PROMPT : RURAL
Doctor Caliper’s mouth set in a grim line. She rose from the faded rose-settee and tucked the pulse-reader back inside of her healer’s gown.
“How is she doc?” Father Terris asked.
“You should have called me sooner,” Doctor Caliper said, brusquely. “What do you expect me to do for a child on their deathbed?”
“Save them, as you always have done,” Father Terris said, firmly. “You know we would have sent for you sooner, if we could have.”
“It’s a stupid rule,” Doctor Caliper said. She cast a glance at the door. “Keep watch.” Pushing up her sleeves to expose heavily tattooed arms, she knelt beside the small bed.
Father Terris stood guard in the doorway, a shimmer of gratefulness in his blue eyes.
Doctor Caliper was the last resort of everyone in the rural town of Alsbruke, but it was impossible to deny that she could do what no other doctor could.
Blue, green and purple markings began to glow, bringing the tattoos to life as she rested one hand on the sick girl’s forehead and the other on her stomach.
She began to recite the twenty-third psalm as the healing stretched on, longer than the usual handful of minutes.
When the girl finally stirred beneath the blankets, Doctor Caliper pulled away, sitting back on her heels. She panted softly for a moment, before wiping her sweaty face with her sleeve.
“Thank you,” Father Terris said, quietly. “We are much indebted to you.”
Doctor Caliper didn’t answer. She picked herself up off of the floor and drew the hood up over her head, with a faint tilt of acknowledgment, she stumbled out to the door—jerking away from the helping hand.
Father Terris watched her leave, worry replacing the earlier light in his eyes. There was something about her method of healing that never quite sat well with him. It was almost as if she would take the sickness into herself…
(c) S. Harricharan