Gwenn carefully took Amadaine's body in both hands, relinquishing his hold on the wing. Moving the little hawk closer to Katie and said, "I will hold her still for you."
Kay gave a small nod. It had cost her much of her remaining energy to keep from crying out when Gwenn had touched Amadaine's wing. That would only have scared her menagerie (as well as poor Mestru Merrick upstairs with his headache). "Aye", she agreed anxiously, "I dinna ken how tae fix it meself ... an' somehow it hurts _ME_ when anyone touches her poor wing ... Louis here, is a doctor, and he says I've nae any broken bones of my own ... but every so often I can _FEEL_ bone rubbing against bone".
Gwenn looked over at the Terranan man. Of course! His presence made sense now. Of course, Kay would send for someone she knew to heal her.
The doctor watched Kay carefully. Was it possible that she was feeling what the _bird_ was feeling? He was so worried about that, that he didn't notice when some of his concern began to unconsciously radiate out into the room. Kay had earlier called this sort of thing 'psychic leakage' and had told him that it announced to any nearby fey-gifted folks that he was one of them.
Kay gave Louis a wry grin. "'Tis not as if I've one foot in the grave already, my friend", she said, trying to gently tease him out of what she saw as an excessive amount of worry. Then she added "It should be many more years before I welcome the warm embrace of my Goddess, and experience rebirth from the shelter of her arms".
Louis went out of his reverie. "Hum? I...actually, I was thinking about something else. And though I can see your physically hurt, I can also see emotionally you're very well". The tone of his voice was sarcastic and he looked aside. Why was he still there, in the first place? Subconsciously, his mental barriers closed firmly, like a natural protection.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have said that ... maybe that joke was a little bit too morbid for your tastes", Kay admitted. She'd apparantly made things worse instead of better. But at least he was no longer leaking -- which somewhat diminished the chaotic din in her head. She sighed, then added "And while I'm sorry that it's my fault that you got into this mess ... I'm glad that you're here"
Louis couldn't avoid a smile at that. "Let's do the following: you forgive me, and I forgive you, how's that for you?"
Kay grinned back at him and let out a small giggle, "I _STILL_ think that I did worse to you ... but ok, I agree".
"Hey, I said "no" to your proposal, I'm in debit too!", he said, smiling.
Kay blushed ... this seemed to be ANOTHER argument that nobody was likely to win. "Enough already. Some of my ideas are good. Others are ... not so well thought out...", she replied, grinning back.
Leaving Louis to distract Kay, Katie nodded to Gwenn, all eyes on the small quivering bundle of feathers in her hands. "Yes, please. That's a great help." She frowned, examining the wing without pulling on it. It wasdefinitely not right, and the lad's assessment was accurate. She took a breath, and looked into the golden orbs of the bird's eyes. "I'm sorry little one, I know this is going to hurt. Please forgive me."
Amadaine regarded this new she-human with great curiousity. A human healer had once examined her this way, back when she'd been a mere fluffy chick. But _this_ one was easier to read, though not as easy as mommy-human. *inquiry*...*need for healing*, she sent, as if she were talking to her own human.
But no answer came in reply. Katie didn't have the MacAran Gift; she was limited to her experience at reading body language. Being just a little hawk (and never having been joined with a human before), Amadaine didn't understand why the healer could talk to her without being able to hear any reply. She didn't realize that her link with Kay was what allowed her to pick out meaning from human-talk.
Gently Katie extended the wing again to see the extent of the damage, prepared for the bird to register her pain and distress, which it did. What she didn't expect was the hiss of pain from next to her, and the overwhelming sense of pain, almost mind-numbing, coming from...?
Kay abruptly pushed herself up from her seat with more strength than she'd thought she had. Lurching towards the sink, she made it there just in time to throw up violently into it. "By Avarra's Mercy ... NO MORE !", she cried out, hanging onto the counter and letting it support her entire weight. Her arms burned from the strain of her white-knuckled grip, but she didn't let go.
Melissa was by her side in seconds, supporting some of her weight, and gently wiping Kay's face with a cloth from the side of the sink. Dani supported her from the other side. Kay wasn't giving them any help. But between the two of them, they could easily manage her weight.
Katie looked up at Kay sharply and with surprise, as if the girl had just told her her old telecom number from back home. She then looked at Gwenn, and indicated the wing. "Can you hold it still, just like that?"
"Aye, vai leronis," Gwenn answered, gingerly supporting the hawk's small wing in the way she'd indicated. He had looked quickly at Kay when she moved to the sink, wanting desperately to go to her, but he wouldn't have been able to move the hawk without hurting her and risking further injury to the wing. He was somewhat relieved when Melissa and Dani attended to Kay.
"Shhh, Breda, it's OK", Melissa told Kay, "Come, let's go back and sit down - you can't stand like this. Is it OK now?".
Melissa then looked up at Katie, hoping that any further disturbance of the little bird's wing would be minimal. She was shocked that Kay was in rapport that closely with the animal - what in the world was going on?
The idea of a practitioner bonding with a familiar wasn't completely foreign to Dani's experiences. But she'd never had seen a connection that was _this_ intense, nor one that wasn't completely under the practioner's control. How had Kay done it ? And why ? Even a novice initiate should be able to comprehend the danger of blending to the point of risking loss of self-identity. If Kay hadn't looked so miserable already, Dani would have been tempted to add a few stern words about the importance of following safety measures. But there would surely be time for that at a later time.
Looking over at Kay, Katie frowned. "If you're going to stay in rapport with the bird, it will be easier for her, but worse for you. Can you put up at least some of a barrier to protect yourself from the worst of the pain?", she said.
Kay frowned right back at Katie. "THAT's much easier said than done ! I would if I could !", she protested irritably. She groaned, and closed her eyes for a moment while she rubbed her forehead. Then she explained, "_ALL_ of them are _IN_ my head ... not like _THIS_ before ... almost more than I can handle ... been there all morning and some of last night ... not much barrier left ... I know what's _ME_ ... but sometimes it's hard to tell what's NOT me ... especially when I'm asleep ... THAT'S why I can't go back to the Base yet ... right now, ANYONE could tell that I'm obviously NOT some mind-blind normal ... they'd report on me to the nearest Tower ... and I'm in no shape to do much to defend my independance from THEM".
Katie and Melissa exchanged glances of veiled concern - they were thinking the same thing, Katie was almost positive.
Kay obviously needed more help than they could give her. Yet it was going to be a problem to convince her that Towers were _NOT_ populated by demons and damned souls.