\u201cBring in the next patient!\u201d<\/p>\n
Geneva snapped at the soldiers who had been assigned to her. They lurched into motion, slowly, too slowly. But they were injured as well; it was the only reason they hadn\u2019t been sent back on the front lines. One man was limping; the other had taken a hatchet to the arm and couldn\u2019t use it. They both should have been lying down, but she needed them.<\/p>\n
The dead man\u2019s gaze still haunted her vision. Geneva closed her eyes and banished the image. She sluiced more soapy water on her operating table, feeling it drain to the floor. Soapy water for disinfectant; she didn\u2019t even have a place to drain the blood and gore. Already some bugs were buzzing around the tent. More would follow soon.<\/p>\n
The tent flap opened. Geneva heard the woman moaning even as the soldiers carried her in on a makeshift pallet. Her arm was broken; the skin and bone deformed where something incredibly heavy had struck her.<\/p>\n
Geneva sighed in relief. Here was someone she could fix. This woman would not die; she might not regain use of her arm, but she would not die.<\/p>\n
She would live. And she stared at Geneva with horror in her eyes. It was probably the blood that covered her. Geneva paid no heed. Crushed bone and skin. She had no IV or drip\u2014she had to prevent hypotension. The skin and bones\u2014swelling. Would the arm have to be amputated?<\/p>\n
No. No. Not yet. Check the fracture and set the bones. Geneva took a deep breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
She warned the female soldier and set to work. Geneva closed her ears to the screams as she worked. It was cruel. Cruel to do this. She was causing the poor woman pain, but it had to be done. There was no one else to save her, no healing potions to help her. Without Geneva hurting her, the woman would never be able to lift anything with her arm again. There were no healing potions left.<\/p>\n
Geneva was all the battalion had.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
—-<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not be receiving any more healing potions in the near future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thriss told Geneva that directly. The battalion had camped, and they were on the eve of their entry into the battle. Geneva stared at him as she stood in the sergeant\u2019s marginally larger tent in their camp.<\/p>\n
The air was hot and humid. It was dark, but a few lanterns had been set out. They were already attracting swarms of nocturnal bugs in the dense jungle.<\/p>\n
The soldiers had camped just on the fringes of one of the dark, dense jungles that made Baleros such a nightmare to do battle in. The Centaur tribe\u2019s goldmine was located deep within the labyrinth of trees and overgrown fauna, which meant that the attacking mercenary groups \u2013 the Burning March company hired forces like the Raverian Fighters \u2013 had to push into the jungle. It also meant close combat fighting where ambushes could happen at any moment. It would be desperate and intense, and it was made far worse because Geneva\u2019s company had no healing potions.<\/p>\n
To be more accurate, they had twenty. But Thriss had already made it clear that Geneva would not see any of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve distributed half-shares among our officers and veterans. The regular soldiers will have you, and if we can hold for a few days we\u2019ll get another shipment of potions. But it will take time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Geneva stared at him. Thriss wasn\u2019t meeting her eyes as he stared at a map on the table. He wasn\u2019t the commander of the company, but he was one of the officers in charge of their battalion. And he had apparently drawn the straw to tell her the bad news.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want me to act as a doctor for the entire camp?\u201d<\/p>\n
There were over six hundred soldiers in their battalion. Geneva knew not all of them would be injured at once, but\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t do that. I don\u2019t have the tools for surgery. I need assistants, an operating space, time\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll clear an area for you to work in. We\u2019ll put you well behind the front lines so don\u2019t worry about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva wasn\u2019t worried about enemy soldiers at the moment. She stared Thriss in the eye.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot save these soldiers. Not without healing potions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are all we have.\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss looked at Geneva finally. He met her eyes for a second, and then glanced away. She knew he had a full healing potion in one of the water flasks at his side. But the regular soldiers wouldn\u2019t be getting any potions. Because they were new recruits; expendable.<\/p>\n \u201cOur other battalions can\u2019t spare any potions from their supplies. They\u2019ve been hard pressed too. And the closest force to us is the Burning March 6th<\/sup> Battalion. They\u2019ve refused to give us any potions as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The big man\u2019s hand clenched. Geneva just stood and thought.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I do this\u2026I can\u2019t guarantee I\u2019ll save any lives. I can bandage wounds and make tourniquets, but any deep cut, anything worse than a flesh wound\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo your best. That\u2019s all we can ask.\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss stared back at the map. His voice grew quiet.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will get intense tomorrow. We\u2019re being sent in to fight against the Magehammer Company. We will flank them. Even if we don\u2019t run into their mages, there will be more than enough people for you to work on.\u201d<\/p>\n What was she supposed to say to that? What was she supposed to do? Geneva stared helplessly at the man in front of her. He knew she couldn\u2019t do this. But he was telling her to do it anyways.<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t we wait until we receive supplies?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n He said it flatly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to provide support. The battle is not going well. If an entire battalion pulls out of its position, we will give the enemy too much of an advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo instead you\u2019ll send all of these soldiers to their deaths.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have your orders. Carry them out.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva stood straight in the tent, feeling as though she\u2019d been slapped. Her voice was taut and cold.<\/p>\n \u201cThe gods are dead in this world, Thriss. But tell me, do you believe in immortal souls?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSouls?\u201d<\/p>\n The [Sergeant] looked at Geneva. He looked old, and lost, and uncertain.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe I do. I believe in souls, even if there are no gods to judge them.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva nodded slowly. Her own soul ached. But she had no choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that case, I hope the soldiers who look up to you have mercy on your soul. Because their deaths are on you.\u201d<\/p>\n She turned and walked out the camp tent. Geneva listened to the insects buzzing and the sounds of the jungle at night. She whispered the words as she walked back to her sleeping spot.<\/p>\n \u201cMay they have mercy on mine as well.\u201d<\/p>\n The next day, the 4th<\/sup> Battalion of the Raverian Fighters engaged in battle.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Geneva remembered the day as vivid scenes set to the backdrop of screams and blood and gore. Only a few things stood out to her clearly.<\/p>\n She remembered standing at the edge of the camp as Lim, Clara, Fortum, and the other soldiers prepared to enter the fray. She remembered the look in their eyes as they\u2019d stared at her.<\/p>\n \u201cStay safe, girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortum had advised her as he and the other soldiers tightened straps and made sure both armor and weapons were secure. He looked at her seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re all we\u2019ve got. If some fool gets you, we\u2019re all dead men walking. You keep well clear of the fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will. I\u2019ll be waiting in case any of you need me.\u201d<\/p>\n The old man had paused then, and looked at Geneva seriously. There was no blame in his eyes, or fear like there was in Lim\u2019s when the young man looked at her. His voice was soft.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t blame an old man, but I hope I don\u2019t see you today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t. Stay safe.\u201d<\/p>\n And then they\u2019d left. Geneva had stood in the camp, in the empty tent she\u2019d set up, trembling.<\/p>\n To her surprise, not all the soldiers had been sent out in the first wave. Of course; they had to be rotated and a reserve was necessary to keep the enemy from ambushing the headquarters. So she\u2019d enlisted a few men and women and one Lizardfolk and had them wait near her tent. She needed assistants. Even if they couldn\u2019t help in the surgery, they could at least lift the bodies\u2014<\/p>\n The wounded.<\/p>\n The first soldier arrived almost before Geneva could blink. One second she was trying to sit still, heart racing, waiting for what seemed like eternity, the next she heard the screams.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been hit by an arrow in the first engagement. It had struck him in the leg and by the blood gushing from the wound, it had hit an artery. The soldiers carried him in and Geneva grabbed for bandages.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy didn\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n She almost asked them why they hadn\u2019t made a tourniquet. But they were already pushing out the door.<\/p>\n Okay. Severed artery. She had to\u2014<\/p>\n The man gasped, and Geneva\u2019s heart stopped. He was awake but barely conscious. The blood loss had already taken his toll and he was limp and his face was pallid.<\/p>\n Move. Geneva tore her eyes away from his face and looked at the arrow. Blood was still oozing from the wound. She had to make a tourniquet.<\/p>\n Geneva wrapped the strip of twisted cloth as tightly around the upper part of his leg as she could. The blood flow cut off. That done, Geneva looked at the arrow.<\/p>\n It was just like the last injury. That was what she told herself. But this time she had to cut into the man\u2019s leg. Her angle was bad, and the dagger wasn\u2019t nearly as sharp as a scalpel. And when she got into the wound\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cOh god.\u201d<\/p>\n The arrow had indeed sliced through the artery, and Geneva was staring at the hole the extracted arrowhead had made. Somehow, she had to suture that. But she didn\u2019t have <\/em>sutures! Okay, first she had to grab the artery, but how could she? She had virtually no surgical tools\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cForceps.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva fumbled with the wooden ones one of the soldiers had fashioned for her. She fumbled at the exposed artery, trying to grasp it until she succeeded. Desperately, Geneva hung on to that as she reached for a needle and thread.<\/p>\n The artery was severed; the only option she had was to ligate the wound. But doing that with basic thread and a sewing needle filled Geneva with dread. There was just no way she\u2019d be able to do it properly.<\/p>\n But she didn\u2019t have a choice. The needle could barely penetrate the artery, and the thread was already sticky with blood. The man was moaning, and Geneva had to adjust every time he moved. Slowly, she got the artery closed, but when she removed the tourniquet, one of her stitches broke. She had to reapply and dig around in the bloody mess again, and then wash the wound and close it up with more stitches.<\/p>\n She took too long. Geneva knew that in hindsight. Two more wounded soldiers had arrived and waited for over half an hour before she decided she\u2019d done all she could. She shouted, and the soldiers came in and out. Geneva\u2019s hands were shaking a bit after the operation, but she didn\u2019t even have a second to rest.<\/p>\n The second injured person had been hit by a mage blast. And he was a Lizardfolk. Geneva stared at the curling smoke rising from the blackened crater in his side and decided to treat him as if the actual damage had been caused by fire or electricity. Some combination of the two.<\/p>\n She had no real way to treat him. But the worst part was that her patient was conscious. He screamed at her, and screamed harder when she tried to clean the wound with soapy water. He cut her face, and soldiers had to rush in and hold him down.<\/p>\n A skin graft was all she could think of, but Geneva knew she didn\u2019t have the time or ability to do that. She could only clean the blackened scales and apply a rudimentary dressing of bandages. The soldiers carried the Lizardman out as he screamed curses at her.<\/p>\n The next patient only needed stitching and bandaging of several deep cuts on his arms. Geneva washed and stitched his skin together as the man yelped and cursed. She gave him garbled instructions to keep the wounds clean and not to strain himself\u2014he stared at her as if she was crazy and told her he was going to be called back into the fighting soon enough.<\/p>\n Geneva paused then to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. An orange bug tried to land on her bloody hands and more were crawling up the table. She washed them off the table with soapy water and stomped them into the mud at the bottom of her tent. Then she told the soldiers to boil her more water and get her more cloth for bandages.<\/p>\n And then the next patient arrived. He was already dead. Geneva stared at his chest. He wasn\u2019t breathing. She confirmed that by testing his pulse and checking to see if he was breathing. He was not. But the cut on his stomach was still leaking blood, and the two soldiers who\u2019d stayed by his side were staring at Geneva with hope in their eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s dead. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n They refused to believe. One of the dead man\u2019s friends pointed to his hands.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s still alive! Look! His hands are moving!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva looked. The fingers on the dead man\u2019s hands were twitching. She\u2019d never seen a corpse do that, but she\u2019d heard stories.<\/p>\n \u201cMuscle spasms. I\u2019m sorry, but there\u2019s nothing I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n The two stared at her. Geneva called for soldiers to take him out. A fight broke out when they tried to take the dead man\u2019s body.<\/p>\n \u201cLiar!<\/em> He\u2019s not dead! He\u2019s not dead!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDeral! Get away\u2014Deral!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva caught a fist as the soldiers fought with the other two. By the time they\u2019d been subdued and the corpse had been taken out, Geneva\u2019s cheek was swollen and the ground was muddy.<\/p>\n Then the next patient came in. He was alive and had taken a deep cut to the belly. Geneva had to call more soldiers to help. Three held him down while she had two more help him in the operation. But they were too slow, and too afraid. The man died while they hesitated.<\/p>\n And then the next patient came in. He was missing an eye, and he\u2019d been cut badly. He screamed and thrashed. By this point Geneva was already exhausted and sweat kept running into her eyes. Her helper couldn\u2019t even blot it off her head without getting in her way.<\/p>\n In another lifetime, in another world, Geneva\u2019s college professor had once tried to make the analogy that surgery was like an orchestra. Each nurse and doctor in the operating room was like a player, and they all had their own part to play. If even one person slipped up, the entire melody, the entire piece fell apart.<\/p>\n He\u2019d made the comparison poorly, and he\u2019d completely flubbed the entire thing when he\u2019d tried to compare general anesthesia to atmospheric lighting. But the analogy had stayed with Geneva.<\/p>\n A surgery was like an orchestra, or a band. Each person had their part to play. True, there were lead players and first violins, but even the most outstanding player could not make music alone. What was a concerto without the accompaniment? What good was a surgeon without the anesthesiologist to monitor the patient\u2019s vitals, and her assistants to stop the bleeding and hand her tools?<\/p>\n What could one person do alone? Nothing. And worse, Geneva was still too inexperienced. She had no practice\u2014no real experience with the injuries on the soldiers that were flooding into her tent. She had only studied theory, never tried to repair a collapsed lung or stitch together a burst stomach.<\/p>\n In an operating room, Geneva would have been the least-important member of the team. As a new intern or the youngest doctor, she would have been cutting sutures or cleaning and sterilizing the room before and after the surgery. No\u2014as a student she would have been relegated to observational duty in some schools; just someone that had to keep out of the real doctor\u2019s way at all costs.<\/p>\n But now Geneva found herself leading an orchestra of one, a lone singer on a stage dark with blood, with an audience that was growing with each hour. They screamed her name, and begged her to play music. But she was alone, untrained, unaided.<\/p>\n Yet they screamed her name. So Geneva sang alone. As the screams filled the jungle and the harsh buzzing of flies and larger insects filled the air she cut and bandaged and tried to catch life with her fingers.<\/p>\n It slipped away each time.<\/p>\n After the thirtieth patient, Geneva had to take a break. She staggered outside and threw up. The soldiers watched her anxiously, but Geneva didn\u2019t care. She breathed deeply and drank water, rinsing out her mouth before she drank more, to replenish all the fluids she\u2019d lost.<\/p>\n Her hands were shaking. They were still during the surgery, but now they shook uncontrollably. Geneva sat on a rock for a few seconds, trying to breathe.<\/p>\n They\u2019d all died. Everyone who\u2019d come in to her tent with a serious injury hadn\u2019t gone back out. They\u2019d passed away on that bloody, insect-infested table, screaming and crying and begging her to save them.<\/p>\n Someone else screamed. Geneva looked up and saw a man with no hand. It wasn\u2019t a clean cut that had taken the hand either. It looked like something had bit<\/em> the hand off.<\/p>\n \u201cDoctor!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n His friend shouted at Geneva, white-faced. Friends were the worst. Geneva had already banned them from being anywhere near the tent.<\/p>\n Her mind raced. Part of her was already going over the things she\u2019d need to do for a severed limb. It was listing all the things she didn\u2019t have. But it was still possible, and every second she wasted was a second that man was closer to death.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n She whispered the words as she stood up and walked back into the tent. She saved the man\u2019s life, but the flesh around his hand already stank, and she feared infection would claim his arm. But there was nothing to do.<\/p>\n The next patient had taken three arrows to the legs. One had nicked an artery. He bled out before she could save him.<\/p>\n \u201cMore wounded! Where\u2019s the damn [Doctor]<\/em>!?\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva turned, staggering, as she tried to finish her bowl of food. She\u2019d stopped after\u2014she had no idea, really. After a while the soldiers in her tent had turned into a blur.<\/p>\n Soldiers were carrying more wounded into the camp. Geneva looked at some of them and knew they would die. The living fought for space, trying to get their friends into line before the others. Nearly ten wounded this time. Geneva stood up, but then saw something strange.<\/p>\n Two soldiers were dumping a corpse next to the others. But it was not a corpse. Geneva could see it moving, and unlike the soldier who\u2019d had muscle spasms, there was no way to imitate this.<\/p>\n \u201cWait! He\u2019s not dead!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva ran forwards. The soldiers turned as she knelt at the side of the moving body. She paused when she saw the injury.<\/p>\n Half of his body had been blown away. A mage\u2019s spell had struck him. Geneva was beginning to notice the signs. And what remained\u2014Geneva blinked at the corpse.<\/p>\n It was a Human\u2019s corpse, but something had happened to it. All the color seemed to have drained out of the skin, and what remained looked\u2014wrong. He almost looked albino, but his hair was a dark red.<\/p>\n The soldier shook his head at Geneva.<\/p>\n \u201cSelphid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n They looked at her as if she was crazy for not knowing. Geneva stared back at them as the hand on the left side of the man\u2019s body raised and lowered oddly, as if he was a puppet that someone was trying to move with only one string.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re body-snatchers. Parasites. They live in corpses and move them about.\u201d<\/p>\n Like brain slugs? Or\u2014they lived inside<\/em> of bodies? Geneva bent down and looked at the destroyed section of the body.<\/p>\n Something was squirming in the insides. Geneva looked closer, and saw where the left side of the corpse had been burned away, something was wriggling in the insides. Something was living<\/em> in the body. Or it had been.<\/p>\n The corpse was clearly trying to move, but it was also clearly malfunctioning, or else the Selphid wasn\u2019t able to control it after having half of its own body blown away. The soldier turned away in disgust, and his companion made the same expression.<\/p>\n \u201cLeave it. The Selphids don\u2019t have parts like normal folk. If it can\u2019t get into another body it\u2019ll die.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut it\u2019s injured.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo? Selphids aren\u2019t people.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva could see yellow fluid leaking from the squirming thing inside the body. She took a breath.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to operate on it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt will die without help. And maybe I can transplant it. Put it in line with the others.\u201d<\/p>\n The soldiers stared at Geneva, but they did what she said. Geneva stood up, and walked back into her tent.<\/p>\n The living flashed before her eyes, some becoming dead while she stood in her tent, and then sat when her legs started to give out. She could stitch people up, but the deeper wounds still eluded her. Her assistants still couldn\u2019t move fast enough, and they kept rotating out of the tent. Some threw up as she was cutting into her victims, and even the bravest of them had to look away at times. Geneva had already gone numb to the smell of blood and feces as the injured and dead voided themselves.<\/p>\n And then the soldiers dumped a corpse on her table. Geneva stared at it until she remembered the Selphid. It was still twitching in the corpse, but weakly. The one eye of the dead man tried to move, but they couldn\u2019t fix on her face.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva spoke to the dead body. The leg kicked feebly. Geneva waited, but the mouth didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n \u201cI am going to operate on you. I will try to save your life. But I need your permission.\u201d<\/p>\n There were countless rules regarding malpractice Geneva had been taught in school. If she was in the emergency room in a hospital she would be judged by the professional standards of care and state laws. But here there was no oversight, just herself.<\/p>\n She had a duty to save lives. But she had no idea what Selphids were like. She could kill the creature in the person\u2019s body just by slicing him open. So she had to ask.<\/p>\n \u201cI will try to save you, but I have no idea how Selphids work. But I am a [Doctor]. I will do everything I can to keep you alive. But I need your permission.\u201d<\/p>\n At last the mouth moved, but only once. The jaw fell open, and Geneva stared at the corpse. The Selphid couldn\u2019t speak. She slowly put her hand in the corpses\u2019. It was cold.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want me to operate on you, grab my hand. If not, I will put you with the corpses.\u201d<\/p>\n The hand was cold in her grasp. Geneva waited. Ten slow seconds passed, and she began to pull back her hand. Then the fingers twitched<\/em> in her grasp. Geneva jerked away at the strange feeling, and then nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cOkay. Try not to move. If I\u2019m hurting you, let me know.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a strange feeling as she cut into the man\u2019s skin. She felt like she was doing an autopsy, but this time she was being extremely careful not to thrust in to any part of the body too deeply. She opened the stomach and then saw the Selphid.<\/p>\n It was stretching throughout the dead man\u2019s nervous system. A green wriggling mass of tendrils moved weakly as Geneva stared at the body.<\/p>\n The soldiers in the room left. Geneva heard one race out of the tent and throw up as the tendrils tried to reach upwards. She stared. They were wrapped around organs\u2014they seemed to have removed several and the Selphid had infiltrated the dead man\u2019s stomach. It was a true parasite.<\/p>\n And it was alive. Geneva had to take hold of herself before her curiosity overwhelmed her. Slowly, she cut until she reached the half of the body that had been blown off.<\/p>\n There. Now she could see what was wrong. The Selphid might have been shielded inside the man\u2019s body, but it had still been caught by the explosion. Where the body ended she saw it was bleeding some viscous, orange liquid.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re injured. I need to stop the bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva reached for the Selphid and the needle, but the creature recoiled as she tried to grab it with a forcep. Part of it flowed away, and Geneva realized with a shock that this creature was semi-fluid. Stitches would be as useful as trying to block water with a net.<\/p>\n But the creature was dying, and it was\u2014yes, it was bleeding out. Geneva thought quickly, and then raced out of her tent.<\/p>\n \u201cGet me a piece of metal! A sword, a dagger\u2014something smooth and flat! And a fire!\u201d<\/p>\n When Geneva reentered the tent with a glowing brand of hot iron, the Selphid recoiled. But Geneva set the hot metal down next to the body and explained what she was going to do.<\/p>\n \u201cI need to burn the injuries closed. That\u2019s the only way I can stop the bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n The Selphid seemed to hesitate. Then it shifted, and Geneva saw several patches of bleeding among the green. She took a deep breath.<\/p>\n \u201cHold still. This will hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n She had no idea if the Selphid actually had nerves, but she got her answer as she pressed the hot metal down on the extended part of the Selphid, holding it still with a forcep in the other hand. She heard a shriek\u2014<\/em>a high-pitched sound that made her ear wax vibrate, and the Selphid went wild in her grip. But Geneva held on, and when she pulled the burning metal back the green of the Selphid had been discolored and the creature was shaking, but the bleeding had stopped.<\/p>\n The cauterization process was slow and agonizing for the Selphid, but when she was done, the creature lay in the body. It was moving very slowly now, and Geneva wondered if it was allergic to the air, or if it was still dying. The trauma alone might be killing it.<\/p>\n \u201cI need another body.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva strode out of the tent and walked over to a group of soldiers amassing the dead in a pile to be burnt. The insects were thick, but she found a corpse\u2014a woman who\u2019d died of blood loss from having an artery cut. She told the soldiers to bring it to the tent and then carefully sliced the woman\u2019s stomach open.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to pick you up.\u201d<\/p>\n She had to use her hands for that. The forceps weren\u2019t strong enough. The body was warm to the touch as Geneva delved into the organs. The Selphid itself was warm<\/em>. It weakly wrapped around her hands and she lifted it up.<\/p>\n It came out slowly. Pieces of the Selphid were still attached to organs, and Geneva had to pull with more force than she wanted. The creature screamed, but she eventually pried it loose. Slowly, she placed it in the opening she\u2019d created in the dead woman\u2019s stomach and waited.<\/p>\n The Selphid began to move. The bunched up segment of it slowly began to slither deeper into the body, slowly, very slowly. Geneva waited until it was all inside and then she sewed up the opening. And waited.<\/p>\n The body didn\u2019t move. After a minute, Geneva realized the Selphid could be dead and she would never know. She waited a while longer, but then she had to turn away.<\/p>\n \u201cTake the body and put it at the back of the line.\u201d<\/p>\n She told the soldiers to take away the remains of the first corpse and watched as they brought in another wounded Dullahan. Geneva got back to work.<\/p>\n By the time the corpse came back, it was dark, Geneva was swaying, and the wounded had finally stopped coming in. Everyone who was injured had been treated, or their wounds weren\u2019t life threatening, or they\u2019d bled out while waiting.<\/p>\n The corpse was mildly warm to the touch, but it was only from the night air. Geneva hopefully checked the eyes, opening them and flashing lantern light into the empty gaze, but the body did not move. The Selphid was dead.<\/p>\n Exhausted, Geneva set the lantern down and walked away. She was too tired, too drained to even weep. She used the rest of the boiled water to wash herself\u2014although her clothes were ruined\u2014and walked into the camp where the surviving soldiers were eating.<\/p>\n To her surprise, Geneva heard laughter, and even cheering. She collected her food and found that Lim, Clara, and Fortum were all alive. And what was more, they all seemed to be in extremely good cheer.<\/p>\n \u201cGeneva!\u201d<\/p>\n Clara waved her over and edged over on the ground to give her a seat. Geneva sat and listened to the others laughing. She felt like she was in some strange other reality. Why was everyone so happy?<\/p>\n Fortum clapped Lim over the shoulder as he addressed Geneva.<\/p>\n \u201cThe kid was a hero! He killed at least eight soldiers in the battle today, and he got through it all with barely a scratch!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll level tonight, boy!\u201d<\/p>\n Lim blushed as he looked at Geneva. She stared back, her face empty. She\u2019d held a man\u2019s intestines in her hand. She\u2019d stared at a hand and knew it was gone. It\u2019d had to be amputated.<\/p>\n \u201cA damn archer was aiming at me, and I\u2019d caught my foot on a body so I couldn\u2019t dodge. He raises his bow and then Lim runs him through from behind! Right through the leather armor! Just like that!\u201d<\/p>\n A gaping hole so wide she could see the table underneath. She was out of time and the man was bleeding. Even if she could stop the bleeding all she could do was sew skin together. His organs were all severed. She watched him choking up blood.<\/p>\n \u201cGeneva? What happened to you?\u201d<\/p>\n Everyone was staring at her. Geneva looked up. They were looking at her face with concern.<\/p>\n \u201cGeneva?\u201d<\/p>\n Slowly, Geneva stared down at her food. She looked at the soldiers, some still covered with blood. The enemy\u2019s blood. The blood of people they\u2019d killed. People they\u2019d injured, like the ones she\u2019d tried to save.<\/p>\n Geneva stood up. Without a word, she walked away. She ate the food quickly by herself and then walked to her sleeping place. She paused to throw up everything she\u2019d eaten, and vomited again and again until she was throwing up nothing but bile. Then she wept, long and hard. Geneva fell into her bedding and only woke when morning came.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [Doctor Level 11!]<\/p>\n [Skill \u2013 Injury Sense obtained!]<\/p>\n [Skill \u2013 Sterile Equipment obtained!]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Geneva had heard once that a surgeon improved by the number of patients that died under their blade. But this was far too literal. When she woke up and remembered the Skills she\u2019d learned, she didn\u2019t know if she wanted to cry or laugh hysterically.<\/p>\n She had more Skills. And they were valuable. The [Sterile Equipment] Skill would prevent infections, and the other one would allow her to pinpoint bleeding in theory. But at what cost?<\/p>\n They\u2019d all died, all of her serious patients. Maybe she\u2019d saved one or two? But regardless, that was a survival rate of less than 1%. She wasn\u2019t a [Doctor]. She was a glorified coroner who helped kill the living.<\/p>\n Geneva ate in silence with the others this morning. She didn\u2019t speak, and the conversation was far more subdued than yesterday. Lim and the others kept glancing at her. Geneva had just finished eating the cheese and bread dipped in soup that tasted like nothing when someone rushed at her.<\/p>\n \u201cMurderer! <\/em>You let them die!\u201d<\/p>\n A fist struck Geneva on the cheek and then she was lying on the ground. She felt a boot kick her in the chest before someone shouted and the attacker disappeared. Geneva sat up and saw Lim had tackled the soldier who\u2019d hit her. Now the other man\u2019s buddies were drawing their weapons, and the people around Geneva were getting to their feet with theirs.<\/p>\n \u201cPut down your weapons!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss thundered into the fray before anyone could move, face red. He roared at everyone present and threw Lim off the other soldier while he raised his mace. More officers and soldiers joined Thriss, keeping the angry soldiers apart.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll smash the head of anyone that draws blood, my oath on it! We\u2019re a battalion\u2014we fight together!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot her!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva looked around as Clara helped her up. The man who\u2019d struck her was shouting, barely restrained by his fellows. She recognized him. He was the friend of the dead man, the one who he\u2019d insisted was alive. She\u2019d already forgotten the dead man\u2019s name.<\/p>\n \u201cShe let them die! She\u2019s no [Doctor]! She\u2019s not even a [Healer]! She just kills anyone she touches! She slices them up and lets them bleed to death!\u201d<\/p>\n The other soldiers stared at Geneva. She couldn\u2019t look anyone in the eye. Thriss\u2019 face turned even more red, and he roared to cut the other man off.<\/p>\n \u201cEnough! You! You\u2019re going in with the first wave. And you\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss pointed at Geneva. His tone was much softer.<\/p>\n \u201cGet to your tent. The fightin\u2019 is going to heat up soon, and we\u2019ll need your skills.\u201d<\/p>\n He guided her away as the soldiers broke up and another officer took over the shouting. Geneva staggered away as Clara gave her a brief pat on the back. Thriss marched towards her tent\u2014they\u2019d pitched it in another location because the bugs had infested the previous area too badly. Geneva looked up at the [Sergeant]. Her hands were shaking again.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he said\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe lost his friends. Don\u2019t pay any attention to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was right. I can\u2019t do this. Not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no one with a [Healer] class in the battalion. You\u2019ll have to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva stopped in her tracks and shouted at Thriss, ignoring the people who stared.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t do this alone! I don\u2019t just need another [Doctor]\u2014I need assistants, proper ones! I need people who know how to perform surgeries and don\u2019t throw up on <\/em>my patients. I need surgical tools, or some healing potion for deep injuries. I can\u2019t<\/em> close them on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss chewed at his lip. Then he shook his head again, reluctantly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have none to spare. We used up a lot of what we had yesterday\u2014and the fighting will only get worse from here. I\u2019ll assign soldiers to you, but I can\u2019t promise they\u2019ll be any better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen everyone dies, just like that soldier said.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss broke off. He looked at someone behind Geneva, and then she heard a low voice.<\/p>\n \u201c[Doctor].\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva turned. Her heart nearly burst out of her chest.<\/p>\n Someone was standing in front of her. Someone\u2014someone dead. She was one of the soldiers Geneva had tried to save yesterday, the one who\u2019d bled out. But she was dead. She was\u2014<\/p>\n She was the one who Geneva had put the Selphid into.<\/p>\n The woman looked different than she had yesterday. Her skin was totally white now, and she stood awkwardly. The right half of her body sagged, and she moved awkwardly, as if she\u2019d had a stroke. But her left side seemed perfectly able, and she smiled crookedly at Geneva.<\/p>\n Thriss had noted her skin color as well. He put his hand on his sword warily.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have no Selphids among this Batallion. Identify yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n The Selphid saluted with one hand. She was armed with a sword, and the dead woman\u2019s armor, the chainmail still covered in dried blood.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, sir. My name is Okasha. I am a [Rogue], Level 23. I am part of the Burning March 6th<\/sup> Division. My squad was destroyed by a mage spell. I would rejoin my unit, but my right side is useless. I cannot fight, but I will help the [Doctor].\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva stared at the Selphid in the woman\u2019s body. She couldn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n \u201cYou were dead. I saw you. I put you in the other body, but you didn\u2019t move even after I checked again.\u201d<\/p>\n The Selphid smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cI was unconscious. And it takes time for us to assume control of a new form.\u201d<\/p>\n She hadn\u2019t even guessed that might happen. Geneva\u2019s stomach twisted.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Okasha raised one hand and smiled again.<\/p>\n \u201cI should be the one thanking you. You saved me. I would have died in that body if you hadn\u2019t closed my injuries and put me in a new one.\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss grunted irritably.<\/p>\n \u201cSo you can doctor Selphids? Looks like you\u2019ve got a good use, to me. Try to save more of our folk instead of them, though. And here\u2019s your assistant, if you\u2019ll have one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva looked at Okasha. She bit her lip. The Selphid was clearly disabled or wounded\u2014perhaps permanently if she couldn\u2019t regrow whatever she was missing. But Geneva needed all the help she could get.<\/p>\n \u201cI need an assistant. But I\u2019ll be cutting up bodies and performing surgery. Can you handle that?\u201d<\/p>\n This time even Thriss bared his teeth in a reluctant grin. Okasha laughed.<\/p>\n \u201cI am a Selphid. Bleeding and organs do not scare me.\u201d<\/p>\n Oh. Of course. Thriss left the two as Geneva tried to give Okasha a crash course on the thousands of things she needed to know to be a capable assistant. Okasha listened carefully, nodding. She had a patient personality, and what was even better, she understood when Geneva talked about arteries and veins and bloodflow.<\/p>\n \u201cI know of these things. I have seen them and felt how they move.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n The Selphid nodded. She took a breath\u2014if she didn\u2019t speak she took breaths very rarely, which was unsettling. She also blinked much less than normal people. She was a creature living in a dead body, but Geneva was fine with that. At least there was life in this corpse.<\/p>\n \u201cI have lived in Dullahan and Lizardfolk bodies as well. I can show you how they live and breathe as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva suddenly realized that she was standing in front of the only person who might know more about the human body than she did. The relief made her almost lightheaded, but then she heard shouting. The soldiers were already heading into battle.<\/p>\n Her face and ribs hurt where she\u2019d been kicked. She was still exhausted, and the dead and the accusations of the soldier still haunted her. But this time she was not alone.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cApply pressure! I\u2019ll stitch!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva shouted at Okasha over the man\u2019s screams. The Selphid nodded and hung on to the man\u2019s arm. She was strong\u2014far stronger than normal and while the other soldiers held him down she minimized his blood loss with an iron grip.<\/p>\n The man writhed and screamed, but when Geneva had cut the thread, he was alive and even healthy enough to walk back to camp. That didn\u2019t stop him from trying to take a swing at Geneva, though.<\/p>\n Okasha blocked the strike and sent the man staggering back with a knife-hand to the throat that made him choke. Geneva checked, but his throat was intact. The soldier roughly dragged her former patient out\u00a0as she stared at Okasha.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t hurt patients.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy not? He was striking at you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf that\u2019s the case, try not to hurt<\/em> him. I am a doctor. I have sworn an oath not to inflict needless harm or kill.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you are on a battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes. I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva rested her face in her hands. Blood smeared her face before she realized what she was doing. She looked up.<\/p>\n It was no better today. Despite Okasha\u2019s help, she could not save those badly hurt. She was incapable. She couldn\u2019t do blood transfusions and she wasn\u2019t quick<\/em> enough to finish operations before her patients bled out.<\/p>\n But she would save them. Each time one came in, Geneva felt herself go insane. She would save them. She would. She wasn\u2019t walking with death anymore. She was wrestling with it.<\/p>\n But she was still losing.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t do this.\u201d<\/p>\n They were the same words as yesterday. But the Geneva who uttered them was different. She wasn\u2019t desperate and tired any longer; now Okasha was here, she was remembering. It was all so clear now. She had been a fool, trying to adapt modern practices with barbaric tools. She had to go back to another time. Think. She knew some accounts of doctors from World War II. What could she\u2014<\/p>\n The soldiers carrying in the next groaning soldiers were surprised when Geneva thrust her way out of the tent with Okasha behind her. The [Doctor]\u2019s face was grim, but determined. She shook her head at the soldiers.<\/p>\n \u201cPut him down. I\u2019m going to triage first.\u201d<\/p>\n She should have done it at the very start. But she\u2019d started on that first patient without even thinking. She was a fool.<\/p>\n Now, though\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cGet me some charcoal and cloth.\u201d<\/p>\n She snapped at a soldier as she began to walk the lines of the wounded. There were even more than yesterday. They looked up as she passed, but Geneva didn\u2019t meet their eyes. If she did, she would lose heart. Instead, she looked at their injuries.<\/p>\n \u201cWhite armbands are for priority patients. Use the charcoal and add a marking if they\u2019re lower priority.\u201d<\/p>\n That was what she informed Okasha as she began to sort the soldiers. She prioritized injuries she could treat that were time-sensitive. Severed arteries, excessive bleeding\u2014<\/p>\n But those with injuries she couldn\u2019t mend she left alone. And those who had superficial cuts she added a black line on the cloth she tied to their arms or legs. They didn\u2019t understand at first, the soldiers. They stared at her with suspicion, but they began to understand as she brought in the patients she\u2019d marked as priority.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are beginning to try to alter their armbands, those who are awake.\u201d<\/p>\n Okasha remarked lightly as she handed Geneva the one of the sharpened daggers. Geneva grunted and Okasha deftly caught the sweat before it could sting her eyes. The Selphid was competent and deft despite only having one arm, but she had a distinct lack of sympathy for the man who was groaning on the table as Geneva tried to cut a chunk of metal out of his thigh.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are trying to erase the black markings. But we shall see if their bands are wet or smudged.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSuture.\u201d<\/p>\n The needle was in her hands a second after Geneva said it. The [Doctor] began to stitch rapidly. She could still hear the screams, and what was worse, now she could hear people shouting in anger.<\/p>\n They came for her when she was taking a five minute break. Oksaha insisted on it, and Geneva gulped down water and tore into some bread feverishly.<\/p>\n \u201cYou!\u201d<\/p>\n A Lizardwoman shouted at Geneva as she advanced on her angrily. The soldiers Thriss had posted with Geneva moved to block her, but the Lizardwoman wasn\u2019t alone. Clara was with her. The other soldier had a dark look on her face.<\/p>\n \u201cClara? What\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva looked at the woman. Clara pointed.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you treating Lim!?\u201d<\/p>\n She hadn\u2019t even seen the boy. But he was lying on the ground next to her tent, face pale, gasping. He had a long cut down his sword hand; long, but shallow. Geneva looked back at Clara and shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t. He\u2019s not in danger. I have to treat\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Clara grabbed for Geneva. Okasha blocked her, but the other soldier was screaming at Geneva now. The young woman felt spit hit her face.<\/p>\n \u201cHow dare you! <\/em>Lim is your friend! He saved<\/em> you! He was first in line!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe isn\u2019t badly hurt. He will wait.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva\u2019s voice was steel. Her heart was a cold ball. She\u2019d put it away to perform surgery; it was the only way she could stay sane. But now it was melting, growing hotter in her chest.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a monster!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The Lizardwoman lunged at Geneva and was held back by the soldiers. She struggled in their grip; she was stronger than the other two.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re letting Namass die!<\/em> I saw you\u2014you didn\u2019t even put a band on his arm!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva remembered the Lizardman. He had been stabbed straight through the gut, but someone had carved upwards and sliced through his organs. There wasn\u2019t anything she could do\u2014nothing that wouldn\u2019t take too long.<\/p>\n She met the Lizardwoman\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI am triaging. I have to prioritize people I can save.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s evil!\u201d<\/p>\n Clara shouted it at Geneva as Okasha fought to keep her back. Geneva felt her heart grow more painful. The female soldier shouted at Geneva.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you care about your friends!? Why aren\u2019t you helping Lim? He\u2019s one of us. He was first. He\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n It was all too much. Geneva heard ringing; saw red. She was grabbing Clara before she knew it, screaming at her at the top of her lungs. The screaming soldiers, the shouting soldiers and those resting in camp\u2014even the insects seemed to fall silent as Geneva gave vent to the fury in her.<\/p>\n \u201cGood? Evil? A doctor <\/em>isn\u2019t any of those things!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva shouted the words into a pair of scared blue eyes. She shook the other woman hard, grabbing at her with hands still crusted with blood. She pointed at the rows of wounded soldiers.<\/p>\n \u201cI will save everyone I can. I will save the most people I can. <\/em>That is how this works! This isn\u2019t morality! This isn\u2019t choice! This is medicine!<\/em> Now get out of the damn way or help me! I have a job to do.\u201d<\/p>\n She threw Clara aside and stormed towards her tent. Okasha was right behind her. Geneva raised the needle and thread and got to work.<\/p>\n Stitch. Suture. Stop the blood flow here. Bandage. Okasha had learned to tie them properly. Clean the vomit away. Bugs crawling on the feces. Too many. Change locations.<\/p>\n Incision here. Repair this. Cauterize. Amputate. Ignore the screams.<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t even remember falling asleep. She just looked around for the next patient, and there were none. Geneva didn\u2019t remember closing her eyes. She only knew that she fell back and Okasha caught her before she hit the ground.<\/p>\n That night Geneva leveled up again. She gained six<\/em> levels and four different skills. Okasha told her it was practically unheard of, but Geneva had never heard of a modern-day doctor who\u2019d gone through what she had.<\/p>\n Over a hundred and thirty soldiers had passed under her needle and blade yesterday. Of that number, she had saved over two thirds. Twice that number had died over the course of the day. Some had been from her battalion, but Geneva later learned that every group fighting was experiencing potion shortages. They\u2019d sent their wounded to her, sometimes over the course of many miles.<\/p>\n Geneva had learned four skills. Two were merely useful; [Numbing Touch] made people feel less pain and [Flawless Cut] allowed Geneva to make incisions far more easily than before. They were tools to make her better at her job.<\/p>\n But the Skills that changed everything were the combination of [Speed Stitching] and [Enhanced Thread]. With them, Geneva could begin to truly save lives. And she did. The next day, she ate with Okasha by herself and walked towards the tent. This time she reorganized her triage system.<\/p>\n She could suture at a pace three times as fast as before, and with the thread, she could close up even damaged organs. They might still fail, but Geneva was quick enough to stop the blood loss so her patients had a chance. That night she gained only one skill \u2013 [Lesser Stamina]. It allowed her to keep going even when night fell.<\/p>\n In the days that followed Geneva gained more skills. She moved faster; began seeing exactly what treatment methods worked best. Okasha found better forceps, and somehow, a few of the soldiers assigned to Geneva learned to bind wounds as well. She rotated them across the lines of wounded, binding injuries and even stitching up wounds while she worked on the most injured.<\/p>\n Sometimes she forgot to eat while she was working, and only a hot meal shoved in front of her face would distract her. Geneva knew she was losing weight, but even when she was sleeping, a scream or cry for her name would rouse her. She couldn\u2019t sleep. The faces haunted her. Maybe if there were others it would be different, but she was alone. She couldn\u2019t let them die. Any of them.<\/p>\n The soldiers began to level up as [Field Medics] or [Assistants]. Geneva saved more lives. She watched more slip away. But she clung to each thread until it snapped. Death still walked by her side, but slowly, Geneva began to pull ahead.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cMore wounded!\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva heard the words and looked up. She was taking a break with Okasha and a few wounded soldiers. There hadn\u2019t been any more seriously wounded for a stretch. Now more were coming in, but the soldiers she\u2019d trained were already triaging for her. And she needed a break; she had been working nonstop for three hours and she had to rest or she would make mistakes. Okasha had told her that and because she was right, Geneva had agreed to rest now and then. So Geneva sat and listened to Okasha.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Centaur tribe has hit every camp. They launch night raids, sneak attacks\u2026sometimes they strike even if it means taking hundreds of casualties. Just to destroy our potions stock.\u201d<\/p>\n A Dullahan whose head Geneva had stitched up grunted. He cradled his head carefully in his hands as he spoke.<\/p>\n \u201cBastards. They\u2019ve got no honor.\u201d<\/p>\n Another Lizardfolk nodded. Non-humans were the ones most willing to talk with Geneva right now. Clara, Lim, Fortum and the others had given her the cold shoulder, and a lot of the Humans thought she was betraying their kind by working on other species first. The Lizardman spat as the severed stump of his tail twitched.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we make it out of this mess, you\u2019ll bet there will be hell to pay. Even if the Magehammer Company didn\u2019t participate in the strikes themselves, they\u2019ll be in trouble for letting the Centaur tribe get away with it. No mercenary will work with them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut we are pushing them back. They are outnumbered, and if their mages fall, they will lose their edge.\u201d<\/p>\n Okasha grinned as she said that, but Geneva could only imagine the slaughter. The Selphid stared at the lines of wounded and grinned. The soldiers in this group weren\u2019t as badly injured; they had superficial wounds mostly, but Geneva saw one stump she knew she would have to tend to herself.<\/p>\n Two soldiers dumped a body on the ground. Geneva saw a Centaur, half-man, half-horse, bleeding deeply from an injury in the side. Someone had thrown a spear and it had broken off inside of him. He would die soon if she didn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n She stood up. Okasha stood too, and Geneva strode towards the Centaur. They had him in the operating tent first. It was a difficult procedure, cutting the spear out and stopping his bleeding. But they managed it. The worst moment was when the Centaur woke up and realized he was being worked on. He screamed and thrashed and it took eight soldiers to hold him down.<\/p>\n \u201cEasy. Easy. I\u2019m a [Doctor]. I\u2019m going to help you.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva said the words very slowly to the Centaur, looking into his eyes. His chest heaved; he tried to break free, but slowly he relaxed.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t hurt you, I swear it.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded at her, but didn\u2019t relax. He flinched while she extracted the spearhead and only hissed as she sewed his skin together. When it was done Geneva had to help carry him out; he was extraordinarily heavy.<\/p>\n But as they were bringing him to an area that had been cleared for the wounded to lie in, Geneva heard a shout.<\/p>\n \u201cEnemy soldier!\u201d<\/p>\n The people around her raised their weapons. Geneva saw Thriss thrusting people aside. He pointed a finger at the Centaur, and Geneva felt her patient stiffen behind her.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not one of ours! That\u2019s an enemy!\u201d<\/p>\n He had his mace in his hands. The Centaur raised a hand weakly, but Geneva stood in Thriss\u2019s way. He glared at her.<\/p>\n \u201cMove aside.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. He\u2019s going to die. I am going to treat him.\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss\u2019 jaw clenched.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s an enemy<\/em>. We interrogate him, and we\u2019ll find out what his lot are up to.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva didn\u2019t move. Thriss tried to shove her aside, but she stepped in his way. She spread her arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI have sworn an oath. If you want him, you have to knock me out. And if you do hurt him, I will not be able to heal any more soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n She raised her voice so everyone could hear her. Thriss paused as other soldiers looked her way. He gritted his teeth.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re bluffing.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva met his furious gaze calmly. She spoke as loudly and as she could, knowing every eye was on her.<\/p>\n \u201cIf my oath is broken, I will no longer be a [Doctor].\u201d<\/p>\n She felt it was true. And Thriss didn\u2019t have the courage to test her, she knew. Every soldier knew they were out of healing potions; if they were hurt, Geneva was the only one who could fix them up.<\/p>\n Thriss advanced on Geneva.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s one of the lot who smashed our potions! He\u2019s been shooting at us throughout the battle! Him and all his damn tribe!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen let him go. He can walk\u2014barely.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva knew the Centaur might not survive the night in the camp, no matter what she said. She stared at Thriss.<\/p>\n \u201cLet him go. I am a [Doctor]. This is my patient.\u201d<\/p>\n Thriss pointed a finger that shook at Geneva.<\/p>\n \u201cI could have you executed for aiding the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n I will not use my medical knowledge to violate human rights and civil liberties, even under threat.<\/em><\/p>\n Geneva gritted her teeth. She stood in front of Thriss and stared the big man down.<\/p>\n \u201cDo it if you must.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou swore to obey orders!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI answer to a higher oath.\u201d<\/p>\n The [Doctor] and [Sergeant] stared at each other in the center of the camp full of wounded and healing soldiers. He was the first to look away.<\/p>\n \u201cDamn you. Get him out of here!\u201d<\/p>\n The Centaur slowly got to his feet with Okasha\u2019s help. He stumbled, and Geneva insisted on making him a rough crutch before he left. He looked back twice at her. She watched him go. Then she went back and continued to operate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next day, Geneva set up her tent further away from the 4th<\/sup> Battalion’s headquarters. And she put up a flag. It had a cross on it, red, painted with the only substance Geneva could use. She hung the flag high in the air on a piece of white cloth. Okasha asked what it meant.<\/p>\n \u201cHealing. Safety.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why is it red? And why a cross?\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva had no answer for that. But it was a symbol nevertheless. She hung it over her tent, and more than once she found soldiers waving flags with crosses of their own as they brought their friends to the tent. She never asked what side they were on. She just tried to save lives.<\/p>\n Each time someone died, it was like a bit of Geneva went with them. But when she pulled someone back, when they thanked her, a bit of her came back to life as well. She ate and slept and did all the things her body required, but Geneva lived on the operating table. She lived to help other people live.<\/p>\n They all had names, all had families and dreams. They asked her not to let them die, but they couldn\u2019t pray because the gods were dead. So Geneva prayed with every cut of her improvised scalpels, and every stitch of her needle. She prayed that she would save them. She prayed to the science she\u2019d been taught, the lessons she tried to remember, and to medicine herself. She prayed that she was making a difference.<\/p>\n They\u2019d just begun operating on a man, when Geneva heard a thump<\/em> and felt the explosion in her bones. She stumbled outside to find the camp was under attack.<\/p>\n A woman hovered in the air, blasting people with fiery orbs that exploded, and tremors that engulfed her victims. She was coming towards the tent.<\/p>\n Geneva grabbed the flag she had planted, and stood in front of the lines of wounded. She held the flag up as the [Mage] approached. The other woman glanced left as an arrow broke against her skin, doing no damage, and pointed. A fiery inferno engulfed the archer who\u2019d fired. Then she saw Geneva.<\/p>\n The [Doctor] stood coughing as the smoke from the fires reached her. Her eyes watered, but she held the flag in front of her. It was a poor shield, made of cloth and blood, but it was all she had.<\/p>\n The woman paused when she saw the flag. Her eyes flicked to the red cross, and then the wounded soldiers who were trying to crawl away or lying comatose on the ground. Then she looked at Geneva.<\/p>\n Their eyes met through the smoke and flame. The woman was smiling in the center of all the death and destruction, untouched. Geneva\u2019s heart was pounding; her hands were still covered in the blood of the people she\u2019d tried to save.<\/p>\n Slowly, the [Mage] turned away. She walked into the air, and away from the tent. Geneva collapsed onto the ground. Then she pushed herself back up and ran into the camp. That night she worked late, tending to burn victims and trying to make skin grafts. Many died. But she saved a few.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The last day of the war in the jungle came when Okasha sat next to Geneva at breakfast. The Selphid still hadn\u2019t regained use of her right side, and Geneva didn\u2019t think she ever would. But the creature was smiling with her body\u2019s lips.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know, the soldiers of both sides know who you are?\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva blinked.<\/p>\n \u201cThey do?\u201d<\/p>\n Okasha nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cThey call you the Last Light. You shine to them, the dying. Yours is the last face they see, and you drag so many back from the other side. They open their eyes and see you standing in the light.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s silly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey call you that. And you have saved countless lives. I think that once we are done here, I will join you. Perhaps I can be a [Doctor] too, or at least an [Assistant], even if I only have one arm.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva stared at Okasha.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s still fighting going on. This is no time to think about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n The Selphid shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Magehammer Company has taken heavy losses. Three battalions managed to flank one of their divisions and we broke through and got their lead [Strategist]. Without him, they\u2019ll have to pull back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n Someone was cheering in the camp. Geneva looked around. Okasha looked pleased with herself.<\/p>\n \u201cI overheard one of the officers talking. The news is spreading even as we speak. The battle is nearly won.\u201d<\/p>\n Soldiers were beginning to celebrate, laughing. Geneva stared at them and just felt empty. She looked at Okasha. The Selphid smiled.<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps afterwards you can heal those not on a battlefield. There are many people too poor for healing potions or who are hurt in ways they cannot be healed. Maybe\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAttack! We\u2019re under attack!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva heard the galloping before she could move. Arrows flew, and suddenly Okasha was falling. An arrow had caught her in the throat.<\/p>\n \u201cOkasha!\u201d<\/p>\n Another arrow flew past Geneva as she caught Okasha. The Selphid wasn\u2019t speaking, wasn\u2019t moving. Was she dead?<\/p>\n Geneva looked up. Centaurs were running through the camp, shooting wildly. Soldiers fell around them as the Centaurs ran past her. It was another surprise attack on their camp.<\/p>\n One of the Centaurs saw Geneva was still alive. He raised a bow, and hesitated. He stopped and stared at her.<\/p>\n Geneva saw an ugly scar on his side, and looked at a bare-chested young man. He slowly lowered his bow as she looked at him.<\/p>\n Then, he shouted something at the other Centaurs. They paused, and he shouted again, pointing. They whirled, and began to gallop out of the camp.<\/p>\n The Centaur remained behind. He stared at Geneva. Slowly, he walked towards her. He stared down at Okasha, and Geneva stared up. He opened his mouth to speak\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cDie!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The Centaur\u2019s head caved in as a mace struck it from the side. Geneva screamed and Thriss pulled his mace back and struck the Centaur again. The young man fell to the ground silently, and the sergeant turned to Geneva.<\/p>\n \u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n She opened her mouth but he struck her with one hand. She fell face-first to the ground and then heard him roar.<\/p>\n \u201cTraitor!\u201d<\/p>\n She tried to stand up, but she couldn\u2019t. Something hit her back, so hard the world flashed white. Thriss had struck her with the mace, so hard she felt her spine cracking.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cTraitor!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n He raised the mace and brought it down on Geneva\u2019s back again. She screamed and felt something breaking. She tried to move, but suddenly she couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Thriss spat on Geneva from above. He raised his mace and gasped as a blade burst through his chest. Okasha twisted<\/em>, and Thriss choked as he fell forwards. The mace fell from his hands and splashed on the muddy ground.<\/p>\n Okasha pulled the arrow from her throat, ignoring the damage it did as it pulled out of her dead skin. Geneva stared up at her.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m dying. My spine is broken.\u201d<\/p>\n She couldn\u2019t move. The Selphid stared down at Geneva and said something. Geneva grinned. She couldn\u2019t hear anymore, either. No one was screaming. She was the only person in need of medical attention right now, but that was fine. There was no one for her, and she didn\u2019t need help anyways. It was growing very dark.<\/p>\n She closed her eyes. Geneva felt everything fade.<\/p>\n She died.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n —-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n And then she woke up again. Geneva\u2019s eyes snapped open and she sat up. She sat up?<\/p>\n She stared around. She was lying on the ground. Water was falling on her face. She looked up. Rain was falling between the cracks of the jungle canopy. It was mixing with Thriss\u2019s blood, pelting the corpse of the Centaur.<\/p>\n Slowly, Geneva raised her left hand. She flexed it slowly, and tried to raise her right arm. It wouldn\u2019t move. Geneva stared at it.<\/p>\n \u201cI could not repair everything.\u201d<\/p>\n A voice whispered in her ears. No\u2014inside<\/em> her ears. Geneva paused. The voice was familiar.<\/p>\n \u201cOkasha?\u201d<\/p>\n Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Geneva felt something…twisting<\/em> inside of her. Something was in<\/em> her.<\/p>\n \u201cI am here now. I had to bridge the gap to make you move. You will not bleed to death, but you require healing.\u201d<\/p>\n Geneva wanted to throw up. Her stomach heaved, but something was in her as well. It held back the reflex.<\/p>\n \u201cYou had to live. There was no other way.\u201d<\/p>\n It must have only been a few minutes. Geneva stared around the camp. It was in ruins, but she could hear the screaming. Men and women and people of other species were still alive. Some had been hit by arrows; others had been trampled.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s when Geneva heard the rumbling, and more shouts. She looked over and saw covered carts rolling slowly through the jungle. Teams of soldiers in bright, untarnished armor marched around the wagons, pointing and shouting as they saw the devastation in the camp.<\/p>\n Geneva began to laugh. She heard a sound in her head.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe supply wagons have finally arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n Soldiers were swinging themselves out of the wagons, and those on the ground were rushing towards the fallen. Geneva willed her legs to stand, and they did. But she could feel something else had helped them move.<\/p>\n \u201cI am sorry. This is forbidden, but it was all I could do. But there is no reversing it. I can\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n She could hear them screaming again. Geneva shook her head.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n She willed her feet to walk. They moved reluctantly, but they did move. Geneva stumbled towards the wagon. The soldiers stared at her in shock, but Geneva grabbed as many potions as she could carry.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d<\/p>\n She strode into the battlefield, leaving Thriss and the dead Centaur behind. The air was hot. Insects crawled over the living and the dead, and screams split the air. Geneva ran with a potion in hand, trying to ignore the agony of her own body, the howling in her mind. People called out her name and she ran towards them, healing their wounds. But it was never enough. Geneva could hear the screaming in her head. One more. She turned over bodies, staring at arrows, feeling for a pulse.<\/p>\n One more. There had to be one more. A voice was speaking to her, and someone was trying to make her rest. Geneva ignored it. One more. She had to find\u2014<\/p>\n One more. But every face she turned over was blank and staring. Geneva ran on. She was so tired. She had to sleep.<\/p>\n Slowly, the [Doctor] fell to her knees. Mud and blood ran together as she fell into it. Geneva stared ahead, searching for bodies, but now she could no longer move. Slowly, her eyes closed.<\/p>\n The young woman lay still on the ground. Soldiers ran around her, tending to the wounded. Geneva slept. For once, she couldn\u2019t hear the screams.<\/p>\n It was pleasant.<\/p>\n Quiet.<\/p>\n She slept, as the Selphid in her body made her walk to a safe place and lie down. In the jungle, the Magehammer Company retreated and ceded the rights to the mine to the Burning March company. The Ravarian Fighters reformed their shattered battalions and there was peace.<\/p>\n In one small place. But Baleros bled, and the jungles ran with blood which fed the insects. There was always war. War, and more war. But word spread from soldier to soldier as mercenaries travelled and rumors flew like birds. They spoke of a red cross, and a class that saved lives rather than took them. They told legends that the soldiers clung to in hope as they marched to war or lay dying. The soldiers spoke of a woman who could save lives, of a place that took no sides. They told stories about her. A healer, a savior.<\/p>\n A [Doctor].<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Previous Chapter<\/a> Next Chapter<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cBring in the next patient!\u201d Geneva snapped at the soldiers who had been assigned to her. They lurched into motion, slowly, too slowly. But they were injured as well; it was the only reason they hadn\u2019t been sent back on the front lines. One man was limping; the other had taken a hatchet to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52856846,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"patreon-level":0,"patreon_level":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11693083,349],"tags":[7224,250708,4330244,4472517,11693079],"twi_volume":[11693132],"twi_collection":[],"class_list":["post-2261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-volume-3","category-writing","tag-fantasy","tag-inn","tag-web-novel","tag-web-serial","tag-writing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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