My eyes are blind but I can see.
The snowflakes glisten on the tree.
The sun no longer sets me free.
I feel there’s no place freezing me.
-- Black Sabbath, “Snowblind”
Vladimir sat at the dining room table, impatiently drumming his fingertips on the table. Katherine was upstairs changing the unfortunate Viera out of her wet clothes while Vasily was getting the chirurgeon they used normally and bringing him here.
As long as it was taking, he was expecting the chirurgeon to be draped over Vasily’s shoulder.
Katherine was coming back downstairs when the door opened. Vasily stepped in, but he did not see the chirurgeon. Vladimir felt a frown beginning to form on his face. It was incredibly rare that Vasily failed at a task. At this point, he was expecting Vasily to tell him the chirurgeon had suffered a tragic accident.
“Vladimir, the Viera is now in dry clothing. Her skin is starting to turn grey.” Nodding in acknowledgement of Katherine’s report, Vladimir continued to look at Vasily as he approached the table. “Vasily… I do not see the chirurgeon. Explain yourself.”
Vasily adjusted his jaw before he spoke, “He would not open the door, nor acknowledge my presence. I had to fall back on what I believe may be a better solution.” Saying this, he stepped aside to reveal a small Au ra female. She was porcelain skinned with large blue eyes. She had hair that ranged between purple and pink, the pink matching the robes she was wearing. She had a large staff strapped to her back, which butterflies made of light hovered around the staff. Smiling, she gave a tiny wave. “Hi! I’m Scherìs!”
Vladimir nodded at the… child? He looked at Vasily, “A child, Vasily?”
Scherìs responded before Vasily could, “I’m not a child! I’m a healer. Mr. Silly said you needed a healer because a friend of yours was hurt.”
Vladimir blinked, “Mr…. Silly…?” Vasily gave a small shake of his head, “Let it go, Vladimir. She is one of my customers. She is a purveyor of rare… coffees. The more potent they are, the happier she is.”
Vladimir blinked again, “... coffee?” He shook his head, then motioned the small woman over, “You truly are a healer? You can help my…” He looked at Vasily as he said this, “... friend?” He turned back to Scherìs in expectation of her answer.
He face turned serious and she nodded emphatically, “I’m a really good healer! Ask my girlfriend, River! She had some serious problems that she had been dealing with for years and I healed them! I’m also an adventurer! People have me along to heal them all the time when they get eaten by lions and tigers and bears and big, squishy poop shaped monsters!”
“I… see… Vasily, Veig is in the guest room upstairs… Would you take our new friend upstairs and see what she can do for her?” Vasily nodded and led Scherìs upstairs. Vladimir waited til they were both gone, “Katherine.”
“Go downstairs to our special room. Strip everything out of it except the sink and the bed. If it can be used to hurt or kill ones self, remove it.”
Katherine bowed, “It will be done.” She started for the stairs down and motioned for several people to follow her. They followed without question, with several starting to roll up sleeves in expectation of some hard work.
Vladimir went back to drumming his fingers on the table.
Vasily opened the door to the guest room and led Scherìs in. Inside, Scherìs gasped and said, “Awww… It’s a bunny. She’s like my friend Isrun!” Scherìs quickly approached the bed and looked at her for a moment. She turned around and said, “Could you leave us alone for a few minutes?” Vasily nodded, left the room and closed the door behind him.
“Hi miss bunny lady… I’m Scherìs.” She came close and started to reach out, but then stopped. “Your friend, Mr. Vladimir wants me to heal you. I’m sorry, I need to touch you. I’d ask you, but you’re not awake. I’m really, really sorry. When you wake up, if you don’t want me to touch you anymore, I won’t.” So saying, she placed her hand flat on Veig’s abdomen, just above her navel. She used her abilities to see what was wrong.
The Viera’s lungs were full of water and small debris. There was also… something running through her body that she hadn’t experienced before. It was making things worse. First things first, she needed to empty Veig’s lungs.
Looking around, she didn’t see any bowls or buckets. She left the bed, opened the door and stuck her head out the door and right into Vasily’s stomach. Vasily uttered “oof” as the Au ra head butted him. Pulling back, she looked up at the Hrothgar, “I need a bucket.” Vasily nodded and walked away. A couple of minutes later, he returned and handed a bucket to Scherìs. She smiled and said, “Thank you!”.
Coming back into the room, she closed the door behind her and approached the bed. She placed the bucket by the side of the bed then began wrangling the Viera around until her head hung off the bed, over the bucket. Pulling up her robes so she wouldn’t trip over them, she climbed up on the bed and straddled Veig. Scherìs placed her hands over each of Veig’s lungs and used her power to empty them.
Water, dirt and debris were pushed out and guided along by the magic pouring forth from the tiny Au ra. Most of it went in the bucket. A lot of it didn’t. It took about five minutes, but Veig’s lungs were finally clear. Scherìs once again wrestled the Viera back to the way she was, fluffing her pillows to make sure she was comfortable.
Once Veig was in a comfortable position, Scherìs began the process of making her breathe. She also began pushing the odd substance that was making her sleep out as well. Eventually, the substance was gone, Veig was breathing again, color was returning to her face and her sleep was actually productive and healing, rather than being near death.
Scherìs was tired, but happy with the work she’d put in. She invited Vasily in to see that the Viera was alive once more. “She’s all fixed, Mr. Silly! Nothing in her lungs and the weird stuff in her blood is gone!”
“Weird stuff… in her blood?”
“Yep! It was making her sleep, but not in a good way. I got rid of it.”
“Got… rid of it?” He’d known people who had went cold turkey off Somnus. It wasn’t pretty. “Do you think there will be any… downside to that?”
Scherìs shrugged, “I don’t know… I’ve never seen it before.”
Vasily nodded, “Anyway, here is the bag of coffee I promised you. I’ve put instructions for brewing it on this piece of paper.” Scherìs took the bag of coffee and paper, put it in her backpack and hugged Vasily tightly, “Thank you, Mr. Silly! If anything goes wrong with her and you need me, just let me know!” Scherìs said her good byes and showed herself out the door. She practically skipped home to have a cup of coffee.
Meanwhile, Vasily needed to go downstairs and explain that their guest was about to be very, very unhappy when she wakes up.
