There Comes a Time

Writers: Chelle, Paula
Date Posted: 4th April 2017

Characters: Stennar, Chupsin, Vidfran, Stenra
Description: The healer is called to tend one of his own.
Location: Amber Hills Hold
Date: month 11, day 1 of Turn 8

Stennar hadn't been able to sleep in days...frankly, he couldn't
remember when he last had a good night's sleep. He had been forced to
increase the dosage of his mixture just to get through his shifts and
it left him filled with edgy, restless energy. And unable to fall
asleep. He found himself making stupid mistakes and he was afraid his
jitters would raise Chupsin's suspicions. So, he stole some fellis. He
told himself that a couple nights of uninterrupted sleep would correct
the issues. The first few nights after taking fellis in the evenings
went well. He actually slept and felt rested when he woke up. And
then...he didn't wake up.

"Chupsin, Chupsin! You have to come right away! It's an emergency!"
Vidfran was frantically banging on the healer's door.

Being used to being woken up at odd candlemarks, Chupsin heard the
noise and reflexively shrugged on a healer's robe hanging from the
door peg. Grabbing his bag that always sat by the door, he pulled it
open and stood there for a moment, registering who it was standing
there. "Who, where, what?" he fired off, as he started walking beside
Vidfran.

Moments later, his trusted companion was visible flying behind the
pair. Tourniquet had been shaken at first by all the excited noise,
but once he understood why, the firelizard had settled down to follow
his pet. His jeweled eyes whirled a concerned yellow.

"It's Stennar, he doesn't wake up. I've been trying to wake him for
past half candlemark," Vidfran replied. "It's this way," she was
leading him to the little cot where she lived with her children,
including Stennar, who was unmarried, didn't have right to his own and
who didn't want to live in communal dorm for journeymen. At the cot,
he had a room for himself.

That was startling news. Chupsin wondered if didn't wake up translated
to not breathing. If he wasn't.... His mind started tripping over
itself wondering what it could be. Stennar was fairly young. And then
he remembered seeing his young wife on the cold floor and shook his
head quickly to focus. "Was he breathing?" he asked automatically as
he hurried.

"Yes, he was when I left to fetch you," Vidfran replied. She opened
the door for him. "Any change?" she asked her daughters, who milled
around with anxious worry.

"No, he's still same. Doesn't move, breathing superficially. Stenra is
with him and we sent Fransten to the neighbours," the oldest one
replied.

"Get me some hot water, a cup, and clean cloths." He headed further
inside, searching for where Stennar was. When he came upon the right
room, he moved past Stenra, immediately listening for breath and
checking the pulse. "Stennar, can you hear me?" **No response, but
there is a pulse. It's thready. Breaths are shallow** He began to look
around the room. "Has he been ill?" The journeyman had been off shift
the past two nights so he didn't know. "Any odd behavior?"

"I think he's been drinking," Stenra replied timidly, from the corner
she had retreated after being brushed aside by Chupsin's arrival. "I
cleaned out empty wineskins and cups. They smelled funny," she
continued. There was indeed a mug at the nightstand next to the bed.
"He's been kind of jittery."

The alcohol didn't signal an alarm unless Stennar had over-imbibed. If
he had, the healer would need to administer an emetic quickly to get
it out of his system. That also meant waking him up. Grabbing the mug,
Chupsin looked into it, seeing the stain of the wine. The color was a
bit off, though, as if it had been mixed with something. Whatever it
was, it was clearly doing harm. **Heartbeat is slow** Seeing the hot
water arrive, he hurried to wash his hands before he put his arms
under Stennar's head and brought him up so that he was in a half
sitting position but leaning forward. "Stenra, hold him."

He couldn't administer the emetic without knowing what was in the
wine. It could be dangerous. **Stennar, when you wake up I am going
to kill you** Opening the young healer's mouth with one hand, he put
two of his fingers inside and towards the back of the throat. Pressing
firmly down, he waited for the gag reflex to do its work, ready to
pull his hand out at any moment.

Stenra scurried to do as she was told to.

Stennar made some gagging sounds but nothing came out. Then he started
to convulse.

Cursing under his breath, Chupsin brought his hand out but quickly
stuck a sterile pestle into the man's mouth for him to bite on rather
than his own tongue. **Is it an apoplexy or is whatever he's done
causing him to shut down?** If he only knew what Stennar had been
drinking, he could administer something to counteract it. As his mind
raced through options, he knew he couldn't get the poison out through
vomiting at this point which still left it in the body, doing harm.

**The seizure I can treat at least** he noted to himself as he moved
to where he could effectively restrain Stennar from hurting himself
accidentally. He couldn't reach his bag. **Tourniquet, I need this
one** He sent the image of the bottle with the right markings to the
bronze firelizard, thinking very hard to communicate the need. Not
too long after, there was a small chirp and he felt the nudge of a
small head at his side.

Reaching out, he took the oil and murmured "Good boy" before opening
it with his teeth and maneuvering it to where the corner of the
younger man's mouth was held open by the pestle. He'd treat him later.
Now they had business. Tipping it to get enough into Stennar's mouth,
he hoped the man would swallow.

"He's not breathing!" Stenra said with alarmed yelp. Part of her was
observing Chupsin's actions with detached interest while the other
part was horrified about what was happening to her brother.

**Of course you would just want to ruin my day** Setting his mouth in
a grim line, he began to do chest compressions while carefully
breathing into Stennar's open mouth every so often so he didn't end up
getting bit or hurt while the body was still shaking somewhat.
Mentally counting, he watched the chest for telltale signs of breath.

It had no effect. Stennar's chest didn't move. Stenra wiped a tear off
from her eye corner.

Sometime when he knew it had been too long, the healer finally quit
and rocked back, breathing heavily after his hard work. "Stenra...he's
gone." He wondered if she'd want to tell her mother or leave the duty
to him. Some herbs were processed by the body and then disappeared
with no trace so there might never be a way of knowing what Stennar
had taken. **Did he have a wish to die?** The man was young and
unmarried, but he did have some rank so there were future
possibilities.

The senior journeyman didn't like the idea of one of his healers using
their access and knowledge of their medicinal stores to kill himself,
though. Should he have seen the signs beyond Stennar's normally odd
demeanor? **Hopefully the women won't blame me for this. And with the
stigma of suicide they won't want to make it known throughout the
Hold. I can say the death was caused by the seizure and leave it at
that. That'll save me some explanations for his behavior as well.**

"Is your mother back yet?" He wiped his hands and placed a hand on
Stennar's neck, knowing there would be no pulse.

"I don't know," Stenra replied, numbed by the shock. The reaction, the
grief would come later. All she could think of was, **I wanna be a
healer,** which had nothing to do with the situation at hand and was
totally irrational.

"Well...let's go and find her. I'll send one of the other ladies to
come and help prepare your brother later. Shut the door so none of the
others comes to find him." Grabbing his bag, he reckoned this would
put him a journeyman short on the roster. "It's allright. At least he
isn't suffering anymore." The holder in him realized that the females
had lost their source of male support and protection. Wondering if
perhaps Vidfran or Stenra might see fit to marry soon, he shifted
thoughts.

Last updated on the April 25th 2017

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There Comes a Time