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Healer Rhea's POV

Romulus had kept his promise about his door being fixed by the morning, as Rhea had gotten ready with the help of Irene—She was stunned to see that it was most definitely repaired.

And while she had plans about going to the infirmary after visiting the priest, Irene wouldn't budge once she caught just how bruised her wrist had been.

It was sprained, not broken, but it still causing her an unnecessary amount of pain in addition to what she was already dealing with. So off the two had gone towards the Infirmary and good goddess, was it packed.

Rhea knew it was pointless to try and cut the line, nor did she want to. But most of these issues seemed to be of a lesser problem than the rest.
One human was suffering burns, ones she claimed had come from the previous night but things were too busy.

Another instance was an infected scrape, as they hadn't bothered to come to the infirmary—Was the unfairness traveling this deep?
Rhea couldn't recall when there had been any separation between wolf and human in her treatments. Perhaps she put children and the elderly before the rest, but never by species.

"It's always like this, but I truly do not think you should ignore this, Lady Rhea." The female's voice was calming to the storm raging in the back of her mind.

If Romulus was injured, they wouldn't think twice about waiting.

She hadn't seen him since last night when she admitted a fatal truth—But good grief, when she looked at the clock once more, she had been sitting here for three hours and counting. And all that happened was the wolves coming and going while the group of humans was becoming larger.

Yet when she heard the screams of agony, her anger subsided as she turned back towards the source. It had been a rather abrupt entrance through the double doors as two males were carrying the gurney of their injured friend.

It looked to be a machinery accident of some sort, with a metal device stuck directly into the finer part of his leg. "Goddess—" Irene cursed, and the rest of the humans were squirming once again.

"We work for Councilman Tension, straight from the factory! You were the closest besides the hospital!"

"I'm sorry sir, we're not prepped for that sort of emergency work." The wolf claimed, but she sounded more bored than anything, as though the man's pains were a bother than an actual emergency.

The males continued to go back and forth for their friend's treatment but were not getting anywhere. And within the last three hours, Rhea couldn't recall how many humans had been accepted to go inside the actual infirmary or ended up leaving when they had enough.

Now it was Rhea's turn to have enough.

She stood up and placed a hand on the male's shoulder and smiled at him before turning to the female behind the desk. "You're incompetent system is fucking ridiculous, if you won't treat him I will. Now get me a kit, a smock, and whatever you administer for pain."

"I don't know who you believe to—"

"I didn't stutter, she-wolf. Get me those things or I will get them myself, and if I see one wolf behind those doors sitting or slacking off I will not be happy." Clearly, it kicked something into gear as the female moved from her chair behind the desk, taking her sweet time to return with everything she asked for.

Though a male Healer had come forward with anger steaming in his eyes. "What in goddess' name is happening here?!" He roared, and Rhea ignored him without a doubt as she directed the two males to place the makeshift gurney on the coffee table.

"D-Do you know what you're doing, ma'am?" One of the males questioned, and she smiled once again. "I worked as Head Healer in my previous pack, you have nothing to worry about. What is his name?"

"Charles...The bastard was pressed against the machine. Couldn't get the thing out without him begging to stop."

"It's a good thing you did, he would've bled out before you got here. Charles, can you hear me?" Rhea's voice was directed down to her patient, and the sweat coating him now was beating down violently—As well as his breath.

"Y-Yeah, I—I hear you."

"Good, it's nice to meet you. I'm going to walk you through everything I'm doing, alright? Your friends here are going to help me." Rhea could feel the two stiffen beside her, but she had already prepped the area where she would need to inject the pain medication.

Once that was done, she gripped the first male beside her by the scruff of his collar. "You either help me or watch him die, I only have two hands. I need more."

"Y-yes ma'am. What can I do?"

"Get some of that clean water and warm towels." Undoing the smock, Irene had come forward and started to help her dress and tie her hair out of the way. This gave her the perfect chance to see the male Healer come forward—But his intentions of interrupting were clear, as the other humans had been placed forward with complaints and their own concerns.

Damn him. Damn him straight to hell.

With the clean water, Rhea did her best to clean the entrance zone and add another few shots of pain injections—Hoping it was enough to get the metal piece out.

"I've just numbed the area, you will not feel a thing alright?... You're being so brave for me, Charles."

"Brave? Huh, I'm not brave. Gonna get so fucking fired after this."

"I thought you work for Councilman Tension's company? Import and Exports trades?" She questioned, giving some time between the first few injections to move forward, but the two other males that had introduced themselves as Wesley and Allen.

"He doesn't care about the injured. This was as good as his final day...Unless...Unless you can fix his leg?'

"Well, I'm not sure if you can see my predicament, but I can do a fair bit with a cane." This caused the two males beside her to turn bewildered at her honest response, but it had come just in handy to stop the male wolf's pursuit.

"You failed to take care of him, he's my patient now."

"How dare you come in here and wreak havoc over my Infirmary!"
"Your infirmary is an absolute joke, you bastard. You put wolves before humans. And half do not wish to come in here. Get your act together, and see that as a warning." It happened on instinct, a beautiful addition her males had added to coating the beautiful tip of her cane with silver.

Stalling the male to his entirety, as even the smallest tap would burn him.

"You butcher this, my staff will see this as murder."

"And I'll see your negligence make it to the King's ears, now get out of my operating room." She spat, and that was enough of a threat to get him away—In addition to the circle of humans that were keeping a break between another wolf's entrance.

"Alright...Charles, I want to be honest with you. I'm not sure what type of metal this is or what it's hit...Irene, could you untie your scarf—I need you awake as long as possible." It felt cruel to blindfold him from what was about to happen, but it was for the better. The kit she had been given was old, but it worked well in Rhea's favor as she took to taking a few clamps as her small incisions had marked a clearer path for the metal to be removed from.

"Irene, the second the piece is out, we need to pack this tightly with these clean cloths. Packing it will give us a chance to stop the bleeding." It seemed like everyone had a chance to hear the plan. Currently, Rhea and Irene were holding down the leg in question while both of the males did their best to pry out the rod.

It did take a bit of pressure, and Charles could feel the phantom tugs that brought his leg to be lifted when either of the females couldn't manage the strength to keep it still.

When it had freed the entrance, Rhea had called a pause for a moment and hurried to fill it. "It's rusted! It needs to come out now!" She rushed, both males taking the order without fault as it came out without any sort of hesitation.

But lacked the care.

It didn't matter, not when the entirety of the rod was touching him at one point, but it added another task of sterilizing the muscles that touched the rusted material.

Something that was fatal in its own right.

Turning to the side, she caught sight of a pair of gloves and she hurried to cover her own and dug around the entire zone upon seeing the small flakes.

Which had a reason for worry, regardless.

The bleeding was difficult to stop, but once there hadn't been any more remanence, Irene had repacked it and the males did their best to keep the leg in place.

Only then did Rhea have the will to turn upwards among the rest of the commotion, though it was rather hilarious that the Head Healer was so threatened by his own faults that he ended up calling upon the King's Enforcers.
As if that was going to solve anything.

"Ma'am, we hear you are causing a disturbance?" She turned upwards to smile at Marrow and Jonathan. A familiar duo. "I'm doing what the Healers here have failed to even consider managing."

"R-Rhea?" She huffed a bit of laughter as she continued to stuff the infirmary while taking the glove off and checking Charles' pulse.

"Hm, this wasn't what I had in mind this morning...I promise I'm not causing a disturbance, they refused to help him." She gestured down to Charles, and it wasn't too difficult to piece together what happened when the bloody rod was being held by another human.

"They refused help?"

"It's worse than that Marrow. I waited nearly three hours because of a sprained wrist."

"That's unacceptable!" The male shouted, his eyes locking off towards those behind the counter still not doing their job. But Rhea waved her hand.

"It's alright, I plan to take that bastard to the King. He isn't busy, is he?" She admitted, though her mind was already going in multiple other directions at the current moment that she nearly forgot she had asked a question until Marrow spoke up once more.

"No, but he's in a horrible mood. I would be careful." So the pup was grumpy, was he?
"Well, perhaps a bit of justice would help him get into a better mood. But besides that, Tension is going to have a brutal awakening tomorrow at the meeting."

Oh, Rhea was going to raise absolute hell in the meeting tomorrow.

"What is he charging me for?" Rhea asked, glancing upward for a moment before continuing onward with another dose to inject into his knee.

"Disturbance, murder—The works."

"Ah, a normal day for me then...I'll come willingly in ten minutes." She proclaimed, but it had sent the others into a spiral—The worry that came over Allen and Wesley about their friend, not to mention the others that were pushing their own medical issues forward had disturbed her.

Rhea was just a single female whose wrist was already flaring with pain, but she couldn't leave the others on their lonesome. So she sent Marrow off into the actual Infirmary to ask for supplies, and the wolves beyond the certain point to get what was needed for the rest.

Between the rest, she checked over on Charles, who was doing rather well. His heartbeat and blood pressure doing fantastic, and Rhea had no doubt that with a few months of healing, he would be on his feet.

With a cane that she was going to order from Nelo in the coming days.

With an infection being treated, a sickness being diagnosed and prescribed with a specific brew—In addition to a long list of other ailments, Rhea had cleared the entire waiting room filled with awaiting humans within the hour.

Even though she had claimed for the ten minutes, neither one of the Enforcers had dared take Rhea away, not when she was aiding the better population from issues they were having.

Not to mention that Marrow had caught just how empty it was in the previous room.
How could they refuse service?

With Charles finally behind those double doors, Rhea had followed willingly beside the Enforcers with the damned Head Healer as well. Who was grinning like a madman, but no—This was going to be a spectacular moment indeed.

"How fowl of a woman are you to come into the presence of the King with another's blood on you?"
"Afraid to get your hands dirty, Healer?" She spat, which perked Romulus' ear in tune with Rhea's voice. Though the sight before him had truly taken him out of his boredom, Wilhelm had bustled an array of rules back and forth that this was entirely impromptu to have a meeting with the King.

"Sir, I want this woman arrested for causing an utter disturbance in my Infirmary! She not only yelled at my staff, berated me—But she has no business stealing my patients!" Rhea had turned over to the Healer, who she had overheard his name to be Gareth, and scoffed.

"Completely false. I am disgusted by the malpractice that this male has been up to. Not only did he and his staff refuse to treat an actively dying patient, but he has put racism above the rest. And do not try to deny it, I have two witnesses who have seen the back end of your infirmary empty while I'm off treating your supposed patients." Romulus blinked in confusion, he was more concerned about the blood coating Rhea's person than whatever the other male had to say.

"Why were you in the infirmary?" He offered, and she sighed as she motioned up to her wrist. "Irene said I should get my wrist checked and bandaged."

"Lady Rhea—"

"I fell, simple as that...But what is not simple is that I waited three hours for something as simple as a sprained wrist. And I was not the only one waiting." She claimed, deeming a pointed glare up towards Gareth with temptation coating every word.

She wanted the argument.

"Alpha, it has been a busy morning in the infirmary. We cannot handle all the patients within our care—"

"I thought I was causing a disturbance, and to be frank, it took me an hour to take care of all the humans you had left waiting. You, sir, are an utter joke...Not to mention the crap supplies that female gave me to help Charles." Clearly, Gareth hadn't been spoken to like this before, and it made Rhea all the more happy.

"Marrow, Johnathan, what is the truth?" Romulus bustled, remaining neutral—But truly it only enacted another bit of rage within Rhea's eyes.

"I cannot say for certain, but there wasn't a single wolf in the infirmary and the waiting room was filled with humans. Lady Rhea was in the middle of surgery when we arrived, a male was injured in a factory with a metal rod stuck within his leg." Now that caused a brow to raise from Romulus, but Rhea remained passive.

It was impressive, she would admit, but she had done more in her time than this.

"Is what my Enforcers saying true, Healer Gareth?"
"Absolutely not! This human has caused chaos in my Infirmary!" Rhea rolled her eyes, smirking as she caught Romulus rising from his throne and taking the gentle steps down as he took in the sight of the Head Healer.

"Then why is Lady Rhea coated in blood, and you are not?"

"Because she doesn't understand the ways of our people, how rude would it be to appear in front of the Alpha King looking like that?" Rhea bit her tongue, not needing to fuel the childish taunts as she simply smiled.

"Actually, he tried to stop me—You cannot pick and choose your patients, Healer Gareth. You should lose your title from that alone."
"My title?! Who the hell are you!?" Marrow had turned to side, the goddess herself couldn't help the poor soul now.

"Lady Rhea, Head Healer of the Red Moon pack. And never in my decade of service have I ever met a male as thick-headed as you in the lead of anything, let alone a royal infirmary. Even the outer territories lead better than what I saw." A building rage was starting to well deep inside Romulus as he watched the male, his male, target his female.

He needed to remain placid, and hear things out to its entirety, but it was becoming difficult when the Healer was getting rather aggressive with every piece.
Thankfully, Wilhelm had come forward with a neutral ground as well.

"Lady Rhea, the Infirmary is no place for you at this current time."

"I was told I could offer my aid in the Infirmary if I so pleased. It was not my intention this morning as I had other plans. But I would assume even you would get this looked at." She motioned up her bruised wrist, and Romulus growled in anguish.

"Three hours?" Romulus asked, and she nodded her head in confirmation. But Healer Gaerth hurried to shout his disagreement, "That is an exaggeration!"

"I believe you are not qualified to heal humans, is that why you decide to ignore them?... I hadn't seen one get accepted entry, most left. One patient had allowed their cut to go untreated because they knew the Infirmary was pointless for someone like them. A human. Perhaps I could offer you a bit of light reading?" She said with a smile, and the male had taken a step forward with a snarl on his lips.

"I read it already, little female, and it said nothing about a human's—"

"Bullshit, it spoke about how similar we both are to one another. Spare the lies!" The male scoffed to the side and looked back at the king, as though he would gain any sympathy.

"What would a female know anyhow? Perhaps you should take reread, the King will deem his justice fairly. I want her charged for attempted murder." There had been only a beat of silence between the claim being made and Romulus looking between the male and female set before him.

"And is this male dead, Healer Gareth?"

"He will be within the next few hours, no doubt."

"Well, considering he's in your care now, not mine...That seems like your attempt." It startled the Healer at Rhea's witch in directive, as the King nodded. And Wilhelm dismissed the case with ease.

Putting into question his title of Head Healer of the Royal Infirmary.

"And for the record, Healer Gareth, I am Armund A.V. So don't explain to me what I did and didn't write." She took to a wave, and the Enforcers had waited until the Healer had all but ran out of the throne room.

"Goddess Rhea, that was brilliant!" Marrow said, a smile creeping up onto her face as she appreciated his support. "I'm not sure if brilliant is the word for this, but what I witnessed is awful...Is there any sort of human Healers in the area?" She hadn't asked either of the wolves beside her, but directed her attention towards Wilhelm.

"I—I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?" She repeated, and it startled the man to the point of Romulus' stature even finding the humor in it all. "Then I'll be on the hunt for one. And I won't stop my search until I find one. I'll be needing a carriage. Because I will not have Charles' care be forgotten about." That had been the final crack as Romulus needed to bite his inner cheeks.

Between his Enforcers going back and forth with the riled-up female, to Wilhelm's gawking pose, how else was he meant to react?

"Sir, I truly haven't seen anything near that awful—Even Rhea's one-person Infirmary had much more credibility than this." Marrow offered, and while he had meant it sincerely, her pointed look didn't constitute for approval.

"What's wrong with my Infirmary?" Rhea shot back, and the male had had nearly turned pale in the face as he attempted to persude the Lady in a different way.

"N-nothing...Uh, d-did you want an escort?" The male was wise to change the direction of the conversation, and instead, she looked back to her wrist and sighed.

Her use of the injury was more than likely causing it to grow inflamed, it would be best to have another set of eyes to look at it. "Yes, she does. If you must leave the Kingdom walls, please send word. I'd like to know where my Council member is, given that we have a meeting set for tomorrow morning."

"I'm sure my absence would make everyone's day."

"You will be there in the morning, Lady Rhea. I truly do not want to hunt you down back to Red Moon." She rolled her eyes and bowed, claiming that she would be on her way—Only for Marrow to hurry off.

"I want word when you return, Lady Rhea!"
"I'll give you plenty of words, my King!" She shouted, all while the male beside Romulus choked once more. But he was more surprised to see that Jonathan had followed the little female out of the room as well.

But no matter how he tried to ignore it, Wilhelm's gaze demanded to be recognized. "May I speak freely, my King?"

"Perhaps, though be careful how you speak about Lady Rhea, I took good pride in finding and bringing her here." He warned, and the first Advisor to his courts sighed loudly.

"Perhaps, she is useful in some regards..."

"Useful? Is that a compliment, Wilhelm?" Romulus was smirking up a storm as he continued back to his throne, if he didn't, he would've followed Rhea to make sure she was getting the proper care she deserves.

"The issues the councilmen bring to the table are for self-gain, she has done nothing of the sort since her arrival. And I cannot help but enjoy Mithwell's anger over the argument she had gotten with his daughter."

"Oh, you mean my future Queen?" Wilhelm made a face, causing a shiver to course through his entire body as he shook his head. "No, any female would be better than her. That was an utter mistake."
"And Rhea is no longer a mistake?

"She's a Healer from the outer territories with an uncanny ability to make her voice heard, even when those don't want it. That, and I find it hilarious that the others cannot seem to get themselves in order." Romulus smirked and was reminded quite clearly as to why he kept Wilhelm by his side.

"So I am not wrong to look forward to tomorrow's meeting?" He asked, and Romulus relished in the agreement—And continued to do so when an Enforcer had introduced the next citizen in line who wanted to voice a complaint.

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Date: 07/01/23

Time: 4:52

Words: 3981

Author's Note:

What a chaotic day! And Rhea is off to find more issues revolving the Kingdom's lack of support for the human community.

I think her asking Marrow for a Human Healer puts everything into better perspective.
Why would a Wolf know of a Human Healer?

That is one of the many issues Rhea is going to have to set her sights high to reverse.

In all fairness, though, it seems like even Wilehlm is a little shocked by what's happened--And now Rhea has gained another ally, hopefully.

One more chapter for this weekend will be out soon!