Black Gold

Shot 2

Rhene stared at the pale faced man who layed motionless on the clinic bed. He'd just broken from a two day fever and finally settled from his deathly nightmares. His long brown hair clung to his damp face. She placed a cool clothe across his forehead and could not believe how amazingly long his eyelashes were. Any girl would kill to have those. She took his pulse and made sure his dressing on his shoulder did not tear the stitches underneath. She breathed a sigh of relief. This man would live another day. 

She turned to the doctor who stood by the door. "He seems to be doing better. Do you think he'll wake soon?"

The doctor was an older gentleman with grey at the root of his hair. He came over to the edge of the bed and examined his sleeping patient. A firm thin line formed on lips and he looked gravely at the dressing. "He's lucky that bullet didn't penetrate anything vital. He's a young buck by the looks of it. I'm sure he'll be up in the next day or so. Be prepared to stand your ground with him. Judging by the scars on his body, he has a troubled past of some sort."

Nodding and listening closely to her father, Rhene closed the blinds to the patient's window and softly closed the door behind them. The clinic was bustling today with sick patient's this time of year. The changing fall season came with waves of people coming in and out. The family run clinic was small but a very crucial and valuable asset to their port town Clifftown due to the vast number of people visiting from all over the world. A small market exchange happened in Clifftown and traveled inwards toward the other land centered towns and cities on the continent. One of many crucial ports that sustained the well beings of those who lived the land.

"Rhene could you run over to the market and grab a few things for me?" Her mother called from behind the front counter. "I need more paper and ink. Also pick up some honey on your back."

Rhene grabbed her cloak and headed to out into town. The sky had turned clouded and gray with threatening signs to cry tears while voicing sounds of distress. A rumbling of thunder could be heard in the distance. The clinic was on the southern part of town next to the fishing docks where it was a lot more quieter than the northern part of town where big merchant ships docked. The port had a long time history and stood the test of time with the cliffs that gave the town its name. The fishing crew had found their stranger on the beach not too far from the docks. 

Typically, she avoided town as much as possible. Everyone was polite upfront, but once backs were turned, whispers could not be kept hushed. While most residents in town thrived on tourism and polite talk with foreigners, they did not encourage the permanent stay of those foreigners of different continents. Tainted blood as they would call it. Outcasts by nature with no connection to this Mother Earth that thrived from generations upon generations of those who tilled and grew this land.  

The good doctor Milo and his wife Bess had happened upon an infant of a child, lost and abandoned at the merchant docks. Being unable to conceive, they had taken and adopted Rhene as their own being as their healing nature could not turn death's door for this child. Early into her childhood, she knew the looks that were given her were not those of admiration or adoration, but that of reluctance. 

The residences primarily had pale skin with blue eyes and blonde hair. Rhene was the opposite. Although many residences tanned in the summer, they could never reach the golden tan that was permanently etched into her skin. Her dark hair could be pinpointed in a mass crowd. Her amber bright eyes were an amazement to see, but so vastly different from the blue. Human in every form as everyone else expect physical appearance.  And that was what hurt the most.

Her parents adored her obviously. Never to point out any differences and always striving to give her the normalcy as any child who grew up in town. While bullying did happen in the class settings, it did not deter Rhene's ambition to be part of this town. As she grew older, her peers had teetered towards acceptance until a night brawl with foreigners at the ports in her eighteenth year drowned it yet again. She had spent the last few years working diligently with her parents at the clinic to patch up the difference between her and the residences. She held her head high and stood her ground. She gave and contributed to this community and she will not bow to their reluctance to accept her. 

By the time she came back from town, the rain had started down pouring soaking through her cloak and onto her clothes. Stomping her feet at the front door and shaking off the water, her mother chastised her for not bringing an umbrella and took the materials from Rhene. She went upstairs to change when she heard a set of crashing noises coming from the new patient's room.

She rushed in to find her patient standing slumped against the back wall heaving deep breaths from his bare chest. Her eyes turned wide at the bleeding seeping from his left shoulder's dressing. He turned towards her disoriently, swaying at his feet. 

"Where's the privy?" He croaked.  "I might piss myself if I don't find one soon."

Rhene scrambled out of the way of the door and opened it for him. "It's down the hall on your left."

He swayed a few more times and Rhene went over to lead him to the privy. A few stumbling instances and they finally made it to their short destination. The man was a lot taller than she had anticipated and even a lot heavier. Out of breath she waited outside a few minutes giving him the privacy he may need. A concerning five minutes passed before she hesitantly knocked on the door. She found him passed out on the floor. Thankfully he was not laying in a pool of fluids and had managed to cover up before passing out. With the help of a few workers, they managed to haul him back into his room. 

She monitored him closely for the rest of the day and kept an eye on his dressing. He did not wake once. When night fell and the clinic closed, she sat down next to him and wondered what would happen tomorrow. 

His long hair was still undone and quite longer than most men kept, falling well past the middle of his back. As gently as she could, she braided his hair to keep it in one bundle. His hair was surprisingly soft to the touch. Just when she was finished tying the end, a hand grabbed her wrist. She gasped in surprise and looked into the greenest eyes she'd ever seen. She hadn't noticed them in their haste earlier. 

Her patient was awake and talking to her. She shook out of her shock and tilted her head in confusion. She hadn't heard what he had said.

"As lovely as a lady you are, I must say I am starving and might befall my death on this bed."

Rhene blinked a few times and managed a soft chuckle. What a strange man! "Dinner was hours ago, but I'm sure there's still leftovers."