Seraphina
The patient asked whether she would be there for the next treatment.
Seraphina had been expecting the question. She still began the wrong answer.
"I'll try to arrange..."
She stopped.
The young woman on the bed waited, her injured hand resting on a folded cloth. The swelling had eased over several visits. Movement was returning slowly. She trusted Seraphina's light because she recognized the feeling and had learned when to say it was pulling too sharply.
Someone else would need to learn those answers from her.
"Maelis is arranging the next treatment with another healer," Seraphina said. "I may be away with the expedition. The handover is happening before I leave."
The woman's expression changed. Disappointment, then the effort to hide it.
"Have I done something wrong?"
"No."
