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.

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[mandragoraspiritus]

Having fetched a knife, Regis sets to cut Mal's shirt away from him. He doesn't want him to move more than absolutely needed before he knows the extent of his injuries.

HE pauses, though, to look down at Mal with some disbelief. "How could I not?" He had said it, hadn't he? Any animal can be pushed to fight, if cornered, or... To protect his mate.

[fadingworld]

Mal has to smile a tiny bit. Regis' reaction warms him and he hopes will put his own reactions into context. "Then you must see how I can accept what I saw so easily. You are my partner, I accept all of you."

[mandragoraspiritus]

He blinks down, a little owlishly as if he's surprised. He knows he would go to great lengths for Mal's sake and finds nothing strange in that. But he's a vampire and the attachments they form grow so strong and so deep. Perhaps he gives too little credit but he hadn't considered that something like it might be true for a human as well. Oh, true, he has the likes of Geralt and Cirilla and Yennefer to compare with, but they aren't normal humans. Geralt so mutated by the witcher mutagens that other humans no longer considers him one of them, and Cirilla and Yennefer so steeped in magic to be something else entirely.

But Mal? Mal is neither of those things. And yet...

"Oh, dear heart..." He murmurs softly, laying a hand to Mal's cheek for a moment before he must resume the work.

[fadingworld]

Mal smiles leaning in to the touch. It's worth the pain he's experiencing to have Regis understand the depth of his feelings and his acceptance.

"I love you," he whispers.

[mandragoraspiritus]

There is still a side to Regis that dearly hopes that Mal won't end up regretting giving his heart so fully. He smiles back, not without a degree of wistfulness but also with warmth. "And I you," he replies, leaning down for just one brief, sweet kiss. But there is work to be done, that has to be done.

"I will give you something for the pain as quickly as I can," he tells Mal, "but I must make sure that there is nothing that needs attention lest your life is at immediate risk." Thankfully the bleeding isn't heavy enough to risk Mal bleeding out, and he can't smell any stench of ruptured intestines or something such. "Try to bear with me."

[fadingworld]

Mal feels warmth spread through him at that reply. He cant truly say he's not head it in his life. It will make any pain from this process bearable. "Do not worry, I can endure a fair amount of pain." There is a happy smile on his face that is not going anywhere for long.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"That may be so, but I do not wish you to endure more than you have to," Regis grumbles somewhat. Indeed, it isn't painless, what he does, examining the wounds and the torso as a whole, fearing internal bleeds. His findings gives relief, though.

"It seems your ribs bore the brunt of the impact. The tears in your skin are not as bad as they could have been, but yes, they will leave scars. You also have some cracked ribs, but again we are lucky. It does not feel like they are out of place."

[fadingworld]

Mal remains stoic through the process, bearing it as best as possible. He breathes a sigh of relief that he's got off pretty lightly. "That is good," he murmurs. "He chased me and swipped…" he swallows, "I guess I didn't get the full impact of the claws. Your wound looks ...looked deeper."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"They were," Regis replies solemnly. "Be glad that you did not catch a full blow from that beast. It is capable of far worse than this. Had I not ended things quickly, it could have torn even me limb from limb."

A clean shirt from Mal's pack is sacrificed to act as a temporary compress, folded up neatly and laid against the wound. "Here, keep the pressure on it as well as you can while I see to medicines." A strong tea of willow bark and valerian root to take the edge off the pain, then boneset, yarrow and sage to help wash out the wound before stitching and dressing.

[fadingworld]

Mal winces at that idea. He never wants to Regis torn apart. "I am very glad you are in one piece," he says as reaches his hand back to apply the pressure.

"How long do I need to stay lying down for?"

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Until tomorrow, certainly," comes teh answer as Regis sets about coaxing a fire alive in the fireplace and sets water to boil. "I promise you that I will not keep you in bed longer than needed. It would actually be beneficial for you to get back on your feet as soon as possible. But that would needs to be stitched and the medicines I will give you will make you drowsy."

[fadingworld]

"I will be patient," Mal says softly. He's a little disgusted with himself that he is relieved. It gives him an excuse to stay inside and avoid the forest.

"If IK am drowsy please don't tie yourself to the cabin with me."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Oh, I most certainly will be in the cabin or just outside it at most. I will not leave you until I know that it is safe to do so."There could still be problems he's missing, or Mal could develop a fever, get an infection. Mal is not out of the woods yet.

[fadingworld]

Mal turns his head away to look at the wall. Safe. He doesn't feel it not yet. He's feeling shaky.

"Thank you," he murmurs. "Maybe I wanted you to be closer than I realised."

[mandragoraspiritus]

Having measured herbs into the pot Regis needs to give them time to steep. HE goes back to Mal's bedside, perching there, leaning over his young lover. "Mal..." He starts soothingly. "You have suffered a trauma. You are suffering it. I will not leave your side."

[fadingworld]

Mal lets out a low sob. "I am sorry, I did not mean to be weak. When you were hurt...I was more scared of what would happen to you than me."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Hush, now..." Regis comforts softly, stroking hi fingers over Mal's brow. Normally tears have their place to let emotions run their corse, but Mal's ribs are broken and Regis doesn't want him to hurt himself further with his sobs.

"You neen't worry about me. I am not so fragile. And you, you are not weak. Far from it."

[fadingworld]

"No but you aren't a monster and it was. If it had hurt you badly..." Mal's feelings run deep, experiencing love for the first time it has filled every part of his body.


He shuts his eyes. "I saw you bleed," he chokes.

[mandragoraspiritus]

"Mal, you must understand," he goes on gently, "a wound like what I got today is not dangerous to me. I will not pretend that it did not hurt or that wounds might not weaken me. But I do not need a beating heart or air in my lungs to live, or even a brain to think. There was never any actually danger for me, today."

[fadingworld]

"It was hard to see." He half laughs, half sobs, "Seeing your bat form was easy, that was hard. Can I touch your skin where the injury was, later please? So I can feel there are no tears in your skin for myself."

[mandragoraspiritus]

It doesn't need to wait until later, not if it can give Mal comfort and reassurance. Shifting a little Regis grabs the hem of his tunic and pulls it up to bare his abdomen. There really is no trace of the injury, nothing at all. There is only smooth, unblemished skin there.

[fadingworld]

Mal doesn't look at the skin at first, he simply touches it, tracing where he remembers seeing those slashes. Then slowly he tilts his head to look at it. His dark eyes rove over every inch of the skin.

"Thank you," Mal says softly, and his hand moves to take Regis'. "That is better." He looks up and gives him a shaky smile. "Let us try not to do this again any time soon."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"No more encountering chorts in the woods, no," Regis willingly agrees, taking Mal's hand and pressing a kiss to the knuckles.

Then he decides that the tea has steeped enough and moves the few feet needed to reach the pot and pour it into a mug. "It will be bitter," he warns Mal, bringing it over. "But I still need you to drink every drop."

[fadingworld]

Mal accepts the tea, and manages to drink it with no more than a curl of distaste of the lips. "I have been given worse tasting things to eat when I was younger. I was exposed to disgusting tasting things until I could eat or drink without a grimace. It came in useful on more than one assignment."

[mandragoraspiritus]

"I can imagine so." The more Regis hears about Mal's upbringing and training, the more he wants to find a way to tear that house to the ground.

While giving the tea time to have effect he brews another potion to help staunch the bleeding and to help prevent infections. Then he starts setting out his surgical first aid kit with its curved needles and thread.