Page 18 of Dorchad

“Some days past I slipped and fell into a wooden rack,” Kiamh said, and grimaced as he touched his left shoulder with his right hand. “Since then I’ve no’ had use of my arm. Do you reckon ’tis broken?”

“I need to examine you to determine that, if you’re all right with me touching you?” When he nodded she went and carefully put her hands on his arm, checking the set of his bones before reaching and running her palms on both sides of his body. He flinched a little as she did, but she wasn’t sure if it was from pain or an unfamiliar touch. Regardless, what she detected confirmed her suspicions. “You’ve partially dislocated your shoulder, Kiamh. I can reduce—ah, fix that—and it will solve the problem, but you’ll experience some pain.”

“’Tis aching all the day and night now, Healer,” he admitted.

Rebecca pulled a large, empty table into the center of the room, and helped him lie down on his back atop it.

“I want you to relax as much as you can,” she told him, holding one palm lightly against his injured shoulder. This time he didn’t flinch as much, but she still noticed the physical reaction and she was almost positive that it wasn’t from pain. “Watch my face. I’m going to bring this left arm over your head.”

Slowly she moved his limb to the side and then over his head, using her other hand to raise his head a few inches off the table.

“Now I want you to reach for the back of your neck with your left hand, just like you would if you were going to scratch it.” When he did, wincing as the movement put pressure on his shoulder, Rebecca quickly took hold of his wrist and moved his hand over toward his injured shoulder.

Kiamh gasped as the bone popped back into place.

“You did great,” she told him as she lowered his arm, and helped him sit up. “Can you press your left hand to your right cheek?”

He did so, wincing a little, and then stared at her. “Och, I couldnae do thus since I fell. My thanks, Healer.”

“You’ve had the dislocation for a while, so the swelling that remains will continue to hurt when you use your arm.” As she checked his shoulder again she thought of Dorchad forbidding her from leaving the castle. She couldn’t even make some analgesic to relieve this young man’s discomfort. “I’m going to make you a sling, and I want you to keep your arm in it as much as possible so your shoulder can rest and heal. I’ll see if I can make a brew that will help reduce the soreness. Once the swelling goes down, I can show you some exercises to do to regain your strength and flexibility.”

“How long ’twill that take?” Kiamh asked, looking worried now.

Rebecca didn’t want to upset him by revealing it could take months to recover from the dislocation. “If you can come back and see me regularly for checks, I should be able to tell you in a few weeks.”

She went out to ask Lucy for a wide, long length of linen and something with which to cut it in order to make a sling for the druid, which the laird’s wife retrieved from a nearby storage room. She wondered what she and Sgathan had discussed, and hoped it wasn’t anything about her and Dorchad. She’d already caused enough headaches for the chieftain.

Lucy gave her the linen and some shears, and then promised to return in a few minutes before heading toward the kitchens. Back in the work room, Rebecca measured the length of the linen against Kiamh before cutting and folding it into a triangle, which she showed him how to use to cradle his arm while keeping it tied around his neck.

“You can slip it on and off at night if you don’t want to sleep with it,” she said as she adjusted the knot. “Use two small pillows wedged on either side of your arm if you want to keep it from moving.”

The druid nodded and sighed with relief as he relaxed his arm in the sling. “’Tis a marvelous notion, Healer. My thanks.”

Rebecca started to take her hands away, and her fingertips brushed something long and hard over Kiamh’s shoulder blade. For a moment she wondered if it was some sort of clothing tie, but it seemed part of his flesh.

“What’s this?” she asked him. “An old injury?”

“No’ so old. ’Tis from a whipping I endured while a captive.” He moved away from her. “Slavers took me to sell to a dockside brothel in the east. I resisted them, and so they starved and beat me.”

No wonder he was so thin. Now she understood why he had flinched a little every time she had touched him, too.

“Oh, Kiamh, I’m so sorry that happened to you. Is there anything I can do?” When he turned to face her she added, “Are there any other injuries you need treated?”

“No, Healer, I’ve recovered since my rescue. There remain only scars.” His mouth took on a reluctant curve. “You truly care. ’Tis the mark you do as the Gods meant.”

“No one should have to suffer what you did.” She wished she could hug him, but given his past trauma it wouldn’t help, so she settled for a reassuring offer. “Please do come back and allow me to check your shoulder. Also, if you ever need a friend, I hope you’ll consider me. We can talk about what happened, and how to deal with the memories.”

His brows drew together. “Why should you do thus for a stranger?”

“As a child I was very badly injured.” He wouldn’t understand what a car accident was, so she skipped that part and said, “It took me about two years to recover from my injuries, and I still have problems sometimes. Then there are the scars. They’re always there, even on the inside where no one can see them.”

Kiamh nodded slowly. “To speak of them doesnae make the pain return?”

“Sometimes.” She wouldn’t lie to him about the emotional toll. “But being able to share your thoughts and emotions with someone who truly understands can help, too. We all need a friend like that.”

“Aye.” The druid reached out to her for the first time, and touched her hand. “Then I hope we shall become friends.”

Rebecca walked Kiamh out to the inner bailey gate, and bid him good-bye before two guards escorted him out. She saw them heading in the direction of the dock where the clan kept their boats, and wished she could have gone the rest of the way with him. Being locked up in the stronghold was beginning to chafe, especially now when it interfered with her ability to treat a patient. It was exactly how it had been when her over-protective grandparents had kept her from doing all the things girls her age did in high school.