Chapter 6 #2
“Oh, then I’ll try not to take offense if you insult my skills as a medic again,” Dranker said.
“That would be good,” Nova agreed. Then remembered a Fielden saying, “Children and fools never know how to act.”
“That’s true,” Dranker said, obviously relaxing a little, and responded with the second part of the saying, “But children can learn, fools are irredeemable.”
“I’ll try hard to be a child and not a fool,” Nova said, relieved that Dranker wasn’t upset with her any longer.
“We must all make a habit of learning,” Dranker agreed, voicing the third line to the saying, “In that way, we are forever children.”
She took her box off, set it on the floor next to the bed, and pressed a button on the top. It was close enough for Nova to watch it open a little like a flower, revealing layer after layer of equipment and medication.
“Please list your concerns in order of priority,” Dranker said.
“Her eyes and her left ankle,” Miran said before she could talk. “You should also assess her skin for bruising, her internal organs for injury, and her brain for concussion.”
Nova wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw the organs in Dranker’s dome pulse. An indication of concern or surprise.
Dranker addressed Miran. “That is an extensive list. What happened to this human?”
Nova bit her lip at Dranker’s accusatory tone.
Miran didn’t even notice. “Humans are small and delicate. I’m worried that she injured herself getting here. On top of that, the sandstorm was brutal on her eyes.”
“I understand," Dranker said, although Nova thought she still heard a hint of condemnation. “I’ll start with your eyes, Nova. When I ask questions, you must attempt to answer them to the best of your ability.”
“Of course,” she agreed.
Things went quickly from there. Dranker mostly ignored Miran. She even hushed him when he tried to answer for Nova. Although Dranker was being deliberately rude to the Hissa, he never realized it. He was too preoccupied with making sure Dranker didn’t miss anything.
First Dranker gave her some pain medication that dulled the remaining pain in her eyes to a distant throb.
Then Dranker treated her eyes with several different types of drops and a mask that probably did all kinds of fancy things, but to Nova, it was pleasantly warm and made her eyes immediately feel better.
When Dranker took it off, she was happy to find that her vision was no longer fuzzy.
“That’s much better,” she said, relief making her feel a little lightheaded.
“I want to treat your ankle next,” Dranker said after putting away the mask and drops. “Can you move back on the bed so I can straighten out your leg?”
Before she could move, Miran was there. He grabbed her under her arms, lifted her into the air, and set her back on the bed.
He was quick to push a bunch of pillows behind her back.
That used up all the pillows she had, and he rushed to a cabinet in the wall and retrieved more pillows.
When he came back, he carefully lifted her leg with a hand under her calf and placed the pillows under her leg.
When he was done, he stepped back and gave a satisfied grunt. “I should’ve done that earlier.”
She’d been able to ignore the throbbing in her ankle because her eyes hurt so much more. Now that it had her full attention, she was a little concerned. It looked even worse now than on the shuttle. Maybe she had broken something and not realized it.
“That’s worse than I thought,” she mumbled, leaning forward to get a better look.
“There’s no point in being anxious before I’ve assessed the damage,” Dranker said. As if her worry could simply be turned off.
Dranker was gentle as she tested the range of motion. The pain medication from earlier was helping, but it still hurt. Dranker did some medical tests with several machines, then addressed Nova.
“There won’t be any permanent damage, but you’ll need to keep weight off of it until the medication has time to work,” she said, digging around in her medical box.
Pulling out a length of tightly wrapped fabric, she started winding it around Nova’s ankle.
“This is a medicated wrap. It will provide constant, low-level medication and encourage the swelling to go down and help your body to heal.”
She finished wrapping and snapped the closure together. The wrap suddenly felt cool, and the last of the throbbing pain subsided almost entirely.
Dranker pointed to a small indicator box next to the snap. “When this light turns yellow, take it off. I’ll leave a second one. Do the same thing, wrapping it snuggly but not tight, and wait for the light to turn yellow. By then the ankle should be mostly healed with only some discoloration left.”
“That’s easy,” Nova said, relieved that the treatment was so simple.
Dranker gave her a few more instructions and some medication for her eyes and the pain.
“What about the mask?” Miran asked. “Does she need another mask treatment for her eyes?”
“No, the medication will help her corneas heal. The mask wouldn’t be helpful for that,” Dranker said. Nova was a little sad to hear that, the mask had felt so good.
Miran asked Dranker more questions. Feeling tired and worn out from her flight, fight, and injuries, Nova leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
She should be glad that Miran wanted to keep his investment healthy or she’d be spending the night in pain and maybe even have permanent damage to her eyes.
For someone who bought her, Miran wasn’t such a bad guy.
She drifted into a dreamless sleep to the sound of their conversation.