The Grey Tower

It was nearing the end of the "regular day" for the Infirmary. There was always a Yellow on duty, even over night, but the hours of the day when routine appointments were seen and when the Warder Yards (the most frequent customers) were most active, were manned by Yellows and healers in training alike. It was kept as busy in the staff as it was in the patients.

Gareth had enough seniority that he was rarely assigned the overnight shifts unless for some reason he wanted a daytime shift off, but it wasn't like it was the "easy" road to work through the days. He liked to help the tides of students who came through on a daily basis, both those destined for the Yellow Ajah and those just wanting some training in the healing arts.

Today, he had seen two broken femurs, a dislocated shoulder, an infant with croup, and more punctures and lacerations than he could count, as well as one fascinating rash. Its cause was fairly banal, but both healer and patient agreed that it was in the shape of a wolf's head. They had even asked the opinion of a passing, timid novice who nearly fell out of her own skin when Gareth spoke to her.

Now, as it grew quiet, the large man stood at the sidebar where the poultices were mixed and bandages medicated then hung out to dry. It was one such bandage he was lying over the drying rack when a racket came from the door...

OOC: Okay, someone bring me a problem!

(Did someone say... problem???????? well I bring the problem child)

Avyra hissed softly, tending the burn on her arm. This shouldn't have happened, but it did anyway. But thus was her life, at this point. She had been cooking. Not even channeling. Just. Cooking. Not even that, she had been boiling water for tea. And somehow, she managed to aquire a horrid burn on her arm, reaching across her entire forearm. It was nearly black, angry, with tinges of red and blood, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed, she hoped. What did she know about healing? It did look pretty bad. It hurt to touch it, and every time the pain flared up she felt like screaming. It was deep, too, not enough to hit the bone, but if it got infected she knew she was in for trouble. It was late, too, probably too late for her to be out. Maybe no one was there. But since she was here, she tried anyway, rapping softly at the door with her good arm.

Just finishing up before heading out himself, things had been quiet enough for long enough now that a knock at the door surprised him. In fact, the knock surprised him since people usually just walked in. Being the closest, he nodded to the Aes Sedai who would be watching over the infirmary overnight that he had this one and went to open it.

He was greeted by...a very short young woman. It wasn't that the man, at his height and breadth, wasn't used to everyone around him being smaller, but this one seemed even smaller than usual.

That observation was rapidly overtaken by the more important fact: she was hurt. His grey eyes fell to her arm. "Come in," he rumbled quickly, gesturing for her to come in and directing her to one of the open beds. "Sit." As she did, he hooked a chair with his boot toe and pulled it close, sitting as well so he would be more level with her.

"What happened?" he asked, gently taking her arm by the hand and elbow--where the burn was not--to do a visual examination. "I'm going to Delve you now," he went on, because although he couldn't imagine she would object, his ethics required she be given the chance.

Saidin was already raging in his grasp with decades of practice even before she finished explaining. He had to wonder just how hot that tea kettle had gotten to produce such a terrible burn, but it was hardly like this was the first kitchen accident he had treated. His eyes lifted briefly to hers with a faint but sympathetic smile.

As she had not objected, he created the intricate and fine mesh of Spirit that he lowered upon her. It brought to his mind every concern and injury, though the most notable was (obviously) the forearm. He examined swiftly just how deep the injury went and when he had properly assessed the damage, he released the Delving weave.

"I will heal the injury now," he said. "Are you able to embrace the Source?" As if she had been waiting for a cue, he was vaguely aware of Thea Sedai hovering nearby, no doubt to help keep an eye on the young woman if she did embrace.

As this was not an injury that put the girl on the verge of life and death, it did not require the more complex Healing weave so he wrapped together the three elements that would suit the purpose. He did it practically without thinking, having done it so many times over the course of the years. While living outside of the Tower, he'd had less cause, but those skills had been rigorously brought back to shape upon return.

The weave settled through her body, and was not discriminating, nor did he try to make it be. The weave wrapped around the burns and healed them, knitting together and recreating damaged flesh, while other tendrils sought out the bruises and bumps. He recognized the pattern to them and would have thought her a warder trainee rather than a novice, had it not known better.

Once the work was done, he pulled free the weave and let go of her arm. "You may release the Source now," he said. "How does it feel?"

"You should sit for a while," Gareth offered with a small smile. He had not yet stood up himself, but his eyes followed her as she moved and he saw how shaky she was. "Holding the One Power mitigates the effect of the Healing, but it cannot take away all. Sit. I will bring you some water, and then I recommend you find something to eat."

He waited until she sat again before rising. Moving away from the bed, he only made it a few steps before Thea was already before him. He came up short, surprised that she was there. She smiled knowingly and handed him a mug of tea. "It will help better than water," she said as he took the mug.

Returning to the novice, he offered her the mug. "Drink this and then you can go."