Who | |
What |
Sorvani finally seeks professional Healer help for her sleeping issues. |
When |
It is mid-morning of the seventh day of the ninth month of the second turn of the 12th pass. |
Where |
Infirmary, Igen Weyr |
OOC Date |
Infirmary
From the astringent smell of redwort, to the gleam of counter and cabinet, this place positively defines the concept of antiseptic cleanliness. Despite the yawning exit to the Dragonhealer Courtyard, the floors remain scrupulously swept of sand and particulate matter. Back behind the counter where the healers usually are, are shelves full of bottles and jars, as well as cupboards hiding away more delicate items that shouldn't be exposed to too much sand. Beyond the counter, there is the Desk, where patients are checked in and taken to one of the examination areas by a healer. The windows are usually kept open for the flow of air, but there is both shutters to shut out dust storms, and curtains for other occasions.
With the most recent of sand storms scourging outside, the infirmary is shuttered and dim despite the midday hour. At least the inner passage connecting to the caverns allows Weyr residents to come and go without subjecting themselves to the gritty winds that moan and rattle at the edges of the closed windows. It has allowed healers to depart, as well; it seems there is a skeleton crew in attendance while the majority of the staff is off to lunch. The blonde currently stationed at the intake desk isn't one of the Weyr's regulars. Her headscarf is draped loosely over her braided hair and there's a journeyman's knot fixed to the shoulder of her light blue kameez. Eyes downcast, concentration twists Taryn's mouth to the side as she jots chalk along a slate-bound list.
Sorvani shambles in from the inner caverns of the weyr, one hand rubbing and dark-circled eyes even as she yawns for what seems like the millionth time this morning. Distracted as she is, she actually takes a few steps into the infirmary before stopping, her over-tired eyes blinking in astonishment. Everything is so clean! After a moment appreciating the cleanliness Sorvani gives herself a little shake. "Uh. Hello?" She peers into the dimness, locates the desk and moves forward. Look, there's even a person there too. "Excuse me? I think I need to see a healer." It's not an emergency seeing as she is not dripping blood, and her limbs are intact, but there is a little desperation in her voice.
Taryn is also distracted, proving a poor gate keeper by not even looking up as the girl enters the squeaky clean space. 'Hello' just gets her flicking a kohl-rimmed gaze up, chalk still tap-dragging until Sorvani's footsteps draw nearer. Then, finally, that second inquiry gets the healer to push back from the slate and turn a fuller scan over the new arrival. No blood, four limbs, so storm-blue eyes eventually make their way to dark-circled ones. "Of course. Your name, position?" Flipping the edge of her headscarf from over her shoulder to a safer tuck inside her arm, Taryn reaches to fish another slate free from a flat basket on the desktop. A smile paints onto her features as she scooches her chair out and closer to the girl. "What's the trouble?"
Sorvani stands rather awkwardly before the desk, blinking at Taryn. Oh right! Answers! With another little shake the scrawny teen gets right on to it. "Sorvani. S-O-R-A… no wait!" Good start that. "S-O-R-V-A-N-I" She nods her head as she correctly spells her name. "I'm a candidate." Two down, one to go. This one is the tricky one however, taking a deep breath she pulls herself straighter and tries to explain. "Ever since… the earthshakes, I just." Pause. "I can't sleep. I'm tired, I work hard" Kind of. "But I can't sleep." She concludes in a small voice.
Also right to it, Taryn starts tapping out the girl's name and rank. It's with a flickered twist at one edge of her mouth that she pauses to thumb-smudge out the incorrect 'A.' The candidate part gets a fuller smile, though that's quick to fall once Sorvani offers explanation of the visit. Slates are exchanged once more, the latest curled close to her chest as Taryn opens an arm towards one of the nearest curtain-defined cot areas. "Let's go sit down," the blonde invites. There's something a little strained about the polite pleasantness she is trying to fit her features into. "Have you ever had trouble sleeping, before?" is a question while they're en route.
Sorvani follows the healer journeywoman obediently, surreptitiously sniffing the air as they move. It even smells clean. Of course the journey to the closest curtained cot area doesn't take all that long, but where to sit? Sorvani will just stand awkwardly. "Um. Not really. At least I don't remember having to worry about it before." She answers the question helpfully, this is all new to her, so strained slips by unnoticed for now.
Perhaps Taryn notices the sniffing. Maybe that's what warps the edge of her paint-lipped smile. Awkwardness is more directly observed with a lift of brows. The healer pats encouragingly at the thin mattress wrapped in its tidy white sheet. For herself, she tugs a low wooden stool nearer with a toe so she can perch upon it. The slate and her hands rest upon her lap while she looks up at Sorvani. "Do you drink klah? Has your diet changed since…" Blue eyes touch on the white knot on the girl's shoulder. "Where were you Searched from?"
Sorvani shuffles forward. Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle. Then she's daintily taking a seat on the edge of the mattress. She takes in her surroundings with quick jerky glances. "I have been drinking klah. Else I wouldn't be able to keep up. But only since the first shake." There is a hint of defensiveness in her answer. "And I'm from here ma'am. Bout the only change is that I sleep inside the Weyr…" And all that stone that forms the crater. "…rather than out by the bazaar."
Defensiveness earns a broader stretch of Taryn's smile. Blue eyes narrow a fraction within their rims of kohl. "So you had lodging, meals." These are half assumption, given the girl's answer. The healer straightens a little to chalk at the slate. "And you had trouble sleeping after the earthquake, so started drinking klah, and have continued to have trouble." A curl is back at one side of her lips, but her eyes make more open question as they lift back to Sorvani. Is that right?
Sorvani tries to yawn discretely, but her brain demands oxygen so it quickly evolves into something larger. "Sorry." Her voice is muffled by the hand covering her mouth (in case of more monster yawns). "Uh. I guess." Her brain has had sufficient oxygen to process the summation of sleeplessness. "Should I not be drinking the klah?" She asks, finally picking up on all the cues Taryn is giving. "I wouldn't need to drink it, if I could just get to sleep. Just every time I lay down, I think the ground is moving again." Her voice cracks slightly as she defends klah. Klah is awesome.
It's not exactly unsympathetic, but the smirk that answers Sorvani's question is definitely not very professional. "I'm going to ask you to not drink the klah," Taryn ultimately confirms with a nod, despite how awesome it may be. "I know that might be hard if you've become used to it, but I want you to stop drinking it after lunch and try to come off of it all together if you can. It will for sure effect your sleep." That said, the healer takes a long inhale that drops her gaze and straightens her posture. "I'm sure you're getting plenty of physical activity as a candidate." The chalk fiddles idly between her fingers and a brow arches briefly. "Tell me more about what goes through your head when you lay down." She's won impassivity by the time stormy blue eyes lift back up attentively to the candidate.
Sorvani stares at Taryn. They've only just met, and she wants to talk touchy-feely? Stare. "Uh." It's too hard to talk when looking at the healer's face, so her gaze drops to her lap and the fidgeting fingers therein. "I'm trying real hard to be normal just like everyone else. But the earthshakes are scaring me. I keep on remembering that day in the galleries and I'm all jittery. I'm scared of all the little noises and I think next time I won't be so lucky. And I just want to sleep." There! She scarcely seems to take a breath as she attempts to put into words the anxiety she's been feeling.
It's fortunate that the girl's gaze drops first, because Taryn wasn't so far from cracking herself. Now she can indulge in an upward roll of her eyes that's probably making some petition to Faranth as her weight leans back a fraction. Her tongue wets her lips while she listens. Blue eyes press closed a long moment. Her breath may draw full in her lungs, but it's quiet. Her chin levels. Painted lips sketch back into a kind smile and her hands fold neatly over the slate on her lap. "That's understandable," her voice is fitted neatly into warm calm. "It has been scary. And you were in the galleries?" Sympathy deepens the curve of her smile. "Do you think these things during the day? Or is it mostly when you've stopped moving, trying to sleep, everything else quiet?"
The twisting and weaving of her fingers is infinitely fascinating. Or at least that's the impression Sorvani gives as she resolutely keeps her eyes down and focused on their jerky movements. "Yeah." She agrees with Taryn. "It's worse when it's quiet. And when there's a loud noise, or things that surprise me." So intense is her focus on her fingers, it appears that she doesn't notice that one small pathetic tear trickling down her cheek. "I think I'd cope, if I could just get some sleep."
Taryn's mouth twists and tucks to the side as she watches the path of that tear. The stool's fat wooden legs give tiny creaks as the healer leans forward to reach neatly-manicured fingertips to the girl's knee. "Okay," is soft accord. The scan of her gaze takes its time to weigh what she sees upon Sorvani's features. "I want you to do a few things for me. First, cut out the klah." They already talked about that. "Second, take chamomile tea before bed." (Do they have chamomile? Well…) "They should have it in the kitchens, but I'll give you some sachets from here before you go. In addition to that…" Her head cocks slightly. "Are you allowed any free time in your schedule?"
Sorvani's eyes lift at that. "Late at night maybe. But we've lessons in the morning, and we're helping out in the bazaar in the afternoons. And there's always chores." In other words, Taryn is now a crazy lady. "Do I have to get it from the kitchens?" A glimmer of what Sorvani is like when she's not petrified and exhausted peeks through. "I have worked in there. I know exactly what it's like." There is a slight shudder, if there is a room that is the exact opposite of the infirmary, it's the kitchens. "And thank you for listening." She concludes quietly.
A crazy lady who nods knowingly. "So you finally have time to yourself, just when you're trying to sleep." As for the girl's reaction to the kitchens, it prompts an easier little quirk of amusement. "If it helps, you can come back here to resupply on tea." Taryn's acceptance of thanks isn't the smoothest thing, coming with a smile made tight by some fight between sheepishness and cynicism. "Yeah." Pat, pat go her fingers before she withdraws her hand to splay out her hand between them. Asking to indulge her just a little further. "Alright - I still want you to try and find a few minutes for yourself. Maybe just before lunch, between class and the bazaar, like now." Her brows sketch lofting hope of this possibility. "I want you to find someplace quiet, sit on the ground, feel how solid it is, and focus on your breath filling out to the edges of every nerve…" She takes a deep breath in example, "and then letting it all go slowly." Exhale. "All those thoughts. Do you think you can try that?"
Sorvani is perhaps disproportionately relieved that she doesn't have to source the tea from the kitchens, as evidenced by the quick grin she gives Taryn. The smile quickly dissolves into a frown as the healer details 'meditation'. "Sit. Solid. Breathe." She murmurs, the frown deepening. "I can try." She doesn't sound particularly confident. "I'll try anything at this stage." She admits, practicing that big deep breath to demonstrate her willingness.
Taryn has a smile to counter that frown. "Good." It's like her brightness can make up for Sorvani's lack of confidence. "Try it for a few days and see if it starts to help," she nods. "If it doesn't, come back at the end of the seven and we can try some different things, okay?" It takes a second, but her straight-backed cheer flips to a suddenly thoughtful lean-and-peek out at the quiet infirmary. "You know, I'm not usually in here." Blue eyes slant back to look over the candidate. "Some of the Weyrfolk aren't so good about…" Her mouth cants rueful, a hand gesturing between their two shoulders. Girls with knots. "I'm Taryn. I usually am working for the Steens in the bazaar, if you ever have trouble and want to find me." She adds a little shrug - no big deal, either way.
"Oh! I didn't even realize!" Sorvani takes the sub-text and makes it less subtle. "I mean I've never been to a healer before…so it didn't even occur to me" That women have no place anywhere interesting. "But honestly, this would have been harder with a man healer." She seems to have perked up a bit with a course of action to pursue. "Thank you Taryn. I think I'll come look for you if that's okay? If the tea and the breathing and stuff don't work out." She nods firmly, before finding her feet. "Uh, I should go now." And with that abrupt statement, she stands up and is out the door. She'll be back, she forgot her tea.