Fanfic:Triage Part 2
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The banging of the infirmary door brought Caddoc’s head up swiftly. The gasped, “Dedicated Caddoc,” Was unneeded, however. Caddoc was already on his feet, pushing aside his study material as he surveyed the group coming through the door. Four healthy men carried three injured ones. One of the men was an Asha’man, the other two…Gaidin? No, they were far to out of shape to be Warders. Servants perhaps. Or townsman. The scent of alcohol in the air, mixed with the blood all over the three injured, helped to concrete this thought in Caddoc’s mind. “Where is the Healer for the night?” Caddoc turned to the Novice working with him and informed him to run and fetch the Aes Sedai on call. She had retired after a mostly quiet night, though she was down the hall. After the days they had spent on the edge of the Blight, the Aes Sedai he had worked under had slowly given him a bit more leeway. This evening, she had allowed him to take control of the Infirmary ‘unless something drastic happened’. Normally, anything after midnight was quiet, after all. It seemed that this would not be such a night. Caddoc stepped towards the Asha’man. “She has been sent for.” He said, looking over the three injured. He swiftly called a Soldier to step forward, along with a Novice. Together they rolled beds forward, and Caddoc assisted in helping the men gently onto them. “Until she returns, I am in charge. What happened.” Even as he spoke, he was already delving one of the men, the net of silver spirit sinking into him. He sensed a broken arm, a broken leg, and a minor concussion. Concerning, but not life threatening. Lifting the net, he moved to the next.
As he did this, one of the men that smelled of alcohol spoke. “We were at the bar.” He said, twisting his hat in his hands. “In Hama Valon. We were having a good time…but when we went out, Fedik here went to his horse. He was drunk, sir.” He said, giving the look of a man equally as drunk, but swiftly sobered. “And he went to the wrong horse. Well, the owner saw him untying it and getting up on it and he came out. He was drunk, too, sir, and they started to argue.” Caddoc’s delving weave moved into the next. Internal injuries, major damage to the skull, several broken ribs. He pulled back again. “They fought and the man grabbed the reins. Fedik and the bloke wrestled, and the horse started to buck. Tomin,” he gestured to first one he had delved. “He tried to separate them, but he got knocked back when the horse reared up. He fell and didn’t get back up. But the man got kicked hard, in the chest, sir. And the head, I think. It happened so quick.” Caddoc nodded, letting him ramble as he moved to the third. He could already see the bone protruding from the third man, Fedik’s, arm. It had been snapped in the middle of humerus, a bad place for a break. The man’s arm was limp, and Caddoc felt that it had severed many tendons and blood veins. He also suffered from a crushed pelvic bone, and even more internal bleeding. But, unlike the unfortunate second man, he had not suffered a blow to the head other than major bruising near the base of the skull. Nothing too serious. That bone, however…and the crushed pelvic bone… “And then Fedik fell off the horse…” The man went on. “And when the horse came down…” he flinched at the memory, and gestured to Fedik’s broken bone and his hip. Caddoc nodded to show he had heard.
Caddoc through quickly. The time it would take for the Novice to go to the Aes Sedai’s room and inform her, for the Aes Sedai to ready herself even just quickly, and to return was between five and ten minutes. Probably closer to five, but that was still far too much time. These men had already suffered in their journey here. He could only assume the presence of the Asha’man had gotten them here at all. Each second that passed they were slipping further away. The Novice and Soldier left with him stood ready for command. Caddoc began to give it. “Roll that one,” he said, pointing to Tomin, the least injured one. “Away. He shall be Healed when we have time.” The Soldier did just that, recognizing from Caddoc’s voice that this was serious, and now was not the time to ask questions. Caddoc swiftly surveyed the injuries had had seen in his mind. Both men were unconscious, bleeding, and badly injured. One had internal bleeding, and possible brain damage. The other was mostly (mostly) external. He gestured to Fedik and directed the Novice. “I’ll need forceps, tourniquets, clean cloth, and clean hot water. Swiftly now.” As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves. Channeling, he ran hot water over his hand and finished it off with threads of fire to clean his hands as much as possible. More threads moved around Fedik to strip him as gently as possible from the clothing near his wounds. His hands cleaned, he slipped a thread of spirit into the man’s head to help keep him asleep, as this would be quite painful. The Novice ran back and forth to bring him the items he needed. The Soldier was soon helping. “And I’ll need salve, poultice, and bandages for when I’m finished.” He told them, and away they went again.
This, of course, got the men’s attention. It was the Asha’man that spoke what they were all thinking. “You are not going to Heal them?” He asked. Caddoc did not look up as he approached the situation. “No.” he said, that one word heavy, like the hooves of a horse against the skin. “To Heal,” He went on as he ran his hands down the man’s injured arm. “Requires strength. Strength of both the Healer and the Healed. These men do not have the strength needed to take the Healing without falling into a coma.” He grasped the arm tightly, letting the Delving threads sink back into the man’s skin he used them to help him ‘watch’ as he moved the bone back into place. The sound was sickening, and the men that had come with their friends winced and grew pale. “Leave.” He said bluntly. “There is a waiting room outside. I will send someone when we are finished.” He was aware that he was doing more damage, but there was no other way. The grinding of bone on bone could be felt through the Delve, and it took all of Caddoc’s attention to make no mistakes. Still, he answered the Asha’man’s question. “Healing takes strength that they need to survive. That is why, when one is Healed, they feel hunger immediately afterwards. Even a fever needs great amounts of food to restore what was lost. If a man falls into a coma after Healing, they cannot feed themselves. Death from Starvation is certain, that that point, and much swifter than one would think.”
The bone set, he set about with the tourniquet. Looping it as far up on the arm as he could, he tied it off so that the blood slowed, and finally stopped. The arm beneath was already quite pale, but Caddoc could feel it grow cold beneath his fingers. He worked quickly, picking needle already threaded with strong catgut thread. He worked swiftly as he applied the sutures. After about three, he heard the Aes Sedai enter the room. Embracing Saidin as he was, he could just barely hear her inhalation at the scene that she found before her. She approached, and his skin prickled as she was likely embracing Saidar. He assumed she was delving the man he was working on. She said nothing, to which he was grateful as it would have broken his concentration, but went on to the next man. He heard her sigh as she came to the same conclusion as he had. That man was beyond saving. No amount of Healing or assistance would be enough, and even attempting would kill him. He heard her go beyond the curtain, where the third man still lay after the Soldier had wheeled him away.
Caddoc turned his thoughts from the Aes Sedai and continued his work. Each vessel had to be sutured closed. For this he used a much finer, much more expensive thread made of silk. The thread and needle were coated to help ease the puncture, and when he wiped the substance away it would help to seal the holes left by thread and needle. The needle itself would dissolve in the body as time went by. He sweated softly, but used air and fire to lace away the droplets before they could get in his eyes or fall. Slowly, the wound was knitted closed. Now it was time for the pelvis
Momentarily, he checked to make sure the man was still deeply under. He was, and so Caddoc moved down the other’s body to his second injury. Again, using Delving, he located the exact place where the pelvis had been fractured. There were two, and each was close to the other. His hands moved upon the skin and, as gently as he could, he realigned them. This would be the delicate part. In one area the bone had come forward to the surface, and Caddoc had to cut back the skin to make sure that the muscle around there was not pinched between bone. His green eyes were fierce and focused as he did this, and by now they were covered by blood. He held one hand away, the other holding his place, as he used Fire to cleanse the hand so that he could get a better grip. Then he repeated it for the second hand. Now holding the fractured area, he carefully wove all Five Powers as delicately as he possibly could. He could not afford to allow his weaving to stutter here. If he healed to much, the man could die as a result of blood loss and starvation. He touched the weave carefully to separate places on the fractured bone. This Healed it back into place enough that it would be fragile but continue to heal on its own. He could not afford to falter, as a specific area could only be Healed once. If he did it right, the spots he ‘soldered’ together would be fine, and if anyone needed to, they could come along behind him and weave Healing between the areas he had touched. That would come in the future, however. For now, the man needed further work.
Again, picking up the silk thread and needle, he began his work. This was much more delicate, as there was more movement here in the pelvis that in the middle of the humerus. He had to make sure nothing was pinched, nothing was smashed, nothing was bruised to much. As he sewed, he used the least amount of Healing that he could to correct what a needle could not. The entire time he kept an eye on the man’s strength. He did not speak, he did not lift his gaze other than to receive a new needle or remove the thread with fire and water. He worked slowly, carefully, and diligently. Finally, he switched the silk thread for the catgut and began to close the wound upon the man’s hip. He breathed a little easier as he did this.
After an unknowable amount of time had passed, he stood upright, the ache in his back protesting his stationary position loudly. He ran water over his hands as he ran the Delving net one more time through the man’s body. The bruise on the back of his neck was dark, but not threatening. It would heal on its own. He knuckled his back and looked around, slowly becoming aware of the eyes upon him. He focused upon the Aes Sedai and no other. Approaching her he gave his report for all he had done, and she nodded “You will need to write that up and file it for tomorrow.” She told him, and he nodded. “May I be excused then?” He asked, and she nodded in response. “You may. And after you have filed your report, go to your room and rest. After that, you are going to need it.” Caddoc bowed his head and left the room to do as he had been told, leaving the Aes Sedai behind to tend to what was left. As he exited the room, he heard her speaking to the Novice and Soldier about making the unnamed man ‘comfortable’ while she attempted to find his next of kin. Then the doors closed behind him and the welcome silence of the report room enveloped him. He sunk gratefully down to write all that had happened that night, already looking forward to a shower and his bed…
