Chapter 25
It was a long and uneventful morning working at the infirmary. The few folks who dropped in Sabra tended to, much to Elora's disappointment and Tristan's relief. Even though it was beginning to get monotonous grinding herbs and funneling the powder into bottles and labeling them, he really wanted nothing to do with people and their ailments. The very idea of tending to someone else's nasty wound was terrifying and he felt certain that he would say all the wrong things and make the patients feel worse instead of better in the end.
Elora, on the other hand, greeted folks cheerfully as they came through the door and Twig went straightway to get alert Sabra who always bustled through the door and took over, sending Elora back to oversee Tristan's work. It didn't take Tristan long to pick up on Elora's disappointment in having to be stuck with training him to do the boring work. However, she was kind to not say anything about it.
Every time the door opened, Tristan looked up to see if it was any of his fellow cadets, but as soon as he saw an unfamiliar face he looked down again and focused on his simple chore. It turned out that all morning and into the afternoon none of the cadets showed up to just say hello or to see how he was faring with this special assignment. Not even Jamin dropped by even after all that talk about him.
"Well so much for my friends coming by for a visit." Tristan finally said. It was well into the late afternoon now and he figured if it had gotten this late already, no one was going to show up. "I think I scared them all away." He added, trying to crack a joke, but failing as usual because Elora just looked disappointed instead of amused.
"But I like it better when folks come in." She said, setting down a fresh tray of empty glass bottles on the table.
"Uh…but wouldn't it be at their expense?" Tristan pointed out. "I mean, this is an infirmary."
"Well not everyone comes as a patient." Elora replied. "Sometimes shipments of supplies arrive and sometimes folks come to barter for herbs and other supplies. And sometimes folks just come in for a friendly chat. I was hoping some of your friends would."
"You mean one of my friends?" Tristan teased.
Elora looked away and giggled. "No, all of them. Really."
Tristan plucked one of the bottles up and set it down, placing the funnel over the top. "Well at least I was here, right? I mean, surely that changed up the normal routine of your day." He lifted the bowl full of freshly ground comfrey and dumped it into the funnel, filling the bottle. He removed the funnel and picked up a small lid and secured it over the bottle.
"Yes. It has changed up my normal routine." Elora said with a sigh. "Usually I get to deal with patients directly, but instead I've been stuck over here all day teaching you beginner skills on herb preparation."
So the girl finally cracked. Tristan glanced up at her, hoping she didn't look as disappointed as she sounded. But taking his eyes off of his work caused him to fumble with the bottle and it fell over and rolled toward the edge of the table. His hands chased after it and he managed to catch it right before it tumbled off the table. Fortunately he had just got the lid on so it didn't spill out its contents.
If the girl had been irritated, she didn't seem to be anymore. She broke into laughter. "I thought maybe you had this under control by now, but I guess not."
"Despite what it looks like, I do think I've got this under control now. You could see if Sabra wants your help in the other room." Tristan said. "You know, I apologize for ruining your day."
"You haven't ruined my day." Elora corrected him. "It just made it different, that's all. Besides, I guess it has been fun getting to train you." Her voice softened. "The only problem though is that you're just coming to work here short term because for some reason you want to be a rider, not a healer."
"That's right. A rider, not a healer. To become a rider is the whole reason why I came here to Canyon City. You're not going to change my mind." Tristan said firmly.
"Right. You've made that clear already." Elora said, rolling her eyes.
Just then the front door of the infirmary suddenly flew open and in came Fira and Mathias.
In one glance, Tristan realized that they hadn't dropped in for a mere friendly chat. Fira was assisting Mathias, who had one arm draped over the girl's shoulder, leaning on her for support as they made their way through the doorway. His clothes were dirty and torn with blood seeping through a few of the worst tears, and he apparently couldn't seem to be able to bear weight on one foot. His head was bent as he concentrated on walking so he didn't see Tristan at first.
Twig immediately fetched a wooden wheel chair and rolled it over to the limping boy while Elora approached the patient and started asking questions. Tristan remained at the work table behind the half wall, trying to look busy.
Fira looked over in his direction and spotted him. "Oh…hi…Tristan." She said in a puzzled tone.
Mathias quickly lifted his head and even though he was on the other side of the room, Tristan could see a nasty cut on the boy's chin. "What are you doing here?" Mathias asked in a tone which clearly indicated that he wasn't happy to see the other boy.
"Working." Tristan replied ducking his head again and pretending to grind herbs even though nothing was in the mortar and pestle. He'd finished the last batch and didn't know what to do next until Elora or Twig instructed him.
"He's my new assistant." Elora said cheerily as she moved to Mathias's other side to support him. "I remember you from the other day. My, but aren't you banged up now? Here, have a seat in this chair Twig has brought."
Fira and Elora both tried to assist Mathias into the chair, but he resisted their offers and lowered himself into the chair. All the while, he kept glancing in Tristan's direction and Tristan pretended to ignore him.
Twig sensed the friction in the air. He looked back and forth between the two boys. Then he turned to Elora. "I will go tell Sabra that we've got a new patient. Have Tristan assist you with the patient."
Elora smiled knowingly. "Tristan." She called. "I could use your help."
"Uh…me? Help you?" Tristan shook his head. "What about the work over here?"
"It's time you get some different training." Elora announced. "Come on."
Tristan looked all around the room, but could find no way to escape. He was too old to get away with pulling the 'I need a drink' or 'I need to use the bathroom' disappearing technique to get out of something, so he followed reluctantly into the next room, dreading the unknown of what lay ahead. As they walked, Fira fell into step beside him. "Since when did you start putting in time here?" She said in a low tone.
"Just today." He replied. "It's an extra assignment our instructor gave me."
The girl playfully flicked the sleeve of his jacket. "Not bad, but it doesn't suit you."
"Well said." Tristan replied.
As soon as they arrived in the other room Elora put Tristan to work, having him bring fresh water, clean rags, and fetching whatever else she asked for.
"So what happened to you?" Elora said and motioned for Tristan to offer the boy a clean rag to hold over his bleeding chin.
Mathias glanced at Tristan, clearly not happy with having him there where he could hear everything. "Do I really have to say?"
"Well, I guess not, but I think it would help us to better understand how to help you." Elora replied.
Tristan grudgingly held the rag out to the other boy who just as equally grudgingly took it, muttering a hardly coherent 'thank you' under his breath.
Just then Sabra and Twig returned and the woman immediately took charge.
Tristan sighed in relief and headed toward the door, but Sabra stopped him. "Where are you going?"
Tristan jerked a thumb toward the doorway. "You know. Herbs to grind."
"No, I think you've done plenty of that today. This will be a good experience for you."
Tristan gave the woman a pleading look, but it didn't work. She merely smiled, nodded to the oviraptor, and Twig grabbed hold of his arm and tugged him back to the exam table where Mathias was now perched on one end, looking just as unhappy as Tristan felt.
With that, Twig left to occupy the front room in case any other visitors or patients came in. Tristan still didn't understand why he couldn't have that job.
"Now tell me where your worst pain is and we'll tend to that first." Sabra said.
Mathias motioned toward his right foot. "I really hope I didn't break something."
"Well, we'll just find out." Sabra said. The woman patiently explained everything she did for Tristan's learning benefit. It turned out that Mathias did not break his ankle, but had a bad sprain. Sabra and Elora put some special oils on it, braced it and wrapped it tightly, giving him instructions to keep his foot elevated and to stay off of it as much as possible for the next few days. They also cleaned up his other scratches and Tristan watched, impressed, as Sabra allowed Elora to stitch the cut on the boy's chin.
Mathias said very little through the whole process. He was clearly upset about the sprained ankle, knowing that it would slow him down tremendously during training. When Elora finished, Sabra worked on cleaning up Mathias's other scratches. Tristan was really glad that all that was expected of him at this point was to stand there and 'observe, listen, and learn.'
Elora congratulated Tristan on not getting woozy at the sight of blood or a needle and told him what a great trait this was and how essential it was in the line of healer work. Tristan politely reminded her that he was to become a rider.
"So," Sabra said to Mathias. "It's about time you tell us what happened to you."
Mathias sent a hardly noticeable glance in Tristan's direction. "Do you have to know?" He said.
"Yes." Sabra replied, gesturing toward Tristan. "I want our new trainee here to know what sort of activities sent you over here like this."
Mathias shifted his gaze to the floor and reluctantly confessed. "I took a flight with my skybax partner." He mumbled.
Tristan nearly dropped the bottle of ointment he was holding. "You what?! We aren't even to that stage yet in training!"
"Yeah, well, Windsong and I were ready."
"Ready? Something tells me if you were ready you wouldn't have ended up here like this." Tristan replied.
Mathias frowned. "No, it was fine—the landing just…turned out different than I expected."
Tristan suddenly realized just how far behind he really was if Mathias had already taken his first flight.
Sabra pulled the ointment bottle from Tristan's stunned hands. "You daring cadets really keep us in business here." She commented dryly. "I doubt your instructor approved of you trying that so soon."
"I'll bet our instructor doesn't even know." Tristan said.
Mathias did not reply, but he shifted uncomfortably and it wasn't because of the stinging from his scrapes being tended to.
"Well…how was flying?" Tristan asked, unable to hide his intrigue in spite of the jealousy he felt for the other boy's success.
For the first time since he'd arrived in the infirmary, Mathias half smiled. "Amazing." His eyes held a look of wonder.
"Yeah, well, until you got yourself hurt." Fira said, crossing her arms in frustration. She'd been standing close by during the whole process. "I'm really glad you asked me to come be there to watch in case anything happened."
Tristan shifted his attention toward the girl. "You mean you went with him?" His tone held a note of surprise.
"Yes." Fira tossed her head slightly to free her face of the loose strands of hair that had slipped out of her ponytail, but her amber eyes looked fiery. "Is there something wrong with that? What, did you think I wouldn't have the guts to watch someone take such a huge risk?"
"More like surprised that you had the guts to 'hang out' with someone taking such a risk." Tristan replied evenly.
Fira rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on. You're one to talk. Mr. 'break the rules and sneak out at night.'"
"Whoa now, who put that idea in your head?" Tristan said, getting aggravated now.
"Does it matter?" Fira shot back.
Tristan narrowed his eyes at Mathias, certain he was the one who had told Fira. But before he could press the matter, Sabra pushed the now dirty bowl of water into Tristan's hands. "Here, go dump this and clean it up and put it away. Elora, you go with him and make sure he knows where things are. I can finish up here." The woman gave Tristan an annoyed look.
Elora sighed, clearly disappointed to be sent out with him, but she obediently led Tristan into the other room. "You know, next time I think I'm going to put a gag in your mouth so you can't speak when tending to patients or visitors." She said once they were out of earshot of the others.
"Hey, I didn't ask for that job. You dragged me into it." Tristan complained as he grudgingly set to cleaning up the bowl.
"I dragged you into it? From what I understand, you're putting in time here at the infirmary as a means of discipline. I had nothing to do with it." Elora pointed to a cabinet. "When it's clean, put the bowl there."
"You know what I mean. It would've been better to leave me sorting and processing herbs." Tristan explained.
The girl merely watched him and leaned against the counter with her arms crossed. "Healer work is not all about herbs. You have to get other experiences in too."
"Well had it been anyone else coming in, I probably would've done fine. That particular guy is not exactly someone I get along with well." Tristan explained. "And Fira too as long as she likes to hang out with him."
Elora shook her head. "Talk about competition. I take it you weren't too happy he got into a skybax saddle before you."
"Are you just trying to rub it in?" Tristan growled.
"No, why would I be? Look where it landed him." Elora pointed out.
"Yeah, whatever."
"Something tells me that could've just as easily been you." Elora went on. "You know, if Mathias had waited longer and learned a little more before trying to get into that saddle so quickly, he probably could've avoided that tumble he took. You should be glad he was first in the saddle so you can take note and learn from his mistakes. Cheer up. You'll probably pass him now anyway since he'll have to stay off that ankle for a while."
Tristan brightened up at her last words. She was right. This was his chance to pull ahead. He just hoped he wasn't so far behind that he wouldn't catch up before Mathias was at it again.