Not Healthy

Writers: Bree, Paula
Date Posted: 29th January 2007
Series: Saving Each Other

Characters: Telemon, Talryne
Description: Telemon comes to check on Talryne and gives her some advice on moving on with her life.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 1, day 27 of Turn 4

Talryne

"Talryne?" Telemon called softly when he entered the weyr. He was carrying his medical box. Locating his elusive patient had been quite difficult.
He had to ask around to find out where she was and then ask until he found the right weyr.

"Yes?" Talryne's head peeked around the doorway leading into the sleeping chamber, and she gave Telemon a wary look. "Did--did you need something?"

"I'm Telemon, the new weyrhealer. I came to check up on you," Telemon told her. He still felt strange saying it.

"Oh." She disappeared for a moment and then reappeared with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Do you want to sit down, then?" she asked uncertainly, hovering in front of a chair as if she wasn't sure whether _she_ should sit down or not.

"Thank you. Why don't you sit down too?" Telemon suggested and gestured the chair opposite of his.

Talryne dropped into the chair and tucked her feet up under her, her fingers gripping her blanket so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
"My threadscore is mostly better," she offered after a few moments.

"So your report tells me. How are you doing..otherwise?" Telemon asked.

Talryne hesitated. "I'm tired a lot," she said finally. She imagined it wasn't exactly what he was asking, but she didn't know what she should say. There were times when she imagined she'd _never_ be anything but just barely surviving.

Telemon nodded. "Do you have some kind of permanent medication? Do you use sleeping drugs?" he asked.

"No..." Talryne looked unsure. "They asked if I wanted anything, but I wasn't really sure. Sometimes I can't sleep, and sometimes I sleep too much."

"All right. Do you find yourself using more alcohol than before?" Telemon asked. Someone in her state could easily get addicted.

"I--N'vanik doesn't let me drink. At all." And there had been one or two times that she had come close to fighting with him over it--or as close as she could. But getting thrown out of his weyr was scarier than even facing her life sober.

"That's good. Because, I won't lie to you, you are now very vunerable. You could easily get addicted or be taken advantage of. Alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex, food... you could get addicted to anything. I was a hold once, that had a dragonless rider living there. After his loss, he returned to his birth hold and tried to fill the emptiness with wine,"
Telemon shook his head sadly.

Talryne's cheeks flooded with color. "I'm--I'm not doing any of those things, really. I mean, I eat... and I don't exercise as much as I used to. I don't like going outside. But mostly I just sleep."

"Apathy isn't good either," Telemon warned. "And sleeping is just another way to hide from the pain."

Silence hung between them for a long moment as Talryne struggled against tears. Finally she slumped back against the couch and covered her face with her hands. "I don't know what else to do."

Telemon put his finger under her jaw and gently lifted her face so she had to meet his eyes. "You need to feel yourself usefull again. Do you have craft or children to keep you busy? If you don't have a craft, you can always start studying one or become someones assistant."

"I never studied a craft. And I don't want any children..." Shards, the thought of someone _needing_ her was enough to make her slightly ill. "And I don't--I don't feel comfortable with people right now."

"Then study. Pick something you used to like, handcraft or something, and start studying for it. Some crafts you can learn from books," Telemon advised. He was genuinedly worried about her. Huddling in a weyr, hiding, was not healthy.

Talryne nodded and reached up to wipe tears from her cheek. "I guess I could do that."

"Don't guess, just do it. This isn't good for you," he said, his sweeping gesture included the weyr. "Go out, have walk in sunshine, stop to breath and listen how wind rustles the leaves. Have a kitten to cuddle. Do something."

"All right." Surely she could manage _one_ of those things. "I will."

"Good. I'll be check in you regularly," The healer said.

Last updated on the January 29th 2007

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Not Healthy