Medieval Medical Miracle

Zela was desperately trying to move, entirely ignoring my presence as she focused all her energy on getting up. She planted her nub on the ground, kicking and pulling herself forward. After straining with all her might, she collapsed to the floor, breathing heavily. I felt horrible—she probably wasn't used to having just one leg.

"Zela?" I said, causing her to turn her head and glare at me. I didn't expect her to respond; there was no reason for her to trust me.

"Zela, that's your name, right?" The man had told me as much, but I had no reason to trust him either.

"I'll take your silence as a yes. Can I move you back to the bed so we can talk?" I asked. Immediately, the girl rolled over, grabbed onto the bedsheet, and pulled herself onto the bed. She could move just fine as long as she had something to hold onto, but on flat surfaces, it was clearly a struggle.

"Wow, that was impressive," I said, giving an awkward laugh as I moved to the chair in the corner of the room. I had a feeling this would be a long conversation. My only goal was to get her to talk to me, even if it was just once. Up until now it had been pure silence from her.

Though I tried to lighten the mood with my laugh, Zela continued to stare daggers at me. I needed to establish some form of trust, which would be incredibly difficult. Sitting across from her was the person she trusted the least.

"Zela, I'm Dobin Heath, a doctor. I want to start by telling you that you're free to leave whenever you like."

"I want to leave," Zela cut in, her first words a plea to escape.

"Could I at least finish?" I asked. She stayed silent, probably wanting to object but deciding it was best to hear me out. It wasn't like she could get far in her current condition.

"Okay, as I was saying, you're free to leave whenever you like. You aren't my slave or my property or anything like that. Right now, I see you as my patient—my first patient, in fact." I paused, waiting to see if she wanted to interject. After a brief silence, I continued, "I don't know if I can help you, but if you stay here with me, I'll try everything in my power to heal you. That includes your eyesight, leg, and arm."

Zela never broke her gaze. She shook her head.

"Why?" she asked brusquely.

"Why what?" I replied. I could guess what she meant, but I wanted her to speak more, to build a dialogue.

"Why would you help me? You're just hindering yourself for no personal gain. Are you going to make me please you, or are you—"

"No!" I shouted, causing Zela to recoil with a glint of fear in her eyes. I quickly walked back my tone. "Sorry, just… I would never make you do such a thing. I'm not asking for anything in return. I just heard what you've been through and wanted to help you."

"So, it's pity? I see," Zela said curtly.

This wasn't working. To be honest, I didn't know why I resonated with Zela so much. I guess you could call it pity, but I didn't want to believe that.

I sighed and reached into my sack, pulling out a healing tonic, a kebab, and a small porcelain plate. I looked up and saw Zela staring back, confused, her brow furrowed. She was likely taken aback by my magical sack, her eyes darting from it to me several times.

I held out the plate and tonic. "This is a healing tonic; it'll make you feel better. And here's some food. There's more over there," I said, pointing to the nightstand with some bread and fruit. A few more days, and it would go bad.

Zela reluctantly reached out and grabbed the plate with her good hand, supporting the bottom with her nub. She set the plate beside herself on the blanket and returned her gaze to me.

"Is the food laced with poison or some sleeping medicine so that when I eat, you can watch me suffer or take advantage of me?"

My eyes lowered to the ground. She was so skeptical of me, enough to assume I would do such a thing. No, it wasn't just skepticism—it was because something like that had happened to her before.

I wanted to cry. What horrible people humans are.

I sat for a moment longer, thinking of what I could do to convince her. An idea sprang into my head. I nodded and stood up, walking toward the bed.

"I have an idea, Zela," I said. As I approached, she curled into herself. I put my hands up to show I meant no harm and continued forward.

The food wasn't laced; I was sure of that. To convince her, I took her kebab off the plate and stuffed as much as I could into my mouth, pulling the skewer away. "It's really good," I said, my voice muffled as I chewed the tender meat.

I stood there chewing for a moment before swallowing it all. Zela's eyes watched me the entire time. I reached into my sack and pulled out an identical kebab. "There you go," I said, setting the kebab on the plate.

"Do you trust me now?" I asked as I moved back to my chair in the corner of the room.

Zela hadn't taken her eyes off me the whole time. Now, our gazes were locked. She slowly shook her head. "No. I trust the food, that's it. But how do I know you didn't plan that whole interaction? The first kebab was safe, but this one could be poisoned."

My foolproof plan, shattered! "You're very smart, Zela. Do you know that?"

Her stone-cold expression didn't change. I didn't expect much reaction to my compliment.

"And to that, I'll say… I'm not that smart. Furthermore, the last thing I want to do is hurt you." I paused, taking a deep breath and clasping my hands together. "So, please, at least trust me on this. No food or drink I give you will ever have anything harmful in it."

Not once did I break eye contact. Body language is an important part of communication. If I looked away, it might sow doubt in Zela's mind—the last thing I wanted.

"Okay," she said after a long pause. "If you're lying, then I'll kill you. Got that?"

A chill went down my spine. She spoke slowly and clearly; she wasn't lying. But I took that and made a promise.

"Sounds fair to me. Anything to get some good nutrition in you," I said with a genuine smile. Finally, it felt like we were getting somewhere.

"I have one more thing I want to show you. After this, you should have full trust in me." I reached into my sack and retrieved the papers the man had given me.

I slowly extended my hand to Zela and gave her the papers. She frowned and glared at me. "Why would this make me happy?" she shouted harshly, gritting her teeth.

"Because," I said, holding my hand out and silently asking for the papers back. She thrust them at me angrily. Once I had them, I tore the few sheets in half, then in half again, and again, until the pieces were mere millimeters in size.

After the first tear, Zela's mouth hung open. It stayed that way until I looked back at her, at which point she quickly closed it and stared at me in surprise.

"Zela, you no longer anyone's property. You're free to make your own decisions from here on. I vow to help you in every way I can." I doubted any of Zela's past owners had performed such a gesture.

All she could do was look at me, dumbfounded. There was still a chance she didn't trust me, but I hoped that wasn't the case. That had been my last-ditch effort.

I waited to see if she would speak, but after some silence, I prompted her. "Well? Do you trust me now, Zela?"

She closed her mouth and swallowed, blinking a few times. "My hate for humans runs deep. I'm sure you know that much. So, I can't trust you so quickly." A frown crept onto my face. "However, you're the first person to ever rip up my papers and make such an effort to gain my trust. So, I…"

She took a deep breath. "I'll believe what you say. But," she gritted her teeth and glared at me once again, "if you betray me, I'll make it my life's mission to kill you. If I am not the one to kill you, I will follow you to your next life and will continue doing that until I have gotten my revenge! Got that?"

I nodded and gulped. Scary!