Manon and Belle Pt. 17

"Let's assume there is," Christy said, and the look she gave Manon left no doubt she thought there was, "how do we treat it?"

"I think, well, I think it has to be aggressively, if the tendon damage isn't repaired promptly, there will be likely be a permanent loss of function. The wound in the skin and muscle itself will be relatively easy to treat, but in combination with the tendon damage, treatment will be taxing for the patient, and uncomfortable." Fliss had picked up Janine's right hand while she was talking and was holding it, perhaps for her own reassurance as much as Janine's. "Sorry" she said quietly to Janine who was watching her carefully now.

"Very good, now what about her forearm and hand?"

"Who would do that to you?" Fliss muttered, and then braced herself. "Burns to all of the forearm and hand, consistent with immersion as we have been told. I don't think the burns are actually very deep, despite the extensive surface tissue damage. I can only guess that the immersions were brief, so that the heat didn't penetrate as much as it appears. So they'd cause the most pain for the least damage," she added with distaste.

"I can't actually tell what the damage is in any detail to your hand," Fliss said, as Janine was still watching her and had caught her eye. "I'm so sorry. There are multiple fractures to the fingers, knuckles and hand but I can't separate them out one from the other. I don't know how that would be treated, I've never studied anything like it."

"Ignore the barbarity of what has been done, think of it as a crush injury, what would you do then and about the burn?" Christy told her.

"The burn is straightforward, I could probably heal that on my own. One possibly two treatments to promote healing, and keep it very clean to avoid infection until the skin is intact again. I'd say careful use only for some weeks as the skin will be very tender and easily damaged, but with the other injuries, that won't be an issue."

"Because?" her sister prompted.

"Well oh, because first we will have to treat the fractures, stabilise them, manipulate things together where we can now, which will greatly reduce pain and swelling. But the hand will need at least one further treatment and probably more, to repair the breaks properly and restore function. So it won't be more than minimally functional for weeks."

"Very good Felicity. I am going to need you to help with all this, it will be taxing," Christy said softly. Felicity just shrugged, "she needs help, I will do what I can."

"So Manon, there are two other things, that I did not ask Fliss to look for. First that young lady is in my view in the early stages of a general sepsis infection and left untreated it would kill her, forgive me being so blunt. It won't as you have found help in time."

"She's been extensively beaten, there is extensive bruising present but none of it appears to have caused any serious injury. Which is I suppose good news," Christy said with a scowl.

"Also her brand is already showing some signs of inflammation, due probably to underlying infection, so is easily treated. Now, forgive me being brisk, but we must get to work. You didn't answer my question about your experience?"

"I didn't sorry," Manson replied. "I have a little magic, enough for simple breaks and cuts, but mostly it is self directed and involuntary, so I heal well and recover quickly. I had almost a year's training in Padua, in general medicine and anatomy, in order to try and develop my skills, but while the learning was valuable, it made no discernible difference to my abilities," Manon said.

"Thank you. Manon, we have a problem, Janine here needs a lot of effort spent on her immediately, which will exhaust her, and be very risky. Which means I will link with my sister and use some of her resources to augment my own, which in turn I will then direct to healing what of Janine's injuries I can. It would greatly help if I could draw on you as well."

"I've not even heard of this Christy, but I'll do anything I can to help."

"It's not a common procedure Manon, far from it, and some in the medical professions are very hostile to it, calling it vampirism. I may not be able to link with you, but we won't know until we try. You understand that healing others taxes both the healed and healer I am sure, but this in my view is the only way we can heal Janine enough, and still all be able to be on our way within a day."

"If we had time, I'd treat her over several days, and all would be well, but that is not a luxury we have."

"No indeed not," Manon said.

"Doctor," Belle said, "could you draw on me, to help?" "or me?" Melissa added.

"That is a generous thought, but unless you have some magical ability of your own, then no, sadly I cannot, though I believe it can be done, I have no idea how."

"Oh, well, sorry now but we don't," Belle said, looking glum.

"Thank you both for offering," Manon said. "Doctor, what do you need me to do?"

Christy had pulled her jacket off, and rolled up her sleeves, baring her arms to the elbow. "Come and sit by me, and hold me, skin to skin preferably, on my arm will be fine. If you can drop into your healing trance, even a little, it will help a lot. Fliss will be on my other side."

"I'll draw on Fliss first, and perform the simpler treatments. We are used to each other, and then draw on you when I need to, probably when I have to work on her hand. I'd rather not have to do it, but I'll make her sleep then, the pain will be bad for a bit, and I can't have her moving around."

"That's it?" Manon asked.

"Well not entirely," the Doctor said. Fliss sniggered slightly, "not by a mile, no," she said. "Yes thank you Fliss, that's not especially helpful."

"Manon what my sister is referring to, is that the link I'll make with you is quite strong, you will if you are strong enough, be able to sense some of what I am thinking, but certainly what I am feeling. And because I am in turn linked with my sister, you will get the same from her, and we will both get it from you. It's essential you don't pull away, or break the link, it could hurt any or all of us, and incapacitate us for a while, which would leave Janine here in a poor way."

"Fliss's knowledge of healing has been greatly augmented by assisting me this way, as she can feel and to some extent see what I do when we are linked. It makes the book learning a lot easier for her too, at least that is what our Father thought."

Seeing Manon's look of enquiry, "I'll tell you about him and us later, we'll need to rest when we are done before we can go, so we may as well exchange stories then, though Gran told me about you." Christy said.

"Let's begin. Please you two, make sure we stay as well lit as you can manage," she said to Belle and Melissa. "The more I can see with my eyes as well, the better. Take my arm please Manon, and don't let go until I tell you."

"Ready?" Christy asked her sister, who nodded and took a gentle hold of Christy's upper arm, so Manon copied her on Christy's other arm.

Christy started on Janine's thigh, running her finger tips up and down the wound very gently. Manon could feel the power Christy was putting into what she was doing, even though they hadn't linked. It was a little like being next to a running tap Manon thought. A rather powerful one at that. You didn't have to put your hand under the running water to tell it was quite forceful.

Despite what had been said about there not being much time, Christy was patient and methodical, making several passes over and around the ugly gash in Janine's thigh. "That is all I am going to do for now. That was the seat of her infection as well, so that should improve from now on. The inflammation and scarring will both improve now, but she'll need more treatment later to reduce the scarring further. If she'd had stitches when she should have, this would all have been so much better."

"I'm going to start drawing on Fliss now, and work on her upper arm."

"I'm ready," Felicity said quietly.

As Christy took hold of Janine's arm at the elbow, Manson had to move to stay in contact with her, and found herself looking almost straight down into Janine's face. "Not long now, try and stay still," Manson told her, and took hold of Janine's good right hand in her left hand, getting a rather weak squeeze back.

"Oh god," Janine said through clenched teeth suddenly, her face screwed tight with pain. Manon felt a huge surge of power from Christy, bigger than anything she had felt even from the Meisters at Padua who had taught her. Christy actually had the finger tips of her right hand in the cut through Janine's bicep, which welled fresh blood around them.

"There Fliss, you feel it, the tear?" Christy said. "Yes, it's actually almost severed? I'll control the bleeding, you deal with the tear," her sister replied, a slight strain in her voice, but quite calmly. "Manon I'm linking with you now, you may be able to see what I am doing."

A most peculiar sensation ran up and down Manon's spine then, like a tickle but it took root in the back of her head, before spreading quickly, as Manon slid into her own healing trance, reaching out to feel this odd sensation.

Janine was groaning in pain now, and had shut her eyes tight, and Manon saw Belle hold her legs down tightly as she tried to kick, "please, fuck, please" Janine shouted.

"Not much more Janine, be brave," Christy said, and then Manon again felt that surge in power and felt like she was pulled along with it, a blurry image of muscle and bone formed in her mind and then sharpened and focused on what Manon could now see, or was it feel, was the strand that she knew had to Janine's tendon.

Another surge in power, that with a start Manon felt was as much push from the other presence she could now sense besides her new awareness of Christy, and had to be her sister pushing energy at her, but what Manon was seeing and feeling these two sisters do was so far beyond her own skills that she was awestruck.

"Don't let go please Manon," Christy said sitting up a little, breathing hard from the exertion. "You did well Janine, I am sorry that was so uncomfortable, but your arm will be much better soon."

"Ah well maybe that is for the best," Christy said. Manon saw that Janine had passed out, and she got another surprise when she felt a wave of reassurance flow to her from Christy, and her sister through the link. "She is alright Manon, she is just overcome, but her heart and respiration are good, surprisingly so given what she has been through."

"Please, I have forgotten your name, but could you pass me and my sister some water?", Christy said to Melissa.

"Of course doctor," Melissa said scrambling to pick up a leather water bottle, and pass it over. "I'm Melissa Doctor."

"Good, thank you Melissa," the doctor said when she and her sister had taken a little water each. Manon declined.

"So now the hard part, the hand. How much could you see of what we just did?" She asked Manon.

"Some, but it was hard to stay focused, the strength you and your sister exhibited felt like it was washing me away."

"Well, I am sorry, but that is going to be worse now. I'm going to have to sustain a much higher level of effort for longer on these fractures. Please just relax into the flow that I draw from you. If you resist it will make everything harder, and your instinct will be to resist."

"I promise that other than making you tired, hungry and thirsty, you will come to no harm. You have I think more power than you believe by the way, I am curious about why you couldn't learn to channel it, but no matter, that will be good for Janine."

"Ready?" She asked. "Ready," Manon replied, realising that she could feel Fliss's "ready" through the link as well as hear it. "Manon, close your eyes, and concentrate, and whatever you do, do not let go of my arm."

The first feeling of something being pulled from her made Manon clench her teeth in anger, but she bit down on it and willed herself to relax. "Good, well done," Christy murmured.

Manon knew that really her mind was feeding her an image that didn't exist, as a way of rationalising the bizarre sensation that she was feeling. She saw her link to Christy as a thread of light, linking her to a ball of glowing light, coloured slightly pink for some reason, and she knew this was Christy.

The thread wound its way on, into a light blue light, that was much brighter, which had got be Felicity.

Her view, or whatever it was shifted suddenly and she was pulled along, into what she guessed had to be Janine's hand, and then the sense of being drained grew, and then grew more until she felt it like a steady pulse, passing from herself, into what she could only describe as a flood of power from Christy and in particular Felicity.

Manon couldn't focus on what Christy was doing with this power, but got random images and flashes of feedback, with images of finger bones and knuckles and other things that faded from her view too quickly for her to understand what she was seeing. This went on for a long time, or seemed like it, but in truth Manon couldn't have said how long.

"Big pull now, I've positioned everything I can, this will be to stabilise and knit the bones," Christy murmured, or maybe that came over the link, Manon wasn't sure. Then the pull on her grew stronger and stronger and she tried to relax and just let it flow.

"Oh shit," Christy said, making Manon concentrate again, as she'd been lost for a while mentally. As she did, Manon saw that the strands that had connected her to Christy and through her to Felicity were very much brighter, and that another strand was connecting her to what she thought had to be Janine.

"Oh god, Manon! You are a binder, you are binding us!" Christy shouted.

"No, no, you must not pull away, don't!" She shouted again, and Manon fought her instinct to physically and mentally break her link. She managed not to, but felt herself losing consciousness as instead the link with Christy seemed to somehow turn her inside out, and she slipped away.

Manon woke up, with the sense that quite some time had passed but no idea of how long. She was lying on her side on some blankets on the floor, facing Janine on the pallet next to her, who appeared to be sleeping, a blanket pulled up to her chin. Melissa was sitting with her, holding her hand, and looked up at Manon as she came awake.

"She's awake," Melissa called out, and Manon felt Belle stir to life behind her. She'd know Belle's hugs anywhere, and there was no mistaking the two strong arms holding her or the long body spooning her from behind.

"Welcome back, sleepy head," Belle said, releasing her and smiling down at Manon when Manon rolled on to her back.

Manon felt like someone had stuffed her head with cotton wool, she was all muzzy headed. "How long was I asleep? God, Janine, the Doctor?" Manon said as awareness of the doctor's last words came back to her.

"Janine is resting, as you can see, apparently everything went well, despite, well, you know," Belle said. "You slept the afternoon away, as near as I can tell down here."

"And the you know, the Doctor, and oh god her sister?" Manon said as the full weight of what had happened crashed into her. "Belle, I bound them, I couldn't stop it," she said, feeling a most uncharacteristic sense of shame.

"Christy wants to talk with you, she's been with her sister since, apart from checking on you and Janine. She's calm and upset, but not angry I think. I'll go and tell her you are awake," Belle said, and got up, walking over to where Manon could see two figures sitting by another lantern across the room.

"Miss?" Melissa asked. "I heard what the doctor said and all, but I don't understand. The doctor shouted you were a binder?"

"That's a lot to try and explain Melissa, I promise I will, but I need to speak with the doctor. If she doesn't object, just listen and then I'll explain afterwards if you need me too?" Manon told her, watching the doctor approach with her sister and Belle.

Manon quickly went and knelt by Janine when they saw her wake up. "Lie still you," Manon said, "you need to rest. How do you feel?"

Christy came and knelt by her, pulling the blanket away and examining Janine quickly. Manon was pleased to see that all of her injuries already looked markedly better, the wounds from the fight all less angry and swollen, and her numerous bruises and scrapes all older and faded.

Her left hand and forearm were strapped to a short thin plank of wood, bandages wrapped around her knuckles, wrist and below the elbow holding it in place. The burned skin, now no longer weeping and blistered, looked pink and slightly raw still, but much improved from before. The hand and fingers were still misshapen, but less so and the fingers and thumb were actually almost straight, though clearly still not right.

"Weak as a kitten miss, but I don't hurt as much, anything like as much," she added a little surprised. "My arm, my hand miss, will," and she swallowed looking tearful, "will they be alright, will I be able to use them properly?"

"Yes you will," Christy answered, and Janine sighed with relief, "but young woman you will have to behave, and not over do things. Your hand will need another treatment, maybe even two, and the scarring on your arm and thigh would benefit from that too."

"Gods, thank you doctor," Janine said.

"It's my job girl, and you are welcome. Now Manon, we need to talk," she said firmly. "Fliss my angel, go and sleep, you are exhausted after all this," Charity said, and for once her sister just did as she was asked, and went and curled up under a blanket on a pallet a little way off.

Manon waited while she and the others sat down, making a loose circle with Janine, and Melissa with her on one side, facing the doctor on the other. Belle sat down with Manon, close enough that they were touching, for which gesture of support Manon was very grateful.

"Christy, about you and Fliss, I'm so sorry, I had no idea that could happen like that, binding you," Manon said.

"Well first it wasn't just us two, you were holding Janine's hand and you bound her too," Christy said. "But I'll get back to that." Manon saw Janine looking puzzled but she just lay quiet and listened.

"The apology is mine to make Manon, I should have realised what you were Your description of your healing being oddly limited compared to the obvious power I felt in you should have been enough. Diagnosing things is the core of my job, and I failed in this case," Christy said.

Manon was too surprised to have anything to say. She'd expected shouting and screaming at the very least and a great deal of upset. Christy though was calm, even thoughtful. "Manon you must have known?" Christy asked.

"That I can bind? Yes. Since I was 18, when I was taught how to control it when it was discovered. I hadn't bound anyone since then, until Melissa a few days ago. It wasn't an altogether conscious decision to take Melissa, but with hindsight I recognised that I had wanted to do it. She's the first deliberate binding I've ever made."

"But since I can see, now that I looked," Christy said looking annoyed at herself, "that you and Belle are tightly bound, I presume that she wasn't alone before your talent was discovered?"

"No, you are correct, but that is why I don't understand what happened here? The girls that I inadvertently bound were all ones that I liked, that I was intimate with," Manon told her.

"Christy when I was taught how to control this, well when I thought I had been taught control anyway, I was told that for me binding was only going to happen when the girl and I already had feelings for each other, and that we were, well, sorry, intimate."

"Well, half right, on both points," Christy said. "The girl you bind has to have feelings for you, and I presume orgasm was when the link was forged. So you didn't actually have to care for the girl for the binding, but I presume wouldn't have bedded her if you didn't have feelings for her. And it is always a 'her', isn't it?"