Getting Better (Solo)

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

80th Day of Summer, 512 AV For most of the season, Tock had been periodically visiting the infirmary. At first she had tried to resist. Sometimes it was just too hard to see all the sick kids there every day. But then she would get hurt, and need to return, and find herself unable to get away without being hounded by sick children wanting attention. This was what she got for putting on puppet shows for them. This was what she got for getting involved. Now she was invested, and she couldn't bear to break it off. Since she didn't know anything about medicine, she spent most of her time at the infirmary doing one of two things. Either helping out with physical labor, such as repairs, making crutches, or other much needed tasks; or else she spent her time entertaining the kids, trying to lift their spirits. Sometimes, she decided to do both at once. "Oy, now careful 'ow ya swings 'er, aye?" she said, reluctantly placing her hammer in a child's hand. She had a group of half a dozen of them, some of the ones that weren't in as bad shape as the others. They were helping her build a bed, since the infirmary had been seeing a ridiculous number of cases coming in lately, for some reason. There was some kind of outbreak spreading rapidly around the city, and no one seemed to know the cause of it. The results, however, were that there were so many sick people lately that the infirmary was running out of beds. Tock had volunteered to help build some more (though she felt as if she had been pressured into it; she didn't know who taught all the nurses and doctors how to guilt trip someone so well, but they had done a damn good job of it). Ever since she came here this morning to start working on the project, she had been hounded by kids who wanted another puppet show, or a chance to see her magic hammer or one of her other babies. When she felt like she couldn't drive the kids away anymore, Tock had decided to put them to work. The group helping her right now were either in for relatively minor injuries, or things like a broken foot or leg. It kept them off their feet, but they were still able to use their hands, as long as they had someplace to sit. A couple of them were ill, but mildly enough that the doctors had okayed them for the small project. It would help cheer them up, and give them something to do. Any children the doctors felt shouldn't be out of bed weren't allowed to help, though Tock knew of at least one child she'd have to go visit before she left. Swinging the hammer with both hands, the kid managed to bend the nail pretty badly. He looked up at Tock wide eyed and she shrugged it off. "Oy, no problem mate," she said. "Done 'appens alla time, aye? 'Ere," she yanked the nail out and set another, using the hammer to tap it in a bit so it was standing straight. "Now, careful like, an' gentle. Gotta 'it 'er 'ard 'nough what fer ta git 'er in, but not 'ard 'nough what ya done breaks somethin', aye?" The kid tried again, and Tock continued to give him encouragement and pointers until he managed to drive the nail in more or less straight. Then she had him hand the hammer to the next kid in line, so they could each take a turn. "Maybe the lot o' ya can come down ta work wit' me, once yer all better," she told them with a grin. Part of her hated the idea. Another, reluctant part of her was starting to grow on the idea. She hated kids... she kept telling herself that. They were noisy. They were messy. They got in the way, cried, broke stuff, and generally made life miserable. But on the other hand, they had really cute smiles, when she got them in a good mood.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Awright, awright, dun fight over it!" Tock yelled, pulling the hammer away from two kids who were tugging on it at the same time. They were lucky she was even letting them use her hammer (and she'd rot in hell before they touched her chisels). But she wasn't about to let them break something or scratch the handle. Oh, and they might hurt themselves too. Right. They were starting to whine at her again. Protests of, "Tock! But! Please! I didn't get a turn!" and so forth kept coming from their lips. This part was why she hated kids. Tock scowled at them and was about to scream at the lot of them to bugger off, when one on the end started coughing. One of the nurses hurried over, and Tock was pretty sure the kid was about to have his 'being out of bed' privileges revoked. She quickly handed him the hammer and set a nail for him so he wouldn't miss out on his chance to contribute. There were more protests from the other kids, but Tock ignored them for just a moment. "Jase, are you feeling all right?" the nurse asked as she stepped up. Tock held her back a moment and said, "Oy, give a kid a sec, aye? 'E's workin'..." She saw the look the kid shot towards the nurse, and she knew that look. He didn't want to go back to bed yet and miss out on all the fun. The nurse started to protest and Tock just stared her down. After a long staring contest Tock said, "Jus' let 'im finish one, aye?" The nurse sighed, and finally agreed. But as soon as the nail was driven in, little Jase was ushered off, and taken back to bed. Tock then had to break up another fight over who got to go next, finally forming the kids into a line so she could keep things organized. She sighed. Getting the bed assembled was taking longer with the help of all her little assistants. She was spending more time babysitting them than she was working. She hated kids. Forcing a smile she handed the hammer to the next one in line. "'Is one's gotta gone in the back side 'ere," she told the little girl, holding the wooden frame together in proper alignment while she let the girl drive the nail in. The girl held the hammer with the same awkward, two-handed grip Tock remembered using when she was that age, unable to muster the strength to swing it one handed. Her smile softened and she brushed the girl's hair back, letting out a soft sigh.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock eventually reached the point where she had to put a few finishing touches on herself. There was whining from the kids, to which Tock said, "Shaddup, o' else I won't letcha 'elp me paint 'er..." The kids quickly clammed up, not wanting to miss a chance to play with the paint. The bed was a fairly simple, no-frills design. Mostly Tock needed to make sure the slats across the bottom were firm enough to support a mattress and a child's weight. There was too much chance of splitting a board on this part, since the slats were thinner than the beams used to make the frame. So Tock nailed them down herself, while the kids watched and eagerly waited. Once everything was nailed down, Tock sat on it to test the strength. It supported her weight fine, which meant a kid wouldn't even begin to strain the wood. The kids started laughing, and Tock looked up at them, blinking. "What?" she asked in confusion. "You're too BIG for that bed!" one of the kids said, and they all laughed harder. "Oy, whatcha sayin', I's fat!?" she asked with a scowl. The boy who'd spoken up squealed and jumped up, trying to rush off and hide, still laughing. Tock grabbed him and swung him under her arm so she could rub her knuckles across his scalp. "Ahh, who's fat now, aye?" she demanded. "Huh?" Kicking his legs, squealing, and laughing, he cried out, "Stop, stop! You're not fat, you're not!" "Darn right I ain't," she muttered, setting him down with the other laughing monsters. Stupid kids...

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Thankfully, there were more paint brushes available than hammers, and she was able to put one a piece in the kids' hands. "Easy does 'er, now," she told them, guiding their strokes. "Gots ta be real smooth like, aye? Otherwise ya done gets ugly splotches, an' we dun want 'at, now, does we?" "No," they chorused, concentrating on their work. Tock stepped up behind a couple of them and held their wrists, guiding them to use slower, smoother strokes. They were using white paint, since for some reason everything in the infirmary was white. Tock didn't get it, but it wasn't her choice. While the kids were working on the main body of the bed, she started carefully painting a mark of Rak'keli above the headboard. She didn't really know what the mark meant, other than something to do with the healing Goddess. Every bed in the infirmary bore the same mark, though, so Tock guessed that it helped with the healing process. Maybe it helped bring some nice Goddess healing magic down to the kids. Either that, or everyone was just superstitious. Tock wasn't too familiar with the mark, so she copied off one of the other beds to get the design right. This part required a more steady hand, so she wouldn't let the kids near it. By the time the painting was finished, the infirmary staff was insisting it was bed time for the kids. They were ushered off, some by the nurses, others by parents who had come down to spend the end of the night with their kids, tucking them in, reading them bedtime stories, and all of that other stuff Tock's own Da had never done. Tock stayed behind to touch up the kids' work, and then apply a second coat. While she was carefully smoothing out the paint to be sure there were no smudges or globs, she over heard the one little girl saying to her mother, "Mommy, Mommy! I wanna be a builder when I grow up!" Tock looked up in surprise and caught the mother's eyes, finding the woman was studying her. "We'll see," she told her daughter. She gave Tock a grateful smile for helping out with the kids, then led her little girl to bed. Tock turned back to touching up the Goddess symbol, wearing a blush and a smile. The smile soon faded, however, when one of the nurses came up wearing a dark expression. "He's asking for you," she said. Tock didn't need to ask who, but there was something on the woman's face that gave her pause. She stared the nurse down until the silence grew too uncomfortable and the woman spoke up again. "It might be time for you to say goodbye..."

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"No," Tock said, walking past the woman. "Tock," the nurse said, reaching out to take hold of her arm. Tock refused to meet the woman's eyes. "If you don't do it now, you'll end up regretting it..." "Nah, I won't," Tock replied, roughly yanking her arm from the woman's grip. "Cause 'e's gonna get better. I ain't gonna LET 'im go..." "Even those touched by Rak'keli cannot prevent death." Tock turned and glared at the woman with a fire burning in her eyes. "Well, I can!" she snapped. "I ain't lettin' 'im go, ya 'ear!? I's find a way..." The nurse looked at her with pity. She was probably used to this kind of thing. She must see it in the eyes of the parents who came here. Except Mikey didn't have any parents. He didn't have any family. If he died, there would be no one to mourn him. Tock couldn't mourn him. She wasn't ready to. She wasn't ready for another loss. She had to find a way to save him.

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

"Oy, little wizard," Tock said, leaning against the door frame leading into Mikey's room. "Hi, Sook," he said weakly, breaking her poor heart. In the weeks she'd been coming here, he kept wanting to be more and more like her. He wanted to learn magic, and how to build stuff. He had been picking up her slang. She'd been especially proud of him last week, when she'd caught him mouthing off to the nurse and saying he 'bloody well didn't want no dang peas!' Then he had called the nurse a word she knew she never should have taught him, but she had laughed anyway. "'Ow ya doin', Twerp?" she asked, stepping over and tousling his hair. He weakly pulled his head away. It looked like he could barely find the strength to move. For weeks now, Tock had watched him grow thinner and paler, and seen the dark circles under his eyes grow. "I'm not a twerp," he protested in a strained voice. He looked up at her with a weight in his eyes that hasn't been there last time. "Ya look good," Tock lied, fighting back tears. Seeing him made it hard to deny what the nurse had said. "No, I don't," he whispered. It was the first time he had voiced an argument to her lies. "Listen," Tock said in a choked voice. "I done gots a friend what's a 'ealer, aye? Maybe she can does somethin' the ones 'ere can't..." "It doesn't matter," he whispered, giving a pathetic little shake of his head. "I'm not gonna get the chance to learn magic. I know..." Tock looked into his eyes, and what she saw tore her apart. He knew he was going to die. He had accepted it. He was ready. Well, she wasn't. She sat on the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his thin hair. Between her tears she said, "Yer done gonna been awright, mate. I's gonna figure somethin' out. Jus' lemme figure 'er out, aye?" He stayed quiet, not arguing with her. It wasn't fair. He shouldn't be the one trying to spare her feelings. It wasn't fair...

[Minerva Agatha Zipporah]

Tock dried her tears, and then sat with Mikey until he fell asleep. They talked, or rather she talked and he sat quietly and listened. Talking helped keep Tock's mind off the situation, and she rambled on and on endlessly until she saw the little boy's eyes close. Then with a trembling hand she touched his neck, heaving a shuddering sigh of relief when she still felt his weak little doomed heartbeat. She got up to leave, desperately needing to go get a drink. At the door she heard the little wizard's voice call out, "Sook?" She stopped, hanging her head. She knew what was coming next. "Aye?" she replied. "Will you come see me tomorrow?" he asked. The room grew quiet, but Tock still heard the unspoken, for the last time... She turned and met his eye, and nodded. "Aye," she said. "Tomorrow. I promise..."

[Paragon]

Adventurer's Loot Minerva's Loot : Minerva Skill XP Reward Teaching +2 Leadership +1 Painting +2 Intimidation +1 Carpentry +2 Socialisation +1 Construction +2 Lore: Controlling Children, Equal Turns, Rak'keli's Mark, Accepting the End, Hope for Mikey Items or Consequences: + 8 Status Points Lovely thread, and I can't help but feel a little sad - I hope we don't lose lil' Mikey - if you have ANY questions or concerns about this grading, don't hesitate to PM me.