One Word Prompts

Coat - Forest of Beasts

"Doctor!" a choir of calls erupted through the little hunting village. "Someone, get the doctor! Take him to the doctor!"

They approached her hut, a group of villagers and a stranger, in a hurry.

"Doctor!" the leader of the group, a man in his twenties named Marhin, called as he pushed open her door.

She looked up from her table as he entered, her eyebrow rising as she saw the stranger draped over t's shoulder.

"Oh, good, you're here." He breathed a short sigh of relief before diving into his request. "Please, help him."

She sighed and nodded, clearing her books from the table with an economy of movement only gained from years of practice. "Remove his coat. Lay him here."

Marhin did as he was told, spreading the injured man on the doctor's table. The man winced as he was moved, clutching his side. She pulled the man's hand away, finding his shirt tattered there, dark with dirt and blood.

"What happened?" she asked. Not waiting for the explanation, she drew her blade and cut off the man's shirt, carefully pulling the fraying edges from the wound. It was a deep gash, and not the only one. Another dug deep into his shoulder.

"I found him half-dead in the forest," Marhin explained.

"Hunting?" she guessed.

He nodded.

She had a fair idea what had happened.

"A white wolf," the injured stranger breathed.

She sighed with a nod. "Yes, I suspected as much." She patted his good shoulder. "Don't worry about that now."

"Will he--" Marhin started to ask.

"Yes. Yes, he'll be just fine, provided you stay out of the way," she said. Under her breath, she added, "Honestly, if you were gentler on them..."

"What?"

"Nothing," she said, waving him away. "Stand back, would you?"

He and his entourage shuffled back with a nod.

"Better yet, bring me a bowl of hot water. Steaming! And the cleanest towels you can find. The cleaner, the better."

Marhin and his friends scurried off at the order, and she turned her attention to her herb cabinet.

Wounds like those were likely infected. She'd need to wash them well, but some of this one would cut down on the chances of infection. This one would improve inflammation. This one blood clotting.

Herbs chosen, she set about mixing them into a paste. She'd use it to coat the wounds in before she bandaged them. It would help them heal right, if not cleanly.

"This will scar," she told her patient. He was half awake now. A good sign. "Does anything else hurt?"

He shook his head.

He probably hadn't taken any other wounds. Still, the blood loss must have been significant for Marhin to have found him on the forest floor. The wounds were still oozing as it was.

Marhin returned with the water and the towels. She wasted no time washing the wounds with it, clearing the dirt that she could with care. Patting the wounds dry, she covered them in her paste, then wrapped them in bandages.

"You will want to change these regularly," she told him. "In fact, I'd have you stay here until this closes up properly."

"You want him to stay here?" Marhin asked.