Triage [KIRAN]

[lee]

{desc=T'yer and Kira meet at last!}
Backdated to Autumn

Had they been through a hatching or a hurricane? There wasn't an unfilled cot in the entire Infirmary, and yet still there weren't enough beds as wounded after wounded patient entered or was carried in. Most of them, blessedly, were walking. Most of them would be okay. There were even some who needed nothing more than a kind murmur, a cup of fellis to deal with the shock, and then a firm word to send them on their way. Perhaps, to an outside observer, the scene may have looked like chaos, but for the healers, it was orchestrated, dictated by training. Those who were likely to live, regardless of what care they received. Those who were likely to die, regardless of what care they received. Those for whom immediate care might make a positive difference in outcome. Three groups.

T'yer, quietly, gratefully, was tending the first. The dark-skinned girl with pale green eyes, the petite greenrider with feminine features, the others that fell in that perilous, precarious third group…they were cared for by the masters, by the journeyman more advanced than the weyrling who had walked the tables a scant sevenday before arriving at the weyr.

He'd heard a candidate had been killed, but it was yet a faceless fact, and when it slipped unbidden into his thoughts he blurred the edges of it, stared instead at his hands and whispered fiercle to himself instructions on what they needed to do. time was right. For the moment, others needed his focus, and he was grateful for Lenticuth's silent, sturdy presence in his mind, quietly nudging thoughts back into order when they strayed, bearing the brunt of what T’yer, for now, forcibly shoved from his own mind.

He was chattering, because he was not capable of silence, but he had little notion of what was coming out of his mouth, for his focus was strictly on the neat, tiny set of stitches he was pulling quickly and precisely through skin and muscle. It was mostly inane murmurings, explaining what he was doing in simple, far more cheerful terms than the situation probably truly dictated. He tied a knot, snipped it clean, and at last his eyes slid to the face of the patient he’d been chattering too, only to realize she was dead asleep. He closed his mouth, and watched, eyes solemn and still, but he didn’t watch for more than a minute. There were others that needed stitching. Grimly, he snatched a clean rag and his pot of warm water and moved to the next cot. Out loud, he said simply, "I’m out of thread." One of the drudges would hear and fetch more, surely.

[Kiran]

As an Apprentice, and as an Apprentice Healer in the midst of the care of those injured during the Hatching, and with a Hatchling she had just fed, washed, and bedded down herself, Kira was set to the most menial tasks of assisting the Journeymen and Healers as they attended the others that required it. She was kept away from the worst of it by virtue of not having the skill or experience to do so - when she Walked the Tables to Journeywoman, then perhaps she would be able to be there - but the lesser injuries she was kept on her feet, going back and forth from storeroom to bed and from bed to bed.

Her directions and oversight of various sections led her to the bedside that another Healer - this one a Journeyman - had also moved to. Kira stopped her assessment to let him take over. Her eyes stayed only on the patient, waiting for orders. Thread. He was out of thread. Kira moved to grasp a spool from a nearby set-up that had been created to make supplies a touch more accessible to the Healers as they moved from bedside to bedside. Moving to hand it to him, Kira glanced up for a brief moment to assess who she was working with for these few moments....

And stopped, going pale as she took in his face.

"D'....ren?" It was a face that was burned forever into her memory. That memory flared brightly at that moment, the sight of the blood spraying into the air, the horror and joy mixing on his face, the silence that had fallen in the caverns. Maybe it hadn't been silent. Perhaps it had only been silent in her mind, the rushing of blood in her hears having simply blocked anything else in her mind. And more than that, right now that face was in front of her. Kira's hands shook. It was his face. A bit older but....

"How?!" People didn't just come back from Between. His body had been taken there, as surely as his Iron had Betweened to join him there. Kira didn't understand. She couldn't.

The distress of his rider was enough to rouse Tauth from his slumber back in the barracks. My Kira? Is everything well? He was tensing, ready to come to her if need be.

She couldn't answer that. She didn't know if everything was well. Not yet, at least.

[lee]

Blue Tauth, Lenticuth, always more aware than his rider, automatically reached but to the little blue, his tone even and masking his alarm in effortless cool in an effort to be a steadying presence to the little one. All is fine.

Tyer didn't notice. He didn't notice anything but his work in those harried moments. Though he would feel terrible when he realized it, he was paying no attention to the hands that helped him, seeing them, in a healer's way, as an extension of the operation itself, a steady, reliable component that knew and would do their part while his own did theirs. Likewise, Lenticuth was a presence, but not focused on, his attention squarely and surely on his work in a way that was permissible under the guidance of his weyrlingmaster. who had deemed the viridian mature enough to handle the divided attention without fuss.

When his attention was brought to Kira, he didn't immediately place her, but Lenticuth, who had attended the Hatching, did. As soon as the cool-minded viridian caught sight of the face in his chosen's mind, he lifted the head that had been resting on forelegs in alarm, supplying the image of a navy blue hatchling taking his sweet time before selecting the dark-haired girl with a healer's steady hands, and he reached out to Tauth while his alarm filtered to T'yer, who took a moment to process it before staring at Kira for a gape-mouthed moment. "|b]Hey!

[/b]" He began eloquently, surprised alarm coloring his tone, "You shouldn't be here! "

Mine.

Sensing the shape of his bonded's discontent but not the source of it, the lanky healer immediately recanted, murmuring with rapidfire clarity, though he was taking her shoulder and gently—but firmly—leading her out of the room. "Well unless you're hurt, but you appear to be helping the hurts rather than requiring help for a hurt of your own, but then you're a healer—you have to be or you wouldn't be helping—so you would be, wouldn't you?" The observation was not sarcastic, nor unkind, merely sort of dazedly distracted, as if the words fell from lips without filtering by the mind, a symptom of some other side effect, far removed from the focus of where his mind was, which was assessing whether or not he had the time to spare to slip out, and he quietly decided yes, as none of the injuries that remained would suffer from time.

Lenticuth persisted, a bit firmer this time into the roiling mind Mine.

"But all the same," And now, at last, his eyes seemed to focus on her face, brows furrowing to form a small wrinkle between his eyes that was echoed in the small frame, "You should be with—M Tauth. "—Tauth." Now pay attention.

The snappish tone of his partner caught T'yer by surprise, and he at last caught on to what the large dragon was trying to get him to pay attention to. And he saw, actually saw, her face, bloodlessly pale and eyes too wide for the pretty face that held them.

Alarmed, he altered their course, steering her to a bench outside the caverns and kneeling immediately in front of her. What had caused this? She'd been fine—steady hands—a moment ago, and now they shook. Lenticuth, again, gave him the answer, and T'yer's face flushed gray and then red and he took her hands as much to check for her pulse and warm them as to prove his solidity, though the touch was light and would fall away at the slightest pull of her own. "My name is T'yer." He said, as quietly and firmly as he could manage, and if there was a hollow cheer to the introduction it couldn't be helped. "D'ren was my brother. I'm sorry for startling you . Are you alright?"[/size][/blockquote]

[Kiran]

Tauth fluttered his wings anxiously, about to move from his couch and go searching for Kira when the older Viridian spoke to him. He hesitated for a few moments before moving back to the couch, curling up tightly. Viridian Lenticuth, I will stay here for now. If Kira needs me I will go to her, however. The blue might not do things quickly, but when he set his mind to them they would happen. And if Kira was in danger he would go to her..... Though her being in trouble might be why Lenticuth tried to reassure him. Tauth would wait for Kira's signal for his final decision, however.

Kira couldn't bring herself to send anything to her dragonet, however. Her shock over the face that presented itself was too great. She was deeply disturbed by it, feeling her heart race and unaware of the paleness that had overcome her features. But his words registered in some small part of her brain, the one that had ingrained the rules for weyrlings in the hopes that she would Impress at some point. For a moment her lip trembled before she started to answer. "I'm a Healer. Of course I should be here. Tauth is bedded down. He's f-f-fine..."

Her stutter was starting to come back. The stress of the Hatching, of her Impression, of seeing D'ren all over again, it was breaking her fine control over her voice and making her hesitate and stumble over her words. In some ways it didn't matter because after that she didn't have much else to say. Not to a dead man. Why would he be asking after her dragon? She felt a bit dizzy thinking about it. It had to be her imagination, or perhaps she was sick and hallucinating, or maybe the stress from everything that had happened earlier had just gotten to her. Yes, that had to be it.

Just a hallucination. It was likely another Healer and she was just going to be put to bed for being ill. Kira followed willingly, still frightened that she was being led by a dead boy over to a bench. She had to look bad for that.

Kira let him check her over. She hadn't realized until her hands were in his that they were shaking or cold, but now she could tell that she had to look like she was about to tip over in a stiff breeze. It probably wasn't too far from the truth. But the clarification on his name and relationship to the dead weyrling made her fingers tighten over his. Oh. Oh.

"There was no way for you to know," the blue weyrling murmured quietly. It was an apology to an offense she wasn't certain existed. A memory she wasn't certain she hadn't hurt him with brought to light. In the aftermath of this hatching! Her eyes fell to their joined fingers for a few moments, gathering her thoughts. Then Kira raised her eyes back to his. "I'm sorry. I didn't know your brother, not really. I... only from the first Hatching I went to...." Another small tremble of her lip. Oryia's life had bled out in front of her in a mockery of that Hatching. No Bonded was there to go with her.

"I'll be fine." After a few moments of quiet, the new weyrling was able to say that. "I'll be fine, T'yer. I just... I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here. Like you said. I didn't... I didn't know...." Kira's thoughts were still scattered to the four corners of the world. She was so sorry, so sorry for having brought up his brother, so sorry for making him leave the Infirmary just for her. Especially when she suddenly felt rather sick to her stomach for not being able to get the blood from the Sands out of her mind.

Tauth was alert once more. Kira?! That was it. The dragonet slipped from his couch and peered into the hallway of the barracks. He had waited long enough, it was time for him to find His.

Realizing that Tauth was coming for her, Kira stood suddenly but swayed as she did. "I need to go back to the barracks. He's looking for me." Her fingers tightened on his. She couldn't get to the barracks, not like this. Kira closed her eyes for a moment. "Could you come with me?"

[lee]

Lenticuth was quiet for a moment, assessing the little one’s mood before relaxing, hesitantly, into certainty the newborn hatchling would not vanish between because of the fuss. Still, at T’yer’s prompting--for the lanky Journeyman had indeed finally caught on--Lenticuth begrudgingly provided, We are here if needed.

T’yer smiled, crooked, wide, and warm in relief as she spoke, hands lifting from hers to touch her cheeks with his knuckles, testing the temperature to see if she was, indeed, coming out of it. Not yet. He lowered them back to her hands, resting his thumbs, touch light but warm, on her wrists. "Mm. I had the same argument for why I oughta be on the Sands ‘stead of waiting back here in the caverns, but it was heartily rejected.” The cheer was no longer forced, and his tone was breezily absent of any sort of depth. “We are, I’m afraid, weyrlings first for a few turns.” His smile softened, fading into concentration as she stayed pale, eyes too large. If she had Impressed, she’d surely seen all that had happened on the Sands...T’yer winced in sympathy, and glanced surreptitiously around for a blanket, as though he might make it disappear by swaddling it. Tauth may be fine. His bonded…Lenticuth?. Kira. Kira, then, was not. Not yet. he was healer enough to want to see her well.

Her fingers tightened, and he listened with wide eyes.

After a moment, he spoke, because he felt that he ought to, though he wasn’t certain what to say. He was about to simply say what came first to mind, but Lenticuth quickly caught him before he admitted that he hadn’t really known D’ren all that well either, because they both knew saying it out loud would only hurt. So he settled for, “First hatching? Well that’s kind of the wherry dumps, isn’t it?” He’d been lucky, oh! How lucky he’d been, to stand for Wenth and Wenth only. “But at least you haven’t need to stand anymore?” He hoped, quietly, to remind her she had Impressed. In some of the hardest moments, T’yer remembered that moment with Lenticuth, and that the brother he’d lost had had that moment as well, though not what came after it. Orkia hadn’t been so lucky.

He waited in silence--which was, one had to admit, excruciatingly difficult for the garrulous weyrling--because he felt she needed it. He watched, with close scrutiny, the color slowly return to her cheeks and lips, for eyes to settle and soften though tension still held sway in the shoulders and warmth was still absent from the hands in his. His response to her apology was a gusty, dismissive snort and an enthusiastic--and equally dismissive--flapping of one of his hands. He felt Lenticuth’s warning rumble and stood up quite suddenly.

“Okie dokie, then, sure thing. Do you mind physical contact?” He had learned to ask, though he was still prone to the casual sort of contact that was a necessity to him. He’d gotten better since Lenticuth, who now served as the anchor the constant arms around shoulders, waists, hands had served as. But still, he barely waited for the response of Not really? before scooping the petite healer up in his arms in one fluid motion and turning to head to the weyrling barracks with long, easy strides. “Oh good, that makes this easier. I suppose’d not, given that you’re a healer. Lots of touching, with healing. Not always in appropriate places (which is not to say I plan to touch you inappropriately, I don’t, at least, not without your permission, not that I’m asking for it, or implying, well, I wouldn’t touch anyone without their permission--” He thought about this. “--At least, not so long as they’re conscious--goodness I’m not making a good case here, I am? I mean to say that if they’re not, usually then they need healing and waitin’ for them to wake up donnae make sense. Or to keep them from from getting sick on themselves, which I suppose is still part of healing but really, the point is, I suppose, I think contact’s important. Keeps you anchored, you know? Helps you remember you’re here and alive---ah. Well. Hmm. That was tactless of me, wasn’t it? Sorry...Also, do you need to be sick? Because I can stop. Or get some water.” His eyes, wide and worried, focused on her though he didn’t stop walking. Tauth would help her.

But what he kept to himself was the fear that every weyrling in the new class would face nightmares of this hatching, and he remembered all too well what his had done to his hatchling. Argotath’s is capable. He will not let harm come to this new class, even in sleep. And he was there. The cool dragon sounded, just barely, heavy. He will know.

[Kiran]

I appreciate your offer. If I need it, I will let you know. The blue wasn't impulsive or quick to act, and would most certainly take the offer of help if needed. But first he would be patient and see how Kira was. Tauth padded out quietly into the night, and set himself down to wait. Kira said she would come and he trusted that.

Kira attempted a small laugh at her fellow Healer (fellow weyrling, he was that as well) when he talked about being allowed on the sands, but it came out a soft sigh. Laughter was beyond her right now. She didn't try it again. "Weyrlings first." The repeat of that made a small seed of guilt sprout in her heart. She was a weyrling. She had Impressed, finally, after a turn and a half, and one of the first things she had done was abandon Tauth when he was asleep to tend patients. Her precious Tauth. The blue was quick to send hesitant feelings of love to Kira when he sensed her concern. Hesitant because of his uncertainty over what was happening to her and when she would return to him.

"You're right. I am a weyrling first now. It's strange to think of that. I guess I was just a touch wherry-headed. All I could think at the end of the Hatching was that there was a lot of blood and people had gotten hurt and they needed Healers so that they could care for everyone, and I felt so guilty for Impressing Tauth and not getting a scratch. Well, a few bruises, I did get knocked into, but it was nothing like the girl standing in front of me, I was right there and I saw..." She could feel her breath hitch again at that. Orkia had been standing directly in front of her. She had seen the Candidate go down. The blue's claws digging into her throat. Kira could feel the world start to spin around her once more and closed her eyes tightly for a few moments to get control. When she opened them again Kira was looking directly ahead at the walls of the weyr, not looking anywhere near T'yer's face for fear of seeing his expression. "She was right in front of me. I watched her throat get slit. Even if I could have been a Healer instead of a Candidate then I couldn't have helped her."

The open friendliness of her fellow weyrling had made her own tongue loosen in turn. Some of it probably didn't need to be said. Some of it probably shouldn't have been said. It didn't matter. Kira said it anyway. She couldn't stop herself. Guilt mixed with the concern she had for Tauth. She had found her Bonded, her beloved blue, and all she had to show for it was a few bruises on her shins that would turn green and fade within a few days. Somehow Kira felt like she should have been gutted like the girl who'd Impressed the Burgundy, a wound to show the emotional pain that she had gone through that would heal and fade and make the memory of the horrors of that hatching disappear. It didn't work like that, Kira knew, but she rather wished it did.

Kira's inner thoughts were interrupted by a question in response to her own. Did she mind physical contact? She would likely need it to get back if she were going to be honest. "Not really?" Kira answered honestly, only to be swept up in T'yer's arms before she had even gotten the whole thing out. Her arms immediately wrapped around his neck for her own assurance that he wouldn't drop her as the viridian weyrling started spilling out words like raindrops. The rambling of it, how one thought flowed into another, actually helped focus Kira more in the here and now to be able to follow it. Her stomach still felt twisted in on itself from the memories his face brought up but it was dulled by the clarity of her mind. Kira no longer smelled the blood or saw it flying into the air, no longer could see the looks of confusion on the faces of those who hadn't quite realized that their lives were ending. With her eyes focusing on T'yer's face, she caught the last of the questions that he had posed her.

Kira managed a weak smile to try and ease the worry that was clear in his eyes. "No, I, I'm not feeling particularly sick. Though I have some water in my room, I think I'll have that when we get there." She didn't want to stop, not when she could tell that Tauth was leaving to find her. It's okay, Tauth, I'm coming. I'll be there soon. Tauth hesitated in his tracks, right outside of the barracks and facing the bowl. The blue could see shapes moving towards him. Allowing that this might be Kira, she wouldn't lie to him, Tauth settled on his haunches to await his Bonded. Relieved that he was going to stay where he was, the blue weyrling let herself relax a bit more as he took her back to the barracks. "I don't mind you talking, either. It helps. And it takes a lot more than what you said to offend me."

He was honestly trying to help, and it was obvious to Kira that any blabber about inappropriate touching or without-permission-except-when-unconcious was merely his thoughts stringing together. If she had been in a better state of mind it would have made her laugh. Perhaps it might have even inspired a bit of blabber of her own as well, and Kira decided she wouldn't mind hanging out with her fellow Healer sometime else. When she was better, of course, and if he didn't think her some sort of wherry-head that he should feel more sorry for than anything because of this. Then again he was also a Healer, and would probably understand this more than anyone else.

She glanced over towards the barracks and saw a small black dragon waiting for them, sitting still in the moonlight. No, not black, an almost navy blue. The ring around his neck was almost shining, it was such a pale color. Tauth. "He's awake, waiting for me. I'll have to apologize for waking him. I thought he'd be fine." That thought rolled into another. Kira turned her head to look at T'yer with more worry than anything else in her eyes. "Should I apologize to your dragonet? You were fine, everything was fine until I went and, and, and had my fit." She didn't know what else to call it. Thinking about the dragonets forced her mind from the depressing thoughts that were lurking at the edge of her mind. Concern about her fellow weyrling also helped keep her from falling back into the darkness. Kira rather wished she had a roommate that she could talk with or - better yet - cuddle with into the night, another being who knew exactly what she felt because they were going through it themselves. Tauth would be a certain comfort but a small being with wings wasn't quite the same as a being with hands and arms that could hold her.

Tauth moved to greet the pair as they got ever-closer, not quite as quickly as the pair of humans moved but quick enough in his own estimation. His normally-calm voice had an undercurrent of worry as it reached out to both of them. I trust Mine is alright? His eyes whirred quickly, the only physical sign of the near-panic that he might erupt into if set off by the slightest hint that Kira wasn't. Well, at least more than she already was.