Play Date

Writers: AL, Jane
Date Posted: 19th August 2009

Characters: Zelle, K'hetah
Description: K'hetah visits Zelle and offers to bring back a game.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 6 of Turn 5

"It took me a while to find you," K'hetah said when he finally peeked into the right room and discovered the injured greenrider upright for the first time that he'd witnessed since the accident. "Are these your exercises?"

"Yes." Zelle looked up from where she sat, perched upon the bed, hands clasping the end of a stretchy length of material. It was looped around the bottom of her foot. "One of them anyway. They want me to strengthen the muscles. Evidently this is supposed to strength the foot and ankle muscles."

"I'm sure it will. Did they leave you here alone?" That was something of an achievement, in healer terms, if they thought she was stable enough not to need somebody with her any time she was upright. And achievements had been slow in coming in Zelle's case.

"Well, technically, I'm done with therapy for the day." Zelle admitted as she resumed her stretching exercises. "This is just my homework - self assigned."

"That's great," he said with real enthusiasm. For so long Zelle had seemed to want to do nothing more than sleep. "Are you in much pain now?" With the sort of injury Zelle had sustained, pain might ease long before she could get back her range of moment in muscles and tendons damaged in the accident.

"Not too much." At the moment. There were still times it came and Zelle needed that fellis. "Occasionally, but it's getting better."

"Good, because fellis can be nasty stuff, long-term. Did you get that swim organised with the little apprentice girl? Grehga?"

"It will probably happen in the next sevenday or two." Zelle started to say something else, then stopped herself. No, she wouldn't bug him about that. "Still getting along okay without me?" She piped up quickly.

"Not really. I miss you a lot. Lonely up on that cliff without you. You _will_ be going back to that weyr, eventually, won't you?" He wasn't sure he _would_ move to another weyr to be closer to her if she had to move somewhere more accessible, but he would certainly consider it.

"Maybe. I guess we'll have to wait and see." Did he really miss her or was he simply saying he was? It was hard to tell with K'hetah sometimes. Even as long as she had known him, K'hetah wasn't the easiest man to follow. "Surely you're enjoying the respite from me." She grinned and poked him playfully. "When's the next Threadfall? My days get so tangled up while I'm in here and Rillith isn't any help."

"Day eleven. And it's day six now, if you were going to ask that. Is she giving you much trouble when the Wings go out to meet Thread?"

"She doesn't give me trouble." Rillith was never trouble for Zelle - how could she be? "But she mourns that she can not help fight and she encourages me to heal quickly. Of course, she forgets all about it a day or two after."

"Just in time for next time to be a surprise," K'hetah suggested with a smile. "She won't rise, will she? While you're not well?"

"I don't know. I hope not." Zelle didn't really need to deal with something like that when she still wasn't up to even halfway capacity. "She's not risen before due to illness so we'll see if the same goes true for injury."

"Well ... If she does I'll make sure Loeth and I are around. All right?"

"I hadn't wanted to ask." Zelle would certainly feel better if Loeth caught her Rillith. It would be okay then. "Thank you."

"My pleasure." K'hetah looked at the greenrider's legs. "How long to you have to do that exercise - or how long _should_ you?" since she had already said she was doing extra.

"I don't know. No one's told me I shouldn't. I've actually been told to work through the pain rather than stop when it gets painful." Zelle hated that part, but it was necessary. She'd hate to think how it would feel if she had done even more damage than she had.

"Hmm. Perhaps that's good advice for some, but I'm not so sure when it comes to you. You _can_ overdo it, you know, and set your recovery back." He hated to interfere. When he had taken off the knots of a journeyman healer he had done so for a reason and he didn't like to renege on that.

"Do you think I shouldn't?" Zelle straightened, releasing one end of the material.

"I think you should do a little extra each day, and I think you should take notice of what your body is telling you. A little discomfort will be necessary to get those damaged muscles and tendons active again, but too much will just rip and tear them and you'll be back where you started."

"I'll stop then." K'hetah knew what he was talking about and Zelle trusted him. He wasn't going to try and hold her back without good reason. Zelle flung the material onto the tiny table that sat beside her bed and eased further onto it. "I guess I'm just so eager to get out of here."

"Slow and steady," he cautioned. "Are you getting massages?"

"No...should I be?" No one had mentioned those to her. "Are you offering?"

"I'll talk to your healers on my way out. And yes, I could do it, if they have no other plans." He thought she would benefit from massage but he didn't want to categorically state she should have it; he had some sense of discretion and craft loyalty.

"Sounds like a plan." Zelle lay down upon her side, propping herself up a bit with her elbow. "And it sounds like you're ready to go. Next time bring a game and we can play."

"Tunnelsnakes and ladders?" he suggested, thinking he might have to raid the children's play area to find a board if she said yes.

"Hey, I haven't played that in turns." K'hetah surely hadn't and Zelle had to admit she was a bit surprised by the suggestion. "Sure, that sounds like fun!"

"I'll sort that out for my next visit," he promised. "Take care of yourself, Zelle."

"I'll try." Zelle wished he would stay longer, but she could tell he had things he either had to do or wanted to do. At least she knew he would come back.

Last updated on the August 21st 2009

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