RP:A Temporary Fix to a Long-Term Problem
This is a Healer's Guild RP.
Summary: Sometimes the darkness catches up, grabs you by the collar and drags you right back. Brennia is free from Tegrity Farms, but is she really? Will she ever be?
House of Ara; Rebuilt
The primary floor of the House of Ara was completely demolished so a newer, larger, and sturdier floorplan could take its place. Upon entering the building through heavy double doors, you will find yourself standing on oceanic-blue marble floors. The walls are white, backlit by mahogany trim. There is a receptionist desk, manned by a small Elvish girl with stark white hair and very pale skin named Mei. She will be able to direct you to the lavish patient rooms that are located up twisting staircase, the kitchens down the North corridor, the surgical facilities to the east or the teaching clinic to the west. The ceilings are high and the acoustics pick up the click-clack of your heels as you make your way to Mei. The Guild Tutor, Mr.Fennigan would be more than happy to serve as your escort, or fetch a wheelchair and a medic should there be cause for one.
Brennia shows up to help out around Ara as usual, instructing Thedez to just hang out in the lobby because she won’t need much protection in here. It’s been quite a few months since they helped to regain some of her strength after the toll of being held captive on a free labor farm, but she’s determined to keep busy and exhaust herself since that’s the only way she can sleep these days. Even if she’s lucky enough to slumber, her dreams are filled with nightmares of whip toting goblins and their angry chittering demands. With her hair pulled up into a high bun and a tunic go hide her slender shape, she gets to work assisting in surgeries, calming patients, delivering meals to rooms, helping with the laundry and counseling some trauma survivors. Leaving the room of a five hour surgery, Brennia heads off to change her smock and wash up, but halfway down the corridor, she braces the wall because it feels as if her world is inside a snow globe and someone just turned it upside down to see all the snowflakes swirl around. Blinking hard in order to make the stars clear away from her vision and suddenly she feels drenched in sweat as one of her fellow healers come to her side while asking if she’s okay. At least, she thought that’s what they said since they decided to mumble to her from under water. “You look pale, Brennia, why don’t you sit down?” They pull up a chair, but the avian’s large black wings unfurl a twitch as she mutters something in her native tongue in protest. She thinks she’s casually saying that she’s fine and just needs some fresh air, but as she goes to remove the surgical mask from her mouth, all six foot two inches of the bard falls in a sickening thud on the hard floor. Thedez comes slithering down the hallway in a flash when he hears the healer shouting for someone to help the avian he’s been charged with protecting and, being a man of few words, he hoists her up on a nearby gurnee and tucks her wings under her body so they don’t stick out and catch on doorways, corners or walls.
Emilia had spent the recent week out of Ara in a visit to her greenhouse up in Frostmaw. While the healer was away she had left Edith in charge of overseeing the day to day functions of the clinic with direct instructions to fetch her immediately if an urgent event happened. The collapse of the fellow guild mate, Brennia, was just that emergency that had Edith sending word to the leader to return post haste. No sooner had the door to Ara opened by the young lad charged with getting the letter to the owls when the healer herself almost walked inside. It was a collision that sounded like a chandelier had hit the ground with an echo of glass breaking. The frozen woman landed flat on her back beneath Issac in the entryway to Ara. The basket she had been carrying was full of glass jars that were now busted to bits scattered everywhere. It was a mixture of herbs, potions, collected liquids ingredients, and dust. Well, one jar seemed to have had dust in it when it broke a giant cloud of silvery-green engulfed the entrance. With a cough the Genasi carefully wiggled herself out from under the weight of the blushing young man, leaving him on hands and knees over a space that sported a perfect silhouette of Emilia within the debris of the accident. Clearing her throat, “What in the dickens has you in such a hurry, Issac? You should always look before running out of a door. Especially one that is well used.” Before Issac could respond it was Edith running down the corridor hall waving her wrinkled hands in a frantic gesture while calling out to the leader, “Emilia! Oh, Emilia! Thank-Sven you are back! Brennia is unconscious. She took a good fall after helping out all day! However, her companion Thedez will not let just anyone touch his charge. You are needed pronto to the examination room, third door on the left! Hurry, hurry!” In a whirl, one that caused the dreaded locks of hair to fan out like whips, Emilia was on the move to see her friend and guild mate. Edith could be heard following behind the Genasi, “Clean up your mess, Issac!” Echoing from the distance toward the lad left stunned in the middle of a mess. Entering the room that Brennia had been taken into, Genasi brought herself to stand next to Bre. Icy eyes on Thedez as she spoke, “May I?” Though she asked his permission to proceed the healer did not wait for his reply as she placed two fingers on the avian’s wrist and felt for her pulse. She still had one which was a blessing. It was always best to have a living body to start with. A stare that could pierce a soul landed on Thedez, “Explain. Don’t even think about missing a detail.”
Brennia is going to write a lot of apology notes when she learns of the commotion she's caused for she really does hate being such a burden. Issac will definitely be first, poor lad. Thedez simply nods when Emilia asks permission, he respects this tiny one, but her request of explanation is met with a folder. It is of their physicals after they had been rescued from 'Tegrity Farms' which is briefly described as a slave labor camp. It lists the types of potions that had been used to keep them subdued and the dosage of sleeping draught to keep them asleep during rest hours. Thedez seemed to recover quickly from withdrawals, but Brennia wasn't so lucky. It is documented that she spent one week with violent shivers, bile extracting and high fevers, but the next week she slept until the third week where she just groaned and sobed from the pain. Upon looking at the frail avian, her once lustrous wings are dull and thinning, she's basically skin and bones, the bags under her eyes show that she hasn't been sleeping well. Thedez clears his throat, "she can't eat without getting sick afterwards. Sometimes she uses a spell to allow me to sleep, but I don't think she's been sleeping on her own unless she's run herself into the ground with exhaustion and we cannot take anymore sleeping aids." Thedez visibly shudders at the idea of having to go through withdrawals again even though his experience wasn't as bad - that isn't saying much. "I notice she will get a pain in her abdomen area and take a break to breathe through it, but when I urge her to see a healer, she waves me away saying that she is a healer and it's just a cramp."
Emilia listened carefully to each word and detail given by Thedez over the encounter the pair shared that was not a fun one. The healer herself had been a prisoner a few times in her past leaving her with full understanding of how those experiences could go both good and bad. The Genasi was gentle with her touch as she proceeded with a physical exam of the abdomen area. Her chilly hands moved with a gentle grace like falling snow, ever so brief and light of a touch before it was gone. Behind Em, Edith could be seen with a chart scrawling down everything that was coming from Thedez along with different comments that were made by the healer herself in what sounded like gibberish. The elderly woman seemed to understand her without ever pausing to question. Finally, the silence was broken as the leader spoke to Thedez with concern, “I can understand the trauma that comes from such an experience on a personal level. I do not think the pain she claims as a cramp, is simply a cramp. If it was, then by now it should have gone away, which concludes that it is something more serious. I am not sure of how severe at the time. Most of the surgeons here would next proceed to cutting her open to have a look inside, but that is not my preferred technique anymore. I have learned that doing that can cause more harm in different cases. I have found a way to see inside the body without having to slice it open first. It is also completely painless.” A dismal outcome loomed ahead, but a reassuring smile was ever present on the frosted lips of the healer. As if out of thin air there was a small girl standing at the door to the room holding a glass jar in her hand that appeared to be empty. The newest female to the room was a miniature version of the ghostly white woman with jet block curls and mismatched eyes, one vibrant green while the other the icy blue. She didn’t speak a word as she carried the jar over to the group. Lynn held the jar while Emilia opened it then stuck her only hand into the jar to pull free the contents. Oh, how handy two hands would be right now. Alas, she had the help of assistants like her daughter. Between her fingers a misty looking grape dangled in the air. Closer inspection it was an eyeball of a ghost contained in the jar. With a gentle touch Em opened Bre’s mouth and stuffed the object inside before closing her mouth forcing her to swallow the mist. It would move through her body, painlessly, scanning her insides before floating out of her nose. It was the girl, Lynn, that caught it as it exited the body and held it up to stare at as she read the short term sight memory it held within. In moments, Lynn would be able to share the images Hector’s eye saw within Bre to her mother through a mental link allowing Emilia a first hand look of what they were dealing with. Silence as she fumbled through the new information and tried to put the pieces together with a solution to fix the issues at hand.
Brennia lay mostly still, her brow furrows here or there and her skin continues to warm and produce dewy sweat, but the avian doesn't smell of anything other than anyone's favorite - obviously. When Emilia's fingertips graced her warm skin, it felt so nice and Brennia let out a groan. Thedez watches intently and when she stirs, he waits for her to simply wake up and say she's fine, but not this time. She's going to have a few words for him when she wakes up for sure, making a fuss like this over her. The naga simply nods to the explanation, again, man of few words here unless it is needed, but when the spectre's eye was removed and silence fills the room, he breaks it to ask, "is everything ok?"
Emilia shook her head slowly in a simple ‘no’ fashion to answer the words that had broken the silence in the room. Lynn put the eye back into the jar where it seemed to disappear into as if it was never there and screwed the lid on tightly. The grave look in the girl’s eyes as she looked at Thedez was enough to break a person’s heart with the words the person was dead or dying or somewhere in between. Clutching the jar Lynn turned on foot and left without ever saying a word. Emilia took in a long inhale before slowly letting out an exhale with her eyes closed staring at the images before her that only she could see. Opening them she reached out a finger to gently trace over Bre’s neck barely touching her with her frozen flesh, “Drinking the potions has taken a toll on her throat. Nothing time, honey, and herbal tea cannot slowly mend. What a beautiful voice to be silenced for a while. She will need to refrain from singing and talking until it heals. She doesn’t have the energy to use her bardic ways right now, nor does she have the reserves to draw from.” If only it was as simple as a lost voice. Then the woman drew a circle over Bre’s stomach to trace an area to represent the part she spoke about next, “The mixing of the tonics has eaten a hole in her stomach and in parts of her intestines by her stomach. Though she is barely eating, what she is eating is leaking out through the hole along with her stomach acid making it a toxic environment there. She will need surgery to fix this. And immediately so. I am going to be honest and tell you I haven’t seen this before and am going to be working the best I can to find something. Right now, it will be temporary at best, but that will give us all time to find an actual solution. I don’t know if this will ever be fully mended or what the future will hold. No sleeping potions, but I cannot operate on her without something to keep her asleep. I will have Leo bring me in some sleeping gas. It will be in a mask over her face so that she breaths it in to stay asleep during the procedure. Any questions?” The moment the healer mentioned surgery the entire staff in the room was starting to move to prep the room for immediate surgery.
Brennia looks peaceful, almost perfectly sleeping now, but with the way that little girl just looked at Thedez, it made his scales nearly click with chill. The naga is mostly stoic, as if he's pretty much a stranger to Brennia. Really, she's just a job for him that Queen Reginae appointed even though he really didn't want to - it was an honor to get a direct order from the Queen of Alithrya. He already feels like a failure for the predicament they ended up in and in a way he understands her past reckless behavior after losing the Schezerade election, but he stayed in the position of being her guard because he just doesn't want to go back home where fellow naga would mock him. Lately, the kindness she constantly shows everyone in her path, the warm smile she paints on her face when he knows that she is tormented just as much as he has grown a respect for the avian; something he never thought possible. With the clearing of his throat and a couple blinks of his eyes, "do you need my assistance in here, or would I be better use if I were outside the door?"
Emilia pointed with her thumb as she side stepped between two moving bodies that were bringing in different instrument trays full of an odd assortment of tools for surgery from scalpels to needles to what looked like a strange spiky spoon. “I would prefer it if you get out. I will come out when we are finished here. If you are hungry the kitchen is open.” Of course, the moment the woman mentioned food was when her son entered the room pushing a large contraption that consisted of two giant glass looking jars and a long tube coming off the one filled with a hazy blue mist. Attached to the tube was a mask that the lad would work on carefully placing over the woman’s face. “Not fair, he gets food and I have to man the sleep gas!” He’s a teenage boy with jet black locks falling loosely in his face to half hide those icy-blue eyes of his that match the wintery woman’s. Thedez would be escorted out by Edith. Leo starts to tap his food on a pedal of the machine to get the gasses flowing out of the chambers through the tube to fill the mask over the avian’s face so that she would naturally breathe it in and remain asleep during the procedure. Once the naga has left the room is when the real work begins. First, the woman’s clothes are snipped away in such a manner that gave Emilia access to her stomach while still providing decency from exposing her entire body. Second, the stomach is cleaned thoroughly as each staff member takes up their normal positions around the patient for surgery. Emi stands on one side with Edith standing on the other as the main assistant. With a deep inhale in and a slow exhale, the Genasi holds out her hand saying, “Scalpel, please.” Then it begins as the first cut was made into Brennia’s abdomen. Hours later it would end with stitches being neatly placed with extra care to prevent what scaring that a one-handed surgeon could. The staff went from operating to cleaning up the room without any directions. Leo removes the mask from the sleeping beauty’s face and begins moving her to a private room with care to not bump her into anything. Emilia goes to find the snake-man to give a report. The poor white woman covered in blood, not her own, along with some other colored stains on her clothing. White dreads had become a mess of a bun atop her head, also sporting spots of blood. A bit messy for the wear, but when was the icy woman ever not? Rubbing her blackened stump at the back of her neck she spoke, “It was worse than I had thought. I have documented notes for later study, but for now she will be alright with a handful of new restrictions and a vast diet change. I have managed a temporary mending to her stomach and intestines by connecting them in a different spot. I did have to remove some of her intestines that were too far gone and a portion of her stomach. Reconnected with a patch to hold it all together. Her stomach is almost three times smaller now than it was. Anyways, she should be waking soon. Would you like to go see her?”
Brennia lives to see another day apparently. Thedez stayed at an attentive post just outside the room, stoic and sturdy like a statue, but he is just following orders isn't he? Brennia is just a job, not a friend, but when he is summoned to see her the naga doesn't hesitate with a nod and a slithering follow. When he sees her there on the operating table, unconscious and cut open, he grimaces. Is it because he feels bad for the bard, or because this makes his job harder? The avian's solid teal eyes slowly blink open and squint in the bright lights before letting out a pained groan, but then she realizes where she was a second ago - in the hall, "how did I-" The pain cuts her question off and her hands feel over her abdomen to feel the incision, but that just makes everything worse and she nearly feels like she could pass out again. "Em?" Her smoky alto timbre is barely a whisper when she tries to sit up and inspect what in the heck just happened to her. Thedez simply places his hand on her shoulder with no force to guide the bard to stay still, "you fainted." With that he looks to Emilia to explain the rest.
Emilia flashed a warm smile on frozen blue lips as Brennia spoke. If anything, she did not accidentally kill the woman during surgery nor did she end up with neuro-complications, thus far at least. There was a confirmation nod of what Thedez had said about the fainting from the frozen woman. “I tried my best to stitch it up with the least bit of scarring left behind,” she said, holding up a hand and a stump in a small attempt to make it a little funny at her own expense. Then she crossed the room to sit in the chair next to her bed, “All that exhaustion you put yourself through prevented your body from naturally healing some effects of your misadventure. As a result, the hole in your stomach expanded, the acids in your stomach escaped, and caused a nasty mess in your gut. It resulted in surgery. Worse off than what Hector’s eye revealed once you were opened up, but I managed a fix however not a permanent one. I had to remove some of your intestines out completely and part of your stomach too. I did path them together. No worries there, your insides are connected! Just less intestine and a much smaller stomach. Does any of that make sense to you?” There the warm smile faltered to reveal a flash of nervousness and worry at the long term. As soon as it happened it was gone, “Leo has brought you a soft robe of deep violet that has slits sewn in for your wings. It will be comfier to rest up in than cut up bits of your old clothes.”
Brennia is attempting to pull the thin operating sheet over her thighs that sport scars from whips and flogging chains, but Thedez notices and did it for her automatically without really thinking about it. "I'm no stranger to scars," she says softly with that pesky scratchiness dorming in her throat again. It was when Emilia held up her hand, that Brennia only smiled with humor twinkling in her eyes because if it weren't for her chuckle muscles being in her abdomen, then she would actually give a short laugh. "Oh," she says even softer now. It seems she will never be truly free from that awful place. "Yes, I understand… Emilia?" She had noticed the flash of nervousness come over the genasi's expression, "you're amazing. Anyone ever told you that enough?" Just like that, the bard smiles so warmly in a genuineness that brightens the whole room. Such a strength in happiness and putting others first, even now, seems almost heartbreaking."We will figure it out… This, too… I will survive." Her hand reaches to gently cup the fellow healer's cheek - only briefly before the chill affects her, "thank you so much."
Emilia could not help but smile when the bard smiled. It was a simply contagious action. “Oh, Miss Brennia, I am simply just generic. Nothing amazing about me,” she commented back as if being a being of ice was ordinary. Then she added after a moment, “Your legs match my back. I bet if we work hard enough, we can make one convincing robbery of the bakery.” Her hand moved with her words to suggest something as silly as the two under one cloak stealing donuts as if they were a single person. Though that ended the moment the other woman pulled her hand away leaving the healer with the constant reminder that she would forever be alone in the world, too cold to handle. Clearing her throat as she scooted the chair back to keep a distance of her chill from the avian. “Now, I don’t really know how things will play out from here. Loads of research to do, but what I do know is that you are not permitted to do any work until you are healed. You will spend as much time resting as you can, which means sleep. Your body needs sleep to heal, especially after a major surgery. I am worried about your eating, so I want weight checks on you every couple of days. I want you on soft foods only. Herbal tea and water only. Also, I will have them add a natural softener into your tea so that your poop stays smooth. Visitors will be limited. We can revisit your restrictions in a moon phase. Liam and Leo should have you a private patient room nearly set up for you. Almost complete bed rest for this first week. I want you up and walking laps around the halls four times a day. Otherwise, resting. Most importantly all your symptoms must be reported to me or Edith so we can monitor you. Hiding things to skip a phase will get you held back two-fold. Simple enough, yes?”
Brennia scoffs ever so quietly at Emilia's rebutted. The two are quite similar in many things - accepting compliments is one of them. "Just Bre to you," she gently reminds the fellow healer. The avian manages a smile again and almost laughs, "you're going to make me bust my stitches and my healer will have words for you disrupting her perfect work." When the demands that no work be done, Brennia fakes a pout. "Yes," the avain nods once, "when I have to begin walking laps, may I at least cart around the meals?" She really hates feeling useless. It's then that Thedez catches Emilia's gaze and points to his own throat. Trying to get the healer to break that news because he is not well equipped with the vernacular or tact for such things. "Also. Who are Liam and Leo?" Brennia hadn't heard of them before - are they new healers?
Emilia was smiling again, “Oh, a bard once told me that laughter is one of the best medicines. And no. No carting around meals. You start walking tomorrow. You can push the meal cart around when your stitches are out. And those won’t come out if you don’t rest and heal.” As if on cue of hearing their names the two identical dark haired preteen, they were nearly thirteen which meant not a fully teenager yet, boys. “You summoned, Sleeping Beauty?” the pair answered in unison with voices that were naturally smooth with a hint of a dark richness to them. They stood taller than the pale woman, but they shared the exact same eyes as the Genasi. Nothing like three sets of icy blue eyes staring at you to make you feel all frozen inside. At the moment the boys were dressed in black slacks with black cotton short sleeved shirts on. Nothing visible to tell them apart. Was it illusion magic at its best? “Meet the boys, Leo and Liam. The older two of the triplets. Lynn is around here somewhere, probably playing with your removed intestines in the morgue.”
Brennia is covered up more by Thedez when the boys come into the room after she tries to do it herself. Again, the bard smiles in that contagiously warm way to the boys, "hello there, an honor to make your acquaintance." Those solid teal optics switch to Emilia, "these handsome boys look so much like you. I can tell they are yours." A brow quirks up at the mention of a third playing with her corroded insides, "a healthy curious mind." Her eyelids are feeling heavy again. It seems the little energy she had is quickly fading and rest is ready to claim her. Thedez clears his throat gently and looks from Bre, to Emilia and back to Brennia. He's quite desperate not to be the one to tell her that she shouldn't be singing because music is the woman's life and her voice is her most powerful instrument.
Emilia chuckled with a small shake of her head, “Remind me later to show you a painting of their father. They are the spitting image of him, not me. It is truly the case. Now, boys run along and help Edith finish cleaning up for me. I will be along shortly.” Charming smiles with matching waves to the room before the twins dipped out to go help the elderly healer in the surgery room. Turning her gaze to the snake man with a raised brow before the healer managed to catch on. “I will leave you with a last bit of information before letting you rest up. Hector’s eye also revealed that your throat is very raw on the inside, damaged. This I believe we have caught much earlier than your stomach. The likelihood of a full recovery in time is much better, but it means talk little and no signing for a time. I don’t want to have to go in and remove your voice box leaving you mute. Please, if any of my orders stick, let it be this one.” A flash of a warm to sad to warm again smile. The healer was serious as ever while trying to keep it light though hinting at the worse case outcome. From the closest the genasi pulled out a warm wool blanket and carefully laid over the avian, “Get some rest. You are in most need of it. If you need anything just give a holler and someone will be here.”
Brennia feels her eyelids become heavier and her worst fears confirmed as moisture collects on the rim of her eyelids. She is far too tired to argue or ask anymore questions, but she mumbles out, "but yellow nine ate the raccoon on the chuckle muffin's ship…" Finally, she is pulled into a usually nightmare filled slumber, but this time - she will have some difficulties fighting herself back awake. Thedez sighs, before following Emilia out of the room and going back to his post outside of Brennia's room.
Emilia turned to leave to allow her guild mate and friend to slumber after her mumbling of strange things. She would only be gone a moment before she returned to set up a few open jars of aroma herbs in the corners to promote calming, healing, sleep, and peace. All mild scents that are barely noticed with the goal of a homeopathic assistance to her recovery. For now, Emilia left the light on as she exited the room again. A nod to Thedez, “If you ever need a break or if you want a cot for yourself let someone know. We will get everything taken care of.” With a wave and a smile the Genasi was off to go revisit Issac to see how he was fairing.