Upon arrival at Freehold, Terra went directly to the hospital, walking in through the emergency entrance to the pleasant greetings of several who recognized her. She caught the attention of Zoe Bliss, the trauma nurse who led the triage team two nights ago. Zoe's grappling hug caused Terra to yelp in sharp pain.
Zoe stepped back and glanced at the wound. Blood stained the bandana wrapped tightly around Terra's left arm. "What do we have here?"
"Could you help me out with this, Zoe?" Terra asked.
At Zoe's direction, Terra hopped up onto a padded examination table in a nearby treatment room. After removing the makeshift bandage and studying the wound for a moment, Zoe narrowed her eyes at Terra. "I've seen this kind of injury before. Looks like a high-velocity graze. Do I want to know how you got it?"
"Umm," Terra stammered. "No, you don't."
"That's what I thought. Okay, I'll clean it up and then get a doctor to close it."
As Zoe carefully washed out the wound and applied an antiseptic, Dr. Liz Gaur entered. "Terra, you don't have to get hurt to visit us. Let's see what we have here." She snapped on a pair of sterile gloves and held up Terra's arm to examine it. "Hmm, nasty gash, but it's not too deep. Bet it hurts."
"Yeah," Terra grunted, pressing her lips together.
Liz dabbed on pain killer, much to Terra's relief, and closed the wound with tissue adhesive. After Zoe wrapped it in a bandage, Terra let out a deep breath of relief.
"Better?" Liz asked.
Terra flexed her left hand. "Much better. Thanks."
Liz sat down in a chair, folding her hands. "Terra, I would ask another favor from you. We have a patient who came in with the Norhold casualties with a piece of shrapnel embedded in his neck very close to the brain stem. The risk with conventional surgery is very high. Would you be willing to do a psi-surgery procedure to clear it?"
"I will try. When do you need this?"
"As soon as possible. Can you do it this evening?"
Terra nodded. "Okay, but let me go get something to eat while you get him ready."
As Terra placed her food tray on a table in the dining hall, Ginny came up and sat down across from her. "So, what did you learn at Norhold?" As Terra jerked up, Ginny raised a hand and answered her unspoken question. "Will wanted me to check on you. He does care about you."
"I know. I had to go see it all for myself."
Ginny cocked an eyebrow. "So?"
"The village was completely destroyed. I wanted to know who shelled them. Turned out both sides did, and the bastards used anti-personnel loads. Those poor people never stood a chance."
Ginny shook her head. "War at its very worst."
Terra peered directly into Ginny's eyes and then glanced down. "You were right. To the villagers, it didn't matter who attacked them."
Ginny pointed to the bandage on Terra's arm. "And that?"
"I, uh, ran into some soldiers that did not want me to be there."
"I see. So, what now?"
Terra balled a fist. "I am going to raise hell in the Blue Uprising!"
"Be careful, Terra," Ginny cautioned. "People who do this kind of thing do not like having their methods challenged."
Ginny stood up to leave, but Terra motioned her back down. "Ginny, I need to ask you something. This clinic, the dining hall, the school, the orphanage — what keeps all these good things going?"
"It is the hard work of everyone who works and volunteers in them. Well, that's the stock answer, but I know that is not what you are asking. Have you ever heard of the Library?"
"Yes. I understand it is a charity that supports education, especially in poor areas."
"That is true, but it is also much more." Ginny leaned in. "The Library funds much of the work we do here, but there are many more locations scattered around this land. Their goal is to be a stabilizing influence and to lift people out of impoverishment, where poverty defined as more than just financial."
"Why has Freehold not been caught up in the fighting, nor has a Dynasty presence?" Terra asked.
"The Library has high-level contacts in both the Dynasty and the Blue Uprising. There is an agreement of sorts in place to leave Freehold and the Library operations alone as long as they maintain some sort of neutrality. I fear, though, that someday the agreement will be broken."
Terra sat in thought as she took in Ginny's words. "You are with the Library."
"Yes, I am."
"And Will?"
"He is, too," Ginny replied. "Look, Terra, deep down you have a good heart. All-out war will come one day, and we could use someone like you with us. Think about it."
Ginny abruptly stood up and walked away.
Terra completed her dinner and returned the tray, while pondering what Ginny revealed. She pushed it aside in her mind for now, as another task laid ahead that would require complete concentration.
Terra changed into scrubs and entered the surgical room where an older man laid sedated under bright lights. Two nurses, Liz, and another surgeon awaited her. She then studied x-ray images displayed on a wall-mounted viewscreen.
Liz asked, "Terra, what will you need?"
Terra gathered the team around her. "This work will be very delicate, especially with the shrapnel so close to the brain stem. I will try to pull it back along the path it entered and bring it closer to the skin, then you can take over and extract it. Keep him as still as possible. Also, I will need a tall chair with back support. Psi-surgery takes a lot of energy out of me and someone should stand behind me in case I collapse."
Positioning the chair near the patient's head, Terra sat down and placed her hands on both sides of his neck. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Let's begin."
She moved into the aura and let her energy grow, concentrating it into razor fine threads necessary for psi-surgery. Since working on a micro-scale actually took a lot of power, any Talent within miles would be able to detect her presence now as a brightly glowing entity. Putting that concern aside for now, Terra did a general scan across the patient's whole body.
"There is some fluid in his lungs, might be bacterial pneumonia."
Terra moved her visualization to the left side of the man's neck, viewing it as if a magnified 3-D image. Following the destructive route taken by the shrapnel, she looked for any obstacles to its eventual removal. There it is. A jagged piece of dull metal about one centimeter wide and two centimeters long had imbedded itself in a dangerous position. She examined the tissue around it and formulated a plan to remove it.
"Part of the shrapnel piece went into the brain stem and there is an artery resting against it. I will have to cut it in half to get it out safely."
Terra focused her energy and very carefully sliced the metal while trying not to disturb the tissue around it. Latching on to the outer piece, she tugged, rotating it slightly to avoid the artery, then left it just under the skin.
The second inner piece would be more difficult. With precise but gentle application of force, she pushed nerve fibers aside, moving the jagged metal in stages, less than a millimeter at a time. Bit by bit, it moved out until it rested against the first piece. Terra went back and inspected the area again where the metal originally lodged, cauterizing a small knick in a blood vessel and draining the area of inflammation.
Letting out a big breath, Terra announced, "It is done."
As Terra withdrew from the aura, a strong sensation of vertigo overwhelmed her as if spinning. She might have fallen to the floor had not a nurse steadied her.
An x-ray image confirmed the new location of the offending metal and with a small conventional incision, the surgeon removed it. The operation was over.
Liz and a nurse helped Terra out of the operating room to a chair in the prep room. Glancing up at the clock, Terra noticed that an hour and fifteen minutes had passed since the operation began.
Liz knelt down beside her. "How are you feeling?"
Leaning back with her head against the wall, Terra blew out a deep breath. "The spinning room is slowing down. It should pass in a minute or two."
"That was amazing Terra. You are an angel."
"This is the third time I have been called an angel since coming here." Terra shook her head. "Liz, I am no angel."
Liz put a gentle hand on Terra's shoulder. "Are you so sure? You do the work of one. I thank God you came here."
Terra looked up into Liz's eyes. "God? You are religious?"
"Yes. Is it so hard to think that I may be?"
Terra stammered. "Yes... I mean no. It's just I haven't seen much good come from religion."
Liz's smile expressed nothing but compassion. "I understand, but a religion that does no good is the wrong kind."