Faith and Padraig had worked together to create what they had dubbed 'the raft'. Named after a cooking technique which had given her the idea for it, the gel in question was transparent and would replace the usual bandages over wounds. It had a number of advantages, its transparency meant it was easier for the medic to keep an eye on the wound itself, it was a waterproof barrier which prevented further infection from getting in to the wound and, thanks to Padraig's ability to work miracles as far as Faith could see, it actively helped the healing process. She had gone to the head of the Order of the Adunih in Rharne and shown her what they had made, explaining the testing they had done and outlining the testing still to do.
Which meant that, as her shift started this morning Faith, and her companion for the shift the blue cloak Layi'u, had a batch of the raft to test. It was well timed, there were a number of patients with wounds which it was appropriate for. Layi'u was a member who Faith had worked with before and the former slave approved of her work ethic and good way with the patients. They had four to see this morning, assuming no one else came in during their rounds. The lists were there, everything was clear and ordered and Faith waited whilst Layi'u determined which order they were going to do things.
'I'm going to observe at Mattieus' request and make notes. You're on your own." Layi'u said and Faith nodded, unsurprised. She glanced at Mattieus who gave her a cheery wave and thumbs up signal, blew a kiss to Layi'u and then got back on with what he was doing. Faith could not surpress a grin at the exeburant grey cloak. He was like a child and, in many ways, he reminded her of Tristan. But, she had to focus, so the looked down at the list and put them in the order that she would see them in, considering how she was going to use the raft with each one. She was pleased, it would give an opportunity for a real test of it in action and that was what she wanted.
So, the first patient had previously receieved stitches in his leg, which had become infected. Faith moved over and smiled at him. He was a young man, in his early twenties and he seemed very anxious. "Hello there, Mr Jakeen, my name is Faith and I'm going to be taking a look at this wound. Alright?"
He nodded and looked at her nervously. Faith patted his hand to reassure him and she smiled, "It's alright, we'll get this sorted out for you. You'll be home before you know it. Don't look if it makes you squeamish." He nodded, once and turned his head away, scrunching up his eyes.
Faith unwrapped the bandages, humming a quiet tune to herself. She did that, not because she was particularly musical because she wasn't, but because she had noticed that it was often soothing to the patients. Looking at the wound, though, Faith frowned slightly. Whoever had treated him had done so correctly with the correct poultices and so on, but they hadn't changed the stitches. Since the wound was infected, the stitches themselves could be the source of the infection. There were twelve of them, which she considered was too much of a test of the raft's ability to hold as a first test and so she decided that what she would do was remove them and restitch with sterile thread, then raft rather than bandage over. "I bet you that itches some. I'm going to take these stitches out and clean this wound, which should relieve that, then put another treatment over, alright?" He nodded, most fervently, at the question about itching and he smiled in relief at what she was describing. "Good, alright, you let me know if I hurt you at all, it shouldn't hurt and if there's any pain, we'll give you something for it."
Once she was sure that she had given him all the information, Faith went and scrubbed her hands under water as close to boiling as she could get it, then cleaned the thread in the same way. Moving back over to him, she sat by his bed, humming the quiet tune as she carefully cut away the stitches he had. As she took them out and put them in the bowl, Faith frowned slightly. These were blatantly the cause of the infection, she thought, or were at best making it worse. They had ... stuff.... growing on them, in Famula's name and she glanced up at Mattieus, who slithered over at her glance. She said nothing but nodded to the bowl and he looked in there, a frown on his face. He nodded then moved away, but Faith knew that it was enough. Someone was being shoddy in their hygiene and that was not acceptable in their line of work.
Next, she cleaned out the wound as best as she could, which should at least allow a relief for him from the itching and burning discomfort which he would have felt. A fair amount of pus and related gloop oozed out as she removed the stitches, so a good clean out was very necessary. The wound was closing up, but with this infection that was not necessarily a good thing, it just made it harder to get to the source of the infection. Faith worked with her usual care and meticulous attention to detail in cleaning out that wound, then when she was absolutely sure that she had cleaned out as much of the infection as was possible, she began to restitch.
It was a different technique to restitch a previously infected wound and Faith paid particular attention to it. She had to consider the scar which would be left, but she also had to take into account the damage done to the skin by the infection. It was a difficult juggling act between the two, so she worked with slow care. It also meant that she had to plan out what she was doing so that she didn't pull or damage the skin five stitches up. This she did, avoiding the necrotic tissue.
"All done!" Faith sounded positively breezy, which was a million miles away from what she felt. Whoever had stitched this the first time could have cost him his leg, she thought and she was irritated by that. However, once she was done she carefully applied the raft to it. For Mr Jakeen, she considered, it was perfect because he needed as much support as possible for this infection to be cleared. She prayed for him, to Famula and Vri that the time for him to meet them might not be soon and might not be because of this leg but, if it was, that it be quick.
All done, she went to report to Layi'u and Mattieus who were talking together. Mattieus had a rare look of irritation on his face.Faith joined them and discussed the case, writing up her notes as she did in her small, neat handwriting.
'How sure are you of this stuff?' Mattieus asked.
"I'm sure that it's better than bandages which can create as many situations as they alleviate. Exactly how good it is, I'm not sure. Best case scenario, it could be an absolute breakthrough. But we'll have to wait and see."
'You're a very serious person for such a young girl, you know.'
"Am I? How do you know? You don't know how old I am."
'Sure I do,' he gave a cheeky grin to her then a sudden mock-frown. 'Egads! No I don't. How old are you?'
"I don't know." Faith met his gaze and he looked at her in some surprise. He didn't ask, but he raised an eyebrow. Faith smiled at him and lowered her head back to her notes. They were going to have to have to keep a close eye on him in the next few trials, to make sure that the raft was working how they thought it would.
"I'd like observations on him every break, noting the wound especially. Is that acceptable?" Faith asked.
Mattieus rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed loudly, 'I suppose. But only because you're my favourite.'
"Thank you." Faith said, made the notes and smiled at Mattieus."I'd better get on to my next patient."
The second patient was an elderly lady who had taken a fall and cut her arm. Faith didn't need to do more than check her because she was nearly at the point of going home. When Faith told her that, the old lady grabbed her hand and thanked her, a little too emotional for Faith's liking and she sat and chatted with her for a while. Turned out that her husband had arthritis and needed someone to look after him, the lady in question was worried sick. Faith took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I tell you what, why don't I pop in and see him today, just make sure he's alright?"
After reassuring the elderly woman that it was no problem, it would be her pleasure and so on the lady agreed and Faith, once her shift was finished, would do just that. Just call in, cook a little something warm for him and help out. Turned out he was as lovely as his wife and coping far better than she thought he would. He asked Faith not to tell her, though, because his wife liked to feel needed, a promise which Faith was happy to make.
Which meant that, as her shift started this morning Faith, and her companion for the shift the blue cloak Layi'u, had a batch of the raft to test. It was well timed, there were a number of patients with wounds which it was appropriate for. Layi'u was a member who Faith had worked with before and the former slave approved of her work ethic and good way with the patients. They had four to see this morning, assuming no one else came in during their rounds. The lists were there, everything was clear and ordered and Faith waited whilst Layi'u determined which order they were going to do things.
'I'm going to observe at Mattieus' request and make notes. You're on your own." Layi'u said and Faith nodded, unsurprised. She glanced at Mattieus who gave her a cheery wave and thumbs up signal, blew a kiss to Layi'u and then got back on with what he was doing. Faith could not surpress a grin at the exeburant grey cloak. He was like a child and, in many ways, he reminded her of Tristan. But, she had to focus, so the looked down at the list and put them in the order that she would see them in, considering how she was going to use the raft with each one. She was pleased, it would give an opportunity for a real test of it in action and that was what she wanted.
So, the first patient had previously receieved stitches in his leg, which had become infected. Faith moved over and smiled at him. He was a young man, in his early twenties and he seemed very anxious. "Hello there, Mr Jakeen, my name is Faith and I'm going to be taking a look at this wound. Alright?"
He nodded and looked at her nervously. Faith patted his hand to reassure him and she smiled, "It's alright, we'll get this sorted out for you. You'll be home before you know it. Don't look if it makes you squeamish." He nodded, once and turned his head away, scrunching up his eyes.
Faith unwrapped the bandages, humming a quiet tune to herself. She did that, not because she was particularly musical because she wasn't, but because she had noticed that it was often soothing to the patients. Looking at the wound, though, Faith frowned slightly. Whoever had treated him had done so correctly with the correct poultices and so on, but they hadn't changed the stitches. Since the wound was infected, the stitches themselves could be the source of the infection. There were twelve of them, which she considered was too much of a test of the raft's ability to hold as a first test and so she decided that what she would do was remove them and restitch with sterile thread, then raft rather than bandage over. "I bet you that itches some. I'm going to take these stitches out and clean this wound, which should relieve that, then put another treatment over, alright?" He nodded, most fervently, at the question about itching and he smiled in relief at what she was describing. "Good, alright, you let me know if I hurt you at all, it shouldn't hurt and if there's any pain, we'll give you something for it."
Once she was sure that she had given him all the information, Faith went and scrubbed her hands under water as close to boiling as she could get it, then cleaned the thread in the same way. Moving back over to him, she sat by his bed, humming the quiet tune as she carefully cut away the stitches he had. As she took them out and put them in the bowl, Faith frowned slightly. These were blatantly the cause of the infection, she thought, or were at best making it worse. They had ... stuff.... growing on them, in Famula's name and she glanced up at Mattieus, who slithered over at her glance. She said nothing but nodded to the bowl and he looked in there, a frown on his face. He nodded then moved away, but Faith knew that it was enough. Someone was being shoddy in their hygiene and that was not acceptable in their line of work.
Next, she cleaned out the wound as best as she could, which should at least allow a relief for him from the itching and burning discomfort which he would have felt. A fair amount of pus and related gloop oozed out as she removed the stitches, so a good clean out was very necessary. The wound was closing up, but with this infection that was not necessarily a good thing, it just made it harder to get to the source of the infection. Faith worked with her usual care and meticulous attention to detail in cleaning out that wound, then when she was absolutely sure that she had cleaned out as much of the infection as was possible, she began to restitch.
It was a different technique to restitch a previously infected wound and Faith paid particular attention to it. She had to consider the scar which would be left, but she also had to take into account the damage done to the skin by the infection. It was a difficult juggling act between the two, so she worked with slow care. It also meant that she had to plan out what she was doing so that she didn't pull or damage the skin five stitches up. This she did, avoiding the necrotic tissue.
"All done!" Faith sounded positively breezy, which was a million miles away from what she felt. Whoever had stitched this the first time could have cost him his leg, she thought and she was irritated by that. However, once she was done she carefully applied the raft to it. For Mr Jakeen, she considered, it was perfect because he needed as much support as possible for this infection to be cleared. She prayed for him, to Famula and Vri that the time for him to meet them might not be soon and might not be because of this leg but, if it was, that it be quick.
All done, she went to report to Layi'u and Mattieus who were talking together. Mattieus had a rare look of irritation on his face.Faith joined them and discussed the case, writing up her notes as she did in her small, neat handwriting.
'How sure are you of this stuff?' Mattieus asked.
"I'm sure that it's better than bandages which can create as many situations as they alleviate. Exactly how good it is, I'm not sure. Best case scenario, it could be an absolute breakthrough. But we'll have to wait and see."
'You're a very serious person for such a young girl, you know.'
"Am I? How do you know? You don't know how old I am."
'Sure I do,' he gave a cheeky grin to her then a sudden mock-frown. 'Egads! No I don't. How old are you?'
"I don't know." Faith met his gaze and he looked at her in some surprise. He didn't ask, but he raised an eyebrow. Faith smiled at him and lowered her head back to her notes. They were going to have to have to keep a close eye on him in the next few trials, to make sure that the raft was working how they thought it would.
"I'd like observations on him every break, noting the wound especially. Is that acceptable?" Faith asked.
Mattieus rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed loudly, 'I suppose. But only because you're my favourite.'
"Thank you." Faith said, made the notes and smiled at Mattieus."I'd better get on to my next patient."
The second patient was an elderly lady who had taken a fall and cut her arm. Faith didn't need to do more than check her because she was nearly at the point of going home. When Faith told her that, the old lady grabbed her hand and thanked her, a little too emotional for Faith's liking and she sat and chatted with her for a while. Turned out that her husband had arthritis and needed someone to look after him, the lady in question was worried sick. Faith took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I tell you what, why don't I pop in and see him today, just make sure he's alright?"
After reassuring the elderly woman that it was no problem, it would be her pleasure and so on the lady agreed and Faith, once her shift was finished, would do just that. Just call in, cook a little something warm for him and help out. Turned out he was as lovely as his wife and coping far better than she thought he would. He asked Faith not to tell her, though, because his wife liked to feel needed, a promise which Faith was happy to make.
