Entering the building, it was almost the same as I remembered. Other than the fact that it was now destroyed. The place still had gurnies, the same stone front desk, and the same tools in the nurses' and doctors' cabinets.
Walking through the academy made me wonder one thing: where was everyone? Not just alive but dead.
No matter where I went, all the dead bodies that were here were not. It was only a week plus a few days, and their bodies were gone. It was not enough time for them to decompose, but they were gone, erased from existence. Not even their bloodstains remain.
Ael told me to sit down on one of the beds in the nursery as he was getting prepared to clean my wounds. Some were shut by the heat of amber stones, while others were held shut with stitches. What he was worried about were the stitches.
I took off my heavy cloak, then my shirt, and lay down on the bed. My body had burn marks and stitches going in every direction. Some of the skin looked almost peeled off, while other parts were bumpy from the burn it took to close the skin.
'I'm glad I wasn't awake for that. If I were, I probably would have died just experiencing it.' I thought, looking at them.
Looking at it all made me realize just how skilled Ael was in the medical field. He didn't just possess basic skills for caring for a wound. He was an expert. Some of his work even looked better than some of the nurses here at the academy. People who have an education in the medical field.
I looked over at him as he was preparing, with these thoughts running through my mind. He was disinfecting his tools, and once he was done, he put on a new pair of gloves. He told Amiel to go boil some water. That way, it would become sterile. When Amiel came back with the water, he told him to go disinfect some extra clothes we had lying around in our bags.
We waited a few minutes for the boiling water to cool down. Ael said he was going to use it to clean any dirt or dry blood that had built up in my wounds, which was making it hard to close up properly.
When the water cooled a bit, he started slowly unstitching my wounds, one by one. My flesh was revealed. It would pulse every time I breathed. If that wasn't disgusting enough, it had an awful smell. Not rotten, but a sour.
I can see Ael take a step back from it. Even with a mask on, he was still bothered.
"This is what I was worried about." He said. "Your wounds are infected."
He then took the water that Amiel had brought and cleaned out my wounds. I could see dirt, dry blood, and blood clots flowing out of my it. Even Amiel, who was always stone cold, was sickened by the sight.
Taking alcohol, he swabbed the area around my wound. It was a deep sting, enough to make me yelp as the pain went through my body.
"FUCK!" I yell.
"Stop being such a wuss," Ael said as he was fixated on my wounds. "You moving won't make this any easier."
Amiel stepped out at the sight of all this.
'Please, gods, let this be over soon.' I do not ever want to go through this pain ever again. Not the beating, not the cleaning of my wounds, not any of this horrid experience.
He left my wounds open. Ael told me this was so he wouldn't have to do this again. I squeeze my hands, hoping it will be over soon.
I stood on that bed for a few hours as Ael was making sure I wasn't infected. As time went on, I didn't have time to be bored. All my mind focused on was the pain of my wounds and the sour smell that roamed through the air.
After more time passed, the smell finally went away. The swelling that was once there disappeared. As Ael took notice, he started to close my wounds with new stitches that were lying around in the nursery.
I could feel the needle come in and out of my skin. It was a sharp pain, not like the sting of the alcohol, but like a bee stinging me over and over again. I wanted to yelp at every entry, but I had to stay still for Ael; that way, he could finish soon.
As he tightened the string, closing my wounds, I could finally feel like it was all over. The painful process was done.
All I could think was, 'Thank the gods.'
Using the cloth that Amiel had brought and disinfected, he wrapped it around me, making sure the wounds were safely secured. After wrapping the fabric around me a few times, he grabbed bandages and wrapped my wounds once again on top of the fabric.
"All done," Ael said as he finished up his last layer of bandages.
I felt like I could finally let my body rest on the bed for a moment. The whole time he was taking care of my wounds, my body felt tense. Almost stone. I held my fist tight, just trying to bear the pain.
Ael, putting away all the materials and throwing out others, goes through one cabinet. "Oh, here was the anesthesia," he said.
I stare at him. He told me he couldn't find the anesthesia, so we would have to do it without it. But now here he was telling me he found them? I wanted to kill him here.
"Sorry." A half-smile appeared on his face.
"I know I can't get up from this bed right now, but when I can, I'm going to kill you." I let out, with anger in my voice, but couldn't express myself well with the deep pain of my wounds.
"Don't be so mean." The smile on his face, still holding up, disappeared slightly.
"Mean! I went through hours of pain because of you."
Just then, a knock sounded through the door. It was Amiel.
"Oh, would you look at that! Any news?" Ael turned to him, happy to see that the conversation was interrupted at the perfect time.
"No, signals are down, I can't contact anyone," Amiel replied.
He went out to see if we could get in touch with the empire, but nothing went through.
"We can try a different line tomorrow morning. Looks like the sun is going down," Ael replied.
Looking out the window, I can see the sunset just beyond the horizon, with the trees far off in the distance. The clock tower rang, marking the sunset.
"How was the cleaning?" Amiel asked.
Ael, embarrassed to answer, placed his hand behind his neck, "Oh, you know, it was fine."
Amiel wasn't convinced by the stare I was giving Ael.
Ael, wanting to get out of the room, quickly replied, "We should let him be. He needs his rest. Tomorrow morning, we can figure out what to do." His face disappears with the door sliding shut. My eyes did not stray away from the door.