Healers Make the Worst Patients, tag Keelz w/Maggie and Keth

[zulu]

Dawn was surely coming soon. Not that Koryn could tell. Deep in the Infirmary, the master dragonhealer wrote ceaselessly. He updated the records of previous candidates, adding their young dragons and any injuries sustained during the late-night hatching. Sure, an apprentice could have done it, but Koryn wasn't the kind to trust apprentices to such important details.

Besides. He wasn't planning on sleeping any time soon.

Running a hand over his hair, Koryn made a mental note to get it cut soon. He liked it short, not shaggy, and it was definitely getting to the shaggy stage. He muttered the note under his breath, eyes never leaving the records in front of him. He still had several to add but was currently working on Priscilla's, adding her fire dragon and the progress of her injuries. The progress wasn't much. The wounds had been stitched shut and covered. Hopefully she wouldn't play with the stitches, but the girl would be tasting blood for quite a while. A'seri's file rested in the "done" pile to his left, and Aeriadne's with her new Tylith rested just on top of his. The green was sleeping in the dragon bays tonight, along with a couple of her siblings who'd also been injured in some manner. What little remained of "tonight" anyway.

Sliding another record closed, Koryn placed it on top of the "done" pile, already reaching for the next. His hand met wood. Oh. No more records then. Alright. Setting his quill down, the Healer pushed away from his desk and scooped up the pile of updated medical records. They needed resorting now that their owners were dragonriders. They didn't belong with the candidates and other weyrfolk. Striding down the hall, Koryn ran into few others awake. Most of the Healers who'd aided in the Hatching had already fallen asleep, exhausted by the bloody ordeal and the untimely hour it had begun. Koryn, of course, had already been awake and, unsurprisingly, was still awake an hour later.

The records room was nearby, thankfully. It meant fewer chances of Koryn running into someone. After the hatching, he was in no mood for company. Hatchling dragons always stirred memories best left buried, leaving him grimmer than usual. Turning into the records room, Koryn found the shelf dedicated to living dragonriders--the records of dead dragonriders were in a different room along with the records of other dead weyr-dwellers. This was a room for the living, and Koryn tried to keep them all living as best he could. Sliding a file into its place, Koryn sought out the next, realigning them all neatly in alphabetical order. That is, after he found the correct dragon color location and then the correct rider gender location. For fire-, green-, glass-, and mirrorriders, these sub-categories were necessary. For blues and browns, females were less common, and female bronzeriders simply didn't exist. Neither did male goldriders. Hyper-organized? Maybe. But organization was the key to saving lives more often than not.

But as he was putting away D'von's file in the male brownrider section, something caught Koryn's eye. "K'ryn - Brown Lisysth." Setting the other files aside, Koryn pulled out that file and sat down, not even bothering with a chair and just resting cross-legged on the stone floor.

And thus was how Koryn stayed, staring at his own record, still filed in the dragonrider's shelf with his dragon's name displayed on the side.

[Keeley]

Maggie had apparently been much more tired than she thought.

She’d checked on the weyrlings she’d needed to check on, made her rounds, and finally called Sairaketh from A’seri’s side to return to their weyr. She was covered in sand and blood and ichor—it was even in her hair—and something had to be done about that. The healer had left her glass curled up on her couch and disappeared to bathe, cscrubbing the mess away from her olive skin and oh-so-carefully rinsing off her burned arms, shoulders, and upper back. It was painful and throbbing. But it could be dealt with later. It wasn’t good to leave a burn untreated, she knew that. And she wasn’t going to. But she was going to sleep for just a bit first. Just a little while wouldn’t hurt. She never slept long at a time anyway, and then she would go find one of the healers she trusted and get it taken care of. The woman had dried off and dressed in her flimsiest shorts and tank top number, made of thin, lavender fabric that wouldn’t chaff her injured skin. The top’s straps were even smaller than those on her dress had been, which left the blistered, red skin blissfully untouched. She pulled her wet hair up into a messy bun, tendrils left to fall around her face, and considered that good enough to sleep in.

And then she’d returned to check on her glass, who got tired out so very easily. The tiny dragoness had still been awake, and had crooned with concern when Maggie knelt beside her. Mine, your injuries need to be treated . . . “Shh, I know. I’ll have someone look at them soon. But I want to sleep just a little first. I haven’t slept at all in a good two days now, maybe a little more.” She ran a small hand over Keth’s side, smiling softly down at her. “Are you all right, my love? Not too tired? I didn’t meant to keep you up for such a long time.” The dragon nuzzled her rider with a soft hum of reassurance. I’m alright. Tired, but not overly so. I will be fine. Maggie leaned forward to tug her bonded forward into a gentle hug, yawning and lowering her body onto the couch beside Keth. The dragoness nuzzled Maggie again, and curled up beside her rider contently. And Maggie really hadn’t meant to fall asleep there. She was going to cuddle with Sairaketh for a few minutes, and then go to bed for a while. She fully intended on just staying long enough to make sure Keth was really all right. However, it didn’t work that way. The moment her head dropped, her eyes closed, and not long after she was sound asleep. So asleep, in fact, that she didn’t notice when her little glass slid back and stood up. Yes. Much, much more tired than she'd thought.

The dragoness quietly left the weyr, glancing back at her rider before leaving the room through the unlocked door. Though perhaps not the best idea, when a number of people were injured, Maggie never locked weyr. If someone needed her, she would wake more quickly if they were able to actually come in. And Keth wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, besides. The glass was small for a dragon, but her teeth and claws would easily deter anyone who meant to do harm. Maggie was safe enough with the door unbolted. And, though Keth was loathe to leave her tonight, Misri was there. The little blue had curled up against Maggie’s stomach, and in her sleep she had pulled him close. He would keep watch while Keth was gone, and alert the woman if anything seemed amis.

When Keth arrived at her destination, the infirmary, her mission was a simple one. Find Koryn. She knew the masterhealer would still be awake—he slept even less than Hers, if such a thing was possible. The tiny glass slipped through the infirmary with determination until she found the dragon healer, sitting in the floor with a file in his lap. She crooned to announce her presence, stepping into the room and ever so gently touching the man’s mind before actually speaking. My apologies for intruding, masterhealer, she said, mind voice soft and full of comfort. She was an empathetic sort, and was always especially gentle with the masterhealer. Somehow, she knew that he needed her gentleness, perhaps more than anyone. And he had cared for her many times, and had saved her life the night she hatched. Maggie never forgot these things, and so neither did Sairaketh. But Mine is in need of medical attention. She plans to seek a healer when she wakes, but I highly doubt that waking will come as soon as she predicted. I thought, perhaps, that she might allow you to take care of her. She would send any other healer, except of course Meissath’s, and he is wounded himself, away from her weyr. The dragoness paused hopefully, looking at him with worried eyes. Would you come with me? I will show you. The door is unlocked.

This post has been edited by Keeley on Aug 4 2012, 05:47 PM

[zulu]

Koryn's fingers trailed over the neat lines describing various injuries through the turns, his own and Lisysth's. Those same fingers shook slightly, and brown eyes read torturously onward, refusing to stop. He couldn't believe it. This file should have been moved. He shouldn't have found it there. He shouldn't be reading this...

"Injuries could not be assessed. Patient went between before a Healer could arrive on site. Unable to determine if patient succumbed to own injuries or rider's unconscious state."

So technical. So literal. So medical. The words didn't contain the pain and horror of the event. They couldn't possibly hold the complete catastrophe Koryn had woken to. Words weren't enough. One had to feel it to know. Koryn's hand rested over the words on the page, staring at the black ink still visible between his fingers. He didn't realize he was crying until a tear fell on the back of his hand.

He slammed the record shut, forcibly banishing the emotions that caused the tears and drying his eyes with his sleeve. It was then a croon diverted his attention. He looked up. Ah. Sairaketh. Without Magdelyna. Koryn wasn't surprised. The small glass had often approached him on her own to get help to keep her rider from worrying. Because he'd seen her first, he expected the light contact that signaled her request to speak with him. He looked away, fingers running over the name he no longer had before he forced himself to his feet, listening to the glass' small voice. It was almost physically painful, hearing another dragon, but Koryn had long endured it. And Sairaketh always tried being gentle. He could tell. He knew enough about dragons to know when they were holding back.

And Sairaketh was speaking of Magdelyna. Ah yes. Koryn remembered spotting the glassrider's reddened skin on the hatching sands. Must have burned then. She hadn't been in any other way injured that Koryn had seen. And if her dragon was asking for help, she must really be asleep. Good. If only burns could wait a couple hours. Feeling far older than he was, Koryn cracked his neck before sliding his own outdated record into a "to be filed" slot on the wall. Hopefully someone would get the hint and rewrite the binding and put it where it belonged: in the weyrfolk section, specifically with the male master dragonhealers.

"I will see her," Koryn told the small dragon simply, sliding the other records into their places with quick efficiency. Quicker than he had moved before now that he had a patient to oversee. "I will grab my kit on the way out."

[Keeley]

Sairaketh crooned again at the healer’s agreement, stepping further into the room and toward him. She was careful, always careful with Koryn. But she could feel his hurt, it was nearly emanating from him the pain was so strong. And his mind, she’d felt it, perhaps better than many others could. Sairaketh was so quiet, so gentle, that she seemed to have a much better grasp of other’s emotions—even those of the oh-so-clinical masterhealer. She lowered her head to his hand first, brushing her nose lightly over his fingers, and then twined around his legs in a gentle, comforting gesture. She stayed there, pressed against him, humming quietly. It wasn’t her usual, happy hum, or a hum of pleasure or contentment. It was soft, a bit sad, but undeniably comforting. Because Keth was a comforting type of dragon—she just couldn’t help it. It flowed from her, just as the pain flowed from Koryn. In this case, though, even she could only give him so much. And even that was not enough. You fight a battle many would have long before lost, masterhealer. My respect for you grows ever greater as the seasons pass. Alas, even I have no words for heartbreak such as this. She let the soft hum fade into silence, and after a moment she stepped away from the masterhealer with a soft, almost inaudible sigh.

Glancing back at him, Keth made her way toward the door and then into the rest of the infirmary. She waited patiently as Koryn gathered his things, and greeted him with a hum when he reappeared. Come then, I will take you to my Magdelyna. With another glance between her, the glass left the infirmary and led the way through the weyr. Winding through the halls and corridors until she reached the familiar door of her rider. She hadn’t spoken to Koryn again as they walked, allowing the silence to take hold between them. She had felt the quiet necessary, if only so they could worry about their separate concerns in peace. His heart was heavy tonight, and her mind was filled with worry for not only her rider, but for all those injured. One moment, please. Allow me to wake Mine. Instead of going inside, Sairaketh reached through the link to tap into her rider’s sleeping conscious. With an apologetic caress, she oh so carefully pulled Magdelyna from her heavy slumber. Mine, you must wake now. I have brought your master to see to your wounds. They need to be treated. Come now, dear one, wake up. Only when she was certain that Maggie was actually stirring inside the room did she step away from the door, push it open with a forepaw, and allow the healer entrance into the room.

As I said, the door is open for you. You will find that MaggieMine is awake—at least somewhat. And in pain, I fear. I believe you have met her firelizard before. He should give you no trouble. I will return to the infirmary to check on the hatchlings, please do let yourself in. With another croon of thanks, and a quick touch of her nose to his palm, Sairaketh turned to go back the way she had come. Inside the weyr, Maggie had stirred long enough to listen to Sairaketh, but was already beginning to drift once more. Keth’s gentle voice was not well equipped from waking people from sound slumber. Besides, it was only Koryn. She trusted him enough to allow herself to remain relaxed, despite her lack of proper clothing, and despite the fact that a man would be in her weyr.No man, except of course Ali, had ever been allowed inside. Koryn wouldn't hurt her, though, and he knew what he was doing. There was no need for her to force herself to completely wake up. He could most certainly take care of the burns without her help. In fact, she wasn't even sure how bad they actually were. Her back did hurt, though she didn’t notice so much in her state of half-sleep, and whatever Sairaketh wanted, Sairaketh got. Let him come in. With a soft sound, she cuddled Misri closer and yawned. The firelizard chirped sleepily, looking over the small woman's arm with half lidded eyes to see just who was coming inside.

((powerplay with Zu's permission!))

This post has been edited by Keeley on Aug 4 2012, 07:06 PM

[zulu]

Koryn was not expecting sympathy. He was not expecting contact. He was expecting to go do his duty to his journeyman, to treat her wounds while the other Healers rested or tended to other patients. Magdelyna was his responsibility as she was his student. He would be the one to care for her while others were busy or sleeping. He was awake anyway. He would do his duty regardless of the unpleasant memories stirring in his head.

He was not expecting to be touched.

At the warm muzzle on his palm, Koryn flinched away, staring at the small glass dragon as she withdrew. Except she didn't go away. She wound around his legs, pressing her warm body against him. Koryn closed his eyes, gritting his teeth to control the overwhelming surge of pain rising in his chest. His hands shook even when clenched into fists. His breath rattled in his chest as Sairaketh spoke, making his chest and throat throb. His head ached with the contact of a dragon not his own, as it always did. At least Sairaketh was quieter than most. Still. Her words felt like nails in his head. Sympathy was not what he needed. He needed to get to work.

He let out his breath through his nose slowly when Sairaketh retreated, unaware that he had been holding it while the glass wrapped around him. He didn't take long getting to business however. He strode passed the dragon, heading out of the records room and into the Infirmary proper. On his way, he grabbed his cloak--more out of habit than anything else--and a ready kit packed with supplies. It was an apprentice duty to make sure all of the ready kits were stocked at all times, but Koryn always checked anyway. This one was. Taking a deep breath, the master met the tiny glass dragon again as she led the way to her rider's weyr.

Koryn reveled in the silence while walking through the halls and corridors. He used it to calm himself, to regain the composure he had lost. He hated those moments. A Healer could not lose his cool, his professionalism. If he got lost in emotion, he wouldn't be able to properly do his job. And he was needed now. His journeyman was, as usual, ignoring her own injuries. Koryn shifted the ready kit higher on his shoulder, pausing while Sairaketh went in to wake her rider. The wait wasn't long, and Koryn hadn't expected the glass to be the one to let him in. Oh well.

As the master walked through the door, he rubbed his palm on his thigh as if that could remove the feel of the glass' nose on his hand. Oh well. Wiping his hand once more, Koryn stepped in and closed the door behind him, assuming Sairaketh would enter when she wanted to return. The fact the dragon had left was a bit surprising. Only when she needed help herself and didn't want to worry Magdelyna had Koryn seen her apart from her rider. This was one of the first times Koryn would see Magdelyna alone. It was an odd thought, but Koryn did not let it hinder him. Instead, he walked forward, letting his footfalls be a little heavier than normal so the half-conscious rider would know where he was.

And...she was on the floor. The frustrated Koryn. He hated working from his knees. The Healer ignored the blue firelizard looking at him and knelt beside Magdelyna. He cleared his throat. "I need you to wake, Magdelyna," he said stiffly. She either had to roll to her stomach or stand so he could treat her from her bed. It wasn't at all strange for Koryn. Much of his work involved weyr-calls. He'd never had to move anyone since his apprenticeship, however. Dragons usually just stayed put.

[Keeley]

Misri stirred before Maggie did, and it was more his movement than Koryn’s words that drew her from her hazy, half slumbering state. The blue wiggled his way out of her grasp when Koryn knelt beside her, stepping closer to the man and putting his paws on the healer’s knees with a demanding chirp. Clearly, the normally sleepy little flit wanted to know why this man was so near his pet, especially while she was sleeping. He had always been fatherly, but not usually so protective. Then again, there weren’t normally men in Magdelyna’s weyr at this time of night. Morning, rather. She cracked on dark eye to look over at the firelizard, reaching over to pull him away from the masterhealer. “Stop, Mis. It’s s’alright.” Her voice was even still sleep filled. Someone definitely needed to start sleeping more often. Misri chattered in protest, but allowed himself to be pulled back and gently shoved away. He looked back at the man before stalking to Maggie’s other side, hopping onto her hip to stare at Koryn distrustfully. Maggie yawned, forcing both her eyes open to look at Koryn. “You’re never going to call me Maggie, are you?” She asked with another yawn, rolling onto her back to see him better, tank top riding up just a bit, and forgetting in her not-quite-awake state that she was hurt. With a soft hiss, she rolled back to her side quickly, very much disliking the feel of her burns touching, well, anything.

When she rolled back over, she managed to roll too far and ended up much closer to Koryn than she had been. Her torso was nearly touching his knees, and one of her hands moved to rest on his leg to hold herself steady. Rolling over had hurt more than she imagined it would, and she needed to hold onto something to keep from flopping th rest of the way over while her body got over the pain she’d inadvertently added. “Oow.” Misri, who had just regained his perch on his hip, made another disapproving noise as he was jolted again. He landed near her head, trilling rather loudly, and she moaned, closing her eyes against the shrill noise. She hadn’t even known he could make that noise. “Quieeet,” she insisted, holding the word out until the blue fell silent. She yawned again, looking up at the masterhealer she was now mostly on top of. “Sorry,” she managed, blinking sleepily up at him with a tired smile.

Clearly, someone was still tired. Very tired. Because she was already yawning again. The third time in the last few minutes. That, and she really wanted to not think about the hatching. The hurt girl, the dead dragonets. It brought us horrible memories, memories of a glass dragonet who hadn’t been able to cross the sands to get to her rider. Of what could have happened during Sairaketh’s hatching. She was tired, and the memories were too much. She wanted to sleep. She didn’t want to think, she didn’t want to hurt, and she definitely didn’t want to talk to her master at this moment. Sleep. Sleep was good. Talking was not. Healing was not.

“Mmm Ryn?” She asked hopefully after a few moments, glancing up at the masterhealer again. She’d been calling him that for so long now he was surely used to it. She liked him a lot, but right now, it would have been fantastic if he’d just let her sleep. Maybe he would. “Can’t this wait? So tired. I haven’t—“ she had to pause for another yawn—“haven’t slept in two days. I think. Keth worries too much. Can’t be that bad.” She meant the burns. And when Maggie was more awake later, she would no doubt regret telling him how long she’d actually gone without sleep. He didn’t sleep often, but he did expect her to take care of herself. And she did . . . sort of. Like at this moment, she clearly needed sleep. And so he needed to leave her alone and let her sleep. At least, that was how her sleep-addled mind was processing things at the moment. Because at the moment, absolutely nothing sounded better than more sleep. She didn’t even want to bother to get up to move to her bed. Here was good. Here was perfect. She stretched a little, mostly bare legs straightening some from where they had been curled. Her head dropped back to the arm that had been acting as her pillow, and she let her eyes close again. Sleep was so blissfully close . . .

[zulu]

Koryn completely ignored the firelizard. The creature couldn't do any harm to him and was only getting in the way thus far. The Healer would much rather have had the blue out of the room with Sairaketh, but that wasn't to be as Magdelyna got him under control. Koryn also ignored his journeyman's question. He did not use nicknames. It was unprofessional. And all Koryn had left was his craft; he would not lose that by being too casual with his coworkers, students, and colleagues. But all thought except that pertaining to healing quickly fled when Magdelyna rolled onto her back, hissed, and rolled back over. He could have told her that was a bad idea, but she'd reacted too quickly.

Her hand on his leg was a bit disconcerting.

When the firelizard got involved, Koryn gave the blue his own blank stare in return for the small creature's glare and noises. Really, the things were more of a nuisance than anything. And the blue was only getting in Koryn's way. He had a job to do, one that both the blue and Magdelyna were thwarting. And then she started talking, using that infernal nickname she'd plastered him with, and sounding as tired as Koryn felt. At least she was able to sleep. Koryn would still be awake for hours. Two days was a long time to go without rest, and the master didn't take kindly to hearing his journeyman admit that tidbit of information. Nothing showed on his face, however. Not even mild annoyance when he carefully picked up Magdelyna's hand, removed it from his leg, and rested it on the ground.

"I taught you better," was his only comment thus far, speaking, of course, of burn care and treatment. Burns, no matter how minor, couldn't wait. They would only get worse thanks to how hot human bodies ran normally. A steady 98 degrees could worsen a mild sunburn into a second degree blister in a matter of hours. Burns from the hatching sands would no doubt be far worse. He had spotted some minor blistering while on the sands, and no doubt that had gotten worse. Oh well. There was no help for an uncooperative journeyman"Burn care waits for no one. You've stayed up two days; you can afford another few minutes."

And without warning, he stood, stepped over her outstretched legs, knelt behind her and scooped her into his arms. "Sorry if this hurts," he said professionally, settling her weight into his arms before standing. Such a small woman was an easy feat for a man of his size and strength. He could feel the heat of her back and shoulders on his arms. The burn was worse than he thought. With a couple long strides, Koryn walked to the sitting area and carefully deposited his journeyman on the couch. Face down so he could actually look at her injuries. He swung the ready kit off his shoulder before pulling the low table and a chair over. He sat in the chair and used the table as a prep area. The dim lighting did not make for good healing conditions, but he was more than adept at healing burns. He could do them with his eyes closed.

[Keeley]

Well, that woke her up. Maggie jerked in Koryn's arms, this time whimpering isntead of hissing, and reaching up to encircle his neck with her arms to take some pressure off her her poor arms, shoulders, and back. Tears threatened, but she blinked them back. She wasn't hurt that badly. And Magdelyna wasn't the crying type. She took a deep breath, turning her head into his chest. Maybe those burns were worse than she'd imagined. And maybe it hadn't been a good idea to sleep first. But she was so tired. So very, very tired. And it had been such a long day. And then he actually moved. She bit back a gasp as something that felt suspiciously like a blister sent a particularly sharp pain down from her shoulder, and let a tear slide down her cheek. It hurt. And Koryn was never in the mood to do anything but be so sharding professional. All he'd said the entire time was to wake up, and then that he'd taught her better. No sympathy whatsoever. And even his words when he'd picked her up had been so cold and professional. Somewhere deep inside she knew that he cared--Maggie knew Koryn. But it was hard to remember that when she was so tired, and when he sounded so clinical. The glassrider found that she wanted A'liyah instead, and remembered that he was hurt too. And din't that just make her cry a little more.

She rolled onto her side carefully to look up at the masterhealer. He was going so calmly about his business, as always. She'd never been the patient before. Always the person working with him. She hadn't realized how horrible it might feel to be the recipient of his cold professionalism. And maybe he wasn't so bad. Maybe she was just too tired, too exhausted. "You know," Maggie forced out, no longer trying to stop the tears. Let her cry. Let him see. She was human. Humans needed care, needed something besides clinical perfection. And right now would be a really good time for her to remind him of that. She was hurt. She was tired. She was emotionally exhausted from the deaths. From the pain she'd had to cause a candidate. And Ali was hurt. And the memories . . . her Keth . . . She closed her eyes and let more tears slide down her cheeks."You really, really have to work on your bedside manner." She was still crying. She'd never cried in front of many people before. Maggie would no doubt be mortified in the morning. But right now, she was upset. And she was allowed to be upset. Anyone was allowed to be upset after being forced to remember how their dragonet had almost died. After not sleeping for two days. And after being hurt. All things considered, it was surprising that it had taken her this long to finally let some tears fall.

"I'm tired," Magdelyna continued, apparently determined to keep talking through her tears. Tears she was now doing her very best to ignore. Let them fall. At this moment, she didn't care. "And I hurt. My arms and my back are a throbbing, most likely blistered mess. My best friend is hurt. Hatchlings just died. I just caused some poor weyrling a lot of pain. And all you can do is lecture. And tell me I can stay awake longer. That you taught me better. I am not a thing, Koryn. I have feelings. If you'd remember that, you might . . . oh, never mind." She swallowed, closing her eyes again and wilting. There just wasn't any point. He wouldn't understand. Obviously, he hadn't understood yet. And now that she was fully awake, the burns the sands had caused were becoming truly painful. The tiny woman reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks with a shuddering breathe, then looked back up at the masterhealer. If possible, she looked even more tired than before. Her normally bright eyes were even dull. "I just . . . I can't. Lecture me later, Ryn. I promise I'll even listen. Just make me stop hurting so I can sleep. Please."

[zulu]

Koryn had seen a lot in his short life. In 27 turns, he'd seen far more than his fair share of pain, injury, and death. In fact, it was all he could remember. Sure, he knew there had been better days, but they were faded pictures, the emotions lost somehow. Only the images remained. And in his life, in his training of Magdelyna, he had never seen her cry.

And he'd been the one to cause it.

The glassrider's words washed over him. He could hear the anger, the pain, the resentment behind them, but he had no idea how to respond. Bedside manner? He normally worked with dragons, not people. Dragons took comfort from their riders who were usually being seen and cared for by a human Healer. Koryn had no need for a bedside manner. He knew Magdelyna was tired. She'd been awake for two days. He hadn't meant his comment to sting so much. Her burns must be worse than he thought.

Feelings.

But Magdelyna stopped herself. Too late. Koryn blinked in shock, his mind reeling. She didn't think he remembered feelings... He had plenty, he knew, he just never showed them. He had no real reason to show them. The dragons he worked with could feel perfectly well that they were being tended by a former dragonrider. Dragons just sort of...knew those things, Koryn had learned. Like how hatchlings know their riders or how every dragon knows the rare dragon-gifted hear-alls. Koryn could feel pain and sorrow and frustration and anger and... but that wasn't Magdelyna's point, was it?

He could only blink at her, stunned beyond words. Not one for talking anyway, Koryn was still rendered speechless. Had he wanted to speak he wouldn't know what to say. He didn't even know how to react to his journeyman--his sturdy, cheerful, and annoyingly persistent journeyman--in tears.

"Please lie flat, Magdelyna," were the words he managed to say after getting over his shock. But they weren't entirely professional. No. Something else tinged them. Koryn didn't notice. Shards, Magdelyna might not notice. But something was definitely there, something that hadn't been there for quite some time. Had Koryn realized it, he might have called it sympathy or compassion, but the master was unaware of how his voice changed. He needed to fix the mess he exasperated. Unscrewing a jar of aloe, Koryn dipped a glob of the thick gel out.

"This will be cold." Again the odd note in his voice and again he didn't notice. He rubbed his fingertips together to spread the aloe on both hands before gently touching the worst of Magdelyna's burns. He didn't notice how his hands shook ever-so-slightly as he spread the aloe over her shoulders. He carefully avoided the shirt's straps and lightly rubbed aloe over the back of the arm closest to him. His hands and fingers were uncharacteristically light. Any other patient would have received the aloe mercilessly, receiving no relief until the cold gel had done its work. Not here.

And Koryn didn't even notice.

[Keeley]

Maggie sighed. She was sighing a lot tonight. A slightly shaking hand, no doubt the tremors were from exhaustion, reached up to smooth another salty tear away as she moved to do as Koryn had instructed. Lie flat. Obviously. But . . . he'd said please. And there had been a pause while he'd looked at her. She hadn't missed the . . . the tinge, that was what it had been . . .of something more in his voice. She'd heard his professional, clinical voice for years now. And within the last six months, she'd heard it even more. It was always the same with every patient. There was no difference. But this time, there had been something. Compassion, perhaps? Or concern for her? Worry because of her tears? Maggie wasn't sure what it had been exactly, but it had been there, and it had been kind. She held herself up on her forearms, rather than lying down completely. She'd seen Koryn treat patients. His touch was not a gentle one, and she wasn't looking forward to it. So she braced herself there, body tense, eyes closed as she bowed her head and tried not to think about his less than soft hands touching her inflamed flesh.

Except that he spoke again. He warned her that the aloe would be cold. Because it would be aloe, she knew that. Maggie did actually know how to deal with burns, despite the fact that she hadn't bothered to have her own seen to. And she'd known it would be cold. There had been no need for him to tell her--nothing necessitated telling a patient that a balm for a burn would be cool. And Koryn only said necessary things. Her eyes had opened in surprise, and she stared down at the couch in slight confusion. He was explaining something. And the tinge of something-else had been in his words again. Her masterhealer was being something besides totally clinical. And Maggie really wasn't sure what to make of it. Had her sobbed out words actually touched something in him? Did he care about her, perhaps? Or was he just trying to make her stop crying so he could do his job? She refused to believe the last option. Koryn was not heartless. He did care for the people he treated. He just didn't do a good job showing it.

Except . . . right now, he seemed to be at least trying. Another person might not have noticed, but Maggie did. She knew him too well to miss the change in him. There was something there besides clinical coldness. And it made her glad. She'd assumed he was capable of compassion, almost all healers were, but the journeyman had begun to be afraid he'd been too crushed by the loss of his dragon to ever show it again. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case. The blue firelizard distracted her from such serious thoughts for a few moments when he fluttered over her. He settled on the back of his pet's head for just a moment, then leapt to the back of the couch. Misri chirped severely at Koryn, as if in warning, then settled down to return sleep.

Magdelyna gasped in surprise when she felt his hands on her skin. Not from the cold, but from the sheer feather-light feel of his touch. The woman's petite body went completely still in surprise, or perhaps in fear that the merciless touch of the healer she knew would return. But it didn't. His touch remained careful, so careful. After a moment, she let herself relax under his hands, lowering herself the rest of the way onto the couch and sighing in relief. If she had been completely honest with herself, as she would later, she would have had to admit it was his touch, rather than the aloe alone, that soothed her. And she trusted the healer standing above her enough to turn her head to the side, to settle more comfortably into the cushions, and to close her eyes again. Another tear, one that would be visible to Koryn, slid down her cheek.

And though he had know way of knowing, this was a tear of relief. Relief from pain, of course, and relief that his ministrations weren't as painful as she'd feared they would be. At least not yet. Maggie had no idea what the extent of the burns were, but she trusted him enough to just lie there. With another healer, except A'liyah of course,she might have insisted on knowing what was being done, on giving her own instructions, but not with Koryn. He'd earned her trust, and her care. Which was another reason for the relieved tear. Maggie worried about her master often, perhaps more than a normal student should worry. And she cared about him more than she was, at the moment, willing to admin. Now she knew he was capable of caring. Maybe he even cared about her. And that was something precious.

[zulu]

Unbeknown to Koryn, his hands continued to be gentle. After a few minutes, they started firmly up slightly, but only as the aloe started to seep into Magdelyna's scorched skin. Beneath his fingertips, he could feel miniscule blisters taking shape, but their sizes were not something that concerned him. Tiny blisters like them were characteristic of sunburns and didn't cause much pain. Relative to the large blisters bubbling on the journeyman's upper shoulders and neck. Koryn was careful to avoid that area for now. He'd treat them in time, when most of her back was cooler.

Being a Healer, Koryn was adept at reading body language. It was easy to tell when a patient was lying to him because their bodies never lied. Subtle tension around their eyes or around an injury told of pain they denied. But it also worked the other way. Patients could be too relaxed, not matching the pain they claimed to feel. In this case, Koryn wasn't expecting Magdelyna to relax. Burns were horrible wounds to treat because they caused great pain. Koryn himself had never had anything worse than a sunburn, but he'd treated plenty of them to know the pain treatment caused. It was a hard line to follow, the "do no harm" motto of Healers. Because, especially with burns, pain was always part of the equation.

Which was why Koryn was a bit shocked when Magdelyna moved from her elbows to her stomach, laying flat and no longer bracing against the pain. It was...odd. He'd never had someone relax under his hands, especially burn victims. Well. She certainly wouldn't stay relaxed for long. He still had her blisters to treat, after all. Still, he continued to gently massage aloe into Magdelyna's skin, unable to believe the fact she had actually relaxed. But why the tear then? She must still be in great pain. Koryn nodded to himself. Her gasps and tear must be from shock of the cold aloe and continued pain. He had yet to treat the worst of her injuries, so no doubt her upper shoulders and neck were in a great deal of pain. He reached across Magdelyna's body to rub aloe into the burns on her other arm, working efficiently but still uncharacteristically carefully.

Wiping his hands free of aloe, Koryn reached for Magdelyna's neck to check her pulse. Still strong. Good. She wasn't going into shock then.

And he still hadn't noticed his own gentleness. To Koryn, this was business as usual.

[Keeley]

Koryn's touch was surprisingly soothing, surprisingly pleasant as the aloe started to seep into her hot skin. The aloe, at first, had been felt cold it was almost painful in and of itself, but now it was beginning to feel a little more bearable. More than a little. Between the cool of the aloe and the gentleness of Koryn's hands, she was definitely getting sleepy again. When his touch became a bit more firm, massaging the aloe in instead of just spreading it with finger tips, Maggie didn't bother to bite back a soft moan of contentment and relief as the pain seeped away, replaced by the more pleasant sensation of cooling and gentle touches. Koryn could interpret it how he liked. At this moment, the glassrider really didn't care. There was something surprisingly wonderful about the combination of aloe and experienced hands on burned skin. Her eyelids fluttered sleepily. She could definitely fall asleep like this, if he would just keep doing exactly what he was doing. It was so nice. So very nice. Such a change from the usual Masterhealer Koryn. Such gentleness she would have expected from her best friend, but not from her master.

As his hands moved away, Maggie was unaware of the soft, protesting noise she made. Already the small woman was drifting back into her hazy, sleepy state, and she wanted the touching to continue. It felt good. The constant, massaging sensation had been lulling her into slumber and taking her attention away from the patches of still painful skin. His hand returned, fingers pressing firmly into her neck to check her pulse. Unconsciously, the woman tilted her head into his touch, soft cheek brushing the fingers Maggie hadn't known could be so gentle. Tonight, in her weyr, in the soft light of glows, everything seemed different. Koryn was being easy with her, and she was tired and in the mood to be touched. Sleepy Magdelyna was quite a different creature than the bouncy, bright girl who lived in the the infirmary most of her life. Right now, she was more than content to be taken care of. More than willing to let Koryn do whatever he wanted to do. Here, it didn't seem strange to admit to herself that she cared very much for the healer standing above her. Not difficult to admit that she wanted him to care for her as well.

She settled deeper into the couch when his hand withdrew, making herself as comfortable as possible considering her current position. There wasn't enough room to curl her legs as she preferred, and her shirt was riding up, bunching uncomfortably under her stomach. She shifted enough to pull the garment back into its proper place, though she moved carefully as to not disturb the aloe. Dark brown eyes fluttered open to watch the master healer warmly, trustingly. Tonight her gaze was soft as she drifted somewhere between the early morning and the dreamland that loomed ever nearer. The attentive, persistent, meticulous healer was almost asleep again, despite the burns on her skin, and despite knowing that the master healer was definitely not through with her. He would take care of her, she needed only to lie there and let him. Her eyes drifted closed again as she waited for him to finish whatever he was doing. The two days with no sleep had apparently taken their toll, because this time her eyes remained shut. Even with the throbbing skin on her back, the glassrider had fallen asleep--very much unaware of whatever the man beside her was doing. It was a compliment to him, though he might not take it as such. Maggie's guard was down enough to allow her to drift away with him so close by, even know that she knew he'd be reaching for her again very soon. It wasn't a trust awarded to very many people, especially not men.

Not that she thought about it that way, or that she was really thinking at all. Right now, she was very much asleep. A light sleep, yes, from which she would wake easily, but sleep just the same.

[zulu]

Koryn still had work to do. He had to make sure that Magdelyna's burns were treated properly before he allowed her to get up and go to sleep in a proper place. She was relaxing, which was good if incredibly weird. Koryn had no other word to describe it. Well. Synonyms. Strange. Unusual. Unexpected. It was nothing he had ever seen before. Even with queens controlling dragons who had been burned, they were still tense. He'd never had someone relax.

And the moan made him pause in his preparations.

Of course he'd felt her lean into his fingers while checking her pulse. He watched her close her eyes while she relaxed, but the moan? That was even more unusual than her relaxing. Why would she moan? Perhaps he was hurting her more than he expected. Except moans of pain sounded far different than the sound Magdelyna had just made. Koryn watched her for a moment, watching her breathing slow and even. She was falling asleep again? That wouldn't be good. He still had the worst burns to deal with. That would be an unpleasant awakening...

Still. While he prepared he checked over her body, making sure she had no other burns elsewhere. It was easy to burn other limbs on the sands, especially when healing. Koryn himself had burned knees and shins, injuries that were already bandaged, treated, and not bothering him. Looking over her body, Koryn started noticing something a bit...unusual. For a dragonrider, she was surprisingly...soft. He hadn't noticed that before. Well, given he only ever saw her in the Infirmary, it wasn't a surprise. Even Koryn realized that he was single-minded while working. It was the only thing that kept him sane now. But noticing Magdelyna's lack of hard muscle he attributed to rider training was odd. Even Koryn retained some of the definition and strength gained while riding...

Wiping his hands free of aloe, Koryn turned back to his supplies, checking to make sure he had enough clean gauze. To the side he had cloths kept cool until they were needed. He'd grabbed them from the deep cellars where the Infirmary kept temperature sensitive materials like burn compresses. Taking on in his hand, he turned back to the dozing Magdelyna.

He laid a light hand on her aloe-soaked shoulder. "Magdelyna," he said, trying to wake her. It would not be pleasant to treat burns while asleep. A very unpleasant awakening that would be.

[Keeley]

Sleep was so very nice. The darkness was blissful. No pain, no thinking, no anything. But it clearly wasn't meant to last. When the masterhealer's hand touched her gel covered shoulder, the tiny woman shifted, and when he spoke, her eyes opened. She glanced around, looking up at him with a slightly disoriented expression for the first few moments. "Ryn?" It didn't take her long to put all the pieces back together. Hatching. Koryn. Burns. Couch. Aloe. Right. She was lying on her stomach on her couch while he took care of the burns on her arms and upper back, and she had apparently fallen asleep again. "Sorry," she murmured, smiling a bit sheepishly and wincing as she readjusted herself so she was lying completely flat for him again. She'd moved a bit in her sleep. "Tired. The aloe was nice."

Her eyes drifted to the preparations he'd been making, and she sighed in dismay. Koryn wasn't the only one in the room who had treated burns before. So had Maggie. She knew what he had waiting for her now, and it was not going to be pleasant. The aloe had been nice "It's that bad?" She asked, reaching back with her own hand and wincing as her fingertips found blisters. And worse, what she'd been hoping not to find, popped blisters. She jerked back with a hiss when one of her carefully filed nails touched a raw spot by mistake, trying to ignore the stinging sensation So it was definitely that bad, then. Maggie had seen worse, of course. It wasn't like she'd fallen into a fire, and she'd seen that before. It had been a horrible mess. Thank Faranth her burns were nothing so severe. But that didn't meant that treating them wasn't going to hurt. The sting from just touching one of the raw places had been enough, and she was experienced enough in her craft to know that touching the popped blister was way less painful than actually having it treated. Infections couldn't be allowed to start.

She sighed again, burying her face in the cushions and enjoying a few moments of the current pain level. The aloe had helpd a great deal, and now only the very worst spots still hurt. And soon, Koryn was going to make them hurt more before he could make it better. It was so very exciting. At least she wasn't crying anymore, for now. She'd seen more than one burn patient cry under even the gentlest healer's hands. And Koryn wasn't the most gentle healer alive either. Granted, he had been very careful with he so far. Honestly, Maggie still didn't understand that. She wasn't about to complain, but it didn't make sense. Why would he be so careful with her when anyone else received his usual merciless, albiet very precise and quick, brand of care. Unless he cared about her. Or unless she'd managed to get something across to him about beside manner? She was too sleepy to consider it very much, and her back was beginning to sting more now that she was becoming more fully aware.

"Let's continue onto the torture session, then, shall we?" She asked a bit dryly, offering him a small, teasing smile. This was more like the Maggie he was used to seeing. Torture was an exaggeration, something Maggie would say to irritate him when she was feeling the need to be difficult in the infirmary. However, there was far less amusement in her voice when she spoke, and the tiredness in her face no doubt took any harshness out of her words. This wasn't doing to be pleasant. And she was going to be on the receiving end. The glassrider was hoping that this unexpected gentleness was going to remain. She dropped her head to give him better access to the upper part of her back, doing her best to relax this time. She'd tensed at the thought of pain before, but quite honestly it would probably hurt less if she wasn't stiff. She even reached up to hold the stray curls out of his way, smiling just a little at him. Was this her way of thanking him for being so careful with her? Quite possibly. "I'm all yours, love. But let's be quick about it."

Maggie called everyone love. Or dear. Or sweetheart. But not Koryn. She'd never dropped the pet term with him, just in case it upset him. Ryn was enough. But right now she was tired. And not thinking as much as she usually did. If she remembered later, she might smack herself. Or she might not. That would depend on how he reacted.

This post has been edited by Keeley on Dec 6 2012, 07:32 AM

[zulu]

Well at least she woke up. Koryn preferred working on conscious patients. They were able to tell him when things hurt and where. That was a very important part of healing, patient response. Working on unconscious patients often involved a lot of guess work. Koryn hated guess work. And with Magdelyna awake, Koryn could more accurately treat her burns. He could respond to how her body reacted. It made the entire process far more accurate and hopefully faster. And treating a Healer, Koryn thought he could be a bit more descriptive of her injuries. Too bad he couldn't stop her from touching her shoulders herself.

"I have seen worse," he said honestly, preparing a cold compress for the unpopped blisters. "You have blistering on the top of your shoulders and back of your neck with four or five popped blisters on your shoulders." Ah. There was the clinical Koryn we all know and love. That tone would be very familiar to Magdelyna, one heard by every patient, apprentice, and journeyman in the Infirmary whenever Koryn explained injuries. "I will try to be quick." That would be an unfamiliar statement to anyone in the Infirmary. Koryn never 'tried' anything. He just did. Something was definitely different about this night, but Koryn had yet to notice his own carefulness. He assumed all was normal, especially when Magdelyna exaggerated the healing process. Though she didn't exaggerate by much in Koryn's opinion.

It was the "love" that caught him off guard. He paused in his preparations, hands pausing while they held a cold compress over her shoulders. Then he remembered that she called everyone "love." She'd just never called him that before. Just "Ryn" from Magdelyna. Hmm. Koryn mentally shrugged. "Cold," he warned before he set the small compress along her spine. He'd provide as much relief as he could before working on the popped blisters. Two more compresses followed the first, each as small as the first and in locations free from popped blisters.

"Now the 'torture' as you call it." His voice was mostly flat except for a hint of...something. Again. And again, Koryn didn't even notice it. Drying his hands, Koryn set out a single strip of gauze on the table, one that would be tossed in the trash after this process was done. With hands as still as can be, Koryn began the delicate process of peeling away the dead skin of the popped blisters. It was probably a very unpleasant feeling, the slight tug and the final tear when the skin gave way. The raw skin would be incredibly sensitive. When he finished, Koryn hummed under his breath, a soft sound that usually meant he was pleased with the results of his work thusfar.

"More cold," he warned again, taking out the water skin that went in every ready kit and popping the cork. He moistened a strip of clean cloth and pressed it gently against the newly exposed skin that had been beneath the blisters. Wiping away the fluid that had filled the blisters, he made sure each spot was free of dust or threads from the cloth. When that was finished, he brought out the clean gauze and folded pieces into several squares before pulling out gauze treated with numbweed and antiseptic.. He then removed the compresses and laid the colder, moistened bandages across the worst of her burns, including the raw skin. He wrapped her arms all the way around, covering the cooled burns with a light layer of numbweed before closing the bandage. These wrappings were tighter than the ones he laid across her back and shoulders, pinning them in place with oil-dissolving glue. By the time he was finished, her back and arms were completely covered in clean, crisp, white gauze with no hint of injury anywhere else.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" he asked while wiping his hands clean again despite them being perfectly spotless. He always did it when he either finished with a patient or switched tasks in the middle of healing. And with Magdelyna so covered in gauze, he wanted to make sure any other injuries got treated before they turned into infections. That was the goal. Stave off infection. And make sure she could sleep.