About 1330 Fall

Ingrid's head was killing her, but at least the stinging had gone away since the doctor had applied a sticky mixture to her wound. It was stupid really how that happened, reaching for a jar of pickled cucumbers on a shelf that was to high for her. It had slid off faster than she expected and she wasn't ready for the weight so it just plowed straight into her head, tearing a gash in it, before smashing against the wooden floor. Her husband had heard the racket and carried her prone bleeding body to this establishment of medicine. It was relatively new in the area though its reputation was growing quickly even if its practices were not quite in line with the church.

She looked around the room trying to locate her husband but all she saw were beds just like the one she was sitting on. Half or more of these beds held people that were in some state of life fighting to hold on to it. The scene was just about overwhelming for a farm girl who rarely saw 20 people at one time, much less than all of them hurt in some way. Then something caught her eye and held it, a woman. A beautiful woman, nearly an angel, dressed in flowing white dress walking among the sick and hurt. Everyone that could noticed the woman and forgot about what it was they were lying on the bed for in the first place. Eerily the place quieted down moans from the wounded nearly stopped and activity seemed to slow down.

She looked around just a little but didn't seem surprised by the extra attention, likely she got it all the time. She walked to the back of the room and questioned a doctor, breaking his revere of her. He looked befuddled for a moment then called to the albino doctor that had helped Ingrid out several minutes before.

She smiled and introduced her self as Camille to the extra pale man. Caldwin, yes that was right, his name was Caldwin. She started in talking about something that Ingrid didn't catch but the pale man noticed the extra attention that she was receiving and directed their conversation to a back room.

Curiosity was causing her to feel better and her head wound was nearly forgotten for the moment. She crossed the room to the area where a curtain was hung to divide the room up and also give a little privacy to those behind it. The wound forgotten but not gone was quickly getting the better of her and she plopped down on the bed for a moment, but it was near enough for her to listen to the conversation.

She seemed to be a woman of some means and she wants to hire one of the good doctor's nurses for an orphanage she has organized. The doctor said that since the plague seems to laying off his business would be also, so there shouldn't be a problem, he will ask for volunteers and have them meet with her at a later date. Then the conversation took a strange path, or her head started aching more. The doctor just didn't study human physiology, he also had an interest in animals. That seemed to peak the females interest a little and they talked about cats for a while, at least that is what it sounded like though it could have been rats. Something about fangs and "Caneites", this puzzled her because she knew of no older person organizations, but again she was not very well versed in relations. A few words made no sense at all, Capadocian and Malkavian to name two. She would have to ask her husband what they were when he came back.

Other things about the conversation seemed to be taking a darker path but her head was starting to act up again and she couldn't make out too much more. Though it was getting frightening. She wanted to get up and leave the area before she heard something she couldn't unhear but everytime she got up she started to back out, almost. She just lay there listening to the two talk about things that were nearly blasphemous. A dissection would be horrible to watch and not much more friendly to hear about but that is just what happened.

When she puked the conversation behind the curtain stopped. Her wits came back for just a few moments causing her to feel as if she were waking from a dream. She looked down the length of the room, no one seemed to notice her, or even hear her retching. How did she get so far down this room, the night was sort of blurry but she was feeling better and could sit up. Then she noticed the two figures looking at her from behind the now pulled back curtain. Like a hammer the thoughts and images of a conversation overheard sprang back to her and fear gripped her. Caldwin looked at the radiant woman next to him with a look of trepidation and whispered a few things to her. She knew from the looks she was getting that she had heard something that was easily worth the value of her peasant life. She was one heartbeat away from bolting from the location and screaming like a mad woman.

"Hello. Ingrid? Right?" Camille smiled at her and the muscles in her legs loosened up, her chance to run was over. Fear was quickly being replaced by a nearly overwhelming need to please this woman and repent her eaves dropping. Camille slid across the distance grasped one of her hands and sat on the bed before she could fully comprehend that she had been asked a question. Gold eyes stared back at her, soothing her. Her will to run to sleep or fight just seemed to ebb out of her through her eyes and one of the hands holding hers started to stoke gently.

"Uh yes, my name is Ingrid." She responded dreamily and confused.

"Of course it is, glad to hear that it still is. Now will you give me a hand with this wood so we can get some dinner going." Her husband said standing up with a few freshly split pieces of wood in his hands offering them to her.

She looked around and put her arms out to accept the wood and looked around. She was back home, the head wound barely a red mark now and her husband was loading her up with wood. Over loading was more like it, he often didn't stop till she playfully kicked him and called him an uncouth oaf.

She did just that.

Thoughts of the angel woman and the ghost colored doctor still played in her mind but the memories were faint and seemed no more than a dream now. It was amazing what can happen when you get hit in the head hard enough.