Everdog: Tale of the First Female Knight

Chapter 51 - The New Lord in Town

She wrapped the thread around the clamp several times and then pulled the other end of the thread through the loops to secure a tight knot. After repeating the process twice, she grabbed the scissors and cut the thread close to the knot. Moving on to close the layer of fat tissue, she made two more buried sutures to further close the wound. She was left with the top layer of the skin and she did not use the regular visible stitches. Instead, she decided to use hidden stitches, where she kept most of the thread underneath the skin. This way she could pull the edges of the skin together without overlapping the flesh. This kind of stitching allowed for minimum scarring.

After giving the knight a total of nine stitches, Everin placed her tools back into the tray and washed the small amount of blood on her hands. The new tools allow her to use an evasive and more efficient method of suturing. She could reach deep into the tissue without contaminating the patient's wounds with her hands. It was less bloody and less of a struggle.

Unraveling the bandages, she told the knight to sit up straight. The forbearing knight exhaled and pushed himself up on the bed. Despite being in pain, he remained still while she treated him. She closely leaned into the knight almost as if she was embracing him and carefully wrapped the cloth around the knight's waist. She passed the bundle of bandages from one hand to the next behind him until the wound was nicely covered.

"Don't take a shower for the next two days. The wounded area cannot touch water. You can wipe your body with a wet towel instead. Change your bandages once a day, and whenever they get dirty or wet." The lad instructed the knight. " If the wound is infected, there may be yellow or white pus coming out of the wound and it may give off an odor. You may feel pain or have a fever. When this happens, come find me."

The knight stood up from his bed and grabbed a clean shirt from his drawer. He threw the grey tunic over his head and dressed himself.

"Refrain from doing any intensive exercises that can reopen the wound." The lad said as it grabbed the old bloody bandages and shirt that were on the floor and stuffed it into the laundry basket. "That means no wrestling, no brawling, and no sparring. In ten days, I will reexamine the wound and remove the stitches."

Spitting orders left and right, the lad was back to its old self and the knight didn't think he would have missed listening to the lad nag.

"Yes, doctor." The knight said with a small laugh at the end of his sentence.

The lad did not miss the knight's laugh. "Do you think this is funny? What if he stabbed you in one of your vital organs? You know that I don't have the ability to save you from something like that."

"Ay, Everin, it's not that serious." The knight told the lad to relax.

Everin scoffed, was the most serious person in the universe telling her not to be serious right now?

"I am not a fucking doctor, Williams. I can't just sew you up every time someone punctures a hole in you."

The knight realized that he had made the lad really upset.

"You are right, I am sorry. I should have realized that my actions would cause you to worry." The knight apologized to the angry lad.

When the knight sincerely apologized, Everin realized that she shouldn't be raising her voice at the knight. The only reason why he got hurt in the first place was because he was trying to protect her.

"No, I should be the one saying sorry. You got hurt trying to protect me. I should be thanking you instead of getting mad at you." She repented for letting her anger get the best of her. "Forgive me."

Letting the knight rest, Everin grabbed her medical supplies and left the knight's room.

***

Overnight, Everin inherited the castle and the rest of Lord Bullock's estate. Lord Kendryk has decided that the second earl was a better fit to run the new estate while the first earl should remain in Walden to learn how to run the marquis's estate. Not given much choice in the matter, Everin accepted the position as the new lord. She planned to alternate between living at the castle and at the knights' residence. She would spend most of her week living at the castle while spending the weekends at the residence.