RP:Silly Bird
Summary: The second surgery to improve Brennia's health is rejecting at a rapid rate and it calls for a third, hopefully final surgery.
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 has been silently dealing with her health problems as of late even though it's probably a little more evident the past few months, but she has been optimistic and upbeat about the hand she's been dealt as of late. A few days ago, her fellow healers at ara had to induce a coma on the woman until Emilia could get there because the second procedure they attempted to help with her gastrointestinal perforation had run its course and Brennia was in so much pain that there was no other way. Thedez, the naga bodyguard assigned to Brennia by Reginae, kept his post outside Brennia's room in his human form seated and stoic as usual. The avian herself looks worse off than when she first came here for help, but she almost looks at peace and fragile at the same time. Her hair looks thinner, her wings have lost their luster, the black ink covering most of her body creating an intricate tattoo pattern sticks out even more against her ashen skin, but the sight of nearly every one of her ribs may be most alarming. A lot of the healers are here, but mentally checked out at the same time. They've come to know this woman and most of them didn't ever realize that she was dealing with such a burden. Many whispers travel around about how they believe that this is the last they will see of her and they wonder if they will wake her to at least say her goodbyes.
Emilia arrived at Ara with a quick step to her pace as Lynn followed along behind her mother carrying a closed box with her. The presence of the dark haired girl was enough to send small groups of healers away to do their discussions elsewhere. Few people enjoyed having the youngest of the triplets in the healing center. Behind the duo walked the elder Edith who was barking out orders from the moment she arrived with the genasi. On cue everyone was bustling to get the avian woman prepped and ready for her third and hopefully last surgery. The near lifeless woman was being transferred into the operating room while the youngest triplet followed along behind the procession of healers with that box still clutched tightly in her grasp. With the winged woman already in a coma induced state it would be a faster start time for the operation. Healers would gather around the rim of the room and in the doorway to watch with keen eyes what the frozen woman would do this time. Some would whisper their doubt in the leader that she had met her match, a case she could not solve and how soon before she would kill their fellow healer.
Brennia begins to feel all floaty and it is quite the familiar sensation. How many times will this avain come close to death? Suddenly the view of her own body shimmers into view and she is looking down at the scene beginning to play out. 'Wait… where is Thedez?' Her consciousness floats on out into the hallway and she can see Emilia arriving with Lynn just as Thedez notices, but as usual, all he offers is a calm and collected nod of his head. As soon as they enter the room, Brennia feels a pull to go back to her body, but she lingers just long enough to watch as Thedez stands up and begins to pace. 'You don't belong here,' she observes to no one as she recalls the last year with her friend and she knows how worried he's been since Emilia mentioned that she had been kidnaped by Reginae. 'Things are going to be different this time,' she begins, but is violently pulled back into the room by her body and she joins the rest: looking down at a hopeless case. Eventually her gaze lingers on every face to see the doubt, but there is one looking right at her. The young one, the spitting image of her mother and this causes Brennia to tilt her head to ask, 'can you see me or even hear me?'
Emilia ignores the whispers of the onlookers as she begins with a calm but stern tone, “Scalpel.” This is not the first time she has cut open Bre, but she hopes it is the last for a while as her friend deserves to get better and find a happy life again. Lynn’s mismatched eyes hone in on the spirit of the avian lingering between life and death in the room to watch as her body is sliced open by her mother’s hand once more. The lips of the child’s never moved but her voice could be heard like a soft whisper reaching Bre's spirit alone, ‘Of course I can see and hear you, Silly Bird.’ As if on cue the blue eyes of the Genasi turn toward where Lynn is looking, but she doesn’t see anything and turns back to her work. Sharp tools are exchanged between the elder and the Genasi work in unison to open up the woman. The first matter at hand was the slow and careful process of remove the unworking and failing organ. It along with any other dead tissue needed removed thoroughly before she could even begin to think of working on mending it again. As the pair of healers worked the child kept her gaze on the other woman's spirit and whispered, ‘Welcome to the In-Between. In the end, it is your choice to stay or go, but if you take too long to choose you will become trapped here until your body decays and you only have one choice left.’
Brennia feels a strange pang shoot through her heart when it seems as though Emilia looked right at her as well because she doesn't want her friend to see the doubt, but then she can tell that Emilia is looking through her and then her gaze goes back to Lynn. When she is called a Silly Bird, she grins and it brightens up her whole face. It feels like everything is moving in slow motion around herself and Lynn, 'A choice, huh.' Eventually her gaze lingers back to her own body as the ever-so-diligent Emilia works away. 'Your name is Lynn, right?' A glance to the girl to confirm and when she does, Brennia takes a deep breath, 'maybe you've heard this a handful of times.' She was aware of the girl's gifts, 'I'm so very tired, Lynn. More than I'd like this past year or so, I have wondered why I keep fighting and what is the point of all this?' A pregnant pause rests between them, 'I've been here before you know. I didn't hesitate to leave the first time and when I was forced to come back, I couldn't shake this anger because I knew where I could have been. I was at peace and I was with my family. It felt like I spent an eternity on the Other Side and being back on this plane took so much out of me.' The avian blinks slowly as if she could cry, but no tears come. She slumps over herself on the operating table as her spirit grows weaker, 'when things seemed so dark, I slipped into what I am sure is hell now and I promised myself after my dear friend rescued me that I will never slip into such anger anymore.' She didn't, throughout this whole ordeal, she has kept a warm smile on her face for anyone and helped in any way she could, even when it cost Brennia her health. 'None of us have all the answers,' she looks to Lynn finally as if searching for anything - even maybe a morsel of hope.
Emilia looks to Edith as the two share a look of worry. There is a great deal of blood leaking from the open woman on their table, but neither can seem to find where the bleeding is coming from. They are losing her. The quick look is gone as the two return to seeking for the source again. It is not long before they finally get a handle on the bleeding and the held breaths of the audience can be heard releasing all at once. Without looking away Lynn opens the box at her mother’s command to reveal a stomach on ice with other organs still attached to also add in replacement intestines for the woman. It must be the dark child at work as the stomach hovers up from the box lingering in mid air before settling down into the open body cavity without being touched in the process. Now the two healers tend to the tedious work of transplanting the organ into the woman. Lynn speaks in whispers to Bre again, ‘I have walked weary spirits through twelve of the thirteen gates. I can tell you what lies behind each of those doors, but I cannot tell you what lies behind the last one. It is said to be different for each soul. The color is never the same twice, always shifting and always changing. I am sure you are tired, but that is of your own doing. Sometimes you have to remember to put yourself first and mend yourself before trying to mend others. You lose yourself in more ways than one. If you do decide to live I would highly suggest actually living. Find what makes you smile and enjoy it. If you decide to let go of living I can walk you to the last gate, but cannot say what you will find. It is a gamble either way, but it is only you that can make the choice.'
Brennia lets out a shaky sigh as she tasks herself with sitting down on the operating table and lining her hips up with the physical version of her own body. The look she gives Lynn is beyond knowing and so tangibly sad that it could catch the breath in someone's chest. With a weakened whisper she concludes, 'Lynn… I do know what waits and that is the problem. I miss it every day and I am counting the seconds until I can return to my rest.' The admission itself is heavy enough to weigh and hang in the air until it feels as if for a second you'll never take a breath again. 'Today is not the day, thank you for listening, Lynn,' and just like that. This gifted young lady is the only one to ever know that secret, the only one to peer into Brennia's darkest desire. Lynn will always know that warm and sweet smile expertly hides a forlorn face behind, that poised upright posture has shoulders holding up the heaviest of burdens and the currently visible cage to her ribs is quite literally a prison for a bird that just wants to fly. Silly Bird indeed… to willingly crawl back into it. With an ethereal grace, she lays back on the table and lines up perfectly with her physical body, choosing life again because no matter how hard things get, hope will always be there for a brighter tomorrow.
Emilia along with Edith had begun the closing procedure having gotten the internal organs of the woman on her table back into working order once more. There were no signs of rejection as the organs turned a healthy pink. The Genasi had woven magic into the connection points of original organs and donor organs to speed along the recovery process for Bre. Her body was weak enough as it was that allowing time to let it all heal could be more risky than a mix of magical mending on the inside. Lynn flashed what looked like a brief smile at the spirit as she started to align herself with her physical body once more. There was a last whisper shared with the elder woman, ‘If you choose greedily the rest you seek will come after tarnished years locked between gates until your spirit has earned its way to a final resting. More torture before finding the solace of freedom you yearn for. In choosing life today you will find one step closer to true rest when it is your actual time. If you remember this moment seek me out when you are healed and I shall have a gift for you.’ The last of her words turned into a slurred tone as Breanna rested back into her skin, connecting with life once more. Would she remember the gift from a half dead girl when she healed? Emilia and Edith had finished closing the winged woman while dismissing now the onlookers of the surgery. Wounds dressed as the pair of healers would transfer Bre from operating table to the soft patient bed in a private room. Edith argues with Emilia over if the winged lady should have a blood transfusion with regular donated blood or a special transfusion of the abnormal healing blood directly from the genasi to the avian.
Brennia wonders in a painless sleep if near death experiences will ever not have those crystalizing moments, but it leaves her in awe every time. Mortals are such odd beings and she chooses to continue to be one of them when she had the perfect opportunity to shuck this useless body into a peaceful eternal rest. The avian knows there are long days ahead for recovery and rehabilitation, but the minute she can wake and speak again, she is going to allow Thedez to leave his post and travel back home… She doesn't need protecting anymore, but what he needs is to find out what's going on back in Alithrya. The aches of living begin to return, but Brennia remains in a coma like state until the healers deem it appropriate to bring her out of it once they are certain that the organs won't reject this time.
Emilia had hardly left the chair in the room that belonged to Brennia since her third surgery. If things were going to sour again the leader did not want to be back in Venturil needing to hurry here. At the present moment the Genasi could be seen sleeping in the chair in what seemed the most uncomfortable position one could twist into. Her little body was squished into the chair with her head barely on the seat, one leg folded over her stomach and the other dangled over the arm of the chair. Somehow she managed to go from upright sleeping to more upside down slumbering. The medications used to keep the woman slumbering had been weaned off starting in the middle of the previous night and now she waited for her to wake on her own accord. Sitting in the corner of the room was Lynn just watching the two adult women sleep. At least one of them looked comfortable in their slumber. Before the criss-cross legged sitting girl two fine point needles moved in mid air on their own accord it seemed. Not knitting needles, but the motions of them mimicked knitting. The work the girl did was half in this realm and half in the spirit realm leaving the physical project unseen by others except for the moving needles knitting invisible thread.
Brennia slowly came into true consciousness and with great effort, her eyelids began to slowly open just as a soft groan emitted from the frail woman. Her soft raspy voice is soon to follow with, "oh… I feel like I've been trampled by dragons." Her solid teal gaze focuses on a somewhat blurry Lynn for a moment before slightly shifting her head on the pillow to see Emilia scrunched up in an impossible position on the chair next to the bed. Brennia begins to grin genuinely before she finds Lynn across the room again and it almost seems like a dream, but she does remember having a conversation with the girl and she repeats a tit bit of their interaction, "your name is Lynn, right?" She allows Emilia to sleep for now, unless Lynn wanted to wake her.
Emilia hardly shifted from her slumber having spent countless nights up to keep a watchful eye on her friend. Lynn did not see the point in waking her mum just yet. The woman was talking after all and not gushing blood out of her or screaming in pain. The needles continued to work away as the girl’s mismatched gaze landed on Bre when she spoke her name. It was the second time she had questioned her name from her, but the dark haired girl simply nodded her head ‘yes' to agree that was her name. Even now the girl didn’t seem much for talking. However, she did rise from the floor to fetch the woman a fresh glass of water from the pitcher in the corner. Carrying it over she quietly handed her the cup that was not even half full of liquid, ‘Drink,’ the word came out of thin air. The girl’s lips never moved to make the sound and the Genasi was still asleep in the chair.
Brennia remembered this type of interaction from her out of body experience and accepts the offered glass of water, suddenly realizing that her mouth feels rough and dry. With greedy gulps, the avian chugs the water down and simply keeps hold of the now empty glass. Her whole body hurts and aches, but at least she doesn't have a fever, so that's a good sign for now. "Thank you, Lynn," her gaze drifts over to the window as if she expects to see a whole change of season. "Do you happen to know how long I've been out?" Another concerning glance given over to Emilia as she has a strong desire to scoot over to share her bed with the pregnant woman. She wasn't showing yet, but sleeping like that on a chair can't be good for those growing babies.
Emilia | Lynn shook her head slowly causing those wild curls of midnight black to bounce freely around the small girl. Those locks just as untamed as the snowy white curls of her mother. Lynn’s voice floated around the room as she went to grab the pitcher to refill the other woman’s cup, “I don’t do well with the time, sorry. I live between two realms so it gets blurred. I would wager at least seven moons or more. You are awake quicker than mum was after her heart surgery, but she did magically mend your internal organs with speed and let the outer flesh heal on its own. Seems the stomach I procured for you is working well or at least you are a very good gas passer in your sleep." There was a subtle echoing laugh that rang out in the room. This was enough to wake the sleeping woman. In a not so graceful series of movements the Genasi was sitting up right in the chair and stretching out, “Good to see you awake! How do you feel? Hungry? Thirsty? Pained? What can I get for you?” she rambled off the questions without much room to answer them.
Brennia felt her cheeks get hot and she probably turned several shades of red as she had to stifle a giggle because she didn't want to disrupt the healing within, "then that -is- a good sign." The avian has never taken herself seriously and can take a good jab at her own expense, but it was while Emilia rose and immediately went into doctor mode that made her have to literally bite her lower lip some to keep from laughing. With a collecting deep breath, well - as deep as her wounds allowed, she then answered the questions in order, "I feel ragged." That is expected, "I have been hungry for the last year or so," she offers a grin in her light humor. "Yes I am quite thirsty and I am in pain, but that is to be expected. I think you have done more than enough, Emilia. I cannot begin to thank you enough," a soft smile of admiration rests on her lush, yet dried out looking lips.
Emilia turned a look to Lynn who nodded in turn before leaving the room. Even as the girl left those floating needles followed along behind her. Emilia smiled at the other woman, “I try. I am sorry it took me this long to get you on the mend. I truly am sorry you went so long in pain.” A sad sigh left her frozen lips thinking about all the failures that had led them to this point. If only she had done it right the first time. Not gone too long and Lynn was back carrying a large platter filled with fruits, vegetables, crackers, and small meat slices. There was also a pot of tea accompanying a jar of honey on it. Emilia moved the end table so that Lynn could set it down next to Bre. A small spread of items that she could choose from and eat at her leisure
Brennia's brow knits together, "Emilia," she softly chides. "You've done everything perfectly. My case has been filled with complications, yes, but nothing we could overcome together and you've been absolutely amazing. Sometimes the nature of things is just chaos and we cannot continue to beat ourselves up over things outside of our control," there is a sincerity to her severe gaze into Emilia's eyes. "I am here now aren't I? That fact is entirely due to you because I whole-heartedly believe that if it were any other healer, I wouldn't be here." When Lynn comes in with food and tea, Brennia resists the urge to take the snacks in her greedy fists and shove them in her mouth, but to allow the healing like last time, she has to take it slow. She picks up a grape and makes sure to chew it eleven times before swallowing it down with some tea. "I owe you my life, Em. Don't dwell on our failed attempts, let us celebrate this success and the new life you are about to bring into this world."
Emilia raised a brow at the other woman before giving a laugh, "It is really more of Lynn finding the solution this time, but yes you are here which is amazing. I hope you stay more in the here than the there for awhile." The pregnant woman then took a cup that Lynn had brought her. It was filled with thinly sliced pickles that had then been coated in chocolate. Not a favorite combo for most, but Em could not get enough pickles and chocolate lately. Lynn made a grossed out look watching her mom eat her snack before heading out of the room again to let the grown ups talk. "I am highly hopeful this will be a lasting solution," Em said with a warm smile on frozen lips.
Brennia chews a cracker slowly before sipping more lukewarm tea and then replies, "that is one bright young lady you're raising there. You are probably so proud, but also be proud of yourself, mama. You are a force to be reckoned with," she smiles again and does the best she can to shift her long legs to one side of the bed to make enough room for the genasi to sit. "Sit and have some snacks and tea with me, let us celebrate this little moment while we have it. I have a very good feeling about this time." The pair sit and talk of the future with hope beginning to fill the room like the rising sun.