Tei'serin struggled with the weight lifting exercises with her injured arm. Doing them hurt a lot, and part of her wanted to stop doing them. But she knew that she couldn't do that. She needed to do exercises using her injured arm if she wanted to prevent the muscles of that arm from atrophying. And she did. If she ever did heal completely the way that she wanted to...the way that Moseke told her might be possible, then atrophied muscles would make that harder to achieve. And if she failed to find a way to heal herself completely, atrophied muscles would still be a very bad thing. They would be a constant source of pain to her on top of the injuries she already had. Tei'serin was determined not to add to the problems that she already had to overcome, and that meant sticking with the exercises.
When she completed the exercises for her injured arm, it was a relief. Tei'serin reached over with her good arm and got the jar of salve that her healer had given her to use. The lid was on loosely enough that she was able to hold it in her lap and unscrew the lid with her good hand. Once that was done, she carefully rubbed the salve into her injured arm. The herbal remedy did its job quickly, and Tei'serin sighed with relief as the cooling sensation washed away her pain.
She had one last exercise left to do. Tei'serin pushed the covers off of her legs, and lifted her right leg off the bed as high as she could. Then she held it that way while she counted to ten slowly. She repeated the exercise nine more times. By the time she was finished, her leg wasn't bothering her the way her arms had been, but it was tired, and it felt as if she had exerted herself considerably. Tei'serin figured that the difference was because she had been using a weight for the arm exercises, but not for the leg exercise. That thought gave her pause. Should she try doing the leg exercise using a small weight? Doing so might help her build up her strength faster, but how would she be able to manage it? After a while, she gave up on the idea. With only one good arm, it would be impossible for her to tie a weight on her leg. Rue would probably do it for her if she asked her to, but that would make her dependent on her healer to do the exercise, and Tei'serin didn't want that. She would simply increase the amount of time that she held her leg up for as well as the number of times she did the exercise in each set when she felt she was ready to push her limits further.
With all of her exercises done for the time being, Tei'serin tugged the covers back over herself with her good arm, and smoothed them out as best she could. She would start her next sets of the exercises in a few breaks. But for now, she wanted to think about what Vindecaldra had requested of her some more as well as what Rue had told her about strength yestertrial.
She was distracted from her thoughts when Rue came in for another check up. Tei'serin watched her during the exam, and was relieved when the healer told her that things were still healing as best as could be expected.
"Do you have anyone at home who can help you when you need it once we release you?"
Tei'serin froze at the question. The first person her mind drifted to was Thorin, and the idea of him helping her during his infrequent visits was laughable. If he came back for another visit before she managed to find a way to heal herself completely, he would punish her for getting involved in something without his permission. And if he ever learned that she was learning how to defend herself...which he would if he learned that she had survived a battle with Aukari even as injured as she was...
"No. I live alone." Tei'serin said truthfully.
Rue watched her carefully, and Tei'serin met her gaze as evenly as she could. But something in her tone, or the way she had reacted to the question seemed to have caught the healer's attention.
"Do you have any friends that you see often? Friends who might be willing to help you if you need it?" she asked.
"Not really. Most of the people I know are members of the Order that I work with. I'm sure that they'd help me if I needed it, but I don't really see them outside of work."
"Most?"
Tei'serin tried not to cringe as she nodded. Why had she allowed that to slip out?
"Well, there's...one person. Thorin."
Tei'serin shuddered. She looked around the room briefly, then flushed in embarrassment. As a child, she had believed that simply saying Thorin's name out loud was enough to summon him. She knew better now, of course, but the man terrified her beyond reason, and for good reason. She had been thinking about him recently, and she knew that Thorin wouldn't like it if he knew that she was talking about him with someone else. That put her on edge, and she tended to fall back on old habits when that happened. Rue was studying her intently now, and Tei'serin rushed to continue in an attempt to distract her.
"He is...was...my guardian. As a child. He doesn't live here in Desnind. He does come to visit once in a while, but he's busy so I don't see him often."
And that was a very good thing. Or it would be if she wasn't so worried about how he was treating her family while he wasn't here. Her half siblings were probably safe from the worst of it. He was their father, after all, and they might be of use to him. But her mother and her friend did not have that protection.
"He's not really the type who would be willing to help me with something like this when he does come for a visit, though."
"Do you know when he is coming for a visit next?" Rue asked carefully.
Tei'serin shook her head.
"No. He doesn't come often, as I said. He's very busy. And when he does come, he doesn't usually give me any notice. He likes to surprise me that way."
Rue frowned.
"I see. Well, perhaps I will meet him during one of our follow up visits then. You will be needing them until you are used to getting around on your own, and even then you will need them to track how well you are healing."
Tei'serin simply nodded.
"I've got to go check on another patient now, but I'll come back for another check up later."
With that, Rue left the room, and Tei'serin tried to distract herself from thoughts of Thorin by thinking about what Vindecaldra had told her once more.
ooc
Rue's questions were a part of a consequence awarded in
this thread. I do know that Rue would not leave this alone if she believed that Tei'serin was in any danger, but she knows that Thorin does not live in Desnind, and does not visit frequently. She will insist on meeting him when he does come for a visit though.
