Deciding a Course of Action.

Writers: Leigh M-F., Paula
Date Posted: 22nd March 2018

Characters: Taren, Uetia, A'kua
Description: Taren and Uetia offer solutions to something A'kua was thinking about.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 3, day 2 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Jessmyr

He had been focusing so much on just moving forward, a concern had completely slipped his mind. But he had suddenly remembered in the midst of oiling his harness, so after the task was complete, A'kua had gone to find Weyrhealer Taren, the man who had initially treated him when he was Blooded. Some asking around sent him to the man's office late in the afternoon, so he hoped he hadn't arrived at an inconvenient time. Well, only one way to find out, so he knocked on the office door.

"Please, come in," Taren called. Updating the infirmary records was nessessary part of his work but not his favourite, so he was pleased to be interrupted. "Ah, A'kua, what can I do for you?" he asked when the bronzerider stepped in.

A'kua gave the Weyrhealer a nod. "I hope you've been well," he said, taking a seat in front of the desk. "I'm sorry if I've interrupted, but I was hopin' you could educate me on somethin' I've been worried about. You see, late in month one, my-" His throat closed briefly. He wished that would stop. "My si- my father died. Just keeled over at his desk without warnin', even though he was perfectly healthy. What- What causes that?"

"I'm doing hidework so any interruption is welcome," Taren grinned. When he heard the boy's question, he came serious professional. "Without knowing his medical history, it's impossible to say for sure. The usual suspects are heart attack, embolism or brain hemorrhage. How old was he? I presume they didn't do a post mortem?" Most of the time that was done only when foul play, like murder, was involved.

The bronzerider was silent for a short time. Finally, he said, awkward and embarrassed, "I don't know what those last three terms mean. The em-embolism and post-mortem and stuff. But he was buried right away. I guess he was in the middle of his fifth decade. His da died the same way, just keelin' over unexpectedly."

"Embolism is when something blocks a major blood vein, usually inside a heart or brains. Normally it's a blood clot or a fat globule. Hemorrhage is when a blood vessel in a brain breaks and bleeds blood to your brains. Post-mortem is medical examination done after death involving an autopsy. Tendency to early heart attacks seems to be something that runs in families," Taren explained it in layman's terms.

"Oh." That made a weird sense. "Thanks." A'kua hesitated again. "Whatever it was, is there a way to tell if it could happen to me?"

"Not with any kind of certainty. There are usually warning sights;" Taren replied.

That made the bronzerider curious. Generally, things that happened fast gave no warning at all. "Like what?"

"Being overweight increases the risks, as well as high blood cholestrol or high blood preasure" Taren replied. "Chest pains or just abnormal feelings around your chest, shortness of breath or sudden exhaustion, dizziness or lighheadness, cold sweats, irregural heartbeat, blurring speech or sudden muscular weakness. Some healers say that people with ruddy face are more likely to get a heart attack," Taren listed out. "The problem is that most people just ignore the signs. It's just heartburn or maybe I walk those stairs up too fast, they say."

A'kua comforted himself with the thought that he and Firelloa weren't obese or ruddy-faced. "What about the blood clots? Are there signs for those?"

"Unfortunately, no. Unless you're lucky enough and it first blocks a vein in your arm or leg," Taren replied.

That sounded deeply unpleasant. A'kua tried to suppress a twitch and didn't entirely succeed. "Can anythin' be done to prevent it? Or if not, is there any way to tell if I'm at risk _now_?"

"You can prevent it with healthy way of life: exercise and eating healthy, avoiding excess drinking. Since you're dragonrider, I would say that you have greater risk to die by Thread than any heart condition. Besides, if there was something fundamentaly wrong with your health, you wouldn't have Impressed," Taren replied.

Oh, right. That was why Jess had been passed over. "Prevention I can do, but I'd feel a lot better if there was a way to be sure for at least the immediate future," the younger man mumbled.

"If you want to more reassurance, hop on your dragon and go visit the dolphins. They can tell if there's something wrong in your body," Taren said. Of course, dolphins could only tell if there was for instance, a blood clot forming, they couldn't tell if that was going to happen ten Turns from now.

A'kua's mind was blown. "They can do that?" he asked incredulously. Of course he'd heard of dolphins, but hadn't paid them any mind, so he was ignorant on the subject. **Zei, ask around and see if anyone knows the best way to meet a dolphin.**

}:A what now? Doll-fin? What's that?:{

**An animal that lives in the water. We need to find out how to meet one, so start asking.** "Thank you, Weyrhealer," A'kua said quickly, lest the older man think he was being rude. "I didn't know that was an option."

"Yes, they can do that. They use something called sonar to see underwater and they can use it to see inside a person too. Of course, there's a limit of how small details they can see and you can't just pick any random dolphin. You need one trained to do it, so they know what they are looking for. Very smart beasts, those shipfish," Taren told the young rider.

"Still, I'd like to try." A'kua stood up. "Thank you very much for your time, Weyrhealer."

}:A'kua, I talked with a green named Sirjath, and you know it wasn't easy for me,:{ Zeiranth reported. }:But she knows something about doll-fins. I'll ask if her rider is available.:{

"You're welcome and good luck with it," Taren replied.

"Thank you," A'kua repeated, giving the other man a quick salute, and hastened outside. **Zei, ask Sirjath if her rider's free for a few words by the-** He glanced about. **By the winter lake. If not, ask where or when would be better.**

A mental sigh. }:You got it.:{ And the bronze did.

}: My rider is done with her daily duties, she will be there, :{ Sirjath assured to the young bronze. Only then she bothered to actually inform her rider.

A'kua made it to the winter lake at a jog with time to spare, and had Zeiranth pass the message that he was there whenever Sirjath's rider could make it. The time gave him a chance to organize his thoughts.

**Are you trying to set me up on blind-date or something?** Uetia asked from her green when she jogged towards the lake. She had just finished with her physio, she was sweaty and dressed for sports.

"You're Zeirath's rider?" she asked when she arrived.

"Yes, I'm A'kua. Thank you for comin' to see me so quickly," A'kua said, offering a hand. He wasn't the least put off by her appearance. "I heard you know somethin' about dolphins, and that you'd be the best person to talk to about that. I need to know the best way to meet one that knows how to look at humans with their- their sonar, is it?"

"Well met, A*kua, I'm Uetia," she clasped his hand. "And yes, I'm journeywoman dolphineer so I do know a bit about dolphins," Uetia grinned. "The best way? Go to the Dolphin Hall at Dolphin Cove Weyr. They have the most trained dolphins and they've quite used to dragonriders."

"Who should I talk to there? Do I need to make an appointment in advance?" He could borrow his sister's fire-lizard if he had to.

"Well, I have to admit I've haven't been in touch with the Hall, so I don't know if they are still there or assigned somewhere," Uetia said and then rattled out a list of names. "Making an appointment is good manners, although most of there won't mind if you drop by unexpected. Just that they might be busy with classes and don't have the time to help you."

"Got it. Thank you again," A'kua said, nodding respectfully. "I really do appreciate it." This was going to be a very interesting experience. He found himself wondering what dolphins were like up close.

"No trouble at all," Uetia replied. "You kind of gave me an itch to go there myself. It's been far too long since I saw the Hall."

"Hope you have a nice time if you do," A'kua said automatically, already mentally composing an appropriate letter. "I better get goin'. The sooner I write, the sooner I might get a chance to do this."

"Alright," Uetia replied. "See you around," she headed back inside.

Last updated on the March 29th 2018

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Deciding a Course of Action.