The Daily Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 2232 by Angharad Copyright © 2013 Angharad All Rights Reserved.

Julie and Phoebe went with me that evening and they did Danni’s hair and also Sammi’s, which is quite long. While they were there they had a whole pile of requests from other ladies on the ward, so they agreed to come by the next day and do some of them after the ward sister said they could. It was Julie’s half day so Phoebe would come in during the morning and do one or two of the easier ones and Julie would come as soon as she closed up the shop. Which was what they did, so they were up to their armpits in hairdos when I arrived to see my two girls.

The good news was that Danni now had enough blood so the drip was off and she was tender but in reasonable spirits, enough to have put some makeup on when I got there. Sammi was busy on her iPad so I left her to it, though she did acknowledge my arrival. I asked Danni if she’d like me to bring hers in and she nodded. She was still very tired and my intuition was telling me she had an infection. I got the sister and spoke to her.

“Nothing is showing, we did some bloods this morning.”

“Well I’m picking up one, it’s not in the wound it’s deeper than that.”

“I don’t follow you.”

“It’s heading up towards her kidneys.”

“How did it get there?”

“Catheter–it came in on the catheter.”

“I’ll do a urine check.” She went off and returned with a sterile pot into which she ran off some urine from Danni’s bag. Danni was complaining of feeling very hot. She had a temperature. Dipping the urine showed the presence of blood–there shouldn’t have been any. The sister went off to get a doctor or a nurse prescriber for antibiotics.

I threw in some blue light for good measure but it was obvious that Danni was feeling unwell and her buoyancy of the previous day was sinking fast. A man in a white coat, I assumed was a houseman, came looked at her and prescribed two lots of antibiotics. “Sorry, kiddo, these might make you feel as sick as a parrot, but they’ll do the job. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s okay,” she said and lay back on the pillows and slipped into sleep. She lay so still that for one awful moment I thought she’d died. I held onto her hand and tried to send the energy from her kidneys down through the ureters to her bladder and out into the bag, as it went it zapped any infection with laser like proficiency.

That was the theory and the only place it was happening was in my head, or so I thought because when the sister came with the medication, including the antibiotics she gasped and I looked up and towards the door.

She shut the door gently and said to me, “D’you know we’ve had two women recover from bladder cancers which they weren’t expected to.”

“That’s good news, your treatment must be more effective than you thought.”

“Oh no, I’ve been dealing with urology cases for years–it’s only happened while you’ve been here. It’s you, isn’t it–the mystery healer?”

“Can I deny it?”

“I just saw a pulsating blue light travel from your hand into Danni’s and travel up her arm through her body and into her bag–and the contents of the bag are hot.”

“Perhaps she’s just peed?”

“Feel it, it’s hotter than anything in her body.”

“No, I’ll take your word for it.” I wasn’t touching a urine collecting bag.

“Feel it,” she urged and I had little option but to do so. It was too hot to hold comfortably. I felt Danni’s brow, it was warm but nowhere near as warm as the bag or more correctly, its contents–boiled wee–luvly.

Danni was woken and took her tablets before lying back down and drifting off again. I noticed she was sweating and wet her flannel and wiped her face, trying not to smudge her makeup. I held her hand and asked the energy to cool her. The sister stood and watched as I worked.

“You won’t tell anyone, will you?”

“Lady Cameron, I might only be a nurse not a word famous ecologist, but I’m aware of what would happen if I did tell anyone.”

“Thank you.”

“If any of our other sickly patients get better, it’s a bonus and I should be thanking you.”

“You’re too kind.”

“Do you really breed dormice?”

“Yes. They’re all hibernating at the moment but if you’d like to see one, give me a call at the university in the summer and I or one of my colleagues will show you round.”

“Thank you. Might I ask you a personal question?”

I looked up and she was blushing so I knew what was coming. “If you wish.”

“Is it true that you–um–used...”

“To be like Danni?”

“Yes, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Yes and no. I was AIS and I didn’t play football.”

“AIS?”

“Androgen insensitive.”

“Of course, sorry, I’ve been on since six this morning, but it explains a thing or two.”

“It does?”

“Yes. I’ve seen a few transsexual patients, especially since Mr O’Rourke started here and you’re the most female I’ve ever seen.”

“I didn’t have a male puberty.”

“That certainly explains things. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Oh, and like the healing, I won’t tell anyone–about this conversation.”

I didn’t really care–well yes I did, and was glad she’d spoken to me. Nothing worse than people trying to guess and constantly staring at you while they do. I felt Danni was going to be okay and left her to go and see Sammi.

“How are you?” I asked her after we’d hugged and kissed

“Knackered.”

“Oh, anaesthetic I expect.”

“No, the bank. My boss emailed to say they had a problem with some software. He told me the symptoms and I was pretty sure I had it identified. Unfortunately, this thing isn’t big enough to do what I needed to do so they’re sending someone down with a laptop tonight and I’m going to try and sort it.”

“Tonight?”

“Yes, they need it tomorrow.”

“You’re on sick leave.”

“So–they need me.”

“They’ll have to find someone else, won’t they?”

“Not at this short notice.”

I was surprised she had her head clear enough to do anything like that. I was about her age when I was done and my head wouldn’t focus on anything for about a week. Obviously she was made of sterner stuff. I would, however, play hell with Simon tonight.

We chatted for a short while and then Julie and Phoebe came up to the bed, so I left them to talk with her while I checked on Danni. She was sleeping and I threw a cover of blue light all round her. She was breathing more regularly and her temperature felt more normal–good stuff these antibiotics.