AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 46
Nariana
Amonth into my First Aid practicals, and Farik was finally letting us take the lead on minor treatments. For me, it was bandaging an injury on a Priest of Obligation who'd cut himself while working on construction. The gash was deep, but the Priests of Action in the infirmary had already cleaned it out. All that was left was for me to wind the gauze around it.
Across the room, Talin was talking a guardian down while one of the medics checked her desire for abdominal injuries. The priest had been involved in a pain session, and his bruising was intense enough that his guardian insisted he come get checked. At the bed beside me, Wen was helping with a possible concussion.
I was still wrapping my patient's arm when I heard Farik call Wen aside. "Hey," he said. "I heard you've been told about the training changes."
"A medic!" she hissed. "I have made nothing but excellents in all of my classes, but I'm not allowed to apprentice as a physician?"
"I had to fight to get you the spot as a medic," Farik told her. "The new standard for the Path of Action says that due to the physical requirements of medicine, only men are allowed to train as physicians and medics. I managed to get you and one other priestess into the medic course, but Wen? I will give you all the training that a physician would get. Maybe your title will be medic, but that is only until this rule changes again."
I quickly finished the wrap on the guy I was helping. "Is that good?" I asked.
He nodded. "Just right, Priestess. And that's happening in Obligation as well. There's a reason that the construction teams are all male now. Women are being pushed to laundry and the kitchens. They say that with the financial constraints, we need more labor in those positions and fewer in construction, but our numbers haven't changed."
"Fuck," I grumbled, thinking back to what Anver had overheard. The real question was whether this was just our temple, or all of them. Sadly, I had no way to know, except... "Hey?" I asked the guy. "Is there any way you can have someone sent to my suite this evening to run a message?"
"We'll make sure it happens," he promised, just as the priest who'd been caring for him returned.
I opened the curtain to step out, but Farik noticed something. "That's not what I ordered for his antibiotics," he told the priest attending my patient.
The man looked up. "We're out of those drugs. For antibiotics, all we have is penicillin."
"Then we need to start watching for allergies," Farik warned, looking right at the patient. "Any irritation, swelling, hives, fever, problems with breathing, come back."
"Yes, sir," the patient promised.
But I was looking between the two. "How bad are the medical supplies?" I asked.
Farik blew out a heavy breath, clasped Wen's shoulder, and then steered both of us toward the far end of the infirmary. It was less crowded there, which meant we could talk. Talin looked up as I passed, but I gestured to show him that it was ok. The guardian he was talking to chuckled at him, and I heard something about how he clearly understood what she was feeling.
Then Farik stopped, turning to face us both. "We're down to making our own medications. The lack of funds is starting to become critical. Wen, I know you understand basic first aid, so on practical days, I'd like to have you working with the apothecaries upstairs."
"I can do that," she assured him.
Then he looked at me. "And I know you talk to the baroness. If there's anything she can do, we just need supplies for the infirmary."
"She wants to set it up so you can purchase your own supplies and bill them to her," I explained. "The problem is verifying the purchases. I'll write her tonight and let her know that it's starting to get critical." Then gestured to Wen. "I also overheard a little of that. When did the rules change?"
"They've been changing," Farik said. "Last year, we had the first set of changes come down. Physicians were expected to wear white coats when on duty in the infirmary, while all other medical persons should wear the standard black." He gestured to his own coat. "As you can see, I disagree. Blood and other fluids show too easily on white. Now, it's limiting positions by gender because of supposed strength issues, but I've seen enough of my female assistants lift big guys while caring for them to know that our job is more about leverage than strength."
"And education," Wen added. "I have wanted to practice medicine since I was in my third year!"
"And you will," Farik assured her. "Rules may limit us, but Action's responsibility is to get the job done, not to worry about the credit for it."
So I decided I'd just ask Farik the questions that were quickly building in my mind. "Is this happening in the other temples as well?"
"I don't think so," he admitted. "I also don't know for sure."
"What about Compassion?" Wen suddenly asked. "I mean for the medications. We know they have received their tithe. Do you think they'd share?"
"I can ask my brother to talk to the High Priest," I offered.
Farik's brows went up. "Would your brother have any sway? I'm assuming he's a Priest of Compassion?"
"One of Viyan's advisors, actually," I explained. "It's a long story and involves Merci."
