He led the way out the door and into the village. The sun was bright and it was already hot. Rowan glanced around and everyone stared back. Silas put a hand at her low back and kept it there as they made their way through the village. He introduced her to some of the villagers and Rowan noticed that the majority of them had some form of the tattoo Silas wore, although his was the most intricate and the largest by far.
That was when a piercing cry had them and everyone around them stop and turn. From around the corner came Kara carrying Charlie who had his eyes squeezed shut in pain and was making low, moaning sounds.
Silas ran to them and Rowan followed.
“What happened?” Silas asked.
Rowan saw the trail of blood and the boy’s pained expression.
“He was chopping wood,” Kara managed, frantic as Silas took the child from her arms. Rowan followed them as they ran as quickly as possible through the village. “He should have been at school! I didn’t know! I wouldn’t have let him!” Kara cried.
Silas didn’t say anything but when they got to their destination, Rowan saw that it was a small clinic of sorts and when the door opened and she saw the two men in doctor’s robes she recognized to be similar to those used at the colony, she stopped short.
Silas rushed inside with Kara in tow, everyone seeming oblivious to her presence. One of the doctors began to speak and Charlie cried out again. Rowan turned and sat down on a large rock outside just as the door closed behind her, but when she saw the gathering villagers who were coming not to see the screaming child, but her, she changed her mind and went quietly inside.
The building that housed the clinic was deep with several rooms down one long corridor. At the back, she could see that the glass doors were open and led to a garden. The doctors and nurses were too busy to take notice of her and so she walked on, following the sound of Silas’ voice as he tried to calm Charlie. The door to his room was still open and Rowan came to stand there and watch.
“He’ll need stitches but it’s not as bad as it looks,” the doctor said.
“It hurts! It hurts!” Charlie cried.
Rowan peeked between Kara and Silas to see the poor, small child sitting there, looking so different than when she had first seen him yesterday.
“Give him some of the pain medication,” Silas snapped at the doctor.
“There wasn’t any in the pack!” he replied.
“They were supposed to have loaded it. Are you sure?” Silas asked.
“I took inventory myself, Silas. I’m sorry, Charlie,” the doctor said.
“Damn him!” Silas cursed, angry.
Rowan’s eyes filled with tears and she stepped away. This was partly her fault. Commander Norrin was using her and Silas and the small child was suffering to make another of the commander’s points. She walked down the corridor and out the back door into the clinic’s garden. She stood, mesmerized and looked around, taking a mental inventory. The whole of the garden, which she realized was covered with glass walls and roof, and looked to span a similar square footage as the clinic’s interior, was a well-maintained area where, aside from space to walk between the herb beds, was a sort of greenhouse.
Charlie cried out and the sound set Rowan into motion. She moved quickly around, deciding to look for what she needed later, and found the combination of herbs that she knew would help. She knew medicinal as well as other qualities of herbs well and collected what she needed before going back inside.
“Silas,” she said at the door as she saw the doctor preparing a needle and thread.
Charlie lay there trying to be brave but looking terrified.
“Not now, Rowan.”
“Let me help. If we make a tea with these herbs, it can help him with the pain. It works quickly, I promise.”
They all looked at her, some more with suspicion than others.
The doctor looked at the herbs she held out in her hands.
“They won’t hurt him but I don’t think they’ll help him either,” he said.
Silas put up a hand signaling the doctor to wait. “Are you sure?” he asked Rowan.
She nodded. “I only need hot water.”
“Nurse, get her what she needs.”
“Charlie!” A woman pushed past her into the room.
“Mama,” he said, the brave face he had tried to put on all but vanishing as his mother held him.
“What happened? Oh…” she clutched her heart when she saw the blood.
“Rowan is making him a tea to help with the pain before the doctor sews him up.”
Charlie’s mother glanced at her then back at Silas. “No. I don’t want her giving him anything. What if she poisons him?”
Rowan glanced at Silas, who caught her expression before he turned to talk to Charlie’s mother just as the nurse came back with a pot of boiling water and a glass. They went to the counter to work where Rowan tore the leaves, speaking a prayer her mother had taught her, which she wasn’t sure did anything aside from making her feel better. The nurse then poured the water over the leaves and Rowan carried it over, holding it out to Silas.