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Day 11, morning
(Because day ten is taking forever... *G*)

Arri blinked slowly as she sat up in bed. Somehow she 
had hoped morning would take longer to arrive. With a 
tender wince, she dropped her feet to the floor. 

It had been a long night, helping folks dig out from the 
avalanche. Nobody had said anything about a queen 
helping them either, which was a bit of a mixed 
blessing. On the one hand, she had appreciated people 
just shutting up and staying out of her way, on the 
other, she kind of missed being worried about.

<:Humans are perverse that way,:> added Daetyn helpfully.

<Gee thanks.> commented the healer with a wan smile. 
<Like I don't have enough to worry about.> With all the 
craziness, she hadn't time for more than a fleeting wave 
at Lakoda when they passed in the halls of the medical 
center. 

The last few days had been a crazy shuttle between 
patients injured by the coal blast, plus the one they'd 
brought in with the stake in his foot. The center had 
been so full, there was no opportunity for anyone to 
tell her to get out of the way. The help she had been 
giving was mostly of the level that any orderly could 
give - changing dressings, washing and that sort of 
thing.

Tottering over to the counter, she rubbed her eyes and 
started preparing a pot of willowbark tea. Once she 
found some muscles that didn't hurt, she'd have to head 
back there, she mused as she stared at her medical 
cloak. Serves her right for complaining about being 
bored.

<:Perhaps you should look in on the riderless bony 
human,:> suggested the dragon helpfully, <:He's been all 
alone for two days.:>

Oh bother, the fellow on suicide watch, she thought as 
she gulped down the bitter tea with a grimace. Rod'r'k. 
Well if he wasn't going to do anything after two days, 
he was probably okay. If nothing else she could get him 
to promise to be good to alleviate the utter boredom.

Stretching painfully, Arri threw on her lab coat and 
grabbed an apple from the icebox on the way out. It 
wasn't exactly breakfast, but it would do.

==--==--==
(Medical Center)

Arri peeked her head into the room of the fellow with 
the pierced foot. Checking the patient profile quickly, 
she looked up at him just as he opened his eyes to see 
what the disturbance was.

"Good morning, Gransol," she said with a softly 
reassuring smile. "We're just going to change your 
dressing. Everything looks in order, it doesn't seem 
infected."

The burly man nodded and tried not to wince. "It still 
hurts like blazes."

She couldn't help but smile. "And it will for some time, 
I imagine," she comforted as she carefully cut away the 
dressing from his foot and reached for a clean 
washcloth, "But at least I don't think you'll lose the 
foot or anything like that."

Gransol gritted his teeth as Arri washed away the dried 
blood as tenderly as possible. The foot looked to be 
healing well, and she applied a coat of anaesthetic 
paste to the wound. "That should help with the stinging. 
It's just a local plant oil, but it puts skin to sleep."

The man's eyes relaxed visibly as the paste began to 
work. Finally he smiled.

"That's powerful stuff, miss..."

"Oh, Arri is fine," she said as she reached for fresh 
bandages, "It's all anyone calls me anyhow."

He nodded and suppressed a chuckle. "I can relate to 
that."

The healer looked at his chart while wrapping his foot 
and did a double-take. "What on earth were you doing 
stomping around in pits full of sharp stakes anyway?"

"Well," he explained as she taped the gauze down, "We 
found the catapult they used to shred Nova, but it was, 
er, booby-trapped. I guess they caught the booby." He 
grinned rather sheepishly.

"Nonsense," she replied as she washed her hands, "Do we 
have any idea yet who 'they' are?"

"Afraid not, Arri," Gransol said as he stifled a 
yawn. "But we're trying."

She nodded and stepped out of his room as he drifted 
back to sleep. She decided it for the best not to tell 
him about the sedative in the paste. He needed the sleep.

A few days further down, she saw a familiar chart with 
the words "Suicide Watch" stenciled on the cover hanging 
from a nearby door. Opening it slowly, she stepped in to 
see Rod'r'k sitting on the end of the bed and stretching.

"Arri," he said with a smile, "I feel worlds better. 
What do you put in that broth?"

"Doctor's secret," she said softly as she walked over to 
check his pulse. Finally steady. Good. 

The fellow was looking a touch scrawny, but it seemed to 
make a certain sense to let him start moving around 
again before his muscles atrophied. 

"If I let you out of here, do you promise not to do 
anything stupid?" she said with a pointed look. "I'm 
working on the business with Kedrick, but you have to 
leave that up to me. I will let you head out and get 
some exercise provided you pledge not to hurt yourself."

Rod'r'k ran a hand through his hair while the silence 
stretched to the breaking point.

"Okay. I give my pledge," he mumbled. After all she had 
done to save him, how could he not?

The healer beamed at him. "Good show. We have an 
apartment set up for you at ground level not far from 
here. How strong are you feeling?"

Rod'r'k raised an eyebrow. "How far is not far?"

Arri considered this question for a moment, charting it 
out in her head. "Maybe five minutes' walk from the back 
door. I can come along if you need the help."

"That might be a good idea."

She indicated that he should get off the gurney. "We 
raided the storerooms for some clothes that should fit 
you. Most of them are grays ad blues and blacks, but I 
hope you won't mind." Slowly, she walked out the door 
with him, ready if he needed support.

"Now that you're feeling a little better, we'll be 
delivering meals to the apartment you're in," she 
explained. "You're still not getting crown roast of 
pork, but I've asked the cooks to come up with something 
a little more exciting than broth."

Rod'r'k chuckled softly at that and rolled his eyes. "Oh 
but I've so grown to LOVE broth..."

Sharing a laugh, they walked past one of the rooms where 
the people affected by the recent disasters were being 
kept. "What the...?" asked Rod'r'k.

"Well, there was an explosion at the coal bins a couple 
of days ago, and I guess you must have also heard the 
rockslide last night...?" 

Rod'r'k turned white and stared into the room of 
wounded. "Is that what all that was?"

The healer nodded as she walked him past the door with 
one hand gently but firmly on his elbow. "Yes. The 
people who were hurt are being cared for as best we can. 
Thankfully very few were directly affected by the 
rockslide. Most of those people were burned in the coal 
fire."

Rod'r'k shook his head as Arri opened the door and led 
him out into the sunshine. "But who, why?"

"Well," replied Arri, "I can't really answer that right 
now. I think it was the same person who hurt Nova and 
left the stakes that landed Gransol with a hole in his 
foot I can stuff my fingers through. Why? I'm not sure."

They walked across the Green together towards Rod'r'k's 
new apartment as she mused aloud to herself. "You see, 
if it's the same person, there's not much logic to it. 
The attack on Nova was isolated to one dragon, unless 
you count the later hurt to Gransol. The coal bin 
explosion hurt dozens. The rockslide hurt almost nobody 
but, uh..." There was a pause as she fished for the name.

<:Farrow and his rider Kellen, love,:> Daetyn supplied 
gently.

"Oh right, Kellen and Farrow, who got buried. But the 
hatching caverns are partially buried, so the eggs are 
at risk, so there's that. It just makes no sense," she 
finished with a sigh.

Noticing Rod'r'k stumble, she slid her arm carefully 
under his elbow to support him. "If you find you're 
missing anything in your rooms, let the dinner fellow 
know and he'll hand it up to the housekeepers. For now, 
take it easy, try not to overdo it. You're healing, but 
you're certainly not going to be taking any long runs 
just yet."

Waving forward, she indicated the door they were heading 
to. "That's it there, the one with the little pommel in 
the door. No, I don't know who decorates these things," 
she explained as she helped him up the steps, "But at 
least that way you'll see it."

As Rod'r'k put his hand on the door handle, he turned to 
her with a slow smile. "Thank you Arri."

"Auch, don't thank me yet, lad," she replied with a grin 
as she backed off down the stairs. "Thank me AFTER ye've 
had a meal that isn't broth."

She turned to head back to the hatching caverns to keep 
digging with his laughter rumbling along the grass 
behind her.

<:Back to the salt mines?:> asked Daetyn.

<Absolutely, although I imagine they have most of it 
done already,> she explained as she came around the 
corner to the Hatching Caverns and waved at the fellow 
in charge. 

"Where do we start digging this time?"

==================
NRPG: Not exactly riveting, but she gets Rod out of the 
med center. :)

Namaste' (We Are All One)
   --Shadowsinger-- 
=========================
shadowsinger@bigfoot.com
     ICQ #: 3673956

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