.

Upon seeing the doctor, her heart was lifted due to the fact that it first of all it was a woman, second of all her small frame made Elann all the more comforted. In her mind the overbearing Syliran male doctor with viscous, rough hands and abusive prodding fingers were things that could easily haunt her in her sleep. Instead she was met by a seemingly kind woman.

"Elann." She said somewhat shyly, and as the woman entered, she shut the door behind her. Immediately she appreciated the organized manner of the woman as she prepared for her job. Curiously eyes followed her movements, not really understanding what was about to happen to her. She watched as the woman pulled various elements out of her bag and placed them on the nice new clean linen that covered her dining room table. Elann always kept her house clean and nice looking, as much as possible. When Devi went to help herself with a kettle she would have found it right near the hearth and the handle already a bit hot, albeit not hot enough to burn her at this point but still perhaps warmer than expected, Elann gestured vaguely to to the already present wash basin full of steaming hot water. All Devi had to do was scoop from it.

"I just poured this from the kettle if you want to use it?"

The girl wasn't sure what her final intent was with taking her kettle, except of course to make boiling water in it, but what were the herbs for? She heard Devi ask her some questions and with her injured hand as it was custom she brushed back some of her hair. As she lowered her hand she looked to it with a hint of embarrassment for having to ask for help from someone; yet here she was.

"The injury, it was mmm..two months ago. I fell on a ..um fire pit?" she said as if she didn't know the name of something and then continued, "It cut my hand here," taking off the bandage showed an old burn. It showed signs of first, second, and third degree burns. It was healing nicely and the scars from the first and second degree burns were almost gone if not completely disappeared, but the third degree burn area right in the middle of her thumb pad showed a gash that had cauterized. Elann pointed to the spot in the middle of her thumb pad and said, "and then the fire burned me. It hurt very bad at the time. I got very sick on the boat for the first week. Then I got better. I had no treatment, just clean linens and boiled the water. When it leaked I used alcohol and put fresh bandage. I think the fire closed up the wound in a bad way. I cannot feel this" She poked her thumbpad a couple times and held her hand out for the doctor to see.

"I have not real pain right now. It is almost all better I think. Only if I hit it hard it hurts a little bit." she said in her thick Benshiran accent. She hoped she was making sense to the woman as her common was rusty and not used much at this point. She somewhat had a look of fear on her face, yet was trying to be brave. She didn't know what news the doctor would have for her.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Devi]

Devi smiled at the woman when she gestured to the bowl of steaming water. “I always boil my own when I’m making medicinal tea. Doctor’s habit." She listened as the woman described the injury, saying nothing but raising an eyebrow when she mentioned falling on a fire pit. When the woman, Elann, she reminded herself extended her injured hand for Devi to look at she could see the scar up close. The skin was stretched tightly across the area, not quite allowing for a full flex of the hand. She could see the truth of Elann’s words though, that the injury did look a couple of months old. She listened carefully to the woman’s slightly stilted words, nodding at the treatment she described. “Given that you were on a boat at the time I’d suggest you were quite fortunate that the area didn’t get infected. Keeping it clean with fresh linens and alcohol would have helped immensely, though some burn salve would have helped to avoid the scarring.” She released Elann’s hand and returned to her herbs, mixing in some tolm to the vyfox mixture she was crushing. “So the main problem is the lack of feeling I take it? Unfortunately that’s not something any doctor would be able to help with. Burns can cause a lack of feeling after the fact when the nerves under your skin have been damaged. A healer may be able to help them re-grow, I’m not sure. I’ll warrant that it aches a fair bit though and that you could use a bit more flexibility in the skin there. That I can help with. Whilst the tea is heating, let’s start with flexibility.” Devi pulled a little tub of cream out of her bag and gestured that she and Elann should sit. Once settled she rubbed some of the cream between her palms and took the young woman’s scarred hand in her own. She used her whole hands to rub the cream in, then started using her thumbs in particular motions. “It’s easier if you have someone to do this for you but you can manage a little with just one hand. If you keep the skin moisturised it’s easier to work it. It’ll also help the blood-flow to your hand.” Devi smiled encouragingly at the woman. She seemed little at ease in the situation and from her accent, wasn’t exactly a native. “Plus it’ll do wonders for your skin.” She tilted her head slightly in thought then, wondering at the woman’s unusual accent. “So where are you from Elann? What brings you to Syliras?”

[Elann]

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With an understanding nod Elann retreated from the subject of offering water. She nodded and simply said, “Oh okay.” She would leave the woman to make her own tea or to use the steaming water. The doctor’s hands seemed like doctors hands to Elann, much as her own hand would seem perfect for weaver’s hands. It would have been hard for Elann to describe why she thought so if asked, but the way they played over her hand seemed as if they themselves had hidden sensors in them that could detect the tiniest thing wrong with her hand. Every pull or tug that was performed on her hand ensured Elann in this fact that Devi somehow could understand not only what was seen on the surface, but what was under it with just these simple touches and movements.

“I prayed and prayed to Yahal that my hand would be okay. I did what I could, not touching anything. I think it could have been worse yes?”

She nodded and returned her hand. She watched as the woman crushed some tolm and vyfox. She loved to crush things in her mortar and pestle, so each thing she saw here made her slightly more interested in the art of medicine.

“This is what we do with spices amongst my people.” She calmly pointed out and looked briefly over to her mortar and pestle that rest on the edge of her hearth. Around it were sacks of spices that she used.

As Devi asked her what the main problem was Elann nodded in response to her lack of feeling, “Mhmm.” She listened to her intently, trying to absorb not only the language, but also what she was saying. It was a bit of a complicated topic for her lacking knowledge but she got the concept. Once her translation caught up with the woman doctor’s inquiry she nodded and said “Yes. It is not so good and aches. FLex...ibility? Umm.. I don’t fully understand this word. Moving?“ She knew stretching, bending, and many other words for flexibility, but not that particular one. Due to the topic she figured it meant motion of some sort. She watched with quiet eyes as Devi pulled out the cream. She was slightly nervous, not knowing what to expect.

She was commanded to sit though by the doctor and so therefor she did. With a patient and quiet look on her face she waited until the woman had rubbed the cream on her hands. It was obviously safe to touch she thought. As she took Elann's hand Devi would feel it go limp in her hand, giving her full control. It reminded Elann of various mixtures her own mother put on her hands and body when she was young. Yet their mixtures were much more gritty than this. It felt strange, almost like digging your feet into mud. This was soft and nice.

She made a little hmm sound as Devi said it was easier for someone else to do this. It didn’t make her feel better that the woman doctor couldn’t help heal her. As Devi massaged Elann’s hand she could feel that the scarring went deep inside of it and was thick; much like a sword wound that had been cauterized. The doctor’s massage was soothing and Elann rested her free hand upon her face as she propped up her head on the table next to her.

The encouraging smile from Devi, made Elann subconsciously smile, and she inquired “This is like a balm? Or skin cleaner? What is it made from?” She was used to using various sketchy things in her life to clean herself that most societies would consider not very healthy or clean. While abstaining from some things as the Penita scrolls deemed necessary, everything else they had to use to survive in any way they could. The Benshira did not have easy lives out in the hot deserts of Eyktol.

“I am Benshira. From the tents of my father Shlomet. We live many miles from Yahebah, if you’ve heard of it.” She nodded and said, “My father sent me to live here with a friend of the family. But I don’t know him or where he is. So...I will make due until I can find him or until my father says it is okay to return home. It may be a while though. I need a job in the meantime. Probably doing rug making.” She smiled brightly, ” I am a weaver”

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Devi]

Devi felt the corners of her lips quirking up as Elann began watching her every motion with fascination. She had an innocent quality that was quite refreshing compared to the usual disinterest she elicited when treating patients for anything so routine. She could tell that Common was not Elann’s native tongue from the intense concentration on her face whenever Devi spoke. The doctor made a mental note to ensure she explained what she was doing as fully and simply as possible. An attentive patient was worthy of equal attention. “Flexibility measures how easily you can stretch.” She motioned to her own hand and stretched it out wide. “I can stretch this hand quite a lot, so you could say I have good flexibility in my hand.” Devi then took Elann’s injured hand in her own and stretched out the palm carefully. “Because of your burn scar you can’t stretch your hand as much, so you could say you have low flexibility here.” She continued the motions, slower this time so that Elann could take in what to do herself. She was using her thumbs in circular motions, putting pressure on the puckered skin of the scar to work the flesh there. She perked up as Elann asked her about what she was actually using. “This is a cream ladies in the city use to soften their skin, with a few of my own ingredients mixed in. The main addition is the juice of an Aloe Vera plant. It’s a wonderful natural remedy for injuries to the skin like yours. I’ve also mixed in a herb called Centella. Some of the herbalists I trust in the markets tell me it helps the skin repair itself better.” She listened as Elann explained what had brought her to Syliras. She spoke before she could quite catch herself. “Your father sent you here without telling you how to find the man who’s supposed to be taking care of you?” She shut her mouth abruptly and then spoke again with a lighter tone. “My apologies, I shouldn’t pry. What do you know about the man you need to find? Perhaps I can point you in the right direction. I can certainly point you towards the employment office at any rate. I’ve lived in Syliras my whole life... I can probably point you towards a lot of things.” She chuckled to herself as she finished massaging Elann’s hand and began flexing it out to see if she could stretch it a little further.

[Elann]

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As Devi explained the meaning of flexibility, Elann nodded and seemed to understand, having a meaning in her head already for what it was. She stretched her palm out as the woman guided her to, feeling the resistance of her hand, which used to be flawless in flexibility. Now it was hindered and she wondered if she would ever be the same.

"I see...But stretching it like this will give me good flex...flexibility." She struggled, trying to pronounce it correctly.

"Will it ever return to normal do you think?"

Devi then inquired quite personally at Elann's situation and it caused her to blush slightly. Realizing her surprised tone she apologized in a much lighter one.

"Oh, it is alright." She took in a deep breath, breaking from her tale for a moment before continuing. "He told me what he looks like, and he sent a message ahead of me in travel. He was supposed to meet me at the docks when my ship arrived, but I waited all day and then some, and he never came. I still go down to the docks and look occasionally when a ship comes in just incase he was confused, but I think perhaps the letter did not make it to him or something worse has happened. Anyways, I have decided to do my best not to be useless, but instead try to be okay here."

She smiled weakly and then said, "I eventually went to the welcome center and the Benshiran embassy. They have helped me a lot. I have applied for a job with the Elegant weave. Hopefully I will receive notice about working there before my funds run out."

Looking back to her hand, she inquired, "Is there nothing else I can do for it?"

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Devi]

Devi tilted her head as she searched her mind for anything further she might suggest for Elann. “The feeling can’t be returned to the numb portion of your hand by any medical skill I know of. As I mentioned earlier a healer might be able to do more but that’s safely within Rak’keli’s domain rather than mine.” Devi continued to stretch Elann’s hand as she spoke, pulling gently to the limit of the limb’s flexibility as she did so. Lately she had been dabbling more with rehabilitative medicine. So many of the residents around here shunned it, thinking that beyond your initial treatment for a wound you either visited a healer, numbed the pain with one indulgence or another or you just gutted it out. Pain could be an incredible burden, even light pain, if it was chronic. She had started looking into massage and ways of manipulating people’s anatomy to improve their wellbeing with fervour. Needless to say it wasn’t ever something that Versin had considered. “If you keep up these stretches then you increase your chances of getting your full flex back a lot. Using the cream will also help, and it should soothe the aches a little.” She applied a little more of the cream to her fingers and then continued to massage Elann’s hand, gradually easing her motions as she wound down the treatment. As soon as she finished the circling motions she released Elann and rubbed her own hands together until any cream left on her hands was absorbed. She retrieved a small pot from her kit and measured out enough of the cream for Elann to continue with her treatments for a while. Devi also helped herself to a mug, pouring some freshly boiled water into it together with some tea made from Vyfox leaves and a little dried Tolm. As she infused the water with the herbs she explained all of this to Elann. “This tea should also help to ease any aching in your hand, particularly whilst you’re working on stretching it. I’m leaving you a little of the cream and the tea so you can continue working on your hand on your own. If the pain gets worse or you need more supplies then you know how to find me.” As she left Elann with the cooling tea, they exchanged funds and Devi packed up her kit. It hadn’t quite been the angry, fresh burn she had been expecting at first but had still been different enough from her norm to be interesting. She bid farewell to the young Benshiran woman and made her way back to her apartment to fill out her journal with the details.