Totem of the Bear - World of Ranicke 1

Chapter 8

Jim was finally carried back to the camp and Sorrel came over and groaned.  “Damn it Jim can’t you stay in one piece for more than a few days?”  She sounded worried and concerned about him.  Sorrel followed them to the medical tent and settled off to one side and waited for the healers to take a look.

One tsked at him.  “Young man if I see you in here again for anything other than training injuries I am going to make you heal without any pain herbs.”  As she was talking she was starting to spread an ointment that would numb the wounds before bothering to clean them.  While she was doing her thing another healer came up with a cup and a straw.  “Son drink this and it will make you drowsy while we work on you.”

Jim remembered the stuff and even though the ointment was starting to work he really didn’t want to be awake while they were doing whatever they were going to need to do.  He took the straw and greedily sucked it down.  Once he did he turned his head and looked at Sorrel and discovered that Nasha was there as well.  He held his hand out and both took it.  “The girl is safe right?”  He vaguely remembered the warrior leader saying something but he had been dealing with the initial pain and adrenaline from the fight.

Sorrel twitched her ears and chattered at him.  “Yes she is fine.  As soon as you drew the bear away one of the others grabbed her and ran back to the camp.”  She gave his hand a squeeze.  “You silly stupid brave man.  I can’t believe you took a bear on with just an axe.”  The fur around her eyes was damp and her voice was a bit uneven.

Nasha wrapped an arm around Sorrel and gave his hand a squeeze.  “By now your actions are probably spread through half the camp.  If you think having Sorrel and I sharing you when you recover…”  Just for good measure she winked at him.  She snickered as he groaned but by now his eyes were starting to slide shut and moments later he was asleep.

The old woman started working on him as well as another healer and they chased the two women out of the tent since they needed the room.  Much of his back needed sutures and it took them a goodly amount of time to get the skin approximated.  Once done they slathered on more of the numb weed and called in several males and the ladies.  “He can go to your tent or your father’s.  He can move as long as he is very slow with movements.  Anything more than to a privacy chair needs to be restricted for at least three days.  Most movements are going to need the use of his back muscles and any stress on the sutures may cause them to be ripped out.  I do want to see him the morning of the third day.”

She waved at the males who picked the stretcher up and carried him out and to Sorrel’s tent.  Once there they very carefully picked him up and tucked him into bed.  As of now he was nude again since one of the wounds went below the waist line.  “We are going to have shifts outside so if you need any help just poke your head out.”  One of the males told the ladies and then left the tent.

By now Jim was definitely snoring and both women settled down in chairs in the tent and both looked tired and stressed.  Nasha finally spoke.  “I have to wonder if he is like this all the time.  If so it would give me a major headache.”  As they were talking a couple of the older kids came over with some drinks and it was obvious they wanted to see Jim and how he was doing.  “Thank you and please tell the others that he is doing okay but he needs to rest.”

They nodded at her and glanced towards the bed and you could hear them inhale.  The sheet was only to his waist and the dressings could be seen.  They listened to Nasha.  One looked at her.  “Tell him that we will be waiting for him to come back and start teaching again.”  As they walked out they were whispering to each other.  They decided that unless the ladies chased them away they were going to come and play music quietly for the adults during the day.