Clinic Duties

The next morning began like any other clinic day.

Reika bid us goodbye at the door, stiff as ever, though her voice softened despite herself. "That fried rice was… exquisite. I'll be back soon. Someone has to keep an eye on you."

Karin watched her walk down the street and smirked. "I think she likes you."

I shook my head. "She just likes fried rice."

Kaguya hid a smile behind her quill but didn't argue.

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By midmorning the first patients arrived.

A mother burst through the door carrying her son in her arms. He was no older than ten, thin as a reed, his lips tinged blue. His whole chest rattled with every cough, each breath so shallow it looked like the next one might not come at all. His tiny fists clutched at her dress like he was drowning on land.

One of the guild's junior doctors trailed behind, mask askew, his voice flat with defeat. "We tried flame therapy. It had no effect. His lifeforce is weakening."

The mother fell to her knees at the table, begging before anyone else could move. "Please. Please, he can't breathe."

I knelt beside the boy and pressed a hand to his ribs. The sound told me everything. This wasn't plague or corruption. His lungs were filling with fluid, choking him from the inside. Pneumonia. Back home it would have been routine. Here, it was a death sentence.

"Bring hot water," I said.

The guild doctor blinked. "For what? You cannot burn sickness out with steam."

"No," I said, already clearing space on the counter. "But you can help him breathe."

Karin slammed a pot onto the stove, sparks flaring as she lit the coals with her gauntlet. The water hissed as it heated. I grabbed a thick cloth, draped it over the boy's shoulders, and pulled the steaming pot close enough for the vapor to rise under the cloth.

At first he thrashed, coughing violently as the steam filled his lungs. His mother reached for him in panic, but I held up a hand. "Let it happen. The warmth loosens what's drowning him. Give him a moment."

Seconds stretched. His chest heaved. A long, wet cough burst free, then another, and another. Phlegm spilled into the cloth as his body fought back. Slowly, his gasps deepened, his lips shifting from blue toward pale pink.

His mother sobbed, clutching his hand.

"Now salt water," I said. "We'll have him gargle. It reduces swelling, clears the throat."

The guild doctor shook his head. "That is not treatment. That is—"

"Medicine," I cut him off. "Real medicine. Steam loosens. Salt reduces. Broth restores. Do it twice a day, and he'll recover."

The boy coughed again but this time sat upright on his own, blinking through the haze. His breathing wasn't steady yet, but it was stronger.

The mother bowed low, tears streaming down her face. "Thank you. Thank you, Healer."

Kaguya scribbled furiously, eyes wide, her quill scratching over the parchment like it could barely keep up. "Steam therapy… saline reduction… airway dilation… remarkable."

Karin crossed her arms, her expression softer than her tone. "So boiling water really can heal."

I shrugged. "Sometimes the simplest tools save the most lives."

The junior doctor stared, lips moving silently as he watched the boy's chest rise and fall. He muttered, "Impossible," but his shaking hands betrayed him. When he thought no one was looking, he scribbled the instructions down on a scrap of parchment.

The boy's mother clutched him close, rocking back and forth as though she couldn't believe he was still alive. The sound of his steadier breathing filled the clinic, louder than any alarm bell.

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Another patient stumbled in almost immediately, a soldier with armor streaked in ash and ichor, his leg wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage. He gritted his teeth, refusing to fall even as Karin tried to shove him into a chair.

"I was told to burn the wound shut," he rasped. "But the flame vial wouldn't take."

I tore the bandage off and nearly cursed. The cut wasn't deep, but the skin around it was swollen, streaked with angry red lines climbing up his thigh.

"Burning it would have killed you faster," I said. "You've been wrapping it in dirty cloth. The infection's already spreading."

Karin hissed through her teeth. "He needs cauterization."

"No. He needs cleaning." I pointed to the basin. "Kaguya, boil fresh water and get me some soap. Karin, hold him still."

The soldier looked from one sister to the other, then to me. "Water? That's not—"

"Do you want to keep the leg?" I cut in.

He clenched his jaw and nodded.

The water steamed. I poured it directly over the wound, ignoring his shout as the heat flushed the filth free. I scrubbed with clean cloth until the streaks began to fade, then bound the cut with fresh linen I'd set aside days ago.

"Change the bandage every morning and night," I said. "Burn the dirty ones. And no more rags from the barracks floor."

Kaguya's quill scratched as she muttered, "Boiling water… daily rotation… incineration protocol…"

The soldier tested his leg, blinking in surprise. "It doesn't burn as bad."

"That's because it's actually clean," I said.

He saluted stiffly before limping out, muttering thanks under his breath.

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The next was a factory worker with pale skin and trembling hands. She collapsed into a chair, whispering that she hadn't eaten in days because food made her stomach twist. The guild doctor at her side shrugged helplessly. "We thought it was plague. No fever yet."

I pressed lightly against her abdomen, then asked her what she had been eating. Her answer was little more than stale bread, week after week.

"Not plague for sure," I said. "Malnutrition. Her body is starved for iron."

Karin frowned. "Then what, she just eats metal?"

"Not metal. Meat. Leafy greens. Beans, if you've got them." I turned to the worker. "Soup with marrow bones. Anything with liver if you can find it. And no more living on bread."

Kaguya's eyes gleamed as she jotted down, "Iron deficiency… dietary correction… marrow application…"

The woman blinked, tears forming. "So I won't… die?"

"Not from this," I said softly. "Eat what I've told you. Strength will return."

She broke down weeping, clutching Karin's hand before leaving.

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By noon the benches were crowded with patients, none of them plague cases. Pneumonia, infected wounds, anemia, even fevers eased once someone finally gave the body rest and clean fluids.

The guild doctors who lingered to watch looked as though their entire world had cracked open. Everything they thought required fire and wards had answers simpler, gentler, and far older.

Karin leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "The guild wants to be rid of you, make no mistake. But every time you pull another patient back from the brink, their hands get tied tighter. They can't deny what's right in front of them."

I dried my hands on a clean cloth and nodded. "Speaking of things I can't deny - I keep thinking about that billboard you crashed through during the Sephis attack. That fruit on the sign..."

Both sisters looked up.

Kaguya tilted her head, quill hovering. "You mean the orba advertisement?"

"Wait," I said, blinking. "Orbas? Those were orbas on that sign?"

Karin shrugged. "Yeah, it's a mascot for some trading company. They deliver orbas to our dome occasionally, along with other goods from outside."

I stared at them both, then started laughing. "I've been calling them apples this whole time in my head. Back in my world, we had fruits that looked exactly like your orbas. Same shape, same color, same everything. We called them apples."

Kaguya's eyes lit up as she scribbled. "Orba-apple equivalency... cross-dimensional fruit consistency..."

Karin groaned. "You're telling me you've been thinking about that crashed billboard this whole time?"

"Pretty much," I admitted. "I saw that orba mascot and thought it looked familiar. Turns out they're basically the same as apples from my world."

"So what's so special about them?" Karin asked.

I grinned. "Well, back home we had this thing called apple pie..."

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That night Karin returned carrying a crate on her shoulder, frost curling off its seams. She set it on the table with a heavy thud.

Kaguya's eyes widened. "An icebox? From where?"

"Traders from another dome," Karin said. "They only risk the trip once a month. I traded supplies for it."

She pried the lid open, and cold air spilled out, carrying the scent of fresh fruit. Round, red orbas gleamed in the straw. Among them were small wrapped jars of spices, including a pinch of cinnamon.

I picked up an orba, the smooth skin cool against my palm. "Perfect. These are exactly what I need."

Karin rolled her eyes. "It's just a fruit."

"This is the orba from that billboard you crashed into," I said, already clearing the counter. "Time to show you what apple pie - or orba pie - is all about."

The crust came together under my hands, butter worked into flour until it crumbled just right. Karin lit the stove with her gauntlet, muttering about explosions. I sliced the orbas thin, mixed them with sugar, salt, and that rare pinch of cinnamon. The scent filled the room quickly, warm and sweet, sharper than anything the clinic had ever known.

By the time the pie browned and bubbled, both sisters were leaning close.

Karin's stomach growled as she tried to look unimpressed. Kaguya's quill scribbled even as she devoured her first slice.

I leaned back, savoring the taste. "Welcome to apple pie. Or... orba pie, I guess."

The sisters ate until the tin was empty, the scent of baked fruit hanging thick in the air.

I stared at the crumbs and muttered, "Pie is only the beginning. If orbas are this close to apples, cider and wine won't be far behind."

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Later that night, when the clinic had quieted, I cleared a corner of the kitchen. Kaguya followed, notebook already in hand.

I set a clay jar on the counter, filled it with crushed orbas, and sprinkled sugar over the pulp. "Fermentation," I explained. "Back home, people turned fruit into drink long before they understood why it worked. Yeast eats the sugar, leaves behind alcohol. Simple. Dangerous if you do it wrong, but worth it."

Kaguya leaned close, scribbling. "So you are feeding… invisible pests… to create a drink?"

I laughed. "That's one way to put it. Microorganisms, but yes. In the right conditions, they change fruit into something stronger. Cider, wine, vinegar if you let it go too far."

Her eyes glittered as she bent over the jar. "And you have done this before?"

"Not personally. But I know enough to try. A warm place, a sealed lid, patience. That's all it takes." I pressed the lid tight and set the jar near the stove, where the air was warm. "Give it a week, maybe two. Then we test."

Kaguya tapped her quill against her lip. "Alcohol already exists here. Distilled spirits from grain, fermented mead from honey. But it is expensive, locked away in noble houses. Rarely shared."

I nodded slowly, leaning on the counter. "Figures. I was wondering what kind of alcohol the nobles cling to. Mead in the manors, spirits in the council halls. Maybe wine if some other dome has fruit as rich as this."

Karin stomped in halfway through, overhearing the last part. The moment the word "wine" left my mouth, her eyes lit up like flames on her gauntlets.

"You're telling me this could actually work?" she demanded, grabbing the jar and turning it over like it already held the finished drink. "Orbas into wine? I don't care how long it takes, I'll wait."

I laughed. "That's the spirit."

Kaguya rolled her eyes. "Of course Karin would only care about the alcohol."

Karin ignored her, clutching the jar like treasure. "Forget training tomorrow, Ken. You just made my month."

I shook my head, smiling despite myself. "Patience. Give it a week or two, then we'll see. This batch isn't just for nobles. This one's for us."

Kaguya finally smiled faintly too, before jotting down every step I had taken. The lamplight caught the curve of her quill, the ink already staining her fingertips.

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