Dani looked at the small garden she'd planted outside of Vanora's kitchen windows and smiled. Not only had she managed to find more herbs, but she'd also traded and managed to get her hands on several vegetable seedlings. She felt good. Dirty, but good. Someone cleared their throat behind her and she looked back to find the doctor, Terri, standing and looking at her hesitantly. Dani lifted a hand in greeting and gave the woman a smile.
"Hi. You're Dani, right?"
She responded with a nod.
Terri nodded back. "Good, I thought so. Say, Kassidy told me about your neck injuries, I hope you don't mind…anyway, I was wondering if you'd let me have a look at it?"
Dani frowned curiously, and her hand went automatically to her throat.
"Did you ever learn sign language?"
Now Dan shook her head no.
"It won't hurt. I promise. I was just thinking maybe, before I leave, I could take a look and see if it's anything that will heal, or if I know of anything that would help…"
Dani was frowning severely now. She stood and wiped her hands on the apron tied around her waist. Then she took out her notepad and began to scribble furiously. She tore off a piece of paper and handed it to Terri who read it. You're leaving? Where are you going? Why? What about the girl Mandy?
"I'm going to try to go back where we entered and go back up to the road." Terri explained patiently. "I have to see if there's a possibility of going back, I can't just leave my responsibilities like that. The hospital will be concerned. I've spoken to Mandy and she's chosen to stay here."
Dani began writing again. If you do go back you won't tell anyone right? You won't tell anyone where you went or who's here?
Terri could read the anxiety in every word the blonde girl had written. She reached out and laid a hand on Dani's shoulder. "Don't worry. If I am able to get back, I won't tell anyone I saw you…and I won't tell anyone where I've been. It's not like anyone would believe me anyway." Terri smiled. "Now, how about that throat?"
Dani thought for a moment and then nodded. The two women began walking to the infirmary where Terri had left the few medical supplies she'd had in her black bag. The only two patients in the room were Mandy, who was currently sleeping, and Tristan, who appeared to be awake, angry, and staring at the ceiling.
Terri frowned at the man. "You can stop pouting. I said you could get up tomorrow."
His dark eyes flickered to her. "I am a warrior. I do not pout."
Terri snorted. "Could've fooled me Mr. Moody."
Tristan's frown deepened. "Your words seem condescending. I am not accustomed to lying about doing nothing for so long."
"Well, you were shot two days ago…healing from that requires rest."
"I have suffered far worse than this mere flesh wound."
"If you don't stop getting yourself all riled up I'll tell Arthur you should stay in bed for another day." She threatened.
Tristan's eyes narrowed and his mouth snapped shut. He went back to staring at the ceiling. Dani held back a snicker. She had a feeling none of the knights would take being bedridden very well. They were all so active, and used to doing things their own way. She took a seat on the edge of the empty bed Terri indicated and waited. The bed was situated between Tristan and Mandy. Terri moved to her and went about inspecting the outside of her throat.
"I would love to have an X-ray machine here." She said conversationally, hoping to alleviate some of Dani's stress. "Although, I suppose even if I did, it wouldn't work seeing as we have no electricity. Before I met Drew, that was my husband, I worked in Bosnia for a little while. Some of the villages I went to were atrocious. They were more medieval than this place. Dirty, no clean water, little food, sickness everywhere…just horrible. It certainly made me grateful for every luxury I ever had." Now Terri had Dani open her mouth and she shone a small light down inside. From her peripheral vision she could see Tristan straining his head to see what she was doing, but she didn't scold him. "You know Dani, this doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. I think it's healing better than what your doctor's thought it would." After a few more moments of massaging and gently feeling Dani's neck and collar bone, Terri put her small light away and looked at the girl. "Ever since I was a kid, and knew I wanted to be a doctor, I've studied herbology and herbalism. There's this plant, the Chinese call it huang qi; its scientific name is astragalus membranaceus. If we were able to find it, we could make it into a tonic and it could possibly help you heal even more….I'm not guaranteeing anything, but we could possibly get you part of your voice back."
Dani felt as if her world was spinning. She was glad she was sitting down. The other doctors had told her she'd never speak again. Heck, she'd been surprised when she'd been able to hum. Terri wasn't making promises, but she was certainly giving Dani hope. A tear leaked out and Dani stood. She moved to Terri and wrapped her arms around the other woman tightly as if to say thank you.
Terri was touched. She looked down at the shorter girl and smiled a bit mistily. "I'll take that as a you'd like to try. I'll go look around for the plant later on today. We'll see what we can find."