Closed You Can't Fix Everything (Waisana)

[Dinah]

.
.....Fall 5, 514av

"Petch."

That had been her first word. Or at least the one that Dinah could remember saying. She very well could have mumbled an assortment of other things while staring up at the sky and Syna's mocking glare. At first she wasn't entirely sure how she had ended up there, on her back, long blades of grass looming over her. A shadow had fallen over her before Niamh's dark muzzle nudged at the side of her face.

"I'm fine," Diana had groaned, the small gesture she managed with her left hand suggesting otherwise.

It only took a few moments before reality had set in. She had fallen off. Oh sure you could be logical and say it was from a lack of sleep caused by constant nightmares she had since the change in season but it didn't change the fact it had happened. Another groan left her lips as she raised a hand from where it laid somewhere beside her, wiping down the front of her face before reaching up to pat Niamh's nose.

"Not your fault. Don't even think it," she'd spoken, trying to push the conviction through but knowing she wasn't exactly the best as reassuring anyone, even the Strider.

The next bit had been tricky as she slowly became aware of the shape she was in. Everything hurt as Dinah had sat up slowly, a few deep breaths and twists and flexes here and there had proven nothing obvious was broken, there was that at least. Nothing really injured except her pride and it wasn't like Niamh was going to go blab about what happened. Well, okay, maybe not exactly nothing as the horrible stinging and wet sensation down her right arm and leg suddenly stabbed into her awareness. Dinah had been afraid to look but one glance showed enough red and far too much texture to be any good. The shock was wearing off and the flare of where the ground had scraped off skin was fully realized. Her leg probably wasn't as bad thanks to actually having fabric between herself and the ground upon impact but Dinah couldn't bring herself to check.

The rest was a haze as she had managed to get to her feet and begun the walk back towards Enrykas. She could have rode, she supposed, but Dinah was being stubborn - the one thing she still excelled in. Niamh had plodded along her side, the mare allowing the Drykas girl to lean against her when needed. It was the sudden and rather overt nudge that Dinah hadn't been expecting that brought her mostly back to her senses. The plan had been to sulk back to her own pavilion and sit and attempt to clean and bandage her wounds herself without her husband or his far too nosy brother catching any wind of it. The Strider had other plans, practically shoving the injured teen in the direction of the white colored tents of the Opal clan.

"Oh hai no. Don't you even-" her words were cut short by another, somewhat rough knock against her that sent pain shooting through her injured limbs. Dinah practically glared into the Strider's dark eyes before letting out a deep sigh. "Fine. have it your way."

A rather grumpy look was cast to the Strider who let out a snort that Dinah thought sounded far too self satisfied. "They cut my arm off, though. And it's you I'm going to blame."

Begrudgingly Dinah let herself be led, half by instinct, the other assisted by the mare's far better sense of direction. How the Strider managed to find her way around the various tents was something Dinah couldn't even begin to wonder at. Most days the girl was lucky if she found her away around anything green colored that didn't belong to her family. New family, she corrected herself.

A few moments later and she found her way to one of the larger pavilions that were set up for those who needed a healer. Dinah hoped she had managed to somehow come upon the White Lily, but luck had proven to not exactly be on her side that day. One last pleading look was given to Niamh who put her head down and gave another forceful shove of the girl through the tent flaps. It left Dinah cringing as she stumbled in, one hand fully coated in her own crimson colored fluid from holding onto the actual wounded appendage that still steadily dripped down that particular arm, letting the occasional droplet fall to the ground. She was sure her leg was performing similar paintings thanks to the continual cool feeling of moisture against her skin.

Internally she was cursing the Strider for not simply allowing her to go home. Externally she was letting her eyes wander around the pavilion, heart suddenly threatening to stop as she spotted among the others within an all too familiar face. "Oh petch me," Dinah mumbled, giving serious thought to just how fast she could make an exit while slightly limping.

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Tukant"

[Waisana]

The healing tents weren't too busy, an unusual state of being that had led to a number of those who normally waited within to check up on patients in their own pavilions. Waisana had chosen to stay. She preferred to deal with people who required help now rather than doing after care. There were exceptions to that but there was no one that she felt particularly concerned over at the moment. She would have gone to check on Seirei if she'd known where the girl was but had no idea where she was. Other than that she'd only dealt with minor ailments and injuries recently and the aftercare required was minimal at best. Better to focus on anyone that came in.

Of course if you were one of a few medical people on hand when someone came in with an injury then you were obliged to help them, regardless of who they were. She saw the young woman that came in, saw the blood upon her arm but looked upon her with shock for quite a different reason. She knew who it was, knew them well or rather she had until everything had gone wrong in both of their lives. The elder girl had seen her too and looked ready to take flight. Waisana allowed her features to fall into a professional mask, her demeanour becoming business like as she closed the gap between them. There was no sense of familiarity in her manner as she set about addressing Dinah.

"You need that arm treated and it needs to me done now. Come this way please." The teen's tone broached no argument as she took the woman's uninjured arm and made to steer her to a nearby seat. Whether the other would allow herself to be led was another matter entirely but the Opal girl tried to give her former friend no chance to think of making an escape, shooting a barrage of questions her way as she kept a firm grip on her arm. She doubted that the other woman would appreciate being manhandled but it had to be done. Dinah might be less likely to resist and do a runner if Waisana wouldn't release her, at least not without a fight. Dinah was going to be treated whether she liked it or not.

"What happened? How long have you been bleeding? Have you got any other injuries that aren't as visible?" She allowed the questions to distract her from who she was asking. If she focused on the medical side then she didn't have to consider the personal side, didn't have to think of Dinah as being Dinah. She sincerely doubted that the other still wanted to retain any friendship with her, her words during their last meeting and the lack of any interaction between the two since a fair indication of that. The girl could see no point in throwing herself at the older one's feet and begging her to take her back if she was going to be kicked aside as she had been before. She'd sooner remain alone then be rejected again.

[Dinah]

Was it too much to ask the gods for a favor every now and again? Bad enough she had to go and try to see how good the ground was at removing skin, but this as well? What had she done to deserve such fate? Oh. Right. Your brother.

Dinah barely suppressed the groan that left her as Waisana approached, shoulders tensing in expectation of... Something. Maybe the younger girl would hit her, maybe she would hug her, maybe she would ask where the petch Dinah had been and what had been going on in her life. Dinah wanted fire, emotional eruptions, something, anything but the sudden detached way the younger girl spoke to her. It felt out of place, as if the entirety of Cyphrus suddenly up and decided that it would rather be perpendicular to the rest of the world. Worst part was Dinah knew damn well she was getting exactly what she deserved, and in a way had asked for in so many colourful shouted phrases and accusations. What was that about what you did to earn all this? Yes. Great. Wonderful. At least it couldn't get any worse.

The darker haired teen flinched at the horrible temptation of the gods' ire she'd created rather than any of her injures. Overall she felt too numb to fight back or pull away as Waisana led her, no matter how badly Dinah felt the urge to tear her arm out of the girls' grasp.

"I don't know," she mumbled in reply. One phrase to answer all questions, it was a cop out and Dinah knew it.

A new cringe and flare of pain jolted through her as she sat roughly like some petulant child. The girl from the Ruby clan - no; Emerald, her mind reminded her - gritted her teeth and waited for the sudden surge to die back down before she took a breath, unhappy in how shaky it was. Even at her worst she hated showing weakness, only a handful of people saw that side of her and Waisana had dropped out of that sphere. You kinda kicked her out. Whatever.

If Waisana wanted to play professional, she could go that route just as easily. "Guess I felt the need to get more associated with the ground. Thinking of picking it up as my next element in reimancy." Okay, maybe not so easily.

Dinah flexed the fingers of her injured arm before she looked down and made a face at the mess of it all. A reluctant sigh left before she turned back to the Opal girl.

"I don't know what exactly happened. One minute I'm riding along, the next I'm waking up on the ground with a headache and this lovely new improvement to myself. That was, I don't know, maybe half a bell ago?" She couldn't keep the irritated tone from her voice, nor could she prevent making vague gestures to accompany her frustration as she spoke with her uninjured side. "As for anything else, I don't know, seems my arm got the worst of it. Though wouldn't be all that surprised to find everything on that side a wreck."

A curt laugh suddenly was forced from her lungs. "Didn't really want to look. Not my kind of thing."

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Tukant"

[Waisana]

She was surprised by the lack of fire in Dinah. There was no fight, no struggle to release herself from Waisana's grip and make her way to a seat by herself. No, she just allowed herself to be led and that worried the healer more than her injuries did. She wondered what had broken the young woman's spirit to make her so docile. Her mind turned to dark possibilities involving her husband, drawing on what she'd seen Lian do to Seirei as her inspiration. The beatings, the physical torture, the mental- No, it wasn't the same, it couldn't be. The girl didn't believe that Dinah's new spouse could be so cruel but then what other explanation was there for this behaviour? Maybe she's just a little shocked to see you and your reaction threw her. It was a possibility and she hoped for that to be the cause rather than the other girl being abused by her husband.

She need not have worried. The new Emerald showed her characteristic spirit in her words. Waisana had always been the more serious of the pair, least likely to resort to sarcasm and least like to give way to humour. Dinah... she hadn't changed, at least not in that respect. "Perhaps you should plan your associations better." The young woman couldn't help the words that escaped her, the dry remark coming out of her mouth from habit. She'd often done it, countered things that Dinah said but that had been in the past. When they used to be friends. She bit her lip momentarily before allowing her professional manner to take hold once more. She couldn't risk slipping back into any sense of familiarity with Dinah.

There was no comment on the cause of the woman's injuries as much as words threatened to escape her on the matter. Detached, impartial, professional. It could be done. "I'm sure that your clothes protected you. Shouldn't be cut but I'll check after I clean this." The teen gestured to her bloody arm, a sign of reassurance given before she continued. "I'm sure it looks worse than it is. I'll just clean it up." The Opal girl went in search of a vessel of water and a clean rag, gathering bandages and jile salve along the way. She set to her work in silence--safe in her assumption that the other wouldn't fight her off--wetting the rag and dabbing it gently along the wound. The cloth was washed out staining the water not only with blood but with dirt. The cleaning revealed a series of scrapes and cuts but they didn't seem too deep, merely superficial.

"No, not as bad as it seemed," she murmured to herself, smearing the jile salve over each wound before wrapping the bandage around her arm. She tore a hole in the cloth to pull the end of it through and knotted it in place. "Do you feel any more pain on this side? Any more cuts, scrapes, bruises even? Let me see and I'll deal with it too so you can go." There was a pause before Waisana continued, a hurt note seeping into her tone. "I'm sure that you want to get away from here as soon as possible." From me, she added silently, waiting for Dinah to comply with her request. The sooner the other was out of her sight the better.

[Dinah]

It felt so, so wrong to be under Waisana's care it wasn't even funny. Dinah had spent time lurking about the medical tents before, but it was usually to wait for her former friend, or poke fun at someone with a particularly embarrassing ailment, not this. Never to experience that gentle nurturing touch herself. Gods no.

Apparently the gods had changed their damn minds on that particular notion. Dinah held in a particular unflattering thought that no doubt was all sorts of blasphemy, regardless of who she directed it at. Still, it wasn't all bad. At least the woman - gods who was she kidding - girl knew for a fact that she was being treated by someone with enough skill that she wouldn't have to worry about her arm randomly turning gangrene or whatever and rotting off.

Waisana knew her craft, which was a far cry from any claim Dinah could really make. Trained in pottery reluctantly to better fit in with her father's clan, now learning to be a hunter to better fit in with her husband's; and all Dinah wanted was to find some way to make sure her actual talents could be put to use but even those had been on hold since...

A cringe flickered across Dinah's features, not from the wound, just unpleasant memories she rather were shoved aside for the moment. Better to focus on the here and now, with problems you only caused to yourself rather than lives you ruined because you couldn't be where you were supposed to be when you were supposed to be there.

The pain in her side that threatened to stab through her with every deep breath could be ignored for the moment, she was relatively sure nothing was actually broken inside - more from denial than experience - and so her attention was drifted downwards after a few test movements of her bandaged arm were given.

"As much as I'd love to trot off and never see this tent again, right now it's about the only thing standing between me and a million questions," Dinah grumbled as she reached down and began rolling the fabric of her pant leg up, a flinch or a wince accompanying every tug or pry of dried blood and material away from skin. "Never hear the end of it once I get back. If not from Obby then his petching sons will be all over me like some wounded foal and I'm only married to one of them."

She could already picture the worried look on Mandan's face, the way he would try and hold it back until they were alone and then the real side of him would show. Not cruel or harsh in the slightest, just an endless stream of asking if she was okay that she couldn't answer her typical way because he'd already figured it out. Worse was the fact she liked it when he asked, when he showed he cared about her more than just for her ability to produce children; not that anyone in the Pavilion really treated her that way to begin with. Struggling though they were, the Stormsingers had never once made her feel pressured to produce an heir for the youngest son. If only every girl could be so damn lucky. If only Dinah felt she was actually deserving of such treatment.

She glanced back to Waisana, suddenly realizing she had no idea if the Opal girl was married or not. The healer hadn't been last time they had spoken but that was... well, far longer than Dinah really wanted to admit.

"Besides, this is a new experience. Might as well savor it, right?" Where she had wanted to sound bored, Dinah only sounded painted and instantly hated herself for it. Petch this day, petch the reasons or not reasons behind it, and petch Waisana for acting all... professional. Couldn't one of them just make some sort of stupid joke and go back to being how it was? No, her stubbornness finally came through. The immovable object that hardened within her. That bridge was burned long ago and it's not your place to go and fix it. Fixing things isn't your job, its hers. You just help to kill things now.

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Tukant"

[Waisana]

The treatment on Dinah's arm had been brief but she'd still expected to hear more from the young woman. Abuse, some jibe, sarcasm, anything at all but the other just allowed her to get on with her work. It was strange. If it was anybody else then the silence wouldn't bother her but she was just so aware of the lack of sound that it made her uneasy. Due to the lack of conversation, her ears seemed to have fixed on every other sound instead. She could hear Dinah's breathing; deep, measured breaths that suggested that they were being carefully controlled. Was she in more pain than she was willing to let onto? Was Waisana's presence the reason behind this control? She didn't know, couldn't even focus on that sound alone. Her attention was drawn to the quiet conversation taking place between medic and patient, the sounds of water being wrung from a cloth, a hiss of pain, coughing from somewhere outside of the tent. After focusing on such minute sounds, Dinah's voice seemed too loud, too close, making the teen flinch.

An apologetic smile was offered for her behaviour - not that she was sure the other noticed - which became quizzical as she took in her words. Questions? Did she have questions for her, questions that would perhaps bridge the rift between them and- no, she was talking about her family. It was the first time that Dinah's new family had been mentioned and in such a familiar way too as if Waisana knew who she was talking about. Well, she did but that was aside from the point. It made the Opal girl feel somehow included in the other's new life, drawn into her confidence almost except that that was a naive dream for her to even consider it. Dinah was just talking without thinking. There was no attempt being made to stretch out the hand of friendship, just to fill a silence that she seemed to feel the need to fill.

Her words also implied that dread was the only thing keeping her here; she did eagerly want to get away from her former friend.

Every attempt had been made to detach herself from the other after their last encounter, Waisana determined to close her heart against the girl instead of patching up the gaping wounds. It had been an improper solution and one that had only worked when Dinah hadn't been around. Now that she was here though she had the power to cause the medic pain, to rip open ill-healed wounds and hurt her to the core with such flyaway remarks. The other probably had no idea of the effect she was having and if she had been Waisana doubted that she would have cared.

Her next words drew disgust from the Opal clan girl, the emotion drawing her out of her internal pain and moulding onto her features. "It's not food or drink, you don't savour it!" she snapped, immediately biting her lip. She hadn't meant to stray from professionalism. Dinah's words had just caught her unaware, unprepared. How was she supposed to have a defence against such thoughtless words? It was what made Dinah who she was. She'd always been one to speak whatever came into her mind, everyone's feelings be damned.

Her gaze was averted from the other as she tried to regain some composure. Work. The arm was dealt with but the rest of that side could be injured. Modesty had to be taken into consideration but an exposed side would cause no harm, the same with the leg. Anything that would best remain below cloth unless necessary could be probed gently for pain and examined further if there might be injury. Making Dinah expose herself for no good reason, even if it wouldn't be to other people's eyes would only make matters more awkward than they already were. To think that this wasn't awkward would be to give into delusion.

"Let me see your side and your leg, see if they're cut or just bruised." Her manner came across as blunt, verging on the point of rudeness as she waited with hands on hips for the girl to do as she was told. A quick gesture was made to be quick.

[Dinah]

.
.....

Well that was new. Sure, Dinah knew Waisana was capable of a sudden snap or biting comment when properly provoked, after all they had been a team of sorts once. But whereas Dinah's remarks were always meant to cut deep and leave scars, Waisana always had a way of making someone want to better themselves after they had properly had their obvious faults pointed out to them. Still though, it was a rare occurrence, and never had Dinah found herself on the receiving end. You did the same to her, was the only thought that resonated for a moment as an echo to the younger girl's outburst.

The silence that crept in once more was far more agitating than any of the minor wounds she was suffering from, though Dinah wasn't exactly pleased with the follow up that finally broke it. She looked down at the small, overly slow progression she had made in tugging up the fabric of her pants and came to the rather grim reality that the way her leg was feeling, odds are the abrasions went higher than fabric would allow to be revealed. There certainly seemed to be enough blood as the rather grotesque squish of her foot inside her boot as she moved her toes reminded her.

Why me? Her silent plea was sent forth as her eyes cast skyward. The stillness in the air that day, however, made Dinah question if her prayers were even being remotely listened to. Given how everything was unfolding, she highly doubted it which meant her fate was purely at the hands of the healer. Wonderful. Can this get any worse?

Dinah realized she had been blatantly ignoring the gesture that Waisana had made, choosing inaction over even remotely being swift in her attempts to follow the demand. She gave a hardened stare at the other girl for a moment before a sigh, a grimace, and finally the Emerald Clan girl gave up on her feeble attempts at holding onto any sort of idea she wasn't as bad as she actually figured she might be. The pant leg was abandoned as she begrudgingly balled up the bottom hem of her tunic before yanking up the right side in one quick movement, not enough to really expose herself but more than enough to bring a startled and cut off gasp as the fabric was pulled away from drying wounds.

Okay, so the leg would have to wait. Even the movement itself had been painful and the sudden shocked breath that had followed wasn't much better. Dinah had no idea what a broken rib felt like, was it worse? Was it exactly like this? No no no, don't think like that...

"How long do you think this will all take to heal?" It wasn't what she wanted to ask, but certainly something she needed to know, her body betraying her as her uninjured arm lead her hand in a thinly veiled gesture that told exactly how worried she was. The motion was brought to an abrupt halt as soon as Dinah realized she was doing it. She wasn't like that. People didn't get to find out when she was actually scared or nervous or anything. Even before the accident that had literally turned her life to ash Dinah was reserved, most never saw past the wall she had built up around herself. Waisana had been one of those that had made it through, though. Had, she reminded herself.

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Tukant"

[Waisana]

Her words had been sharper than she'd intended, effectively like a slap to her former friend. She'd seen the shock in her eyes but the teen had tried to ignore it. Pretend as if nothing had happened and so return things to more professional grounds. Biting your patient's head off was definitely poor bedside manner but she wouldn't do it again no matter what Dinah said.

Dinah didn't seem up to saying much though. Waisana's curt remark had silenced her. She didn't know what was going on in the older girl's head in the aftermath but the Opal didn't dwell on it. She tried to focus on the medical situation at hand but her patient wasn't helping matters. She'd somehow become slower than before, the leg of her pants snaking upwards with infinite slowness. She seemed so slow that Waisana was sure that she should be going backwards rather than progressing. The pant's leg was abandoned - Dinah perhaps picking up on Waisana's not too subtle signs of impatience - and attention shifted to the exposure of her side.

The gasp that came from the girl and the dark stains that marked the inside of her tunic made the blonde wince. Blood began to slide downwards, wounds that had been clotted ripped open once more. It was the medic's fault and she knew it. If she'd thought to ask more questions rather than rushing the girl into such rash action then Dinah wouldn't be in such unnecessary pain. "Sorry, sorry! I shouldn't have- Stupid!" The Drykas teen couldn't speak coherently as all of her professionalism fell flat in the face of her anxiety for her friend. Cloths were hastily grabbed to be pressed firmly but gently to the oozing patches on Dinah's skin.

She hadn't meant to make such a foolish mistake. Just because herself and Dinah weren't friends anymore didn't mean that she wanted to see her former friend in pain. the girl's appearance had shaken her but she'd been so sure that she could soldier on and deal with her like any other patient but she hadn't even been able to manage that. if the girl could just have gone then she could have put this behind her but now... Tears burned in the younger girl's eyes and she fought the urge to wipe them away. Not out here, not in plain view. The medic's eyes moved to one of the screened beds that was currently unoccupied and gestured that way.

"Screen." Her voice broke on the single word, a sign of go completing the instruction when she failed to say it. The cloths were pulled back from Dinah's side and tossed in a bin for soiled materials, the teen scurrying off to collect more cleaning things and bandages before ducking into the area that she'd indicated to her patient. Once they were both within, Waisana moved the screen to obscure them and then put her face in her hands. Her entire form trembled with emotion and she seemed to decrease in age, her maturity dropping away to reveal a more child-like demeanour.

"Dinah..." she choked out the name, tears spilling down her face when she revealed it. She didn't manage any more than that, the young woman making an attempt to hug the other but without touching off her wounds. If she was allowed to the teen would bury her face in Dinah's shoulder and sob quiet, incoherent things at her, the notion of her job momentarily forgotten.

[Dinah]

"So I am going to die," Dinah commented dryly as he younger girl sobbed into her shoulder.

She was bad with this sort of thing, always had been. It was her twin that had been good with people, good with emotions and how to handle them, good with comforting people when things went wrong. If Dinah couldn't punch, threaten, or drown the problem she wasn't ever sure how to deal with it. With a small wince she wrapped her injured arm around Waisana's shoulders in some attempt at showing she wasn't totally heartless despite popular opinion.

"Hey, come on now, it's not that bad, right? What's a little blood loss between friends?" Try as she might to make it sound lighthearted there was no hiding the discomfort in her voice. This was awkward. There was no other word for it and even the gesture she found herself absentmindedly making stating as much didn't really fully capture her feeling on it.

It took a tick or two for Dinah to realize the word she'd used. Friends. She felt guilty for even suggesting it but if the healer's outburst was anything to go by apparently the wounds in her side weren't the only things that had been freshly ripped open. A half strangled groan left her, choked by a sigh of resignation that wanted to compete for what would actually leave her. Waisana had been right, this was stupid. Not due to any blunder the Opal girl had made, but more in the Dinah's stubbornness that was causing her to keep the whole thing just past arm's length.

The only thing she could be grateful for in that moment was that the light hug she offered in return kept her from having to actually make eye contact with Waisana. It was probably about the only thing that was going to make the next words even remotely capable of leaving her.

"I'm... sorry, you know?" Dinah cringed again, more from the struggle to get the words out than any sort of actual physical pain. Her free arm lifted, making a gesture of sincerity despite the fact Waisana wouldn't' see it. "I shouldn't ever have said... It wasn't right... It was never your fault..." Great. Just great. It felt like it could have been chalked up as one of the worst apologies ever but it was honestly the best Dinah could do.

A small laugh left her, humorless and cut short. "Figured I should get that out there before I drop dead. Least I can do before you have to deal with my corpse. You know, unless I'm not going to die in which case we'll both just have to actually try and deal with this for a change. Maybe I can make the next round of sorries sound less petching pathetic?"

"Pavi" | "Common" | "Tukant"

[Waisana]

"Dinah, don't!" the medic wailed, her voice muffled and thick against the older girl's shoulder. This wasn't the time for Dinah's dry wit and she should know it. Waisana had a serious reason for crying and she didn't need her former friend making a joke about it and a horrible one at that. It was bad enough that she couldn't stop herself from bawling her eyes out like a child without having the other salt her wounds, even if it was only in jest.

It was difficult to bring the tears under control, a chorus of sniffling and snuffling and choking sounds heard before she could begin to stem the flow. It was the obvious discomfort that she'd caused her patient and the hope that the use of "friends" brought, which made her stop at last. Even when the tears had stopped she couldn't bring herself to leave the safety and comfort of her friend's shoulder, holding on for dear life to the idea that they were friends. It might only be an illusion, one that would be shattered when she finally looked up but as long as she could keep the dream alive she would. From her current position it seemed so real. The girl was hugging her (sort of) and she hadn't pushed her away with talk of their not being friends. Certainly seemed to point to a return to friendship but then she was dealing with someone whose temper could be as unpredictable as a summer storm. How easily could she change her mind right back again like a sudden shift in the wind? So the Opal girl could not possibly dare to hope for a favourable outcome.

The hug continued, bringing with it an uncertain and awkward apology. A shift of an arm beside her suggested the girl was signing but the blonde wasn't free to see it. It stopped after a tick as Dinah realised that but she continued onwards with less stuttering this time, the other returning to the theme of death. It came close to bringing the subbing on anew but she forced a laugh instead, a wet sound that did nothing to dislodge the lump threatening to rise up her throat. She tried to swallow it down, squirming to release herself from her patient's hold. A hand was rubbed hastily over her wet cheeks. Patting her hair and tucking away any loose strands, the teen made herself stand straight to signal her return to normality and business.

"I'm being stupid, sorry," she replied, her hands tracing silent apology in the air between them although she hadn't really been in the wrong. Waisana recalled what it was she was supposed to be doing. Wounds below Dinah's clothes needed to be checked. They probably weren't bad as her clothing would have protected her. The cloth hadn't been torn and so any cuts she might have would simply be superficial. Nothing to worry about. If they'd been bleeding though and had had a chance to clot even partially then they'd be stuck to her clothing. The one on the girl's side had been ripped open that way and so there could be others like it. Wrenching the cloth away like that might well make it worse and she'd neglected to consider that before.

Taking a cloth and wetting it, she carried it to Dinah's side. "Undress. If anywhere seems to be sticking to the skin then tell me and I'll wet it. Makes peeling it back a little easier. You don't mind damp spots on your clothes?" she asked, holding the rag ready to apply to anywhere that it might be needed.