... help?! (Kali

[dragon]

She felt like she was intruding. In a place where she really wasn't supposed to be. Despite all the endless months day after day she'd spent toiling in the place, the infirmary felt like a foreign place all of a sudden. A place that didn't want her there, that she had to hurry and tiptoe through. But maybe she was just being ridiculous and silly. It was the stress, that was it. She was being hyper aware and completely illogical, contorting everything her senses told her. That had to be it. Dorava bit her bottom lip, brows drawn together and down until they almost met. She couldn't have looked more worried if she'd tried.

She knew who she needed to see ... and she was worried sick over it. Over many things, actually. Dorava knew she wasn't welcome in the infirmary anymore, and that was part of it. So she didn't linger long in any place, instead heading for where she needed to go like she had a purpose. Though she certainly did have one. Part of it was that she needed Kalierre's help ... and she had no idea of Kali was going to give it to her. Would she laugh and turn her away, or worse, have her chased out of the infirmary and thrown off the ledge? She couldn't say how this would go. But she couldn't not try. She had to try. She needed help, that she knew.

Dorava went straight to where she pretty much knew Kali would be, bypassing all other places. As she hurried with long, ground-eating strides, she hoped that Kali was actually there, in her office. And not today being a random fluke of the dragonhealer not being there. That would so ruin her day... hoping that Kali was actually there, Dorava reached the doorway and paused, feeling sick to her stomach in a really bad way. Partly from stress making her want to retch all over the place, and partly from residual overlap.

"Kali?" She asked, quietly from the doorway. "I ... I need your help. Please."

[Requiem]

The pain was getting worse, almost daily now. The dragonhealer had a high pain tolerance - a ridiculously high pain tolerance - but she'd begun thinking that maybe it was time to start taking something for it. Every extra ounce of weight (and she wasn't showing yet, so it really was a matter of ounces and not pounds) seemed to put an unseemly amount of pressure on her hip. It didn't keep her from making hourly rounds of the patients, though Kalierre was spending more and more time in her office. Managing and feeling useless.

She hobbled, her limp much pronounced, down the hall. Turning the corner, Kalierre caught sight of Dorava (whom she had most definitely not been expecting to see back in the infirmary any time soon) outside her door. The dragonhealer had stopped and now simply watched her, listening. Odd. Well, it made sense for someone to come to her if they needed help...much more sense than someone trying to work here again after quitting under a cloud. And no, Kalierre would not accept if Dorava offered. The woman couldn't handle the atmosphere, and it would be worse now that she'd alienated R'wign. (Strangely, that was the extent of the dragonhealer's reasoning. If you could handle the heat, she wasn't likely to tell you no.)

"I'm not in there," Kalierre stated quietly, from her position just down the hall. Her salamandyr perched on the hand gripping the cane, watching Dorava placidly. His tongue flickered. Buttmunch help need. What help? The dragonhealer's mouth quirked, and she shrugged expressively. "I guess he said it, didn't he? What's up, Dorava?" Because it didn't take a genius to realize that the greenrider probably wouldn't be here unless she felt she had to be. And she knew enough of the little basics that any visit from her contained a worrisome element.

[dragon]

Dorava turned, when she heard Kali's voice coming from somewhere else than she'd expected it to come from. She inhaled slowly, trying to regain control over herself, lest she puke when she opened her mouth, instead of talk. But, now Kali was here, paying attention, and not biting her head off yet. So this was a good sign, right? "Val is sick. I ... I think he's dying." She answered, simply, before fishing a small wad of cloth out of her pocket. Keep him warm was the only thing she could think of to do. Holding it in one hand, she carefully unwrapped her salamandyr until he was exposed, lying in a limp semi circle in her palm. This, she extended to Kalierre.

Val was completely still other than the barest of flutters of his side, indicating he was still breathing, flopped over on his side. His white behind had a tinge of grey blue to it, and his midnight blue front was a pasty grey color. Making him look far more of a solid color than he should have. Mouth slightly ajar, his tongue protruded very slightly, a pasty yellow color instead of the proper green hue it should have had. His eyes were half open, and barely swirling at all, also in shades of grey and yellow. Plainly, he was very, very sick. On top of that, his skin was loose and not sticking to him very well, making it look like he was seriously dehydrated. The little creature looked like he could die at any moment.

Dorava watched Kalierre in silence, hoping beyond hope that the dragonhealer could save the little guy, all while valiantly holding down the bile that was still fighting its way up her throat. She knew just how Val was feeling, as it was bleeding off onto her in amounts that she couldn't really handle very well. She felt sick. Bad enough that she wanted to go find someplace dark and secluded to curl up and shiver. Not stand here and look at Kalierre, well knowing that the woman could (and might well) turn her away.

[Requiem]

Kalierre frowned down at the pallid little creature. Lust made a soft hissing sound at sight of Valiant. Scairdypest much not well, bad looks. Lovemine? "Office," the woman responded tersely. She could hardly examine the creature as they were now. Kalierre made her way painfully to the desk, electing to sit on the edge and prop her cane against it instead of going the extra distance around to her chair.

Her bronze, however, had already joined Valiant in Dorava's hand. The male nuzzled the blue's neck with shocking gentleness. 'Scairdypest' had been adopted by Lust as his (along with most of the other pets and healers who frequented the infirmary) and it did upset him to see the mandyr so miserable. That, and LoveHis kept creatures healthy, a job he had gradually come to take seriously - and take part in. Tell where bad feel, he urged the blue, nuzzling him again. What scairdypest do? Not good. Get better, Lust bite stupid scairdypest, make all worry much. Kalierre's lips twitched wryly. Picking up her curious bedside manner - or lack thereof - as well, was he?

The woman regarded the ex-Benden rider for a moment, one brow lifting. "Bring him to me, then." She extended her hands, though she didn't wait for Dorava to reply before continuing. "You look like shit, too." With most patients Kalierre wasn't this abrupt, but Dorava was hardly under any illusions and - anyway - the woman was shifting even now to relieve some of the pressure. "It's from him, isn't it?" Lust jumped off when he was close enough, curling lightly around Kalierre's wrist and licking along the pulse in her wrist, crooning.

"He's not dying. Lust would be more upset," she stated, and there was even a touch of comfort in her tone, despite the briskness of the words. "Tell me what you feel."

[dragon]

Dorava was surprised, despite how she felt, when Lust suddenly appeared in her hand next to Valiant. Where had he come from ... how did he get there? Shards, she must really be out of it, if she hadn't seen the shiny creature crawling around. At first she thought that Lust was going to attack Val, even in his current state and flinched a bit. But thankfully nothing happened. Lust seemed to even be genuinely concerned; which really surprised Dorava. At Kali's instruction, Dorava obediently followed into the office, and then gingerly handed the mandyr and wrapping all at once to the healer, using the cloth much like a hammock to keep from disturbing the sick mandyr too much.

Val, for his part, was so lethargic that he didn't even acknowledge that Lust was there, much less answer him. He just stared at nothing, drooling on the cloth that held him. Dorava only nodded ever so slightly at Kali's assessment of her own condition. "I feel like shit. I do think it's him... I ... I ..." she trailed off, and inhaled deeply, slowly, trying to stave off a strong urge to vomit.

"I feel sick. Real sick. Like... I want to puke until I can't... and then some more. My muscles ache worse than after a day of heavy labor. My head feels like it's going to explode, it hurts so much ... I ... I just ... all over ..." She closed her eyes for a moment, silent again.

He wasn't going to die. That was a much needed piece of good news. Dorava smiled ever so faintly, before opening her eyes again. She most assuredly hoped beyond hope that Kalierre could fix whatever was wrong with him.

[Requiem]

Frowning down at the little creature, Kalierre prodded him lightly with one finger. She listened to Dorava's description silently. "Probably ingested some form of toxin," she commented absently. Not good, no, but the simple fact that he was still doing all right and Lust wasn't worried - much - meant that the blue salamandyr probably hadn't ingested anything too terribly potent, despite how terrible he looked right now. (And Dorava looked.)

Basic treatment for toxins...placing her foot up on the desk, she reached back to rummage through one of her drawers. "There are a few bugs around here that can be bad for mandyrs to eat. We get them in occasionally. Ah, here." Absolutely tiny tubing and a small vial. Using very little of the powder, she mixed it into the water and carefully fed the tubing to Val, holding him still with just a lightly placed finger.

Once satisfied, she pulled out another vial, this one containing simple vegetable oil to coat the salamandyr's stomach. Slow up aborption into the ichor. She could always induce vommiting as well, but at this point it wasn't likely to do much good other than make the creature and his bonded more uncomfortable. They were likely to end up vommiting anyway. "It's going to be uncomfortable for a bit longer, but you should notice that easing shortly. Why don't you go lie on my couch?"

Kalierre hobbled awkwardly for the corner of the room, coming back with a pail in case Dorava needed it. The woman edged back around the desk to sit in her chair, Lust curling up to her neck. "Tell me if things start to feel worse, though they shouldn't."

[dragon]

Dorava swayed on her feet, wanting to retch so badly all over the place as that solution was applied to her mandyr. Val was not at all happy with it, and tried to retch the tube back out of his mouth, protesting weakly and writhing just a bit. It was the most life he'd shown in quite awhile. But once the tube and contents were removed from his mouth, he went back to laying limp, just staring absently at whatever happened to be in front of him.

She almost didn't hear what Kalierre had to say, but in the end it eventually registered. Dorava nodded, and moved toward the recommended couch. Once there, she eased down, trying to avoid any jarring motions that might unseat her ability to hold back the bile. When the bucket appeared in her vision, she smiled weakly and accepted it with a faint nod, grateful. Now it wouldn't be such a bad thing if she did lose control. It was hard to stomach the idea of opening her mouth to talk, as she just knew that if she opened her mouth, stuff would come out of it in an uncontrollable hurry.

Finally, after a few deep breaths, she gave it a shot. "I... I ... I'll try." She managed, sounding hoarse for a moment. Silent for another moment, she set the bucket on the floor between her feet, resting elbows on her knees. "I don't know what happened. I was ... I was in drills, when I first noticed..." again, Dorava paused, really not wanting to grace that bucket with her breakfast. "I hurried back, but I couldn't find him. Eventually Mandyr found him, crammed into a hole in the cliff face. She brought him out and over, I could never have gotten to that place." She gestured vaguely toward Kalierre with one hand, before returning elbow to knee. "That was how he looked then. I brought him here as fast as I could."

If it was a bug, Dorava hoped that it wouldn't kill him, and even more so that he had learned his sharding lesson. Not everything that held still long enough to be eaten should be eaten, after all!! The little twit. Obviously, she was going to have to start taking him to drills with her - something she distinctly didn't like doing. He couldn't fly, or between after all, and the first time she'd done it he'd had the audacity to jump off of Aonith in the middle of a maneuver.

Dorava stayed silent for a long time, leaning on her knees for quite a while. In Kalierre's hand, Valiant started showing more signs of improvement sooner than Dorava did, remarkably enough. It was just possible that he still felt crummy, but he was driven to not stay put, either, as he started curling up on himself, trying to cover the white portions of his hide. It was a rather silly looking thing to witness, of all the times to be utterly embarrassed and shy, this 'mandyr had it down pat. Pulling his tongue back into his mouth, he blinked, before arching his neck and puking onto Kalierre's hand.

Directly afterward he offered a very faint, apologetic peep.

[Requiem]

Kalierre merely glanced at Dorava as the greenrider began giving her the extensive version of operation: locate sick Val. It wasn't helpful to the salamandyr's treatment and the woman was practically gasping this out. The dragonhealer rarely saw anyone quite that effected by the health of their small little bonded. It wasn't so unusual to note a salamandyr suffering when their bonded was but...she dismissed it. Bonds were different, obviously. Phremath was proof enough of that.

"You probably should lie down," she stated mildly, not sure if her tone would convey the boredom or not. Likely not. The dragonhealer didn't mind Dorava as much as the greenrider seemed to think she did. (Kalierre was a bitch. It was her nature, and her healers in particular tended to receive the brunt of it. Mostly it was just a sign of stress and pain, although you did not want to pull any stupid stunts in her infirmary. Kalierre's ire wasn't pretty.)

But that certainly didn't mean that she really liked the other woman much. She was northern, and it bothered her that Dorava seemed incapable of respecting authority - particularly in the case of R'wign who had bent over backwards to help her. Single transgressions were forgivable. Aonith's condition had been all but forgotten. Repeated behaviors, however? Kalierre had a long memory.

Perhaps aware of her less-than-favorable thoughts toward his mindmate, the blue salamandyr chose that moment to paint her hand with his delightful intestinal juices. She sighed. At least he'd be getting better quicker now. (It certainly wasn't the first time she'd been vomitted on.) "Don't worry about it, little one. That's what soap and water is for. Feeling a little better, are we?"

Strange that she felt so much more comfortable addressing a salamandyr as opposed to people. It hadn't always been that way, of course. If Kalierre was to be perfectly honest with herself? She'd started becoming less and less approachable ever since the weyrling massacre. The tangle with felines and then Benden riders more or less cemented it. (Neurotic, maybe, but she couldn't help but think that people wouldn't want a crippled healer tending to them.)

"You can probably take him back now. I'd sure he'd be more comfortable with you." Kalierre hobbled over to the woman on the couch and extended Val back to her.

[dragon]

Dorava shook her head slightly, in protest. If she laid down, she was pretty sure she would lose the contents of her stomach. Retching had never been a favorite passtime of hers, and right now gravity was one of the few things working in her favor. So in her mind, it was best if gravity kept working for her, holding everything down, rather than suddenly helping everything closer to the nearest exit. "I ... I'd rather stay sitting, thanks." She answered, trying to not seem rude. Even though she knew she wasn't following the instructions of a healer, it just didn't feel like a good idea.

Val curled up tighter, blinking blearily, until he saw Lust. Dropping his head onto his own body, Val offered a timid peep of a hello to the bronze, hoping to escape getting jumped on. He remembered how Lust usually was, even if only simply because he'd spent so much time in the same infirmary as Lust. When Kali spoke to him, Valiant looked up at her and peeped again. Not. Not. He said, whatever that was supposed to mean.

Inhaling a bit easier, the greenrider sat up a bit straighter as Kalierre approached with her salamandyr. Dorava managed to crack a tiny, relieved smile upon seeing Val more alert than an inert piece of seaweed. Reaching up, she carefully lifted him free of the dragonhealer's hand, resting him in her own. Unfortunately, just as soon as he settled against her warm palm, he retched again, leaving a puddle of watery looking crud full of black bits in her hand as well.

"Oh ... ew..." Dorava covered her own mouth, and grimaced. Normally she would have been fine with it, but being on the hair edge of retching herself, witnessing a retching, seeing and smelling it, it looked like she was going to lose her own breakfast anyway any moment.

[Requiem]

Kalierre merely shrugged. If Dorava didn't want to lie down, she was hardly going to force her. Lust crooned reassuringly to the blue, even though his words weren't particularly...gentle.Make stomach mess, MineLove's hand. Not nice. Should no eat bad yucky bug. Make sick. Lust bite dead eat make sick bug again. Understand?

Upon relieving herself of the puking salamandyr, Kalierre stepped back and pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, not even glancing up when she heard the creature retch again. Well, he was Dorava's, and if he was going to puke on anyone it really should be the other greenrider, now shouldn't it? The dragonhealer's expression pulled taught into something that clearly expressed distaste as she removed the goo from palm and fingers. Tossing the handkerchief in a basket of other soiled linens, she set about actually cleaning her hands.

"You can stay there until you feel you're ready to leave," she stated, rather generously given her history with Dorava. "He seems to be recovering just fine." Certainly more lively, anyway. The dragonhealer dragged herself back behind her desk and settled into her chair with a muted hiss, shuffling through her paperwork. She actually was doing a lot of shuffling and little work, here lately, given she couldn't seem to concentrate very long on much.

Fortunately, taking care of a salamandyr eating toxic bugs didn't take a lot of ingenuity. It wasn't even very uncommon. Those bugs were everywhere, it seemed.

[dragon]

Valiant twisted his head around on his neck, to look at the bronze when Lust started talking. When Lust finished, Val merely blinked for a moment, silent as he tried to puzzle out what that had meant. Did it mean that if Val ate a bad bug again, Lust would bite it, too? That was silly. Or did it mean that if Val ate a bad bug again, Lust would eat Val? Or, kill the bug? It was all too confusing for the poor blue, so he merely nodded. Val understand. He fibbed, gleaning the new, long word from the bronze. Whatever it was Lust meant, Val didn't intend to find out. He'd learned his lesson about those bugs. Ever since he swallowed it, he had not been feeling good, so it was fairly obvious to him that it was all the bug's fault.

Now, whether or not the blue remembered that little bit of wisdom, remained to be seen. In the mean time, Val curled up really tight, and shivered just a bit, white tail laying across his fore feet. The tiniest of meeps escaped him, as Dorava tried to move him to her other hand and scrape the stomach matter off of her hand and into the pail. She then quickly wiped her palm off on the lower reaches of her pants. Even if it stained, it wasn't going to matter much. She'd been working firestone in those clothes, and were already stained and smelly beyond all recall.

Dorava only nodded gratefully, with a small smile, in response to Kali's generous offer. Otherwise she remained quiet, where she sat, watching Valiant on her hand. He was cold, she knew that much. But at least he was looking a great lot better, despite still being severely dehydrated. All he needed was a good drink and a long soak to cure that. At least he wasn't looking mostly dead anymore. Which was enough to make Dorava quite happy. Despite all the sicky feelings she was still experiencing. Maybe if Val got most of it out of his system, she wouldn't have to vacate her own in sympathy pains.

((thread done, unless you have more you want to add... <3))