A Novel Excerpt
The Reality – Early Spring
“Temi, this man needs a rub with Trauma Oil, wait 15 minutes, then add a comfrey compress. He has some serious bruising in his left calf, likely a torn ligament completely through.” The Master Healer Sage worked her way from patient to patient, calmly telling the apprentices what needed to be done, and smiling as she would mention a remedy to apply, or a procedure that they should be using. Sage had the upmost confidence in her team to make the right call, she expected it, and in her mind, there was no room for errors.
Sage always used Trauma Oil to every surface wound at the medic site. It was her first go to for anything that didn’t break the surface of the skin. She had seen far too many miracles performed by using her Bitter Sweet Trauma Oil.
As she walked through the sea of patients that the earthquake had provided, she scanned the room; wounded everywhere. They were laying on cots and sitting on chairs, she noticed two small children clinging to the leg of their young mom as she struggled to breathe. It didn’t take long for Sage to see she was in labor and Lyden was talking her through it.
“What is your name love?” Sage asked the woman. “Janis” she rasped through labored breaths and contractions. “Please help look after my children. They have no one else,” the woman sobbed as she held onto Lyden’s bloodless hand, not to mention his face. “You will be just fine Janis, and your little ones will be too.”
“Tekren” Sage softly called to the Master who was across the playing field. “Can you please make your way over here?” Sage never raised her voice for any reason and was a master at remaining calm amid chaos, and this was certainly chaos.
When Tekren heard her calling he knew there was an important situation, one that he alone should handle, so he right away assigned his patient to another apprentice and hurried over to Sage.
“This beautiful mom looks to me like she is going to deliver any time, and I will leave her in your capable hands, while I survey others and see what needs to be done.” Tekren nodded and fell right into the situation in the most calm and gentle manner.
Sage required nothing but calm gentle kindness when her students, or master’s, were working with others, especially if it was a difficult situation. They learned these skills right from the start and understood their mannerisms and gentleness could mean the difference between life and death for a person.
This earthquake had really rocked their small town of Twin Lakes. Bitter Sweet Herbal School was immediately called upon to set up an Emergency Medic Station at Holy Parish across the street, and with their streamlined expertise, they had it set up, and operating, within 20 minutes.
Master Herbalist and Traditional Chinese Medicine Master, Tekren was always prepared for any emergency, as was his responsibility, and they had practiced the set up and take down of the Medic Station hundreds of times, which allowed them to have it down to minutes.
Hospitals in 2057 were reserved for paying customers only. The breakdown of society due to the Pandemic had caused a major rift in the medical system. There was just too much that had happened in the previous 6 years, and this little corner of the world was truly in a constant state of chaos. Thus, when there was an emergency, Bitter Sweet was always called in to help.
The school had a working relationship – somewhat strained but working – with the local militia that was in control since martial law was called 10 months prior. They were a small town doing their best to survive and thrive in a part of the world that was, for the most part, cut off from the rest.
Sage continued through the church gym full of makeshift stretchers, checking in on everyone as she passed. The apprentices were working smoothly, and Master Resha was dispensing remedies from the portable apothecary. It was her responsibility to check on each remedy the apprentice asked for, making sure they understood what it was used for, and what they were applying it to.
Sage was proud of her daughter, Resha, and the Master Herbalist she had become. She moved through the sea of stretchers and chairs with grace and confidence, never once showing stress or urgency in her mannerisms.
If there was a remedy that the medic team did not have in their medic kit, Resha would simply message the dispensary via her ham radio, and they would send someone over with what she needed. These needs were rare, as Tekren took great care and pride in making sure he could cover most any patient’s needs with his portable dispensary.
It was easy to tell who Bitter Sweet apprentices and workers were, as they all wore bandanas in one form or another.
Master Terek wore his in true martial arts fashion, folded and wrapped around his head tied in the back.
Master Resha wore hers in a folded and wrapped around her head most often.
The apprentices loved to get creative with theirs and see who could come up with the most ingenious way to wear it. A tie in front or back, a head wrap, around the neck that could be doubled as a mask in a quick situation, around their wrist wrapped several times, having it tied to their belt loop, there were just so many ways. Some wore it tied on their arm, and some wore it as a tie around their neck. Some as a handkerchief, and some wore them as Sage, a hair wrap to keep her hair out of her face as she was working.
Sage loved that about them. A little healthy competition to see what unique ways they could wear it was good, especially when a tool such as a bandana, could also double as a tourniquet, a compress cloth, a smoke mask, or as a cold compress to help wash the face of a patient burning with fever. It could be used to touch something hot, gathering of herbs or berries found, sweat protection, head wrap to protect from the sun, wash cloth, towel, hand wrap to protect from blisters, splint, wrap a sprained ankle or wrist, ice pack, strain sediment from water, signal flag, dust mask, make shift bag, rope, sponge, blind fold, sling, and checking the wind. They had discovered dozens of ways to use their bandanas through the years of serving. Temi had even found that it could also be used to entertain a child by learning a few magic tricks.
“How are we doing with Fire Cider Resha?” Sage asked as she was scanning the dispensary.
“We are good right now. I will get Jareth on making a new batch tomorrow. We still have enough left at the school to get us through the end of the month though.” Resha was doing some quick math in her head. “This could have been way worse mom. We were blessed to only have this many casualties. I have been listening to my ham and there are distress calls coming in from all over the lower mainland.” Resha carried her ham radio with her everywhere and used it often, it was their one main outlet to the world.
“I am going to check in with the others. Make sure people within our reach who need help, know they can come see us, or we can send someone to them. Nobody should be without medical help, but unfortunately there are many.” Resha nodded to Sage as she walked towards Jareth who was furiously writing notes as he was sitting next to an elderly gentleman.
Sage shook her head, “Yes make sure Jareth makes another batch, or maybe even two. We don’t want to run short.”
Sage made sure every patient in a disaster situation received her Fire Cider. The Fire Cider was pre packaged in small plastic sealed portions of 1 ounce each. A patient was given one package immediately upon assessing their situation, and then given another package to take home for the following day. Bitter Sweet Fire Cider was a preventative to any infections that could set in due to an immune system in shock, or most wounds.
“Sage can you check over this intake for Sorel here. I think he is just dealing with some emotional trauma, nothing too much physical from the quake, but he has a page full of other medical issues as well, and I want to make sure he gets the right nervines he needs.” Jareth handed Sage his intake form.
She scanned it quickly. “You are spot on Jareth. Give him the Fire Cider and a couple shots of Immune Boost Tincture and another of Stress and he should be good. Have him come and see me at the Clinic tomorrow. I want to check over a few more things.” She gave Jareth a quick shoulder pat and moved on.
Fire Cider was packed with antioxidants, minerals and vitamins and is a great way to boost the immune system, as well as restore a system to its norm, in other words it acts like an adaptogen in some ways, speeding up recovery time. It has strong anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antifungal properties, which is why Sage always chose to give it to a patient of stress or trauma.
. . . . .
The reality of what their society had become, was one Sage was not happy about. First there was the pandemic, which led to many hundreds of thousands of deaths and a complete economic breakdown. There were as many conspiracies about it as there were people, but Sage chose to not listen to all of that, as it didn’t help anyway. She just wanted to focus on helping people in any way she could and leave the stress of the theories to others.
Economics, earthquakes, and other natural disasters seemed common place now. The School had just learned to be prepared for anything at any time, and it had served their small community well thus far.
As they wrapped up the last of the patients at the church, Sage wandered through making sure none of the people had any questions, and as she did, she also posed a question to her apprentices: “Why do you want to be an herbalist?” she asked. “I want you to think about it, and when we meet back at the school, be ready to share your thoughts with us at debriefing.”
After every major event such as this, there was always a debriefing, to assess what worked, what needs to be improved upon, any concerns, or proud moments, and most of all, how does everybody feel about what they just accomplished.
Sage often pondered this question herself, and each day she grew a little more to understand why she loved her life so much. She believed that all life, plants, and animals included, were gifts from God, and she did not take any life for granted. This she took very seriously. She felt regardless of whom a person believes in, it is vital to keep those feelings close to our hearts and understand them for the beautiful gifts they are.
When a person came to Bitter Sweet, looking to become an apprentice, Sage personally screened them, looking for their understanding as to why they wanted to be an herbalist. This was vital to know, and to be assigned a mentor that was suited to helping them on their path to reach those goals.
“It is vital that you understand why you are here, and how to personalize it in your own way. There are no two healers who do it the same way.” She would always tell them. She would ask them about their favorite herbs, and if they feel they have ever connected with any specific plants before.
“It is important to find a way to connect with the plants you are using, and at the school we will show you this, but it is something you will need to feel and embrace for yourself.” This was a passion of Sage’s, knowing that if you could tune into the spirit of the plants, you could communicate with them on a deeper spiritual level.
To Be Continued…..