“Didn’t I just tell you to keep your voice down,” the man snapped in an angry whisper.
“Right, sorry.” I was not able to take my eyes off what I saw. Several people on beds, each of them surrounded by two or three attendants each. The room was busy and filled with the sounds of groaning and sometimes a pain filled yelp.
I could feel the erected array that stopped the sound from leaking through to the other side of the curtain, it was the same as the one in my room. I could understand why it was in place, the echoing chorus of wails and moans was disconcerting to say the least.
“What were you expecting there to be behind a curtain in an infirmary?” he asked as he looked at my bewildered expression.
“Something I recognised,” I replied, unable to take my eyes off the strange phenomenon in front of me. There were growths of plant life stemming from the bodies of the victims. The feral flora seemed to have a uniform colour scheme of ethereal, milky white and a dangerous looking blue - the kind that you see on creatures to let you know they’re poisonous.
“No one recognises this,” said the man. “It’s been puzzling us for days.”
“When was the first case?” I asked as I approached one of the beds.
“two weeks ago, they died two days ago.”
“Where’s the oldest case?”
“Over here, she’s had it for a week and a half.” He showed me to a bed surrounded by four people, two monitoring the girl, the other two attempting some sort of qi procedure.
“Tell them to stop,” I said.
“As much as you impressed me with your little poison trick,” he began as he straightened his robe and looked down on me, his slightly taller stature allowing him to do so. “You are young, new to the sect, new to the infirmary and untested. What makes you think I will do as you say?”
“Well, it’s fine. I’ll just wait till they’re done. Then will you allow me to attempt a diagnosis?” I asked, unwilling to cause a scene.
“Well, at least you have your priorities in order,” said the man. “Wait in this chair, you may attempt a diagnosis once they’re finished. Now, I should return to the initiates.” He passed through the curtain hastily, making sure those on the other side could not peek into the concealed horrorshow.
I racked my brain while I waited, certain that at some point during my many lifetimes I had encountered something similar. I was expecting something I could fix, in a heartbeat. I was expecting to be crowned the hero of the infirmary on the first day.
Every lifetime I encountered a surprise that I thought would be my last. I finally gave up on that notion and accepted - I’ll never know everything.
I watched in stillness at the madness around me, waiting for my turn with the patient. Eventually, one of the healers opened their eyes and stood up, his face a perfect painting of frustration. The other healer got up too. I seized the opportunity and approached the bed. The man who had shown me around had already let them know that I would be there, so no one intervened when I took up a chair next to the patient and placed my hand on hers, careful not to touch any of the protruding plants.
I sent my qi inside, she was weak and without defenses. Inside was a forest of roots, they attached themselves like a leech to her organs and bones. The sight terrified me, I’d never seen such destructive growth.
I recalled my qi and tapped one of the nearby healers on the shoulder. “Excuse me, what medication have you tried?” I asked. The healer rolled his eyes and handed me a roll of paper.
“The question should be, what haven’t we tried?” he said.
“Thank you,” I said as I looked at the sheet of paper. The healer was right, it did appear to be the case that they had tried everything, all of what I was considering had already been tested and shown to be entirely unhelpful. I looked between the paper and the patient, I had to give up on a rush to the finish line and start at the beginning.
I reinvaded her with qi and checked her vitals, they were weak and clinging on to life, as was expected. I estimated another two days of life before we lost her. Step one in any diagnosis, discover the source.
“Do we know the source?” I asked the same healer.
“No idea,” he said. “The expedition party left for the Amalgamation, we sent a rescue party out when they didn’t return in the allotted time. Now we have both the expedition and the rescue party suffering from whatever this is. So all we know is that it comes from the Amalgamation.”
“So, why haven’t we been there to find out what it was?” I asked. The healer looked at me like I was crazy. He then looked at the robe I was wearing.
“Are you new to the sect, or the city?”
“Both,” I replied.
“The Amalgamation is a dangerous place, not somewhere people can just adventure to. The rescue party consisted of Gutura’s strongest fighters, and even then, three of them died on the journey.”
“I see,” I said as I ran a hand through my hair.
“Look, kid. Usually we don’t humour this sort of thing but the boss said to give you a chance. You’ve had that chance.”
I nodded and got up from the seat and crossed to the other side of the curtain. Defeated.
The girl who had decided I was an adequate rival stood in my path before I could talk to the boss about my future as a healer.
“What was that all about?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
“You don’t want to know,” I replied.
“You should know that when you tell someone they don’t want to know it makes them want to know it more…” she said. I had to admit that she was right.
“Alright then,” I began. “Whatever is behind that curtain, there’s nothing you can do about it, there’s nothing any of them can do about it, there’s nothing I can do about it, so there’s no point in knowing.”
Her stance remained stoic as she listened. “Just because you were out of your depth, don’t take it out on everyone else.”
“Everyone’s out of their depth, not just me.” I said.
“Maybe they should just give up then? Like you,” she said, beginning to get cross.
“Well obviously not,” I said back, suddenly on the defensive. She took a step towards me.
“But there’s nothing they can do about it anyway?” she asked with faux innocence.
“Alright, I get it.” I said putting my hands up in defeat.
“I thought you were an experienced healer, what kind of experienced healer has an attitude like that?” she asked as she returned to the initiate test that was still in progress.
“I thought I was an experienced healer too,” I said with a laugh. “I’m beginning to think there’s no such thing.”
“You’re still young, there’s plenty left to learn.” She laughed at me.
“Apparently so,” I said. She had made me feel small, I couldn’t remember the last time I felt small.
Casualperv On that philosophical note, please fuel my motivation by leaving a comment or a simple click of the heart
“Didn’t I just tell you to keep your voice down,” the man snapped in an angry whisper.
“Right, sorry.” I was not able to take my eyes off what I saw. Several people on beds, each of them surrounded by two or three attendants each. The room was busy and filled with the sounds of groaning and sometimes a pain filled yelp.
I could feel the erected array that stopped the sound from leaking through to the other side of the curtain, it was the same as the one in my room. I could understand why it was in place, the echoing chorus of wails and moans was disconcerting to say the least.
“What were you expecting there to be behind a curtain in an infirmary?” he asked as he looked at my bewildered expression.
“Something I recognised,” I replied, unable to take my eyes off the strange phenomenon in front of me. There were growths of plant life stemming from the bodies of the victims. The feral flora seemed to have a uniform colour scheme of ethereal, milky white and a dangerous looking blue - the kind that you see on creatures to let you know they’re poisonous.
“No one recognises this,” said the man. “It’s been puzzling us for days.”
“When was the first case?” I asked as I approached one of the beds.
“two weeks ago, they died two days ago.”
“Where’s the oldest case?”
“Over here, she’s had it for a week and a half.” He showed me to a bed surrounded by four people, two monitoring the girl, the other two attempting some sort of qi procedure.
“Tell them to stop,” I said.
“As much as you impressed me with your little poison trick,” he began as he straightened his robe and looked down on me, his slightly taller stature allowing him to do so. “You are young, new to the sect, new to the infirmary and untested. What makes you think I will do as you say?”
“Well, it’s fine. I’ll just wait till they’re done. Then will you allow me to attempt a diagnosis?” I asked, unwilling to cause a scene.
“Well, at least you have your priorities in order,” said the man. “Wait in this chair, you may attempt a diagnosis once they’re finished. Now, I should return to the initiates.” He passed through the curtain hastily, making sure those on the other side could not peek into the concealed horrorshow.
I racked my brain while I waited, certain that at some point during my many lifetimes I had encountered something similar. I was expecting something I could fix, in a heartbeat. I was expecting to be crowned the hero of the infirmary on the first day.
Every lifetime I encountered a surprise that I thought would be my last. I finally gave up on that notion and accepted - I’ll never know everything.
I watched in stillness at the madness around me, waiting for my turn with the patient. Eventually, one of the healers opened their eyes and stood up, his face a perfect painting of frustration. The other healer got up too. I seized the opportunity and approached the bed. The man who had shown me around had already let them know that I would be there, so no one intervened when I took up a chair next to the patient and placed my hand on hers, careful not to touch any of the protruding plants.
I sent my qi inside, she was weak and without defenses. Inside was a forest of roots, they attached themselves like a leech to her organs and bones. The sight terrified me, I’d never seen such destructive growth.
I recalled my qi and tapped one of the nearby healers on the shoulder. “Excuse me, what medication have you tried?” I asked. The healer rolled his eyes and handed me a roll of paper.
“The question should be, what haven’t we tried?” he said.
“Thank you,” I said as I looked at the sheet of paper. The healer was right, it did appear to be the case that they had tried everything, all of what I was considering had already been tested and shown to be entirely unhelpful. I looked between the paper and the patient, I had to give up on a rush to the finish line and start at the beginning.
I reinvaded her with qi and checked her vitals, they were weak and clinging on to life, as was expected. I estimated another two days of life before we lost her. Step one in any diagnosis, discover the source.
“Do we know the source?” I asked the same healer.
“No idea,” he said. “The expedition party left for the Amalgamation, we sent a rescue party out when they didn’t return in the allotted time. Now we have both the expedition and the rescue party suffering from whatever this is. So all we know is that it comes from the Amalgamation.”
“So, why haven’t we been there to find out what it was?” I asked. The healer looked at me like I was crazy. He then looked at the robe I was wearing.
“Are you new to the sect, or the city?”
“Both,” I replied.
“The Amalgamation is a dangerous place, not somewhere people can just adventure to. The rescue party consisted of Gutura’s strongest fighters, and even then, three of them died on the journey.”
“I see,” I said as I ran a hand through my hair.
“Look, kid. Usually we don’t humour this sort of thing but the boss said to give you a chance. You’ve had that chance.”
I nodded and got up from the seat and crossed to the other side of the curtain. Defeated.
The girl who had decided I was an adequate rival stood in my path before I could talk to the boss about my future as a healer.
“What was that all about?” she asked with her hands on her hips.
“You don’t want to know,” I replied.
“You should know that when you tell someone they don’t want to know it makes them want to know it more…” she said. I had to admit that she was right.
“Alright then,” I began. “Whatever is behind that curtain, there’s nothing you can do about it, there’s nothing any of them can do about it, there’s nothing I can do about it, so there’s no point in knowing.”
Her stance remained stoic as she listened. “Just because you were out of your depth, don’t take it out on everyone else.”
“Everyone’s out of their depth, not just me.” I said.
“Maybe they should just give up then? Like you,” she said, beginning to get cross.
“Well obviously not,” I said back, suddenly on the defensive. She took a step towards me.
“But there’s nothing they can do about it anyway?” she asked with faux innocence.
“Alright, I get it.” I said putting my hands up in defeat.
“I thought you were an experienced healer, what kind of experienced healer has an attitude like that?” she asked as she returned to the initiate test that was still in progress.
“I thought I was an experienced healer too,” I said with a laugh. “I’m beginning to think there’s no such thing.”
“You’re still young, there’s plenty left to learn.” She laughed at me.
“Apparently so,” I said. She had made me feel small, I couldn’t remember the last time I felt small.
Casualperv On that philosophical note, please fuel my motivation by leaving a comment or a simple click of the heart
