Post by Lady Aislin Creed of Eohmark on Nov 29, 2008 20:31:58 GMT -6
A CHANGE IN MEDICINE
beyond religion's reach, there is knowledge
beyond religion's reach, there is knowledge
Aislin Creed - The first morning in Turas Lan had not been uneventful in the least. Roac, Aislin, Eamonn and a few men had come back for the next week to stay within the city so Eamonn could kill the rumors about his death and Aislin could get a better rein on those who would be left in charge of the Infirmary. Already, her request had gone through and was awaiting her this very day within a room marked ' private '. Some thought her techniques were barbaric, but they had their valid uses and reasons. Roac had been asked to follow another top healer so he could get the feel of the place before meeting up with Aislin in that very room. Two of the riders from Eohmark never left Aislin's side, par Eamonn's words since Aislin was still under house arrest and not to be alone without men he assigned. Aislin did not even bother to tell them what she was doing as she tied a apron about her form and rolled the tunic sleeves upwards to leave her arms bare. Upon very high like cot, a body lay still, only paling just recently as death set in to the corpse. Two new healers stood in the corner, unsure what this would be for. When another brought in a tray full of daggers, a few eyes rose at Aislin, more so with her guards. She looked to no one as they began to set up for her then left, leaving the two new healers, her guards and herself until Roac's arrival. A theif who was hung and no one's pride to claim, would be the experiment of the day. The chest area was already bare, exposing a once powerful cavity so Aislin had to do little save prepare to cut into the body. This was not something to be spoken of much outside these walls and the goal was to help healing by understanding death itself. Claiming a dagger that was smaller then her own hand, she moved to hover over the chest, before pressing the tip inside until blood swelled up from the cut and leaked over the side of the body to drip into the cot. Already a healer gasped, not knowing she would be cutting into the body like so. The clearing of a throat had Aislin pause half way down the chest cavitiy to look up and see one of her personal guards looking at her.`` Do nay be making noises at this time. Turn ye backs if ye must stay. Ah'll nay be coy with my work. `` She spoke firmly which only had a smile cracking from the other. Moving lower with the dagger, she sliced open the belly region so that a pink bit of tissue swelled up from the slice above the belly button. A gagging noise from the corner was heard before one of the new healers so easily rushed out to vomit outside the door. Aislin ignored them, as she finished cutting and placed the dagger down so her fingers could try and pull the flesh from the cavitiy and stomach to expose the organs under neath.
Roac - Roac had spent the day shadowing one of the more senior physicians as they had tended to their duties about the infirmary. He knew there was nothing more irritating to a doctor than someone leaning over their shoulder and asking pointless questions, and so he had carried with him his journal, and took notes and sketched all that he saw and read, attempting to fill in the gaps in his journeyman's knowledge with that of the true professional, only occasionally piping up to clarify where he deemed necessary. It had been an interesting if mentally draining day, yet he had accustomed himself to long periods of intense concentration. In time though, he had come to the chamber, at Aislin's request. He stood nearby as the other healers congregated about the raised cot to see the milky corpse of the lawbreaker. As he came to the realization that they were going to perform a human dissection, he became excited. It wasn't often, in fact it was downright rare that such a thing occurred. It was a social taboo to cut open the dead, yet the thought of seeing the true internal structure of a human was an opportunity like no other. Diagrams and descriptions were only ever a shadow of the truth. Fervent eyes watched as Aislin's dagger pressed down into the flesh, blood welling there. He gave a small shake of his head and a chuckle as the expected reactions came from an onlooker or two... " Green a grass ." He muttered benignly.
Aislin Creed - Aislin had not been trying to pawn off Roac to another to leave her be, but she did want him to see it through another's eyes, for Aislin was unfeeling some times when it came to such things, because there was no need for emotion in such a place. The door was shut directly behind Roac by one of the guards, the one who had cleared his throat. They were younger and newer to the riders that lived in Eohmark, but their faces were known well enough to be given this task of following about the healing horse and the new male from beyond the hills. Pausing when she noticed that the skin would not part from the ribs so easily, she looked up with hands full of blood already to see Roac come in. `` Aye. There be a apron over yonder on the wall. This be a big step for us. Ah know what his death be, as do ye, so let us see what such death caused the body that be different. Ah have seen healthy lungs and have them within jars, but does the body make the lungs look different when strangled? `` That was the question of course. As soon as Roac was suited up, Aislin asked for his help with holding the skin back so she could part it from the rib cage to expose bone under a thick layer of muscles that clung to the skin with her slicing. Like gutting and skinning a deer to her, one and the same. The smell was fresh, iron rose in the room from so much blood pouring from the body and moving to the stone floors. It did not release itself in a rush, for the heart no longer pumped, but a large amount had already slipped out now that no skin held it back. Making a fist, Aislin knocked on the rib cage making the corpse jiggle slightly with her actions. `` This be why so many can survive hits at times. Like a rock, yet easily crushed by a rock itself. Have ye seen the skeletal structure up close and personal Roac?`` The second healer was already moving out as well, unable to retrain their lunch. The one guard was fascinated, while the other kept his back turned.
Roac - Roac slipped the aforementioned apron over his head and tied the cords about his waist. Unbuttoning his cuffs he rolled the to his elbows and moved up beside Aislin. At her request, is fingers moved to grasp the two rent edges of flesh, his fingers suddenly sticky with cold blood. The irony tang hit the back of his throat, yet he was no stranger to blood, nor gore, and so fascination was his main emotion. Once the skin and muscle had been cut away from the ribcage, he allowed the loose flaps of skin to fall to either side. " I cannot say that I have. a good majority of my learning has come from books." He leaned in closer and lifted the stomach a touch to find the pancreas nestled just beneath between the gall bladder and a kidney. It was fascinating. Truly. It was being able to see the anatomy in three dimensions that was the most impressive, how the organs all seemed to fit so perfectly in place. " Such an astonishing machine..."
Aislin Creed - Aislin had only upon the battle field and the point had been to save or to kill. There was no time to stop and cut a man open to see what killed him, or to really feel the organs and how sensitive they were. So many hopes did Aislin have for this adventure between herself and Roac. Could they learn faster ways to end a man's life? Faster ways to heal it and save it? What wonders would it hold and questions would it answer? Oceanic eyes drifted towards the area he lifted and like a student herself, she leaned over with him, looking at how the organs placed themselves against each other like a puzzle that was placed delicately and perfectly together. `` Aye, that we be. Look how this be curled up about in a zig zag, as if someone took the time to place it this way, or how this be tucked under the rib cage. `` She pointed to the ends of the lungs sticking out from the bottom of the bone. `` Ah know some of the names of these organs. We should get a better picture. Ye wish to sketch this sight? There be a bowl of hot water, over there and a rag. Now we know the way the organs lay before they are shifted about or stabbed. ``
Roac - "It's quite amazing, really." The small intestine seemed to coil about and about and about, penned in by it's thicker, shorter counterpart. "How long could it possibly be? I mean, it's amazing! We could be here for hours Aislin. The body would be dust before we were ever finished." He followed his words with a small nod before he made to the basin filled with warm water, where he rinsed the slick, dark blood from his fingers, drying them on the rag beside the bowl. He fetched his journal and pencil, before flipping the the next clean page, and beginning to sketch furiously, annotating here and there with the colours and estimated sizes of the organs that were visible, while beginning another that outlined the skeletal structure that he could glean. "And perhaps now we will know why some wounds are more fatal than others. For instance, a stab for the lungs, unless precise and or strong would likely be turned by the ribcage, whereas below them, there are all sort of thing that could kill a man, but t'would seem only slowly. All the most vital parts are protected. Incredible."
Aislin Creed - For the first time, Aislin's thin lips pulled back in a soft smile at his words. `` Aye, this body be ours by permission, so we may take it apart and try to put it together as we please. Ah plan for us to look at each organ with the time we have. `` This was one of the many things, Aislin was coming to truly like about Roac. He was not religion based as others were, so things like this did not pause for him, but expanded as they did for Aislin. She did not believe in a God, nor did he. Only in themselves and what they could do in the world. It was the perfect medical match in Aislin's eyes. While he sketched with such a quicker hand then Aislin held, she parted the skin more to expose the upper hip bones into few. The sheet that had covered his male region was pulled down more and exposed it fully, though Aislin did not even seem to glance at it, having no real interest in the male outer organ at this time. Pans filled with blood were lower under the body, making Aislin reach under and grab one, pouring out most of the blood before lifting it high to settle it upon the corpse' upper thighs for balance. `` When ye finished sketching, let's begin removal and see if the organs are connected by more then just veins and nerves. ``
Roac - Roac gave a short, curt nod of his head as he deftly finished up his preliminary sketches. Of course it might take him all night until he was satisfied with their level of detail, but for now they would suffice. He closed up the leather bound volume and slid his pencil into the spine before placing it aside and well out of any blood or gore. Even as the sheet was removed, Roac had become detached from any sense of embarrassment, or even emotion beyond fascination. "I would suggest we crack the rib cage first. Remove it, then start once the picture is whole. Of course you may do the honours if you wish it." He grinned wryly, as he knew well this was a little bit like Christmas for them both, and the unwrapping of a morbid present.
Aislin Creed - Jars were already lined up and waiting along another table that was to the right of the corpse. Organs did not preserve long, but with the coming of winter, Aislin was prepared to use the open hut for a storage area, simply to try study the organs as long as possible. By separating them, Roac and Aislin would be able to study each one by section, looking at all angles of them to see their height, width, size and design. Oceanic eyes shifted towards Roac as he moved closer and gave his suggestion to remove the bones that blocked the view of other organs. Hands were still covered in blood and gore from the muscles that were coming apart from the flesh. `` Ye may do the honors Roac. Mah hands be filled with gore already, so ah will be pulling the bits ye chip off. We will have to be careful to nay make the bone stab into the organs's below. `` A finger pressed the tip of itself between the exposed ribs where nerves seemed to coil around them. The male had a barrel chest, which made it wide and thick, with bones that made up most of his weight. Pulling her hands away, she stood to the side, holding her arms slightly out from her body so the blood that dripped from her finger tips went to the floor and not on her breeches
Roac - Another short nod and he moved to the side table where the surgical tools had been laid out atop their canvas wrapping. He took up the slim chisel and hammer, hefting them in his hands to get their measure, noting the sharp end. He strode back about the corpse looking down at the ribcage to best ascertain how to remove it. With the end of the chisel he gestured at the thick sternum that ran down the centre of the two halves like the body of a butterfly between two gory wings. "I surmise that one sharp blow to the centre, there, will effectively separate the two halves. Once done with that.." He moved the chisel to point at the ribs where they were nearest to the inside of the dead arms... "I will chisel through each rib in turn. I would suggest waiting until all are broken, then removing each half as a whole piece, rather than each rib alone. I will leave enough of the bones intact in order to form a cradle for the organs inside. I would hate for it them all to spill out." He met Aislin's eyes a moment. There was something of her coolness that always made him feel too warm, and that only she could aid that. His eyes flitted awkwardly away a moment, and he was back to work. Leaning over the body a little he placed the chisel's point directly in the centre of the breastbone. Raising his arm like a strange blacksmith, he struck down, fast and accurate. The bone split down the centre, like the earth when it shook and all said that the old god's were angry. "Well, stage one was a success... Unfortunately, that's the easy part." He gave a short laugh.
Aislin Creed - The knowledge she had hoped to come from this man was not letting her down in the least. How wonderful it was to share this with someone who did not look at her in disgust or cry out that she was casting sin among the lands with her thoughts and methods. Giving a nod in agreement with Roac's approach to separate the bones from the body. Aislin had indeed figured to remove each bone along, but this was a much better plan. Ocean eyes slid up towards his own storm cast ones and paused in their stare. Normally, Aislin kept herself on a level where emotions did not matter or come about, for there was no need for them in these types of situations, but she felt her own form of satisfaction and warmth, coursing through her body. Perhaps it was because for the first time, someone shared her views on not just the medical practice, but also on religion. There was no one that held the same views as her when it came to these things, which made Aislin very different from those who walked about, God fearing and worshipping. Aislin's husband, still referred to Gods, though what Gods, she did not know nor ask. When Roac looked away, Aislin's eyes moved back down towards the corpse and waited for the blow to come. When it did, the sound of the chisel cracking the bone made the guards flinch and wince under the sound. Even Aislin's eyes closed quickly, a natural reaction to protect them in case small pieces went flying out. Blood splattered out along the sides, spraying their aprons with droplets of the red liquid before the bones were separated. Looking to Roac, Aislin gave a small smile and shook her head, making that tight braid sway behind her, back and forth before awaiting him to finish the right side. Stepping even closer to Roac, her side pressed along his own before her arm slid under his, making her halfway tucked with her back against his side so she could reach under and grab the flesh to pull it down so he could better see. They had to shift a few times in order to get it right, because chiseling this area would prove to take more then a few hits. Switching sides, they repeated the same on the other before Aislin pondered if removing them would really make the organs fall from the chest. `` Move to the right and take that side. We can remove the sides at the same time, very slowly so that the organs stay leveled. `` She moved to the left, reaching her hands out to grasp what she believed was he best points.
Roac - Each rib took a couple of precise hits before they broke, small chips of bone springing away from the chisel to stick in the blood spatters on his apron. By the looks of him he was some queer butcher. Already tonight he had been a butcher. What next? Once all the ribs had been broken, each of them took their sides, his the right, at her word. He tucked his slick fingers beneath the bone at the top and bottom of the ribs, ready to lift them. "Agreed. There will likely be a little sticking, but if we go slowly as you say we should be fine. One the count of three?" He adjusted his fingers to ensure he had a proper purchase on the slab. "And.. One... Two...Three." Gently, ever so slowly, he began to lift, eyes flitting from his own half to hers as they did so in perfect unison, strings of bodily fluid forming in the widening gap between ribcage and cavity.
Aislin Creed - Aislin's fingers carefully slid into and around the rib piece, before she wiggled it just ever so slightly in order to try and get the organs away from the bone itself. At Roac's count down, she slowly started to lift when it got to three and carefully shifted it about, making her body ready in case a organ tried to slide out from under neath the bone she was removing. With the way the corpse was laid, the organs stayed firmly on top of each other like a stacked puzzle. Eyes moved back and forth from the exposed organs to Roac's own stormy ones and then down again before turning and placing the bones along the table carefully, making sure to leave room for Roac's own set as well. Turning back to the scene at hand, she paused when she saw the heart and lungs, along with another organ she was not overly sure of, exposed. The lungs looked slightly discolored, more dark red with small patches of a red s dark it looked black upon them. Little did she know, it was from years of smoking. `` Look upon the heart. It be only half the size of other organs, yet we know that it be a very frail one if hurt in any way. So much work it does. When ah traveled to other places to study medicine, only few had looked upon a body in this manner, seeing it fully and without the binds of flesh to stop their view. Ah learned many things from those healers. `` Pausing as she looked up from the body to Roac, she had a thought. `` If ah shall travel again, would ye like to join me?``
Roac - He had been inspecting the body with a morbid delight that only a physician could, noting how the heart lay nestled between the two dark lungs. That too was unexpected. There was also a large brownish organ that laid just below the lungs, that he had no knowledge of, but he knew it to be called the liver. It looked slightly... Unhealthy. That, he wouldn't know came from excessive drinking. Though it was Aislin's question that piqued his attention... He looked up from the corpse his hands full red with blood, his face and apron covered in a fine spray of dark red. He gave a small smile, probably looking quite absurd and nodded. "I would be most honoured and pleased, Aislin of Eohmark. I can only wonder at what I would learn from travelling with you, if I have learned this much having known you only a couple of weeks."
Aislin Creed - One full brow rose slightly at the words of her name and title, though she was not offended by it. `` Weeks ye have known me, so therefore, call me Aislin when we be alone. Much as ah do nay need the title of ' lady'. Ah would enjoy ye company of course, as ah have since ye have come to Eohmark to stay. It is nice to have a companion such as ye about. `` Aislin was never one to speak of such things, so why now? She was unsure why the comment was even made but there it was, so plainly to be heard. `` At the moment, the Lord Marshal will nay let me travel. Ah do nay know when it may be lifted, but even so, ye could travel without me if ye so wished. Ah have a ship of my own and a crew that knows the routines and how to do what is needed. Men ah trust fully with such things. Perhaps we shall go and visit them soon as well. `` Giving a wave towards the body. ``Ah shall wait if ye wish to sketch this as well. Now that no bones be blocking our view. ``
Roac - "Ahh, your fingers touch me heart, Aislin!" He grinned roguishly, to show he was only really playing, even though, maybe they had a little. He had already made for the basin of now lukewarm water and was rinsing his hands and arms to the elbow, drying the off on the rag. He fetched his book and flipped to his page, and began to detail out the unobscured view of the organs, again noting colours and sizes, his hand whirring about the age like a hummingbird. "That would be wonderful, Aislin. I doubt I will be going off on any grand expeditions just yet, as I have barely settled myself here, but I would enjoy meeting your crew. I've always gotten on well with seamen, for a man of learning anyway."
Aislin Creed - Strangly enough, Aislin got the joke, if only by a small means. Being more social then she had need to be in her life time here, she was learning the small words that played into other meanings. Still she only smiled softly to it, not tickled enough to laugh. Aislin rarely laughed actually. It was a thought she did not really ponder until those very few seconds. It did not mean she was unhappy, simply that she did not need to express her emotions that she felt even a little. `` Aye, it seems ah do as well. The crew looked upon me as a woman at first, but ah have been with them for many months now and they treat me as a male, which suits me just fine. While they be men, they do nay understand healing ways like ye and ah do, so it was hard have them speak to the surgeons about the other islands. A few, did not dare talk to me because ah was a woman. Having ye by my side will help in more ways then ye know. Ye could speak to these men and find out what is needed. It be a shame that they withhold such precious knowledge simply because ah do nay have a phallus and sac swinging between my legs. `` Blunt was always the ways of Aislin
Roac - Roac gave a small sigh and a shrug. "Such is the way of ignorant men though, I suppose. A lot of men equate their phalluses to swords. And if a person hasn't got a sword, why bother listening to them? Its a pointless and counterproductive way of viewing the world, but there you have it. If I can help us, you me and all of skye come to more knowledge, then I would sleep well each night." He finished up his sketch, and closed the journal once more. "Shall we take a small break? All this work is giving me a thirst."
Aislin Creed - Aislin knew it well. Many times she came across such and many more she would no doubt come across still. Roac's way of looking at it was an interesting one. Even more so when Aislin normally carried a real sword about her. `` Aye, ye would be a great help indeed. `` Pausing, she heard him ask if they should take a small break. Aislin was fine with one, though had no real need for a drink. Perhaps when she moved to see another drinking, she would want one. Giving a swift nod, she covered the body with the sheet, making sure nothing was exposed, before moving to the bowl and washing her hands and arms completely. A rag was used to scrub off what had dried or stained before the apron was removed and hung up, then her arms and hands were dried. The sounds of her boots against the stone floor, made the guards turn around and look to her. `` Aye, ye both be coming too, ah need to find someone to watch this room and make sure no one enters. ``
... to be continued
