Infirmary Duty

Writers: Estelle, Paula
Date Posted: 17th December 2018

Characters: R'fal, Olwinna
Description: R'fal helps Olwinna with her duties in the infirmary.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 18 of Turn 9

While all of his fellow weyrlings could spend a leisurely hour eating
dinner before their evening of freedom, R'fal had to gulp down a hasty
snack before heading off to his duty with the healers. After several
days of spending the entirety of his free time cleaning up various
noxious messes under the severe gaze of one healer or another, he had
gained a whole new respect for the craft, and a hope that he would never
be unlucky enough to need their aid. If there was one advantage to his
punishment, it was that he was so exhausted by the end of the day that
he didn't have the energy to think about his past mistakes.

When he arrived, he found a journeywoman on duty. She looked friendly
enough, besides the fact that she barely came up to his shoulder in
height, but R'fal had already learned that it paid to be respectful to
even the most harmless-looking weyrfolk.

"Journeywoman," he said, greeting her politely. "I'm R'fal... I'm
supposed to help you this evening."

"Well met, R'fal. I'm journeyman Olwinna," the tiny mindhealer replied
with a smile. Olwinna didn't have any mindhealing patients scheduled for
today so she was doing regular infirmary shift. "What did you do to pull
infirmary duties?" she asked. Havoc, perching on her shoulder, warbled
his own greeting. R'fal seemed to be of same age with her bluerider son.

"Um..." The young man lowered his eyes, abashed. "I had a party in my
weyr for our graduation to senior weyrlings. It was a bit messy. The
Weyrlingmaster wasn't pleased, and so...here I am."

"I see," Olwinna said with a chuckle. She knew parties like that, she's
been to parties like that when she was younger. "Well, let's get started
then. First, check if any of the bedridden patients need help relieving
themselves."

"Yes, ma'am." R'fal's heart sank, but he did his best to keep a cheerful
expression on his face. Bad enough to be stuck in bed, he thought,
without having to be helped by someone who looked resentful or
impatient. He headed in to the ward where the patients who were being
kept in overnight were resting. In the closest bed was an elderly auntie
with hip trouble, who just needed to lean on his shoulder on the way to
the latrine.

As they passed the door to the main room, the old lady stopped to greet
Olwinna. "I must have done something to please you today, journeywoman.
Instead of those skinny apprentices, you've sent me a handsome young
weyrling with nice muscles!" She cackled and squeezed R'fal's arm,
making him blush furiously.

"Be nice to him, Tiresha, no flirting. We don't want to scare him away,"
Olwinna scolded the auntie with gentle smile.

She turned to check one of the injured riders. The Thread score was
healing nicely, but it was still days before it was scarred enough for
him to get up and move. Since it was back score, he couldn't lay on his
back or put any weight on it. Getting him in to position to use bedpan
took some creativity.

"What, party boy? I wouldn't have thought he'd be scared of a little
flirting." Tiresha batted her eyelashes.

"I thought you were desperate, Auntie," R'fal said, wishing he'd never
even thought of that wretched party. Did the whole Weyr know about it?

"Don't put yourself down, dear. A girl doesn't have to be desperate to
appreciate a sweet lad like you," she replied with a wink.

"I meant, desperate for...you know! The, uh, latrine." He whispered the
last word. Surely it couldn't be polite to say it out loud in front of
all the other patients. R'fal wished he could just pick the frail old
lady up and carry her there, but not only would it be bad for her hip,
he'd probably get teased even more.

"So I am," Tiresha said, taking pity on him. "We'd best hurry. Don't
want an accident."

"I'm not the one who'll be moping it," Olwinna replied.

No, R'fal thought disconsolately, that would be him!

Much to his relief, they made it to the latrine and back without
accidents of any kind, and the young weyrling helped the old auntie back
into her bed before moving on to the next patient, a drudge who was
recovering from a fever and just needed support to use the bedpan.

Olwinna's next patient was old brownrider who had a stroke and was now
half paralyzed. He couldn't get up either, so Olwinna had to hold the
bedpan and his penis to aim it. He made a lame joke about it. "Oi, you
dragonriders, such you're such a bawdy lot, always flirting," Olwinna
replied, well knowing he was past things like that. In fact, he couldn't
even feel her hands on him. It made the journeywoman sad. Sometimes a
sudden death in a Fall was more merciful than this.

"Hey! Some of us dragonriders are very well behaved," R'fal said with a
smile, as he passed on his way to empty the bedpan.

The brownrider snorted. "Wait until you've been in the Fighting Wings
for a Turn or two, lad. Then, you'll be flirting with the best of us."

"And I flirt right back, but not when I'm working," Olwinna said and
moved to next one. Newly birthed mother with a baby. She had lost a good
deal of blood during the delivery. "Is the baby sucking?" Olwinna asked.

"Like a hungry dragonet," the mother smiled. "I'm still bleeding," she
continued with worried tone.

"R'fal, fetch those menstrual binders for her," Olwinna asked.

"Fetch what, ma'am?" He looked at her in confusion, having no idea what
she was talking about. No-one had ever discussed such matters with boys
back at his hold.

"Cloth or cotton swabs you put inside your panties when you have
monthlies. They are on storage cabinet over there, third shelf from the
top, left. Bring several," Olwinna explained and pointed the correct
cabinet.

"Oh - um, yes, journeywoman." R'fal still looked rather baffled, but at
least now he knew what he was looking for and where to find it. He went
over to the cabinet she'd indicated, took out some of the cotton pads he
found there and brought them over to the mother's bed.

"Thank you, R'fal. Why don't you check if anybody needs a drink and
refill their water pitchers," she suggested. She was going to examine
the young mother to see if her bleeding was normal or if there was
something wrong.

R'fal obeyed, relieved to have a job to do that was neither embarrassing
nor messy. He filled a large jug and made his way around the ward,
leaving Olwinna's patient until last so that she'd have time to complete
the examination. He came in for some more flirting from Tiresha and a
few sly comments from the old brownrider, but did his best to respond
with good humour.

When he got to the end of the row of beds, he found a young boy, about
seven or eight Turns old. He didn't look too unwell apart from a small
dressing on his forehead.

"I fell down when we were playing outside," the boy explained when R'fal
asked him what had happened to him. He sounded bored and restless. "The
healers say I have to stay here, but I feel fine."

R'fal made a sympathetic face. "I know it's not much fun, but I'm sure
they have good reasons." It seemed unusual to keep someone in bed over a
fall, and he wondered if there was something about the incident that had
made the healers want to keep him in for observation.

Olwinna had finished examining the mother and after assuring her
everything was normal, she came over to R'fal. "Did you finish your
task?" she asked and nodded at the little boy. "Hi, Detwin, have you
been vomiting lately?" she gave him a smile. They suspected concussion
and were keeping him here for observations.

"No, journeywoman," the young boy said brightly. He was clearly hoping
to be released. "I feel very well. My head doesn't hurt at all."

R'fal smiled and went to offer some water to the new mother and admire
her baby. He hadn't seen such a young one since the birth of his little
brother, which had been Turns ago.

"Well, as soon as your fostermother comes, we can release you," Olwinna
told the boy.

"Thank you!" He leaned back against his pillow and watched the door, as
if willing his fostermother to appear.

R'fal glanced around the ward to check he hadn't missed any of the
patients, then replaced the empty jug on a shelf. "Is there anything
else I can do, journeywoman?"

Olwinna looked around, the infirmary was quiet and calm, a rare thing to
be savoured. "Not right now. You can take a break. Or if your
interested, Tiresha knows lot of juicy weyr gossip." Olwinna gave him a
cheeky grin.

"Thank you!" R'fal said, his eyes lighting up. Weyr gossip never failed
to astound him with the things people got up to. "Perhaps I'll go and
keep her company for a while. It can't be much fun sitting in bed all day."

"You do that," Olwinna nodded. The old auntie would be delighted.

Last updated on the January 29th 2019

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Infirmary Duty