[drp] gurneys and journeys (fresh-faced interns)

[Smerdle]

approximately january 18th

He thought it might be a while before anyone figured out what he was offering, but all it took was one more visit to the otherworld with the Healer's cloth in hand for someone to come to him. Rabbit happened to be thinking of Georg and Temperance and his duties as a patron at the time, which probably had more to do with the creature's approach than him just carrying some piece of (admittedly cool) fabric, but once he saw its injury, the hows and whys faded into unimportance. Their first patient was an odd bundle of spikes and fur, about the length of a family-size loaf of bread, and when he asked if it needed help, it let out a low, discordant squawk that sounded like it was coming from two directions at once.

"Do you want the full ambulance?"

Squawk. It looked confused.

"You know, lights and sirens and s**t. A big spectacle to repay you for the trouble you had getting here."

The creature appeared to consider this, tilting its wedge-shaped head from side to side. It could have meant anything from I'm dying to I didn't have any trouble getting here at all, you weirdo, but eventually, it squawked again and nodded.

"Yes? Does that mean yes?"

Another squawk.

Rabbit grinned as he crouched, gathering the bleeding creature close to his chest while he summoned his glow.

- - - - -

He was still shining brightly when he reached the court, wings spreading wide behind him as if to slow his glide, even though they had no solid form. If Temperance hadn't noticed the obnoxious illumination or the wee-oo-wee-oos outside, she would surely hear him calling her name as he cleared his kitchen table.

The Semblance of Unitaay

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance had come out when the sirens reached her ears, her brief stint at the ER's front desk making her muscles instantly react to the sound. Even if it wasn't quite the standard siren at all...

"Rabbit? What's wrong?" She immediately moved to help him clear the table.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

He dialed the glow of his hair and eyes back to negligible as he took the last errant plate and set it on the counter. The creature watched from its perch at the table's end, sluggishly bleeding into the wood.

"Long story short: I met a guy called the Healer who gave me a beacon, like a sign that lets everybody know they're welcome in our emergency room, and this is our first patient." There was a moment of silence during which he closed his eyes and called forth a white plastic tarp that he promptly unfolded and began smoothing over the immediate vicinity. "Your first patient, actually." Rabbit nudged the creature's tail with the tarp and it wormed where directed, making it to the middle before lying on its uninjured side. It had three deep gashes in its fur, though it didn't seem to be in any pain. Or perhaps it just displayed such things differently than a human would.

"So, tell me what kinds of supplies you need and I shall make them so." He was far too giddy for this. He might have bounced.

The Semblance of Unitoo

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance swallowed this information with alacrity, already moving to the patient. It was nice to feel like she could do something. "Hey - tell me your name and where you are right now, okay?"

To Rabbit, she looked up, and while she wasn't smiling, her face looked lively. "The.. the healer?" she had no idea who that was, but other things were more important. "I need gauze pads, saline or sterilized water - you can boil it, that works. And I... I think that's it for this type of wounds." Barring anything more serious, which was why she'd asked the prickly guy his name and location: to gauge alertness.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

It raised its head, understanding her questions but at a momentary loss as to how to answer in a way that would be both quick and coherent. Finally, it trilled softly—its name—then made three measured jabs in Rabbit's direction. We are in the place where the nobles are.

Meanwhile, said noble set some water to boil and produced a stack of gauze that he sincerely hoped was sterile, considering it had come from his mind. The pads were about the width and height of a piece of printer paper, larger than he'd seen for sale in drug stores. Maybe she could fold them over a couple of times or something.

"Here." Rabbit caught the last of the creature's gestures as he turned, giving it a curious glance as he looked back at the stove. The water was taking its time, as water did, and he lent it some heat as well. "The Healer. He's small. Lots of arms." He paused, unsure about Temp's tolerance for bugs. "No needles or head-mounted microscopes or anything?"

The Semblance of Unitnom

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Thank you, sweetheart. You're doing well. I'm going to clean your wounds, then we'll get you all healed up, okay?" She shifted the creature gently. "Aside from these scratches, does anything else hurt? Just shake or nod your head." Temperance stepped over to scrub her hands, then started sorting the gauze for how'd she'd need to bandage it afterwards.

"No, nothing else, unless it's got a broken bone somewhere. Lots of arms must be useful." She sighed. "Water boiling yet?" It didn't need to be boiling when applied to the poor critter, in fact it should not, but boiling helped rid it of any bacterium. Without bothering to ask, she grabbed two clean towels from the cabinet.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

The creature shook its head. No pain, or at least nothing like the unpleasant definition of that word that others described. It did feel weak and a little bit like singing, but that was fairly standard. It was how it had known this was something to be taken to a healer in the first place.

"Useful. Yeah." Despite his vaguely insectile noble form, Rabbit couldn't really think of anything more arms would do for him except get in the way. He could see how they might help a doctor though. More arms meant more needles and gauze. She could just stitch people right up. There was the chance they would run screaming when they saw her, but... well... maybe she could use them solely on unconscious people. He cleared his throat and turned to the water, pushing it until it bubbled. "It is now. You want it in something?"

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"No, it just needed to boil to be sterile." Temperance strode over to the water and flipped off the heat. Once the boil had subsided, she dunks pieces of gauze into the water, careful not to dip her fingers. "Rabbit, can you hold our friend still while I clean?"

She moved back over, trailing drips as she went. Her kingdom for some chlorhexidine. "Alright," she said to the spiny creature. "This may hurt but I need you to stay still, okay? I promise it'll feel better soon."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Just like Dr. Ross.

The creature rested its head on the table as Rabbit placed his hands gently on its shoulders and tail, holding its spikier bottom half a little harder than its torso. He prepared to squeeze if things got rowdy.

"Okay. I'm ready to restrain." He might have still been smiling. At least it wasn't as manic as it had been when he'd first arrived.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Thanks, nurse Rabbit," she said, shooting Rabbit a smile. The man was at his best when a little silly. Slowly, she cleansed the wounds with the hot water and gauze; the towels were there precisely to catch the water. She wished she had some other disinfectant, but... beggars couldn't be choosers.

She tried to make it quick, her thin fingers steady. Then, she patted it dry and took a deep breath. "Hold him." Concentrating, she pressed her fingers to the edges of the first gash and began to push them together. The air around her fingers seemed softer, more malleable. "Shh, shhh," she said, forcing the flesh to knit together.

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

A little over an hour later, following successful restraint, doctoring, clean up, and even reward (their first patient was now in possession of a tiny golden medal that read GET WELL SOON), Rabbit took a seat and leaned forward over his folded hands, smirking at the spot where the creature had been.

"That was good, right? He didn't die?"

Sitting straight like he had been forced upright by the pull of a string, Rabbit reached into a pocket on the inside of his jacket and pulled out Georg's shimmering cloth.

"I almost forgot. Here." Before he could be stopped, Rabbit tore it in half.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"He didn't die." She tucked a strand of hair behind one ear and smiled. "If he'd died, we must have been doing something very, very wrong. His injuries weren't so severe. Now we can just hope he doesn't get an infection." Temperance was so out of practice. It had been so long, she'd almost forgotten some of the reasons why she'd wanted to become a nurse. She knew these were supposed to be trials, but sometimes it felt as though she were rotting away.

She'd sat as well, turning the chair around and resting her hands and chin along the back of it. Temperance blinked, puzzled, when he bolted up. "Er," she said, wincing at the ripping noise. "What is it?"

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"It's the beacon from the Healer," he said, finally pulling away from the edge of elation now that everything was quiet. "Your half. It should call injured creatures to you when you're looking to practice... maybe even when you're not. Nobody mentioned it needing to be activated, but I'm sure you could tell it you're closed if you don't want to be bothered. Come to think of it, I'm not sure anyone would be able to get in here without my permission anyway." And he wasn't about to just open his doors to the public. Not right now.

"You should be able to call the Healer himself if you need to though. I can..." Rabbit raised his voice and his hands, speaking at the ceiling. "I grant permission for Georg to visit when I'm not here." He lowered his arms and shrugged. "I don't know if he'd be up for questions or if he only wants to help if things get crazy, but it's worth a shot."

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She looked down at the iridescent cloth. Then she folded it up neatly into a small square which she sat on one knee. "Is there a way to make sure it's always on?" Because if someone was hurt, she needed to be available, no matter what. It wasn't an option.

Tempernce jerked her head up. "The... the healer could come here? I... want to meet him, is that bad? I feel like there's so much to learn and I'm just not fast enough..."

smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"I... um... I could set up a room for that? If you wanted to be open 24/7. I don't think it'd be a good idea to give everyone permission to come all the way in here when I'm not around though. Oroh might throw a fit, which would be adorable, but yeah. I'll see what I can do." It was kind of the fetch's house, to be fair.

Rabbit paused at Temperance's reaction to the healer. "Yeah, he said he could, but I don't know if it's more than a one or two time thing. I was going to wait, but if you want to try calling when I go..." Which he should probably try to do. He didn't have control over going in that direction yet, but if he didn't make the effort to wander around, he tended to stay put. The kids would be wondering where he'd gone. Or they'd assume he was right where he was. "It's not bad, I don't think. But you did good today, at least as far as I could see. You've got time to get better."

The Semblance of Unity