The Night Rose

Chapter 14

"Timothy, how did you get in that condition so quickly? Oh wait- let me guess- was it because Silas and some woman once again?" The doctor said while starting to rummage through his medical equipment.

Timothy coughed roughly and said, “Well, what else do you expect?”

"Sit down, you know the drill, and that this will hurt a little bit. Just bear with it." The doctor said as he started to clean the wounds on Timothy's head.

"Argh! Even though I have gone through this so many times, it always stings like hell." Timothy was complaining while trying not to make any sounds bearing the pain as usual, “How does it look, Doc?”

The doctor teased him, “Apart from all the mess I’ve seen you in? This is just a playground scratch for you.”

Timothy laughs, fighting the urge to scream in pain. The doctor saw how much pain he was in, and he explained.

"It's even worse when there is dried alcohol and pieces of shattered glass all over your hair or skin, Timothy. If it were just blood, this would be over more quickly, but now I have to get the alcohol and glass shards as well away from your head. It even looks like there are some pieces of wood mixed in here as well. Seeing the state of your face, it would be safe to assume that you got hit quite a lot." The doctor said while placing the pieces of a broken bottle on a metal tray.

“Yeah, well, I guess I can thank Silas for that.”

Finally, when he was done, the doctor said, "Your wound on the head will heal in a few days. It was mostly a superficial wound, but it needs to be covered, and you should avoid showering or bathing for a few days. Also, you shouldn't stretch your head, or it might open again. You are lucky enough to be born with that thick of a skull. Probably, it is because you have been hit so many times already that it has formed its own self-defense mechanism? Anyway, take off your shirt, and let's see your stomach." The doctor joked and said while waiting for Timothy to take his shirt off.

“Ah, yes, thick skulls are the highlight of my skill.” Timothy jokes around as he took his tattered shirt off, which revealed a muscular upper body covered with many scars. The doctor wasn’t new to seeing scars from past or injuries, but even Timothy’s scars surprised the doctor.

For a moment, he wondered what Timothy went through to obtain such deep and this many wounds?

The doctor examined him by touching his stomach while asking if it hurts or where it hurts. After a while, when he was done, he had stated Timothy’s general medical results...

"You will have some bruises. Sitting down for a while will hurt you somewhat, but otherwise, you don't seem to have any broken bones. Your insides seem to be doing fine as well. You have thick skin. Are you sure you aren't half-dwarf or something?" The doctor looked at Timothy, who just sheepishly smiled at him.

"I think I'm human entirely. There shouldn't be any mixed-race or bloodline in my family, but anyway, how is our other patient doing any signs of her getting back up soon?" Timothy asked out, “I’m really praying she’s not human either- I badly need her to live.”

The doctors chuckled softly.

“She seems to be doing fine. She's still breathing, and there aren't any disturbances at that. Her body seems to be doing fine and healing rapidly. However, as I said, she got her head knocked badly, so we can only see how she is doing when she wakes up." The doctor gave a brief analysis before hearing a noise coming from the bed where Arwin was.

It was Arwin’s voice that broke the silence from the other bed, "Argh, my head! Why is everything black and spinning around? What is happening?"

Arwin woke up to a massive headache. She still couldn't see straight at all; her world seems to be spinning around. She forcibly tried to stand up despite the great pain she was in. Timothy and the doctor quickly rush to her aid.

"Hey, hey, if you can hear me, just stay still. Did you hear me? Stay still." The doctor tried to say when he got next to Arwin and was supporting her.

Timothy assisted her as well as he said, “Don’t stand up yet, stupid!”

Arwin could only see someone vaguely holding at her like two silhouettes; she was confused and wasn’t able to process what was going on; she asked weakly, “Who- where am I?”

The doctor replied to her, but all she could hear were the buzzing next to her ears. Everything was static; she was panicking- has she gone deaf?

She tried to stand up before her world darkened once again, feeling asleep due to exhaustion or panic. Arwin fell back to her bed.

The doctor quickly measured her pulse before checking her breathing. When he was finally done, he said to Timothy, "Don't worry, she seems to be doing fine and just fell asleep. Her pulse and breathing are still normal, and to be able to wake up this early is a good sign. I think we can already talk with her tomorrow and see how she is feeling by then."

Timothy worries. He noticed how Arwin wasn’t my responding to any of their questions- wasn’t she able to hear? Will she be okay? Timothy wanted to ask more, but he didn’t. Instead, he kept it in mind and immediately thought of ways how to deal with it if it happens.

Timothy sighed in relief for now. If Silas will accept her and something terrible happened, how could he tell him that his employee suddenly passed away or that she couldn't fly or fix an airship anymore?

But at that moment, Silas suddenly barged into the doctor's office, and when he saw Timothy, he immediately did run towards him. Timothy was too surprised even to answer. All he managed to say was, “What are you doing here?”

Silas was too excited to pay heed to his queries; he asks, “Where is Arwin? I want to meet him asap. I already made him the identification card and filled all of the paperwork I can. However, for the rest, I need him to come with me to do it.”

Timothy pauses to try and grasp what he was being told.

But the excited Silas continued to rant nonstop, almost pushing Timothy off from the chair; Silas continued, “Then I want to show the airship to him and test him out. I want to see if he does know what he's doing before sealing the deal with him. If he doesn't know, I will make him work at the company as long as he has paid his debts back with interest."

“Ah, Silas… about that-“ Timothy was cut off

"Oh! Who is that lady there? I have never seen her before, and this is our company's doctor's office. Timothy, don't say that you have a secret lover. What would your wife say if she finds out?" Silas asked while watching at Arwin.

"Hmm, how will I break this up to you. Silas… Hmm, firstly, Arwin is she and not he. Secondly, that woman there is Arwin," Timothy said while smiling at Silas, who's mouth was now wide open but unable to utter a sound out.

Silas felt his entire plan collapsed… all he could think of was Arwin… was a girl?