Eileen felt like she was on a roll. The entire evening had passed so smoothly once she found her rhythm with the soldiers and had sorted them into categories based on the severity of their injury. After her initial impression as a snappy authoritarian, most of the soldiers, the drunken guard included had yielded to her orders and had been cooperative even. The rest joined the ‘this-tiny-healer-is-great-club’ after they saw what transpired when she dealt with the first, most urgent case.
The man had been sprawled over the table, totally unresponsive with a bullet lodged in his upper thigh. The bleeding was so profuse that the other soldiers had cleared away, already considering him a helpless case who was going to die. Eileen had approached the man and stood before him as he forcefully opened one eye and squinted at her. After introducing herself to him, she had snapped on her gloves when the man suddenly grabbed her hand. Her eyes snapped to him but softened when she saw the tears gathered in his eyes, ready to stream down his face.
‘Leave me miss, don’t waste your time on me. I’m not going to make it.’ He told her in a shaky voice.
She turned her hand in his hold and tightened her grip so their palms were clasped together.
‘I’m not giving up on you. I’m going to save you.’ Her voice was firm and tone was absolute. It wasn’t hope that was driving her, she was just that sure of her abilities.
The man nodded shakily and squeezed his eyes shut, not fully convinced yet but some hope had arisen in him at her confidence.
Eileen gave him a swig of alcohol, explaining that it’ll dull the pain and instructed him to keep his eyes shut. She never let go of her hold on his hand while she conducted the procedure.
An hour later, she had dug out the bullet using pliers and had thoroughly washed and disinfected the wound. The bleeding had stopped due to the tourniquet she had tied in his leg. There wasn’t anything she could give him to dull the pain besides alcohol, but she could knock him out. She did that by giving him a few drops of a special medicine that she made herself just recently.
It was probably the worst time to try such a thing out but feeling she had no choice, she said a silent prayer and gave it to him. It worked. He was unconscious throughout afterwards when she stitched the wound with a needle and bound it with some gauze. The man’s wolf was a strong one, despite his soldier status, and because of it, he healed in no time and within an hour he was already able to stand up.
Once he had gotten to his feet with a joyous smile, the entire crowd gathered around them had cheered and suddenly her services were in high demand.
She worked hard till sundown, working her way from the most serious to the most minor injuries. Once she was done, she removed the apron and gloves and washed her hands in the sink, feeling extremely exhausted yet satisfied.
There was something about her work that despite how tired she felt, it always made her exceedingly happy. She couldn’t ever let this job go, she decided, but her mood soured when she remembered that it was a possible fate for her to be forced to give it up once she married Felix.
She shook herself, coming out of her thoughts and going back to arranging all her medicines and instruments back in her bag. One of the soldiers, who had been loitering in the side the entire time, not convinced even a little about her abilities despite watching her work for hours, came up to her and stood behind her. She steeled herself for whatever insult he was going to throw her way and faced him calmly. He rubbed his head, appearing sheepish.
‘My uh..daughter is kinda sick. I would’ve brought her here so you could see her, but uh..she isn’t good enough to walk.’ He paused briefly before continuing, ‘i know I wasn’t that forthcoming all day, but you’re good. Like really good. So could you come and look at her? Or maybe ill carry her to wherever your cottage is.’
Oh. So that’s why he seemed so grim all day.
‘I’d love to stop by. If you’d give me your address-‘ she fished into her bag for her notebook and pen, which she found after some rifling. Then she noted down the address he was spouting slowly, so much was his confusion.
Some soldiers around must’ve heard the conversation because they all lined up behind him, telling her about some aunt, uncle, mother, or child who they wanted a house visit for. Their astonishment surprised her until she realised why they were so nervous about asking her for a house visit. They didn’t think a person of such a noble status like her would agree to visit the houses of people who were considered so lower class. Apparently, the crescent blue- despite their infamous unity and equality, still did abide by the class system.
Sometime later, Eileen heard the heavy black gate creak open and saw Marcus walking through, saluting to the drunken guard who laughed in response. He turned his head in her direction and she waved at him enthusiastically. He looked momentarily puzzled at her overexcitement, but he shook it off quickly and grinned at her.
‘I see you’re setting up shop quite well here, huh?’ He complimented her.
‘I’m almost done for the day, in fact. Just finishing up some paperwork, then I can go.’
‘Great. Let me get your stuff.’ He bent down to grab her bag and swung in on his shoulder despite her protests.
Suddenly as if remembering something, he turned around and asked,
‘You do remember that you’re having dinner with Alpha Nathaniel tonight,don’t you?’
Her smile froze in its place and she nodded stiffly. ‘Of course, of course. How could i ever forget?’
Shit. She had been so occupied in her job that she forgot all about her plan to delay work as much as possible to avoid facing Nathaniel. After she made a total fool of herself earlier, she really really couldn’t stand to see him.
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