Story:Kings of Strife/Part 30

Part Thirty
“You got me a doctor?”

“Yes. I thought you needed one.”

“I… I don’t. Where could you have gotten that idea from?” Silverius coughed.

“That’s what gave me the idea. Among other things.” Karilyn smugly crossed her arms.

“You’re unbelievable.” Silverius rubbed his temples and shook his head at the audacity of the girl standing in front of him. For the past week or so – he had long ago lost sense of the time he was spending in Karilyn’s inn – the Crystal had been in close proximity to him at all times, and because of that his body had been healing at an accelerated rate. By now, he was almost at full strength, although the part of his chest where he had been stabbed still throbbed every now and then.

“No, I’m being reasonable, and you’re not. It’s not healthy for you to stay cooped up inside this room for a week straight and never do anything except drink and brood.” She began to hurriedly walk around the medium-sized room and started picking up the various glasses and cloths hanging about the scarce furniture. As she did so, she ticked her mouth in a nagging, disappointed fashion.

“Oh – is that what this is about? You’re worrying about my mental health now? Great, and some random shrink is supposed to fix what isn’t broken.” Silverius sighed. That headache he had been nurturing was beginning to pulsate now, and Karilyn’s overextensions were not helping. Staying “just one more day” was hurting him after all.

“How could you not think you have a problem? Maybe if you came downstairs and helped out with the bar every once in a while, I’d be willing to forgive some of the problems you have, but this is just ridiculous! You have issues, Crono. Plain and simple.”

“Okay, no! I do not have issues! And I thought I told you not to call me that, at all!” He looked darkly to Karilyn now, and was unable to stop himself from shaking with rage. She noticeably flinched but otherwise did not back down.

“See that, right there?” She pointed a slim finger into Silverius’ chest, and he sighed and looked away again. “Yeah, that’s an issue right there. It’s not like I’m calling you out of your name, is it? Is that one word really that bad?”

“Yes, it is, alright! It’s just not something I want to be called. Is that too hard of a request for you to follow?” He stepped away and faltered, his body suddenly weak and shivering. The dark man squinted at the ground, his vision suddenly swaying, and he pushed a hand out to a nearby wall to stabilize himself. “Aagh…”

“And this right here is another reason I called a doctor! I knew you weren’t feeling well. Nobody can survive on a lifestyle like this.”

“I’m alright, dammit!” Silverius swiped idly at Karilyn with his free hand before returning it to his forehead. It was slick with sweat. “I just… It’s just a headache.” His knees buckled from another wave of migraine pain, and he winced. “This is nothing.”

“Oh, would you stop with the damn bravado already?! I swear you’re just going to get yourself killed one day!” With a brutish touch, she grabbed Silverius by the shoulders and tossed him onto his bed. His body as powerless as it was, he could do little more than groan his dissent and cringe at the pain in his head. The agony wept over him in waves, immersing him in swirling darkness, until he could no longer hold onto his consciousness and let himself be dragged into a deep sleep.

When next he awoke, his body was sluggish and heavy, but he was comfortably wrapped up in warm blankets and propped up on pillows. He had the aching restlessness in his body that led one to believe that they had slept for hours, but none of the energy that went along with such a phenomenon, so he was able to do little more than sigh weakly and open his eyes. They were still heavy with sleep, so he closed them after a moment of squinting at the light, but he was not that tired.

After he sat in the bed unmoving for a while, he realized that there were people talking nearby – most likely also in the room with him – and they hadn’t yet noticed that he had awoken. Deciding to allow the charade to continue for just a little while longer, he focused his hearing and attempted to tune himself into the conversation.

“…like this since you found him?” Silverius did not recognize the voice of the person speaking, but it was low and deep enough that he was sure it originated from a man. A strange curiosity and familiarity rose up within him at this moment, and he had to struggle to resist the urge to sit up and look at the person speaking, but resist he did.

“Yes, that’s right.” This was definitely Karilyn’s voice, and for once she spoke with a tender form of care that he had scarcely heard before. “Back when I found him near the docks, after the riots of course, he was hurt so badly I didn’t even know if he was going to live. Bleeding out of at least two holes, I swear.”

“So he’s gotten an infection from one of those wounds?”

“Oh, no, not at all! If anything, he’s patched up perfectly. I don’t think there’s even a single thing wrong with him if we’re just talking about wounds.”

“But that’s not what you’re talking about, is it.” The man’s sparsely delivered line was more of a statement than a question, and it was given with such a thin amount of subtlety that his disappointment was clear. But what could he have been disappointed about? Silverius’ groggy mind whirled.

“No… No, I’m afraid it’s not. He’s definitely suffering from some sort of mental illness, I’m sure about that. That’s fine, isn’t it? Can’t you doctors fix that kind of stuff, too?”

“That’s… quite the broad assumption. In your case, you got lucky… I can see what I can do.”

“Oh, thank you so much! Really, I appreciate it…”

“Don’t thank me yet, ma’am. May I ask… Why does this man’s well-being concern you so much? Is he not some random stranger you found half-dead after the riots? It would have been more profitable for you to cut him loose as soon as it was clear that he would survive, would it not?”

“Profitable? I’m not sure… For a corpse, he had a lot of good money on him, and he still does. That’s all us innkeepers deal in – the mighty dolarov.” Karilyn sniffed.

“Right… But that’s not why you’re dealing with him.” The man’s tone softened by just a decibel, but it was noticeable to Silverius all the same – which meant Karilyn probably recognized it, as well. Silverius heard her shift. “I’ve seen that face on a girl more than a few times in my life, and they always say the same things when you look at them just the right way.”

“…It’s not what you think. Trust me.”

“That’s what they say, all right.” The man gave a hearty chuckle with a hint of melancholy before clearing his throat. Silence fell over the room like a suffocating blanket before he spoke again, this time audibly closer to Silverius than before. The proximity almost caused him to twitch in his blankets. “So, you want me to see if this man has some post-traumatic stress disorder, is that it? And just what do you expect me to do if he does? Nurse him to health?”

“I… I don’t know, doctor. You’re the first one who’s actually responded to my house call, and I’ve tried so many people before, never actually thinking that I’d find one who’d be willing to come out and help someone. That’s all I want, is to help him…” She trailed off, clearly wanting to say more, but losing the nerve to do so. Silverius’ grip on his blankets tightened.

“…Right, well.” The doctor once again cleared his throat. “After these trying times, it’s important to help those in need and keep morale up. That’s the real mission us doctors should have.” That sounded like the most vague load of bullshit Silverius had ever heard, but his head was beginning to hurt again and Karilyn sniffed in apparent acceptance of this ideal, so perhaps his mind was simply fading away from him again.

A large hand grasped onto the blanket covering him, and it took all the power in Silverius’ body to force the resistance of his muscle’s urge to flinch. “Well,” the man grumbled, “let’s have a look at the man.” Silverius began to shiver involuntarily again, fear and pain ripping through his limits out of nowhere once again.

“Wait!” Karilyn’s remark stopped the doctor from moving the comforter anymore, and Silverius silently sighed in relief. “Can’t he get some sleep first? Let the man rest, at least for a little while. It’s rare enough that he actually does what I ask and takes a nap once in a while.” Her nagging had, for once, saved him – but from what? He could not fathom the answer, and with consciousness once again fading from him and warm sleep grasping at his extremities, there would not be much time to ponder.

“If you insist,” the doctor muttered. “You understand that I don’t work for free, right? This will cost you. And I’ll need a room and board.”

“Yes… Yes, I understand that, and I accept your terms.” Karilyn’s voice moved away, towards the entrance to the room, and she sounded as relieved as Silverius felt. “I am in your debt, Doctor… er…”

“Ah yes,” blurted out the man’s voice, “Doctor.” He stated the title as if it were new to him and still rolling around in his mouth, waiting to become broken in and familiar. This too was alarming, but again Silverius could not for the life of him fathom why, and he lost track of time and consciousness once again. The last words he heard before he fell asleep again came from the mouth of the doctor. “Please, call me Rasnikov.”

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