Not in Need of a Doctor (Kechaiya)

by **Ayviss** on October 14th, 2014, 11:32 am

49th of Fall, 514 AV

The plan was working, as far as Ayviss could tell. Little by little, Hollard was starting to trust her, to get closer to her. While this was exactly what she wanted, there were still drawbacks. Hollard had decided that she was on a 'test period', and demanded that the woman followed him everywhere. If he left for work, she had to follow him. If he left to buy anything, she had to follow him. Even in the apartment, when she was working, he was there, watching. It was as if he was trying to catch her doing something that would break his trust.

While Ayviss felt tempted to do so, if only because he was annoying her with his constant company, she knew better. He didn't trust her, not yet, and thus, her plan wouldn't be completed if she broke his trust right then. So she had to wait. She was patient, she could do it.

But her patience had a limit, and Hollard was getting in this limit pretty fast. The constant presence of the man was highly annoying, and, more than that, completely hindered the rest of the plan. She had no time to train, no time to read and study, because this were things she wasn't allowed to do, and she had to do them hidden from view. Something impossible if the only time the man left her alone was when she was asleep.

After nine days of it, Ayviss was already worried that this would carry on for a while. She needed some time alone, even if it was just to study. So, when they went to the Slave Market for work, Ayviss grabbed a small piece of bush that grew on the side of the building, and hid it in her clothes. It was a giesta, although she didn't knew which kind, and it was toxic. Not to the point where she would die, after all, she wasn't that desperate. But it would make her thrown up. It could also easily make her have cramps and other more annoying symptoms, but, hopefully, if she ingested only a little, she would thrown up and that was it. However, Ayviss really was willing to risk more if it meant a few days on the bed. It wasn't like Hollard would know what had caused it.

Ayviss stood by her owner's side, impatient, until he finished talking and turned around, gesturing for her to follow him. This nine days had been much like it. Hollard hardly ever spoke to her, as if this would make her aware of his presence and easier for her to behave. It was just the opposite, in fact. Not hearing his voice made it way easier.

When the Sunset Quarters could already be seen, Ayviss sighed, before ingesting the small piece she had taken. It wasn't an immediate effect but, by the time they reached Hollard's apartment, she was already feeling awful. Her belly began to hurt, so much that she almost regretted it, and she was lightheaded, probably from the pain than from the plant itself. The woman supported herself on the living room wall, taking a deep breath, trying to control the pain. It was bad, but nothing she couldn't manage.

"What's going on?" Hollard asked, and Ayviss had to fight the urge to smile. He was worried.

"I'm alright." she said, trying to sound weak, but not so much. "Just pain. I've been having it for two days now. It will go away."

Just as she finished her sentence, she curved down, and threw up. It felt a lot better afterwards, although there was still pain, and she suspected she would throw up a few more times before the plant had been fully eliminated from her body. At least she was now sure that the amount she had ingested wouldn't have any lasting effects. It was good to know.

"Go lay down. I'll go get a doctor." Hollard said, grabbing his jacket and leaving the house. Ayviss watched him go, surprised, before groaning and making her way to her room.

On one hand, he liked her enough to go get her a doctor. That was certainly a plus, since this was the first time this ever happened. However, a doctor now could ruin everything. If it could find out what had caused it... Ayviss closed her eyes, annoyed, both by the situation and the pain. She could only hope the doctor would keep his or her mouth shut. There wasn't much she could do besides wait, though.

Groaning, Ayviss sat down. She felt like throwing up again.

by **Kechaiya** on October 18th, 2014, 12:59 am

Kechaiya had finally gotten a day to go out of the city without too much fear of being attacked or finding a slew of patients to drain the bells of her day away. She was in desperate need to restock her supplies of herbs. She hadn't seen Simeon in a long while, and feared the worst for her herbalist companion. Running through her mental list of what she needed and wanted. Delaviv, tiny purple flowers, round leaves, for delivering babies and flushing poisons. Batonal leaves, round leaves, strong smell, spice for food, or as tea for stomach pains. Belltor, whole plant, vine roots, jagged leaves, stalks two feet high, light pink to deep crimson flowers. Hommos, whole plant, short, shrubby, lance like leaves, blue flowers, tea for stomach pains, flowers for dyes, teas in bath for aches. Jile berries and bark, smelly evergreen tree and shrub, five berries work as a fast acting antidote, berries and bark decocted for skin conditions and wound cleanser.

She didn't expec to find them all this late in the season, but she could hope for the best. She spent several bells searching for these, only managing to find one belltor plant, a handful of batonal leaves, and a bunch of jile berries. She stowed them away in her pack, ready to make her way back home to prepare these. Sneaking back into the city, she was forced to take the long way home. There were some very angry gangsters patrolling, seemingly looking for anyone to beat upon. When she finally did arrive home, she found a man standing in front of her door. He seemed a little familiar, but she couldn't place it. Perhaps she'd treated him sometime over the last six years since she arrived in the city.

She approached the man who spotted her and immediately began scrutinizing her. As soon as he saw her black eyes, a look that Kechaiya had gotten used to recognizing in Sunberth, he seemed to have found what he'd been looking for. "Are you the doctor Kechaiya, I'm told you have black eyes?" She nodded, listening as he continued, "My slave is incredibly ill. She said she has had stomach pains for two days. Can you come with me and treat her? I can pay." Kechaiya nodded, knowing she had all of her supplies in the pack hanging from her shoulders. She followed him for awhile, until he led her into his home. "I'll go fetch her, you can use the whatever I have here to treat her."

by **Ayviss** on October 21st, 2014, 2:52 am

Ayviss waited, laying down, careful not to throw up on her own room. While Hollard had shown worry at her situation, she knew he would still make her clean whatever mess she had done, or would assign it to a slave that would do a lousy job. No matter, she would have to clean it up in the end.

The woman had no idea how long it would take for her owner to go and fetch a doctor. There weren't that many in Sunberth, not competent ones, anyway. The thought made her frown for a while, before she smiled to herself. Even if Hollard was worried about her, it didn't mean he would get her a good doctor, and certainly it wouldn't be an expensive one. So maybe there was still hope. Maybe the doctor wouldn't be able to identify what Ayviss had eaten, or maybe they wouldn't have so much experience with poisonous plants. Ayviss relaxed a little. She would still have to be careful with what she said, so she wouldn't lead the doctor to the truth, though. Her thoughts were interrupted, and the woman closed her eyes, hard, when her stomach seemed to turn upside down. It was more annoying than anything, specially now that some chimes had already passed. But she still felt like throwing up.

A few more chimes passed, time that Ayviss spent trying not to make a mess on her room. After what seemed an eternity, Hollard opened the door, and the woman could see worry on his face. Good. She was slowly making him like her. That was an important step.

"Come."

Ayviss looked at his face, and nodded. She was halfway up when an idea occurred to her, to test just how much she had accomplished with him. Relaxing her muscles, she let her body tremble, not a difficult task with her upset stomach. And then, she fell, hitting the wall and supporting herself on it, so she wouldn't go all the way back to the floor. It had hurt, but it was worth it, if she would have an idea of what was passing through her owner's head.

Hollard approached, suddenly, and extended his arms to help her. He stopped in the middle of the movement, and his face turned to a face of anger, as if what he had just done had been completely involuntary. Ayviss smiled to herself. Very interesting. Still feigning weakness, she supported herself on his arms, and allowed him to take her to the living room. Her stomach hurt, but not to the point where she couldn't move by herself. But the fact that Hollard had helped her was very, very informative.

The doctor was a small woman, with dark brown hair. However, what caught Ayviss attention was her eyes. They were completely black. It was obvious she wasn't a human, but Ayviss didn't know what she was.

"I'll take leave, as I have more important things to do. She knows where the money is kept, when you're done, just take your payment and leave." Hollard said to the black eyed woman, before turning around and leaving as fast as he could, without running. It was almost funny, the way he wanted to pretend he didn't care, specially after helping her.

But now, there were other matters to attend to. Ayviss turned to the doctor, and waited.

by **Kechaiya** on November 1st, 2014, 2:30 am

While Kechaiya watched the man leave, she set her pack down on the table, and began wondering what would cause stomach pains with no other symptoms. She doubted it was the seasonal sickness that came around in Fall and Winter. There would be many other symptoms, fever, sweats, vomiting, diarrhea. But he hadn't mentioned any of those. Perhaps she was pregnant, and the morning sickness hadn't started yet. If it were dietary it would've probably passed, so Kechaiya was at a bit of a loss. Perhaps it was beyond her skills. She'd heard of growths forming seemingly anywhere in the body that grew and grew until you died.

She pulled her Healer's Kit from her pack, setting it on the table and opening it. Looking up with her ebony eyes, she saw the man return with a pretty woman clutching at his arms. She looked a little pale and sweaty, so she was probably nauseated. But she couldn't have been like that for long, Kechaiya could see that the woman's dark hair wasn't soaked. This was a newer symptom. Kechaiya gestured to a chair for the woman to sit, while the man excused himself.

After the man had left, "In you words, what wrong? You master not say much." Kechaiya wanted to let the woman speak, patients were usually more honest when on their own, especially children, slaves, and spouses.

by **Ayviss** on November 3rd, 2014, 7:47 pm

The question was really straightforward, as it would be expected of a doctor. Ayviss wasn't comfortable answering it honestly, though. By the doctor's appearance, and the way she moved, she was one of those many in Sunberth that distrusted everything. People like that rarely felt the need to go and tell others the truth out of a sense of loyalty. At least, Ayviss knew that she didn't. But she could be mistaken. And even if she was right, then it could also mean that the doctor wouldn't feel loyalty towards her patient, and could very well tell Hollard the truth because of it. Either way, Ayviss didn't feel safe answering her honestly. Or at least with the whole truth.

"I feel... sick." she said, wincing when she felt a sharp pain on her stomach. "My stomach is upset, I've thrown up three times now, I think. It has been going on for a while." she offered, so the other wouldn't think she was withholding information. Most of it was true, anyway. Ayviss knew that, if the doctor was experienced enough, she would be able to spot the truth, sooner or later. If it came to that, Ayviss truly hoped that the other would be compassionate enough not to go and tell Hollard.

As she finished speaking, she turned to the side and threw up on the floor, again. With it, Ayviss felt like the last piece of giesta had left her body. She felt a little better, although she still could feel the pain in her stomach. The discomfort would probably last longer, but the fact that it felt like she wasn't going to keep throwing up was comforting enough. She turned back to the doctor, looking a little ashamed for what had just happened, although she wasn't feeling bothered at all by it.

by **Kechaiya** on November 9th, 2014, 6:48 am

Kechaiya listened to her patient speak, but was already assuming it was a lie. All patients lied if they could. Her master had said she'd been ill for two days, and then she had said she'd vomited three times. Kechaiya moved close, examining her face, noting lines of red around the nose and eyes. She had vomited, and really recently, the broken blood vessels hadn't yet bruised. Returning to her table, she began pulling out several pouches of herbs. The first was Acson, useful for combating animal poisons. She set that one off to the left, and then set a pouch of Batonal off to the right. She was nearly guaranteed to use that herb, as it helped with internal discomfort when drank as a tea. This was followed by a small jar of paste made from Brinetooth berries. She set this off to the right as well, for it restored strength and vitality.

Pulling out another jar this time, wine decocted with delaviv leaves, setting it off to the left, used in flushing poisons from the system. Also to the left, she added a small pouch of Jile berries, often used as an emergency antidote. The last pouch was set to the right, Vyfox leaves, which promoted overall healing. Satisfied, as the left was things she might need, and the right was things she would definitely need. The sound of vomit however, made her turn to look at her patient. But her eyes moved from the woman to the pile of yuck on the floor. She crouched down next to it, mainly looking for worms or blood. She saw neither though, and looked up to the woman, "What eat today?"

Looking back down, she found a barely digested leaf among it. It didn't look like anything someone in Sunberth would normally eat. It was small, waxy looking, and convincing Kechaiya that it would not be part of a normal diet. She didn't recognize it to a specific plant, but she was beginning to wonder if it was poisonous. And if it was, then judging by its lack of deterioration, would had to have been eaten recently. Not for days like he'd said, not for a while like she'd said. This was recent. Really recent. The question was, was this intentional, or accidental?