05/29/2000

Infirmary, White Tower, Tar Valon

Square in shape, this room is most often abuzz with activity. It contains
the normal implements of a teaching infirmary, in fact, it is extremely
well stocked with all manner of things: cots, jars, bottles, syringes,
bandages, cloths, cabinets, shelves, books and tables along with plenty of
hot water. The air has that sterile smell associated with the constant use
of redwort, tinged with the unpleasant prickle of witchhazel. While most of
the Healing is done via the One Power at the Tower, there are many minor
medical situations that are dealt with the old fashioned way.

There are several areas curtained off, for patients' privacy as well as for
instructional usages. This is a teaching infirmary for the Yellow Ajah,
after all. Beds in cheerful colors are lined up in neat rows, providing a
comfortable place to sleep after a Healer's tender ministrations. Windows
are kept wide open to all for light and fresh air.


Not being gone for too long, Wyntere returns to the infirmary. Her feet
lead her straight to the bed where Johiah is laying. She hardly notices any
other around right now as her state has faded even more. Reaching to the
side of the resting warder's face, she runs her hand from his forehed to
chin gently. Her smokey blue eyes contain much worry and fret.

Espiria smiles and nods, heading over to the table to get a glass of
something for Redd. She takes a deep breath, steading her nerves a bit
before she turns around. Her eyes widen a bit as she sees Wynt. The glass
shakes in her hand just alittle before she regains some control of herself
and heads back over to Redd.

Redd watches Wyntere quietly. Once again pure guilt takes the boy. He can't
stop blaming himself for what is happening. He then looks at Johiah as best
he can from where he is positioned. At least he isn't as bad as he himself
is.

Wyntere takes a seat in the chair by her warder's side. In fact, Wyntere
looks worse than Johiah. The grey waits quietly and patiently for the
gaidin to awake. Or maybe she's just there to support his fight by letting
him know she cares. Could be she's avoiding a few people too. She props her
head with one hand and glances around the room slowly. Whether her eyes
take in the people or not in another question.

Espiria bobs a curtsey to Wyntere, glancing around the room for a moment
before she bites her lower lip and shakes her head. Nothing yet. She closes
her eyes and drops her head to her chest, upset that she couldn't give her
better news. Her heart hurts from seeing her in such pain and anguish over
Johiah. She...she just can't do anything as yet. If only Mother would call
her to help her remember again. If only....

Redd reaches a hand out to Espi, gently placing a hand on her if she is
within his reach. "He will- They will be fine... Johiah Gaidin, Neelkan...
Varcel... Sunan... they all will..." Redd sounds convinced of this,
however, there was one person he did neglect to mention...

"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGG." Uh. Sounds like someone just woke up. Neelkan rolls
over on his side, placeing his hands over his face for a moment. He hates
waking up. Well, alright. He hates waking up around people. He would rather
wake up, the stay asleep. It takes a moment, but he eventually pushes
himself up and looks around for that flamin' miracle drink that tastes
worse then really bad ale...

Espiria glances over to Neel a moment, smiling. "Just a moment Neel. I'll
be right over as soon as Redd takes some of this drink I brought him." She
chuckles, "Did you manage to sleep at all, Neel?" Her eyes dart over to
Wynt again before she helps Redd take some of the drink in her hands. It's
good and cool too. Refreshing on the way down.

Redd drinks it down fast. It feels so good going down. Then he looks over
to Neelkan. "I'm... sorry." He says to Neelkan, the same words he told
everyone who has been infected, this being the first time he has had a
chance to talk to Neel since the poor Big Brother caught the plague.

Wyntere runs her temples and watches those in the infirmary. Her blue eyes
gaze upon her 'children'. Well, close enough. She adopts them all. Her mind
seems to play over many things.

Pushing himself up, Neelkan waves a hand absently at Espiria, "Ye'h, I
slept." Wouldn't call it pleasent though... "I think I'll come get it
m'self. Can't get better layin' in a flamin' bed. M' legs need movement,
here!" His voice is almost back to normal, but he still looks like he is
weak and a little feverish, but not half as bad as he was. He slides his
legs off the bed and cringes at the Light blinded outfit they got him in,
then shakes his head. If it didn't look so much like a flamin' dress....
Grrr. "Someone really gotta speak t' the Yellows 'bout their fashion
sense..." he grumbles, then pushes himself until he's standing. Ah hah!
Made it. He looks at Redd, reaching up to scratch at his dampish hair (damp
from all the wet clothes and everything), and says, "'ey, no worries, lil
bro. Couldn't let ya be in 'ere all 'lone ya know. Gettin' all the
attention." He looks down... What he wouldn't give for a flamin' pair of
trousers. Grrr.

Redd nods slowly, smiling, however, his eyes slowly close as he starts to
go off to sleep again. He is out shortly afterwards.

Espiria glances over to Redd, sighing softly as she replaces the compress
to ensure he has a comfortable rest. Her eyes tip over to Neel, chuckling
at the outfit he's wearing. "I..I think it's very becoming. It shows off
your legs nicely."

Eh! Neelkan glares at his friend and then continues to scratch at his hair.
It's too drafty... Arg. Flamin' outfit... He takes a slow breath, watching
as Redd drifts off, then takes a few steps over, careful not to push
himself to the point where he'll fall, using the bed as a brace for the
first few steps. But the steps seem to be going fine, so he makes a few
more, without the hand hold. He REALLY does not like walking in this
thing!! But he's not going to fall over. He's not. Determination and
presistance are two things he's rather good at. "I think I'd perfer
trousers, 'anks... 'sides. I think yer legs would be far nicer t' look at."
Eh... Is he flirting? He has to stop doing that... He doesn't even seem to
realize it though. It's the illness. Must be.

Espiria giggles softly, shaking her head as she walks over to you. She hold
sout a hand about chest level to you and motions for you to stop right
where you are. "I think the Yellows would be highly upset if they saw you
walking around, Neel. You need to get back into that bed before one of them
sees you and comes over to make you get back into bed." She glances around,
pursing her lips slightly. "They have been quite irritable all day and I'd
hate to see what they wouls make you take to get you to behave." She
giggles again, covering her lips slightly as she looks at the outfit. A
slight blush creeps over her cheeks, "Neelkan." Her eyes go wide and she
blushes an even deeper shade of red at the compliment. "Really
though..please just relax. We're supposed to help you..not you help
yourself."

Reaching out, Neelkan bats away the hand very gently, "'ey. If 'ey yell at
me, 'n let 'em. But I need t' move... 'r..." Or he's gonna fall asleep
again... And he doesn't want that. Then finally he sighs and takes a step
back. He can't keep this up anyway... "A'right, a'right. Shesh. Yer so
pushy, ya know 'at." He turns around and starts to wobble slightly back
over to his bed. At least he'll be getting under the covers and out of
sight. He can't stand this thing they have him in. "I'm kiddin' though...
yer not 'at pushy... I... Uh... 'anks. F'r figurin' it out 'n e'erythin'...
F'r Redd 'n e'eryone." He wouldn't have taken Redd dying very well. At all.

Espiria looks at the hand that aims her way and smiles. She chuckles
softly, "Well, It's good to see you haven't lost your fight. That stuff
that helps keep the illnes back from you." She sighs softly, eyes straying
over to Redd for a moment as worry crosses her features. She can't shove it
back before she looks back over to you and sighs. "I..just wish I could
remember more, Neel." She takes your arm gently, helping you back to bed
before she goes over to get another glass of the stuff for you to drink.
Taking her seat next to you, she shakes her head handing the glass over to
you so you can drink it. "I..just can't remember fast enough. And now...who
knows how far this...this has spread. If Redd was right..." She shakes her
head tears just waiting to farr, but she won't let them.

"Nothin' could make m' lose m' fight, Espi." Neelkan mutters, before
sitting back down on the bed and covering up his legs. He doesn't lay down
though, and remains sitting. If anyone says anything to him... well... he
just can't lay down anymore. Dreams are bad enough. Fever dreams are
actually almost worse. But at least those he can rule out.. ... Right? He
waits until she comes back with the glass and holds it a few moments,
shaking his head a little, "Espi, ya did e'erythin' ya could, 'kay? Ya
prolly... saved all'a us." He grins and shakes his head, "Some protector of
friends I'm turnin' out t' be. Ya save m' life, 'n prolly most the men in
the Tower's lives, 'n I haven't even done anythin' really good f'r ya
yet..." Anyway, now time to endure the pain that is this evil drink. He
pulls it to his lips, then drinks it down in one leaning back of his head.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. Then he pulls forward and contorts his face in disgust
and coughs a few times as if that'll help. Arg. Are his eyes even watering
a little?

Espiria shakes her head slowly, watching you drink the foul stuff and
knowing first hand how bad it tastes. She had to taste it to test it even
if she wasn't sick...Oh, wait. That was before. She closes her eyes slowly,
shaking her head again. "I...Haven't found the cure yet. Redd...well he's
borderline stage 3. I..was lucky enough to find this medicine from before,
but he's /got/ to have the sure. Got to. It's not like this temporary thing
will last forever. His system will get used to it over time. Oh, I'm not
saying it'll be days, but his body has already been thru so much already.
He can't wait that long. The rest of you were caught fairly early in the
illness." She glances over to him, sighing softly. "And..it's happening
just like it did before, Neel. Almost exactly like before...." Her eyes tip
back to you, voice lowering softly. She wouldn't say what's she going to
say, but you already know about her past memories. "He found a sick
man..and was trying to help him when he cought it. If..he hadn't of..the
city would be having dropping people by now. Hundreds falling in the
streets because they don't know what's wrong with them. And it would spread
even worse. Light knows how bad it's already gotten elsewhere. That man
could have traveled anywhere before coming here. He could have had several
days anywhere to infect others and spread it..."

Neelkan recovers from the drink just in time to blink a few times. This...
isn't the cure? Redd... Redd might... Suddenly he doesn't look very good...
Arg. Then he shakes his head and lowers it a second, letting his hair fall
in front of his eyes. After a few moments he manages to say something,
"I'm... I'm sure ya'll remember." He won't let his lil bro die. He won't.
If he has to reach into Espi's mind and pull those memories out.... Arg.
Not that he could. But he would if he could. "Redd's a tough kid. Plus...
he promised t'..." His voice breaks off for a moment and he closes his
eyes. Light.

Espiria sighs softly, sniffing for a moment as she fights not to cry.
"It's..all on my shoulders, Neel. All of it..." She takes the glass,
looking into it. "I..wish I could have found the cure instead. This..just
buys time. But not that much." She sighs softly, closing her eyes. "We..we
tried so many different things before. For the cure. Some helpful..some so
very harmful. Just to try to find something that would help." She shivers,
wrapping her arms around her for a moment. "If..that Accepted hadn't made
that mistake and been lazy...the death toll would have been much higher."

"Espi..." Neelkan whispers, sighing softly and reaching to touch you on the
cheek gently, now that he no longer has a glass to hold, "Yer doin' yer
best. I..." Pause. "What Accepted's 'at?" He lets his hand lower again, but
reaches to touch yours while he does. He can't think of anyway he could
possibly help... Arg. His other hand goes to touch something under his
shirt. Or... the dress like thing. A necklace or something. Though it's
lower then the one with the charm he used to wear. The one that Redd has
right now. They traded until Redd got better. A promise that he would. He
would keep his necklace for him until he was better, and Neel would keep
Redd's... Kind of a weird thing for boys to do... but... Well... no one
ever called Neel normal...

Espiria looks back to your face, tears still brimming but she refuses to
let them fall. She sighs softly, biting her lower lip before shs glances
around to make sure noone is listening. He knows..so it's got to be
alright..right? "She's...from the past, Neelkan. She...is from my memories.
The..memories helped me see the illness for what it was. That....Accepted
was lazy. She never wanted to work hard at all. I..I remember that she
would always take the easy way out of things just to get it done. In..this
case it was the brewing of another try for a cure. We..were boiling the
cure. Normal fires to cook it. But she was too lazy to make a normal fire,
so she used the One Power and pulled fire to heat it. It..made crystals out
of the stuff she was working with. And it's because of that...that she
found the cure. But..I just can't remember what the herbs were or in what
combination. That's....very important." Her hand goes against her head as
though to push it out, "I've got to remember...I've got to."

Sigh... What Neelkan would not give to be able to do something to help
here. Anything at all. "Espi..." Arg. He's not good at this. He glances
around a few times, as if looking for help, or an idea of what to say... or
something! Then finally, he reaches out and touches the hand that you have
on your head, lightly brushing his fingers across it then moving to your
hair, pushing a few strands behind your ear. "Espi... Ya can't hold
e'erythin' on yer shoulder. Yer... yer doin' the best ya can. But I... I
got faith in ya. 'n if the... Wheel... weaved ya back 'ere f'r a reason, 'n
left ya with all'a 'ese memories... 'en 'ey'll surface..." Arg. Did that
help any? He doesn't seem to think so... What he wouldn't give to know what
to say right now.

Espiria sighs softly, looking back up to you as your fingers brush the hair
from her face. She seems so upset and afraid at the moment, but she gulps
it all back to try to look brave. "That's....that's true. I'm trying to
keep remembering that, Neel. It's all for a reason. It..just hurts so badly
when I know..I have the answers but they won't come." She shakes her head,
hand shakily reaching to her forehead to rub a moment before it drops back.
"I...just wish I knew why me... I mean sometimes I feel so out of place
here. LIke...I don't belong and sometimes I couldn't be happier to be
anywhere else. Sometimes...my head feels so full of things..from the past.
And other times I feel like I have so much to learn and so far to go before
I'm good enough to be of any help at all." She shivers, dropping her head
again to study her hand a moment. "I..I feel as though I have so much power
as yet to see...I've felt it. I've seen the shocked looks of my teachers
when they are teaching me something and it comes sooo easily. Like..I've
done it before and it's like breathing. I've seen..the worry on their
faces...and sometimes the fear when they look at me. Like..I'm something
odd to be wary of and all I want to be is just Espi..just me."

There's a small laugh here, and Neelkan shakes his head a little, folding
his arms in his lap. "Thanks t' Redd, right now part of m' just wants hug
ya... cause 'at seemed t' make 'im feel better when he was upset..." He
shakes his head, staring off to look at something behind you, something
he's not really looking at at all. Then he adds on, "'n ya'll a'ways be
Espi t' me. No matter who ya were in the past, 'r who ya'll be later on...
Yer just Espi t' me. 'n Espi'll always be m' friend." That's the only thing
he can offer. "'n I know how ya feel. I only wanna be Neel sometimes... But
other times..." Other times he kind of wishes he were Shun'u il'Sharil
again. So much easier back then! Just got bossed around by his sisters
daily. No plagues. No Aes Sedai. No women as friends... That last one is
actually the weirdest.

Espiria chuckles softly, eyes raising again to look at your face. "And
you'll always be Neel to me. My friend. And that will never change no
matter...no matter what happens later on. Understand?" She tips her head
toward some of the Yellows who are giving her glaring stares for her being
here as long as she has been. She glances back to you, not really wanting
to leave but knowing she will get chewed out if she stays longer. "Thank
you, Neel. For being a very dear friend. I needed that...to talk to someone
who would look at me funny or try to pry my head open to see what's going
on inside." She sighs, shaking her head. "I..need to get some sleep and I
think the Yellows will kick me out if I don't get moving soon." She
chuckles, reaching over to give you a quick hug. A hug between good
friends. She smiles, head tipping to one side as she rises, "And..please
make sure you try to keep Redd's spirits up. He...well he's in need of that
badly the way he's feeling. He needs to hold on tightly...not let go or
feel like he won't get better. He will...if I have to pry my own head open
to get the cure out..." She chuckles, patting your hand one last time
before she stands all the way up.

Blushing slightly along the cheeks, Neelkan returns the quick hug, then
sits back and says, "Anytime ya need someone t' talk t', ya know where t'
find m'. 'n when I get outta 'ere, yer still gonna know where t' find m'.
Cuz I'm not goin' no where." Then he glances towards Redd and nods. "I'll
do 'at. He'll be feelin' great by the time ya get the cure! Ya can count on
m'!" He yells in his usual voice, then dips his head slightly at the
glares. Sorry... Forgot people were trying to sleep.

Espiria giggles softly, motioning you to please stay calm and notes you
getting a few glares from the Yellows. She smiles brightly and nods,
turning to head for the exit with a renewed smile on her features.