The Last Stand (The Eleven Years War: Book One)
Chapter Twenty

The boy who laybefore Elise was younger, perhaps even a little younger than Milo was. Hismother had brought him in just after Mathis, the medical core commander and theman she’d met outside, had shown Elise where she would live. According to theboy’s mother, he’d been out playing with his friends when he fell in the way ofa cart, which ran his leg over. Thank the gods, there hadn’t been much in thecart so his leg wasn’t crushed, but it was almost certainly broken. They hadhim chewing on cocca leaves, but they needed to do something, or he’d bechewing on cocca for the rest of his life.

“Whatis your diagnosis?” Mathis asked as she gently pressed against the boy’s leg,looking for where the break happened. Finally, she found it; she could feelsomething sticking out from under the boy’s skin in his lower leg, by hisankle.

“It’sbroken,” Elise said. “We’ll need to set it.” Mathis inspected the boy’s leg,himself, then nodded.

“I’llhold him down,” he said. He gently took the arm of a young girl, who wascarrying a crate of medical herbs.

“Once you get thoseto their proper place, I need you to get the makings for a splint.” She noddedand continued walking, a little faster, now.

Witha nod from Mathis, Elise began to set the boy’s leg.

Despitethe fact that he’d been chewing cocca for nearly ten minutes, the boy began tocry out in pain the second Elise began to move around his leg. Even so, shekept manipulating his leg, looking for the right spot for his bone to be; painnow was better than pain for the rest of his life from a bone set incorrectly.

After a minute or so,she found the right spot and let go. The boy began gasping, his entire bodyshaking like a leaf.

Eliseslowly relaxed as she began to feel the boy’s leg. She could no longer feel hisbone jutting out; it seemed that she’d done her job correctly.

“Whydid you do that?” the boy’s mother asked. Her face had a look of betrayal on itand her eyes burned with anger. Though the words certainly stung, Elise choseto not take offence; odds were, the woman didn’t realize that, in the long run,she’d helped save her son from future pain.

“Thebone in his leg wasn’t aligned right,” she said. “If I didn’t set it, he wouldbe in pain for the rest of his life from it.” The little girl came back,holding two wooden dowels and a clean, white bandage.

AsElise gently began to put the boy’s leg in a splint, Mathis told the littlegirl to get a crutch and some tea root, then looked at the mother. “We’re goingto send you home with a crutch and some tea root for the swelling. Don’t lethim put any pressure on that leg, and before he goes to bed tonight, grind upthe root and give it to him with dinner.” The boy’s mother nodded.

“Howlong should he stay off his leg?” she asked. Mathis looked over at Elise,prompting her to continue.

“Normally,a broken leg takes about a month at the soonest to heal,” she said. “I’d waiteight weeks, though, to be safe. After that, slowly ease him back into hisusual activities, and he’ll be back to normal.” The little girl came back withthe crutch and the brown, gnarled, finger-looking root that was tea root.

“Doesyour son know how to use a crutch?” Mathis asked as Elise finished putting thesplint on the boy’s leg. His mother nodded, and Mathis and Elise stood up.

“Leavewhen you’re ready.” The two walked towards the stairs, leaving the mother andher son alone. Was it already time for dinner?

“Youdid really well with that kid,” Mathis said once they were out of earshot ofthe mother and her son. “Most people when they go through their tests getoffended when people question the way they do things.” Elise could feel hercheeks beginning to burn red from the compliment; though she hadn’t knownMathis for very long, it still felt good to know that he thought well of her.

“Thankyou,” she said. They exited the stairwell on the main floor and began walkingdown the long hall towards the door. “How long do you think it will take me tobecome a full member?” Mathis shrugged.

“Withyour experience, you’ll be a private in no time,” he said. “If you can read,you’ll be a private by the end of this week.” Elise could feel an uneasinesscoming over her. Despite her knowledge of medicine, she didn’t know how to read;she’d memorized everything her mother taught her, just as she did with hermother. The fact that she couldn’t was a great embarrassment to her, though shedidn’t know anyone who could.

“Howlong if I can’t read?” They walked outside, into the dimming orange sunlight,and began walking across the grounds to the mess hall. Mathis seemed surprisedby her answer for a few seconds, but he soon reverted back to his normal,relaxed self.

“So,you can’t read?” Elise nodded, looking down at the ground.

“Inever knew anyone who could teach me,” she said.

“It’snothing to be ashamed of,” Mathis said. “Very few of our recruits come herealready knowing how.” They walked into the mess hall.

Themess hall at the army medical core building was quiet, at least compared to theone at Fort Thias. Most people were quietly chatting about what had happenedduring the day, though most tried to avoid talking about patients. A few ofthem were reading from large, leather books, filled with pictures of humananatomy and various medical herbs. Even so, the atmosphere was bright andcheery, a nice change of scenery from the dreary road and the tense dinners ofhard tack and jerky.

However,there was one conversation that Elise overheard that managed to dim herspirits.

“…TheGiskens have been moving through the country like a plague,” one of the doctorswas saying. “Just a few days ago, they took Lake Town, even with its garrison.”For a few seconds, Elise disregarded what the soldier had said. She’d heardstories about the Lake Town garrison, about how they could face a disadvantageas high as 10 to 1 and still win. The Giskens wouldn’t have – couldn’t have – beaten them in a matterof a day or so, if at all.

Thedoctor’s friend seemed to share her opinion, because he scoffed after he saidit. “You’re blowing smoke. Lake Town’s garrison is one of the best in thecountry, second only to ours; the Giskens couldn’t have taken them!”

“It’strue!” a third said. “One of my patients today was a refugee from Lake Town. Hesaid that what was left of them surrendered after a day and a night offighting.”

Theconversation soon drifted into a full-scale argument, but Elise had stoppedlistening at that point. She’d seen the refugee come in, with his clothesragged and cuts all over him; he’d kept asking if his wife and his daughter hadmade it to Semata, yet. It began to dawn on her that Lake Town, one of the laststrongholds before Semata in the south had fallen in a single day.

Ifthey hadn’t been able to beat the Giskens, what chance did Semata stand againstthem?