A Cure for Every Wound [Silk Suture] [Concluded]

[Silk Suture]

Silk Suture listened to her story, which could easily explain everything he needed to know. Now, he certainly didn't know much about the Everfree Forest – nor did that many others in any case – so he couldn't claim to be an expert on anything that she might have bumped into there. Something caught her, something that could screech and flutter. Honestly, that made it sound like a bat or something, but that was using normal world logic on something that happened in the Everfree Forest. So, it probably couldn't be used to make any sense of what happened. The pegasus could have given a lecture about how stupid it was to go in the forest alone and in the middle of the dark but well, that was better saved for the time when she wasn't in pain and already feeling miserable.

"I can't promise that, I'm afraid," the pharmacist replied, calm and collected. He didn't know how much it had hurt when Raven first got injured, but often getting something out was going to hurt more than when it went inside. The former was often slower, for one, something you could anticipate and make even worse in your mind. But, once the pain was over and the foreign object removed, it was usually already feeling a lot better.

And there definitely was something inside her. Silk could feel it as he moved his hooves, something slowly making its way up towards the open wound. Blood trickled out, just like everything that was in would eventually have to do when forced towards and opening. Even though Raven was hurt and most ponies would have liked to stop now, it was almost there. It would only take a bit more pressure, and–

Something popped out. Really popped, landing on the floor next to the pair. That was something that left the stallion speechless for a while.
"Well, looks like I won't be needing the tweezers," he finally said, cutting up a new piece of gauze to wrap and fold over a couple of time, which was then pressed against the bleeding wound once again,
"How are you doing there?" Silk Suture asked Raven, looking in the direction of her face as he gently put some pressure on the wound. He could also take a better look at what came out, and honestly, it looked like a claw of some sort. Unfortunately he wasn't really an Everfree Forest animal expert, but he could take a closer look at it a bit later.
"Still listening? How does it feel?" The pegasus asked, still wanting to make sure that she would respond or at least wake up if she was losing it.

[20monkies]

All the while Silk was dressing up her wound, Raven was out. The darkness had almost swallowed her as quickly as the light suddenly came rushing back like the ocean's wave. She was blinking away the motes that danced in front of her eyes, spots retreating behind her lids as quickly as they had appeared in her line of vision. What had happened? It took her a moment to gauge her surroundings. Black was sitting nose to nose with Raven, yowling and purring at the same time.

She couldn't feel the pain much anymore. Was there any pain? She tried to shift her wing, feeling Silk's hoof pressing down at her wound.

"What... " Silk's questions bombarded her all of a suddenly. She trembled a little, tucking her forelegs under her and rolling her shoulders a bit. There was no pinching, no tearing, no sign of something lodged in her joint. Raven glanced over her shoulder to see the other pegasus sitting there looking truly concerned at her. She nodded her head once.

"It feels... better. Much, better." Naturally, a smile crept up at the corners of her lips. Something she didn't do since coming into the shop, and clearly something she was able to do without hesitation. "What, was it?" She asked, curiousity overwhelming her. She tried to move again, realized it would be of no use, and settled back down with her head on the floor board. Once again, she felt vulnerable but at least the worst of it was over. Remembering her tea again, she leaned forward to drink from the cup, draining it.

Her mind was swirling, going back to the dark forest. There must be some sort of clue, some hint as to what had attacked her. She wouldn't be surprised if it were some sort of oversized bat or even a snake that had jumped up and bitten her. She wouldn't be able to fly for a couple of days, and that meant she was out of commission until she was better.

[Silk Suture]

Silk Suture looked at the mare, noticing her testing how her shoulders worked now. She wasn't wincing in any way and Raven did confirm his suspicion. The wound didn't hurt the way it did anymore, feeling much better now than the sharp claw was out of it.
"Seems to be a part of a claw of some sort," he responded as the mare questioned what exactly had been lodged into her flesh,
"You can take a better look at it later, if you wish. It was good that you came over and we got it out, otherwise it would have greatly hindered your healing," the pegasus continued, glancing at the white, sharp object next to him. Some closer look at it might have been a good idea, there was still no guarantee that it wasn't a venomous animal of some sort...

"I am going to start cleaning the wound up now. The warm water might sting a bit, but it's important we get to clean and disinfect the wound. Especially because what hurt you was most likely rather dirty, living in the forest," Silk turned towards one of the bowls of water he had brought up, washing his hooves after he removed them and the gauze from Raven's wound. What they had just done was a good amount of time to let the water cool from its boiling point, making it nice and warm instead of scalding hot. The other bowl of clean water was reserved for cleaning the wound itself, soon finding a piece of cloth to be submerged in it. With a gentle touch, the wet cloth was brought over to the wound and the pharmacist started to clean it and the surrounding area, making sure that he got the wound cleaned before starting to clean her pelt as well.

"I will still disinfect the wound, this will hurt some, but try to get through it," the pegasus said after a moment of silence with that usual professional cool tone of his, setting aside the dirty, wet cloth to pour some disinfectant over a new one, which was then pressed up against the wound. There was little he could do to make sure it didn't hurt at all, but he dabbed it gently, lifting it in the air to make the sting stop.
"I also have this excellent salve here with me, which should speed up the healing and hopefully ease the pain a bit. I can use it before I dress the wound, if you wish," Silk Suture spoke up again as he continued dabbing the wound with disinfectant, his eyes focused on the job he had in front of him.

[20monkies]

The truth in Silk's words made her feel a little guilty. It was definitely good she had him look at her, but she felt that the problem she caused was from her own selfishness and not paying attention to her own safety. If she had gone in the day time, things could have turned out better. After all, she didn't have to get the berries and ferns tonight. It wasn't even necessary and urgent.

"I didn't think my actions through tonight." she uttered suddenly, realizing the weight of her own words. She always thought before she acted, and tonight shouldn't have been an exception. "I was caught up with keeping occupied that I didn't realize my consequences ahead of time." Her wing twitched under Silk's care and gentle touch, the stinging not so bad anymore. She could feel some semblance of ease returning to her body, despite how exhausted she still was. The tea must have been kicking in. She took in a deep breath and bit down on the inside of her cheek, grunting a little as Silk tended and treated her. Before dressing her wound, though, he wanted to use some salve and Raven turned to look up at the pegasus once again with curiousity and awe.

"I would greatly appreciate the salve. Thank you." She wasn't sure how she would repay his kindness - sometimes money wasn't worth the cost of such a life saving act. Still, there must be something she could do for Silk Suture. She finally decided to take in her surroundings and noticed some empty shelves, and some stocked shelves too. A lot of labelled products that looked familiar made her want to actually go through each bottle and vial, every package and eat up the words written on them. She had never been in a pharmacy before, and was quite intrigued considering she knew of many natural remedies herself.

There was still some pain, but it was a dull throb as compared to before. Black decided to saunter over to Silk's side and paw at the salve herself, sniffing at it cautiously. Raven heard the light clattering and hushed at the cat.

"Black, don't touch that. You know better..." the cat listened to her, darting away from Raven and disappearing somewhere in the house. Raven lifted her head up higher to see where the cat had gone. Most likely to find a hiding place to sleep.

[Silk Suture]

Silk looked at the mare as she started to speak, guilty of what she had done. Well, he couldn't really argue against that, she hadn't really done the smartest thing today, going to the Everfree Forest alone – and in the middle of the night! That spelled disaster for any pony, weak or strong. She could be berated for her stupidity, but really, she understood it herself. There was no need to repeat what she already knew and that self-realization was something the pegasus could appreciate. It was wise.
"Things happens and past mistakes are there for us to learn about them," Silk Suture returned his gaze to the task at hand, disinfecting the wound,
"What is truly thoughtless is letting the lesson go to waste and repeat the same mistake."

The pharmacist nodded as Raven liked the idea of the salve, turning towards the glass jar he had brought with him already, just in case. Her cat had found it a bit too interesting however, but the mare easily got her pet to listen and scamper off. Silk popped the jar open, taking some of its contents on his hoof which was then gently slathered over the wound. The light green cream was soft and easy to apply, quite cool to the touch. Hopefully it would help the mare.

Silk Suture wiped his hooves after applying the salve, starting to get the wound dressed with clean hooves.
"Tell me if I'm wrapping it too tight," he requested as the gauze was finally being wrapped around the wound, doing his best to make sure it was comfortable, wrapping it with care and skill. It was a skill he did have, something that he had trained.
"There. Right now you should rest and try not to push yourself too hard, so the wound will heal. You're going to need to change the gauze and reapply salve, say, twice a day," the pegasus instructed as the wound was nicely wrapped up and protected, so it could heal in peace. He looked over at the smaller scratches on the mare's legs.
"I can clean those as well, if you wish, though you can also do it yourself. The smaller scratches don't really need anything else, but it's a good idea to clean them now so they don't get infected, either."

[20monkies]

"Of course." She nodded her head, listening to him in silence. At least the other wasn't accusing her of such stupidity - she had admitted to her own fault and that was that. She would never do the same mistake again, and if she did... she wasn't sure how she would live with herself. She would probably move off elsewhere where no other pony knew who she was and just live in hiding for the rest of her life. Her ego and pride were what kept her going, as was the hope that her mother was still somewhere...

Just as soon as the other was done with his work, and instructed her on the care of herself, she took it upon herself to pick up a couple of the clothes and bowls of water to wipe away the small scratches along her legs.

"I should be fine doing this myself. You have already done so much for me, I can't thank you enough." At least the smaller ones were scabbing and healing on their own, she just needed to cleanse them so no infection occured. Once she was done, she put a couple of the bowls together with her hoofs and attempted to help clean up some of the supplies from her spot on the floor. It felt quite awkward resting in the middle of the shop, thinking it better to perhaps move off to the side so she wasn't in the way. She once again attempted to stand up on her hooves, slowly pushing one hoof out in front of the other before giving herself a push from behind.

She trembled, quivering in her place. "I'm just going to help you, if thats okay." her wings were folded back against her, keeping her balanced. Taking a couple of steps forward, she knew a good nights rest would have her up and running again. Not that she wanted to do any running for a while. She picked up her empty bowl of tea with her mouth so that he didn't need to pick it up for her.

[Silk Suture]

Silk Suture nodded as the mare said she could handle the rest of her smaller wounds, happily letting her do that when she was perfectly capable of doing so. She wasn't just a little filly, and she clearly wanted to do things her way. Letting her do something would be easier for both of them in the long run, some could react quite... Badly when they weren't allowed to do a thing.
"I'm just doing my job, so any elaborate thank yous are hardly necessary," the pegasus replied calmly, not really trying to brush off her gratitude, but she shouldn't feel the need to feel like she owed him something. That could get awkward for both them quite fast.

The stallion grabbed the tweezers he had brought with him in his mouth and picked up the piece of a claw that had been removed from Raven's wound earlier, still lying on the ground next to them. He was going to clean up anyways, so might as well start from putting the piece that might very well get lost out of the way, somewhere safe. Perhaps it could be useful to hold onto it for a while, so for now Silk brought it over to the counter in the corner, placing it over the surface before heading back to the mare to get the rest of the supplies cleaned and out of the way.

Silk didn't exactly need help nor was he asking for any, not spending any extra effort to hurry from place to place but instead taking his time. A little glance was given to Raven as she started to rise back up on her hooves, her legs shaking.
"Careful there," the pharmacist warned her, still not outright objecting to her help,
"You should be resting," he reminded her, hoping that she wouldn't push herself too hard now just because she wanted to help. She was allowed to carry the small things if she really wanted to, but Silk Suture was having it under control, carrying bowl back to the kitchen. He was going to need to clean the floor later...
"Do you live far?"

[20monkies]

Raven wasn't sure where exactly Black had gone to - most likely hiding under a shelf or behind boxes. She wasn't too concerned, as long as the cat came to her when she called out. Raven maneuvered herself slowly and steadily, taking careful steps so that she wasn't stumbling and crashing into anything. In no time, the tools and bowls were gathered and put away and what was left was the blood on the floor to clean up.

Her muscles seemed to be getting a little better over time, the overexertion wearing off. It was still the middle of the night, no doubt about it, and she was sure the other needed to get some rest too. Raven sat in front of the counter where Silk placed the piece of claw and stared at it. It didn't look like anything she was familiar with - there was always something new to discover in the Forest, after all. She pushed back here sweeping black bangs with her hoof and sighed, aware of the other asking her a question.

"No... well, not exactly." Raven took in a breath, straightening her line of thought. Of course she wasn't going to go out and sleep out under the stars in her condition. Although it didn't sound bad at all. "To be honest, I've only been in Ponyville for a few days. I've visited and stayed at a couple of other ponies homes, but not for long." She sideglanced at the other pegasus, a little bit nervous. What was there to be nervous about? The stallion had just fixed up her wound - something no other pony had done before. She had even allowed it.

"You must be very tired yourself. It is very late."

[Silk Suture]

Silk Suture frowned as Raven replied, having stopped a short distance away from her to speak after everything lying around was cleaned off the floor. His eyes on the mare, he understood that there was a bit of a predicament here. Now, a pony like him couldn't really understand why someone would want to make major plans such as living in a new place without first making some very important arrangements... Such as actually getting a house to live in. But it was a bit too late to cry about that. She was new to town – newer than him, in fact – and didn't have a permanent place to stay in. Just great.

"And there's no place for you to stay tonight?" The pegasus sighed, not really betting on things to be arranged that easily. It was late, there really wasn't that much they could do to get her a bed and a roof above her head. Most other ponies were already sleeping and asking for favors wasn't really anything either of them could do.
"There is no way you can spend the night outside, however," Silk let her know right away, not allowing a patient to do something like that when they had just been injured and needed rest. He was very against it and really, that would sort of go against everything he had been taught this far. It wasn't an option.

A dry chuckle escaped the stallion's throat as Raven expressed concern for his state. Well yes, it was late and he should have gone to sleep ages ago, but she was the one who was injured here – not really her job to worry about others, really.
"Trust me, this little meeting of ours has been exciting enough for me to not even feel tired," Silk Suture's mouth formed a small smile, for just a short moment. Perhaps his eyes looked tired enough that him actually staying up for a bit too late was usual...
"If there is no other place for you to stay, there is no way I could throw you out on the streets. I have a second bedroom that I haven't used for anything yet, so you can use that, if you wish."

[20monkies]

It was true that being a pegasus, she could conjure up a cloud, or even borrow one from the sky, and use it as a pillow to sleep upon. Being up in the sky would have been a great idea, except... she only had one working wing at the moment. Otherwise she would have most likely done just that in this situation.

"No, I don't like to stay in one place for too long." She admitted her wandering ways right there. She also never felt right being a freeloader. If she could do any little thing, she would. She turned around to face the other properly now, her tail curled by her side as she sat on her hind legs, forelegs supporting her up. Hearing the chuckled was contagious enough to make her smile. "But I'm sure a good nights rest will have you feeling fresh. Perhaps we can examine this claw in the morning and have a clearer mind about it? There must be a book about the monsters of the Everfree Forest at the library..."

His offer to stay in the spare bedroom came up, and she knew he would have offered. It was something any pony would do - unless they were really gloomy and liked being on their own. Despite her choices in life, she would have preferred the company if she could help it. She blushed, a light pink shade, and looked away for a moment to think. She always stayed at a mare's home, never a stallions. It was something she was comfortable with but given the circumstances - what chances did she have to find another place to stay for the night?

Looking up at Silk, she nodded her head almost too firmly to acknowledge his offer. Her iceblue eyes gazed off towards the stairs, where the bedrooms must have been.

"I really appreciate it. If it's not too much trouble, I should probably look for Black, too..." She just wanted to make sure it was alright before she went off looking around another ponies private property. She went to where her saddlebag was and picked it up, dragging it across the floor carefully. She shouldn't have been pushing herself, but she felt like she could do it.

[Silk Suture]

It was hard for Silk Suture to blame anyone for not getting a more permanent home if they traveled a lot, but it still had its disadvantages that came to light in situations like these. Not that he even understood such life – not that he even really tried – but it was a bit worrisome. Hopefully Raven would learn something very important from today...
"I would assume so," the pharmacist nodded in agreement as the mare was certain that the library would have a book about the fauna of Everfree Forest. Most likely, seeing that there also were books about its flora, though assuming that absolutely everything would be found in a book about such a mysterious place would be foolish. There was a lot of things no one had seen, surely. Even more things no one could explain or get a good enough look at. And easily the information could be wrong if the writer was mistaken... That's just about the kind of a place the Everfree Forest was, misleading and dangerous.

"I am more of a botanist than a zoologist, so I can't say I've ever really looked for books like that," Silk admitted,
"But finding out what exactly attacked you would do no harm. It could, in fact, prevent it," he continued, not really seeing anything wrong with her plan for the morning. Of course, he had a store he had to keep running so reading books wasn't going to be able to be his main point of focus when dealing with customers, but he opened a bit later in the day anyways, to give him some time in the mornings to do something else. Or just wake up a bit later, right now he might have needed that...

Raven was willing to stay over, which was probably for the best. He could keep an eye on her to make sure she wasn't going to hurt herself more and being indoors was always a good idea for someone who was injured. Tomorrow was another day and they'd see how well the mare was doing in the morning.
"Right, your pet," the pegasus said once Raven mentioned Black, the cat that had managed to leave somewhere a bit earlier. As long as nothing was going to be broken – the shelves did have a lot of jars that would break if dropped – he didn't really worry about the cat.
"Can't have gone too far, seeing that the doors are closed," Silk Suture reminded the mare, looking at her as she started to drag her saddlebags around.
"How about I take those? We're going to have to go upstairs soon enough."

[20monkies]

Silk was right. It could be a plant too, a rather large one at that. For now, she didn't want to think about it. All she wanted was to curl up and go to sleep and recover from her exhausting and adventurous night. Her body was giving away yet she kept pushing herself.

"We can definitely look into both. See if there are such books available. I'm sure we'll be able to find something."

Raven gladly accepted the help that Silk was offering her to take up her saddlebags.
"Thank you." she was blushing with all the attention the other was giving her, it made her feel slightly embarrassed. Thankfully she would feel better in the morning that she could handle many things on her own. She waited for Silk to lead the way before following after him, once again taking slow steps. If the doors were closed, then most likely Black was curled up in the corner of the hall somewhere and thats exactly where the cat was. She blended into the dark shadows so it was difficult to see where she really was, until she opened her eyes.

"There you are!" Raven exclaimed. Black mrowed and stood up, stretched, and then dashed forward to greet Raven. She bent her muzzle down to meet the cats face and gently nuzzled her little head. The cat looked up at her and was meowing, inquiring, and Raven reassured the small creature that she was feeling better and doing much better.

"We'll be resting here for the night. Silk was kind enough to offer up his room. We will see how my wing is doing in the morning. We've got some research to do." The cat seemed to understand her plan and acknowledged it by rubbing up against Raven's legs, curling around and between then.

[Silk Suture]

Silk Suture wasn't planning for tomorrow very heavily yet. There were some things he had to do and when it came to Raven, they would actually have see what her condition was. It was always possible that she would get worse – not something the pegasus was hoping for or even thinking that it was most likely to happen, but it wasn't good to be too sure about anything yet. Time would tell and it, well, took time for time to pass. Tomorrow was another day and what happened then was going to be the deciding factor.

The stallion nodded as Raven agreed for him to carry her saddlebags, not wasting any time before he grabbed them and placed them on his back, carrying them for the rest of the way. As she seemed to be following, Silk started to head towards the stairs in the corner, walking upstairs. Slowly, glancing behind him to make sure the mare was still keeping up and not suddenly losing her consciousness while climbing the stairs – that would have been quite dangerous.

Well, perhaps the house would have better been described as a one and a half story house, as the roof came down and acted as the side walls, slanted. That did eat some of the usable floor space, but Silk Suture wasn't exactly a pony who needed a lot of space. The stairs took them to a small loft that had two doors, leading to two other rooms of course. Raven's meeting with her cat was observed for a moment, quietly, before the pharmacist walked past her and opened the door on the right.

"Right, well, I only just moved in here myself," the pegasus spoke up as he walked into the room, empty except for the bed in the corner,
"And I was thinking an extra bedroom could make for a good office of sorts, but I haven't had any time to get it set up yet," the room's rather empty nature was explained. He didn't really need this much room, but more storage space and an area to work in did sound pleasant to the pony who did make his own medicine.
"But it was a good thing I didn't get rid of the bed."

[20monkies]

Raven was grateful to have found Silk. He had helped her in the most dire of situations, and was also providing a place for her to rest. She was feeling ever in debt to the pegasus, given the circumstances. She wasn't sure how she was going to repay him as she didn't have a lot of money. This was hardly the time to even mention it. Maybe in the morning, she would do something for him if she was feeling up to it.

When the other opened the door to the room with just the bed, listening to the other explain his plans for the room, she thought of an idea. There was something she could help him out with!

"It would make a lovely office." She commented, watching as her cat bound off to settle down on the bed before she even got there. Raven turned to Silk and smiled at him as he had set her saddlebags by the door.

"Thank you, again." She said, yawning a little. "I suppose I'll see you in the morning now."

Raven went into her bag to take out a small blanket she kept handy and took it over to the bed, tossing it over Black before she would curl up beside her pet. A good nights rest was waiting for her, and she was sure Silk was just about ready to hit the hay as well. Morning wasn't that far away, quite sure that sleep would last well into the afternoon. Whenever she would wake up, she knew she would have to check up on herself first before she went about doing anything. And Silk was sure to do a once over on her wing before determining the state of her condition.

((you can fast forward time in your next post. ))

[Silk Suture]

Silk Suture just glanced at the mare, not quite sure if he could see the room when it was actually furnished like she seemed to think she did. It was still just an empty canvas so to speak, something that would just have to look good in the end and actually work as intended. It wasn't a room that was supposed to be seen by anyone except him, so it didn't have to look too good... But it was certain that the pony would keep it clean, at least...
"Good night," the pegasus replied, nodding his head after the saddlebags were lowered on the floor,
"At least try to get some sleep, it'll do a lot to help you," he added before turning around and walking out of the room, closing the door behind him. Hopefully Raven would be able to sleep and at least Silk did his best to be as quiet as he could to help in that. However, he couldn't quite go to sleep just yet, having to still go downstairs to wash the floors – not something he wanted to leave for the morning, really, and there was no way he could have customers walk in with all that mess right there out in the open.

It took a while, but finally the pegasus managed to get some sleep. To make up for it, he did sleep a bit later than he usually did, but still woke up in time to actually open his shop. Silk Suture didn't go and try to wake the mare, in fact he still made as little sound as possible so she could sleep in as late as she wanted – or needed, like it probably was in this case. Of course, once the store was actually open, the pharmacist couldn't ask anyone to be quiet and customers would be as noisy as they had to be. Of course, there was no need to shout or anything, but the house was certainly a bit more louder once someone else was there to talk with the stallion.

Some days it was busier, other days the shop was quieter. This day had started a bit busy, but soon proved to be a rather quiet one, making the silence fall to the house once again. Not that Silk minded, peace and quiet every now and then was only appreciated. He stayed downstairs, waiting and ready to help those who came to him behind his counter. While it wasn't good for his business, less ponies needing him was just a pleasant thing in the end, as it meant less injuries and sickness. But the world would always need pharmacists...