The Error Receives Treatment

“Well now, Mr. Pirate, let me have a look at your injuries and see what we can do.”

Túta walked around her bench, retrieving a wooden stool and setting it down in front of me.

“Please sit, I can’t reach you otherwise.” She said, stretching her hands up towards my head, unable to reach.

“Right, sorry.”

I quickly sat down, and she went over to a bucket of water in the corner of the room. She placed her hands in it and began to scrub them.

“You are probably wondering what I’m doing,” she said as she scrubbed.

I leaned back on the stool.

“Not really, you are cleaning your hands before you inspect my injuries. It’s so you don’t spread infection, right?”

She dropped the soap into the bucket, causing a slight splash, and turned to look back at me with a surprised expression.

“You actually understand what I’m doing?!”

“Of course, it’s normal back in my old world.”

“Really? Then I would love to know more.”

I nodded, and she quickly finished washing her hands.

“Now sit still while I have a look, okay?”

She reached to my face and began to loosen the bandages that bound my face. Perhaps sensing my apprehension, she started talking as she did this.

“So, who did your bandaging?”

“It was Pippa.”

“Pippa?”

“Pwii!” she chirped. Túta flinched, but recovered quickly and went back to the bandages. Once she was done, she began to examine my eye.

“That thing on your head… so that was alive, huh?”

“Of course she’s alive.”

“I thought it was like a hair accessory or something. So she did it?”

“That’s right.”

“Well,” she took a step back. “It looks like she did a good job. Based on the injury to your eye, it could have been really bad.”

“I think it is already pretty bad.”

“I mean, it could have been a lot worse. There is no infection, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, it seems you will be blind in that eye, but at least it won’t get any worse.”

“I suppose that is good news then.”

“It’s not the news I’m sure you wanted to hear, but at least I can give you some compounds to take away some of the pain.”

“Well, that’s something, I guess.”

She then took a look at my hand. Unlike with my eye, she didn’t say as much whilst examining it. She just made the occasional noise. A dark look washed over her face.

“Look, I’ll be honest with you. Your hand is in a far worse situation than your eye. If little Pippa hadn’t bandaged you, there is a good chance you would be dead right now.”

“So the fact that it was bandaged means it’s alright?”

“No. That is the only silver lining I can offer you. You’re still bleeding out, even though it’s a small amount at a time. The fact remains, you are in an extremely dangerous position right now. There are also minor signs of infection. Normally, I would apply topical treatment, but that won’t be possible while you are still bleeding. If I were to stop the bleeding by stitching you up, the infection would get sealed inside, and your body would eventually go into shock.”

“What does that mean? I’m going to die?”

“If we leave it the way it is, then the likelihood is quite high, yes.”

“There’s nothing you can do?”

“There is one option, but it’s risky. We’d need to kill the infection and stop the bleeding at the same time.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope, I trust my doctor.”

She sighed.

“If you are really sure. Alright, come with me.”

She led me back into the forge. A woman, who bore a striking resemblance to Túta, was scolding Bjørn.

“Oi, Mama and Papa, I need your help with treating my patient.”

The woman looked up at us.

“Wait, he's actually your patient?” she asked Túta.

“That’s what I was saying,” Bjørn responded sulkily.

“Let me apologise, I thought you were a young man who was here to steal my dear daughter away.”

“He could sti…” Bjørn began, but the woman elbowed him in the guts, bringing him to his knees.

“It is surprising to see someone here for treatment. But it is nice to meet you, I am Unnr.”

I nodded.

“So as I was saying, I am going to need some help. The injuries are quite severe, and the only treatment we can do will require a few weeks to heal.”

“I see, well, if he is a patient, I have no issues. Your father doesn’t either, right dear?” Unnr commented.

Bjørn was still wheezing on his knees but managed to give a small thumbs up.

“Thanks, Mama and Papa. Papa, we need to kill the infection and stop the bleeding, so I need a hand with that.”

By now, Bjørn had managed to get back to his feet.

“I can do that. But does the lad know what he’s in for? Will he hold up?”

“We don’t have any other option,” she sighed before shifting her focus back to me. “I’ll need you to remove your jacket and your shirt.”

“Sure.”

I slid the jacket off, but quickly discovered removing my shirt was far more difficult with only one functioning hand, especially since it wasn't my dominant one.

“I can help you with that, dear,” Unnr offered. “While you are at it, may I please have a look at them?”

“My wife here is an excellent seamstress. It’ll take a few days, but she’ll not only fix it for you, she’ll make it nicer than before.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“It is no issue at all,” she commented as the shirt was removed.

“Pippa, you did a wonderful job looking out for Mr. Pirate, but I will need you to also move out of the way during the treatment.”

Pippa looked over, her eyes were a little watery. I gave her a slight nod of encouragement.

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine.”

“Pwii,” she nodded.

“You can wait in my room if you would like,” Túta offered her, to which Pippa agreed, flapping off into the room.

“You’re a bit scrawny, but with a little muscle training, I can approve you to marry my daughter.”

Unnr shot him a dirty look.

“That is, of course, only if my daughter and wife agree.”

He hastily made his way over to the furnace and stuck a piece of metal in the forge.

“Are you sure you really want to do this?” asked Túta.

“Of course I am.”

These were my famous last words before I was strapped to a bench, and a sizzling, red-hot poker was pressed against the wound.

All I will say is that it hurt. Hurt more than losing my eye and more than losing my hand. I always heard that burns were the most painful of injuries. I completely underestimated the pain.

Somehow, surprisingly, I managed to hold onto my consciousness. Perhaps my pain tolerance had grown somewhat. Not that I would want to test that theory.

▪──── X ────▪

End of chapter 9