A Near Thing

Writers: Rochelle
Date Posted: 1st February 2009

Characters: Tatitem, M'nex, Jatari, Idtari, Deneikel, Mershe
Description: Tatitem receives a nasty shock when M'nex is scored during a Fall.
Location: Dragonsfall Weyr
Date: month 13, day 25 of Turn 4

There was no place on Pern busier and more organized during a Fall than the weyr, and Tatitem was in her element. She was everywhere directing a seemingly endless army of drudges, candidates, and weyr residents in an array of tasks from hauling medical supplies out of storage to moving injured to to making sure there were candidates available to hand the weyrlings firestone sacks for mid-Fall replenishing.

She was by the beastpens, collecting the latest number of kills needed to sustain injured dragons, when drudge found her.

"Headwoman!"

Tatitem spun, about to face the frantic woman with brisk efficiency when Idtari continued.

"Jatati sent me -M'nex has been scored!"

"What?!" Tati barked, the color draining from her face. Not again, she couldn't do this, not again... Her daughter wouldn't send for her if this was a minor injury, not right now in the middle of Fall...

"Appare..." She turned to her faithful assistant, her eyes pleading.

But Appare was already shoving her in the direction of the injured dragons. "Go! I'll take over." She assured her superior.

Tatitem didn't waste a moment idling.

"Where is he?" She demanded. Idtari simply grabbed her arm, and began pulling her through the carefully organized chaos. She heard her name being shouted, but for once she ignored them, trusting Appare's ruthless efficiency would deal with whatever problem they had in a few moments.

She was running now, the pained screams and cries of injured dragons and riders drowning all but the loudest of the healer's orders, bellowing dragons popping in and out of /between/ overhead. Her aging knees creaked, and she had no doubt they would be informing her of the abuse later that evening. She didn't care.

**Not M'nex... Faranth, not M'nex..."

Idtari guided her to the far edge of the mass of bodies, weaving her around three greens and a blue before ducking to the far side of a stately looking brown attempting to calm an all too familiar blue dragon.

"Mother!"

Her head whipped around, tearing her eyes away from the dark green ichor running down Djorth's neck and shoulder to see her daughter Jatati hurrying toward her, her arms soaked in redwort and blood.

"What happened?"

"A stray strand caught him broadside." Jatati said hurriedly, gesturing her over. "Ate into his shoulder and into his ribs. Djorth panicked and took them /between/ for almost too long. He killed the strand, but it's not good. Deneikel is sending him for surgery."

Beyond her daughter, Tatitem caught a glimpse of a low stretcher two healers with knots matching her daughters crouched over the writhing figure and barking orders at the apprentice beside them. Tati lunged forward, pulling her arm free from Idtari to come alongside the prone figure.

They'd cut his jacket and shirt away so Tati could see the injury. Deep and ugly, it crossed her foster son's chest with a branching path of oozing destruction no less ominous than the Red Star. Her son was pale, gasping in pain and struggling to stay conscious enough to reassure Djorth.

She froze inside, staring at the cheerful little boy she'd taken in all those turns ago.

It was happening again. First J'ritem, now M'nex... She couldn't do this, not again...

Deneikel was shouting for stretcher bearers, her daughter coming alongside Tatitem and trying to catch M'nex's pain crazed attention as he clung to her hand. His unseeing eyes glazed.

And the cold spell inside Tatitem snapped.

"M'nex." She ordered sharply, fear putting more command in his name than she later thought was really necessary. But her voice of authority could work on J'ritem in his worst funks, broken and bitter as her son was, it would word on M'nex. "M'nex, look at me."

She laid a hand on his forehead, stroking the sweat soaked hair back, watching as he struggled to bring his concentration to bear until his eyes focused desperately on his face. Tatitem was aware of the two healers who'd been protesting her arrival staring as Jatati moved around to the other side so she could stay in his view.

"M'nex, listen to me." Tatitem said firmly, listening to the words her daughter was murmuring to her. "They're taking you to surgery so they can close the wound before you bleed to death. Tell Djorth that you're going to go to into a deep sleep, but you will still be here. The pain will stop, and you _will_ wake up again. Tell Djorth that."

M'nex closed his eyes, his face contorted with pain and concentration, but behind them Djorth's worried, pained bellows calmed somewhat.

"Headwoman, we need to move him now." Deneikel said respectfully. She swallowed, and nodded, stepping back to allow the stretcher bearer to get into position.

"Mum..." M'nex's eyes were open again, searching for her.

Relief swept through Tati like a wave, smacking into her utter terror and creating enough of a rift in her self control that she stepped forward again immediately, taking her son's hand and laying the other hand along his face for a moment.

"It's all right, M'nex." She said soothingly, her heart squeezing painfully at the naked fear in his face as he clung to her hand. "You'll be fine. I'll be there when you wake up."

***

Fall had ended nearly two candlemarks ago, but Tati had not left the infirmary since she'd followed her son in -much to the healers' dismay. Appare had done an admirable job of taking over from her boss in the sudden emergency, but Tati had been unable to stop people from seeking her out personally for a range of minor disasters that should have waited for a more appropriate time, and nearly all of them were sent running with blistering words to Appare.

Tati was under too much stress right now to deal with outright stupidity.

Thief had found her in the mess, and once returned from the obligatory note sending informing her other children what had happened to M'nex, perched on Tatitem's shoulder, crooning softly into her ear and refusing to unwrap her tail from her neck. The weight was oddly comforting, despite being unfamiliar, and Tati found herself stroking the green in a form of tactile reassurance as she tried to reassure herself.

It was hard. She had already gone through one nightmare with J'ritem. She didn't think she could survive if she had to go through another with M'nex.

"Headwoman?"

Tati spun, prepared to snap at another drudge, and saw it was one of the senior healers.

"Mershe? How is he?"

Mershe smiled wearily at her, and Tati felt her chest unknotting for the first time since Idtari had found her.

"We'll have to watch him closely to make infection doesn't set in." He warned. "The thread ate into his body cavity in a few places, and the cold from /between/ didn't help him any. But he should be able to go back to the wings in a few months."

Tatitem closed her eyes for a moment, listening to Thief's encouraging croon in her ear. He was going to be all right. Scarred, but all right.

"No lasting damage?" She asked quietly, opening her eyes, hoping she'd understood him right.

"He's going to have to be careful about lifting until the muscle has a chance to build up again in his shoulder." Mershe admitted. "But nothing lasting, no."

"Thank Faranth..." Tati murmured fervently. "Can I see him?"

Mershe nodded. "He's still asleep, but they've moved him to the recovery area by now. Follow me."

Last updated on the February 10th 2009

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A Near Thing