Page 55 of Stars May Burn

I nodded and ran to the corridor where my felixleaf was waiting, its roots in bottles of water. I chopped and ground the fragrant leaves with my pestle and mortar before boiling it in the correct amount of water in the fireplace. I bottled the liquid while it was still hot and ran back to Kasten’s room.

The physician grabbed the bottle before I had time to speak. “Are you confident about the concentration? Never have I been so grateful for felixleaf. We’ll place five drops under his tongue to absorb. That should be plenty.” He nodded to the bowl of water. “Can you still make the flush?” I nodded, rolling up my sleeves to wash my hands again. He turned to the servants waiting in the doors. “I need towels. Dozens of them.” They scampered off.

I started mixing the birdsfoot, salt, and iodine in one of the bowls of boiled water, with a silver spoon. It was now only lukewarm. Hopefully, it would cool Kasten’s temperature.

The aid handed Physician Jones his surgical kit. I felt a little dizzy between the urgency and the smell of blood and infection.

The physician murmured to his aid. “His breathing rate has improved, as has his heart rate after increased analgesia. I’m going to open this wound for visualization. Get the suction ready and prepare to flush.”

The aid nodded and started to heap towels down one side of the bed. I carefully carried the bowl of liquid over and placed it on the bedside table.

The physician nodded at its color. “Go to the other side of the bed and help tip him onto his side. Then hold him steady.”

I hurried to do as he asked, grunting under Kasten’s dead weight, even as I pushed with the help of the aid. The physician turned on the kryalcomy light on his headband, and I could hear the snip of scissors. I tried not to wince.

“Starting to flush now.”

The physician moved one end of a long tube from the bowl into the wound in Kasten’s abdomen, which I couldn’t quite see from my angle. He pumped something on the floor with his foot. The mixture was sucked into the wound and then sucked out again down another tube. The aid kept his fingers on Kasten’s neck, and his lips moved as he counted his pulse.

I closed my eyes and prayed he would survive. His skin burned beneath my fingers.

My arms were weak and protesting by the time the physician said we could roll him onto his back. The bedsheets were soaked despite the towels. Physician Jones got out his stethoscope, checked Kasten’s heart and lungs and turned to me again.

“His best chance of survival will be if he gets felixleaf every two hours. It has to be freshly prepared every time. Can you arrange this?”

I nodded. I would do it myself rather than risk it not working. “I have seven more plants. I plan to grow more, but it should be enough for about two days at that rate.”

The physician seemed to relax a little. “And analgesia every four hours. This one will also keep him sedated.” He pointed to blue glass bottles that the aid was lining up.

I nodded again.

“Can you suture wounds?”

“I can stitch simple wounds. Otherwise, I only know about making medicines.”

He nodded. “Stitch these two wounds after cleaning them with dilute iodine. They should be simple enough and don’t seem to be infected. You can apply a poultice over them if you wish.” He gestured to the wound on Kasten’s forearm and another one across his ribs before stepping back. “We’ll leave the abdominal wound open to drain, and I will close it tomorrow if the peritonitis is resolved. If he survives, we’ll operate on his shoulder the day after.”

I nodded again, my head void of words.

I prepared my suture kit, soaking the instrument in iodine, as the physician placed a large pack of gauze over Kasten’s abdomen and bandaged his wound. He was so pale, he was barely recognizable.

I startled as the physician touched my shoulder. “Lady Batton, are you sure you can do this?”

I licked my lips and forced myself to speak. “Yes. Suture the non-infected wounds. Poultice and bandage them. Felixleaf every two hours. The blue bottle every four hours.”

He smiled. “He’s a lucky man to have you, my lady. Now if you don’t mind, I’ll go and see to the other patients and leave him in your capable hands.”

I bowed my head. “Thank you, Physician Jones, for all your hard work. I won’t let him die while you’re gone.”

His eyes softened and he tilted his head. “He may die, Lady Batton, and it wouldn’t be your fault. That felixleaf is his best chance, and we wouldn’t have had access to it without you. Call me if he deteriorates.”

“I will do.”

“And if you have enough bigsweed, please send it to the barracks infirmary. Our supply isn’t extensive.”

I managed a smile, happy I could be of further use. “I will send it with a servant right away.”

He bowed and left, his aid close behind. The room was suddenly quiet. I summoned Lucy and Beatrice to help me change his bedsheets, then stitched up the two wounds, taking far more care than necessary to make them perfectly neat. After washing my hands and setting my instruments to soak again, I made a poultice with sweetwart flowers from my garden to numb the wounds and pigsmoss from the swamp to reduce inflammation. I carefully bandaged the sticky wads of green over my neat suture lines.

---