Mina

“Oliver! How’s that fracture you saw yesterday?” Lionel asked as he entered the office.

The dark wildclaw pulled his head out of the box of plaster bandages and splinting materials to reply, “It went well, thanks for asking. The anesthetic ointment Nita made worked really well. Not even a whimper in during the procedure.”

“Oh, it worked?” the purple and blue wildclaw said, poking in from the next room. “Good! I’ve been really working on the pain relief recipes lately.”

“Yeah, I actually felt very confident working with it,” Oliver replied. “Went on to the patient easily, even with all the fur.”

“We have another trauma case coming in,” Sinead announced. The teal wildclaw stalked in, looking over a clipboard. “Reporting eight on the pain scale, closed humeral fracture with dislocation, eye dilation responsive, sensate below the break, no blood loss, and major contusions to the flank and ribcage.”

“Gisa, get the OR ready,” Oliver called. “I’m getting ready to scrub in!”

“On it!” Gisa thundered by, passing a young female wildclaw who pressed herself against the wall to get out of the way. Lionel caught sight of her and waved for her to join him behind the desk.

“Good morning, Mina,” Lionel said, “how is my favorite daughter today?”

“Dad, are you sure it’s okay for me to be here?” Mina asked, coming over, forgoing her usual protests about being his only daughter. “The clinic seems really busy.”

“No busier than it usually is,” Lionel replied. “Sinead has offered to let you shadow her in triage if you want to join her out front. You might even get to dispense some cough drops or pain relievers!” Mina looked over to the doorway where Sinead waved, pausing in taking a waiting patient’s pulse.

That seems as far away from medicine as I can get at least, Mina thought. “Sure thing, Dad. Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me, sweetheart, thank her. I just asked if anyone would take you. Oliver offered, but I thought you might not want to start in orthopaedics.” Lionel chuckled a little. “What he does is important, but seeing hand tools in the OR will always make me a little nervous.”

“Haha… Same here, Dad,” Mina replied, edging toward the door to follow Sinead. “Uh, catch you later?”

“After a while, crocodile! You’ll be a witch doctor like the rest of us in no time!” Lionel hummed to himself as he immediately returned to sifting through a book looking for a long-forgotten remedy of some kind.

Mina cringed a little at the outdated slang, but hurried out to the clinic’s waiting room. Sinead gave her a wide grin, and passed off her clipboard. “You just write things down while I ask the questions and take pulses, okay?” she said. Mina nodded quickly, adjusting the charcoal pencil in her claws.

This day could not end quickly enough.

~~

Mina stumbled into the family den at the end of the day, head spinning with the volume of technical language stuffed into it by Sinead and Nita as she bounced between triage and apothecary. She sagged, looking at the textbooks of remedies and anatomy she was expected to catch up on.

Slowly, she pushed them aside, putting another book on the reading desk. A Brief History of the Spiral Keep the cover read in gold leaf. The tome was thicker than her forepaw in breadth, and cataloged the numerous architects, builders, and artistic movements that had affected the construction and renovations of the underwater landmark. She opened the cover, flipping through to where a cloth bookmark held her place.

Engrossed by the almost daunting wall of text on the page in front of her, Mina did not hear her father come home until he leaned over her shoulder to ask, “What are you reading?”

Mina jumped, “Dad!” She slammed the book closed, one claw between the pages to hold her place.

“What? Is it that bad?” Lionel teased. His keen eyes scanned the cover as he sat next to her. “That history sure doesn’t look brief. I guess you got your other readings done already?”

“Uh, about that…” Mina gulped nervously, then forced out, “I don’t want to do medicine, Dad. Being at the clinic today just made me more sure of that.”

“Everyone feels overwhelmed on their first day, Mina! That doesn’t mean you’re not cut out for it,” Lionel said encouragingly. “Sinead and Nita both said great things about you. And you’ve been interested in medicine all your life. What’s changed?”

“I just don’t feel a connection to the work the way you do, Dad. I want to study Draconology, to get my claws on the history and mythology of our world and why we do things the way we do,” Mina explained.

“But you do that with medicine,” Lionel protested. “We have journal clubs every week where we talk about new procedures and cures and evidence. A lot of our work is rooted in history.”

“Dad, you’re not listening to me!” Mina cried. “You never do! I’m tired of looking at textbooks I don’t understand and don’t care about!”

Lionel pulled back abruptly, looking hurt. “Mina… I just want what’s best for you. Being a witch doctor is an excellent career that you would be very good at.” He sighed, standing. “I… I need to go take a walk. Do your reading while I’m gone, alright?”

Mina hung her head guiltily as Lionel left. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings, she thought as she closed her book, bookmark safely tucked in the illuminated pages. But I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not. Maybe that would would be good for both of them.

~~

Lionel came back into the den beaming. Mina watched him with some surprise, seeing him hum cheerfully to himself.

“So, I guess there is good news?” Mina asked.

“Yes, dear daughter!” Lionel replied, grinning. “I have decided to take you on as my personal apprentice. I know it’s a little early, but I think you will really love getting your claws on patients and learning on the job! You keep saying how much you dislike the textbooks and studying, so I think this will be good for you.”

Mina was flabbergasted for a moment, but quickly recovered. “Dad, I don’t really know what to say…” She dithered. How could she explain that she did enjoy learning and reading, but just not… that?

“You don’t have to say anything, Mina,” Lionel assured her, taking her claws in his. “I’m just excited to get to share all this time with you. To teach you some things. I’m really looking forward to just spending time together as father and daughter.” He paused breifly. “I know I’m always busy, working, seeing patients, talking to colleagues, but I do care about you. Hopefully we can grow closer by working together.”

Mina resisted the urge to pull away. “Thanks, Dad,” she said after a slight hesitation. “But… I never felt like you were ignoring me. I just want to do something else.”

“Well, here’s your chance!” Lionel replied.

“Dad—”

“No more buts, young lady. You’ve got a big day tomorrow! You should get some sleep. We’ve got five consults and two house calls, plus a journal club. We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Mina watched her father bustle out of her den, slumping on the floor. “Sure thing, Dad,” she muttered to his retreating back. Longingly, she stroked the cover of A Brief History of the Spiral Keep before sliding it back onto the bookshelf. It would just have to wait.

~~

Mina sat in the lab, hunched over a slim volume, taking notes. It was a report from an archeological dig site in the Sunbeam Ruins, discussing the freize of an ancient temple that had been unearthed. Mina carefully reproduced the design drawn in the report’s pages. She worked quickly, knowing she would be expected to return the report by the next day.

“Getting a little peace and quiet back here?” Oliver asked, coming into the lab. Mina jumped, narrowly avoiding putting an ink blot onto her work.

“Uh—yeah. Yeah, just a little space to work on some… reading,” Mina said lamely, looking at her notes. She shielded them as inconspicuously as possible with a wing. “What are you doing back here?”

“I won’t tell Lionel, then. I’m working on a replacement leg for a patient! It’s for a tundra, from dragonhome, which makes this easier…”

Mina tuned Oliver out as he started to ramble. He was animatedly chipping at a block of wood with a rasp, measuring and sanding to make a reproduction of the patient’s remaining limb. Mina blinked at it blearily. How dull. How messy. Sawdust flew and she sneezed.

Slowly, she turned back to her report, trying to focus again, but Oliver’s stream of chatter pricked her ears.

“...working as an dracology lecturer, and needs something comfortable to stand on for--”

“Your patient works in dracology?” Mina asked in awe, head whipping around.

Oliver shrugged. “Yeah. She’s a lecturer for the most part and needs something that will let her stand for a long period of time without inducing pressure wounds. To make that--”

“No, what does she study? Has she published?” Mina asked.

“I don’t know,” Oliver said, rasp finally slowing to a stop. “I didn’t ask. We just bonded a little over bones. She used to dig them up when she was younger.” Mina felt her heart stop in excitement, then the blood rushed back to her head, roaring in her ears.

Nervously, she asked, “Could… I shadow you during the… what do you call it, the last appointment?”

“Device delivery?” Oliver thought about it, then shook his head, going back to work. “I don’t know, probably not. She was very shy and very private. I think she would not take an extra pair of eyes on her very well. Sorry. But I have another patient with a more interesting device coming in tomorrow for repairs if you want to shadow that? It’s a flipper, for a guardian who lost a partial foreleg and--”

“No, thanks, Oliver,” Mina said, cutting him off. “I really should get back to studying. Sorry.”

Oliver nodded. “Alright, if you have any questions, I know a few things about organs other than bones, too!”

“Thanks,” Mina replied. She looked back at her report, and started up her note-taking again. Meeting a real Forensic Dracologist would just have to wait a little longer.

~~

Things had been going well until they weren’t.

Lionel watched his daughter closely, trying to maintain a relaxed and neutral expression, keeping his mounting worry under control. Mina, for her part, muttered and scrambled around the apothecary, looking for the ingredients to a remedy for a chest infection.

“I thought she had been studying this?” Nita asked in an undertone.

“So did I,” Lionel replied. He looked at the sundial visible through the window and called, “Mina, are you finding everything okay? We have a patient waiting.” He heard a bump as if someone had hit their head on a shelf and Mina yelped.

“I’m fine! It’s under control,” Mina replied from the depths of the shelves.

A skydancer had come in with chest pains and a wet-sounding cough. Lionel had decided this case would be a good practical example for Mina’s ongoing apprenticeship. With all the time she spent in the lab studying, she needed a chance to demonstrate how much she had learned. The skydancer had gracefully agreed to being treated by a student, so Mina had gone through the motions of listening to his chest, looking at his throat and searching a reference tome.

With a little prodding, she had arrived at the correct diagnosis.

Now, Lionel and Nita both waited anxiously at the front of the apothecary for her to retrieve the correct ingredients and make them into a remedy. Lionel glanced at the sundial again. It had not been that long, but he was starting to worry.

“I’ll go help her,” Nita said, just as Mina reappeared with a handful of vials and jars. One look at Nita’s horrified expression told Lionel what he suspected. The cure was incorrect.

Nita shook her head. “Let me do it,” she said as gently as she could. “Maybe you should go review this again?”

Slowly, Mina nodded. She looked down. “Sorry, Dad, Nita.” With that, she left the clinic, headed back for the lab. Lionel sighed, just waiting for Nita to make the correct remedy so he could finish seeing the patient.

~~

“Mina, I can’t believe you!” Lionel scolded. “You were doing so well, and now it seems like you messed up on purpose! Dragons trust us for our remedies and cures. We can’t let them down!”

“Dad, I’ve told you, I’m just not cut out for medicine,” Mina protested. She sighed, flopping down at a lab bench, looking at the bubbling flasks and rows of jars. “I know you think it’s the best thing for me, but I just can’t wrap my head around all that you do! I don’t like it and I don’t feel excited about practicing medicine and just handing out the same cough syrup every day.”

Lionel looked taken aback, and he dithered a little, large claws dragging in the dirt. “Mina! Please, daughter, you are very smart! Brilliant even. If only you put your mind to it, you could be a great doctor!” He sat down next to her, trying to look her in the eye. “Mina, please understand how I’m feeling. I worry about you. I don’t want to see you give up on your dreams just because you think you’re unqualified. If you feel overwhelmed, tell me so I can give you more training.”

Mina sighed explosively, getting back to her feet. Her feather crest flared in frustration as she pulled her wings in to avoid breaking anything in the close space. “I’m not giving up on my dream, Dad. I’ve never wanted to be a witch doctor like you or the rest of the family! I’m giving up on your dream!”

Lionel was flabbergasted. He blinked at Mina in shock, unable to find a reply or even a sharp retort. He took off his birdskull mask to rub his forehead with one paw. “Mina…”

“I don’t want to spend my life hunched over a textbook learning how to grind frog legs into a cure for the hiccups! I want to know how the dragons before us lived, how the second age ended, where the Ancient Breeds are coming from!” Mina explained. She adjusted her white coat carefully. “I only want to learn about witch doctoring because it’s got such a long history. That’s why I cared about it!”

Lionel shook his head. “You’re throwing away so much talent and time!” He stood, his own feather crest flaring. “Fine, then. If that’s how you want to be, go pursue this career of yours. See how far you get. I don’t think you’ll be any happier.”

“Just you wait, Dad. I’m going to get published, and then you’ll see how much of an impact I can have!” Mina shot back. She stormed out of the lab, tail swishing angrily.

~~

Mina waited anxiously by the lair entrance. The courier dragon would be here any minute. At any second she could receive news of her paper being accepted. She wiped her claws nervously on her coat. Or maybe it would need revisions?

I dotted all my I’s and crossed all my T’s didn’t I? Or did I dot some U’s and cross some L’s? Mina fidgeted impatiently. Hurry up and come already!

It didn’t help that she was still expected to come to the clinic. Sinead had made it clear that despite Lionel’s frustrated acquiescence to Mina’s preferred career, she still needed a scribe to help her with triage. I’m meant to be more than just a medical scribe! Mina looked up at the sky desperately. Her keen predator’s eyes picked out a flicker of movement.

It happened again, closer to the ground, on an approach path for the lair. As it dipped below the clouds, Mina could pick out the form of a courier. She ran and took off, flying up to meet him. Edgar pulled up in surprise. “Waiting on a message?” he asked.

“Yes, from the Journal of Forensic Dracology?” Mina replied quickly, crest flicking up and down in excitement.

“I’ve got it right here, miss. Have a nice day!” Edgar passed over the letter, and Mina dove to the ground, running back to her den to open the letter in private. It was surprisingly lightweight. She spread it on the desk, setting aside her tomes and textbooks.

The letter was on a sweet smelling cream colored folio. The letters were inked in purple by a practiced claw.

Dear Miss Mina,

We regret to inform you that your submission to the journal has been rejected.

Mina did not bother to read further, just lying down onto the desk. Rejected. Her dad was right.

~~

Mina heard her dad come into the den as she was still sniffling away the last of her tears.

“Mina?” Lionel called. “Are you alright? Sinead is asking about you.”

“Sorry, Dad,” Mina croaked. “I’m coming…”

“Mina, what happened?” Lionel asked, coming over to sit next to her, drawing a stool up to the desk. He put a foreclaw on her back, looking at her with wide eyes. His gaze caught the letter on the desk, and he sighed. “Oh, dearest… I’m so sorry.”

Mina looked up at him mournfully. “You were right, Dad. I didn’t make it…”

“Mina, no, I was wrong. I can see how passionate you are about this field. When I was your age, I failed an exam and I sat right where you are now.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Cried right onto this very desk.”

Mina leaned into her dad’s side. Lionel hugged her tightly.

“I won’t pretend I understand your field,” he told her. “But I do understand how much you care about it, and how important you think it is. It’s going to be hard, since you’ll be going it alone without a mentor in the clan.” He pulled back to look her in the eye. “But I promise I’ll support you any way I can.”

Mina felt herself tearing up again. “Thank you, Dad. I’ll get published and make you proud, I promise!”

Lionel hugged her tightly. “You already have, sweetheart.”

Mina grinned through her tears, hugging him back.

Hapi:

and

Nile