Aftermath of Battle – Part III

He glanced up at Nara and the ever-present Cerith. “Let’s get to work, guys and see if we can pull him out of this.”

“You don’t seem too concerned, healer.” Cerith tied back his long cinnabar hair as he leveled a glare at the too-chipper healer.

 “Well, in this type of situation, someone’s gotta provide the levity, no?” he replied in kind as he gently took away the binding holding together a gaping wound.

Soft hands explored the wound, marking the deep red blood that flowed from it. Xristis gave a sigh of relief when Erdric made no noise at his probing. He frowned when he felt several of his Regent’s ribs cracked if not broken, and it became more marked when he felt how deep the wound ran under his ribcage.

The door burst open again, Elysian bring in what the healer needed, and Xristis gave another sigh of relief.

“Elysian, would you bring me some of that linen you brought soaked in alcohol as well as thread one of those needles? It’ll give you something to do.”

“Better than having Tyral yell at me…” Elysian grumbled. “Just a fair warning, he’s pacing outside the door now, much like an expectant father.” He laughed slightly at that as he produced a bowl from thin air, pouring some of the alcohol into it and soaking some of the rags. “What’s your prognosis on his side, healer?”

“Eh, nothing he’s not had before… however, I believe his leg will prove meddlesome at some point in time, but one hurdle first, and then we’ll move on there.”

“What do you need for me to do, Xristis?” Nara asked, her fingertips still gently stroking Erdric’s broken hand.

“If you could nab some more pillows so we can stabilize his leg and upper body, it’d be great. That way, when he wakes up, he’ll be immobilized and won’t hurt himself more,” he replied absently as he kept pushing some of the drenched cloth into the wound, keeping it open so that it could heal from the inside out.

“Damnit! I hate it when ribs get cracked like this… and especially with enchanted weapons… He’ll have to heal naturally…” Xristis’ frown grew even darker than before.

“And that’s a bad thing?” Elysian asked as he handed Xristis the flame-heated needle.

“Yeah, it can be a bad thing. With this trauma to the area, especially to his leg and his head, it may take longer than you think. I can only hope that after a few weeks, we can try casting healing spells on it, but right now, knowing that it won’t work, I’d rather save my spells for someone who I know it’ll work on. This, speaking in magic terms, is a hopeless cause. I just pray that we got this in time and his natural healing will kick in and help me out.”

Nara gently helped hold most of the gash closed so that Xristis could sew up the wounds. “But Erdric’s strong. He can pull through.”

“Depends on how bad the trauma was, and how quickly he can heal on his own.”

Nara sighed, shaking her head. “He’s a somewhat slow healer.”

“I know that, Nara, you don’t have to remind me,” he replied sadly as he finished off the last stitch to close the wound off partially. With gentle, blood-stained hands, he pulled up the covers over his Regent’s shivering body, and then pulled back the side that covered his leg.

Painstakingly, Xristis manipulated the bones that were out of place back to their proper positions without much fuss, and tightly secured a long, thin metal rod on the outside of the leg to keep it stable. He quickly cleaned the gashes where Erdric’s bone protruded and broke the skin, and tightly wrapped that as well.

Finally, he moved on to Erdric’s head, his blood-stained fingers gently gliding over the back of his head and neck.

He nearly laughed when he felt the egg sized lump on the back of his head, and with a soft word, set a small healing spell at it, slowly mending it.

“At least that went right. Now we just have to wait,” he said softly as he rinsed his hands with the now-cold water to remove the blood. “I want someone to keep a watch on him. 24-7. Got it?”

All three nodded their heads in agreement. “For now, I’ll sit with him, you two,” he pointed at Nara and Cerith, “Go get cleaned up. You’re a fright, and I don’t want him worried when he wakes up. I’ll get Elysian to help me pack him into the bed more so he can’t move.” When no one made any move, Xrists rolled his eyes. “Get going!”

Xrists was nothing to be trifled with when he spoke with that tone in his voice, so both jumped to do as they were told.