Bab 611: Rory
The grey-eyed man watered the horses and rubbed them down. Thankfully, the city had a well and trough directly adjacent to the doctor's residence, so the Emperor did not have to go far. The horses were in very rough shape. They needed the break.
Especially his. The poor creature had carried two humans across the arid ground, desert, and through the city streets to find the man who was with Aurora now. The stallion would need a considerable rest after this. He might even need to be retired to less strenuous work.
"Thank you for your service," he whispered into the creature's brown ear.
Coming back into the cold air had brought Devrim back to his senses. When he had seen the exam table and the end of his journey, the Emperor had felt a cold sensation of dread fill him. If he let go of Aurora, he would be giving over control of her condition to a stranger.
What were the doctor's qualifications? Could he be trusted with the care of his beloved wife? Devrim found himself unable to answer those questions and became frozen with fear. Only Brinn's forceful nature had urged him into action,
Now, in the street, he finally had clarity.
'Aurora is in the best possible hands. Brinn won't let anything happen to her. I would only be in the way.' Devrim tried to convince himself of this fact.
Really, he was pretty sure the doctor did not have a favorable first impression of him, and Devrim did not want to distract the physician from his work.
Finding a patch of grass for the horses, Devrim allowed them to graze unbridled. It was probably a communal lawn, and he would pay for the portion of his usage later. It was far more important that the horses get the well-earned rest they deserved.
There was no rest or Devrim though. Even if he gave in and found an inn to lay his head, no sleep would come. He would never forgive himself for sleeping while Aurora suffered.
So instead he began to pace. More than once he stopped, moved to the door to knock, and stopped himself at the last possible moment.
Minutes passed. Or was it hours? It felt like an eternity. A rut began to be worn along the side of the street with his pacing.
What was taking so long? He imagined all of the problems the group must be encountering. Every time he feared that his wife had died, he was reminded that no one had come out and gotten him. While the doctor might be reluctant to admit he lost a patient, Brinn would never leave him in that kind of suspense.
So in this manner, Devrim both craved news and dreaded its arrival. As long as no one came out of the clinic, Aurora was still alive.
The sky began to lighten. Pale pink painted the edges of the darkness before giving way to the first rays of the sun.
At last, Devrim could stand it no longer. He needed to know the state of his wife. After attempting to peek in through the shuttered windows, the man reluctantly admitted that the door was his only option.
The Emperor marched up to the door and prepared to knock. His knees shook, but his mind would not relent.
As he brought his fist forward, the door gave way before him. Devrim found himself face to face with a bleary-eyed Brinn. Without her magic, she was weary enough that her reaction was heavily delayed.
Her eyes opened slightly, "Lover Boy? Are you stalking at the door?"
Devrim lowered his hand slowly. "I was about to knock. I hope my arrival did not disturb you."
"I was coming to get you. You better come in." Brinn looked neither happy nor grief-stricken.
But elves didn't have the depth of emotions like people did. So Devrim knew he could not use her expression to gain the information he desired.
Looking past her, both the doctor and healer looked exhausted. They were cleaning up their hands. The water being washed away was red. It was tinged with Aurora's blood.
Beside them on a cot, a pale woman was covered up to her chest in a blanket. Her face was drained almost entirely of color, but somehow her ruby lips remained unfaded.
The doctor wiped his hands and held out his forearm to the Emperor. "I am Rafa."
"Devrim," the grey-eyed man answered as he shook the doctor's arm. "How is she?"
The doctor nodded. "Stable. The lady gave us quite a scare."
"She has a tendency to do that." The Emperor allowed a ghost of a grin. "Welcome to my life."
"Quite a life you lead," Rafa gave a pale smile in return.
The two turned their attention to the Empress. Aurora's hands were draped open-palmed on her chest across a pure white flower. Her hair, covered in sand, lay around her shoulders like a shroud. If not for the color slowly returning to her cheeks, not even the shallow breathing would have convinced Devrim that his wife was still living.
"Tell me everything," The grey-eyed man took one of his wife's hands from the flower and held it.
Her delicate fingers flinched against his touch before relaxing. Aurora was reacting to him; that was a good sign.
Rafa looked at the man for a moment, gauging exactly what 'everything' meant to him. "Things were very complicated, but the patient is quite strong."
"I never doubted that part," the Emperor scoffed lightly.
"The first problem was mine," Sav spoke up, unsure if the doctor would shield her in his telling. "I gave her medicine which affected her bleeding."
The healer pulled back the blanket to reveal the Empress's feet. They were purpled, but not as badly as her thigh above it. Devrim's expression darkened.
"Do not blame the healer. It may have had a nasty side effect, but I also think it is what kept her alive long enough to get to me. The bruises will heal with time." Rafa gave his most comforting affirmative gesture.
The Empress shivered.
The doctor took the edge of the blanket and covered the woman back up. "Could you please make a fever plaster for our patient's chest? I do not want her to take anything internally, but that should help keep her more comfortable. The ingredients are right there."
Taking the cue, Sav left the men alone.
"I can show you the wound if you like, but there isn't anything to see but more of the healer's beautiful stitching." Rafa waited for the man's wave before tucking back the blanket. They both were more concerned with the woman's comfort than unwrapping her wound to peer at it just now.
The physician motioned for the other man to sit next to the bed. Rafa pulled up a chair from the other side of the room as he explained. "Once we counteracted the medicine, we used ice water to get her fever down. Then I was forced to open her wound to see exactly what was happening."
Devrim stiffened, thinking about the trauma Aurora had just been through.
"Did she...?" he asked tentatively.
"She did not fully awake and her friend kept her calm," Rafa indicated to the elf who was still standing by the door.
"I did my best," Brinn shrugged. "That flower did most of the work..."
There was a moment of silence as the three glanced at the silk bloom. It seemed to glow softly in the few rays of the sun which had penetrated the window blinds.
"Forgive me, but what did you find when you opened the wound?" Devrim realized his first question had distracted them.
The doctor nodded. "The bone was well set, but we quickly discovered a piece of rock hidden between the bone and muscle. It looked just like the bone, making it almost undetectable. Once we knew what to look for, we found many more tiny shards. That was what took us so long. We had to make sure we got every bit of sediment."
Rafa had found the task got easier as time went on. Sav was a capable student and as long as he kept the edge out of his voice, the healer did not react unkindly to his guidance.
"I am confident we got all of it, and with time, she should be able to walk again. Your Rory is a fighter. I believe she will recover," Rafa watched as Devrim raised one eyebrow at him.
"Did you call my wife 'Rory'?" The Emperor cocked his head to one side as his eyes filled with amusement.
"My fault," Brinn gave a lopsided grin.
"Wait until I tell Aurora that you've infected others with that name." The grey-eyed man chuckled.
"Give him a minute to process what you just said and I'm sure the good doctor will never do it again." Brinn shrugged.
Rafa looked between those in the room. Devrim and Aurora? He knew those names.
'Blazing bees, what have I done?!'
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone