The Loss of a Patient

Writers: Ames, Heather
Date Posted: 26th January 2014

Characters: Thayde, Aslvor
Description: Thayde looses a patient
Location: Dolphin Hall
Date: month 5, day 2 of Turn 7

Thayde

Thayde whistled to himself as she walked through the infirmary that
housed some of their sick or recuperating dolphins. He spent most of
his time there since he found it to be a relaxing place. His own
partner, Ada, was also inside the infirmary, not injured or sick, but
to be of assistance.

It was as he was browsing through some paperwork that he heard Ada's
call of distress. Whirling around in his chair he saw one of the
dolphin's struggling to remain upright in her water cell. Tearing
across the room, Thayde jumped into the water with the dolphin, shirt
and all as he wrapped his arms around the dolphin.

"Easy there, Dak, easy." Thayde crooned as he ran his hands over the
slick body of the dolphin, trying to make sure that the stitches he
had put in two days before had not burst open. Dak was no young
dolphin, but old with a body crisscrossed with scars from a lifetime
of experiences.

Dak did not respond to Thayde, but the dolphin's mouth worked slowly
back and forth. "Oh, no." Thayde sighed, his heart pounding in his
chest. Sometimes dolphins died, not from accidents, but simply from
old age. Having been a dolphineer for countless Turns now, Thayde knew
the signs when he saw them. He knew that these were Dak's last
moments, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Ada was silent, but remained close in the water, watching as her
dolphineer partner held the elderly Dak. She had Dak had been apart of
the same pod for as long as she could remember. But sometimes, it was
time for dolphins to return to the sea.

Thayde held the dolphin close to him, murmuring soothing words until
he felt all resistance drain out of the dolphin's body. And then...
Dak was gone. One, once again, with the sea. Even though Dak had not
been his partner, Thayde found himself swallowing past a hard knot in
his throat. Watching a dolphin die, even in old age, was never easy,
especially for a man who had dedicated his career to saving them.

"Journeyman Thayde?" He heard a sound soft voice question.

Looking over his shoulder, Thayde cleared his throat gruffily as he
saw one of the dolphin apprentices, "Go get Aslvor." When the
apprentice hesitated, Thayde growled, "Go!" He would need help getting
Dak out of the infirmary now that the dolphin was gone. He would also
need to do all of the necessary paperwork and report it to the
Hallmaster.

She'd been finishing up her meal in the dining room when the
apprentice caught her walking out. She was out of breath.

"Aslvor. Thayde needs you. Now." The young apprentice's face was full
of distress. Aslvor took in the look and panic clutched at her heart.
Something was wrong, that much she knew. She took off at a run, not
caring whose stares she got along the way.

She skidded into the infirmary, glancing around to find the problem.
Her eyes fell on him. There, in the water. His arms around the elderly
dolphin Dak they had been tending for some time. She breathed in, and
out as her eyes took in the scene. Dak was motionless. Aslvor knew
then, in that instant what had occurred. She closed her eyes and
allowed herself a quiet moment to mourn the loss of the gentle dolphin
before moving forward, kneeling at the edge of the healing pool.

"Thayde?" She didn't want to interfere until he was ready. She knew
all dolphineers handled the loss of a one of their 'own' in their own
special way. She hadn't been with Thayde when any of their dolphin
friends had passed back into the sea. So, she waited.

Thayde had seen Aslvor's arrival from the corning of his eye, but he
didn't look up until she spoke, "Will you help me get him out to sea?"
The dolphin would be hard to maneuver on his own, even with Ada's
presence. The man's normally laid-back countenance was gone, replaced
by something a bit more gruff.

"Of course," she replied, knowing it was the best way to allow Dak to
find his final rest. She stood and hurried over to the nearby wall.
Quickly stripping out of her regular clothes she donned an appropriate
wet suit. It only took her a matter of moments for she had grown used
to such quick changes in her time as a dolphineer.

Returning to the pool she slid into the water and over to Thayde's
side. Resting her arm on his shoulder she spoke softly, "I can hold
him for a moment if you need to prepare anything first."

"If you will just hold him for a second..." Thayde passed Dak's body
to Aslvor, rolling his shoulders and flexing his arms once they were
free of the dolphin. The water helped compensate for the dolphin's
body weight, but Thayde's arms had still grown tired of holding the
body while he had waited for Aslvor. "Alright, let's go."

She took Dak and held him gently in her arms while Thayde took a
moment to himself. She rubbed her hands over the dolphin's slick body
as she whispered, "Rest well, old friend."

"Cec is out in the outer pools resting with some of the other pod
members. As we make our way out I can get her to help us as well,"
Aslvor told Thayde when he was ready.

"That sounds good. Let's put this guy to rest." Thayde said before
pushing open the gate and leading the way out into the open water.

~*~

Returning to the dolphin infirmary without Dak felt lonely. There were
still other dolphin patients there that Thayde would be caring for,
but leaving a friend out at sea was never easy, even if it wasn't his
own partner. "Thanks for your help Aslvor. You were the first person I
thought to ask for when the apprentice walked in." He admitted as he
pulled himself up out of the water and grabbed a nearby towel. He
offered it to Aslvor.

She took the towel as she, too, pulled herself out of the water. Her
heart was heavy, but glad they had been able to take Dak to a better
final resting place.

Sitting on the edge beside Thayde, she bumped him with her shoulder.
"I'm glad you thought of me. I'm glad I could come to help." She knew,
deep down that the friendship she had been developing with Thayde
since his arrival at the Hall felt like more to her at times. She
wanted it to be more, but they hadn't broached that kind of topic in
any of their conversations.

Thayde watched as water ran in squiggly trails down his wet suit. It
wasn't that he was made of stone or never thought of Aslvor in that
way. Faranth knew she filled out a wet suit in all of the right
places. But she was young, and it had been so long since Thayde had
entertained anything outside of his craft that he didn't have the
faintest idea of how to even go about _having_ a relationship. Instead
he drew his feet up and stood, one hand extended down to Aslvor to
assist her, "I should be off. I have morning duty."

"Of course," she replied, taking his offered hand and standing. "Let
me know if you need help anytime." She gave him a faint smile tinged
with sadness at the loss of the dolphin. Then turning to grab her
clothes, she left the infirmary to dry off and change.

Last updated on the February 1st 2014

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The Loss of a Patient