Beauty and The Beasts: Rain

23. Hiss It Better

     Brice didn't have to wait too long.  Though, he didn't expect Winston to be the first one to come to Rain's den.  Resigning himself to his fate, Brice bowed his head to the tiger king.

     "What happened?"  Winston questioned the hawk, immediately concerned.  Rain would have never allowed a hawk nearly inside her den.  He could also smell her scent on Brice.  Winston growled and swiftly evaluated Rain's condition before snarling.  Winston could not scent much blood, but Rain was far too unresponsive despite him invading her territory.

     Brice didn't dare raise his eyes or head.  He accurately and quickly summarized the earlier events.  He recounted factually and tried to leave his opinions out of it.  Winston was a beast that did not appreciate unnecessary information when it came to serious business.

     Brice heard the wind, but did not see the strike coming.  Brice landed harshly on the ground below the tree, vomiting out the contents of his stomach.  "Why didn't you do anything?"  Winston snarled.

     Brice coughed and tried to respond.  He had never seen the tiger king so angry.  "I," cough.  "Wanted to," cough.  "Trust he had a reason."

     An angry Winston pressed on, "And why didn't you bring her to the castle to be treated?"  Winston was truly furious at his guards and himself for trusting them.

     "She refused and pleaded with me to bring her here."  Cough, cough.  "I wanted to seek out a doctor right away, but couldn't leave her alone."  Brice didn't want to sound like he was defending himself, but that was what it sounded like.

     Growl.  Winston understood the hawk's reasoning.  He didn't want to let Brice off easily, but needed to get Rain a doctor.  "Go.  Bring back a doctor and any herbs they may need."

     "Yes, Tiger King."  Brice didn't hesitate despite his throbbing middle and broken ribs.  Shifting, he flew as fast as he could to retrieve a doctor.

     "Rain.  Can I enter?"  Winston restrained himself from rushing inside.  Minding his manners now hardly seemed important, but he was concerned about how Rain would react as vulnerable as she was.

     Rain's breathing changed slightly, but there was no other indication that she had heard him.  Taking her silence as a tentative affirmation, Winston carefully approached the coiled mass.  "A doctor will be her soon.  You need to shift back for him to treat you."

     Winston really didn't want to make it sound like he was ordering her, but Rain really needed to shift.  Rain did nothing and gave him no response.  Winston tried a few more times to get Rain's compliance, but was ignored every time.

     Soon, Brice arrived with the doctor and herbs.  He was breathing heavily and waited outside.  Winston stared at the blond doctor and questioned, "Harvey, can you treat her as she is?"

     Harvey bowed his head respectfully and answered, "It would be difficult for me to do so.  I do not have much experience treating snakes.  I don't smell any blood and cannot see anything beneath her scales."  Harvey's ears drooped, while he pondered what to do.  "Do you know how she was wounded?  Can you describe it for me?"

     Winston listened for the hawk who was still catching his breath and called him forward.  He wasn't going to give the hawk a moment of rest.  "Brice, tell Harvey about her wounds."  Winston ground out the order with a growl.

     Brice shifted and explained what occurred, giving Harvey a good picture of Rain's current state.  Harvey initially wanted to treat Brice's injuries, but didn't feel the need to make them a priority after listening to how Rain was injured.

     "Leave."  Winston growled at the hawk.  If Brice didn't leave soon, he was going to rip out all of his feathers and hang him from a tree.   Winston turned to Harvey, who had started to treat Rain.  "Will you be able to help her?"

      Harvey didn't pause or even look at Winston when he answered, "It will be difficult.  From what the hawk said, it doesn't seem that Rain has any broken bones.  She is bruised though.  I can't treat her topically with her scales in the way and she won't cooperate enough to drink the pain relieving herbs.  I will make a poultice to apply it anyway and prepare a soup for her to swallow."

     Harvey got to work putting the two treatments together.  Winston attempted to get through to Rain, who only tightened her coils in response.  It was clear that she was listening, but acted as if she wasn't understanding.  Winston ground his teeth.  Now was not a good time for her to ignore him.

     "Please stop releasing you beast pressure.  It's bad for her and hard for me."  Harvey still deferred to Winston, but took his role as a doctor seriously enough to stand up to the much stronger beast.  He would kick out the tiger if necessary.

     Winston regained his composer, decided to wait outside, and started a fire for Harvey.  He noticed the hawk was hanging around in tree that was close to Rain's den.  The hawk's breathing was labored and difficult.  Winston decided to leave him be for now.

     Instead, Winston turned his attention and senses towards the direction of Rain's earlier hunt.  He shifted, scouted the area around Rain's den, and sent any nosy onlookers away.  Having confirmed the safety of the area, he approached the guard that had followed Brice and Harvey and told him to guard the perimeter of Rain's den.  The tiger guard was a triple marked beast and would suffice until Winston returned.  Winston took off looking for Third and Damon.

     Harvey did his best to treat the snake in front of him.  He spoke gently and patiently.  Despite failing every time, Harvey was not deterred.  He gently touched Rain with little pressure, probing her body.  Whenever she would flinch lightly, Harvey would apply the poultice softly.  He wasn't confident in it's effectiveness through a scaled barrier, but wasn't left with much choice.

     Harvey had even less luck getting Rain to drink his medical soup.  He couldn't even locate her head in the mass of coils, but inferred that it was in the center.  After applying the poultice fully,  Harvey warmed the now chilled soup back up.  He left the soup in front of her and pleaded for her to drink it, before stepping out of her den.

     Harvey worried over the mental health of Rain more than the physical and called the hawk down.  He was less than thrilled with the hawk's lack of judgement, but needed to find out more about his patient.  Treating the mind was far trickier and more difficult than healing the body.

     Harvey learned what Brice knew about Rain, and heard the entire situation that had occurred, as well as the hunt they had that day.  Harvey did not feel the need to hold back against the hawk and scolded him vigorously.  Brice never once argued.

     "I was wrong."  Brice had admitted to Harvey that he saw his earlier actions as a mistake that he would not repeat again.  Harvey was surprised that Brice was willing to admit his fault.  He was used to dealing with arrogant predators, but the one in front of him was sincerely repenting.   Harvey decided to let the hawk off for now.  His real anger was directed at the tiger named Damon.