Closed Doctor, doctor!

[Ife]

55th of Fall

"Ife, please be careful and slow down." Mea Windstride said with mild aggravation, giving her daughter a weighted stare as they passed each other outside the family pavillion.

The redhead flashed an apologetic glance to the older woman, but as soon as she knew Mea's back was turned, Ife quickened her steps yet again, picking up the skirts of her dress and breaking into a trot. She had never been the type of woman to take her time, preferring instead to hurry her days away rather than allowing them to drift by.

And indeed, today was one that deserved to be hurried. One of her father's prized mares was in the laborious process of giving birth, hurtling the entire Windstride pavillion into a flurry of panic and a family-wide search for blankets.

It was an exciting time, but for Ife any birth was an intimidating affair. Out of her two mothers, single sister and two sisters-in-law, she was the only adult female Windstride member to have not experienced childbirth personally. She had not felt that overwhelming wave of love gush over her those after agonising bells of discomfort and labour. As such, all she could see when it came to birth was a lack of sleep, pain, and - perhaps worse of all - stretch marks. And yet despite it all, Ife found herself itching with the desire to experience it all herself.

I must be a masochist.

"Ife! What did I just tell you? You know how clumsy you can be."

Again the Inarta's pace broke, but this time she reasoned with herself that it was because of the pile of blankets she was carrying, rather than her mother's warning. "Sorry, mother." She mumbled sullenly, her freckled skin flushing with mild humiliation.

Mea reached out in an attempt to pacify her youngest child out of her brewing sulk. But as her fingers brushed Ife's shoulder, the silver-haired Drykas stumbled, her feet tripping over something, or perhaps nothing at all. Mother and daughter collided together, but thankfully the former remained upright. The redhead, however, went hurtling downwards, her arms flung outwards in an instinctive act of protecting her face and head from the inevitable fall.

The blankets landed with a dull thud. The redhead landed with a pained grunt and a fracturing of some tiny indiscriminate bone in her foot. Pain exploded through her left leg, shooting through her nerves up to her kneecap. She yelled out in agony, hot tears instantly springing to her eyes. Ife had fallen over many times in her life (Mea's statement about her clumsiness had not arisen out of nowhere), but her previous trips and stumbles had never resulted in such immediate pain. Something was wrong, damaged -- she knew it.

"Doctor." She groaned out to Mea, who had dropped to her knees the micro-tick her daughter had fallen down. Her mother's hands were brushing her hair, touching her face. Mea was no healer - she had no real clue how to help Ife - but her desire to bring comfort to her child begged the woman to do something, anything. Ife's hands flew through the air: Hurry. Now. Broken, she claimed desperately.

With a stern nod, Mea rose to her feet and hurried out of the pavillion to search of someone far more suited to caring for her injured daughter.

[Pearl]

The days were beginning to grow cooler and Pearl had taken to wearing the llama wool shirt as a jacket. The wool shirt was draped over the chair she had in her office which more often than not was used to hold objects than it was to sit in while Pearl chose to work standing at the table. Today was no different. The familiar grinding of stone against stone of her mortar and pestle could be heard as she ground the last bit of turmeric root she had stored. Cold season was closing in on them, and she wanted to have enough of the turmeric available to help as many as she could through the colder days that lay ahead of them.

She used the folded paper packets and put a small amount of the turmeric powder in to each packet and then folded it carefully over itself so that the powder would remain within. Using her ink stick she labeled each packet clearly and then put them in her medical kit so she would have them readily available when they were needed. A frown creased her brow as she looked at the small number of packets. “Star, we’re going to need more turmeric root. Would you put that on the list please?” her voice raised enough so that she thought Star would be able to hear her from where she usually sat, which was just outside of Pearl’s office.

Next she picked up the Liquorice root she had purchased at the market earlier that morning and began cutting it into smaller pieces with her knife and packaging it the same way she had packaged the turmeric powder. Each packet was clearly labeled and folded over itself to keep the contents protected. The herbal book Pearl had was laid open on her table as she worked, and she leaned in to read over the qualities of Liquorice root once again. Can be used to alleviate pain, as well as coughs and congestion. Can be boiled in a tea or a small piece of the root can be chewed to release the healing qualities of this root. It will also help freshen breath and maintain healthy gums and teeth. Pregnant women should not use Liquorice root. She added to the packets of Liquorice root a mark indicating that it should not be given to pregnant women.

“Star?” she called out again, when she’d heard no response from her assistant.

Still nothing from Star. This prompted Pearl to leave the remaining piece of the root on her table with her knife and go to the door to look out. She could see her assistant not too far away, talking with a woman that looked slightly frantic with the way she waved her hands around in the air and kept pushing her hair back out of her face. Pearl couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but she noticed the way Star attempted to calm the woman down with nods of understanding and a hand placed on her arm to encourage her to slow down.

Soon, Star helped the woman to a chair and got her to sit down. The woman doubled over on herself and sat there, obviously upset and trying to get control of herself. Star watched the woman for another tick or two, patting her gently on the shoulder. Once the woman was calm enough, Star left her there and approached Pearl. “Her daughter’s been hurt. Fell at home, and can’t walk.”
Pearl nodded in understanding, prompting Star to continue.
“Says they heard a crack sound, and says her daughter thinks she broke something.”
“Any bleeding?”
“No. But she didn’t bring her daughter here. She’s at home still.”
“Very well,” Pearl continued, “Bring me some of the thin boards for splints and some linen for bandaging and securing the splints. I’ll get my bag and then go with Mom to help her daughter.”
Star nodded and left to go gather the items Pearl requested, stopping by the Mother to let her know the doctor would soon be ready to go with her to treat her daughter.

The two women walked in haste towards the pavilion with Mea leading the way. When they stepped inside the ring of tents, Mea was met by others of the pavilion who ushered the two woman towards Ife. “This is Pearl Blackwater. She’s here to help Ife,” Mea told them.
Pearl nodded in confirmation, the pleasant, reassuring physician’s smile upon her face.

Mea immediately knelt down beside Ife, “I brought a doctor,” she explained to her daughter and looked up at Pearl as an introduction.
Pearl smiled and nodded as she too knelt down, but closer to the young woman’s feet, as that was where she understood Ife to be injured. “You’re Ife, I presume,” it wasn’t formed as a question as Mea had told her a lot of her daughter along the way to the pavilion. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Pearl Blackwater. Your mother came to The River Flower and said you had fallen and hurt your foot. May I take a look?”

When she was given permission to look at Ife’s injured foot, she was careful to examine the injury, looking closely at the pattern of the bruising that was already occurring so she would have a good idea of which bone, or bones, if any, were indeed broken. With so many bones and ligaments in the foot, sometimes they made a cracking sound with an injury even when they didn’t break. Her touch was gentle as she felt for a pulse, able to feel it nicely and she smiled to her. “Tell me what happened?” she encouraged the young woman before she checked her toes for blood circulation by feeling for warmth and pinching the ends just barely to be sure the colour returned to them quickly. “Let me know if anything I do hurts. The last thing I want to do is cause you more pain.”

Ledger2 ounces of Liquorice Root - 8SM
.
.
.

[Ife]

Ife lay, pained and miserable, flat on her back in the middle of the pavilion. Her mother’s absence seemed to stretch on eternally, and each time the strong-willed redhead tried to move, her ankle sent a hot burst of pain shooting up her leg. Eventually, after yelping and growling like an animal, Ife gave up. She had managed to twist herself around in order position her head on top of the pile of blankets her mother had dropped in the collision. Thought she was more comfortable, her make-shift pillows did nothing to ease the throbbing in her foot.

Finally, her mother appeared at the entrance way yet again, and Ife almost wept with relief. The presence of the doctor, however, made the young woman nervous, despite it being her own request that her mother find one. It confirmed that her injury was real, and Ife could not help but groan in anticipation of what was to come.

”I’d say it was nice to meet you too, but under the circumstances…” Ife smiled tiredly and swept her hand in a gesture to her throbbing ankle. The mere reminder of what had happened made the Inarta wince and gasp. Nevertheless, she granted Pearl permission to inspect her injury.

”Oh, it was my fault.” She said in a strained voice, wincing yet again as Pearl gently touched and squeezed around her toes. Glancing to her mother, Ife tried to recount the simple yet rapid accident ”We just… collided into each other. I was hurrying around, and I think I might have tripped on something,” she pointed vaguely behind her, to the floor that was strewn with blankets, ropes and other typical things used in daily life. ”but the pain only happened once I’d fallen. I heard a crunch and it was immediate agony.” As Pearl continued to explore her foot, Ife’s toes twitched instinctively. ”The pain is higher,” she said, trying to be helpful in order to save bot herself and the doctor more time. There was surely more critical conditions to be looked at. Ankle,, her hands gestured questioningly.

“She fell on her side more than her back.” Mea interjected, standing anxiously to the side of her daughter. The older woman’s face was lined with worry, her lips pursed and eyes glistening wetly. She glanced from Ife to Pearl and back again. “Will she be okay, doctor?” Her voice cracked, and Mea raised a hand to her mouth. As a woman who had a flare for the dramatic and a generally pessimistic outlook of life, Mea was instantly assuming the worse over her daughter’s injury and health.

[Pearl]

Pearl’s smile was a practiced one while she worked, assessing Ife’s injury, though it wasn’t forced and took in all the information they offered her regarding how she fell and how the pain was felt. Her hands continued to move up Ife’s foot to the swelling that was surrounding her ankle. Satisfied that the blood flow to her extremities was adequate and not restricted, Pearl nodded and then answered them both, “She’ll be fine, up and running again in no time, though for now, I believe we have a broken bone, just here,” she indicated the area to the outside of Ife’s ankle. “A small one, but a break just the same. It looks a lot worse than it actually is, and it is not without pain, that’s for certain, but it will heal adequately with rest and limited movement.”

Her smile was meant to reassure them both, patient and mother, that what she spoke was truth. “We’ll put a splint on the ankle, to stabilize it, but you won’t be able to walk on it fully for forty-two days, to make sure it heals properly and doesn’t give you problems in the future.

Pearl set about placing the splints upon Ife’s ankle and securing them with the cloth she brought with her, tying it securely but not so tightly that it restricted her blood flow and caused problems in her foot. She checked it several times through out to ensure that Ife’s toes, when pinched returned to their normal colouring within ticks. Once the splint was secured and in place, Pearl wrapped the entirety of it in clean cloth, leaving just the tips of Ife’s toes exposed, and tied the cloth at the top, tucking the ends inside so they wouldn’t catch on anything while Ife moved around the camp later. “Pay attention to your toes for me,” she instructed. “Check them several times a day like so,” and she showed her how to pinch the nail beds and look for proper colouring to return. “If you have any problems and the colouring in your toes doesn’t return to normal within ticks of you pinching them, then come and see me, or call for me and I will come and check on you promptly. I want to be sure you don’t lose feeling or blood going to your toes, which can cause more injury than just the broken ankle.” She smiled and looked to both mother and patient. “I cannot stress enough how important that is.”

“So, no walking on your foot until you come and see me at the end of forty-two days. You can ride normally, if you can bear it and someone helps you mount up without putting any weight on your broken ankle,” Pearl offered the instructions and looked to each to ensure they understood her. “I’ll have some crutches sent over from The River Flower, but until I can get them over here, you’ll have to rely on help from your family to get you from place to place. You’ll need to practice with them before you’re left alone to use them, even when you do have them here. It takes a good bit of work to master the use of them, but once you do, you’ll be moving around on them almost as easily as if you were walking on both your own legs,” Pearl winked, trying to reassure them both that it wouldn’t take her long.

“Also, your ankle is going to swell and ache terribly over the next few days. You’ll need to sit often with your leg up. This will help the pain and the swelling ease off. So, if you are up and about and your ankle starts hurting worse, the best thing you can do it stop and sit, prop your foot up and try and rest. I’ll send some medicines for pain and how to take it along with the crutches once I return to The River Flower.” Her smile softened as she looked to Ife, “I know it won’t be easy on you, but in the long run it will be worth it, I promise. Do you have any questions for me, before I go and get the things you need?”


.
.
.