06/19/2000

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.


Varcel is sitting up in bed, but apperas to be lightly dozing, leaning
against the headboard.

The curtain around one rather... grumpy woman hater is currently pulled
closed, as likely the young man is trying to sleep at the moment. There's
sounds coming from behind the curtain. And they aren't the snoring like
probably half the young trainees send out. It sounds like someone twisting
around in the bed a lot. Maybe Neelkan is just having a difficult time
getting to sleep? That wouldn't be surprising. As those who've been in the
Infirmary with him for a while likely know, he doesn't sleep well. It just
hasn't quite seemed this bad before. He actually sounds like he's kicking
the bed frame.

Redd lies quietly on the bed. He's awake, there is no mistaking that
constantly moving gaze about the room. He wishes someone would come talk to
him, but everyone is either too busy or asleep. Only one person ever talks
to him that isn't sick...

Well the day seems just a bit brighter in the sick ward as a certain
non-sick person walks into the room. As usual the tray of drinks is in her
hands and she wears a bright hopeful smile as she walks in. No sense in
telling them that the 'cure' that was made reciently didn't work. Or that
the plant they had hoped was the right one ended up not being. She humms
softly to herself, heading over to the large table to one side of the room
and sets the tray down with a soft clatter of pitchers. Brushing her hands
off on her skirt, she stretches her tired fingers for a moment before
glances at all the patients.

Varcel continues his doze, either unaware of things happening around him,
or uncaring

Dozing seems to be the thing today, though some not so peaceful as others.
All of a sudden there's some soft muttering from behind the closed curtain
around Neelkan's bed. Soft to the point that words can't be made out. Or at
least if they really are words at all. The sound almost like disjunction
vowels and sounds. Then suddenly there's a louder kick against the back
frame, then a great amount of shifting and something slams into the
headboard. Hmmm. Maybe he's having an hallusination? That wouldn't be
uncommon with the illness and fever and what not.

Redd turns his eyes to his big brother's bed, worried as to what is going
on. He misses Espiria's entrance completely./

Espiria sighs softly, hearing the violent or nearly so thrashings of Neel.
She frowns, shaking her head a bit and hurrying over to him so that she can
see if anything can be done to ease whatever is troubling him. Of course,
if it's his dreaming...then she's at a loss as to how to help, but if it's
just the fever maybe she can at least cool him down long enough so his
thrashing will stop. She sighs, pulling the curtain to one side. "Neel?
Come on Neel...try to wake up now. It's alright.....come on..."

Varcel continues to slumber one, mouth open, and drooling just a bit.

The curtain is pulled aside and the exact state of the person behind it is
visable. His head and shoulders are shoved up against the head frame, and
his eyelids are pulled tightly shut. Neelkan's face is red, flushed and
terriably hot. He's backing up against the headboard of the bed like there
was something hovering in front of him. Something that no one else can see.
But his eyes are closed... and anyone looking closely can see his eyes
shifting around in quick jerks under his eyelids. He gives no response to
anything, his lips peeled up slightly to show clenched teeth as he
continues to jerk around, trying to press himself more and more against the
headboard. If already putting strain on the frame as it is...

Redd watches silently, wishing there was something he could do.

Espiria frowns, shaking her head as her eyes fill with worry. She moves
closer to Neel, hoping she doesn't get slugged for this, but she just can't
stand by and watch him go thru this. She just can't. She grits her teeth
and slaps Neel on the side of the face to wake him up. "Neel...snap out of
it. Come on...come back to us now." She shakes him just a bit too, hoping
it will snap him out of the nightmare he seems to be having. Light..please
let him wake up. "Neel! Come on..wake up!" She stands right next to Neel's
bed, gripping his shoulders.

How mean! Neelkan gets slapped across his already flushed and red face, the
color fading slightly upon impact before returning back to it's flushed
state. And Light is his face hot when she hits him. His head jerked to the
side at the slap, and then he... seems to wake up. But he doesn't wake up
peacefully. He's eyes open widely, full of... well... rather child-like
actually. Bright blue-green. For a moment not quite as glazed. He's still
thrashing around with his legs, and one hand grips tightly on the sheet
while the other one lashes out at the arms holding his shoulders. That...
probaly wasn't the best idea. Oh, and not only that, he's started to
scream. And Light, does he have a set of lungs on him. At least he doesn't
scream like a girl though, right?

Espiria widens her eyes at the sudden opening of Neel's eyes. Her own widen
more as she sees the arm just a moment before it connects with her and she
'thumps' hard to the floor as she is knocked off her feet. She winces just
a bit, rubbing her hip before she gets up off the floor. Slowly and with a
few wincing motions of her face. "Neel? Can...you hear me Neel?" She frowns
slightly, grabbing a cold compress from next to his bed. She tries to get
it on his forehead to try to cool him down, in the hopes that it will bring
back some of Neel's mind from whatever it seems locked at the moment. Her
eyes look pleadingly to his eyes, "Come on Neel....it's alright. You were
having a bad dream...You're awake now..."

Redd blinks and moves toward the edge of his bed. He seems to focus on
something, and by the time Espi gets back on her feet, Redd's eyes look a
bit distant. He edges off the bed and makes his way to help Espi with
Neelkan, intending on helping her. Of course, he can't stay on his two feet
for too long.

It takes until the pleading eyes get in front of his own before any
awareness seems to snap across Neelkan's face. His screaming cuts off and
he blinks. When his eyes are opened again they are once more glazed over,
and look very... very tired. He frowns, brow furrowing under the cold
compress on his forehead and his eyes move around as if trying to figure
out where he is. What's going on? Yes. This is that was the moment between
asleep and awake where he wasn't awake, yet he wasn't asleep. Still lost in
something that he doesn't understand, and doesn't want. He's settled down
at least, shoulders still pressed heaving into the headboard. And why does
his throat hurt? He doesn't even really remember screaming, or knocking his
friend to the floor. After a minute in a somewhat rasped voice he manages,
"Uh... Espi?" It doesn't help at all that his mind is rather jumbled by the
fever and illness.

Espiria darts a glance over to Redd, scowling. "You get back into that bed
this instant, Redd. You're far too weak to help me and if you weren't so
fevered you'd realize that." She softens her words with a smile. "I can
hndle it....really." She motions with her hand for Redd to retake his seat
in the bed and then turns back to Neel with a smile, "Yes..that's right.
It's me, Espi. You've been having very bad nightmares and you just now are
waking up from them." She rubs her hip a bit more, sighing as pains shoot
thru it, but she ignores them for now. Neel is more important than her own
aches and pains. Her hand reaches out to change the compress on his
forehead again, struggling to make sure he is colled off a bit more. "You
remember where you are? Why you're here?"

Redd reaches Neelkan's bed in time to hear Espi's commands. Suddenly the
distant eyes are gone, he must have been holding the Void, only now he lost
it, and with it gone, his strength depletes. He collapses onto Neelkan's
bed, barely able to stay on the bed.

Alright... Neelkan is still not quite aware. And Espiria is talking to him,
and Redd is coming over the collapsing on his bed. He just looks around at
both of them. His face has cooled to the touch where the compresses was,
but it is still rather warm. "Bad... dream...?" He always has bad dreams.
He's had them for as long as he can remember... Hasn't he? His brain is
still jumbled. Where is he? "The... infirmary...?" he responds, his voice a
little uncertain. "I'm... sick?" this is about when Redd ends up on his
bed. Which isn't very big, so lightly the boy's half on him. His arm moves
to touch the boy's shoulder. "R--Redd?" Silly little brother.

Espiria frowns deeply, nodding to Neel as she takes hold of Redd gently to
try to at least get him back to his bed. She winces a bit, still feeling a
sharp pain from where she feel, but she manages to ignore it for the most
part. "That's...right...Neel." She puffs a bit, struggling with the nearly
passed out, if not completely passed out Redd. She sighs, only managing to
get him at least more stable on Neel's bed before she sighs. "You...were
locked in a fever dream, Neel. You were screaming and I had to wake you up
to get you out of it." She smooths back Redd's hair, sighing as she glances
around for a couple of Yellows to help get him back into his bed.

Redd carefully moves onto Neel's bed. He seems comfortable where he is, not
that the Yellows will let him stay though, but he wants to be close to
/someone/ at the moment.

"A... fever dream?" ... And there's a boy climbing onto his bed? Neelkan
just... puts his arm over the boy in an almost protective sense and mutters
to Espi, "It's fine if he stays 'ere a bit..." Poor little brother. The
young man with white streaked red hair tries to settle back a little,
getting in a less awkward and bruising position before adding. "I... I
don't remember... It's all jumbled..." His mind isn't the best at putting
the pieces together right now. Hopefully if the dream was important...
which it might have been... that he'll have it again.

Espiria sighs and nods, glancing around for just a moment. "It's alright,
Neel. You shouldn't try to right now. The fever is very high and it's
messing with how you think." She reaches over and rubs her hip again,
smiling gently. "Just try to relax and stay as calm as you can. You'll be
well soon and then the fever won't effect you again." She smiles,
forgetting her pains once more to replace the col compress to Neel's face.
"There....just relax and try not to feel too worried about not remembering.
The fever makes a mess out of memories, Neel. Makes a person see
things...sometimes even hears things that aren't there. It effects everyone
differently...."

Redd moves slowly so that he can be comfortable without making Neel
uncomfortable, then he turns his eyes to Espiria, wondering if she'll have
a Yellow move him or not.

Espiria sighs softly and glances back over to Redd with a tired grin. She
shakes her head to him, glancing around once more before she comments.
"If..you wanted to, Redd you can stay here with us. It's not like you're
not resting here. Just..try not to get up and walk around and I'm sure
noone will say anything for now about you staying. I know laying there all
alone for the most part is probably getting on your nerves. I know it would
get on mine.."

Redd nods quietly. He's being too silent to be the normal Redd, even if
he's sick.

Keeping his arm on the young boy laying on his bed now, Neelkan looks
around, brow still furrowed in confusion. At least he isn't screaming or
thrashing around anymore. He finally manages to just nod and say softly,
"A'right. I won't worry." About the dream. About the evident scene he
caused...but... he notices Espi rubbing her hip. "Ya a'right?"

Espiria tips her eyes back over to Neel nodding her head several times
before she smiles. "I'm...fine, Neel. Nothing to worry about. You just
relax and try to rest as much as you can." Her eyes glances over to the
prone figure of Redd who lays practiclly next to Neel. If only he hadn't of
tried to walk over here. She sighs softly, glancing around for Yellows or
maybe even an extra pair of hands to get Redd back to his own bed, but
she'll be patient. Redd certainly isn't happy being all alone where he was
and she can understand that. If only that cure they made had worked. She
frowns for just a moment, pondering how closely that plant and the one they
really needed looked. It just wasn't the right one. She sighs, reaching up
to take the compress from Neel's face and replacing it with a fresh one.

Varcel rouses a bit form his sleep, looking around wearily.

Denn'ryiel enters the infirmary at this time, carrying another basket full
of the herbs that have been used to help fight the plague. She smiles
weakly to Espiria, and looks down the cots in a worried manner.

Redd remains still on Neelkan's bed, he definately doesn't want to move.

Neelkan doesn't seem like he has any plans to make his adopted little
brother get off his bed either. He does however, seem concerned about Espi.
But his mind can't keep one thought very long, and though it was there,
even if only for a second, he wanted to ask her again if everything was
alright. But it is gone, and he shakes his head, trying to clear out his
head. The compress doesn't seem to be helping his head clear, though it
does help with the warmth on his face. "Don't... wanna rest..." he does
manage to get out in a soft grumble.

Espiria sighs softly, taking a compress now and placing it on Redd's
forehead as well. Can't neglect one for another. They all need attention.
She bites her lower lip, noting Denn's arrival with a smile and hopeful
gleam. 'Has any of the lookings found the herb as yet?', her eyes seem to
ask her. She glances to everyone in the rows, her own eyes tinging with
worry and sadness for them as Denn's first did when she entered before
Espi's eyes tip back to Neel for a moment. "It's alright, Neel. You don't
need to sleep right now...just rest. I know...sleep is something you don't
want to do, but if you rest at least it's something." Then her eyes travel
back to Denn in the hopes of some sign that it's been found...

Varcel watches Espiria work, quietly. He's too tired to feel much, but he
gets a little more content.

Denn'ryiel looks a little confused by Espiria's glance, since she left the
Tower before the cure was named. She starts preparing the next batch of
fruit juice and medicine. "Good afternoon, Espiria," she says in greetings.
Her eyes have a haunted quality that they didn't before. "Any news on the
plague?"

Redd looks up to Neelkan, whispering. "How... are you?" Each sound muttered
feels like someone is stabbing knives into his throat, and it is clear on
his face, but he speaks anyway.

"I... I don't..." Neelkan says softly, sounding tired, but he's trying hard
not to be. He shifts around until he's in a rather uncomfortable position,
without bothering Redd any. There. He won't be able to sleep with his elbow
shoved firmly under his ribs, "I.. I just.." he's rambling. Don't mind him.
"I'm fine..." he finally grumbles softly at Redd. He eventually decides to
glare at the ceiling, all until he hears Denn's voice. Then he props his
head up enough to see her. "'ey Denn..." Any news on the plague? It bites.
That's the news. Take it however you like. But he doesn't get that past his
lips, unfortunately as he starts to cough. He's able to cover his mouth
though so nothing gets on his little friend.

Espiria notes the look on Denn's face, frowning for a moment before she
glances at the pair next to her. "I'll be right back. You both just stay
put and rest as much as you feel you can. I won't be gone long." She
smiles, rising from the cot and heading quickly over to Denn. Her eyes dart
over to the sick ones in attendance before she lowers her voice to talk to
her. "We..thought we found the cure...not long ago. The plant was so close
to the one that...was drawn as needed for the cure. But..it was tried out
on one of the towns people and it wasn't it. It..held off the fever for a
few days, but it didn't really cure them." She sighs softly, "I had
thought..since you were back..that you might have heard if the teams that
had gone out reciently had found the right one." She sighs, feeling that
it's not the case though from the confused look she got from Denn. Her hand
motions to the Mere that Denn brought in with her, "They...the Mere's no
longer working for them, Denn'ryiel. They've grown used to it and the
illness is moving forward again. We don't have much time left..."

Varcel continues to watch Espiria. He's bordering on delirious, drugged up,
and foggy, so he consciously doesn't know why, but his radar defaults to
track her.

Redd coughs a few times himself, sounding as if each cough is tearing his
throat to pieces.