Closed A Consultation on Healing the Past (Shiress)

[Orion Michaels]

Orion, 50th Day of Winter, 512 AV Orion looked down at the man before him, and then to the tools beside him. Blood sticks, they were. Tools for letting of the blood. This man had a horrible fever, and his fluids needed balanced. It was messy, but there was no real way around it. It was taught as the best way to deal with this condition, but a large amount of blood would need to be taken. “Just relax, and we’ll get you taken care of.” He nodded to the man, giving a half smile. The patient was burning up, having been brought in by his wife. She was panicked, and Orion had left her to one of the assistants. He didn’t have the patience to really deal with a hysterical woman today. He didn’t really want to deal with anyone, to be honest. He was still hung over from the night before, so everyone was particularly annoying. Still, he had a job to do, so work he would. “Alright,” he began, looking over to his assistant. “Hold him down. I don’t expect him to react at all; the fever really has him, but just in case. I’ll be opening up a vein here on his arm, inserting this tool,” he informed, motioning to the blood stick. “Then we’ll wait, let the blood flow into this basin, and give him a break before we begin again.” They would end up draining several pints of blood total, but hopefully that would balance the man out and allow him to recover from the illness which plagued him. Picking the lancet up, Orion paused, examining the arm of the man where he would begin the procedure. Good, thick veins. At least he had that much going for him. With precise, skilled, movements, Orion lowered the blade, the skin giving away to its sharpness. A crimson stream began to pour forth, impurities and all. Orion quickly placed the tool down and grabbed the blood stick, which would act like a funnel for the warm liquid. He placed it into the cut, and then flow was directed to the basin which sat on the ground by the patient. Now they simply waited. The assistant looked at him, wide eyed, unsure of what they should do, as Orion stood their silently. “Dr. Michaels?” “What?” “Um…What do we do now? What is..umm…” Orion sighed. The little bugger wanted to learn something from him. They didn’t hire Orion on as a teacher, but there seemed to be this expectation that he held. More with less was the name of the game. Orion was a great doctor, but a teacher he was not. “We wait,” he said, the tone in his voice more than short. “Ugh. The body is made up of four parts. Humors. Blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile.” The aide’s eyes opened wide. “Gods. What do you know?” He shook his head, pushing his own headache to the back of his mind. “There’s a certain balance which they need to hold. When they get off, that’s what causes illness. In the case of a fever, the problem is with the blood. That’s all you need to know for now. Keep an eye on him; send someone for me when this gets about two thirds full. I’ll be in my office.” Orion was not in the mood to teach. Once happily seated, he’d barely put his feet up when another worker walked in. “I’ve clearly upset a deity for all of you to bother me so much to day. What do you want?” “Doctor Michaels, you have someone wishing to meet with you.” If nothing else, the aides had figured out how to brush the occasionally brash Orion’s words aside. With another sigh, he motioned towards himself with a hand. “Fine. Send them in. Can no one else take care of these tasks?” There were many newer, and generally lesser skilled physicians in the Soothing Waters. What was so important that Orion was needed? “They had better be bleeding out…”