The request came four days later

It was just after sundown and the air was still warm The clinic smelled like boiled cloth and wood smoke and something like chamomile Lila was sweeping the floor again like she always did before sleep Hart sat outside near the door keeping quiet watch over the square The old man with the bad belly still lived and that alone felt like a small miracle He was weak but awake He had even told a joke that afternoon and made his grandson laugh so hard he fell over

Everything felt steady almost calm

Then a boy ran into the square so fast he tripped and slid in the dirt He scrambled to his feet and shouted breathless Healer Help Help now Please She is dying

Emily was already moving before he finished

Who she said

My mother he gasped Trees north by the water she fell she will not wake his voice cracked then came out in a low broken whisper Please

North

Not in the village

Emily felt the drop in her stomach the way you feel when the elevator moves and your body is half a second behind She looked at Hart

Hart’s face had already gone tight He shook his head Not safe

Emily understood what he meant The governor’s word protected her inside the village bandits feared the village now poison merchants feared the village now Outside the village was different That was open That was unclaimed That was everything can happen and no one will see

But she also looked at the boy He could not have been more than eight Maybe nine His hands were shaking He had dirt on his face and tears cutting clean lines through it He was desperate shaking like fear lived under his skin

If she ignored that she was not herself anymore

She grabbed her bag

Hart stared at her No

Yes she said

Lila stepped fast in front of her I go too

No Emily said You stay here You keep this place running You keep boiling You keep the fever side away from the cough side You keep the old man breathing You know what to do You do it like I showed you No mistakes

Lila stared at her with wide wet eyes You come back

I am planning on it Emily said but her voice was lower than she wanted

Hart moved in closer and spoke quiet enough that only she could hear If you go and this is trick

Then you come get me anyway she said Because that is what we do

He let out a long breath and nodded once He turned to the boy Where

The boy pointed with a shaking arm North past the line of trees past the low ridge by the water His voice dropped again She fell when she was cutting Her head hit stone and now she will not wake I shook her I yelled I do not know what to do

Head injury Emily thought Not bleeding you can see Not fever Not poison Brain trauma If she does not wake Airway Fire of swelling Bleed inside skull Crushing down on the brain Not always fixable Not even with modern scan Not even with neurosurgery sometimes But sometimes Sometimes people lived if you kept them breathing and did not let the swelling close the airway

That was enough

Let’s go she said

Hart moved like a guard again He grabbed his staff and fell into step without another word The boy ran ahead in jerks looking back every few steps like he was scared they would vanish Emily followed fast Her bag bounced against her hip with each stride and she felt every tool inside it like weight A roll of cloth A strip of leather A bit of honey salt mix A penlight A small knife No helmet no gloves no scan no backup

This is such bad practice she thought and almost laughed at herself because that was exactly what her old supervisor would have said during a night shift You do not walk into an unlit situation with bad information four minutes after alert without backup She was walking into an unlit situation with bad information four minutes after alert without backup

But someone was hurt and alone and she could not sit in the clinic and pretend she had not heard

They moved past the far animal pens then past the last planted rows and then into the trees The light dropped fast under the branches The air smelled like dirt and old leaves The ground was uneven

Hart stayed close to her side He made no sound when he walked which she respected very much Her own footfalls were louder than she liked The boy crashed through brush with no attempt at quiet He was panicking Emily could hear it in his breathing

Almost there he kept saying Almost almost

They crossed the small ridge and slid down a bank of packed earth to a shallow creek The water moved slow under long hanging branches The boy ran ahead and then dropped to his knees beside a still shape on the ground

Emily moved fast She dropped next to the woman and went straight for the basics Airway first Always Airway first

The woman lay on her side in the dirt Her head was against a rock dark hair matted with blood She was breathing shallow ragged but breathing Emily rolled her a little more onto her side and tilted her chin up just enough to keep her throat open Not too far Do not crank the neck Keep the airway open Keep the spine safe Do not make it worse

Okay she whispered Okay I have you Stay with me You are okay I am here

She had said those words a thousand times but tonight they felt like a plea not just a comfort

She ran her fingers along the back of the head and felt the gash Sticky wet still bleeding but not spraying Not an artery Good But swelling already rising at the edge of the hairline Her stomach clenched That was not good That meant force That meant maybe skull fracture Maybe pressure inside

Hart knelt across from her He held the small lantern the boy had carried The glow lit the woman’s face in weak gold light Her eyelids fluttered but did not open

Emily grabbed one of her folded cloth pieces and pressed it gently to the wound Just enough to slow the bleeding Not enough to push hard You do not want to raise pressure in the skull You want to slow loss but not squeeze the brain

Tell me what happened she said to the boy Slowly All of it

She fell he said We were cutting wood She told me to stay back then the branch snapped and the log rolled and she slipped and I heard a sound then she stopped talking She would not wake She was breathing then stopped then breathing again like this

Emily nodded You did good bringing us

The boy sniffed I thought she was dead

Not yet Emily said

She leaned in close and checked pupil response She lifted one eyelid with two fingers and shined her penlight quick small flash left eye right eye She almost swore out loud

One pupil was big and slow The other was smaller

Her pulse kicked hard in her throat She knew what that meant A heavy hit to the head Pressure building on one side This was the kind of injury you rush to emergency neuro surgery You drill the skull to relieve pressure or the brain stem gets crushed and breathing stops and that is it There was no surgery here There was no sterile drill There was her

Heart rate fast She pressed two fingers to the woman’s wrist It was still there but weak Shallow breathing High risk to stop If it stops the boy watches his mother die in the mud at his feet while she kneels helpless That was not going to happen

Listen to me Emily told Hart I need you to hold her like this She guided his hands one under the jaw one behind the neck Keep her head in this exact spot not turned not bent not flat If she throws up turn her whole body not just her head Do you understand

Hart nodded Calm Yes