The Physician

A wounded soldier

Mira saw something glint before her, and soon found out it was armor, worn by man lying on his back on the ground. He was groaning slightly but stopped when he spotted her.
"Scraped your knee?" She asked
The man raised his hand, as to stop her from coming closer. "You should leave," he said, his voice pained. "Someone may be after me."
Mira lowered her lantern and listened, not after noise made by men, but by animals. A birds flapping wings, a fleeing hare, or a croaking frog. She heard nothing out of the ordinary besides the unsteady breathing of the soldier. It was safe so, instead of leaving, she drew closer to get a better look of him. His upper body was hidden under a cape, and his legs seemed fine, considering he was able to run mere minutes ago. His face was sweaty and dirty.
She found her medical bag and crouched beside him. "I guarantee you, nobody is here but you and me," she assured him. "Where are you wounded?"
Mira held up her lantern while the soldier lifted his cape and revealed the wound. His whole right side from the chest and down to the end of his ribcage was stained red. "It's somewhere on that side," he answered while pointing out the obvious. "I think it's bad."
"Mister, that is BAD bad. I need to cut away the clothing to get to it, hope you're not too attached to your uniform."
He winced, "do whatever you have to."
"It looks like you put pressure on the wound."
"I did."
"Good man."
She worked fast and with expertise while examining the wound. It was long, but not deep enough to damage any organs.
"Can I ask what happened?" His adrenaline would be gone by now. His pain would only get worse form now on, so she tried to divert the patients focus from the pain, while mixing together a salve.
"A patrol gone wrong," he said, trying to keep his voice even. He failed. "I was alone, someone attacked. Didn't recognize his clothes." He gasped when she applied the salve. Something with the wound seemed odd. Why was that? She let him continue, as she began to sew to it shut. "we fought, he was fierce and hit me, then I ran and lost him," he winced again, "and that's it."
"You ran from the enemy?"
"I ran to divert him away from the others. Either I lost him or he understood what I was doing."
"Or you were poisoned, and he gave up the chase knowing you would die sooner or later."
"What?" He heaved himself up and leaned on his elbow, trying to look her in her eyes. "What do you mean?"
"You are poisoned." Mira pushed him back down, before she rushed to finish the last stitches. They didn't have much time, but it would be bad if he had to move with an open wound. "It's Looterweed," she said as she packed everything back into her bag. "We need to get to my house, now." Mira reached for his arm to help him up, and saw the panic in his eyes.
"Looterweed? But that's-"
"Get up, get up, get up, get UP!" She forced him on his legs, but the movements made him cry out in pain. "One step at a time, mister, come on!" They began to walk, slowly but steadily. Soon she could see entrance to her home.
"Looterweed doesn't have a cure," he said in a low voice, while focusing on his feet. "Does it?"
"Just keep walking, mister, were almost there. Just keep walking."

Disclaimer: i have no experience in medicine