As Anya and Lee leave her office she starts to give some information about the clinic and how things work. “This side of the building is for offices and exam rooms, usually for standard check ups and non-emergency visits.” She locks her office door and begins to lead them back towards the long connecting hallway. “You probably won't be over here too often. No offense to you, but some of the healers here have been with their patients for longer than the oldest human has been alive.” Giving Lee a slight glance she casually mentions “In the future if you have the time, I would like to speak with you about Human anatomy and physiology. You’re the first Human I have met.”
Starting to go down the connecting hallway she continues talking “This is what we call the connection, yes, I know, it’s not a very special name. The receptionists handle where people need to go once they enter, and back through that small door." Pointing at a door that Lee missed behind the receptionist. “There are some wheelchairs and gurneys in case something tragic happens.”
While making their way down to the other wing, Lee decides to ask a question of his own. “What is a Healer of Many?” Anya casually and simply responds. “It’s a title I have.” and leaves it at that. “You’re the first person I've ever met with a title. They must be rare.” Anya looks like she has been in this exact conversation multiple times and calmly states. “Most do not get any, and we do not know why or when they appear. I got mine after healing someone’s broken arm.”
Now entering the new right side wing through a set of swinging doors, he can see multiple Elves sitting in chairs in a waiting room. Waiting for their turn to be called. “This is the urgent care waiting room. Usually you see minor but urgent problems. Someone sprains their ankle on the steps, or breaks an arm, those kinds of things.” She opens another set of doors leaving the waiting room and Lee sees a very familiar sight, patient care rooms, similar to the one he stayed in on Earth, just without the fancy machines and televisions.
Looking through one of the windows while following Anya he sees a female Elf sitting up in a bed reading a book. She has large reddish and pink cracked areas across her exposed gray skin. Wish i actually learned to diagnose things. I know of many medical issues having been in the hospital for more than two years but I'd be hard pressed to actually diagnose anything. Thinking about it, he just assumed that because he had Healer’s Touch that he could heal people and send them on their merry way. What if they just returned later with the same problems from not knowing what made them sick in the first place? Looking at his unused stat points he brings up the information about wisdom and intelligence.
Wisdom:
* Reflects mental strength, giving insight and perception beyond physical senses.
* Can improve the ability to resist spells or perceive hidden secrets.
* Increases Mana by 10 per point.
Intelligence:
* Determines Magical power, mental acuity, and problem-solving ability.
* Increases Mana by 5 per point.
Mental acuity and problem solving from intelligence sound like they would help with remembering and helping with these situations, but insight and perception beyond physical senses also sound helpful.
Anya begins to speak. “This is the in-patient area, I would like to test your ability on one of the patients here to see if we can learn a little more about it.” Knocking on a door before opening it, Anya leads Lee into a room with a younger looking male Elf. The Elf was writing or drawing into a notebook when they entered.
“Artis, sorry to bother you but we have a potential new healer joining us. Would you accept him using his ability on you? He may be able to help with what you have.” Artis looks at Anya walking into his room and nods, he then spots Lee and immediately looks extremely confused. Lee takes this as his first real opportunity to do some good and begins to ask questions like the average doctor would in his world. “Hello Artis, my name is Lee, and yes I am a Human. May I ask you some questions and may I hold your hand?”
Artis nods once more and rasps out, “It hurts to talk. Ask.” Lee sits on his bed and holds his hand smiling softly, “You don’t have to answer everything just nod or shake your head, also I'm sure Anya knows a lot and she can speak for you?” Lee looks at Anya in question. “Yes, I can tell you what we have found. He came in nearly a month ago with a cough, fever, and chest pain. It’s slowly been getting worse.” Artis nods along and starts to cough.
Lee thinks for a moment and continues his questions. “Does the act of talking hurt or is it your lungs themselves that hurt from talking?” Artis looks mildly surprised and begins to think, “Lungs.” he rasps. Lee looks towards Anya and motions her over. Anya, curious, walks over to him. Lee motions her town to whisper in her ear. “This is going to sound like a dumb question, but does raising intelligence or wisdom help with remembering the past more.” Anya, now extremely curious, whispers back “Intelligence. Wisdom wouldn’t help much for memory, it’s for perceiving, like observing someone and telling their symptoms without asking. Those two stats work together.”
Not willing to let his very first real patient down. He adds two points to his wisdom and four points to his intelligence. Lee checks his new stats.
Name: Lee Barnes
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Titles: None
Level:4 XP: 440/800
HP:135/135 MP:215/215
Stats:
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 8
Constitution: 10
Wisdom: 13
Intelligence: 17
Luck: 10
Unused Points: 0
Skills: Identify, Mana Sense, Stealth, Mana Manipulation,
Spells: Conjure Water, Earthen Strike.
Abilities: Language Comprehension, Healer’s Touch, Hidden Cache.
With suddenly a tad more clarity, he continues his questions. “What was he doing before he noticed the symptoms?” Artis answers. “The usual, working.” Artis, slightly surprised that he didn’t have much trouble, gets a little bit of hope. Smiling Lee nods, “Where do you work?” Artis tests his voice and lungs once more. “The Aurora, it’s a bathhouse.”
Lee decided that even if he asked more questions he wouldn’t come to a closer answer. “Well, I have good news, it seems my ability works for you as far as I can tell, we should keep holding hands for a while longer though. Go ahead and breathe deep and see if it still hurts or if it at least got better.” Artis goes ahead and takes a deep breath. “Still a little painful but easily much much better.” Full of smiles he begins to thank Lee. “Thank you very much, I am sorry for the way I reacted when you arrived. I’ve never actually met a Human. I’m sure you were frightened when you first met us too.”
Anya immediately jumps in. “Well done Lee, did you figure out what sickness he had?” Lee thinks about it and decides on two options. “Well, he probably either had Pneumonia or Tuberculosis. If I had to put my money on it I would say he has a Pneumonia fungal infection, but I'm not entirely sure.” Artis and Anya both look at him for a second and look a little confused. “I do not know those words, but perhaps it is just a cultural difference. What language was that?”
What language was that? Did Pneumonia and Tuberculosis not translate into Elvish? Do they not have the words for that? This must be the first time my language ability failed at something.
“I spoke English, it’s from where I am from.” Lee looks at Artis and asks. “How are you feeling now?” Artis takes some more breaths and has an ecstatic smile, “I feel like a brand new person. Thank you so very much.” He shakes Lee's hand up and down.
Lee is now satisfied that he has helped his very first patient, not counting Ruven's arrow wound or himself. “Well, I’ll go ahead and let you know this before I go, you can get a fungal infection around damp warm areas. So the bath house might be where you got sick. Just be careful for a bit.” Lee lets go of his hand and stands. “Anya, may we speak privately.” Lee asks as he and Anya leave the room. Anya also wanted to speak privately. “Yes, I believe that is a good idea. Let's go back to my office.
Back in Anya’s office Lee starts the conversation. “First off, I was never trained in any medicine so when I say he has or may have had something, I may be completely wrong. So I'm sorry if this is a rude or ignorant question, but how do you not have magic to treat infections?” Anya seems a little taken aback, “What do you mean by infections? I do not know that word.”
Now it’s Lee’s turn to be taken aback. Is she fucking telling me, that this race who can live for ages, hasn't discovered infections? How do they normally treat these people? “Okay, we may have a very large knowledge gap. Please explain to me why you think he got sick.”
Anya is now confused. “I do not know why he in particular got sick, there are many ways people get sick. Eating bad food makes you sick, and drinking dirty water. Those types of things. Your people did not know this?!” Now she is dumbfounded.
Lee immediately replies. “Of course we knew that! Can you tell me why those things cause sickness?” Anya about to immediately respond pauses with her mouth open. She begins to open and close her mouth like a fish out of water seemingly wanting to say something and not to at the same time. Eventually she just blurts it out. “Because they are bad!” Anya is beginning to see Lee’s point. It was not Lee who had the knowledge gap, it was her whole clinic.
Lee nods. “Indeed they are bad, but why are they bad? Do you know? I mean no disrespect, but if we are going to be helping these people you need to be able to answer this.” Anya seems to deflate a bit, “I do not know why they are bad, just that they are.” She seems ashamed almost. Lee decides to help with this conversation. “In my world, we only knew why people got sick a little more than a hundred years ago, but we didn't have any magic like your world does. So in my world, we have the knowledge but not the means, and your world has the means but not the knowledge. Your clinic is about to be the first one to have both.” Lee left out the part about them having the means a little while after when Alexander Fleming discovered antibiotics. No need to make her feel worse.
Lee then begins telling her all about germs. Lee, while not a genius by any means, can explain the gist of bacteria, viruses, and fungi. What they do and how they do it. Many hours pass.
It’s very late in the evening when Lee decides he has told her as much as he could. He then asks a question. “How do you treat these illnesses currently?” she replies. “We try to treat the symptoms until they go away. If someone has a cough we heal the lungs, that sort of thing. Sometimes they get better, sometimes they don't.” Lee nods, and asks. “Do you think with the knowledge you now know? That you can create a spell that will heal these infections?” Anya confused once more looks at Lee, “What do you mean create a healing spell? Healing spells are from classes and bestowed by gods and goddesses.”
Jaw dropped, Lee began to realize his error. They don't create healing spells. They wouldn't know how to if they didn’t know the cause of what they’re trying to heal. “Anya, do you know how people heal naturally? Like, if I get a cut on my arm, and I don't go get healing. Do you know how my body does that?” Anya looks thoughtful once more, “Not specifically no. It will scab over and eventually be fine, but I don't know how that specifically works.”
Lee realizes something very important that he must do. “Well, I do, I’m going to create a healing spell.”