The Law of Hippocrates (closed)

Maria knew that the cut she had received on her torso was looking a lot angrier than it should be for a clean healing wound. Now normally she would just go to the regular doctor that the Zwingli family had intrusted with her secret but he had recently gone away on business to collect some rare ingredients for medicines. She bit her lip. She supposed that she could request a doctor from King Francis but she was not sure if she wanted to risk a doctor that lived in the pockets of gossipy nobles. What she needed was a doctor that the nobles did not go to where she could hopefully gets something to self medicate herself with without a gossiping tongue waggling about hoping to get a gold coin or two.

There was defiantly a lot of downsides to not being able to pull your clothes off like a male knight usually can. She missed out on the social and fun things like swimming and had the hassle on insisting on a private changing tent and looking like a whining prude..but the most annoying and dangerous thing was if she got injured and would deny medical treatment on the spot, always insisting on her private family doctor. Unfortunately today was not a day that she could just wait it out for the Doctor that she trusted.

The knight wandered the streets of the town, hoping to find a medicine man that was not one of the castle workers. As she searched she finally came across a Apothecary that was defiantly not one of the regular places that she knew the castle doctors worked. She stood out the front in an uncertain fashion, the shop looked foreign and she did not understand some of the strange symbols on the sign.

She walked into the shop awkwardly, trying to hold the air of confidence that a knight should have. "Ahem~" She leaned on the counter with a crooked grin on her lips, starting to wonder if the black haired man even spoke a language that she could understand. "Good Afternoon, I am Sir Beilschmidt, my regular doctor is out of town and I was wondering if you could help me with something that I could use to treat an angry looking cut on my torso...I am in to much of a rush for an examination..so can you please just recommend something to help wounds heal right?" She defiantly was not going to pull her robes off so the man could see the wound she did not know him nor trust her with her secret.

Yao’s head snapped up at the sound of the door opening into his shop. He didn’t often get customers or patients, mostly curious villagers. However, there were a few who bought his cures and remedies. The knight who came through the door was definitely not the sort of visitor that came into the shop. What made it stranger was that it was a woman. In this village not many women would venture into his shop, unless they were of the few that trusted his skills. On top of that she was dressed as a man. Yao had noticed that the women here were a little more stronger willed than the women from his own country, but never before had he seen one dressing as a man, or acting as one, from how the woman referred to herself as a ‘sir’. Aside from her clothing, she tried to hide her sex by keeping her hair short and dropping her voice. He wasn’t sure if the woman bound her chest or was simply not as well endowed as other women, either way one could mistake her for an underdeveloped man if they didn’t look close enough. Yao was not one of those people. Perhaps women here were allowed to become knights, if they were born into the proper social class.

At the very least, Yao was very confused, or maybe this woman was the one who was the confused one, at least for thinking that she could properly treat the wounds she had. He picked up his opium pipe and inhaled deeply before releasing a steady stream of smoke.
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible.” Yao replied calmly with his thick accent. “You must have hit your head in whatever accident you were hurt in if you think I can just let you leave without properly attending to those wounds.”

Yao went around the counter approaching the woman carefully. He did not want to scare her if the reason she did not want an examination was due to her fear that he would accost her somehow. “I may not be from this country or know all the customs, like allowing women to become knights, but I am a skilled doctor. I take great pride in treating all my female patients with proper respect, so there is no need to be uneasy, my lady. Please, let me treat your wounds before you get an infection and your condition gets worse.”

The way the man smoked on his pipe reminded her of an ancient dragon and she watched the smoke cloud that he produce waft through the air. Maria found the accent rather curious, she supposed by his appearence and his clothes that he was a man of the orient but she did not know much about the lands outside of her kingdom and a few that surrounded it.

She remained silent as he approached her, thinking that perhaps he was just concerned with not being able to see the wound before he treated it. She was about to think of a few excuses when suddenly the man was starting to use female prounouns. She felt a warm wave of shock as the surprise filled her body with a similar feeling to missing a step. Perhaps it was the accent... That's it had to be the accent. But no, to man was calling her lady and seemed to know her situation. Her eyes went wide and she felt her face flush.

"I-I have no idea what you are talking about...." She stammered. "Who have you been hearing such scandalous rumours from!?" She frowned, now getting rather irritated at the thought that perhaps there was someone that she trusted that was saying things behind her back. She scowled and muttered something about doctors being worse blabbermouths than the so called priests who gossiped liked old women.

She sighed. "Fine then you know... Can you please just treat my wound privatly?" This was awful, the fact there was more people out there that knew her secret than she was comfortable made her uneasy. "Well, I fell off my horse after it was spooked and I cut myself on a rather sharp stone.... I was riding light because I was hunting with the bow and arrow." She was rather embarrased about having fallen of her horse to begin with. "But before I allow you to treat me any furthur you must swear that anything that you know about me remains a private matter...." She looked at him to see if he would agree.

(why yes I did do this reply on my phone lol......please excuse spelling errors lol )

((I'm just glad you could respond ^^))

“I have very few acquaintances here in the kingdom, my lady.” Yao said, letting the woman’s outburst and request sink in. “I also have a low tolerance for idle gossip. In fact, I’ve never head the name Bell…Bellsmitt..? No...Bellshit? Uhh… Beilschmidt? In any case I have never heard of your family name in my life.”

Yao took a slow drag from his pipe. His keen golden eyes examined what he could of her wound from the outside. Her wound seemed to match a fall, which told him that she was telling the truth. However, Yao would never know for sure until he was able to see the full wound. Looks, as with Lady Beilschmidt, could be deceiving. A wound could seem minor to the untrained eye and could end up being what causes one to not awaken from sleep the next morning. He remained calm as he exhaled, releasing another steady stream of smoke, not letting the woman’s desperation get to him or his own anxiety to treat the wound as quickly as possible.

“I’ll treat you, my lady. You have my word as a physician that I will not tell a living soul about your true identity. Now, please make haste, follow me to the treatment room in the back and I’ll tend to your injury.”

Yao spun around, the edges of his outfit fanning out around him, and led the way into a backroom. In the back, there were several scrolls of calligraphy hanging on the walls as well as diagrams of the human body in Yao’s native language, and a row of cots lined up neatly against the opposite wall. A few vases of incense burned slowly from their designated places in the room. He pointed to one of the cots, indicating for her to lay down there while Yao fetched the supplies he would need.

She frowned at the fact the other had not heard of her family, let alone that his pronunciations were slightly insulting. She wondered if he was even skilled enough to be able to treat her and she hesitated before following the other. Perhaps she should of at least informed Vash where she was going just in case something happened. No, she knew that the man would over react and drag her straight to one of the castle doctors and that was exactly what she did not want.

She stood awkwardly in the treatment room, her nose twitching at the unfamiliar smell of the burning incense. She had only ever had house visits before when getting treatment for anything so the whole atmosphere was a little intimidating and she was glad that she seemed to be his only patient at this point in time. She looked around at the strange drawings and scrolls, curiosity mingling with her nerves.

"So.... how long have you been practicing medicine....?" She tried to subtly ask for his qualifications without offending someone who she would have to trust to fix her up. She pulled off her cloak and hung it up before sitting on the cot but not laying down. She was indeed wearing binding since she wasn't in any type of armor, it hurt a little since it was so close to her wound and she winced slightly as she sat on the cot, fidgeting slightly as she waited for him.

"And don't call me 'Lady' it sounds too odd to hear...."

“And it would be far too strange for me to call you ‘sir’ or ‘my lord’ and I’ll assume that Gilbert is not your real name either.” Yao called back as he brought a large bowl of water over to his patient, placing it on a close by table, and handed the woman a small pill-like ball of herbs. “Swallow this. It will help keep your blood and fluids moving in the flesh around your wound.”

Yao wandered back to a set of shelves containing dozens of bottles and jars. Without even thinking, he went and grabbed two bottles and a jar that were labeled in the same language as his scrolls and charts, as well as a few cloths from the shelves. Yao didn’t really have to read the containers; he knew his supplies too well to get them mixed up. He had also treated so many patients with similar injuries back in his homeland that it all just came to him so easily with no hesitation. A smile played on Yao’s returned to his patient, taking a seat on a stool and setting his supplies down next to the bowl of water.

“As for how long I’ve been practicing my trade, let’s see…,” He dipped one of the cloths into the water and began cleaning the wound of blood and debris gently, moving in small circles around the area. “Some of my earliest memories are of me and my master. I was apprenticed to him when I was very young, but old enough to understand what was happening and what was expected of me when he took me with him to tend to the sick. I think I was about seven…maybe eight.”

Yao quickly grabbed the one of the bottles and poured it on the cloth. It was a strong alcohol Yao had brought with him that was good for cleaning wounds to prevent infections and to take the edge off a long day. “This will sting a bit.”

He placed the alcohol filled cloth directly on the wound. Knowing this process was the most uncomfortable Yao tried to finish using the alcohol as fast as he could. “While I mostly observed when I was younger, I began to examine and treat people on my own by the time I was sixteen. I’m around twenty-seven now…so I guess that means I’ve been healing people for eleven years.”

Yao put the bloody cloth aside, finished with the overall cleaning of the wound. The last thing he wanted was for her to continue to bleed out or for the wound not to heal properly. He pulled out the fat jar of cream, that appeared to also have been made out of different herbs and roots like the pill. Cautiously he rubbed it into the wound to help soothe any pain the woman was having from her injury, making sure to keep his fingers away from the bandages that bound her chest. He studied the injury carefully as he continued to work. “This might require some stitches as well, aru…”

She rolled her eyes as the other said he found it too strange to address her by Sir or my lord. "I am officially a knight so 'Sir' is my official title so you should not feel strange using it." This made perfect sense to her but she was glad that besides refusing to address her as a male he seemed rather uncaring of her guise. She took the pill that the other had handed to her and swallowed it, ignoring the strange after taste that it left in her mouth, however it did make her grimace slightly as she dodged the question about her real name which was obviously not Gilbert.

She found his conversation rather comforting honestly, there was nothing more awkward than a doctor silently treating you in a quiet room and she watched carefully and curiously as the doctor started to grab different jars and bottles and set to work. She was rather relieved when he started that he had been practicing medicine for eleven years, he seemed sane and confident about his work even if he was foreign, bodies were the same on the inside all across the lands she supposed.

Maria could smell the strong alcohol as soon as the bottle was opened and she grimaced. She knew this would hurt, it was not her first injury after all. She tensed slightly and let out a his as the other pressed the cloth to her wound. She bit her lip and gripped the table, not wanting to look weak in front of anyone she tried to suck it up... but she was already trying to act like the wound itself was not bothering her. "A-Ah... it barely hurts at all..." She smiled through a grimace. "This is nothing for an awesome knight like me.... I can handle wounds many times worse in size and pain to this one."

She sighed as the ointment was applied, the soothing feeling of it was already starting to relieve the pain but looked at him and grunted as he mentioned stitches... only if you think they are really necessary.... those things to more harm than good sometimes I swear." She did not like stitches, they hurt, more often so more than the actual wound they were closing up.

She looked at him for a moment before replying. "You do not look like you are nearing thirty....either your people age very slowly or you are a Doctor that has dabbled in ways to keep one looking young." She would never of guessed that the other was that old, she would have only guessed that he was a few years older than her at the most.

She shook her head. "But besides all that... you think that it does not look all too bad right...?" She knew that it was just a flesh would, but even those could become life threatening and the thought of dying from an infection was not at all appealing in her eyes. She was feeling more and more comfortable with asking him questions and relaxing for his treatment, he seemed to know what he was doing and he really did not seem like the gossiping type.

Yao inspected the wound again. “Hm…you’ll definitely need some stitches, but aside from that it looks like it will heal fine on its own.”

He rose from his stool, returning to the shelves and bringing back an elaborately decorated lacquer box with its paintings of flowering trees and large peacocks gracefully adorning the planes. Just another trinket from the Orient would be what most people would say, but Yao knew that there were other men who saw beyond the mere exotic quality of the box and saw profit. It was not just with the box, since Yao had brought all sorts of similar items with him. It wasn’t uncommon for Yao to find sticky fingered people trying to either break into his shop at night or try and leave his shop with his personal belongings.

Sitting back down, Yao opened the box revealing a few spools of thread and small red cushion containing at least two dozen small needles piercing it from all angles. He pulled off a length of white thread and cut it off with a small knife from his pocket, to blend in with the woman’s unusually pale skin, at least by Yao’s standards. Everything about the girl seemed to be unusually pale, from the color of her skin to her hair. Then there were the eyes, the color of blood. Yao had never encountered a person with such qualities before. Superstitious people from his home would probably keep away from her, thinking she was housing a demon. Yao was nervous about the woman, but surely even the religious men in this kingdom would have done something if she was possessed.

“I have never tampered with such alchemy to keep myself from aging. Where I’m from age is a sign of wisdom, authority, and respect.” Yao spoke as he began to thread one of the thinnest needles he could find. “My youthful appearance my master had told me was a sign that I was to heal others for a long time, that I would have the energy to keep going.” He pulled the thread through, inspecting the wound again before he started. “What about your appearance? You have the most unusual qualities yourself. Have you dabbled in the arts of altering appearances?”

Yao pulled the wound together. “This will hurt only a little bit, like an insect sting.” He then began to sew the wound together, keeping his stitches tight and even.

She groaned internally and let out a small sigh as the Doctor decided her wound would need stitches as she had been hoping she would get away with none. As Yao went to go get his things she took note of the interesting and pretty containers that everything came in. She might have been a rather unorthodox and masculine woman but she still had a secret appreciation for some pretty ornaments. She was definitely not the type of girl that desired pretty dresses but sometimes she would find herself looking at a pretty jewelry box and thinking that rubies would suit her the best out of other jewels that were on display and then feel rather sheepish and embarrassed at the fact that she had thought of such a thing. Then again... men wore rings to...perhaps she could get one to wear on special occasions.

Maria gripped the table as the other started to sew her wound back together, hissing slightly as she tried not to move. Stitches always hurt but it was not very awesome to act like a sissy when you were getting them. "A-Ah..." She winced slightly at each stitch. "It is nothing that I can't handle.."

She shook her head "No..I have never dabbled in 'magic' or 'alchemy' as a knight not only would I get in trouble for such a thing but I just wouldn't have the time, also who would want to change something that they were born with?" She had never had much of an issue with her appearance as her family never had an issue with it and people knew better than to tease her about things as it usually ended up with her trying to fight them. "My Father told me that their are other members on my mothers side of the family that have my pale complexion and unique eye colour." She was not at all offended when people pointed it out in fact she thought that it made her look more interesting and intimidating. "It is a special thing, I have many brothers but they are all varying shades of blonde and blue eyed so it is not something that happens often." And she was definitely proud of looks. "Who knows... maybe it is more common here where people are already so fair haired and have light coloured eyes..." She had no idea if that was true or not but it was a known occurrence in her mothers family and she had been told there were others like like her out there.

"Hmm... I guess you are lucky you are going to age slowly...and as a doctor you will know what to do to keep yourself from getting ill so I suspect you will live a rather long life~" She gave him a small grin and tried not to wince as the other stitched. "As for myself at least I do not have to worry about old age turning my hair grey~" She snorted in amusement knowing how much of a nuisance that seemed to be to others when their hair changed colour.

"So Doctor~ Have you never seen someone during your professional career that is as awesome as me~?" She teases and gives him a wink.

“I see…” Yao nodded as “Gilbert” told him about her family. “You are probably right. We don’t have any flaxen haired individuals from my homeland, but I have treated some fair skinned maidens. Although they were mostly of the nobility and could stay away from the sun, others had to work or do whatever trade they needed to do to make money for their families. Gold hair though… is new to me, aru.”

He remembered when he finally made it to the western world. They had been travelling for so long in that rickety carriage. Yao had just been woken up by the blinding afternoon sun. Normally, he wouldn’t have slept in so late, but with everything that was going on, sleep seemed to be the best way to deal with it. He had pulled back the ratty piece of cloth used to cover the windows of the wagon to see where they were when he saw young woman, perhaps a little older than the woman he was treating now, with long locks of golden hair swaying in the breeze. All Yao could do was stare at the woman as they passed. It was then Yao knew that he wasn’t home anymore. The silk robes where gone, and traded for wool tunic and frocks. Fine black hair had turned into golden waves with eyes the color of the sky. Yao had seen many other new looking people when he finally settled in this kingdom, but was still somehow always surprised with how appearance varied so much in each person.

“Indeed.” Yao said, being pulled back to the present by the woman’s talking. “You have been blessed to not endure the transition from colored hair to gray. As for myself, a long life would be nice, but one must also be prepared to see and handle many things, which is often in my line of work.” He remembered the nights he would wake up to see his master smoking late in the night, just staring out into the night. He would have the saddest expression on his face, and Yao knew that his mind was off thinking off those who came to him for help, but were too far gone to be saved. Here he let out a soft sigh. “Hopefully, I’ll develop a way to cope with all I see over time, but we shall have to see as time goes on.”

With a small tug of the thread, Yao tied off the stitches. “Well you are memorable, that is one thing that is certain.” He looked over his work again, giving a small smile while he put away his stitches kit. “You should recover just fine now. Come back in a fortnight, I will remove the stitches then. Until you return, be gentle and don't over do anything that could break the stitches or reopen the wound."

Maria scrunched her face up slightly at being compared to a 'fair skin maiden' and rolled her eyes. "I would not have to do anything if I did not want to.. my family is well enough off for me to sit around like a doll and become even paler than I already am." It was hard for her to imagine a place however where no one was tall and blonde like her family was as well as many of the other citizens of this land. "Heh... Golden hair here is as common as sand~ But my hair colour and complexion is special.. it is rare no matter where you go so it just adds to how amazing I am~" Marias complexion had nothing to do with not seeing enough sun and she had never been able to tan in her life. She burnt terribly and was rather glad that she was required to wear a lot of clothes and armor most of the time. "But... I have to say that my skills... while vast and many... mainly rest in the field of knighthood. That is made obvious by the fact I was knighted and I do something a lot more amazing then sewing, cooking or whatever would be expected if I was restricted to the role of a woman.." She shrugged. "And with all my awesome muscles I am much more suited for chain-mail than to frilly puffy dresses~" She laughed, there was no way that she could see herself as a woman that suited expensive dresses.

As she listened to him she imagined it would be a bad life always being there to see the most sick an injured of the citizens. The men she met in battle were ones that knew full well what they were getting into, warriors that were born to fight and knew the consequences of such a thing or criminals that deserved what they got at the sharp end of her sword. But Yao saw the desperate and sickly, the ones that were not ready to meet god again in heaven and seeing that in peoples eyes so often must take a little bit out of you each time. She sighed. "For Doctors.. there are many battles that are impossible to win... and a lot of blaim is placed on ones shoulders when they fail even if they did all that they could to reach victory..." She thought that even her pride would take a hit if she was faced with a job where the failure rate could be so high. "Heh.... but if it still affects you that means that you still have at least some ounce of compassion right? And I sort of think that is an important thing to have when you are healing people... Not that awesome me is that soft~" She grinned.

She looked down at her stitches and remembered that she too had a mortal body. "Heh... I think it is about time I got drunk enough for this not to bother me." She smiled sheepishly, trying her hardest not to let on how much pain she felt. "Urk... " She shuddered as she pulled her shirt over her wound. "Tch.... I am going to get a cool scar and I won't even be able to show it off.."She pouted, her waist had been looking undeniably feminine now that she had matured and she had no choice but to keep it covered up. "Heh... you wouldn't happen to know anyway for me to pass off better as a man with less clothes would you?" She chuckled and was mainly joking... but it never did hurt to ask about it.

As the woman continued to talk about how “amazing” she was due to her unusual features, Yao made a mental note about her pride for later reference. While it was good to have some pride in one’s self it was another to be full of yourself. Still there was probably good reason behind such behavior, given how clear she made it that she was no ordinary woman. Perhaps it was her way to keep herself confident since, given what Yao had observed from his time here, she would be significantly smaller than her male comrades. While he was not familiar with the training of a knight, Yao assumed it was similar to the training of the warriors of his homeland which was rough and strenuous. This exuberant amount of pride was what undoubtedly fueled this woman to stray from what her expected role would have been and achieve what she wanted. While he wasn’t sure how he felt about a woman taking over a man’s job, the fact that she was a person who was stubborn enough to make her own life and meet her goals was something Yao could respect. There were many men who couldn’t have done what she had for fear of failure, and would have happily resigned to a life pre-prescribed to them by their family or tradition.

He smiled as she began to talk about the strife of doctors and physicians. Yes, she had pride but she too could be empathetic toward those she met he imagined. “Indeed, we doctors have a large task, but it is worth it, even with the blame. Even when my master was dying he never once regretted his trade, even though it was what killed him.”
Yao glanced down at his stitches kit. It was the one his master had given him, and Yao treasured it. He wondered what his master would have thought of the patient that was sitting before him. Perhaps it was his master’s humor working itself from heaven by sending Yao this most peculiar woman.

Yao chuckled. “No, I do not know how to make you less feminine in less clothing and if I did I wouldn’t tell you, aru. A woman must be modest, even if she’s trying to be a man. The only person who should be seeing a woman in less clothing than necessary is her husband or lover, although I suppose you have neither given your occupation. If you did, it wouldn’t matter if you looked more masculine or not.” The doctor stood up and returned the elaborate box back to where it belonged. “As for alcohol, I would not suggest that getting drunk would be wise or else you might end up back here and I’m not exactly fond of treating drunks, aru.”

((forgive my late response, Gilly))

Maria felt an involuntary blush as the other started to mention having a husband or lover. She had dismissed the thought a long time ago that she would ever have either of those things but lately that had become an entirely different situation. She gave Yao a sheepish look. "Well my secret is not a secret to everyone in the kingdom. Something like that is not a thing that can be kept from those you are close too..." She was caught of caught for that brief moment and looked like any woman would at the mention of her blooming romance. She shook of the fluttery feeling in her stomach and tried to change the subject before the Doctor could comment on her previous statements. "Oh and on the note of my true gender... the king is already fully aware of it so there is no need for you to have to tell him what you have learnt, in fact I was knighted by the King himself while he was fully aware of this little detail."

Marias' relationship with fellow knight Sir Arthur was an odd one as feelings between them has started to form well before Arthur was aware of her true gender. Maria had found however that he seemed to enjoy her company as either gender to put things in a polite way and she was not sure many other people could. Perhaps he had just picked up on the subtle feminine gestures that were only noticeable subconsciously or to those with skill in regards to perception like Yao was, after all, he had seemed rather relieved when she had told him.

She straightened up her clothes and climbed off the bench. "Heh....I feel even more awesome then before... and don't worry about me stumbling into your establishment woozy from alcohol, I hold my alcohol better than any man can or woman for that matter." She just could not miss an opportunity to brag about something but then again she was quite capable at holding her liquor especially compared to her love interest. "And hey... it is a little unfair that the men get to cool off so easily by jumping in the river during the summer... but sadly even I ..as awesome as I am still have enough modesty and enough common sense to know that that is not the best idea I could come up with."

She looked over towards the other as he was finishing packing up. "You are a pretty decent doctor.. at least when it comes to stitches and your confidentiality~ How much do I owe you?"

Yao watched the woman’s face carefully, watching it changed as it processed what he had said. He saw the light rose color come to her pale cheeks, a subtle hint that there was someone in her life. How she seemed to let down her masculine attitude and acted like a woman who’s mind focused on a blooming love, surprised Yao more than it should have. Even years of training couldn’t completely rid her of all feminine emotions, although Yao would have been foolish to think that in the first place. Still it was a strange thing to see her act in such a way.
He simply smiled as she told how King Francis knew of her true sex and how she knew how to retain some modesty and common sense. This was an obvious statement to keep him quiet and not to worry about her, but Yao knew just from the woman’s behavior today that she could handle herself if she ever came into any trouble.

“Ten ducats should cover things, aru. Just stay out of harm’s way until we take out the stitches. My silence about your true sex is free of charge.”