A medical emergency

[fadingworld]

A deep navy cloak hides his features and the more ornate tunic the courtesan usually wears to greet his clients. Mal hunches his shoulders and slides through the crowds hoping to avoid notice. He keeps his head down until he reaches the home of the doctor and wraps smartly on the door. "Open up," he calls in a voice that expects to be listened to.

How much time did he have? He could not have a client bleeding out. Not this one. Not one who had come to him for help, to be treated privately.

Comments

[fadingworld]

Mal glares at the table. "It isn't fair!" he exclaims with his shoulders hunched. "It just isn't..." He clenches his fists at his side. "I don't want to kill people."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Mal..." Regis rises from his seat and goes around the table. Going down to one knee he resolutely takes Mal's head between his hands, turning his face towards him to force him to look at him.

"If you become a man of healing and set out there to help people, then the absolute majority of the people you help will be aided by you and go on to live their lives, perhaps because you help them. You will save far more than you lose. Even those you do lose will not have died at your hands. Trust me that I know the difference and you must understand it. If you don't then this profession will kill you."

[fadingworld]

Mal leans into those clever fingers. It might kill him....but it would be worth it. "Being a courtesan was almost easier," he whispers. "I could take their pain away for awhile. I just...want to help."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"And you will help. But you must know your limitations." Regis stays like that, keeping Mal there, keeping their gazes locked.

"Should we always strive to do our best? To find new cures, develop new treatments, new ways to deal with injuries and sickness? Yes. A million times yes. But we will not always succeed."

[fadingworld]

"Wh can't we," Mal whispers. The intense gaze from the other draws emotions to the surface. He looks genuinely upset. "I can understand old age but...why one survive a fever and not another. It isn't fair." He sighs heavily, "I guess..." and here he is thinking of the correct responses, "I will learn to take it."

[mandragoraspiritus]

During those talk Regis has started to have some serious doubts whether Mal is suited for this but that last response eases those doubts just enough that he's willing to continue forward.

"It isn't just about us," he says, slowly releasing Mal and standing back up. "Or about what we do. It is about everything else as well. The conditions they live in, the food on their table, the water in their well, or simply how they are born. There are so many things beyond our control. As I said about the young lady awaiting her first child. Some women will handle a pregnancy without issue, others will not."

[fadingworld]

"I had not thought about the outside factors," Mal says slowly. This is something he would need to read up on. "Have you books on that? To understand."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I do, Regis says, now turning to fetch the soup from the stove and put it on the table. "But you cannot study everything at once. You must start with the basics."

[fadingworld]

Mal smiles, “I do have patience, I promise. I want to know everything. However I do understand that a rushed job produces some very unelegant results.”

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Indeed. And as from our discussion, that we simply cannot afford."

He takes his seat and helps himself of the food. "What I propose is this. The subject of the human body is a vast one, but only theoretical studies will not get you far. So parallel to those studies I will also teach you practical matters. We will start with first aid and emergency treating of wounds and move on from there."

[fadingworld]

Mal spoons the soup up his appetite much revived now. "Thank you," he says softly. "I know it will take much of your time up. I will make sure it is worth your while."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Yes, I'm rather counting on that," Regis says simply and kindly. He's sure that Mal will do his best.


Things start to settle into something of a routine for them over the coming couple of weeks, with studies both practical and theoretical. Mal does well in both, but one evening when Regis for the third time fishes a long strand of dark hair from the pile of dried herbs they are working on turning into powders that the vampire can no longer keep from commenting.

"It isn't that I do not appreciate the appearance of your hair, Mal, but have you never thought of more practical ways of wearing it?"

[fadingworld]

It has been an exhausting and busy few weeks for Mal as he adjusts to his new life. Not for anything in the world would have changed it. He is still inwardly nervous about making mistakes and is giving his full attention to the task at hand.

"Hmm?" he says. He looks up and glances at the strand in Regis hand. "Oh...sorry." He makes an impatient brush at hairs that have slid loose from the tight knot.

"LIke what? I'm open to suggestions. It did take a long time to get it up today.""

[mandragoraspiritus]

For a moment Regis wonders if this is really his place to comment on, but if not hos then whose?

"Have you never thought about cutting it? I realize that hair can be a rather important thing to some people. To many, I dare say, be it to have a lot of it or to not have any at all." If looking at him, well, he does have a rather receding hairline. But even so his hair is well groomed.

[fadingworld]

Mal is silent for a moment. He touches the back of his head. He's always loved how it looks. But...oh he had so many mixed emotions about it. When he looked at himself in the mirror he had bought, he saw the courtesan. And truly he did n't want to think about that every day.

"Do any surgeons wear their hair long?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I'm sure there are some. But generally, most people working in a practical profession must have ways to at least keep it away. More often than not that is accomplished by rather keeping it short. It is simply easier that way."

He looks up from his work for a moment, smiling somewhat sheepishly. "I do speak from experience." Oh yes, once upon a time he too had worn his hair long, but not anymore.

[fadingworld]

Mal had approached every crossroad so far by making a decision and embracing it fully. If he wanted this, he needed to look the part too. "I would like to have seen you with long hair." He cocks his head on one side trying to picture it. "I believe it may have suited you."

He gives Regis a small smile. "But I had better follow your current example, and get a more professional looking haircut." His eyes dance and he adds teasingly, "Do you know where I can find a good barber?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

At first Regis almost missed the teasing tone and start on a lecture on the title of barber-surgeon, as to why the two professions were often interlinked. He does manage to catching himself, however, and just chuckles quietly.

"I'll go get the scissors, shall I?"

[fadingworld]

"Sure, why not." Mal's heart races a little faster. This would be one of the more significant moment for him. He puts the herbs carefully to one side and unties his hair. He runs his hands through it as he brings it down around his face. He really doesn't have the time for it, and it has lost some of that perfect sheen.

"I'm a vain fool if I care about this," he murmurs to himself.

[mandragoraspiritus]

Regis comes back with a comb and scissors as well as with a sheet folded over his arm. He pulls out a stool to the middle of the room, gestures for Mal to take a seat and then wraps the sheet around him to keep the cut hair off his clothes.

"The cutting of hair can be a very symbolic act in some cultures," Regis starts talking as he ties Mal's hair into a tail at the back of his neck with some string, then starts gathering it into a long braid.

"Such as in Velen, where the first time hair is cut from a child that hair is offered to the beings they call the Ladies of the Woods to be woven into a tapestry of human hair, as a way to creating that child's future." With the braid done he ties it off with yet another piece of string.

"In many other cases, it is the mark of change. A near ritualistic act of cutting ties with the past and setting out for something new." He picks up the scissors. "Now, are you quite certain?"

[fadingworld]

"It is a time of big change," Mal says softly. He takes a slow, deep breath. "And it is only hair. I am not the person I once was. Please proceed. Did you feel sentimental when yours was cut?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"No, not very. I cut it myself, simply for the sake of ease. Now, then..."

There really isn't anything like the sound of sharp scissors working through hair. Regis cuts quick, above the first tie of string, and soon he has the braid cut free. Stepping from behind Mal to his side, he offers it to him in an outstretched hand.

[fadingworld]

The fingers that receive the braid tremble slightly. "Thank you," he says reaching to touch the nape of his neck. "My neck feels cold," he announces, keeping the mood light.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"It will feel a bit strange at first," Regis says, stepping back behind Mal again, nudging him to sit straight and look straight ahead, running his sharp-nailed fingers though that head of hair a few times before setting to work with comb and scissors. It is now the shorter strands of hair start to fall, gathering in creases of the sheet around Mal as well as falling to the floor.

Regis cuts it short, baring that neck completely and getting the hair out fo Mal's face. The end result is very short but not at all choppy or uneven. Regis is pleased with it, feeling like this might actually suit Mal better than the long hair did.

[fadingworld]

"I do feel lighter," he comments, turning his head from side to side. He runs his hand through his hair and turns to look at Regis. "How do I look? I am prettier, or have I traded prettiness for something more handsome and rugged?"