@lightsailing continued from [x]
To his credit, young Blakeney was holding up better under the knife than many men twice his age had done without a nigh heart stopping amount of laudanum in their systems. Stephen was reluctant to use too much on the boy, knowing its ravaging effects could be hard enough on adults – and while he was sure some would argue Blakeney’s status on that front, he was in no mood to hear it. There were some matters when age held too much impact for pride to hold any bearing between who ought to qualify as a boy or a man, and medicine was most certainly one of them.
The work was taxing – both physically and on a lower, internal level that Stephen quietly suppressed. To enact this level of violence on so small a form – even for the sake of sparing the life – was trying at best. It was something Stephen never did particularly well with on a personal level, though he was wise never to show it – but there were times he could not help but remark on certain points of interest, such as ( in this instance ) the sheer amount of blood one small body could contain.
The quiet apology catches him off guard – he had not thought Blakeney was even coherent at the moment, but as it was his own reply was clipped from the stress of his efforts and his desire to get this matter resolved swiftly so as to see the lad on his way to recovery with as minimal pain as possible under the given circumstances.
“That was rhetorical – and hardly anything to apologize for.” He doubted the boy was functional enough to maintain conversation – though if he was some alcohol might be needed soon enough. This next procedure would be even worse, as the flesh was cauterized to seal the wound.
Ocean Archive 