Nurse-Doctor

[Kalaira Darus]

Walking slowly up the stairs Kalaira knew it was time; time to introduce herself to the new nurse-doctor. She was a little nervous, the last nurse always seemed too preoccupied. But, Kalaira was accident prone, she knew this better then anyone else, and right now, for some reason her ribs were giving her a little trouble. She had been told that it might happen since most of the damage in her torso area had been caused by the dark arts, and may never completely heal. But breathing was important and she'd been putting this off for two days.

Outside the hospital wings doors Kalaira paused and just stared. Not often had she been here on her own two feet. Usually someone was carrying her, unconscious. Though her breathing was kind of shallow, one from the walk up and two because it didn't hurt as much, Kalaira was still afraid to take the next step. What if the new nurse-doctor was mean, poked and probed roughly, or said mean things like she must have deserved it...Kalaira shivered. 'No. Head Master Witchard would never hire someone on like that. Never.' She trusted Head Master Witchard's judgement implicitly.

Carefully Kalaira eased the hospital doors open with a look of confidence and determination plastered to her face. She walked into the room and looked around expecting to see the new nurse-doctor standing right before her doing some odd job or another. But she didn't see anyone. She wondered if maybe he'd stepped out, and if he did, what she should do...leave or stay put? Kalaira was certain that she didn't want to deal with all those stairs again so soon, so she decided to stay.

"Hello?" Kalaira called out, with a small squeak of pain at the end. She cleared her throat and tried again, "Hello? Nurse-Doctor? Are you in and able to see patients?"

[Sean Thaumbery]

Sean stood in the back of the hospital wing behind a cloth screen that blocked off a cot from sight. There was a student that had been burned badly by a beast in Care of Magical Creatures, and he had spent the last few hours tending to the damage that had been wrought on the poor boy's skin. It was the kid's own fault, really, from what he'd been told by the boy's friends and the professor, but that didn't mean Sean felt any less sympathy for the child. Pain was pain, and he was doing his best to make sure the boy felt as little as possible.

He had just given the student a sleeping draught, re-checked the bandages, and drawn the covers up over him when he heard the heavy clinic doors creaking open. He raised his head, setting down the potion goblet on the bedside table.

"Hello?" Kalaira called out, with a small squeak of pain at the end. She cleared her throat and tried again, "Hello? Nurse-Doctor? Are you in and able to see patients?"

Sean gently stroked the hair out of the boy's face as he sighed and rolled over, then slipped out from behind the screen and headed out to the girl standing in the middle of the clinic. She was a slight, tiny thing, with a shock of red hair that seemed bolder than her personality, judging by her expression. She looked hesitant, like she was trying to gather up courage.

He smiled warmly at her. He didn't like the idea that any student felt like they had to gather up courage to see him, of all people. He wanted to be someone that students felt comfortable talking with and going to when they had any problems he could help with. Doctors had to be trustworthy.

"Always, Miss...?" He raised his eyebrows slightly. She didn't seem to be in any actual medical peril, but he could never be sure at first glance. "What can I do for you today?"

[Kalaira Darus]

Ok, the rumors were right. The new Nurse doctor was Hot! All Kalaira could do was stare. Brody who?

"Always, Miss...?" He raised his eyebrows slightly. She didn't seem to be in any actual medical peril, but he could never be sure at first glance. "What can I do for you today?"

His question startled Kalaira out of her stupor. "Oh! I'm Kalaira. Kalaira Darus. I probably have the fattest file in your office. I'm just a smidgen accident prone, and I went through a lot of trouble last year...well, the end of my first year to the beginning of last year. Though I had been up here several times before I had disappeared after Christmas my first year. OH!" Kalaria sighed, and took a deep breath. Not only was he a doctor, which doctors always made her nervous, but he was a Hot doctor and that was making her all flustered, "My file probably explains it all! I was also suppose to come up and ask if you had received the medical files from both St. Mungo's and muggle doctors that had treated me over the summer. I understand that the muggle files are probably useless to a Wizarding doctor but being from a muggle family we just wanted to be thorough. I wouldn't even be surprised if Head Master Witchard had already given you heads up about me; a basic run down of what happened...not that I'm trying to make myself important enough to be on such intimate terms with the Head Master..." Sigh. Kalaira hung her head in defeat, "I'm sorry. I'm babbling. My ribs are hurting. The information should be in my file. I also just wanted to came up here and introduce myself before arriving here like I always seem to do; unconscious."

[Sean Thaumbery]

For a moment after he greeted her, the girl just stared at him with the strangest expression on her face. He waited patiently for her to snap out of it. It wasn't as if he didn't have experience with out-of-sorts patients, and he was never one to intentionally make children feel bad. After a moment, his patience was rewarded, and she blinked back into reality with a start.

"Oh! I'm Kalaira. Kalaira Darus. I probably have the fattest file in your office. I'm just a smidgen accident prone, and I went through a lot of trouble last year...well, the end of my first year to the beginning of last year. Though I had been up here several times before I had disappeared after Christmas my first year. OH!"

She'd managed to say the entire thing in what sounded like a single breath. He was rather impressed, really, at her lung capacity, and her apparent inability to stop speaking. He smiled faintly in amusement. She reminded him of his cousin's young daughter, a slight little thing, more like a rabbit or a fawn than a girl, all twitchy nose and warm fuzziness and long, gangly legs to get tangled up in.

She gave a sigh that sounded like she was exasperated with herself, then continued. "My file probably explains it all! I was also suppose to come up and ask if you had received the medical files from both St. Mungo's and muggle doctors that had treated me over the summer. I understand that the muggle files are probably useless to a Wizarding doctor but being from a muggle family we just wanted to be thorough. I wouldn't even be surprised if Head Master Witchard had already given you heads up about me; a basic run down of what happened...not that I'm trying to make myself important enough to be on such intimate terms with the Head Master..." Here she broke off in another sigh of frustration. He simply smiled patiently and allowed her to finish. "I'm sorry. I'm babbling. My ribs are hurting. The information should be in my file. I also just wanted to came up here and introduce myself before arriving here like I always seem to do; unconscious."

"That's quite alright, Miss Kalaira." He smiled again to show her that he was anything but upset by her babbling nature. He always refused to call students by their last names, like all the professors did - he thought it distanced him too much from them, and he wanted to be someone they could come to and trust - but he kept the titles of 'miss' and 'mister' to show them that he still respected them. "In fact, I spent the first few days here reading through everyone's files so that I wouldn't be caught by surprise. So there's nothing to worry about on that account, though it was very thoughtful of you to drop by and warn me."

"So let's focus on those ribs, shall we? Where exactly do they hurt, and what kind of pain? Burning, stabbing, aching...? Is it constant, or only when they move?"

[Kalaira Darus]

"That's quite alright, Miss Kalaira." He smiled again to show her that he was anything but upset by her babbling nature. He always refused to call students by their last names, like all the professors did - he thought it distanced him too much from them, and he wanted to be someone they could come to and trust - but he kept the titles of 'miss' and 'mister' to show them that he still respected them. "In fact, I spent the first few days here reading through everyone's files so that I wouldn't be caught by surprise. So there's nothing to worry about on that account, though it was very thoughtful of you to drop by and warn me."


Kalaira smiled at how polite this nurse doctor seemed to be. She appreciated his patience. She had run into one too many doctors who got annoyed and frustrated with her babblely nature and pretty much told her to shut up and only talked to her parents. It frustrated them more when her parents would shrug their shoulders and told the doctors to ask the patient.

"So let's focus on those ribs, shall we? Where exactly do they hurt, and what kind of pain? Burning, stabbing, aching...? Is it constant, or only when they move?"

Kaliara snorted a laugh, then tried to cover it up with a smile and a polite laugh. Where does it hurt! How funny. Not knowing how else to answer Kalaira lifted up her shirt and turned in a slow circle. Evidence of the dark arts use on her tiny body was everywhere. Scars laced her whole torso. Weird little bumps and distortions were visible along where her ribs lie; on both sides of her too skinny body.

"Basically when I was being tortured, the guy kept breaking my ribs. This was their attempt at healing. All the muggle doctors want to do surgery; to rebreak them, file off the excess growth and reset them. The Wizarding doctors are having some troubles mending the damage because its already healed and some of the damage was caused by the dark arts. The problem is that they're still super tender. I get bumped wrong in the halls and I get a stabbing pain up one side or the other. I have a far run to make it from class to class and they, and my lungs, burn. I sleep wrong and they ache. I sit wrong and they ache. Sometimes sleeping and sitting causes sharp stabs, if I slouch or move wrong. The pain is never constant anymore. As long as I'm careful they're not a problem. But, in the busy traffic and long distant journeys around the school..." Kalaira shrugged, "starting to have a few problems again."

Kalaira felt like she'd given this speech a thousand times, a few modifications here and there for the muggle doctors, but on the whole, the same boring speech. Well, except for the bumps in the halls and long distance runs from class to class, but similar enough. She just hoped this guy could actually do something. She hated the fact that she was so disfigured. She wanted to look pretty and normal again. But Kalaira knew the scars were permanent, they weren't going anywhere. The St. Mungo doctors had removed all the marks and scars not caused my the dark arts, but plenty still remained. And because all the problems were focused mostly around her ribs, and pressure that was being put on her lungs, everyone was tip toeing around what to do to help the issue.

Kalaira was sure most of this information was in her file, and if the nurse doctor had actually read her file like he said he had, she was certain the information was flooding back into his mind. She just hoped that he could at least help her, somehow.

"So can you help me Nurse-Doctor?"

[Sean Thaumbery]

Kalaira seemed to relax a little bit when Sean reassured her. That was good. His job would be difficult if she was ill at ease around him, especially if she was as frequent a visitor to the hospital wing as her files and her previous statements indicated. Trust was vital to the medical profession; no headway could be made unless a patient believed that their doctor or nurse cared for them, were competent in their field, and honestly wanted to help. If they didn't, then physicians could shout until they were blue in the face and it wouldn't do any good.

When he asked more about her ribs, though, she gave a cynical sort of laugh through her nose. It was only an instant later when she attempted to stifle it and pretend it didn't happen with a more socially acceptable smile, but Sean had seen her first reaction and raised an eyebrow.

When she raised her shirt and showed him, it elucidated the situation nicely. For a moment, his nearly permanent smile slipped off and he frowned deeply, eyes following the scars that danced across her skin like lines on a map, surrounding and emphasizing worrying ridges over her ribcage. He didn't like this, not one bit. Sean loved all of his patients - it was a necessary quality to do his job well - but he loved children especially. Normally wounds on his students didn't bother him very much, due to the simple fact that he was there to fix them and make them better. But this...

She went on to describe to him everything that had happened to bring about the horrid marks on her torso. He had, of course, heard of the injuries themselves, as they were listed in her patient file. However, personal narratives were not. He had known of the injuries themselves and the problems that they caused her, but no more than that. Medical documentation was not given to long explanations and recollections. So her tale was news to him.

The longer she spoke, the further the corners of his lips sunk. He wasn't upset with her, of course - as if any of this was her fault - but the man who had done this to her... Sean was not a violent or argumentative person, not by half. He was a very forgiving fellow who would take a shocking amount of abuse towards himself and shrug it off. But there were a few people out there who had managed to get onto his bad side, and for them, he had no mercy. The man who had done this was swiftly finding his way into that exclusive club. He didn't know who was responsible, but if he ever were to run into them, they would be sorry. This sort of torture was reprehensible at best when performed upon another adult, but upon a child - well. Sean pushed aside tempting thoughts of Azkaban. There was work to be done here.

"So can you help me, Nurse-Doctor?"

He looked back to her, a hand resting just below his chin. After a moment, the frown disappeared, replaced again by his usual smile. "Well, I'm certainly going to do my best!"

"Now, if I may..." he stepped over towards her and gently probed one of the protruding portions of her ribs. He softly explored the topography of several of the wounds before withdrawing his hands to allow her to let her shirt down again. "I can see why your muggle doctors wanted to rebreak and file these. Were they caused by muggle means, I would advise that myself. Since they weren't, however, that's not a viable option. Intruding upon the remnants of dark magic with muggle science is always a dangerous solution. Still, just poking them with wands and hoping they'll heal isn't doing any good, either."

"You mentioned trouble breathing at some points - that was one of the problems listed in your file. Clearly these spurs on your ribs are impeding your lungs. I'd like to see exactly how much, if you don't mind. It's an easy test; I give you a bottle of aspirated potion. You breathe it in, hold your breath as long as you can, then exhale onto a page for me. Sound alright to you?" Sean always gave patients the option of treatments as long as it wasn't a situation of immediate harm. Kalaira had lived with these wounds for quite some time. She was clearly not in danger of dying from them. She had sought him out for help on her own. And she was a competent, intelligent girl; she was capable of making decisions for herself.

[Kalaira Darus]

'Wow!' Kalaira thought to herself, 'A Doctor who actually knows what he's doing!'

At the suggestion of the easy test Kalaira nodded her head enthusiastically, willing to do whatever it takes to feel better. The idea of no longer being in pain, to be able to run and play with the other students, to be able to finally put this whole experience behind her, with no daily reminders, made Kalaira excited to proceed in whichever direction this handsome Nurse-Doctor believed was best. The idea that she would no longer have to be ashamed of her body made Kalaira smile a wide smile of joy as she waited for the Nurse-Doctor to go gather the paper for his test.

As Kalaira thought about the description the Nurse-Doctor gave of the test, she realized that she probably wouldn't be able to hold her breath very long. Any deep breath hurt, but trying to hold it? Kalaira shook her head, she didn't think she could, though she had never thought of trying it either.

"Doc? Am I suppose to hold my breath as long as possible? Or as long as I can? Or when I feel pain let it out again? Because if I wanted I could hold my breath and just put up with the pain...I think. I can put up with a lot of pain now; it bothers me but I can ignore it, tolerate it."

[Sean Thaumbery]

Sean was pleased to see that Kalaira seemed eager to try his spirometry test. There were so many people with chronic problems that wanted to be rid of their issues, but weren't willing to do what was necessary to actually heal them. She nodded and smiled enthusiastically.

"Great! Then let's get started." He smiled back warmly, then went to one of his many storage cabinets. After a moment of rummaging, he came up with a sheet of purple-tinted parchment and a small bottle of clear potion.

"Doc? Am I suppose to hold my breath as long as possible? Or as long as I can? Or when I feel pain let it out again? Because if I wanted I could hold my breath and just put up with the pain...I think. I can put up with a lot of pain now; it bothers me but I can ignore it, tolerate it."

He turned back to look to Kalaira. "That's a very good question, Miss Kalaira. The goal of this test is to see how much air your lungs can hold on a day-to-day basis. Since you aren't using your full capacity because of the pain, I want you to hold it as long as you would normally be able to put up with before you let it out because of the pain. Alright?"

He uncorked the potion and pulled out his wand, sticking it down the neck of the potion bottle and stirring it. He tapped it lightly on the edge of the bottle top, then handed it to her. "Breathe in. It might feel a little funny, but it won't hurt you. Promise." He unfolded the paper and held it up about a foot in front of her. "When you've reached your limit, breathe out onto this. Easy peasy." He said with another smile.

[Kalaira Darus]

Smiling at the handsome Nurse-Doctor Kalaira took the vial of potion from him and looked down at it. The idea made her a little nervous, but if it meant that this man could find an easier solution then the ones already given to her, she'd be willing to try anything.

With that thought in mind Kalaira brought the vial up to her face. Even before she'd really taken a whiff of the stuff she was starting to feel a little...strange. Not knowing how deeply to go, Kalaira started to inhale the potion. She didn't get far though, she did breath till she hurt a tad. It was about a 2 second inhale; it couldn't even be considered a deep breath for that was how shallow her lungs were working right now. That's why she found the whole thing so annoying. Every day breathing in little gasps, or being in pain if she happened to go too far, too fast, leaving her winded and in pain.

After sucking in the breath a little deeper then she assumed the Nurse-Doctor wanted her to, Kalaira quickly exhaled as the pain pushed the air out as much as her lungs did. She hoped that this reading would give the Nurse-Doctor a good enough reading to figure things out; she really hadn't accomplished anything at all it seems.

Kalaira's head felt woozy after that short experiment, and she sat down on a nearby stool. "Whoo Nurse-Doctor! You're right about that making one feel funny! And I barely breathed it in!" Kalaira started to fan herself, hoping the movement would clear her head and rid her of the funny sensations floating around up there.

[Sean Thaumbery]

Sean watched with a careful eye as Kalaira took the potion he gave her and did her best to take in a deep breath. It was obvious by her expression and the amount of the potion she was able to take in that her lungs were seriously affected by her condition. He frowned slightly, but held up the paper patiently for her. After a moment, she let out the aspirated potion in one whoosh of air onto the purple parchment as he'd asked.

He corked the remainder of the potion and replaced it on the shelf as she sat down. He glanced back to see her eyes widening at the effects of the potion. She fanned herself with such a strange expression that Sean had to smile.

"Whoo Nurse-Doctor! You're right about that making one feel funny! And I barely breathed it in!"

He laughed lightly. "Just a bare breath of air's enough to flare it up." It wasn't even a real joke, just some alliteration and over-use of rhyme, but it made him smile again. "You'll feel better in a minute once you get some clean air back to your head. I don't think you got enough of it in you to do too much, but if you do feel a little dizzy, put your head between your knees, and it'll pass soon."

He put a hand on her head and ruffled her hair in a paternal manner. It was kind of funny seeing her like this, he had to admit, as if she'd had one too many butterbeers. He shook his head and turned back to his paper, holding it up to the light.

The paper's purple surface was slowly bleaching out from the effects of the potion. There was an image of a target in the center, with concentric rings going deeper and deeper towards the middle. The paper was turning a stark bone white in the center which became more faint as it spread. After a few minutes, the color stopped changing. Sean tugged on his lower lip with his thumb and index finger thoughtfully.

"I don't know whether this interests you or not... what this shows me is how much capacity you're actually using in your lungs. I've seen lots of patients who have pain every time they breathe, but they're still getting at least 90% of their usual function out of their lungs. That's great; I only have to work with the pain. On the other hand, I've seen patients who don't feel a thing, but can only get maybe 25% of the air they should. That's another problem. You, now, you land right in the middle. You have significant pain, but you're also restricted in your breathing. Do you see how the white ring stops at right about this line here? That says that you're getting 60%, maybe 65 on a good day, out of your lungs."

He folded up the paper and set it down on the countertop, then looked back to her with a smile. "So! It's a problem, but it sure could be a lot worse! You're not in danger of brain damage from lack of oxygen, or anaerobic fermentation in your muscles, both good signs. See, you're just a trooper." Sean thoroughly believed in honest optimism. Kalaira's situation was certainly far from ideal, but he was telling the truth - it could be worse. And he'd give it his all to do whatever he could to make it better.

"So we really have two problems here. The first is the pain you feel, and the second is your lung capacity. Now, I believe that if we tackle the second one, then the first one will get better. Not perfect - I'd still want to put you on some mild analgesics, but I'd be able to give you a lot less than I'd have to prescribe now." And that was a bright spot. Prescribing serious dosages of medicines was never a good idea - it led to all sorts of bad side effects, not the least of which were addiction and liver failure.

Leaning back against the counter, he fell silent for a moment in thought. That was a tough problem. A very tough problem. Well, if he stepped back from the issue, what were they really facing? She had abnormal bone growths that were pressing into her lungs and inhibiting their function. What he needed was to get rid of those. Simple magical removal didn't work, and muggle filing was not an option. He had to leave the bone growths there, but work around them. Somehow.

After a few very long minutes of quiet, he raised his head again. He opened his mouth, paused, then gave Kalaira a serious look. "... Kalaira. I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be completely honest. I won't be upset no matter what you say, but I want you to think about it seriously for a minute before answering me. Alright?"

"... Exactly how much risk are you willing to take to try and fix this?"