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Alex drew back the edge of the bed drape "Hello," she said to the man inside "I’m Dr Alex Keller"

"Cyprien’s lady," he said, his voice rasping "I have heard tales of you"

"Don’t believe the ones that say I have horns and a pointy tale," Alex said "I only grow those during a fullwith the e pile of bedclothes, but the stench of decooing to take a look at you, okay?"

He nodded and closed his eyes

She drew back the top coverlet and exposed a blood-soaked mound of linen someone had layered over his abdo horror that had once been his torso, and gently put it back in place

She turned to Braxtyn "How long has he been like this?"

"Three weeks," the man answered her "It will not close, my lady, no hed "The wound remains as it hen he first came to us"

Alex could shastly sht?"

"He is too weak to feed froht for a s"

"He’s bleeding out about that much, too, isn’t he?" Alex put her hand on the patient’s forehead, which burned against her skin To the warrior, she said, "I’ll be back to see you later"

"It is good of you to look after us,off

Alex went to the next bed, which was occupied by a wos, hips, and hands She remained unconscious, even when Alex carefully rolled her onto her side The gunshot wound to her back was large and still open and bleeding

"Is it the sa with this one?"

"She takes less blood, but we e her mattress several times a week," Braxtyn said

Alex made rounds of the entire ward, and found nearly all of the patients with open wounds and terrible burns She couldn’t rouse a third of therees of weakness and apathy

She asked Braxtyn only thethe last patient she walked out of the ward and into an adjoining room She looked around at the stacks of linens, pillows, and towels being stored there and tried to get a grip on her temper

"My lady?" Braxtyn hovered in the open doorway "Do you think you can help them?"

"Come in here and shut that, please" Alex waited until she did "I need a rooical suite This one ork I’ll write a list of the medical equipment, supplies, nurses, and chemicals--"

Her eyes widened "Chemicals?"

"--to make Darkyn anesthetic," Alex continued "I don’t operate on patients when they’re awake, and so You have to get all of this here as quickly as possible Can you do that, or do I need to talk to someone else?"

"I can, but… I do not understand," Braxtyn said, glancing back over her shoulder and then back at Alex "Are you quite certain that you must operate on them? Surely with time and care they will eventually heal"

"Care? What care?" Alex shouted "You’ve been wrapping the them bleed out and rot away"

Geoffrey’s wife stared at her slippers "This is all that we could do for theainst her eyes before she let theland, but in my country we don’t care for people like this We call what you’re doing depraved indifference Right before we throw your ass in prison"

Braxtyn’s eyes flared "For your information, my lady, I have cut open my own arms and pouredto heal them It has alorked on other wounded Kyn in the past, but for the"

"Can’t you smell it?" she de?"

"No, I do not" Braxtyn esture toward the ward "Why do you think I asked you to come down here and attend them? We Kyn have no doctors We always heal"