As Joe and Rhiley eased his mother's bandaged hand out from under the blanket, a deep voice spoke up from the doorway behind them. “Excuse me. May I help you?”

Joe turned around to see a broad-shouldered man standing in the open doorway. One look at him, as well as the young woman at his side, it was immediately apparent these were Rhiley’s kin. Both children took after their father far more than they resembled the feverish woman in front of Joe.

“Da, this is Joe. He is a Healer. He healed Buck. I brought him to see if he can help Mom.”

“Buck? What happened to Buck?” Rhiley’s sister asked in a worried voice.

Before he lost Rhiley to retelling the ‘Saga of the Briars,’ Joe spoke directly to the older man. “Hello Mister Dellham. I am going to see what I can do for your wife. Can you tell me her name, please?”

“It’s Sarsa,” Rhiley blurted.

“Sarsa Dellham,” the man intoned at the same time as his son, adding, “Whatever you can do would be greatly appreciated, Master Healer.”

Extending his hand, “It’s just Joe, Mister Dellham. I am about as novice a healer as one could ever find, so Master is serious overkill.”

“Well. Anything would be helpful. I’m Konren,” The man replied with the grip of a man who had worked hard all his life. It was rough-skinned and far stronger than Joe’s, but the clasp had no hint of challenge.

Turning back to the ailing woman, Joe let out a nervous puff of breath. In the background, he could hear Rhiley begin the story of their meeting. Tuning out the boy, Joe took her bandaged hand. Even though the swathing, he could feel it was warm.

“Hello, Sarsa,” he began, unsure if she was focused enough to hear him. “My name is Joe. I am going to see if I can mend this wound.”

He slid his hand up to the flesh of the woman’s wrist. He probably did not need actual skin-to-skin contact, but he figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

Summoning his healing, he felt it rise to his fingertips. Instead of focusing on the wound specifically, which was still wrapped under a sodden mass of bandages, Joe instead desired to bolster her strength. He knew all too well the delirious fog of fever and pain. With this healing, he wanted to promote a general wellness. His magic wavered for a minute, unsure what he wanted, until Joe pictured one of his good days, a day when he was strong enough to sit up when his mind was clear. As he filled his mind with that memory, he felt his spell respond, sending a rush of vitality flowing from him into the woman.

You have restored 8 points of Sarsa Dellham’s health. You are unable to determine Sarsa Dellham’s current health. The underlying cause of the damage still remains.

Your skill [Healing Touch] has increased to rank 4.

Color flushed into her cheeks. Drawing a deep breath, she immediately became more alert. Blinking, Sarsha glanced at Joe with a questioning look. Clearly, she had not heard him or registered his presence until now.

“Hi, Sarsa. My name is Joe. I became a healer today, and you are my first patient. Well, first human patient, at least. Let’s try that again.”

You have restored 6 points of Sarsa Dellham’s health. You are unable to determine Sarsa Dellham’s current health. The underlying cause of damage is preventing any additional healing of this type.

“I’m afraid that is as much as I can do right now. Let’s get these old bandages off and look, alright?”

“Thank you, Sir,” Sarsa replied. “It already feels much better. So do I. I was so tired today. I felt like I was sleeping even when I was awake.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Joe stated earnestly. He had had many such dazed days.

“Is she healed?” Konren asked, his voice heavy with emotion.

“Not fully, no. Sorry. I can bolster her health, but the infection is still there. I don’t know how to fix that yet. I only have two spells. I used the first one as much as I could, and the other won’t help us. I think I need a Cure Disease-type spell. I am very new to this. How do people get new spells in this world?”

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“In this world… ? You must be a Newcomer.”

“I am. And a very new Newcomer, to boot. Just a couple hours now,” he said as he untied the sticky cloth knot. The bandages were soaked with puss. “You guys are the first people I have spoken with since I got here ... not counting a surly knight.”

“Well, we are very grateful for it,” his patient replied. She began looking around, switching to that typical mom-hostess mode. “Have you eaten? It is the least we can do.”

“First, I want to unwrap this hand and take a look. That and food might not go well together.” Joe pulled a layer off and felt the wrappings bind in a snag. “Alright. This is going to be a bit of an ordeal. Let me know if I hurt you.’

Sarsa nodded, and Joe worked out the knot.

As the layers came off, they became more sodden. The slick ribbons of cloth felt oily against his skin. Once upon a time, this would have grossed him out, but Joe found he wasn’t bothered by it at all. A small chuckle slipped loose when he realized that there was a weird bright side to chemotherapy. He was pretty much incapable of being grossed out by bodily fluids anymore.

When he got down to the puffy skin, he needed some warm water to soak off the last of the cloth. Nella, Rhiley’s sister, brought a bowl filled with water from a pot that had been heating by the fireplace. Together, they eased off the last of the sodden cloth strips.

Nella was not as immune to the feel and smell, but she was determined to help her mother. She soldiered through her queasiness and followed Joe’s instructions. Across the room, Konren had a hand on Rhiley’s shoulder, watching Joe and Nella work, though who was comforting who could go either way.

The wound had originally been a knife cut, a simple kitchen accident, though it was deeper than your typical knife knick. If Joe had gotten here a few days ago, he probably would have been able to cure it.

Joe swung his satchel around and looked in again. Oddly enough, he found that even though nothing was labeled, he somehow had an instinctive feel for what each container and packet was for. He found salts that might be able to draw out the infection, but the wound had progressed to the point where Joe felt that was a long shot. The veins around Sarsa's hand and wrist were dark under her skin. Still, soaking in the salts would be better than doing nothing. They might help slow down the infection.

Joe was pretty sure she needed a better form of healing than he possessed.

“I’m going to need a bigger basin and more warm water,” he told Nella. “We can try to soak the wound, but I think I am going to have to find a stronger spell. Where can I go to look for one?”

“The General Store often has a small stock of skill crystals,” she replied. She scowled while thinking and then continued, “I can't remember ever seeing any healing skills there. Mostly the common stuff like detects and minor wards. There would be plenty of agriculture and crafting skills, too, but I’m pretty sure those are not what you are looking for.”

“What about a temple? In most ga … in my world, temples, and the clergy were often associated with healing.”

“Maybe in the big cities, that is how it works,” Konren stated. “Out here, we only get an occasional hedgemage or herbwife that comes through every now and then.”

“You don’t have a real Healer around? Not at all?” Joe asked incredulously. It was hard to imagine a town, even just a village, not having a doctor of any sort.

“Hard to keep one here in Crowfield,” the man answered ruefully. “This region is a very modest zone. There are no great threats, but there is also ain’t much opportunity for advancement. Any of our young folk who have picked up the healer’s path end up stagnating in such a mild region. They all moved on to a bigger city long before they reached their second class.”

“Well then, let’s hope the General Store has something useful.” Joe was about to ask for directions until he recalled that the whole village consisted of only a couple dozen buildings. The General Store surely wouldn’t be too hard to find.

Konren must have read his first thought, though. “Rhiley can show the way. If you two take the apple bushel to the general store for me, I’d be happy to let you have the store credit for them, Joe. Both to help if you find something to heal my wife and to give you a profound thank you for all that you have already done.”

Joe was uncomfortable with compliments, and so was about to shrug off the farmer's words. At the last second, it dawned on him that the man wanted to express his gratitude.

He could recall many times when he had thanked a nurse only to have the gratitude gently dismissed as part of their job. That wasn’t the point. The gratefulness was his way of accepting Joe’s help, meaning it would be rude to refuse it.

“You are welcome, sir,” he acknowledged, rising to his feet. Nelle stayed with her mother, holding her good hand. “I am happy I could help as much as I could. Even if we don’t find anything right away, I’m pretty sure I can keep it from getting worse with the spells I have.”

Scratching his chin, Joe added, “I’m pretty new to all this, but an infected wound has to be something a healer should be able to tackle. If we don’t find something, I can try getting some more levels.”

“Advancement is always a good thing. Though most of us here find we are happy with a slow pace toward ten. Not many folks are higher than that around here.”

The large farmer switched his focus to his son. “While you’re in the village, I need you to go to Kadric Tinker and pick up yer mom’s copper kettle. Kadric said he would fix it yesterday. He’ll have a job for you to cover the cost of the repairs. Do that once the Healer does not need you any further.”

“Ok, Da.” the boy affirmed, as he hopped over to give his mother a light hug. Heading for the door, Rhiley gave his thigh a slap to call Buck. “Ready, Joe?”