We Are The Cure : The Plague Doctor's Tale.

Chapter 3

He showed her the way to the inn of bizarre name The Dire Lake Inn which wasn't very far from the tailor. It was located by the river side which was a perfect place to rest. He paid for their stay and ordered food to their rooms. When Rosalynn asked why they can't eat at the bar like others, Doctor answered that it is impossible due to the possibility of catching the pestilence which might be somewhere in the air. She hoped that at least they can eat together but after receiving the food, Doctor locked himself in his room and Rosalynn had to eat alone.  Having lost all her hope to talk to him that day, she locked herself in her room as well, but when the night came, she heard knocking on the door of her room. Carefully she came to the door and was about to open it when she heard the voice outside.

"Erm, excuse me. I'm lookin' for a doctor. My child is sick and I need your help. I might not have enough money to pay you but please. I don't know what to do." The voice belonged to a middle-aged man who clearly himself wasn't in good health. Not long after that she heard a creak of opening door and Doctor's voice.

"I will go with you. Please, wait downstairs." He ordered and she heard the man going downstairs and the Doctor returning to his room to get his bag. She opened her door and waited on the corridor for Doctor to appear and when he did, she asked him.

"Can I go with you?"

"It wouldn't be safe for you to visit the sick. At least not now. You don't have appropriate clothing nor appropriate medical education. You would be disturbing me." Doctor was cruel, but honest and she knew that but still insisted on her company.

"If I had some first-hand experience, I would learn faster... Please." She gave him the look of a sad puppy and waited for his reaction. Few seconds later she heard him sigh and he came back to his room again. When he appeared, he was holding a pair of big leather gloves, a woollen grey scarf and one of his masks. 

"Put these on. I will help you with the mask." As she covered her head and neck with a scarf, he regulated the string at the back of her head so the mask wouldn't fell off of her face and made sure she had wrapped herself thoroughly with the scarf. When she had the mask on she was really surprised because she expected the mask to be stinky but instead it was pretty comfy and smelled with the lavender. Moreover, she wore his gloves and one of her coats which might have provided her with at least little safety against pestilence. When Doctor made sure she was fully covered, they joined the man downstairs and he showed them the way to his house. People on the street were giving them surprised looks and some of them were staring at them. She felt these glares at her and felt like she was naked. Never before so many eyes were looking at her and that feeling was so uncomfortable. Doctor seeing her anxiety put his hand on her shoulder and looked at her. She couldn't see his face or his eyes, but she knew he was smiling. It made her feel a little bit better and more confident. She didn't know that wearing a mask attracts so much attention, or maybe was it the fact that she was a woman wearing a plague doctor's mask? After 10 minutes of stride, they finally reached the house which wasn't the beautiful one. It was quite old and devastated, some windows were broken and the door was in a very poor condition. The man had a difficulty with opening them but he managed to do so and invited them inside. 

"Here is my wife. Say hello to the doctors." He order and the woman nodded at them. "This way. Turn left. Yes, the first door." They entered the dim room in which there was a silence interrupted by a child's shallow breathing. 

"Light some candles." Doctor ordered to the man and with Rosalynn they approached the child. The little girl was lying lifeless in her bed all covered with sheets. If it wasn't for her breathing, they would have thought the child was dead. When the man brought candles, they saw how pale the girl was. 

"Did you give her enough food?" Doctor asked the father of the child.

"As much as we had." The father answered timidly.

"I see. Allow me to asses her condition first." He lifted the blanket with his cane and checked her armpits, groin and neck. They were all swollen. He checked toes and fingers of the child which were turning purple. He sighed and stood up. "I regret to inform you, sir, but this child will die within two hours. There is nothing I can do to help her." He covered the child back and was about to leave, but the man stopped him.

"No... no, please, you don't understand. She will live. She has to! She is my only child, and you're a doctor! You have your medications... Cure my child! I beg you doctor..." The man grabbed Doctor's cloak and shouted hysterically.

"Sir, please, calm down. As I said, the girl will die soon. You'd better prepare some nice clean clothes and dig a grave. Now, please, let go of my cloak." He gently pressed his cane towards the man. 

"How dare you, you inhumane monster! Is that what doctors do? Do they leave poor people to death? I've told you I will pay as much as I can! She is just a child. So do what you are expected to do!" Despite his weak appearance, the man strengthen his grip and pushed Doctor onto the wall which sprinkled him with parget. 

"May I try to cure your child?" Rosalynn spoke. Both men looked at her surprised.

"Please, lady. Save my little girl." The man calmed down a bit and Doctor dusted his cloak of the fallen parget.

"I've told you to not interrupt my work." Doctor spoke harshly crossing his arms. "You've signed the contract. No objections and no questions, remember?"

"But look at her! She is in pain..."

"Yes. I know she is in pain but soon she will be relieved. She will die before the medicine will work so it is pointless to apply one." He looked at the child. "There is nothing we can do about it. Just look at her lymph nodes. They are all swollen which is a sign of the pestilence. Also notice that her fingers are turning purple, it's gangrene symptom. This girl is half-dead."

"But she is still breathing!" Rosalynn insisted, by the tone of her voice he could tell she was almost crying. "Please Doctor, let's help this child. Together, I'm sure we could-..."

"No. That's my final word... We are leaving now." He grabbed his bag and left the room without even waiting for her. The father of the child couldn't bare the cruelty and the severity of Doctor's words. He looked at his child and then at shocked Rosalynn. She didn't even notice when he wrapped his fingers around her neck.

"You two are monsters... Cruel, inhumane beasts... You only prey on poor and weak people like us. If my child is about to die, then you will die too." He strengthen his grip and Rosalynn began to choke due to the lack of air. She wanted to say something but couldn't, all she was able to do was to try to stop the man, helplessly. Before she fainted, she saw the flash of Doctor's mask and heard the man's groan. Later only the lavender scent stayed with her as she was sinking into the darkness.