doctor, doctor, will I die?
for Phoebe
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
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#1
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


“Phoebe?” she calls into the Infirmary, perched hesitantly outside the entrance to the unfamiliar building. Lily has always had a strong constitution, a healthy, hard-working body, and surprisingly few illnesses, despite her close contact with lots of people. So this… fever, these tremors and loss of appetite were very unnerving. The pale woman (perhaps ominously so) clasps her hands together to stop the slight movements and peeks her head inside, looking for the healer.

Lily’s been woefully out of the loop, focused entirely on her own needs and goings on, rather than what’s been running around the settlement. But this is too much to ignore, it’s been going on for weeks, or so it seems, and the truth is that it has the entertainer shaken. What if she caught it from…? Or she had it and she didn’t know, and then gave it to…? Swallowing hard, she takes a step through the door and calls out for Phoebe once again, thoroughly unaware that she’s in the middle of a virtual epidemic. “Is anyone here?”
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
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#2
PHOEBE
Much like Melita, Lily was greeted with a seemingly empty infirmary, until eyes likely caught sight of the big, pinky scaly lump curled up on a bed. As she called out, Pim, the dragonling who was now big enough to be imposing, in height and girth, lifted his head, eyes blinking with double lids as he looked for the source of the noise. Silvery pink eyes caught sight of the woman he did not know, sniffing the air in her direction. The dragon yawned, jaw opening wide to show an impressive set of silvery fangs, gnashing closed as he eyed her again, head turning to peer at her with one round orb. After a moment, Pim roared, the terrifying, guttural noise echoing in the space. But from somewhere in the back...

"Pim, you know you don't have to roar to... Oh! Hello, Lily." the young midwife said, surprised to see Lily there when she had only expected to come out and chide her dragon. But Phoebe lacked her usual vibrancy. She looked tired, dark circles under her eyes, hands trembling slightly as though she were somehow cold beneath her layers of heavy sweaters. "What brings you in today?"
I look up to the little bird
The flies across the sky
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: N/A - Strg: 16 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Astor Offline
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#3
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


Lily should be moved by the dragon, should react to the baring of teeth and roar with something from either her flight or fight response, but in this case, she can only manage a freeze, closing her eyes tightly against the display. She can’t be bothered to do more than that, too tired to rage back.

Man, those sweaters look warm. Where can she get her some of those?

Managing a weak smile as Phoebe greets her, thoroughly missing the midwife’s own pallid complexion and dark circles, Lily shrugs. “I’m sick. Have been for a couple of weeks. No matter how much rest I get, it doesn’t seem to get better.” She ticks off the other symptoms on long, delicate fingers that for now, are steady. “I had a fever, too. And am rarely hungry.” Which could be anything, really. Lily isn’t a medical professional, she just knows that there aren’t any spots on her, so it isn’t smallpox, scarlet fever or the plague. No flux of the bowels, so it isn’t dysentery. And no cough, so it isn’t consumption. That leaves… what? Could it be some mysterious, Caidonite disease?

A shiver runs through her body. The vibrant flame of the entertainer is noticeably dimmer.
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#4
PHOEBE
Phoebe saw the way the woman's eyes squeezed shut, frozen from the roar Pim gave. "Don't mind him, he was just letting me know you were here." Phoebe said gently, shooting Pim a little glare. Scaring patients was a big no-no. But the dragonling just yawned and tucked his head back to continue his nap, unconcerned with whatever fright he might've given the redheaded lady.

But as Lily described her reason for visiting, the midwife's expression fell. Another? So quickly? "Take a seat Lily. If it is alright, I would like to take a blood sample to examine." she said, already moving to the appropriate set of drawers to get the supplies she would need to do so. In silence she listened to the woman list of symptom after symptom, already having an idea exactly where this was going. "Have your hands been shaky? Mood swings?" she asked lightly.
I look up to the little bird
The flies across the sky
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: N/A - Strg: 16 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 440 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#5
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


Take a blood sample? That sounded an awful lot like bloodletting, and she’s seen that before. In her humble opinion, it rarely did any good - the patients were always so listless, so… sick. Were they that way before the doctors took their blood? Or was it because they took it? She bites her lip at the mention, looking visibly nervous, her hands fidgeting with the edges of her cloak. “Um, do you have to? I’m not -”

Well, afraid isn’t the right word for it. Unsure might be better. And that borders more on the edge of fear than anything else. She tries to swallow the feelings that are beginning to rise as Pheobe’s next question calls to mind the image of shattered cups and spilt tea on her floor. “I, ah, seem to have broken almost all of my cups either by dropping them or just…” throwing them at her house’s walls. In the moment it seems perfectly valid, but Lily knows that she isn’t an angry person. Her temper doesn’t flare up uncontrollably just because she can’t seem to find the right chord progression.

She looks down for a moment, then back up at the midwife. “Are you asking because you know what it is?”
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#6
PHOEBE
She wasn't terribly surprised to get pushback about the blood sample. It was an unusual request and one that made some squeamish or simply uncomfortable. Irritation pricked at her core though - she was the healer, not Lily. Lily had come to her to ask for help. But she pressed her lips into a thin line as she sat across from her, forcing her irritation back, if only just. "It is the only sure way to diagnose what I believe might be your ailment." she said gently, tilting her head slightly at Lily. "It won't be much. Just enough to fill this here." she said, showing her the needle that certainly could only hold a few ounces at most.

Phoebe listened quietly as she mentioned breaking glasses, nodding a little. Her own work had become near impossible as she struggled to keep her hands steady. But her last question made her still slightly, and she nodded. "Yes, I believe I do. But I don't want to cause undue concern without knowing for sure. Hence the blood sample." she said gently.
I look up to the little bird
The flies across the sky
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: N/A - Strg: 16 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 440 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#7
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


Looking at Pheobe with too-big eyes, Lily’s head begins to shake back and forth. It isn’t the needle itself, or the vial for her blood. It’s what it means to her 18th century mind. “But - but almost everyone who gets their blood let dies. They are talking about two entirely different things, but fuck if Lily knows that.

She’s just not willing to take that chance. Folding her arms across her chest, the redhead leans against a nearby surface. “Please just tell me, Phoebe. Yes, my hands have been trembling.” She snaps a bit but then recovers and steels herself for the news, whatever it is, knowing full well that she’s escaped something big for too long, now. If it wasn’t the pox it would have been the whore’s diseases eventually. The irony of it catching up to her here and now, when she’s no longer a card-carrying member of that trade isn’t lost on her.

She just hopes she hasn’t passed it on.
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#8
PHOEBE
Phoebe blinked at her in confusion. Anyone who has their blood let? She shook her head. "No, no, no, I don't want to let your blood. That won't help at all." she said with a light laugh. "See, like this." she said. Phoebe rolled up a sleeve of her sweater to show her arm. Carefully she inserted the needle into herself, drawing just enough before depositing it into the vial. Then she pressed against the prick with a piece of gauze. "Just like that. I can guarantee you won't come even close to dying." she said with a small smile.

Phoebe rose then to get a new needle and gauze. As she did so, Lily snapped at her, glancing back at her with a raised brow. She was silent though as she collected her new implements, sitting down on the bed across from her again. "I think you have the blight. See here..." she said, pointing to the inky streaks in her own blood sample. "That is what it looks like. That is why I want the sample from you, to see if you have it for sure."
I look up to the little bird
The flies across the sky
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: N/A - Strg: 16 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 440 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#9
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


Watching Phoebe do the procedure on herself does alleviate Lily’s fears somewhat. She offers a wan, weak smile and then jerkily offers her arm back, sliding her sleeves up to reveal pale skin laced with blue veins. Whether or not she believes that she won’t die is another story, but there is evidence that this won’t be the cause of it.

It is, however, the first time she’s encountered the term ‘blight,’ other than in whispers about the decaying Greatwood. How can the plants have the same thing she has? Waiting to see if her blood has the same black streaks (a fascinating thing, really - if she weren’t so tired, she would probably ask a hundred questions about looking at blood) as Phoebe’s, her mind drifts to what it must be like to be a healer. “How long have you had it?” she aks quietly, no accusation in her voice. Phoebe couldn’t have been the one to give it to her, she’s barely around the midwife. “And… how did you get it?” It had to have been someone else.
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
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Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#10
PHOEBE
Phoebe smiled a little as Lily finally offered her arm. Sometimes people needed to see things done to be assured they weren’t as terrifying as they seemed, and Phoebe would never fault a person that. ”It’ll be a little prick and then it will be over quickly.” she assured. As gently as she could, Phoebe inserted the needle and drew just enough to examine, transferring the blood from the needle to the empty vial before pressing a piece of gauze to her arm.

”A little over a month.” Phoebe said quietly, looking at her trembling fingers with an internal sigh. ”The blight is passed through open wounds or from consuming it. So I believe, while I was testing it and examining it for Frey, I must’ve accidentally gotten some in a wound on my hand.” Specifically when a sample of Ronin’s blighted blood exploded and broken glass contaminated with it cut her. But that wasn’t as important. The midwife carefully transferred the task of holding the gauze to Lily before turning to the sample. A frown curved her lips and she sighed.

”I’m afraid it is as I’ve expected. You’ve contracted it as well.” she said, pointing out the black streaks in Lily’s sample.
I look up to the little bird
The flies across the sky
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: N/A - Strg: 16 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Astor Offline
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Posts: 440 | Total: 4,350
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#11
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


“Are you sure?” she asks, though the question isn’t in reference to whether or not she has it, it’s to how the Blight is spread. “I don’t think I’ve eaten it… or had any open wounds lately.” She swallows heavily and tries to think back - did she ever cut herself or eat something from the Greatwood? It’s certainly possible - that rabbit and venison must have come from outside the Hallowed Grounds - it’s where all the hunters were going.

“What about sex?” she says suddenly, looking at Phoebe with a sudden boldness that came from an attempt to gather her strength the whole damn time she’s been there. There’s boldness, yes, but also fear and despair in her gaze. She’s prepared for the worst. Hoping for the best. But when does the best ever happen to women like her?

At least the black streaks in the vial don’t seem to phase her. And if they do, she’s determined not to show it.
Phoebe Steadman
the Nightingale
Midwife

Age: 26 | Height: 5'9" | Race: Demi-god | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Greatwood
Level: 5 - Strg: 32 - Dext: 46 - Endr: 41 - Luck: 41 - Int:
PIM - Mythical - Dragon (Electricity) BRANBAST - Mythical - Sear Cat (Speech)
Played by: Grant Offline
Change author:
Posts: 3,062 | Total: 5,479
MP: 1825
#12
PHOEBE
She tilted her head slightly at Lily's question. Was she...sure? Yes. Very much so. But before she could say so, the redhead clarified. Ohhhhhh. Her lips tugged to the side as she considered quietly. "Sex alone wouldn't transfer it, no. It isn't like other illnesses that are passed that way." she said slowly, still thinking it through. "But it is always possible that you and your partner had imperceptible skin tears or something of the sort. It happens more often than you'd think. If they were ill it is possible that you contracted it during sex given the amount of physical contact." she explained, answering her questions as fully as she could, and with more patience than she felt she had as of late.
I look up to the little bird
The flies across the sky
And I, I wish that I could be that bird
And fly away from here
Lily Balfour
Entertainer

Age: 34 | Height: 5'9'' | Race: Accepted | Nationality: Outlander | Citizenship: Hollowed Grounds
Level: N/A - Strg: 16 - Dext: 19 - Endr: 18 - Luck: 14 - Int:
Played by: Astor Offline
Change author:
Posts: 440 | Total: 4,350
MP: 0
#13
lily
from what i’ve tasted of desire
i hold with those who favor fire


She shakes her head again and it falls, ever so slightly, in… guilt? Perhaps. Or frustration. Whatever it is, she can feel it on the edges of her body, that darkness that threatens to flare up and be a nasty, raging bitch. Lily should probably leave before that happens, because Phoebe doesn’t deserve that. “No, I mean… I could have given it to someone else?” It’s hard to describe her concerns without going into the specifics of what happened in her little back room.

Hey, by the way, everyone, there are semi-yearly orgies happening in her place. Come one, come all, in the name of Frey. Little did she know that Phoebe might actually support that kind of thing. In the name of Frey, of course. She just doesn’t see the younger woman as the kind who would participate in that kind of thing.

But back to the situation at hand. Lily will never forgive herself if she’s passed this thing on to Rex. Or Luc, even though she still thinks he's a bit of a dick.


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