Fenrin tried to ignore the anxious looks Matius and Jayln kept giving him as the doctor poked and prodded his damaged body. He wasn't sure which was more annoying, when their eyes glanced over his scars with pity or flicked quickly with worry whenever he so much as twitched.
He flinched a bit as the Azir, Dr. Zi'vin, gave him a quick rap on the knee, muttering about reflexes. At his sudden movement, Jayln and Matius jumped as well and when Fenrin's eyes flicked towards them he saw fear pass like a shadow over their faces. Fear. Part of him drank it up with satisfaction, the other part shivered at said satisfaction.
"It's really quite astonishing. At a surface level the wounds are healed and even the tears on the muscles themselves have been woven back together, but there's so much new tissue that it's essentially sarcopenia."
"What the hell does that mean?" Fenrin asked, gritting his teeth as Dr. Zi'vin pushed his ankle slowly until his knee lifted.
"Essentially, so much of your tissue is new that your muscles are like that of a newborn or a bedridden elder. We'll have to work the repairs until they are as fit as the remaining original."
The idea of stuff inside him being 'not original' was unsettling but it was nice to have an explanation for the way he felt.
"But he will recover then?" Jayln asked and the doctor nodded firmly.
"Of course. Now, unless there's a reason against it, I'd like to start working with my patient now."
Jayln nodded, but Dr. Zi'vin kept looking at her expectantly, waiting for her and Matius to leave. Matius opened his mouth, "Er, we thought it might be best if she hung around. For support."
“To make sure I don't get violent you mean.” Fenrin wasn't particularly offended, he'd accepted that his mental state was fragile. Unless Matius drugged him, he woke screaming each night, flailing his limbs which left him racked with pain once the adrenaline stopped.
Dr. Zi'vin, on the other hand, sniffed with offense. "I don't think that will be necessary. I assure you, your friend is in good hands."
"It's not me they're worried about," Fenrin said with a wry smile and Jayln winced.
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Again the doctor scoffed. "Please," he lifted one of Fenrin's hands and then dropped it with a thud, "I think I'll manage."
While the abuse of his hand wasn't appreciated, the look the doctor's words put on Jayln's face was priceless and after Matius managed to pull her out the door, he chuckled. "You're a blunt one, doc."
"Hmm." Dr. Zi'vin didn't acknowledge his comment but went around the table to turn his attention back to Fenrin's ankles. "Let's start with the legs."
Once more, he grabbed Fenrin's ankle, the other hand sliding under his knee and carefully but fimly lifting up. Fenrin craned his head to watch as the doctor repeated the motion alternating legs like Ferin was running in the air. After about a dozen rotations, the doctor lifted his own foot and braced it against the edge of the cot and reached out his blue hands.
"Right then, now hold onto me and sit up."
A bit relieved to actually have to do something, Fenrin slowly and painfully reached to take the doctor's hands. He tried to sit up, but only managed to grunt. Dr. Zi'vin pulled him, pushing with his braced foot to lift the much larger man. Slowly, Fenrin rose, his arms a bit hot with effort.
"Now back down."
Fenrin groaned but let himself fall back, grateful for the soft pillow.
"Again," the doctor ordered.
After what seemed like countless exercises, each pinpointing a different group of his damaged muscle, Fenrin lay truly exhausted. However, it was a comfortable tiredness, not the aching painful exhausted he'd been feeling.
Dr. Zi'vin grabbed his bag, which in classic Azir fashion was a bright cherry red, and checked Fenrin's pulse with his fingers before saying, "I'll be back in the evening. You may try to move around but do not do anything that causes sharp pain, understand?"
Fenrin chuckled again. "Yes, sir."
The doctor turned to leave but Fenrin added, "How long do you think it'll take?"
With a tut, Dr. Zi'vin turned back. "That depends on quite a few things. I can't give a number since there's never been a case like yours. What's wrong with your body shouldn't be humanly possible."
"It wasn't done by humans."
Again Zi'vin sniffed. "Obviously. Your body has endured trauma and as a doctor, I swear to heal it. As for the cause, well, that's why I haven't sent you a bill."
Fenrin thought he spotted a flicker of a smile on the man's thin lips before he got up and left without another word.
Interesting man. The doctor's matter-of-fact attitude and treatment had a calming effect on Fenrin. There was clarity in Zi'vin's actions that was sweet relief compared to the murkiness of the future. He reminded Fenrin of his family steward, Ulris, back before he was killed alongside Fenrin's mother.
Those memories crept up like assassins and Fenrin sighed, turning his attention instead to wiggling his toes—about the only thing that didn't cause 'sharp pain'.