Neither the old customers or even the bartenders have seen Mr. Leonhart being an empty shell of a man and drinking since the start of a morning. His stolid look gazed at the entrance of the tavern, as if he was expecting something. Despite the fact that some allies attempted to converse with him, he showed no shows of interest. The only thing he seemed to care about was his bottle of whiskey.
Armin, the wonderboy who brought laudanum to one of the guests that day, as well as a bag of dried marigold to cure the wounds, was the only thing that occasionally drew his attention. He caused some confusion regarding the bargains he was making in Mr. Leonhart's tavern at first, but it quickly became evident - Armin had a lot of medical knowledge and had clearly worked with a doctor for a few years. Or, to be clearer, he seemed to be a Feldscher or a physician's assistant. To the workers of a tavern, it started to make sense on how that boy was able to carry so much silver. Even if the doctors weren't the richest out in the social class, he should've made a good amount of money, sometimes more than just copper coins. At least just from a way he was able to explain all kinds of treatment methods and his clothes - he could've worked for the noble families.
As usually for the morning, the tavern was filled with people, waiting for Reiner to read the latest pamphlet. But when the men saw Reiner's face and his hesitation to read it, unlike the last time, they started shouting and demanding for information to be spilled out.
"Okay okay, calm down. Just don't come after my throat after I read it." he spoke up in a hoarse and a strict voice, which was unusual to him. Luckily, that was more than enough to shush the drunkards, for now. Most of them couldn't read so Reiner's abilities were appreciated. "...Due to Wald Richter's death and Lou Bierhal's detain over suspicion for the homicide, Hermann Derichs resumed on the investigation of Midnattmorder's case. As for the primary suspect, Annie Leonhart, she was kept in the cell for three nights but every time, the midnight murders resumed. Which is why, for now, she is proven inno-"
"Mister, your daughter was just released!" exclaimed one teenage kid as he came into the tavern.
It was the moment Mr. Leonhart finally lifted his gaze from his glass, something jolting his heart back to life. He opened his mouth and appeared to be about to say something, but nothing came out. Something sparked in his eyes, that little glimpse of life.
"I can help bring her back home, Sir." Armin spoke up quickly, forgetting all the deals he attempted to do while on his duty. Before the man would question him, he quickly explained, "I own a horse and keep it in the other inn. She might need help with walking after… what she went through. Just give me a few minutes and it will get it ready."
Mr. Leonhart didn't seem to reject such an offer at all. He pushed the bottle of whiskey and got up, seemingly ready to take on any type of responsibility, even the help from a stranger. Besides, he seemed to have some sort of trust with a young man who pursued such a serious profession, was liked by Reiner and didn't scream out loud about the dogmas of God. he looked completely sober, and he was ready to take his daughter back home.
Reiner watched both his boss and a wonderboy rushing away, but his duty didn't allow him to run outside the tavern, for whatever reason he intended. Instead, he cleared his throat and continued reading out loud,
"...According to the mayor, it was decided to start a curfew, to protect citizens from being murdered. From 22:00 until 6:00, it is forbidden to go outside, unless there is a force majeure situation happening, which still has to be approved by the head watchman. By that time, the taverns and other facilities, except for the private residences, must be closed down throughout that time. If this rule is broken, a person will face a detain or a fine of ten skillings."
If there was a scintilla of sparks due to the previous information that Reiner provided for illiterate drunkards, then these news caused the crowd to start burning in a fire of anger. With screams and fists punching the air, the men showed their protest to the new rules… but nothing could be done against that.
No matter what I say, they will still be complaining, Reiner thought to himself and tried to calm the men down. Usually, he had a natural charm of keeping tranquil and collected, but this time, even he had a paranoia in his eyes. And Bertholdt wasn't a good use either - he just stared at the clients, frozen, without speaking a word. What was happening in his head, anyways? And, more importantly, how will his boss react to the news?
Calling Mr. Leonhart as someone who was paralysed from the shock wasn't an exaggeration. His daughter, a fierce woman with a strong mind of her own, now was standing still, with a blank look on her face. To him, she looked like another person, someone who had their soul sucked out of them, that spark that made them want to go through life confidently.
"Annie?" He spoke up and stepped closer to the lady.
As his voice reached her ears, her eyes finally focused on him. There was a hint of longing and softness that came back into her face. He expected her to run into his arms, just like she would do after being in a distressed situation as a little girl. But now, there was nothing. Those love-yearning eyes got covered back up with a blank gaze. He reached over to pat her shoulder, but she shivered at the touch, so he retreated his hand immediately.
"If you will allow me to, I will check on her wounds after bringing her to your home, just in case. And now, I'll help her get on the saddle." Armin stepped into the situation. He was already waiting for the other two, keeping the reins in his hands of his bay arabian stallion. He carried his leather bag over his shoulder, where he kept all his remedies.
After getting Mr. Leonhart's approval, Armin bent forward, cupped his hands together and waited for Annie to step on it. To his relief, she didn't remain apathetic and did as he wanted to. It meant that her trauma wasn't too fucked up to make her emotionally numb completely.
When she sat down sideways and held onto the horse's pommel, Armin wiped her dusty hands into his pants, grabbed the reins and started walking where the older man was leading the way. For some time, they walked in silence but Armin couldn't stop peeking at the way Mr. Leonhart was walking. Eventually he spoke up,
"Sir, I'm sorry for assuming but you seem like you have issues with your leg. Many people have issues with their limbs caused by inflammation. Would you want help with it?" Before the man could reply, Armin added, "No need to pay. I have no shortage of this remedy, so I'll be fine. "
"Alright. But why did you decide to help us?"
"No deep reason. Your daughter was really kind to me when I was her customer, more than she should be, so she and her family deserve more than just a few coins."
Usually, the table under the old linden tree was meant for the conversations and hanging out, just to be casual and to drink some ale during warmer evenings, but this time, it was all about taking care of Annie and then - her Father. Armin helped Annie to get off the horse carefully, catching her in his arms before quickly tying up the reins against the fence. He then led the girl to the bench and sat her down, while he quickly took the place in front of her.
"Are you going to do bloodletting? Do you need a bowl?" Mr. Leonhart asked while standing in front of them, his eyes inspecting the wonderboy closely. Usually, whenever there was a medical issue, withdrawal of blood from the patient would be a number one thing to do. But, to his surprise, Armin simply shook his head at the offer.
"No, I won't do the bloodletting on her. I know it's a common practice and I'm going against traditions but we researched it with my grandfather for years and learned that it hardly ever actually helps. I'll use other ways of treating her. Could you bring a jug of water, please? I'll need to wash her wounds."
The man just nodded and left the two alone. He was a bit sceptical about Armin's decision but who was he to argue with a medical professional anyways? Afterall, with each passing year, medicine was progressing in big steps.
Armin felt a bit less stressed when the man left his sight and now his eyes trailed back to his patient. Her usually observant gaze was now settled somewhere between Armin and the house, her pupils not even twitching when anything moved around in that spot. In her mind, she was somewhere in another world. He heard about Annie going through waterboarding, it was confirmed by a bruise on her neck and odd patterns of breathing. It was one of the most awful ways of torture - a feeling of drowning, death flashing through your eyes, lungs and throat feeling like they're set on fire. Hands tied up together and the only escape would be pleading for forgiveness. And it usually wouldn't work when you were innocent all along and had nothing to confess. Armin knew this feeling. He knew it too well.
"Okay, let's start. I will need to check on your pulse first." he gently took the girl's hand into his palm and held it.
When she seemed to ease down at his touch, he gently drew his middle and index fingers to her wrist and tried to feel her pulse. But there was nothing. It got him a little bit worried. He tried to reach for her neck to feel the pulse here, but Annie immediately retreated her head, only delivering an aghast stare right into his bright eyes. Right, she was probably choked or held by her throat when they tortured. Why didn't I think of it first? Armin thought to himself and bit his lower lip. At least his mistake didn't seem to steal the trust he had built with this girl.
"I'm so sorry… Can I listen to your heartbeat?" he asked softly and placed his hand on top of hers again. When he got permission to do it, he took a deep breath, leaned forward and closed his eyes as soon as his cheek touched her chest.
Annie felt how her throat started tightening up when Armin tried to touch her neck. It felt like an invisible hand started squeezing her throat… What was that weird feeling? Can distress cause it? He couldn't find her pulse on her wrist but she could hear it pounding in her head. But then he brought his head to her chest and gently pressed his ear to where her heart was. No one has ever done something like that to her and she didn't know if it was appropriate. But there was no other way to listen to someone's heartbeat.
But in a way, it felt… comforting. She watched him, watching how his light eyelashes were trembling, his lips muttering something, probably counting the beats of her heart. For some reason, she felt a wave of warmth collecting in her chest, bringing an urge to touch his hair but resisted it. It would be indecorous. Eventually he raised his head to look up at the girl and blinked a few times. He was a bit too close, so he leaned back and cleared his throat, trying to be reticent and not to show his flustered reaction.
"I could hear two heart palpitations and your heart was a bit too fast for a normal rhythm. It could be caused by stress but it can be cured." Armin explained carefully and took out his notebook from his pocket sleeve to take some information down. "I will give you liquified opium and leave you tea leaves that should help you with sleep."
After that, Armin started taking off the bandage from Annie's hand, revealing the burn wound from the cigar. He inspected it closely, trying to see if he had to treat an infection. and perked his head up when the older man returned with what Armin requested.
"You came just in time." The wonderboy muttered. He then took a clean cloth strip, poured cold water on it and was getting ready to clean up the wound. He could feel the man looking right behind his shoulder, so he had to do his best to not get nervous.
Armin treated many people, many of which had worse medical cases than Annie, saw revealed skin, yet the anxiety of having a girl's father being the judge of his work made him feel like he was seeing a real wound for the first time once again.
"Those burns don't look as bad as I thought. Maybe she won't have a scar." Mr. Leonhart commented and looked at the guy, in hopes of getting confirmation. But all he received was a slow shake of his head.
"Depends on what scarring you are talking about, Sir. This burn could fade away eventually, same with her damaged internal organs. She's a strong lady, so her body will handle the harm in no time. But she may have permanent scars here." Armin said and raised his hand to point at his head. "Emotional wounds are deeper than physical ones."