Roho's Hospice
The inside of Roho's Hospital is far from the lavish treatments that the expensive Temple hospitals get, but it's clean, tidy, and well-equipped. The bare wooden walls have a few paintings hanging from them, some of which were given by patients as payment for treatment. Directly across from the main door is an island-desk, behind which a receptionist can sometimes be found, between his trips to the various treatment rooms. The treatment rooms themselves can be found down a hallway to the left of the desk. To the right of the desk is Roho's office, and next to that is a stairway leading up to the ward, or at least so the sign indicates.
A young vixen sits, quite still, on top of an examining table, while the Rath'ani nurse carefully cuts a cast free of her leg. The fox patient seems to be hardly breathing as she braces herself by her arms. The left arm has a light fuzz of red fur on it, only recently beginning to grow back.
"That's it, keep still… almost done." The nurse slowly snips a line down the cast with a pair of long-handled chitin scissors with short, tough Abaddon-iron blades. She hazards a quick glance up at the fox to smile. "Should be free in just a moment. Just think how nice it'll be to scratch that leg, Miss Kassie. It seems to be the first thing everybody fresh out of a cast does."
The vixen lets out a sigh of relief as the nurse cuts the last bit. "Oh, yes, Miss Naomi. All that fur growing back!" She wrinkles her nose, and tightens her grip on the table to avoid wriggling while the raccoon removes the sections of the cast.
With a final cut, the nurse gingerly folds the remains of the cast away from the leg like an opening clamshell, fibers and flakes of plaster dusting up the floor. "There we go!" says Naomi, grinning as she stands. "How's that feel?"
"OH!" The fox dives for her leg, leaning forward to run her blunt claws up and down over the short-furred skin. "Wonderful, Miss Naomi! Thank you!" She looks thrilled. "Can I try walking on it now?"
Naomi stifles a giggle, then nods, offering an arm for support. "That's a fine idea! There might be a little atrophy in the muscles now, but a little exercise will have you up and about in no time. It's a good thing, too. I'll be needing your help while Doctor Roho has me away on assignment."
After taking the proffered arm, Kassie gingerly lowers herself to the floor, putting weight on her good leg first, then on her newly healed one. She sighs again in relief at the absence of pain, and eases herself into a normal stance, before looking up at the nurse. "My help?" she asks, hope shining in her eyes.
The Rath'ani watches carefully to be sure her charge can keep her balance, and her paws hover to either side in case they're needed. She nods vigorously. "Oh, yes, Miss Kassie … Doctor Roho will be having me travel off Rephidim to fetch some information and sundry things from one of his colleagues afield. It'll be the first time I've been off Rephidim since Auntie tricked me! I mean … assigned me. It's very exciting, but I'll need someone to take my place here while I'm gone, and I know you have some experience." She bites her lip, and ducks her head to look up at the vixen's face. "I hope you're willing to accept. The pay isn't too bad, you know, and I really need someone to look after the Doctor."
"Oh, Miss Naomi! Do you mean it?" The young vixen clasps her hands together to keep from fidgeting. "You know I would love to work here!"
"Certainly!" replies Naomi, looking pleased. She blows a stray wisp of hair out of her face, and when she's sure Kassie's stable, slips her cast snips into a pocket of her apron. "I'm glad you're so eager; I know you'll do a good job in my place. You'll be helping Doctor Roho with paperwork, but really … I mostly want to see he's taken care of while I'm away. He really works himself too hard!" She ticks points off on her fingers. "Sometimes he falls asleep at his desk, and then his neck gets all sore … and you have to be sure he eats right … oh, but I'm sure you can deal with all that later… "
The fox listens raptly as Naomi speaks, nodding her head as if committing each word to memory. "Ma'am, you can be sure I'll do my very best," she promises solemnly. She hugs her arms to her sides, trying to seem adult, but looking more like one on the verge of jumping up and down in joy.
The Rath'ani beams cheerfully, then beckons. "Come along then! Let's get some blood flowing through that newly mended leg of yours, and I'll show you around behind the desk. You can borrow my spare apron, and we'll get it filled up with all the handiest herbs so we can make our rounds in the ward. You've been studying the herbalist book as a refresher, right? You'll do fine! Won't your Gallah friend be surprised?"
Nodding eagerly, the vixen flexes her shorn leg and moves to follow the nurse. "He'll be so proud of me, I just know it. I can't wait to start! You've been so good to me, Miss Naomi, you and Master Roho both," she adds, with heartfelt enthusiasm.
"You're a good girl, and I know you have it in you," replies Naomi with a confident nod. She heads for the storage closet, sizing Kassie up before selecting an apron, and giving it a few good snaps to shake the wrinkles out. "You really gave us quite a scare when you were brought in! I could hardly believe there was a fox under all that gunk. It just about broke my heart. I don't think I ever really heard what happened or how, in all the excitement."
The vixen shivers at the recollection. "I don't know exactly what happened myself," she says after a hesitant pause. "Someone … or some people, maybe … pushed me from behind, down a sewer shaft. I sort of drifted in and out of a daze, after the fall. I remember terrible pain and trying to move, and more pain. I have vague notions about darkness, and demon creatures eating me. Then a giant dog came swooping in and frightened the demons away, and carried me here too safety." She smiles self-consciously. "At least that's how I remember it. Really, the demons were vermites and the giant dog was Piper. But I don't recall it clearly, like that."
Naomi clicks her tongue, wincing sympathetically. "Well, nobody should have had to suffer like you did. I'm glad Piper came when he did; Rephidim's a nicer place for it. I've enjoyed your company these past weeks, and you'll be a Star-send while I'm not around." Her face brightens. "Here now, slip this strap over your head, and turn around so I can tie the apron laces. It's the very same apron I apprenticed with five years ago, so take good care of it! I think it'll bring you luck."
Looking honored, the girl takes the strap reverently and hangs it about her neck, smoothing it flat against her chest as she turns around to let the raccoon tie it in place. "I feel lucky already," she murmurs. "I'm glad Piper came here, too. Very glad."
"I hope someone catches those brutes … that someone'd do that to a sweet young girl … ohh, it makes my blood boil." The Rath'ani ties the laces into a neat bow, then steps around to lay her hands on Kassie's shoulders and give the vixen the once-over. She nods in satisfaction, smiling. "There! You remind me of myself when I was apprenticed! I'll show you around, and then we'll see Doctor Roho to make it all official."
Kassie beams back at the nurse, folding her hands over the front pocket of the apron as she is inspected, her red fur contrasting well with the bleached white of the garment. "Yes ma'am," she answers, her tail wagging from side to side happily.
