Its that time again, another chapter and its written by our own,
WhiteGhostDay Eight - Part Fifteen
just a quickieWhiteRaven lay on the bed, clad only in the long white nightshirt. The only colour on her came from the faint blue stitiching patterned in the cloth, the faint rosebud of her lips and the livid cut on her cheek, the flesh around it already starting to purple and bruise. The shirt was partially unbuttoned and pulled low, away from her injured shoulder, the wound -still seeping- covered with a clean compress.
"...Cold." 'Raven murmured, shivering. It was the first coherant thing she'd said since Savah entered the room.
Savah tucked the coverlet under the girl's chin. The old elf looked down at the albino- hardly more then a child as their kind counted such things. 'Raven was fairly tall and slender with narrow hips and small breasts- easy to mistake as a boy. Particularly when the girl wore a specially fittted shirt... like the one Savah held in her lap. She went back to blotting at a bloodstain that spattered the one shoulder.
The albino's eyes opened a crack as she watched the proprieteress.
"Don't worry: I shan't tell a soul." Savah smiled reasuringly at her. She'd washed the dust and dirt from 'Raven's face and hands, and brushed out any seeds or snarls in the long silvery hair, paler even then Savah's own long tresses. "The doctor -Rain- will be here soon. In fact I belive I hear him on the stairs. He'll get you fixed up in no time."
'Raven tried to move her injured arm and winced, slumping against the pillows.
There was a knock on the door and then the brass knob turned, revealing a cheerful looking redheaded elf, a black leather bag clutched in one hand.
Savah rose as he entered. "Doctor."
"Savah." Rain nodded and closed the door. "You've got the hot water? Excellent. And more downstairs I supose, if I need it?" He set his bag down and rolled up his shirt sleeves, pouring water from pitcher to bowl and washing his hands. "Does anyone know what happened?"
Savah moved the room's solitary chair closer to the bed and lit an oil lantern for a bit more light- the drapes being pulled on the window. "She was shot riding her horse. Out of town- I couldn't tell you where."
"Marshal 'Stump's going to want a word then. But first lets see how bad it is..." He carefully rolled the girl to the side, checking her back. 'Raven whimpered again, eyes screwed shut, white brows furrowing a narrow line across her forehead.
"My name is Rain." Rain told her softly. He checked her eyes and felt at one wrist for a pulse. "I'm the doctor here in Two Moons." He glanced at Savah with a cocked eyebrow. "Ahdri said it was a boy."
"She was mistaken..." Savah smiled gently and swept a wisp of white hair to the side. "It seems we all were."
Rain smiled at that and settled in beside the injured elf. "I'm going to have a look at your shoulder. It might hurt- and I'm sorry." He removed the cloth and probed the swollen flesh around the bullet hole, frowning.
There was a tap on the door. "I stabled her horse. Has the doctor-- oh." John Lee stood framed in the doorway, black gloved hand on the knob. He stepped back, about to leave.
Rain looked from the albino on the bed to the albino in the doorway with open-mouthed astonishment.
"This is Mister Pettimore: another of my guests here. He brought her up to her room when she fainted in the foyer." Savah explained. "Mister Pettimore, this is Rain, our local doctor."
John looked at the redheaded elf from over the rims of his dark glasses and nodded politely. "How do you do?" Then he turned to Savah and spoke. "Your granddaugher is looking for you downstairs."
"Oh!" Savah bundled up the bloodied and grass-stained clothing. "If you gentlemen will excuse me I'll take these downstairs to be mended. Rain- just ring if you need anything more." She swept out of the room, full skirts swishing, fashionable heels clicking on the boards.
"Mister Pettimore? Could you stay for a moment- I might need your help if she tries to fight me."
The albino human hesitated at the request, an odd expression on his pale face, then nodded and slowly entered the room, the door swinging shut behind him.
Rain carefully measured some clear liquid from a brown glass bottle into a small tumbler. John wrinkled his nose at the familiar scent: laudenum. Yet there was something else wafting out of the bottle, another smell he couldn't quite place.
"Anise." Rain told him without being asked. "Have you ever had laudenum Mister Pettimore?"
"Once or twice. We're rather prone to complications with our health, she and I." The albino grinned, the flash of red gums.
"It tastes rather vile does it not? And improperly used can be quite dangerous- as many people in these parts would be happy to tell you. So I doctored it a little: not too much- but it helps it go down easier." The doctor slid his arm around 'Raven's shoulders and carefully sat her up, covers sliding away. He brought the tumber to her lips. "Drink this: it's medicine. It will make you feel better."
She drank, coughing a little as she swallowed the dregs.
John tilted his head a little and stared at the slender bare leg curled on the bedsheet.
"Good... good." Rain nodded and laid her back.
He moved to his black bag and slid several implements into the pot of hot water for a few minutes then laid them out on the tray to dry: scalpels, forceps- beside them several special curved needles and a roll of gauze.
'Raven muttered incoherently on the bed, staring at the shining instruments. She kicked back, feet tangled in the coverlet and tried to roll into a siting position. "No- no ahm finee..." she slurred.
"No." John caught her by both wrists in one hand and pressed her back down on the bed with the other, manhandling her without dificulty. "You're not fine." She struggled under his remorseless grip. "You need to rest, you'll feel better soon."
As he watched the drugs took effect: her purple pupils dilated slightly and her fussing slowed then stopped. A minute later and her white eyelashes fluttered closed, head lolling limply against the pillow.
John stepped back and looked at her. It occured to him she rather resembled a corpse, lying there, all bloodless and still.
He looked at the doctor, waiting.
"She's running a fever." John twitched a stray lock of silvery hair across her forehead, her skin unusually hot where his fingers brushed.
"Thats not really a surprise? Shes lost some blood, and theres road dirt and High Ones knows what else in the wound... besides this." Rain remained focused on the wound, not looking up. A moment later he frowned and tugged. Under his hand 'Raven gasped, amethyst eyes open briefly. The doctor glanced at his forceps and the bloody deformed lump of metal he held there. He made a small noncomittal noise. "Rifle bullet." He picked up another tool and bent over the unconsious girl. A thin rivulet of blood pooled and trickled down her upper arm, like spilled paint or fresh crimson candle wax.
"It hit her collarbone, broke that, and went on to hit her shoulderblade, cracking it. I'm going to bind her arm so it sets properly. Thankfully it missed the nerves and major vessels nearby- if it had she would have been dead out on the flats." He placed the tool on a clean white towel and picked up a curved needle, threading it with practiced ease. "A few inches over and she'd be dead, bullet in the heart. Did he miss- or did she move?" The doctor shrugged."Either way it works out the same." He spoke as he worked to fill the awkward silence.
"Tell me Mister Pettimore: do you two know each other?"
John watched the busy doctor, noting the careful and precise movements, how he repaired the flesh- in some ways the opposite of himself. He wondered how best to answer him. "She was a performer in a stage show back east- a magician's assistant." He smiled slightly, a small upturn of his thin lips. "Being what we both are there was something of a, ah, 'natural curiosity' you might say." He paused thoughtfully. "We met a few times and compared notes." There was a bit of quiet amusement in his tone.
Rain nodded, thick carnelian mane bouncing as he bent over her bare shoulder, pale as the bedsheets, as the gauze he was winding around shoulder and upper arm. He cleaned the gash on the lower arm and bound that too. "She'll sleep for some hours yet because of the laudeneum- but as her friend, I'd be grateful if you'd advise her to keep to bed for a few days: she'll need her rest."
Rain looked up at the tall albino, roll of gauze in his hand. He tucked the loose end under. "Strange things have been happening in this town of late, friend. Strange things." He packed up his implements, storing them neatly in his black bag and stood. "I'll come by again later this evening. And don't worry- I won't tell anyone her secret."
