To Healer Hall

Writers: Miriah, Suzee
Date Posted: 2nd April 2019

Characters: Y'gel, Urlene, Solmon
Description: Supplies and staff are gathered despite fears.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 24 of Turn 9
Notes: Mentioned: Briata, D'hol, Cyradis

Y'gel

Urlene

Y'gel followed Urlene as they came out of the Weyrwoman's office.
"Alright," he said. "I'll have Aughasyth in the bowl ready to take us
to the Healer Hall in a few minutes. Do you have a warm cloak or
jacket?"

Urlene jerked to a stop, staring at Y'gel before hurrying her steps
after him. "Us? There's no need for us both to go. I can make a list
of supplies that will be needed. Some of them require a Master to
requisition, and that is yourself, not me. I can prepare the staff we
need should Cyradis somehow get him to agree."

"Urlene," he said gently turning to face her. "You are the surgeon
here, I'm just assisting you and knowing how difficult this could be
you might be able to recruit the right help at the Hall. The only way
to get there and back inside a month is dragonback. The staff can be
readied by Master Luvin."

She visibly paled, trying desperately to find some reason why he could
not go on his own. The thought of riding a dragon, let alone a massive
bronze, made her legs tremble. Anytime she had ever had to travel out
of the Weyr in the entire sixteen turns she had lived here, she went
by runner or at worst, a wagon or ship. Her fingers wound tightly in
her skirt. "I can't..." the whisper barely was out of her mouth. "I'll
send a letter and you can deliver it. I can't go dragonback, Y'gel."

He waited for a moment considering his next words carefully. He'd
noticed it when she'd come to his office and other times when they'd
talked. "Why are you afraid of dragons?"

At first, she opened her mouth to hotly deny it, then realized she
couldn't. She swallowed hard. "They go so high and going into that
cold nothing...I can't do that again." She licked suddenly dry lips.
She had flown once and only once. It had been terrifying, blinking
into nothingness and emerging so far away from anything she had known
to go to a new home where she knew no one. The husband she had just
married had laughed at her fear of both the height and the trip
/between/. The memory made her shudder.

"I see," he said softly. "Well, a man and his bronze are both going to
die Urlene. There isn't another way to save them."

Despite her ordinary calm and reserve, Urlene felt close to tears and
had to blink back the stinging in her eyes. She couldn't however, stop
the trembling in her hands or the quiver in her knees. He couldn't
understand; he flew on his dragon all the time! But the thought of a
patient dying because she would not do what she had trained for, a
skill that she had dedicated her every waking moment for the past
sixteen turns to, was even worse.

For a moment, she irrationally hated Y'gel for forcing this on her.
Why couldn't he go himself and just take a letter? Or even better yet,
why couldn't Pachem? True the man was old, but he was a Master and she
wasn't. But she was the one who would be performing the operation; she
would be the one in charge. It was her duty. Her shoulder's slumped.
"I'll go get my cloak."

He watched her go and called Aughashyth down, then went in to get his
straps and gear. He told Braita what they were doing and when he
expected to be back then he went back out to put the riding straps on
with a extra double harness for Urlene.

The moment she stepped out into the Weyrbowl, wearing a heavy cloak,
and spotted Aughashyth, she came to a complete stop. Her pale skin was
green around her mouth, and her eyes shadowed with strain. The bronze
was just so _massive_. She felt her stomach roil in response and
couldn't bring herself to take another step forward.

Y'gel watched her and sighed. Aughashyth's eyes whirled blue and the
big rider shook his head. He'd seen people like this before and
normally he'd just let it go. But this time there were two lives at
stake. He walked over to where she stood. "Do you need help?"

She shook her head and took an unsteady breath before forcing one step
forward, then another and another. Hands clenched in her cloak, she
swallowed unheard whimpers of fear even as she felt her heart attempt
to beat itself out of her chest. Finally, she was beside the big
bronze and she clenched her eyes shut as she spoke, her voice hoarse.
"I need help up."

"Of course," he said. Aug held out a leg and he stepped up on it. Then
he bent and picked her up and carried her up the straps to sit in the
seat behind his. He buckled her in with the belt and made sure her
cloak was closed around her before adding a shoulder harness. "This
will make it extra safe," he said. Not telling her that they were what
he used for unconscious riders. Then he climbed into the seat in front
of her and clipped himself in. "Hold onto me," he added.

She kept her eyes tightly clenched shut as he strapped her in, not
even daring to crack them open for a single moment. Though she was
undoubtedly secure, she didn't feel safe. As she felt him settle in
front of her, she laid visibly shaking fingers against his back and
clutched at the jacket until her knuckles were white. ** Please don't
/between/. Please be quick. Please please please...**

Moments later with a mighty leap they were in the air Aughashyth wings
beat several times before ducking between a couple of heartbeats
later they were gliding toward the ground in front of the healer hall.
Aug announced a Healer emergency and by the time they landed there
were several Apprentices and Journeymen running toward them.

The moment they were in the air, Urlene whimpered, huddling close to
Y'gel's back, but when they went /between/ there was a shriek of
terror that was lost in the nothingness. When they emerged, Urlene
was pale, scrabbling wildly at Y'gel's back to find any sort of
solidness beneath her palms; as soon as the bronze landed, she was
struggling with the straps, sweat popping out of clammy skin and her
face was as white as snow. "Let me down, let me down..."

Her struggles made it impossible for him to open the buckles so he
grabbed her shoulders "Stop," he said loudly. "I'll get you out but
you have to stop fighting me."

"I'm going to be sick. Get me down before I throw up all over both of
you. " She swallowed, but stilled her hands, clenching them into
fists. Her breathing hard and fast, she barely noticed the people
assembling around the dragon. She heard the chatter, but all she could
think about was getting down and getting away as quickly as possible
before her stomach failed her.

His deft fingers unfastened the buckles and he threw the straps off of
her. "Go," he said

Her eyes opened with relief, but then she looked down. Swallowing
hard, and thinking of her quavering stomach, she swung her leg over,
flashing far too much slender thigh and slipped down to fall on
Aughashyth's proffered forelimb. In her haste, she nearly tumbled off
of it, but righted herself, clambered down, and shoved past waiting
apprentices. She made her way to bunch of witch-hazel shrubs, fell to
her knees and was immediately sick, retching up the contents of her
stomach with a low groan.

A young man, probably a senior apprentice followed, but she waved a
hand at him. "Don't." She swallowed, then wiped her mouth with the
back of a shaking hand.

"Master?" One of the journeymen approached the bronze as Y'gel slid
down. "There is an emergency?" He looked over at the young woman
heaving in the bushes.

"Not her," he said. "She is a journeyman from my Weyr. We need to
speak with the Master Surgeon."

"Yes sir," he said and turned toward the Hall.

"Urlene?" Y'gel called her

She stood, taking a moment to steady herself on wavering feet. Her
back to all of them, she wiped at her face, and with still shaking
hands, smoothed her skirts back into some semblance of order. Urlene
felt the embarrassment of her frantic fear keenly, but now that she
was on her feet, felt steadier. She inhaled, grimaced at the taste in
her mouth, but finally turned, flicking a glance at Y'gel before
lifting her chin and following the journeyman into the Healer Hall.

He wisely didn't react to the look she threw him but followed the
Journeyman to the Master's office.

"Y'gel!" A hearty shout of greeting came out of Master Solmon's
office. "I thought that was Aughashyth out there. What brings you to
the Hall?"

He turned with a smile. "Uncle Solmon, this is Urlene of Dolphin Cove,
one of the finest surgeon's you'll ever meet."

"Is she now," the elderly healer turned his eyes on the young woman
with a smiled reaching for her hand. "Very pleased to meet you, young
woman."

Her face immediately flushed with realization and she gave Y'gel a
long look that should have had sparks leaping out of it. His _uncle_?
He could have gotten all the supplies they needed! Why had he insisted
on bringing her here on dragonback when he knew that dragons terrified
her? Just to toy with her? To laugh at her fear like Pengwil had? She
swallowed her anger, burying it deep and turned to the older healer,
taking his hand.

She had to bring up every ounce of etiquette that had been taught to
her as a child, bringing a warm smile to her mouth. It had been a long
time, but she remembered. "It is a pleasure, Master Solmon. I have
heard a great deal about you and read many of your scrolls. I fear
however that we must be quick; I may be performing a rather risky
abdominal surgery and need supplies that aren't readily available
elsewhere. And perhaps additional staff, if any other Masters are
free."

"Abdominal," he nodded. "Yes, that is risky. I have a talented
Journeyman Reptin who could also assist. Y'gel here is passable."

"Hey," Y'gel grinned.

"Yes, yes," Solman waved a hand. "We'll bring Reptin and I'll come
with you. This must be an important man," he asked.

"Yes, sir," Y'gel said. "He's a very experienced Wingleader. The
dolphins diagnosed an abdominal mass but not the type."

Urlene stilled, surprised at both the experienced help of a Master
Healer and at the proffered journeyman. "We appreciate as much
assistance as you can provide. Will you want to perform the surgery
yourself, Master Solmon?" She was one of the best, and she knew it,
but had to defer to more experienced, ranking hands. "I was also going
to request a vial of penicillin and foxglove, Master. I would like to
make sure that there is as little chance of infection as possible."
Both medicines were rarely provided, and the dosage of foxglove had to
be precise. She knew full well that it may be refused, but should the
rider's heart falter because of shock, foxglove was necessary.

"Of course," he said "Do you have the list?" He took it and handed it
off to the Journeyman. "Give this to Reptin and have him prepare to
assist. We'll be leaving in half a candlemark." Then he looked back at
Urlene. "This surgery will take hands steadier than mine are these
days," he said. "I'll just lean over the patient and suggest. How does
that sound?"

Urlene inclined her head, relief filtering through her mind at both
the reassurance of her place in the infirmary during the surgery and
the acceptance of her request. Though the surgery was risky, she had
wanted to perform it herself, just to know that she could succeed at
it. "That sounds very reasonable. I would appreciate your assistance,
Master Solmon."

~~~

By the time they were back at the Weyr, it was late afternoon.
Aughashyth landed gently and his passengers slid down to the ground.
Y'gel helped his Uncle and then reached for Urlene.

The return trip had been just as hard as the trip there, but her anger
at Y'gel had provided such a focus for her that she'd been able to
keep herself from completely panicking. Urlene had hadn't been able to
help the cry of distress from bubbling out of her mouth as the cold
nothingness of /between/ hit her, and her heart had beat just as
frantically, but thankfully there was nothing left in her stomach to
heave up afterwards, as much as it roiled in complaint. The moment
Y'gel placed her on the ground, she had to step quickly away, keeping
her shaking hands hidden under her cloak. In a hoarse voice, she
excused herself to go prepared the infirmary.

Solmon raised an eyebrow and Y'gel just shook his head. "She's afraid
of dragons. But she needed to meet you and ask for your help. This
could be a very tough one.

"Reptin," he called to the Journeyman and they all marched to the Infirmary.

Last updated on the April 12th 2019

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