Kevin was still on the ground. Since his voice had become hoarse from all the wailing, all he could do was silently whimper. One could tell that he was still under a lot of pain. He had some good friends, others were his younger sister and brother. They were still trying to comfort him. Owing to their young and cute nature, looking at the scene, it was quite heartbreaking.
When Alma got there, she too was affected by the somber mood. She was still a professional, and the only adult, so she took control of the scene. Moving everyone further away, she started examining the boy.
He was bruised and scraped in several places. Alma could also identify a few ribs that had most likely cracked. The upper part of the left thigh showed signs of internal bleeding, but it was not that pronounced.
All in all, the boy was in a pathetic state. However, Alma had seen worse. Only recently had she had to deal with an almost dead Haiser.
It should be known that, as a lady of noble standing, there were certain skills that looked good when they learned. These included medical, musical and embroidery skills.
While prominent girls did not need to learn these skills, they were still a nice addition to their list of skills, and in some cases, they did come in handy. For Alma, in addition to learning the various business skills she would need as heir, she also did take a course in home medicine and nursing.
She could not be called a doctor, but she was definitely overqualified as a nurse. This could even be considered a professional examination. The biggest worry at the moment was that twisted ankle. She could see the foot turning a little blue.
"What's his name?" She asked as she gently yet firmly massaged the section of the foot that's just above the ankle. She soon got her answer.
"Alright Kevin, I am going to set you back, don't worry, there'll be some - Tug - pain, but you will be alright," That tug mid sentence was her instantly setting her bones back. She gently roughed up his hair, as she inspected the ankle. There was some slight swelling, but that's to be expected.
"Come on, let's get you back," she said, once her examination was done. The boy would have to stay off his foot for a while, but as far as she could tell, he was fine. His friends helped Kevin get back to his feet, but just as he was about to start limping back, he suddenly tumbled.
Amid the panic of children, Alma ran back to where Kevin lay. The boy was out cold. She quickly felt for his pulse and finding it, she let out a sigh of relief. She then inspected Kevin's head, only to find a big bump.
He must have hit his head when falling, Alma thought. Without further ado, she lifted him up and started carrying him back to the village. The children were all trailing behind, concern and curiosity on their faces.
Finally, she had the boy lying on a bed. The parents were being alerted. Even so, unlike Alma, Claire had already stripped the boy and done a more thorough examination. She discovered that the boy had a big bruise on his arm, and some other places.
Falling from a tree had its advantages. The fall wasn't that hard, and one had things helping them break their fall. However, falling from a tree had its disadvantages. The branches and twigs could cause just as much damage as landing on the ground.
Fortunately, Claire had seen such injuries multiple times. Setting the foot in a cast, she proceeded to wash out the various bruises and scrapes. She then massaged Kevin's neck base to get some blood flowing to his head easily.
Alma was there to help every step of the way, watching. Inwardly, she berated herself.
All this time, she had thought herself a professional medical practitioner. She had the education, and the papers to show for it. However, she had no experience dealing with patients, their families, and the panicked onlookers. Moreover, her solution to such issues was always the one: put the person in a med bay.
To her, and those around her, a med bay was easily accessible. Every house had some. It was equivalent to a hot tub in its presence.
However, so far away, Alma realized how precious a commodity it was. Not even the largest hospitals had one in planet Tres. The only med bays to be found in the planet were in the Tres family estate. Therefore, in these fringe places, medical practitioners were still highly valued.
Without knowing it, the various procedures were over. The boy was back in his parents' arms, and it was a happy ending. However, Alma was on autopilot. She had remembered dragging her wounded husband through the forest, and the grief of loosing ... No, I will not go down there, not now.
"Don't worry too much, you did great," Claire said, as the two were washing their equipment. Seeing her friend's confused look she said, "I know that look. You've been spaced out since you got back here. I am guessing you are berating yourself."
"It's that obvious, huh?" Alma sighed.
"Don't worry about it. After a while, you get used to it, you'll be able to do anything with your eyes closed," Claire said. Alma nodded. She had the book knowledge, time to acquire some real world experience.
"I am glad I have such a super cool sensei to help me," she said, smiling back at Claire, and the two giggled. "By the way, people are starting to notice, we have two healers in the settlement now."