Putting Aside Differences

Writers: Avery, Heather
Date Posted: 5th May 2019

Characters: K'lvin, Riveenata, T'ket
Description: As a dragonhealer, and healer, K'lvin and Riveenata must work together when an injured T'ket comes back to the Weyr.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 10, day 12 of Turn 9

}:Bosroth is coming in. His rider is injured as well. I will speak to
the healers.:{ Xmrenth informed K'lvin, who stood on the ground
watching the skies as the injured brown appeared over Dolphin Cove.

T'ket was covered in soot and dust, blood was smeared along the right
side of his face and his right arm hung limply at his side as he
slumped forward over Bosroth's neckridge.

As the brown bellowed and came in for a rough landing, K'lvin could
see ichor flowing freely from a severe wing laceration. He rushed
forward to assist T'ket, reaching for the brownrider at the same time
as another pair of hands.

Savith responded to Xmrenth's reach out. }:MY rider will be right
there to assist,:{ she said. Then she told Riveenata to move to the
brown dragon. }:He is upset about his rider, who is injured.:{

The greenrider had just finished assisting with treating a char burn.
She quickly scrubbed with redwort and jogged over to the brown. She
was so focused getting Savith's updates from Bosroth on where his
rider was hurt that it took her a moment to notice exactly who it was
bringing the injured rider down.

K'lvin turned with T'ket in his arms, locking eyes with Riveenata for
only a moment, before motioning for her to walk with him. "He was
unconscious when Bosroth brought him in." Even as he spoke with
Riveenata, he could simultaneously hear Xmrenth calming Bosroth while
some other journeymen dragonhealers began looking at the dragon's
bleeding wing.

"There's a stretcher and a workstation right there," she said, gesturing
to the nearest one. She tried to focus herself on what she was seeing
from T'ket from here. "Blood on the head and the dangling arm. What does
Xmrenth know? Looks like he must have been hit badly."

"When they came out of /between/ they were caught in a falling clump.
Bosroth took the brunt of it on his wing joint, the rest on T'ket."
K'lvin laid the man down and then stepped back to allow Riveenata and
the others their room to work. He watched her as she examined T'ket. It
was the closest he had been to her in days. "I've got to get back to
Bosroth."
Her left hand brushed against him as she stepped past to look at T'ket's
limp form. "I'll know through Savith if he declines - and she'll tell
you if Xmrenth needs to keep a closer look on Bosroth if he gets worse."

K'lvin nodded before turning and walking back out to the Weyrbowl, his
hand going to the spot on his arm where Riveenata had touched. Shaking
his head, he joined the journeymen working with Bosroth. "What do we
have?" he asked, rolling his sleeves up.

"A deep cut in the wing joint. It's oozing without stop."

The bronzerider used his fingers to measure the depth of the cut,
grimacing as he withdrew with ichor stained above his wrists. "Call
Y'gel, he's going to need some fancy stitching to get this wound closed."

The journeyman nodded and dashed off to get the Weyrdragonhealer. While
he waited on Y'gel, K'lvin moved around to the smaller wounds in the
wingsail, doing what he could to prepare those.

**Ask Savith how T'ket is doing,** K'lvin told Xmrenth.

Riveenata was working on the brownrider. An apprentice was washing the
wounds to remove the blood and char dust and make sure there was no
trace of sleeper Thread. From the look of his face, he seemed to have
suffered a blow to the head. They'd have to check him for concussion
when he awoke. The threadscore to the arm was the worst, and it was
bleeding enough she couldn't see the extent even though the apprentice
was dutifully washing it out with water and redwort to clear out the
debris. "Witch-hazel tincture for bleeding, please," she said to the
apprentice. They'd have to get this under control, now. Savith checked
with her rider, then told Xmrenth, }:He is bleeding badly from the arm.:{

She frowned as she saw the shape of the wound. It looked like the thread
had lancing deep into muscle.If they hadn't gone /between/ quick enough
to kill the thread, he could have lost the arm. Though it was possible
he still might...

She took T'ket's uninjured hand in hers. "T'ket, can you hear me?" she
asked. If he was conscious and in pain, she'd give him something.

"Erngghh..." the brownrider's words came out garbled and unintelligible,
but clearly filled with pain.

Out in the Weyrbowl, Bosroth bellowed in alarm, both from his pain and
from the pain he felt through his link to T'ket.

}:Easy Bosroth,:{ Xmrenth coaxed, having moved beside of the brown, who
was considerably smaller than the bronze, to support him toward the
infirmary.

She poured three drops of fellis into a glass of water and handed it to
T'ket. "Drink this. I don't want you to have to feel stitching."

**Tell them to reassure Bosroth.**

Savith reached out to Bosroth directly, and to Xmrenth as well. }:Your
rider is being given fellis so my rider can stitch him up, but he will
be fine. He is not fading,:{ the little green said, sharply.

Even as he felt his rider fading, Bosroth focused on the assurance and
presence of Xmrenth and Savith, trusting them that his rider would be okay.

~*~

Riveenata was exhausted by the time she was done with T'ket. Fortunately, the Fall had been nearing its end when he was injured and it was all clean-up duty, now. She rinsed her hands in the buckets provided, first in the water, and then in the redwort, and then in water again. Shards, she was tired. The strands of hair that had escaped her braids and the cap that she wore to keep them from contaminating a wound was plastered to her forehead with sweat. She discarded that, too. **I need a bath,** she thought. But before she could do that, she wanted to know a few things.

**Savith, could you ask about Bosroth?** she started. But when she
turned away from the clean-up station, she saw someone who would know.

"Hey," K'lvin greeted, although he'd debated on whether or not to
approach Riveenata. It was hard for him to keep his distance from her
already, and he was afraid that if he began talking to her again he
would throw all caution to the wind as he had before. "How is T'ket?"

She had to clear her throat before she could get the words out. They
felt stuck in her throat somehow like there was a lump. Maybe the
membranes were irritated by some old firestone ash, or by the fumes from
the redwort or other noxious tinctures. Or maybe it was sentiment -
either from seeing K'lvin again and trying to keep it professional or
because she'd known T'ket for awhile and this felt personal.

"Sleeping, as comfortably as he can. The Thread bit very deep into his
arm, it needed irrigation and debridement. The muscles..." She
half-closed her eyes, remembering. T'ket was going to have to go through
physical therapy and be recovering for a while.

"Bosroth stayed? I didn't hear keening for him..." She'd heard keening
for _someone_.

"He stayed," K'lvin confirmed. "Riyanth helped. T'ket was my wingrider
at River Bluff," the bronzerider admitted. It was one of the reasons he
had felt responsible for knowing how the brownrider was doing.

"We were Candidates together for awhile, before I quit." She frowned
down at her hands, remembering that. "He's not going to lose the arm, as
long as it doesn't get infected."

"That's a relief," K'lvin admitted, knowing what a disappointment it
would have been for T'ket, not only as a dragonrider, but as a man.
"Bosroth's wing joint was repairable but it will be months before he's
flying Threadfall again. It'll take quite a bit of physical therapy
first." But at least, K'lvin thought with longing, the brown pair would
fly again.

"Flying Threadfall, or flying at all? Maybe there are tasks we can put
them to so they don't stay idle too long or despair."

Idleness and despair, K'lvin was familiar with both as a retired rider.
"Both," he answered. "I'm sure we can find T'ket something to do, once
he's got his arm well enough to work."

"I was going to specialize in massage and physical therapy before Savith
so I'll do progress with him and keep you in the know if you want to
know." Her words trailed off. She fidgeted a little.

"No, that's alright. He's K'ran's wingrider so I'm sure he'll be taken
care of." K'lvin cleared his throat a little and took a step backward.
"It was nice working with you today," the bronzerider gave a quick nod
of his head, spun on his heel and retreated from the infirmary.

"It was good to..." but he was gone. She grimaced. Well, shards, that
had been awkward...

Last updated on the June 15th 2019

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Putting Aside Differences