Chapter 4
After two months
BANG BANG!
"Rin!" a male voice came from the other side of the door.
"What is it?" Rin ripped the door open to see a frantic man stood in front of her. He turned so that she could see past him and saw a couple of people carrying a stretcher up the hill.
"Alice, get a bed ready for a patient!" Rin yelled before running down the hill, disappearing from sight.
Alice ran to the ward room and had just finished making the bed when Rin ran through the door and laid the patient on the bed. The patient was a young boy who was covered in mud and had an awkwardly bent leg which was bleeding rather severely.
"A child!" she looked at the man who walked in panting, "Why is this child in such a state?"
"He was training in the forest and put a foot wrong, he trapped his leg in a fork of a branch and his body just carried on going forward," He said just before Rin ushered him out of the door.
"Go to the lounge and wait there," she ordered before closing the door.
"This is going to be painful for the boy," Rin said as she prepared to grab his leg. Alice put a stick wrapped in clean fabric in the child's mouth, between the upper and lower rows of teeth so that he wouldn't bite his tongue during the immense pain he was about to experience.
"Ready?" Rin asked Alice who held the boy's shoulders tightly so that he wouldn't be able to move.
"Okay! 3, 2," Run pulled the child's leg firmly until it disappeared back under the skin and in an instant she put a splint tightly around his leg to keep the bone in place. Then, when it was secure, she sewed up the large cut and then cleaned his leg before bandaging it.
As soon as she had touched the child's leg, he screamed in agony and thrashed trying to make her let go. Once she had finished she grabbed a clean cloth and wiped the sweat from his brow. He whimpered in his feverish sleep.
Rin walked to the door and called the child's father before turning back, picking up the child and settled him down on one of the beds and covered him with a blanket so that he wouldn't get a chill in his shocked state. She then walked up to Alice who was stood shaking, staring at her hands.
Wiping her hands on the cloth which hung from her belt, Rin stood next to the blonde lieutenant and watched the father of the child pull up a chair so that he could sit next to his son.
"You did a good job," Rin said quietly putting a hand on Alice's shoulder. The young lieutenant looked up at the commanding, fiery haired woman and slowly nodded before looking back at the peaceful scene in front of them.
The father turned in Rin's direction as she walked up to him, his eyes eager for new on his son's condition.
"He'll be alright. A weeks rest will see him back to normal and he'll have to keep all his weight off that leg for at least 7 weeks. The wound will scar but it will only be a thin line, a warning to him not to play around in trees whilst there's snow on the ground," she said gently, the sparkle in her eye spoke of her unvoiced laughter as she saw the man's ears turn red in embarrassment.
She turned to Alice and smiled.
"Come, I'll take you home," Rin said, giving Alice a little push to make her start moving.
"But… what if you have another patient?" Alice asked as she was led through the door, Rin laughed.
"Don't worry about it; I can deal with anything that turns up. You just happened to see one of the worst case scenarios, they happen once in a blue moon," she shrugged before linking arms with Alice and walking to her home. As they were walking up the path to Alice's house, the door opened and Randle stepped outside.
"I wondered where you were," he smiled down at Alice who blushed.
"I'll leave you two alone then," Rin said turning around and walking away waving; leaving a blushing pair in her wake. Whilst she was walking home someone appeared next to her and matched his pace with hers.
"It's been a while," his deep voice rumbled. Rin looked at him and grinned.
"That it has," she laughed as they made their way up the hill. As soon as they entered her house, the man knelt down with his head lowered.
"My report, Ma'am," he said formally, Rin tutted and put a hand on his shoulder.
"So serious! Come on, I can hear your report whilst drinking a cup of tea," she led the man to the kitchen and boiled enough water for two cups then made a pot of tea and brought it to the table.
"Please sit," she motioned to him as she sat. He quickly sat and waited patiently for her to pour the tea. Once she had done so he took a quick sip before starting his report.
"Section 3 headquarters is in an uproar. Alice is a Malvin, one of the 13 grand houses, not only that but she is the heir. As a noble, many are being lead to believe that she has been kidnapped," he began, watching Rin frown into her cup.
"They decided on a rescue mission but couldn't breach the mountains due to the snow. They will try again in the spring," she said keeping his voice low, sensing that they weren't the only ones in the house.
"Their spring comes later than ours so we should be able to lead Alice and the rest of them back to their headquarters before the rescue team even leave," Rin said, her blue eyes staring out the window.
"Spring will hit in two months time," he said, she nodded and took a sip of her tea. He put his empty cup down and walked around the table to kneel down in front of her.
"Keep an eye on them," she got up and walked to a desk and took out a letter, "give this to Captain Hunks," she gave him the envelope. He took it, pushed it into his inside breast pocket before bowing and running out of the door. She watched him leave with a thoughtful frown on her face.
Sorry it's a short chapter; stay tuned for the next instalment!
