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Chapter 62: "Bed Rest & Recovery."
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Shae awoke briefly to a serious Apollo who was trying to tell her to store her qi. The exact words barely registered.
A mild sense of deja vu was interrupted by a brief glimpse around the room, lots of white paint, whiter curtains, and a studious older man with long stubble who was holding some kind of instrument to her abdomen. His white robes and the local equivalent of the medic's cross clearly marked him as a doctor.
Awakening to Apollo's intense stare had been enough to get her to act, though she had been drowsy enough that it took a whole breath to begin the action. As her energetic qi vanished inside her, she noticed no pain, suggesting an anesthetic. Gotta watch for side effects. Was the only thought she managed before returning to darkness.
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Aside: "I'm a Doctor, Not a Diviner."
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"How long will she be out?" Apollo asked.
"Hard to say, it varies quite a bit for new cultivators." The Doctor scratched the stubble on his chin and looked at her cleansed arm. "With this intense cleansing, she's probably adjusted to heavy qi use, and just now she was able to move a lot of qi quickly. Faster than most, I'd guess. A particularly weak cultivator might take a week, maybe a second of feeling sore and tired. At the other end, I'd wager no less than a day."
"That's quite the margin." She frowned.
"Has she had similar traumatic events? From this scarring, perhaps?" He pointed at the shadow qi scars. "Do you know the details?"
The older woman sighed. "I believe it was a shadow qi trap. She was only unconscious briefly, perhaps a few hours, then released from hospital care."
The Doctor widened his eyes briefly then peered at the scarring. "I'm surprised she has the arm. Must have been a weak one. Hmm... Dormant qi, or just residue?"
Apollo grunted, then spoke through clenched teeth. "If it's dormant I'll have to go find her last doctor to... exchange corrective pointers."
"M-hm." He frowned and glanced between her and the young woman's arm. "Though, if the doctor in question didn't have the means of dealing with it properly..."
Apollo turned and coughed into her sleeve. "Right. A reasonable possibility."
"Still, the same day is fast. Probably accelerated healing, at least in this cleansed flesh. Could be why the scarring is so clear. Anything else, recent injuries?"
She looked up at the ceiling and ran her tongue over her teeth. "Well. I should say that just last night she collapsed from mental focus exhaustion."
The doctor raised an eyebrow. "And she was using that much qi and fighting near domains so soon? ... Sorry, you said two nights ago, yes? If it was last night a repeat will almost certainly cause lasting damage."
Apollo forced another small cough into her sleeve. "Sure, two nights ago. She was heard claiming she was feeling fine, and without any headache this afternoon, while resting in the medical wagon."
"Ah." He relaxed and placed an open hand over his chest. "That's good to hear. Oh! And your caravan had a medical wagon? I'd be interested to meet the staffed doctor. Rare to see someone practicing on the road."
"Well, it's not a full time medic wagon. I believe it's staffed by a trained nurse."
"Ah." He let part of a grimace show on his face. "I should have guessed." Then scratched his chin again, and slowly turned his own mood around. "Though, I should still speak with them. Rare to get colleagues out here. They might be able to confirm her symptoms were minor or absent."
"Hmm. Is it appropriate to ask after another's patient?"
"Well, she is my patient now. Unless you think there's something worth hiding?"
"Ah. Rather, they might hesitate to tell the full story. I've not heard it myself, only rumors."
"Then you can hear it first hand! Do you know where this mystery nurse is?"
"I believe she was named Medic Sin Piket. A familiar name to you?"
"Uh, no. I thought you said she is a trained nurse?"
"I did, but I understand she prefers the Medic title." Apollo shrugged then nodded. "Not to worry, Doctor Cho. I can find her."
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Convincing Medic Sin to speak with Doctor Cho was easy. Convincing her to accurately retell the entire exchange between Shae and Long was practically impossible. Apollo needed to repeatedly reassure her that she wouldn't be held accountable for the young woman's words, and then promise that Shae wasn't going to be punished for them either.
With the additional information, Doctor Cho estimated her recovery would last at best one to three days. Though, he suggested two to four was more likely. Significant accelerated healing was rare.
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Shae awoke on the afternoon of the second day. The residing nurse was alerted when she knocked over a tray cover for the food she had been brought for lunch.
"Miss! You're awake!"
"So hungry!" Shae whined and looked disappointed at the thin rice soup. "I need a hamburger."
Shae did not get her hamburger. After a short haggling session with the nurse she was upgraded to minced meat and a light cheese spread over rice crackers. But only after she finished her soup.
"Mmm. These need pickles. Anything pickled, really." Shae said after stuffing the second one in her mouth.
"Right!" The nurse leaned forwards. "I've been suggesting that for years but the Doc won't budge. Says the salt and vinegar would be too hard on patients' stomachs."
"Eh, maybe? Not sure about that. The probiotics would be good for their gut health, thou-gh." She mumbled absentmindedly while spraying cracker crumbs. "Oops, sorry."
"The what? I didn't catch that? And don't mind the crumbs, you're not the worst eater in the building."
"Uhh-" She held up a finger and took her time chewing and swallowing. "The, uh, stuff in the pickles that does the pickling? It's kinda like yeast, and is good for your stomach and guts. It, uhm, makes you more regular. In the bathroom." She was trying her best to add the necessary suggestive gestures to her words.
The woman didn't seem to be completely following. "Hmmm... and where did you hear this? Must be some old village rumor?" She seemed more amused than annoyed.
Do they seriously not know about gut bacteria!? She froze and stuffed another cracker in her mouth. "Un-huh, musht be." She remembered to cover her mouth this time. Do they actually have gut bacteria here? They must, right?
The nurse smirked. "Save a couple, I keep a jar of pickled gochu under my desk." She hurried off.
Shae didn't recognize the name at first, but when she returned with a jar that contained that signature red tint she did. Ah, kimchi. "Is that... Just spicy peppers?"
"Not at all, there's a few other veggies in here."
She frowned and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "I can see why the Doc hasn't let you serve these, what with all those chili's."
"What? Everyone loves my family's gochu! Here try... this one. Should be milder." She used chopsticks to fish out a strip of some unknown vegetable.
Shae shrugged, folded it onto an already loaded cracker then jammed the whole thing in her mouth. She was humming with pleasure before her second bite.
She chewed slowly, partly out of enjoyment, partly because the two-bites-worth of food didn't fit in her mouth easily. She was careful not to speak, and instead gave the nurse a thumbs up.
"Ahh, that was great!" She finally said.
"See!" The nurse said, having already plucked out two chili peppers while waiting. "Want a pepper?"
"Uhm. Yes, but I shouldn't. Based on how spicy the not pepper was, it might be too much. If I'm still here at dinner I'll definitely take you up on it." She smiled. "However, I can also agree with the Doc. If you're trying to serve that to patients it would be too much."
The nurse folded her arms. "Come now, this is my personal batch. I wouldn't just give it away to anyone; we'd get something a little milder."
"Heh. Well then. Thank you for sharing it with me." Shae inclined her head in respect.
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The nurse indicated the doctor would be available in an hour, which Shae took to probably mean two. When Shae asked if her belongings had been left the nurse had an interesting response. Saying that Shae's guard would be around shortly, and that he had her possessions.
Based on the woman's tone, and the fact he wasn't here currently, she assumed the guard was for her protection, not something else.
After a quick wash up in the private room made for such things, Shae found herself tired enough to take a nap.
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Shuffling feet brought her back from rest. Then a hissing whisper that she didn't recognize. "--needs her sleep, get me when she's up again."
"Hmgh!" Shae grumbled as she awoke. "Doctor?" She asked the retreating silhouette.
"Ah! Miss Shae? How are you feeling?" He casually returned to her bedside.
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She rubbed her eyes and took a breath to consider the question. "Better than I expected. I thought I'd have a pounding headache."
"Hmm? Did you when you passed out? What is your last memory?"
"The fighting, and getting carried away from it. From the huge explosion from... Hmm." She tapped her temple and scrunched her mouth sideways. Couldn't have been my arrow, so it must have been... "Master Long's huge attack? Ugh, did he collapse the canyon?"
Both the doctor and nurse were surprised, then shared a glance. "So you can recall that much? And you saw or suspected the scale of the damage?"
Shae nodded slowly, her brain catching up and telling her that she might have said too much. "Err, yes. The Senior I was with was the one who alerted the town guard to evacuate. I assume she brought me in? -Oh!- I think I remember walking up here once. You and her needed me to store away my qi. I suppose that was the most recent memory, then."
He smiled, "Good, good! Missing that memory, or being in a fugue state for it would have been a bad sign. Though, now I'm not sure your injuries were as severe as your Senior made them out to be."
She shrugged. "I heal fast."
"So I've heard. Would you say that's because of your qi or your cleansing?" He bumped the nurse beside him and she moved to the foot of the bed, removed a clipboard, flipped a page, and then readied a pen to take notes.
The casual action and the distinct similarity to something from Earth stunned Shae momentarily.
"Miss Shae? The question is purely for medical purposes, and we have a strict confidentiality policy."
"Ah, sorry, I was just surprised. Is that stylus a spiritual tool? I've always wanted one that didn't need ink pots."
The nurse smirked, and the doctor smiled and bobbed his head. "In a way it is. Mortals especially might consider it such. I believe it is closer to a charcoal pencil, just with more interesting materials. I'm sure you can try it out later."
"Oh! Are we at the sect now?"
He shook his head. "You're still in Gatewash. You've been unconscious for almost two days. Which is a quick recovery and partly why I was asking about your healing."
"Ah, yes, sorry, didn't mean to avoid the question. I believe it's both, though I haven't attempted to test it scientifically or anything. Doesn't normal qi speed up healing?"
"To a small degree, though it usually needs to be directed to be effective. How are your channels? You had quite a lot of qi in you when you arrived."
"Oh, I suppose I haven't checked." She ducked her head and hunched her shoulders. "I'll try quickly right now," she said and pulled her legs up into a lotus pose.
Either the doctor didn't mind, or he was too surprised to stop her. She pulled qi from her Dantian and the darkness of meditation overtook her like she had jumped into it. It was fast enough that her standard handful of qi had just finished emerging when her mental landscape became clear. Nothing hurt immediately, but she still narrowed the flow of qi to not aggravate potentially injured areas.
The speedy divine-lightning qi quickly found the furthest reaches of her channels. She was once again surprised by how fast she could move it, and was nearly distracted by an attempt to push her limits. Nothing was immediately sore, so she increased the flow by drawing in some of the neutral qi to balance her own qi. The mix slowed, but where it bunched up it pushed on her channel walls with a light pressure.
Guiding the bubble of pressure around, she found soreness mostly in her left arm and shoulder. She nodded and stored half the qi then slowly lifted herself out of meditation.
Both nurse and doctor were waiting, the doctor peering over the nurse's shoulder at the clipboard.
Shae got the impression she had interrupted their conversation. "Uh. Nothing terribly sore. Just some around where I was reinforcing muscles," she gestured across her arm, "to be expected, really."
The nurse looked surprised. "You're certain? That was very fast."
She shrugged. "I've had to check before. Maybe I missed something small? And I didn't check my meridians, they're not supposed to be open, though."
"Hmm. Any change to your qi? Or your Dantian?" The Doctor asked.
"Uhh, I didn't check for that. Hmm, my qi might be a little denser? I'll have to investigate more, probably later. I assume you're busy and don't want to wait right now?"
The Doctor nodded, but it was reluctant. "We were expecting to see some change. You see, when you arrived it seemed like you had absorbed an enlightenment, but were holding it in your body, and distinctly separate from your own qi."
Shae opened her jaw and managed, "uhhhhh."
The Doctor raised a hand. "Technically that is your business and not related to your recovery. Academically, I'm interested just for more data points. Most individuals don't share how their enlightenments affect their progress." He exaggerated a shrug. "We generally get an idea from our own experiences, but there are theories that since everyone has a different path, their progress changes as well."
She finally clicked her jaw shut. "Oh." With a nod she continued, "That makes good sense. I met someone during the trip here who was convinced she had never had an enlightenment. From talking to her, we deduced that she had simply never noticed her enlightenments. Her progress was too swift to not have had them."
"Interesting! Such a unique case would be rather rare." He rubbed his chin, the stubble less noticeable than the day before.
Shae blinked at the clear memory of his face in concentration while he used some kind of spiritual tool on her. "Ah, if you don't mind. What was that tool you were using on me yesterday, doctor...?" She blinked twice as she drew a blank.
"Ah! Didn't I introduce myself? I am Doctor Cho. And this is my assistant Nurse Joi."
Shae's eyes went wide at the nurse's name.
She smiled, "That's a look of recognition if I've ever seen one. Spill."
"Err, ah. I have heard of a Nurse Joy before. However, it was quite far away. Ah, um, and I'm Wise Zhi Shae. Though I really do prefer Miss Shae. It's nice to meet you both."
"Likewise." Nurse Joi bowed slightly.
"I didn't realize, Wise One." Doctor Cho matched the slight bow. "You really didn't strike me as the monastery type. No offense intended."
"None taken. I'm not a practicing monk. Rather, I received the title while passing through Minlin City. The monks visiting for recruits were pleasant company and we exchanged advice, gifts, and that title."
"You almost make it sound like you bought the title?" Doctor Cho smirked.
"Hah, not at all." She dropped her head and looked down. "It seems I'm still bashful about the event, an urge to be humble I suppose. I'm not even sure if it's standard practice for that title. One of their group gained an enlightenment from overhearing a discussion- Ah, there's that humbleness again. They overhead my Wise words."
Nurse Joi seemed properly shocked by the news.
Cho smiled ruefully and nodded. "I've heard that is one way, though I understood it to require multiple enlightenments."
Shae resisted the urge to grimace at herself.
"Oh! Wait! You're Shae? As in Heavenly Shae? I thought those were just rumors." Joi was nearly bug-eyed, and she had brought up the clipboard to cover her mouth.
"They certainly are rumors. How true they are I can't say as I haven't heard the ones that you have." The young woman forced herself to smirk.
Doctor Cho raised a palm. "Perhaps we save gossip for after this checkup. Unless you think it's relevant, Nurse Joi?"
"Ah, uhm. Not particularly, Doctor." She dipped her head and hid her mouth behind the clipboard.
He nodded and held a slight smile. "Now. Given your proximity to Master Long's domain, there's a chance his qi infected your body. Do you recall reviving any wounds during the battle, or during his final assault?"
"Ah, Hmm, yes I did. But what do you mean by infected? Surely I would have noticed?"
"Probably, yet sword qi can be quite notorious for staying in the body and continuing to damage organs, even in very small quantities. You were channeling quite a lot of qi when you arrived, so it's likely that helped, but it's good to keep an eye out for lingering wounds."
"Oh, Long doesn't have sword qi, it's-" she cut herself off because of their reactions. They had both become surprised, though Cho hid it better and recovered quickly. "I... I probably shouldn't say? I guess that would be inappropriate?"
"Somewhat. Qi aspects are not exactly a secret." Cho said, then cleared his throat and nudged nurse Joi to snap her out of her surprise. "We are startled because of the wounds you arrived with, and damage to your clothing. While largely superficial, they appeared very similar to what we expect from sword qi."
"Ah. I can see the logic." She nodded. "It wasn't sword qi, rather... Uh, I mean..." She took a breath to think. "I could allude to it, or maybe use a metaphor, but it is definitely something that is inappropriate to discuss. Especially as it's not my own abilities that created it."
The Doctor frowned slightly. "If you're certain you understand it, just keep an eye out for lingering effects. You don't want to create a blockage at such a young age."
"Of course." She dipped her head. "Do you need to check my injuries?"
He shook his head. "We did that this morning. The little qi you left in your system helped them heal much faster. I'm sure you can take care of the surface damage remaining."
"Ah! That's good!"
"Great, really," the nurse joined in, "I've never seen anything like that in someone so young."
"Yes, thus the questions earlier. I'd wager stuffing yourself with that unique qi kick-started your natural healing, then the leftovers kept it going. I wouldn't advise that as a regular healing technique unless you like being unconscious for a day or two."
"Ah-ha, of course, I'll be more careful and try to figure something else out." Shae rubbed the back of her neck.
"Or you can simply find a proper technique at the sect. I assume you are going there."
"Yes, fair point. Oh, Nurse Joi, you mentioned I had a guard?"
She nodded. "Yes, he had some errands to run while you were unconscious, I think he'll be back in a few hours. He said you've met before."
"Oh? Hmm I suppose I met many guards on the trip. Speaking of- err, are we done with the checkup, Doctor Cho?"
"Close enough. I'll have more when you're released. As for the sect, they left this morning-"
"Wha~! Err, sorry for interrupting, I just expected to go with them." She ducked her head and bowed to match the apology.
"As I was about to say," he smirked, "the caravan was left behind because many of their oxen were lost in the attack. Gatewash is safe enough, so the guard and elders escorted the recruits for their entrance exam."
Shae's jaw worked to voice her complaints, but her mind worked to argue around them before they came out. "And I'm not officially a recruit, plus I was injured."
"They didn't mention that first part to me, but yes. They didn't want to delay further, they had already lost a day due to the cleanup, and something else, I'd wager."
"Hmm." Shae immediately wondered about what the something else was. The sect guards helped with the fight, so some needed a rest, town guards too... "Oh!" She snapped her fingers on her right hand, it was particularly loud and made her flinch. "Uh. Well, the gate guards were asking for help. Some might have been injured or exhausted from the fight. So the sect guards probably took a shift or three to let them rest."
The other two bobbed their heads in consideration and were soon nodding. "Very plausible," Cho said. "Though, there were only a few injuries among the cultivators. Most were able to fight well or get to safety faster than the mortals."
Shae blushed with embarrassment and tried to cover her face; her sleeves were a bit too short to allow for that. Then her eyes snapped wide open as she gasped, "Gah! Were any mortals seriously hurt?"
"A few. Though, I don't know the full extent, we're not the only medical service in Gatewash. As I understand it, there were severe injuries during the initial surprise. Mostly the oxen were targeted as easy and large meals, so the guards were able to prioritize human lives. While I didn't lose anyone here, that doesn't mean much. The good news is that Mistress Ping acted quickly to keep the caravan sane and safe. Resulting in minimal needless panic."
"Oh-thank-heavens." She sighed and slumped back into the bed. A small smile crept onto her face when she remembered Mistress Ping marching off to help the evacuation.
"And that's a good place to leave it so you can rest." Nurse Joi smiled. "I'll get you some water, then you can have another nap, you probably need it."
Cho nodded along and accepted the clipboard for review.
"Nap?" Shae bolted upright. "No thanks, I'm totally wired from that conversation." She swung her legs off the bed. "I'm going to go out for a run."
"No. You're still healing!" Joi stepped forward to block her.
"Barely. You heard the Doc, just superficial damage."
They both turned to look at Doctor Cho. Who decided to completely ignore them. It seemed he was very interested in Nurse Joi's notes.
Nurse Joi sternly glared at her. "A run is going to rip open your wounds. Walk around the clinic floor if you need to do something."
Shae decided not to torment the two medical professionals. "Alright I will. Thank you, Nurse Joi. Thank you, Doctor Cho."
Nurse Joi kept her glare up and raised an eyebrow. "Don't think I can't catch and punish you if you try to sneak out." She switched instantly to a friendly smile. "And thank you for your corporation, Heavenly Shae."
"Ugh! Please, Miss is preferred for now, Wise if you need to be formal."
Cho chuckled at her. "Heh heh heh, so humble. You should try to embrace your accomplishments, Wise Shae. If you need anything, try the bell, or just give us a shout if it's an emergency."
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