Page 26 of Healer
“I can pull a Kerzak anatomy schematic from my comm,” I told her. My data comm held complete anatomy data for all species, including humans.
Agnes watched me punch in the instructions before glancing at where Vienda and Talamus sat holding each other. Vienda’s clawed fingers made forays through Irsay’s hair with the utmost gentleness.
“Talamus, I need you to come here and put pressure on the wound.” Agnes’ voice held the tone, cadence, and snap of a military leader.
Talamus shifted his position, and the huge Kerzak’s hand shook as Agnes guided him in applying the correct pressure.
“Vienda.” The voice Agnes used for the mother held softness but still contained the quality of a command. “I need you to get me the sharpest blade you own and as many clean cloths as you have. We need to put some water on to boil, and I’ll also need the smallest needle you have and something organic I can use for the sutures.” Agnes tapped her lips with a forefinger. “We don’t have any catgut, but maybe we could shave fish guts down enough to make thread.” Vienda gave a worried nod, rising to her feet and snatching a spear propped by the doorway before walking toward the river.
“And some of Talamus’ strongest brew,” Agnes called after the female Kerzak as she rushed away. Giving Talamus’ shoulder a reassuring pat, she rose, coming to stand beside me.
“Brew?” I asked, punching in the last command to pull the anatomy files.
“The alcohol content is antiseptic,” she said, eyes widening as a holographic projection rose from the comm strapped to my wrist. She leaned closer, whispering the next part. “Plus, it will calm the parents.”
Agnes took my arm, leading me to the opposite side of the fire and onto a small bench. As her fingertips grazed my skin, electricity surged through my body. Agnes met my gaze, and I felt the heat radiating from her fingertips, leaving a trail of warmth in their wake. At that moment, it was as if time stood still, and all that existed were the sparks flying between us.
She pulled her hand away as though burned, clearing her throat awkwardly. Her gaze lingered on my lips just as mine did on hers, but now was not the time. An agreement we made with a shared, heated glance.
I pulled my arm up, putting the comm image between us. The anatomy atlas came to life in a crisscross of shimmering green threads stark against the gray skies of approaching dawn. A frontal section of a Kerzak drawn in green light stood a foot above my wrist.
“The anatomy atlas can show you different cross sections… skeletal, musculature, circulatory, nervous, and organ.” I showed her how to change the view by swiping her finger over the image.
Agnes carefully examined the image, looking at different parts of the body, such as bones, nerves, and blood vessels. She touched specific areas on her own body and quietly said words like subclavian, axillary, and artery. Every few minutes, she’dglance at Irsay, her fingers touching an imaginary form as she traced pathways of bone and blood.
“Okay,” Anges drew a deep, shaky breath. “I think the Kerzak has something similar to the subclavian artery. The clavicle bones look larger, and the artery lies just underneath, so I think we’re right about the artery being nicked by a bone fragment."
“How do you fix it?” I asked as her fingertips once again followed the path of the artery on the hologram.
“I’ll need to cut through the remaining tissue, find the bone fragment, and repair the nicked artery.” Her voice trembled. She trembled. Wetness hovered on her dark eyelashes as she gazed at me. “I haven’t performed surgery in a long time. Even though I don’t feel any stiffness or pain….” She flexed her trembling hands into fists.
I shut off the hologram and took her face between my palms. “You can do this, Agnes.”
“I’m scared.” She leaned forward, and I took a moment to wrap my arms around her and draw her against my chest. Tiny quakes traveled through her entire body.
“You can do this. I have faith in you,” I murmured, laying my cheek against her head.
As I held her trembling form in my arms, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of comfort and rightness. The first rays of dawn peeked over the horizon, casting an ethereal glow over the clearing, illuminating the aftermath of bloodshed and death. But here, at this moment with her, all that mattered was our determination to answer our shared calling to heal. We clung to each other as if our lives depended on it, clinging to hope in each other’s embrace and the promise of something more awaiting on the horizon.
Chapter 11 – Agnes
As a physician, I’d rolled my eyes more than a few times at the fictional Claire Fraser, a 20th-century trained surgeon plying her skills in the late 1700s. Most of the time, the medicine was pretty on point. Other times, like using a snake fang as a hypodermic and growing her own penicillin, kept the character relegated purely to the world of fiction.
Now, with this little girl’s life in my hands, I’d pull the bark off the trees if I thought it would help.
I could do this.
This would be the first time I’d held a scalpel in over twenty years. My fingers twitched as I walked through the surgical steps in my mind. My hands felt as sure and strong as they did during my years of medical school when the future loomed bright with promise, and the only illness I suffered was a hangover now and then.
Irsay needed me. I wouldn’t let her down.
A small fur laid near the campfire held the tools I’d set Vienda to gathering. She’d added some healing herbs and salves in addition to my list. I probably wouldn’t use those. Claire Fraser might have sworn by the use of goose grease in healing ointments, but I tended to be a little more fastidious about my choice of medicaments.
“Will this do?” Hakkar stepped to my side, holding a thin piece of bone for my perusal. The needle Vienda provided proved too thick. Sewing leather garments and tools were much different from repairing veins and flesh.
Thankfully, Hakkar took the three-inch-long piece of bleached bone and whittled it into something more serviceable.
“Perfect.”
