Chapter 5 - Sundered
All of Link's senses were dull. He could see nothing but he remained aware somehow. He thought he was lying down somewhere hard. It was cold but solid. What was happening? He tried to focus on his senses but it was useless. He felt as if he was about to lose all grip on himself, perhaps forever he realised. He had never felt so drained in his life. The last ounce of willpower left in him was holding on by a thread.
He just wanted to sleep. So what if it was forever? He'd earned some rest, right?
As he imagined sleeping forever, he started to relax more.
He wasn't sure, but he felt he was smiling. Peace...quiet... such wonderful ideas, he thought.
Then, he heard some kind of noise. Did something just crack?
Before he could think any more, an intense sensation rushed through his head. It felt like his nose had caught fire. The sudden change alarmed him greatly as his airway started to sting horribly. He inhaled sharply, sending a wave of fresh pain through him.
Opening his eyes with little effort, his senses came flooding back to him as he caught his breath.
Alarmed, he saw that he was lying on his side on the stone floor of the temple of time. As he rushed each breath in, he smelt a familiar stale odour. There, by his side, was the Skull Kid. He was squatting in front of him and seemed to be putting a small stone back into a handmade pouch on his waist.
Then, the strange being pulled a thin bottle out of a different pouch and held it by the cork over Link's face.
"Take it! Take it!" the child yipped at him.
In no position to question anything, he reached out with the arm that wasn't cut. Clasping the bottle, he looked back to the Skull Kid for instruction.
"Drink! Quick! Drink!" he said rapidly.
Link couldn't decide on the strangest thing about the kid but his magically charged voice rang in his ears as if the short instructions were meant to be taken very seriously.
Popping the cork out with his thumb, he carefully brought the bottle to his lips and tilted his head back. His gut hurt as he stretched, but he drank anyway.
The liquid inside the bottle was bitter and spicy. Coughing after drinking it, he tried to keep it down as the bitterness threatened to make him sick. The sensation subsided quickly though. As it did, he began to feel the pain ease. His head began to feel light.
"Wh...what...was that?" he managed to mutter. Thinking seemed harder suddenly.
"A potion! Had cloves and ginger and water and the wing dust of a fairy and..." the Skull kid explained too quickly.
Link had trouble keeping up with what he was saying. Now, his vision was seeing things in high contrast. Colours seemed much brighter whilst darker colours now looked blacker.
"Mu...muh...eyes...!" Link stammered. What on earth was in that bottle?
"...and funny lookin' mushrooms I found."
Link heard but didn't understand. His grip on reality was loosening. Panicking a little, he started to breathe faster. The colours were much more vibrant now. Link tried to close his eyes to shut out the overwhelming sensation but the afterimage stayed behind.
"Hehe! Relax! Potions wear off."
Link heard, but still didn't understand anything. He thought there was something about time in what he heard, but it could have just been nonsense.
He lay there for a few minutes, his mind ablaze. Slowly though, the effect seemed to settle down a bit.
The Skull Kid paid him no mind. He jumped around a bit, whistling a song he seemed to like.
Link spent the next few minutes trying to control his breathing as his sensations started to sharpen again. The colours were no longer overwhelming, but he felt he could see finer details etched into the trees and stonework around him.
Looking down, he saw the shortsword Ghirahim had left in his gut and felt sick. Blood soaked his tunic but it looked as if the bleeding had slowed considerably. With his head still on the floor, he saw the clean slice in his shield arm. That was still bleeding. Just looking at it made him feel worse. Since taking the Skull Kids intense potion, the pain had lessened a great deal. Not entirely, but enough to be bearable.
Taking a long slow breath, Link carefully got to his feet. The sword was still firmly inside him and the movement hurt badly. Thanks to the potion though, he managed to push himself up.
"Ugh..."
The Skull Kid looked over from the top of a stone wall.
"There! Told you it wouldn't last!" he said gleefully.
Link didn't recall what had happened. The last thing he remembered was standing alone after destroying Ghirahim's arm.
"What happened to me?" he asked plainly.
The Skull Kid tilted his head slightly.
"You fell! I saw that bad man go, you looked around and then you fell over! Adults are always strange..." he explained.
Link supposed he must have passed out from the pain, blood loss or both.
"Thanks for helping me. I'm very grateful. But...what do you think I should do about this?" he asked as he pointed to the sword handle sticking out of his middle.
The strange kid looked at it, then back to Link.
"Get it out, dummy! You need medicine! My potion was nice but that just makes you stop hurting and keeps your blood nice and clean."
His facial expression didn't change once. Though Link was far less bothered by it now, having been saved by him.
"Yeah...yeah. I... uh...need to go to another village." Link said aloud, but entirely uncertain about how to actually do that.
Sounding out unformed ideas usually helped him form plans more easily.
"But I can't walk there..."
Surely there was some option?
"Riding a horse is out of the question..." he said as he imagined the sword wiggling inside him as he bounced on a moving horse.
Link lost himself in thought for a few minutes. The Skull Kid had lost interest in him and was chasing some birds.
Link imagined all the different ways he could get to Renado in Kakariko village, but none of them were practical. All of them would take too much time and offered no guarantee he wouldn't carry on losing blood.
Looking at the wall he destroyed with his enhanced ball and chain, he smiled. Summoning the power of the Triforce had been incredible. Without it, he felt he would have lost his life. He saw that the ball and chain was lying around a few feet from him. As he moved to pick it up, he bent his knees but not his torso. The pain was still there and he didn't want to aggravate the wound.
Picking up the chain, he placed it into his storage pouch and the entire device, free of its golden shimmer, dematerialised.
"Oh!" Link exclaimed.
Why not use the Triforce again, he thought? It wasn't an act of courage though. It was wisdom and his need was great. The idea would likely leave him utterly drained thanks to the goddess's security measures on the Triforce.
Sighing, he realised he had no other options available to him. Renado would likely have a heart attack if his idea worked and he teleported right in front of him. He could always say sorry after he got patched up again.
"Excuse me, what should I call you?" Link asked the Skull Kid.
He realised he had never asked him in the past.
The Skull Kid looked up blankly.
"Just call me 'Kid'! Everyone else did!" he said happily.
Everyone else? Had all of his ancestors spoken to him at some point during their own times?
"Alright, Kid! I'm probably going to have to come back here at some point. I'd like to get you a present. You helped me and probably saved my life. Is there anything you want?"
The Skull Kid started dancing on the spot and giggled his eerie laugh.
"Yeah! Get me an instrument!" he yipped whilst dancing around. "Bored of these pipes. Want to make different noises!"
Then, he noticed a bird land and immediately went off to chase it, this time all the way out into the remains of the forest.
Link, with a sword in him and a half-functioning arm, managed to laugh at the absurdity. He regretted it an instant later when his gut lashed him with an intense wave of pain.
"Alright...alright..." he said breathlessly. He took a minute to compose himself and regain his breath.
He thought that showing up unconscious with such dangerous wounds would be pretty upsetting to the man who constantly thought of his well-being. This time, he would be more prudent.
Looking around, he wanted to find an old tree. They usually parted with chunks of bark more easily. Moving slowly to the edge of the forest, he saw several trees that weren't entirely destroyed by the fire Ghirahim had set.
Finding a split along one of them, he sank the tips of his fingers into the edge of the bark and started to pull. With a creak and then a dull snap, a chunk of bark came off the tree. Holding it and doing his best to ignore the pain the movement had caused, he then picked up a pile of ash. Moving over to a fallen tree, he carefully sat down. Laying the piece of bark on his lap, he then opened a canteen and poured a little water into the ash pile, turning it into a crude ink.
'Sorry. Please help. See sword and arm. Will explain, promise!'
The message took a few minutes to smear onto the bark and to mix a new batch of crude ink. He hoped it would remain intact through another improvised plan.
He let the ink dry by holding it over glowing embers left behind by the carnage. He knew he had to check on Ordon Village as soon as he could, but Ghirahim was gone and the village had been snapped out of its stasis. He knew the villagers would see the glowing embers of the forest fire and take action. Hopefully, the path he had carved would be apparent to them as they tried to evacuate. He also hoped that Sergeant Hol and his troops had made their way to the village. He swore he would return to check on them as soon as possible. But right now, he needed to fix himself up again.
Closing his eyes, he did his best to slow his breathing and enter the same state of mind he needed to be in.
Having practised and performed the Triforce feats a few times made it easier. All he had to think of was Midna, and he could cause his emotions to enter free fall rather quickly. The last thing he thought of as he manifested the swelling emotions was of her kissing him.
He extended his arm and shouted into his mind 'Make me appear at Kakariko Village, before Renado the healer!'
As he felt the surge of power and saw the intense golden glow from his wrist, he felt every ounce of energy quickly drain from his being. As his vision rapidly darkened, he blinked. On opening his eyes, his vision was fading fast, but saw the shocked face of Renado and heard Luda scream as his feet landed on Renado's dining table, smashing a plate.
He tried to smile as his vision went completely black and felt himself falling to his side.
-Renado-
Renado sat in his plain chair, trying to rationalise what had just happened. He had only just sat at the table with Luda to enjoy some sandwiches. Now, Link had appeared out of nowhere in a brief golden flash and smashed his lunch plate. He heard Luda scream in surprise and almost did himself.
Seeing the hero was about to fall to his side as his eyes closed, his years of medical training kicked in. Standing quickly, he leaned towards Link and grabbed his nearest arm with both hands and pulled back with all of his strength. Link, thankfully, was not very heavy and had not swung his full momentum into his fall. He looked to the hero's feet and saw his supporting leg about to stand on a plate full of butter.
"Get back!" he shouted as he knew what was going to happen next.
With a faint squeak, Link's heel dug into the plate of butter and caused all of his weight to shift in an instant.
The sudden lurch was too much for Renado and he was pulled over the table by his chest. Defiantly, he continued to pull back on Link with all of his strength, managing to slow his fall enough before he hit the floor. He had seen the sword in his gut before he fell and was trying to prevent him from landing on it.
With the slowed fall, Renado was now flat on the table. Letting go of the now stationary Link, he pushed himself off the table and brushed himself down. Luda had recovered from the shock and was already kneeling by the hero's side.
"Father! He wrote you a note this time." she explained as she passed a piece of bark to him.
"A note? What in the goddess's name happened this time?"
He took the bark and saw it had writing on it. Brief and a little messy but its intention was clear.
"Explain later? I certainly hope so." he said whilst he moved immediately to collect medical supplies for what would undoubtedly be another difficult challenge.
"Luda, please take him to the bed in the next room. His right triceps are wounded as well as that sword in him. Please be careful. Sterilise and bandage the arm whilst we figure out what to do about that blade." he explained during his brief run around.
He knew an impalement would be a time consuming job. Just pulling the sword out could cause a bleed out or damage the surrounding tissue. He would have to operate.
Sighing, he dug through his medicine cabinet. Link would need to be undeniably unconscious for this procedure.
He grabbed a syringe and a clean bottle that he knew to be a powerful anaesthetic. He had received support from the princess herself as thanks for his services during the Twilight crisis. Unfortunately, he had to be trained in the use of half of the supplies as they were all new and somewhat radical treatments.
The Royal College of Medicine had been seeking a way to render patients unconscious whilst more intensive surgeries were performed. The fruit of the research was potent but had to be precisely controlled.
As Renado prepared a clean metal tray and several instruments, he mentally calculated the amount of the drug Link would need.
Walking into the room he had told Luda to go to, he was incredibly proud to see she had moved Link onto his side, removed his upper clothing and was already cleaning the shoulder wound.
"Father, I've cleaned the wound...but I'm sorry. I'm still not skilled enough to stitch it. I fear I would cause the wound to scar if I attempted to do so."
Renado shook his head gently as he set about preparing his workspace.
"Dear Luda. Even now, you still doubt your skills? I have seen how much you practice sewing. Considering the quality of stitches in my tunic, I believe you would be perfect for the job. Don't forget, you have smaller hands than I do..." he said whilst revealing their considerable span before her.
She swallowed her nerves.
"Very well. I know you wouldn't ask me if you didn't think I could. But could you please supervise me?"
"Of course. A stitching will be far quicker than what I have to do next."
She looked at the sword handle sticking out of Link and its partnered tip pointing out of his back.
"I certainly won't be able to help with that I'm afraid." she stated plainly.
She did not doubt her skills. But she, like Renado, knew that she would have to attend a surgeon's training in the capital before she could perform operations. Still, she could assist along the way and perhaps learn more of the healer's craft.
"I understand. I still need a dependable assistant though, if you wouldn't mind filling that role?"
She smiled proudly and in an instant said "I would love to!"
"You make me the proudest father in the land. Please prepare the needle and thread. I will be a moment."
Luda set about sterilising a curved needle and threading it with a special thread they had received as part of their gift from the Princess.
Renado washed his hands with some potent alcohol and removed his long-sleeved tunic. He tied a mask around his mouth and tied his long hair up into a tight bun. After sterilising his hands once more, he took a deep breath.
"Alright. Let's do the same thing we do every time Link comes to visit"
Luda smiled a little but soon adopted a professional manner.
Renado sat beside her whilst she began to examine Link's shoulder wound more closely. Separating the tissue with a pair of precision tongs, she allowed the overhead lights to show her what had happened.
"Oh dear... His triceps are mostly severed. The bleeding has stopped thankfully but I worry about him regaining the full use of his arm...".
"Astute observation. Did you see any inflammation?" he asked.
"None." came the quick reply. "There's some blood pooling near the surface though."
"Understood. How clean is the cut?"
He knew she would understand that he meant the quality of the cut.
She looked closely and spent a little more time examining the wound.
"It appears to be absolutely clean. No ruptures, tearing of the tissue or blood vessels."
Satisfied and grateful for at least one easy treatment, Renado knew the appropriate course of action to take.
"Then you will perform a running-locking suture. Why do I choose this?" he asked, knowing she would get the right answer. It didn't hurt to make sure she knew the theory of the work too.
"To keep the suture in place as he moves around. Others would likely allow the wound to remain open slightly, making it much worse."
Renado was pleased. She had been studying medical manuals and journals at every chance she had. It seemed she had been inspired by his own work whilst the hero was saving the world from Ganondorf. She was able to absorb the knowledge rather quickly and would soon prove to be an able caregiver.
"Then please begin. I will assist if necessary."
She nodded and turned to her work.
The procedure went smoothly over twenty minutes. Perhaps simply observing was enough to give her the confidence to work, Renado thought. He assisted at several points to absorb some blood with a sterile sponge but other than that, he was not needed.
As Luda eventually completed the last knot, she trimmed the excess thread from the needle. Disposing of her used equipment, she looked back over the precise suture she had made and checked for signs of wear or tugging. There were none.
She sat on a chair and sighed with relief. Renado felt warmed by her smile. She had worked flawlessly. Sadly, there was more work to do.
"Luda my dear, well done! I am satisfied with your work, very much so. But there is another procedure we need to do. I will perform it and the after sutures but I will need you to clean the incisions I make as well as soak up any excess blood. Before that though, please have some water, clean your hands and put on a mask."
She nodded and dutifully did as she was instructed.
Moments later, she returned with her mask and had pinned her rolled-up sleeves in place. It was time.
Renado had much more experience in dealing with such dangerous wounds and knew the key was to prevent internal bleeding before removing the sword.
As he made his incision to explore the sword wound, he pulled the wound open carefully with some forceps. Looking inside, he saw that despite the wound being large, it had miraculously avoided any major organs.
The blade had slipped between a crease in Links's large intestine and gone through the other side whilst only cutting several blood vessels that were already slowing their bleeding.
He supposed the anaesthetic he had given Link had slowed his heart rate enough to stop the bleeding from becoming worse.
As he carefully examined the rest of the wound, he had Luda disinfect the site as well as soak up excess blood with the sterile sponges. He was dismayed to see inflammation setting in on Link's rear abdominal muscles. The swelling would likely make his recovery much more uncomfortable. He would think of a suitable method of dealing with it once the surgery was complete. Better to be uncomfortable than dead, he rationalised.
About an hour through the procedure, he was satisfied that the wound had been thoroughly cleaned. Deciding it was now safe to remove the sword, he had Luda use the medical forceps to open the wound just enough to allow the sword to be pulled out.
Exceedingly carefully, he slowly began to pull the sword back through Link's exposed abdomen, taking care to touch nothing with the sharp blade.
As he was about to bring the blade free, his tired arm caused him to drop the blade ever so slightly, but enough to cut a vein. Cursing himself, he regained his grip whilst Luda held the medical tongs firmly, maintaining the small gap. A smart decision, he thought. Letting go in shock would have likely caused much more damage.
Slowly pulling the blade again, he saw blood pooling around the wound. It would have to be dealt with as soon as possible to prevent undoing all of their work.
Within a minute, the blade slipped free of the wound and caused no more damage. Carefully placing it on the table behind him, he noted how well-made the weapon was. It didn't look like any design he had seen in his life. Though the blade was elegant and razor sharp, the handle and hilt appeared to have some kind of demonic design.
He would ask more about it once Link was well again.
Renado and Luda both began mopping the excess blood out of the wound. Luda helpfully applied pressure to the vein with the tongs to help slow the bleeding. It turned out to be a good idea. As the blood flow slowed, the blood began to clot over the cut a short time later.
She then carefully removed the tongs, placed them to the side and immediately began soaking up any trace of blood she could.
Within a few minutes, both were satisfied with their work and decided it was safe to began closing up the large wound.
"Luda, you performed wonderfully there. Thank you. You can leave it to me now and get some well-deserved rest. I'm afraid you may need to make a fresh sandwich though."
She laughed happily. She was tired, but Renado could tell she appreciated working with him. He was happy to have such a reliable pair of hands at his side. He dreaded the day she would want to move out with a husband, but he promised himself that he would enjoy every moment he could with her.
She wished him good fortune and left to relax as she deserved to.
"Right. Let's get you fixed up... again." he sighed.
He began to suture both sides in a similar fashion as he had instructed Luda to before.
With the wound being larger and on both sides of his torso, it took longer to do the work. By the end, Renado let out a long breath. He sat in a chair and observed his work.
Link was pale from shock and blood loss but he would likely be up and running around soon, against his advice. He hoped this time he would be able to get through to him about letting his body recover. He certainly wanted to know how he was able to make himself appear before him in an instant though.
Getting up, he carefully picked Link up and moved him gently into a fresh bed in the next room.
"Rest now, young one. We'll see you in the morning most likely."
He turned to leave, grateful that Link would be able to wake up again.
He then went to find Luda asleep on a comfortable chair in their living room, a half-eaten sandwich still in her hand.
Smiling, he got a blanket from a store room and wrapped her up in it. The nights were cold, even this close to Death Mountain. As he walked into the kitchen, his heart warmed to see a plate with a fresh sandwich on it and a jug of water waiting for him. A little piece of paper was near the jug. It read "Well done! X".
Renado sat, ate, drank and allowed a tear to fall from his eye.
The next day, Renado awoke to the sound of cuccoos in town, signalling the new day.
He had fallen asleep next to Luda but as his eyes adjusted to the bright light coming from the window, he realised she wasn't there.
"Working already... wonderful child." he mused happily.
He stood and allowed himself to stretch.
After drinking some water, he decided it would be worth seeing if Link was up. He would need to eat and drink too after his ordeal.
He prepared some soup and a large jug of water. Carrying it on a plain wooden tray, he entered Links' room and saw he was already awake and talking with Luda.
-Link-
Link heard the footsteps before the door opened. He couldn't help but allow a smile to spread across his face.
"Good morning" he said sluggishly.
He wasn't completely tired, but he did feel sore everywhere.
"Ah! A pleasure to see you again Link. Welcome back to our village." Renado said, as warm as ever.
As he placed a tray of food and drink next to him, he remarked "Though it would be better to see you without such wounds again."
"I know. I'm sorry for suddenly showing up like that." he said, taking more time to speak with his lack of energy.
Renado smiled.
"Not at all, my friend. You came to the right place after all. Quite nasty wounds you had there. You can thank Luda for stitching your arm. We both worked on your...well...'sword problem'".
He had only been awake for a short while. Luda had already been telling him what they did the night before in order to remove the sword from his gut. Looking down, he saw clean bandages wrapped around his abdomen and felt the one around his shoulder against his skin. He privately thanked the goddesses for placing Renado and Luda in the world.
"There aren't enough words in Hylian, Goron, Zora or any other languages for me to tell you how grateful I am. If you need a favour someday, I hope I am the first person you ask."
"Oh, dear boy! You need not worry about such things. Remember, I chose this profession as it brings me the greatest satisfaction. I am touched though." Renado remarked.
"Exactly! Seeing our work make people well again is what keeps us doing this. Helping people, I'm sure you'll agree, is its own reward." Luda smiled, as touched by Link's words as her father was.
He smiled too. He couldn't believe his luck, even all of these years later.
"Well... you must need income of some kind...How exactly do you support yourselves if you don't ever charge me for the intense work you've had to perform?" he asked, genuinely curious.
"The Royal family pays the salary of all of its practising doctors. As well as their supplies." Luda explained.
"Exactly" Renado continued. "So please don't feel you owe us for this. We are well provided for. Especially after the Twilight crisis."
Link felt satisfied to have learned that Renado was able to live comfortably. Luda too.
"So. Luda was telling me that you had to... er...cut me open to get that sword out... and stitch my arm..." he said, a little overwhelmed with knowing how exposed he had been.
Renado nodded but said nothing, apparently knowing exactly how Link was feeling.
"I need to get back to Faron Woods as soon as I can. But I don't think you'd want me running around so soon right?" he asked earnestly.
"No." Renado and Luda said firmly.
"Your stitches are of high quality, but that doesn't mean your internal wounds are going to be fixed for a while yet. I'm afraid I must ask for you to remain in your bed for at least one week."
"Yes. Please remain as still as you can. One of your veins was cut along with a few others from the sword wound. Your triceps were cleanly cut and will heal effectively. But your muscles don't repair quickly. One week is the bare minimum required for such a wound." Luda added.
"What even caused this?" Renado asked seriously.
Link sighed, not eager to relive the fine details. But he owed Renado and Luda so much. He would always make an exception for them.
He decided to confide in him the details of his new adventure so far. Renado smiled when Link explained how he was searching for a way to build a new portal back to see Midna. Then, he explained how he travelled to the sacred realm once he had freed Ordon from its stop in time and met with the old hero. Renado was stunned to hear it.
He continued by explaining he was able to somehow channel the power of the Triforce if his need was great enough. To which his saviour looked as if he was questioning reality itself.
He then began to describe his fight with Ghirahim in a blow-by-blow analysis, including how he had cut his face and utterly destroyed his arm with the ball and chain, ending with him teleporting to the only man who could truly help him.
"Oh my..." Luda whispered in awe. Renado meanwhile looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his skull. He had learned much more than he intended to in roughly ten minutes.
"Ghirahim... he seems to command immense magical power..." Renado wondered, trying to focus his mind on the immediate threat.
"Yes, but he is wounded and will likely not make a move until he has been able to have his arm fixed...if that's even possible."
"But listen, the whole reason I fought him in the first place was because he set fire to the Faron woods."
"Oh no..." Luda whimpered.
"This is dire news, Link. What of Ordon Village?" Renado asked.
Feeling uncertain about the fate of his home village, he hoped there had been a resolution.
"The villagers would have seen the flames before they got close to the buildings. I had carved a path through the forest to create an escape route. Soldiers were heading that way with water carts to try and combat the fire. But I fought Ghirahim before I could learn of the village's fate..."
Reacting quickly, Renado spoke.
"Luda, please would you dispatch a postman? Address one letter to Princess Zelda, another to Mayor Bo and another to Shad. Ask them all the same thing. What happened to the villagers and to respond as soon as possible."
Luda leapt to her feet and didn't even say goodbye.
"Wow... she's diligent..." Link remarked, unsure of what to say or do next.
"She has friends in Ordon like you do. I'm sure she'd like to know of their well-being too." Renado mentioned a little coldly.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply..."
Renado stopped Link by holding up his hand.
"Forgive me, I spoke too abruptly. Mayor Bo is one of my oldest and dearest friends. I found the news to be a little shocking and cloud my words." he explained, looking a little guilty.
Link owed Renado too much to allow him to feel like that.
"It's fine, honestly. Please just forget about it." he said.
An awkward silence emerged between the two men. Link felt more and more uncomfortable as Renado seemed beaten by his own emotions.
"I guess there isn't much to do until I rest up properly." Link said. "Whilst I'm in your care, could I please look through some medical books about how to treat wounds? I feel that would have been sensible the first time I saw you."
Renado looked to Link and immediately appeared happy to be broken out of his reverie.
"That is a wonderful idea. Who knows? Perhaps the next time you visit will be for the pleasure of it, hmm?"
Link laughed and almost instantly stopped. A burning pain swelled in Link's abdomen.
"Ah no! My apologies, Link. Hold on a moment..."
As Link silently grimaced, Renado popped open a cork on a bottle and emptied it into a glass of water. After stirring it, he handed it over.
"Drink this. It's a painkiller that should last for a few hours. I have combined it with something to fight the small infection I found near your back. In order to get the best results out of it, you must only rest and relax. I will have Luda bring you some books and answer your questions."
So Link drank the bitter concoction and thanked Renado. The wise healer left Link to his thoughts as he went about his business elsewhere.
Some time passed and Link busied himself with trying to think of what to do about Ghirahim, if only to try and distract himself from worrying about the fate of Ordon Village.
He could appear and disappear at will, summon powerful magic and was an expert swordsman. He seemed to be able to see through feints and was incredibly fast. A perfect opponent. Link sighed as he realised he would have to get creative.
Ghirahim's pride seemed to be his weakness at least. Merely taunting him about his master's constant failure to permanently seize power had caused him to attack Link and lose his composure. Landing a blow on him made him even more reckless.
Thinking back over his fight with him, Link saw plenty of openings he could have taken. He had relied too much on the enhanced ball and chain. In most of his fights, he had adapted quickly. In some cases, he had thrown the master sword at a foe, drawn and fired his bow and then started punching until he picked up the sword again. All of that had been done in under a minute too.
Feeling a sense of optimism, Link decided not to rely entirely on the power of the Triforce. He had managed to defeat Ganon without the use of it after all.
Soon after, Luda entered the room with a generous portion of soup, bread and water. As Link ate, she began to explain to him the basics of practising medicine. Whilst he ate and drank, Link learned more about the properties of blood and how it clotted. Pressure was the most essential thing to add to a wound as it slowed the blood flow and gave it a chance of clotting. Including this, raising the affected limb if possible. Gravity would work to help slow the flow of blood.
After he ate, she showed him how to properly wrap bandages so that little of the material was wasted.
In less than half an hour, he learned much. When he had wrapped his own bandages in the past, he hadn't pulled them taut with each wrap. This meant he used more of the material. Pulling it taut meant the bandage would be more effective and save him nearly half of the material.
After more talking, he felt tired. Luda wished him well and left him to sleep, promising to teach him more if he was interested. He had eagerly agreed.
A few days passed, during which Link kept to his word and rested whilst learning all he could from Luda. Sometimes Renado would speak to him about more detailed aspects but he was a busy man. Being the only doctor before the long trip to castle town meant that his services were in high demand.
As time passed, Link learned as much as he could about the treatment of wounds and more importantly, the aftercare. He was nowhere near as knowledgeable about it as Luda was, let alone Renado. But he felt better for learning a new skill. He learned how to deal with broken bones as well as the different types of fractures.
He learned that he had sustained a compound fracture when the dragon of the City in the Sky had fallen on him and broken a bone right out of his skin.
Getting more fascinated with each thing he learned, he began to read. There were plenty of medical books in Renado's possession and he was happy to let Link learn as he could. Link smirked when he realised he could have been persuaded to stay in bed more if it meant learning the art of medicine.
Sometimes, Barnes would come to visit. The bomb shop was faring well. He traded with the Gorons for saltpetre and then sold his finely crafted bombs to Hylian miners. It was a win-win situation he explained. Whenever he left, he would always ask after the children of Ordon. Link remembered how he had spoken carelessly around them during the Twilight crisis. It seemed he still felt bad about making Beth cry. Link would tell him about the kids at length, missing them sorely during his stay.
On the morning of the fifth day, Link was eating a bowl of hot oats and honey. It had become his favourite treat during his stay. He was interrupted when both Renado and Luda came into his room looking quite serious.
Link knew it had to be news about Ordon and its villagers. Swallowing, he dared to ask "What news do you have?"
Looking at each other, then back to Link, Renado spoke.
"Link...The village is safe. The forest fire apparently stopped suddenly for reasons unknown. The villagers were evacuated to Castle Town. But..."
He couldn't summon the courage to speak.
Link did his best to be patient, though his nerves were rapidly fraying.
Was someone hurt or lost? Could it have been one of the children? Was Uli alright? Perhaps Fado was hurt? What of Mayor Bo, the dependable mayor?
As he rounded off the possibilities, his heart sank as he reached the worst possible conclusion.
"Ilia and her child are missing, Link." Renado said, his voice shaking.