What's the Matter with You?

Writers: Heather, Miriah
Date Posted: 3rd March 2019

Characters: K'lvin, Urlene
Description: K'lvin experiences heart palpitations that cause him to worry so he goes by the infirmary and is checked out by Urlene.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 4 of Turn 9

Urlene

The night of drinking and card playing with K'ran and A'kades had been
fun, but waking up the next morning with a pounding head was a rude
reminder that he didn't recover from such revelry as easily as he did
when he'd been in his twenties. **Hard liquor was a mistake,** he
thought with a groan as he swung his feet down to the floor and
cradled his head in his hands for a moment.

The pounding didn't cease so he went over and opened a small pouch of
headache powder to dump into a glass of water. He winced at the sound
of the spoon clinking against the glass as he stirred the mixture
together. **Mistakes were made,** he thought again as he lifted the
glass and chugged the bitter medicine.

Hoping that the medicine would kick in and that perhaps his regular
morning exercise would help ease the hangover, K'lvin pulled on his
workout clothing and took Xmrenth down to the weyrbowl where he began
his routine jog.

He was half way around the bowl on his fifth lap when it happened. A
weird fluttering in his chest. Fear tingled through his body as he
slowed to a stop, panting. There it was again. Another weird
fluttering. He clenched and unclenched his left hand. Was the tingling
from the exercise he'd been doing or was it the way his heart was
fluttering?

**Another heartattack?** It was his first thought and his biggest fear.

}:Should I call for Savith's?:{ Xmrenth asked immediately.

**No. I'll go by the infirmary and get checked out.** He wasn't
feeling the intense pain he had felt when he'd had his heart attack
before.

Changing directions, K'lvin walked to the infirmary, taking deep
breaths to try and calm his racing pulse.

"Excuse me," he said to the apprentice at the front desk, "I need to
see the healer on duty."

"Symptoms?" the girl asked.

K'lvin hesitated before saying, "Um, it's my heart, it's... beating funny."

She disliked the general shift, but unfortunately, it was a necessary
part of her sevenday. She heard yet another person be hurried to an
exam table directly beside the one she was presently in. "I'll be just
a moment," Urlene called over, then eyed the young teen candidate
presently on her exam table. "I told you to keep the bandaging dry. An
appendectomy is nothing to play with."

"I guess I just wanted to see you again."

The awkward pickup line was met by a soft snort. There was a rustle,
then a pause. "I suggest you get yourself under control, candidate.
That is nothing I'm interested in."

"I can't help it." The candidate sounded far too pleased with himself,
but at a soft thumping sound there was a howl. "Hey! What did you do
that for!?"

"If you can't control it then I will." The cool voice answered. "I'll
send in an apprentice to change the bandages. Perhaps next time you
bathe, you'll have a better memory. "

The curtain opened for K'lvin a few moments later and Urlene stepped
in, looking at the hide, before glancing up. "Bronzerider K'lvin?" She
looked at him, studying his face. "I see that you're concerned about
your heart again? What's going on?"

"It's felt pretty normal for the last six months, but it's been
fluttering oddly today." K'lvin's greatest hope was to someday be
cleared again for a fighting Wing, his greatest fear was to be told
that there was something permanently wrong with his heart. Maybe this
was proof that it would never be normal again.

"Hm." Urlene tugged the scope from her neck, undid the ties around his
neck, and pushed the cloth aside. Pressing the cool flat hide surface
against his chest, she frowned, listening for a moment. She looked up
at him and pulled away, then felt his brow. "Tell me, Bronzerider,
what have you been doing this morning?"

"I jog every morning," he said as he watched her work.

"What have you eaten?" Her voice was crisp.

"Nothing yet," he admitted, he usually ate after his morning exercise.
"I got up, had some water, took something for a headache, and then
went for the jog."

"A headache?" A blonde brow rose and she tilted her head, lips pursed.
"What exactly did you take?"

"More like a hangover," he admitted. "I just dumped in one of those
little powder packets."

For a moment, she just stared at him, then shook her head and turned
to rummage in a cabinet, her voice annoyed as she spoke. "It seems
that every bronzerider I have ever met uses his muscles or genitals to
do his thinking rather than the brains he was born with." She pulled
out a small bag and handed it to him. "That powder packet for your
hangover likely had a stimulant in it. Someone with a heart condition
like you have shouldn't be drinking to excess and certainly shouldn't
be taking a stimulant on an empty stomach. One glass of red wine, at
most two, should be all you indulge in, Bronzerider. Of course your
heart is pattering. You're dehydrated from drinking too much, you've
taken medication not cleared by your Healer, and you've jogged on top
of it all. The next time you want to get your heart racing and be
healthy, find a bed partner." She glanced down at the satchel she had
given him. "Willowsalic for your head. Put it in water and drink
that."

**"Someone with a heart condition like you..."** The words
reverberated through his brain. Was that what he would always be? A
person with a condition?

"Thank you," he said, taking the willowsalic. "Should I expect
something like this to happen again?"

Urlene arched a brow. "I just told you what to do to avoid it,
Bronzerider. Anybody would feel heart palpitations if they did what
you did. Don't do it again, and it shouldn't happen."

"Thank you for your time," he said with a nod.

She frowned, gazing at him. "Another thing before you go. Have you
been worrying a lot lately?"

A sardonic grin came to his lips, "You could say that. I feel as
though I am walking this fine line of trying to live the life I had
before and yet not do anything to cause another heart attack."

She didn't answer his smile, but her brow rose even higher. "Ever
heard of anxiety and how too much can mimic a heart attack?"

"How do I live in a Weyr, with two children, fulfill my duties, in the
midst of a Pass, and have no anxiety? Oh, and without alcohol
involved." K'lvin asked bemusedly.

"Talk to a Mindhealer." The reply was quick and brisk.

"I already have one. I was assigned him after River Bluff was
destroyed." That was how he'd met Riveenata.

"Good." At least he was doing something correctly. "Now, go get
something to eat."

"I will," he promised, knowing that after breakfast he had to make
some tough decisions about his future.

Last updated on the March 11th 2019

Welcome to Triad Weyrs!

What's the Matter with You?