The twilight curse

ch 24; unexpected news

'

The heart pounds swiftly behind the chest when Linkly enters the inn again. This time, alone.
The inn owner greets him from the counter.
" Sav'aaq... Oh?... It's you! I have great news, the doctor is back now. " she smiles with her chubby face.
Linkly nods nervously and swallows hardly.
The woman looks to the right side.
" Riku, you have a patient."

" I'M COMING IN A MINUTE!"
The woman behind the counter looks back at Linkly.
" You can sit down while waiting on the doctor... Sometimes, it takes longer than a minute for her to get here..." she chuckles and nods toward the set of a table and two chairs by the corner of the room. At the right side from the entrance.

Linkly gives her a nod and walks toward the table where he barely has sat down when a woman with an opened and loose doctor coat stumbles out from a room.
" I'm here now -..." she pants with messy hair where strands of hair stand up here and there with a small layer of dust on them.
The doctor looks confused at the woman behind the counter who points with an extended arm toward Linkly.
" The little Vai over there needs your help..."
Doctor Riku sighs loudly when she sees him.
" Oh, no... What has the princess done now?" She grunts.

The woman behind the counter shushes her.
" RIKU?!... You might be a doctor, but you aren't allowed to talk about our princess like..." she starts telling her when the doctor halts her words by holding a hand up against her.
She holds her breath in surprise.

Riku shakes the head.
" Please, don't misunderstand me... I don't mind taking care of our beloved princess... I am only worried about her... How she seems recklessly hurting herself in duty of taking care of her people..."

The inn owner exhales and doesn't seem as if she wants to argue on that.
" I see... " she nods slowly and looks over at Linkly, who seems frozen in midair where he is hesitating between sitting down as planned or standing up again.
The inn owner shrugs and looks back at the doctor.
"... But you have nothing to worry about... Since it's not the princess who needs your help... It's the little Vai over there..." she explains and nods toward Linkly, who shyly stands up and clears the throat.

The doctor gasps.
" Oh?... It's not... Then..." she turns toward Linkly, who slowly approaches her.
She smiles at him.
"... Pardon me... For assuming the princess had sent you to get me... I'm Riku, the doctor around here... If you need my help, I will gladly help you..." Riku says and starts eyeing Linkly up and down.
The doctor is only about a head taller than him. Around the same height as Link.
" So?... May I ask what you need help with?"

Linkly flinches where he swiftly hands the slightly wrinkled paper toward her.
The doctor hums confused and takes the paper where she starts reading the information about his health.

She nods at the end of the text.
" Alright... Then I want you to enter this room..." Riku says and walks toward the room she came out from.

Linkly starts following her where he parts the lips in surprise of the outstanding room. The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling are covered in large and white clinker bricks.
A few beds are standing in a row by the left wall. With white curtains between each bed to keep some privacy.
Next the door to the right is a desk with a chair to the short sided wall.
The long sided wall to the right is cut off in the middle of the floor, where another room is around the corner.
Weird devices are standing here and there in the room. Making weird beeping noises.
Even a tall pot with a fern stands by the top right corner of the room. With its feathery alike leaves pointing to every direction. A few of the green leaves are leaning at the wall.

Linkly stares shocked at the big screen whose white device seems standing on a white table on wheels.

The doctor looked confused at him and followed his gaze.
When she sees the device, she starts chuckling. And gets a asking look from Linkly, who hums.
Riku smiles at him.
" I know... These things might look weird... Especially in a place like Gerudo town... But they are a great help with my treatments of sick patients... Something Purah from Hateno village helped me with... So, with her technology and my medical knowledge, I have been able to treat people who otherwise would be dead by now... I even treat people outside the village... Men who aren't allowed to enter due to the old and traditional rule where only women are allowed to enter the town..." she explains.
"... Oh..." Linkly exhales fascinated.
The doctor smiles and makes a hand gesture toward the bed.
" Please... Lay down on one of the beds, and let me examine you .."