Chapter 56: Chapter 56

Dr. Martin was incredibly impressed. Even though she had no training, Skye had handled herself better than some veteran doctors he knew. She was confident in her orders, like she knew exactly what to do. He felt unbelievably lucky that he’d met her when he had. Even if it turned out she couldn’t help with the illness, they were still learning from her.

Gesturing to the doors at the back of the large waiting room, Dr. Martin and Skye headed to see the sick. Unable to hold back his curiosity, the doctor asked Skye where she’d learned to organize the patients like that. The hallway wasn’t very long, but it would still take a couple minutes to reach the back.

Skye smiled shyly before replying; “To be honest, I read it in a book.. It was a drama of sorts. I asked the the king’s physician about it, and he wound up adoptin’ it for the capital’s healthcare system. It’s a shame there’s no unified healthcare system in place for the entire kingdom, like in the book.”

Dr. Martin looked quizzically at Skye before asking; “What kind of book was it?”

“A medical tome my father bought. It was a gift for Dr. Fennel; the king’s personal physician. But he’d let me read it whenever I visited the palace,” Skye’s grinned at the nostalgic thoughts beginning to run through her head.

Stopping in shock, the doctor asked; “You can read the ancient tomes?! Pardon my asking, but who taught you?”

Skye’s irritation flickered within her at his tone. She was generally used to sour reactions at her intelligence; especially from men. Magic was a natural born talent that no one could dictate. But education, therefore intelligence; could be regulated.

.....

“My father had his friend from Sai send someone competent to teach me from a young age. The future wife of a prince should be educated.. Like every person should aim to be,” Skye replied before they’d started walking again.

Ancient Tomes were books and any documents that survived the Great Shift from thousands of years ago. To this day, no one knew what had caused it. All they knew was that humans once covered the world, and that their technology and advancements were Far beyond what Alcon was capable of.

Some things had been recreated from the tomes. Like the scanner machines used to help diagnose and treat patients. There were other various things like printing presses, tools, manufacturing techniques, etc.. That had been discovered that’d been fixed, or altered for current use. The king owned the only functioning ‘Car’ in all of Alcon. He kept in on display in the royal palace year round. It was quite the tourist attraction, and drew thousands each year. He only ever took it out for extremely special occasions.

Ancient underground shelters had been discovered more frequently lately. Due to it, artifacts and ancient tomes were being found so fast that the capital could barely keep up. Or so Skye had heard, anyways. She Very much looked forward to verifying the gossip herself.

The two walked along as Skye spoke with Dr. Martin about a few of the tomes and regular books she’d read. Some were fantasy; fairy tales, dramas, and cultural pieces. One of her favorite tomes was one of the few picture books she had. It was a black and white book describing a man sailing around his world with friends, attempting to become king of the pirates.

Others were more education based; mathematics, science, and biology. Most of those were text-based with few pictures. That combined with their age; many were falling apart or missing words. Sometimes even entire sections.. But she would read everything, regardless of it’s state.

Once they’d reached the end of the hall, Dr. Martin warned Skye: “I had sent a messenger to the capital requesting assistance, but they only left yesterday.. If this becomes too much for you in any way, don’t force yourself to stay. The sickness is bad enough on it’s own, but the children.. I won’t blame you for leaving.”

Skye absorbed what he’d said and acknowledged her readiness. When he opened the door, the smell was the first thing she noticed. Rank sweat and vomit were all one could smell once you entered the room. Skye gagged slightly, prompting the doctor to offer her a scented handkerchief.

Taking a few steps in, Skye began to look around the room. It was clean, but darkened. The windows were shut up and covered, and the only lights were candles. The bedsheets were yellow-tinted from their patients’ sweat. Multiple buckets filled with human waste were off in a corner. When Skye questioned why, the doctor replied that the nurses must not have gotten to them yet.

It frustrated Skye greatly that the tiny hospital was so overwhelmed and understaffed. It was slowly turning to anger as she examined the patients. Most had purple fingertips and lips; a sign of oxygen deprivation. Their breathing was shallow, and they all had high fevers. When she examined the eyes of one of them, they were so bloodshot Skye could barely see white.

“Who were the first ones to get sick?” Skye grabbed a stethoscope to use as she’d spoke.

“That’s difficult to answer.. Most got sick about the same time. The numbers have been increasing steadily for the past couple days now.. It’s not viral, and all bacterial tests came back negative. I thought it might’ve been something they all ate, but I haven’t figured it out so far..” Dr. Martin looked grief-stricken as he explained.

Skye thought a moment on it then asked; “Do the patients have any commonalities?”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Most work for the apple orchard, just outside of the west gate. I do know most were complaining of headaches and dizziness before they collapsed. I had some of the apples brought in for examination, just in case. But I couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”

The doctor walked over, grabbed one of the apples, then handed it to her. Skye looked it over, but could find nothing. She requested a knife, then cut it open to check the inside. The seeds were huge compared to ones she’d seen before. But other than that, everything about the apple checked out.

Skye bit the tip of her thumb in contemplation. ‘Oxygen deprivation, vomiting, incontinence, low heart rate, convulsions, headaches.... It sounds familiar..’

Dr. Martin thought smoke was going to funnel out of the princess’ ears when her face lit up. She picked up one half of the apple, then turned to the doctor with realization in her eyes. Skye held up the apple and asked; “Do they just sell apples as is, or do they make applesauce and the like as well? What do ye do with the cores and seeds?”

The doctor thought a moment before answering; “The cores are processed in with the rest of the apples for the sauce. The seeds are removed and used for oil, or to be sold. At least I think..”

“Alright! Ima thinkin’ I got it!” Skye practically shrieked in her epiphany.

Dr. Martin looked to the woman questionably as she headed for the two youngest patients. They were barely breathing, and looked likely to die at any moment. Skye’s heart twisted in pain as the smallest boy faintly called out for his mother. She petted his head as she told him he’d be seeing his mother very soon.

“Ye might want to get a bucket... This will be very messy,” Skye warned the doctor.

“Why? What’s going to happen? What did you figure out?” Dr. Martin questioned in succession.

All Skye did was smile, then motioned at him to watch. She placed both her hands on his small chest, and emitted a golden glow. The purple discoloration began to disappear, and the child began to gasp for air. He suddenly shot up in bed, and began to projectile vomit. Getting some on Skye’s dress.

Keeping her hands in place, the boy coughed and hacked until his face was red from his efforts. He was breathing clearly, between the coughing. When Dr. Martin had looked at the vomit, he’d noticed it had tints of brown in it. Reminiscent of the apple seeds. That was the moment he’d realized his mistake. He’d tested for viruses, bacteria, and local toxins, but not specifically cyanide in his toxicology work ups.

Apple seeds have small amounts of cyanide naturally occurring within them. The orchard had specifically cross-pollinated certain apples trees to wield larger apples. The resulting seeds were about three times the size of a normal one. Meaning that there was also three times the amount of naturally occurring cyanide.

Once Skye had healed the other young boy, and Dr. Martin had checked them over; Skye brought them outside to their parents. They hugged and squeezed them before asking if they knew anything about how they came to be sick. When their expressions went dower, their parents knew something was amiss. They’d questioned the boys until they’d explained.

It’d turned out that the two boys had accidentally knocked a large barrel of apple seed oil into a vat of applesauce. It had been set aside as a treat for the employees for a job well done on the harvest. The two boys were too scared to admit what they’d done, and didn’t see the big deal in adding the oil.

“It’s all apples,” they’d said.

The princess sat down next to them and explained to them, and the crowd of onlookers, why they’d gotten sick. She’d gently admonished them for not telling anyone about the accident, but had them smiling again when she’d explained that they could always work hard to make up for their bad choices. And that no one hated them for it.

After straightening everything out with the children, Skye turned to the crowd and encouraged anyone with sick family to run home and get fresh clothes for them. That they would need it after they’d woken up. The people thanked and praised her; calling her ‘Eir: Goddess of Mercy’. She thanked them all with a blushing grin, and returned to her Shaman work.

Ronnie and Klaus had been talking with everyone when Skye’d come out of the building. The two thought it’d be nice to spread the word about their ‘wedding gift’. They were shocked that the princess knew such odd facts; like what apple seeds contained. Her intelligence coupled with her kindness had the two men awestruck by her character. And each silently decided to dedicate themselves to her future service..

Jonathan had been flabbergasted when Skye’d come from the back room with the children. He’d been at the hospital when they were admitted the other day. He never thought that they would’ve lived, but here they were: just like him. She really was like a goddess of mercy as she went from person to person; healing each one in turn.

As the patients came to, they were cleaned and offered new clothes brought by their families. Skye was just finishing with the last patient when Ronnie came in, grinning broadly. Before Skye could question him, her husband walked in behind him.

With a rakish smile, Tidas leaned against the doorframe and said; “So.. I hear I’m married to a goddess?”