His Petite Luna

Chapter 15 A physician's code

Chapter 15 A physician's code

ANA'S POV

Doctor Ramir immediately went to check on the man who collapsed. As far as I know, he's not that kind of doctor but the man was seriously injured and something needs to be done as soon as possible. The man was also bleeding a lot. His blood was already pooling on the floor.

Murmurs erupted inside the hall and everybody was staring at the man. Carefully, Doctor Ramir turned the man to his back. The man still has his eyes open and he was still a bit conscious.

"Mr. Sho? Can you hear and see me?" he asked. The injured man merely groaned in pain and my stomach churned at his state. I've seen something way worse than this before.

"Doctor," the man croaked. "P-Please save me." And then he closed his eyes.

One of the patients went to ask the doctor. "Is he going to be disabled? Will he lose his leg?"

But the doctor remained to examine the state of the injured man before he said, "I am not the doctor for this. Can someone please call another doctor who was having day off at home?"

I immediately went to check. The bone is exposed and is protruding to the flesh. With the rate of the bleeding, he would lose blood quickly.

I removed the scarf I had earlier and pressed it on the area to somehow stop its bleeding.

Doctor Ramir looked at me with wide eyes. "What are you doing, girl?"

"He will die if we don't stop the bleeding immediately," I said.

"I know but I can't perform an operation to fix this. Another doctor who was having day off should be able to handle this."

I know it was stupid but I wanted to help the man. "I can do it," I blurted out. Everyone looked at me. I am just a little girl in their eyes. I am not the military doctor I was back in my world.

"What did you say?" asked Doctor Ramir.

"I...my mother was a herbalist and my father taught a lot of things. One of them was medicine. So he also taught a thing or two about them."

He gave me a disbelieving look. "A thing or two? Little girl, we're talking about a person's life here. He needs expert care."

I am an expert. I wanted to tell him that at that moment but I stopped myself. They wouldn't believe me. I am just Ana, a little bride for the Sardothien brother. I am nobody.

"I know enough to do this, doctor."

"Ana--"

"Please, he's going to die if we don't do something."

Doctor Ramir held my arm. "If he dies while you are treating him then it would all be on you, Ana. If something goes wrong--"

"I will save him," I said, full of conviction and I don't know where it came from. "While I am treating, you can call the physician to come here and then get them to take a look at this injured man too."

He looked at me for a long time and I could truly see him battling himself internally. Then he sighed and looked at Dian.

"Prepare the room," he said and the men patients who were there helped us move the injured man inside. They were careful not to move the injured leg.

I have fixed worse cases than this but the difference is that I had modern equipment at my disposal. It's different now. It's going to be hard.

But my hands got moving as if my body, my consciousness remembers what I used to do. For the moment, I could only do first aid until the doctor arrives.

In a matter of almost an hour, I was dressing the wound, carefully wrapping it with cloth before using a sturdy board as a makeshift splint, holding his bone together.

"I could only apply first aid since we don't enough equipment here. He needs surgery and he shouldn't be fed or made to drink before that. Let's wait for the doctor to arrive. How far is his house?"

The moment I asked that, Dian barged in. "The doctor is on his way."

Doctor Ramir nodded. "It's a quarter an hour away. He should be here any minute."

I nodded and went to wash my hands. The man was still unconscious and he needs emergency care but we can't do anything other than wait.

"You learned medicine before?" asked Doctor Ramir. I remembered what Leon told me earlier. That I need to be more careful about whom I show my skills.

It was only first aid. It shouldn't be too suspicious that a little girl like me learned it.

I faced Doctor Ramir. "Yes. My father taught me."

He nodded.

"Have you practiced your skills before?"

I have but he doesn't need to know about my real experience. So I shook my head and said, "Only once. When my brother got injured."

"Your father must have immense knowledge."

I agreed. "I have read his books."

"What kind of books?"

"Droscorides, Of the Structure of the Human Body Corpus Hippocraticum and so on," I answered.

He stared at me. Awe was visible in his eyes. "If you are willing, I would love to have you here as my apprentice, Ana."

My eyes widened as I looked at him. I may not be able to learn more about modern medicine here but I could certainly learn more about traditional medicine, and I could make my capability reasonable. But this means I have to come to the county every day. The Sardothiens lived quite far. But it would be a good opportunity for me.

"Are you not willing?"

I shook my head. "No, Doctor Ramir! I mean yes, I am willing. They say you possess the most excellent medical skills. It would be an honor to learn from you. However, I live in Lockwood, as you already know. I only come here once a month."

He nodded and started thinking.

As if on cue, Leon arrived and saw me with the Doctor.

"Is there any problem here?" he asked.

Doctor Ramir shook his head. "I was asking Ana here to come here and be my apprentice."

Leon's bow raised before he looked at me. Then he said, "That's good."

"But it seems it would be hard for her to come here," he added.

Leon's eyes were back on me before he said, "You wish to be Doctor Ramir's apprentice?"

I nodded continuously. He looked at me for a few seconds before he said, "Next year. We will arrange that next year. Ismael will be moving here next year and I would be here to take the exam."

I think my eyes might have twinkled at what he said. He turned to the doctor and asked, "Is that ok, Doctor?"

"Well, I would like her to be here as soon as possible but I guess I can't do anything about it for now." The doctor turned to me and said, "Since you're my student now, although not serving directly at the moment, you have to know the rules of this shop."

"The rule of our shop is to cure everyone who needs our help. Even if the person is someone who's unfaithful or someone who is just bad in general, we, as healers, will treat them. We are doctors, Ana. We are not judges of character. You will learn medicine with me and you shall use your knowledge to do good and not harm. Is that understood, Ana?"

At that moment, my respect for Doctor Ramir went up. So I nodded, beaming at him.

The doctor smiled back and called Dian.

"Show her the books I have and let her take whatever she wants," she said to Dian and then he looked at me. "Study the books and the next time we see each other, I will answer all of your questions."

Dian guided me to the room where the books were while the Doctor tended to the patient I just helped earlier. By the time I was done choosing the books, the doctor from another town arrived and immediately tended to the injured man. I knew the man was already in good hands so we left the shop with me bringing the books.

"Are those heavy?" Leon asked and I shook my head.

"It's fine." I placed it neatly on the cart before we went to the fabric shop.

I planned to choose a fabric that would be affordable but also nice for Carla's embroidery. I found various fabrics suitable for my and Carla's taste and the designs we created the other night. While I was at the fabric shop, Leon went to the bookstore to find a copy of Indica but he came back and only brought food supplies instead. That book is indeed hard to find.

Once I was settled inside the cart I started opening the books the doctor gave me.

"Would you even understand everything in there?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yes," I said, without looking up. If I study this hard enough with guidance from the doctor, I would work as a physician."

"You want to be a physician?"

"Yes. I'd love to cure people." I looked at him. "If I were a physician, people would come to me to treat them and we wouldn't be worrying about money and food."

Leon chuckled. "You want to be a physician to get rich?"

"That's part of the reason. I love medicine so I am doing this because I want to. Earning money while doing something I love...why not?"

"If you become very good at that, you can work as a physician in the Alpha King's castle," he said and I looked at him.

"No," I answered.

"Why not?"

"Court physicians only treat the nobles. I want to treat ordinary people."

I couldn't read the expression on his face but I could have sworn his mouth twitched into a small smile before he focused his eyes on the road.

"What do you want to do?" I asked. He was silent for a while and I was looking at him.

Then afterward, he said, "I want to take the exam and be the top 1."

I raised my brow. "What happens next?"

"I will become the Lord Chancellor, the beta second to the Alpha King."

My mouth hung open. A Lord Chancellor besided the Alpha King. That's a big honor.

The betas could have many kinds of position besides Alpha King, the position of "Lord Chancellor" was one of the most powerful and influential positions. The Lord Chancellor was responsible for advising the king on legal and political matters and presiding over the highest court in the land.

"I think everybody would be scared of you because you're always frowning," I mumbled and he gave me an incredulous look.

"They should be."

I shook my head and chuckled. "It's a race."

"Okay, you want to become a once-in-a-generation famous Lord Chancellor, and I want to become a world-renowned healer with exceptional medical skills. Let's make a bet and see who can achieve our goals first," I said, extending my little finger.

He looked at me, clearly puzzled. "What?"

"We pinky promise!" I took the initiative to hook her little finger with his. "Once I become a world-renowned healer, I'll give you a 50% discount when you come to me for treatment."

"I think you're trying to discount yourself" Leon said, "You want to charge your own family for medical treatment?"

I rubbed my nose. "Hehe, it's free, it's free."

He chuckled and focused on driving the cart, while I continued to read medical books. Then when we neared the church, I knew what I had to do. I tugged on his sleeve.

"Stop the cart, Leon," I said. He looked at me questioningly but stopped the cart anyway.

"What for?" He held onto the donkey and turned around to ask.

I pointed to a the abandoned church.I wanted to retrieve something from inside, now that I had my space, I could easily hide things inside it. Plus, I was the only one who could enter the space, so no one would be able to find what was hidden inside.

"Do you need to go to the bathroom? Hurry up and come back," he said.

"Okay." I ran towards the church, while Leon waited on the roadside.

I went to the statue and pushed some elevated stone in there. A small statue moved and revealed under it is a small box. Looking around, I entered the space as quickly as possible and placed the items there. When I was back, I went running to the cart but then I bumped into someone.

I was about to scold Leon for following me here but when I looked up, I was surprised.

Because the person I bumped into was not Leon at all.