How did I get here? (Mdu_ntr)

[Anonymous]

Louhi nodded slightly to indicate she was listening and at least somewhat understood. Sleeping on a sofa bed (whatever that actually was) was nice to know. If it was called a bed, it was probably something she would consider quite luxurious, especially after sleeping in a cave for months. A pillow would have made her quiver with happiness, a pillow and a blanket, and she wouldn't know what to do with herself. A whole bed, and she was saved from speechless babbling by the doctor entering the room.

The doctor glanced Thanael over and decided quickly that he was not the patient. He glanced Louhi over. A mage. An oddly dressed one at that. "What seems to be the trouble with this one?" He asked Thanael. Mages often arrived with any assortment of ailments and it was easier to simply ask their Mordecai than it was to attempt to sort through it for himself-- of course he still had to examine them, but he at least had a starting point.

Louhi tried not to eye the doctor suspiciously, but she got the distinct impression he was not fond of her and then quickly dropped her eyes submissively to her lap before anyone had a chance to repremand her for eyeballing a superior. Her eyes however, changed from blue, to storm cloud grey.

[Anonymous]

Thanael found it irritating that the doctor did not show respect for him but did not act accordingly. The doctor probably considered himself unbound to the military because he was in a different faculty.

'She has just been rescued from the desert and has been injected with an anti-mage serum,' Thanael explained. 'She's suffering from severe sunburn and has wounded legs. She has apparently been cripple for much her life. She has a headache, I do not know to what severity and may also have other injuries she has not told me about yet. She needs to be brought up to regulation conditions. What other information do you require?'

Louhi visibly shrank back from the doctor, just as she did with every other person she had met. How would she be in battle if she was afraid of a doctor? Perhaps offering to be her Mordecai had been a mistake. He had done it now so he would go through with it. It would not look good on his record if he changed his mind so shortly after his last mage had been a failure.

[Anonymous]

The doctor nodded. It had been a long day for him so far and he had been a little slow on noticing the insignia on the uniform, but once he'd gotten his answer, he offered a salute. "Thank you sir" he said, albeit a bit wearily. He turned to look Louhi over.

Louhi obediently sat still, looking up just enough to see that Thanael was still in the room.

The doctor pinched the skin on her hand, lifting it up and watching it return to it's normal flat state. "She's very dehydrated, has she been given any fluids yet?" She didn't even seem to have a chart yet. He glanced over the sunburn. That could be fixed easily with a healing mage, but it wasn't helping her dehydration. He suspected she might be overheated as well. He moved down to her leg, simply moving the skirt up out of the way and feeling the apparent 'good' leg over. "This leg is in sound state" He commented to Thanael, hesitating at touching the other one. It looked as if it had been melted, and was admittedly, extremely unattractive. It had been awhile since he'd seen a scar like this-- after all, healing mages simply fixed things, he didn't see scars looking of ruined plastic.

Louhi's face went beet red with shame and humiliation, but she didn't bury her face in her hands like she wanted to, she remained positioned as she was, and refused to allow herself to cry.

The doctor gingerly felt the leg over. "This break is old" The doctor commented. "It has been left to heal incorrectly on it's own." He scribbled something down on an electronic pad. "Take her down to get scanned. It's difficult to tell where that leg is broken since it's healing over. Once she's scanned, a healing mage should be able to fix her up for the most part, then just some rest and lots of fluids."

Louhi was trying to politely, and without drawing attention to herself, drag her dress back down over her legs. She hadn't been given permission, but she felt naked with her legs exposed, but then in her upbringing, revealing an ankle could be considered indecent. Having her entire leg up to the thigh exposed was extreme, especially in the presence of two men.

[Anonymous]

Thanael's respect for the doctor increased when he saluted. Thanael saluted in turn before replying. 'She was given a small amount of food and water on the trip here but has not had anything since. You are the first one to attend to her since arriving.' He had done some basic first aid on her but that had been nothing more than making sure she didn't get any worse.

This was the first time he had seen her entire leg uncovered so he immediately understood why she had trouble walking. In retrospect, he should have gotten her a wheelchair before going to report or take her to the hospital. He was not a cruel person and he would not have been upset with her if she had asked for help but perhaps she had had the injuries so long that she nolonger considered them a problem worth mentioning.

She shouldn't have been so embarrassed about it though. Wounds were not something to be humiliated about, they just needed to be healed before they got worse... if these wounds could get worse.

'Thank you doctor,' Thanael said before offerring the girl his arm. 'Come on Louhi. Will you need a wheelchair the rest of the way?' he asked. She had done a great deal of walking so shortly after being stranded in the desert.

[Anonymous]

The doctor marked something else on his electronic pad. "They'll hook her up to fluids then, give her something to drink, get her dehydration to something easily managed. Her skin is very fair, she may be prone to burn and dehydration, something to be cautious of." The doctor commented "Otherwise, it looks like her leg is the only other problem. She's fairly healthy for being found in the desert. Maybe a little malnourished, but that should quickly remedy itself under your care."

Louhi struggled to understand what they were talking about, even as she tried to keep up with their conversation-- which was probably considered evesdropping, but it was about her, and no one seemed to be likely to actually talk to her about her own treatment, so this was how she decided she'd probably stay informed.

Scans? What were scans? Procedures you hadn't a clue about always seemed to sound more ominous than ones you were familiar with.

She obediently took his arm and slid off the bed. "Wheelchair?" That sounded straight forward enough to her, though why she needed one, she didn't understand. Chairs with wheels were for people who could not walk. Even when her leg had first been broken, she'd been on crutches. Only the crippled rich had chairs with wheels. "No, I think not. I have my stick" She lifted it slightly. "Are we going far?" Perhaps that should have been the first question, but it seemed unlikely they'd have to leave the hospital to get treatment, so logically, it shouldn't be such a long walk.

[Anonymous]

Thanael had the feeling that the doctor didn't find Louhi's burns to be of importance. 'You are perhaps forgetting her burns, Doctor. You may find other Mordecai that enjoy having their mages in pain but I prefer mine to be be comfortable. I would prefer not to have extra strain on the girl,' he said tersely. 'I don't suppose you could have the healing mage fix that as well?'

He noticed that Louhi appeared to be concentrating on what they were saying. She was doing a very good job of it too, her previous masters must not have liked her listening in because she was good at hiding her eavesdropping. He paid her no heed however, it meant that there would be less to explain later on and her ability to take in detail would be useful later on.

As soon as he considered Louhi to be steadied he removed his arm and placed it to his side. He waited patiently for the doctor to answer him and direct him to which ward they were being sent to.

[Anonymous]

"Which burns? The sun burns, or the scars on her leg? The mage will heal whatever the scans find, and if you feel he has missed something, feel free to direct his attention." Fixing 'the leg' should also include the scars over it. "The mage will be in the third ward, waiting for you, it's just down the hall there." The doctor explained, writing furiously on his little electronic tablet. Most Mordicai were not so protective and insistant about the care of the mages.

Louhi was struggling to understand and feeling she completely lacked the ability to do so. She waited patiently at his side, still pondering what a scan meant. She looked up to Thanael. This was definately an interesting place. She felt she could stay there forever and still never know everything about it, or even what went on in it.

She wasn't sure she really dared to hope that they would fix her leg. It'd be nice to be able to run and frollick and feel no pain while doing it. She glanced up again. Though she doubted there was much running and frollicking to be had given that she was once again a servant-- which she didn't particularly mind, but she did want to know what it was to frollick.

[Anonymous]

Thanael nodded. He man didn't exactly answer his question but he supposed if the medical team did not find the sunburn worth healing, he could always ask specifically for it to be healed. Her headache too may turn up on her scans. He gave a quick salute before leaving the room, ushering Louhi to do the same.

'Is there a problem, Louhi?' he asked. She seemed nervous and was glancing up at him an awful lot. It would be so much easier once they were bonded; f she had a query she would be able to ask it without speaking out of turn. 'You may speak freely.'

Thanael walked at a slow to steady pace down the hall toward where the doctor had indicated. It would be interesting to see what the scans picked up, purely for the reason that he believed that the mage was downplaying her pain. He had not experienced prolonged pain before but classes had taught him that pain was partially an emotional reaction. Accepting pain was supposed to make it "hurt" less.

[Anonymous]

"What are scans?" She asked "Will they hurt? Do they have to cut me?" In her experience, doctors generally caused some sort of pain, even if it was in her best interest. She trailed him down the hall, keeping pace with no apparent trouble. "I don't understand the word in its current context"

Ward 3 was indeed not far down the hall. The door opened before them, revealing a rather imposing machine.

Louhi shrunk down almost against him, but did not allow herself to touch his side as that could be considered inappropriate. It looked like the machine was used to swallow patients and she could see feet poking out of the 'mouth'. She glanced at the lights, glad they weren't going haywire on her. Having her powers suppressed was surprisingly nice.

A rather short mage with a tag that read "Foaley" approached them, saluting Thanael. He'd been alerted by the doctor that they were coming. "Here for the scan, right? Come in please" Medical mages had to do a little talking. Louhi, with her twelve-year-old's body was taller than he was by about an inch.  He looked her over a moment, taking in her posture. "Would you care to help her onto the scanning table Sir? Or would you prefer I send for someone?" She was not in a state to jump onto the table, and he was not likely to be tall enough to lift her up, but Thanael certainly was.

[Anonymous]

Thanael sighed. She was anxious about everything. That was going to be a lot of work to resolve. He had said he would claim her and he would. If not because she was an interesting case then because he had said he would. 'Scans do exactly that, scan. They do not go beneath the surface. Most are able to go below the body without needing to. I do not know what scans they will be using but rest assured, they will not be invasive. They will probably be some sort of imaging device,' he explained.

In truth he did not know what was in store for her or how physical damage was analysed. It was possible that machinery had been adapted to work with magecraft, much like the headband she would wear.

Thanael pushed the girl forward slightly when she shrank back. 'Stand up straight girl. There is no need to shrink back into me,' he ordered, his voice was not harsh but it was not gentle either. He had simply not expected her to be afraid of a machine, they were so common to him he rarely took any notice of them.

Thanael nodded to the mage in response to the salute. Mages were not human so did not need to be saluted to. He followed the mage to the scanning table, showing as much care towards him as he did towards the equipment in the room. 'I believe I can manage on my own, he said before turning to Louhi. 'I am going to scoop you up now.' He then proceeded to do so without a thought to how she would feel about it.

[Anonymous]

With his order to stand up straight, she did so, putting forth no protest when he picked her up to place her on the table that would feed her to the 'scanner'. She still had no idea what that meant, and it seemed he did not care to explain it in a language that she understood. He continued to explain stuff as if she were already familiar with modern machines.

She managed to plaster on her 'servant' face to hide her fear. He had said to stand up straight and not shrink, which she took to mean, not be afraid, but she wasn't good at magically making herself not afraid...but she could pretend she wasn't.

Foaley set about undoing her boots. He didn't recognize the material they were made from and so wasn't sure what they might show up as on the scanner, plus, he didn't want them to hide any problems. Feet were important parts of keeping a body in comfortable working order. "Lay down" He said to Louhi, pushing on her shoulder a little to guide her onto her back. "Keep your arms at your sides, eyes closed and don't move. It'll make some noises, but just hold still." With that, he pushed a button and the table slid into the machine.

Louhi's breath caught in her throat. She wasn't really ready to be encased in a giant contraption, but she remained frozen in place, hardly breathing for fear her chest would move too much in the process.

It was nearly fifteen minutes later the table slid back out. Foaley shook her shoulder when she didn't move "You can sit up now" He informed, going over to a screen on the side of the machine. He looked a little perplexed. "Well, the sunburn over her exposed skin is a fairly strong sunburn, but fairly minor as an injury. That can be fixed easily by a healing mage of almost any level. However" He said, poking at the touch screen and examining different portions of it. "I've never seen a leg broken like that before. I've seen arms though" He hit a couple more buttons and a picture appeared, suspended in the air in front of the machine. There were spiral cracks running all the way up her leg. "Usually, breaks like these are seen in the arms of small or young humanoids and are generally caused by a stronger humanoid grabbing them roughly with a twist" A diagram of an arm being twisted appeared in a smaller screen within the image of her fractured leg. "How it happens to a leg, I'm not sure, but that's harder to heal, especially since the majority of the skin on this leg also needs to be fixed." He explained "Otherwise, she's exceptionally healthy for being found in the desert. Dehydrated and malnourished, which maybe why she has that headache, or it could be a reaction to the magic suppressant, power building up and such." He was looking through a complicated list of chemical compounds on his screen now. "She does seem to have a rather severe iron deficiency though, low on calcium...and a lot of her other vitamins as well, though fresh foods will fix most of that. I would recommend keeping her injected with iron and calcium though, at least for a couple of months until her levels stay on their own." He poked through more screens and raised his eyebrow. "You may want to have her cleaned too. She has elevated levels of toxins." He looked a little suspiciously at her and typed something into the computer, creating a print out for Thaneal. It had all the details he had mentioned, along with the technical jargon the healing mages would use, but at the bottom, under the toxin list were the words - common to Tiener. No other place he'd ever come across had that same mix of terrible air, bad water and toxic or semi-toxic plant life.

[Anonymous]

Thanael sighed and ran a hand through his mousy blonde hair. She still didn't seem to understand. 'Scans look at different problems someone might have. This machine is going to take pictures of inside your body to see what the problems are. Do you understand this time?' he asked calmly. He was trying to remain patient with her because she seemed awkward enough as it was. He imagined it would be terrifying seeing technology for the first time. He did not want this mage to turn out a disaster as well.

Thanael listened to the mage speak and inspected the holographic diagrams. He wasn't surprised by anything the mage said. It fitted in well with what Louhi had described to him back on the ship. He nodded and read the piece of paper without speaking. There wasn't very much that needed saying and anything important would go in his report later. To most people it would sound implausible that a mage popped up in the middle of the desert from millennia ago.

Once he finished reading it he looked up and said, 'I will have her where she needs to be at each day at 0830 hours. Would it be possible to have this information sent to my files along with historical information on Earth's toxin levels and a nutrition plan for her?'

[Anonymous]

"Of course" Foaley said, tapping away at the screen for several moments before giving a nod. "It should be set, though if you'd like to get her started, there is a healing mage available one ward over." Obviously, the scanning room couldn't be taken up for extended periods with things totally un-related to scanning. He'd get in trouble. "They can get some fluids into her while they work" He offered, waiting for a response. "Or I can just leave all the appointments set up for 0830 each morning, starting tomorrow." He did want the Mordicai happy.

Louhi was quiet, but seemed a little less terrified now that the machine had caused her no apparent harm. She was almost curious now, and her eyes slowly changed from grey to lavender as she sat patiently, feeling rather stupid and clueless, though her hand rested selfconsciously on her leg.

[Anonymous]

It was good that there was someone available, it meant that he could start initiating her by this afternoon. 'I would like to get her started and yes, I would appreciate getting fluids into her now as well as 0830 hours tomorrow. Will you be organising the arrangements or should I let the mages in the next ward know?' Thanael asked. 'Is that all?'

He looked down at Louhi, she seemed so small and helpless; nobody would suspect she wasn't human just by looking at her. 'Louhi, before we go are there any other pains or problems you can think of?' he asked. It would be so much easier when he could just access her mind rather than having to repeat himself. She had obvious hesitancies admitting she had problems and he had to keep coaxing her into saying anything.

[Anonymous]

"No, it's all in the computer" He assured easily. "But if you have further instructions once you get over there, by all means let them know." He assured, climbing down and starting the cleaning system for the machine. "Yes sir, that is all" He assured, going about his job.

Louhi looked up at him. "No sir, none that I can think of. My leg is generally the only thing that bothers me." There was that iron deficiency that made her crave strange things like bloody red meat, but she of course had no idea what that was and  she hadn't had to deal with it recently enough that she actually had forgotten about it for the time being, but it was likely to come up again. She rose from her seat, thinking that they were probably moving on to the next 'ward' and whatever it was they were supposed to do in there.

[Anonymous]

Thanael nodded and turned to leave, indicating to Louhi as he did. It was good that she was able to look up at her after going through the machine. Hopefully now she was beginning to accept that nobody was going to hurt her.

He went up to a nurse in the larger ward and waited for her to salute him before repeating the gesture to her. 'Master Sergeant Thanael Harbour, I'm here to admit this mage for healing. The details should already have been patched through,' he stated.

[Anonymous]

Louhi followed lightly, trying not to let her stick clunk on the hard floors as she walked. She was trying to resign herself to his care. He was her master, she would obey. It was less scary when she didn't give herself the option of balking at a procedure. It was mostly a matter of falling back into that mindset of a servant after being on her own for awhile.

The nurse salluted. "Yes sir, they were patched through." There seemed to be quite a little team of mages waiting for her. "Are you staying? or would you like to pick her up later when we're finished?"

[Anonymous]

Thanael looked down at the mage before answering, 'I will remain with her in case I am required. I have work I can do while I wait, was there anything else you wished form me? Thankyou.'

'Louhi, the mages are going to heal you and give you a nutrient injection,' he explained. He felt like he was talking to a small child and was possibly coming off patronising. Well, she hadn't understood much so far so if she was offended by it, he would gladly apologise. 'As I have said before, you're not going to be harmed so there is no need for you to be afraid.'

Thanael waited to see if his input was further required before setting himself down. Once the mages had got to work he would check his portable device to see if the files had come through yet. He had not known many of the toxins the scans had found so he was going to look them up in the medical database.

[Anonymous]

Things went smoothly for quite awhile while she was bio-sterilized, de-toxed, injected, IVed and then the mages set to healing. Things went fine until they tried to cure her leg. Sparks as from a downed powerline exploded outward, knocking one of the mages quite a bit backwards while sending Louhi off the other direction. She smacked at her leg as if putting out a fire, barely containing the panic that accompanied the feeling of being burned. She shakily looked her hands over. They were not burned, though there were several holes through her skirt. She was afraid to move now. Surely someone was going to be furious that she'd managed to break something.

"Hey! It says she was given the represent, it shouldn't do that!" One of the mages protested while the others picked up their fallen associate.

"She WAS given it, it showed up in her blood work."

"It must have worn off"

"No, look, this was taken within the hour. She's still got another good couple of hours left before it'll wear off."

"Then what in the hell just happened?"

"Run her through the complete scan."

"We just did that."

"No, that was the complete medical scan. Do the other one."

"What other one!?"

"The complete scan, it scans for magic too"

"Come on, don't put her through that stupid contraption, just call Archimedes down here, he'll tell you faster than anyone else if she's got exploding magic."

"Fine, call him."

The mages finally went to pick Louhi up off the floor.

[Anonymous]

Thanael picked up Louhi's walking stick and placed it in her hands. He put a firm hand on her shoulder and stood partially between her and the mages. 'Louhi, are you okay?' he asked in a soft tone. He didn't want to scare her but he was not impressed with the mages and the medical ward.

'I apologise for not telling you her history but wounds like hers do not come about naturally. I will not allow you to touch her again until you are sure of what is wrong,' she said before turning back to Louhi. 'I am sorry that happened. Go sit down while I talk to the doctor,' he paused and looked at her leg. 'Do you need assistance getting to a chair?'