"Come!" I told her. "He refuses to remove his clothing."
She stepped in with a devious grin taking over. "Hello, Mole." Then she closed the door behind her. "I'm Lessa. You know Meri. Did those men introduce themselves?"
"Drozel and Omden," he said.
She nodded. "Good." Then she looked at me. "Also, someone just dropped off medication, bandages, a few medical supplies, and this." Then she thrust out a paper. "You know the Python?"
"He was one of the doctors who helped during the last attack," I explained, taking the paper and scanning it quickly.
It was medical instructions for how to care for Sylis. Python had sent them - and it seemed he was the doctor in charge of Sylis's care now. The letter also contained instructions on what the doctor wanted me to do.
"Okay, so he needs a daily bath, but the wound cannot be submerged. This says there's medicine?" And I looked up, waiting to hear where that was.
"Omden put them in the kitchen," Lessa assured me.
I nodded, then read again. Sylis was to take two pills every day for a 'Dragon week' - and the doctor had called it exactly that. Then, he'd continue to take the green pill, but should be out of the white ones. The green was an antibiotic, the white was for pain, and if I required more bandage material, I could request it from the hospital. After that were some medical notes about the wound depth, the previous treatment, and the expected time for it all to heal.
"He needs a bath first," I said. "That means he's going to need clothes and assistance."
"Which is why you and I are here," Lessa assured me.
"Clothes," I said again. "I'd also like to give him the pills before we make him move around, because it does take a bit to kick in."
"On it," Lessa said, leaving the room again.
"I don't know what's happening," Sylis said softly.
"It's okay," I assured him, heading over to sit by his side. "We're taking care of you, but in the Dragon way. No, they don't eat people - "
"I know," he promised. "Tobias told me that. I guess Ayla wrote a letter to Callah, and she told him." He offered me a weak smile. "And she was so happy to hear you'd survived and made it here. I heard the Dragons say you don't have the baby?"
"I don't," I said. "I made sure he has a mother who wants him."
He nodded, accepting that. "I was supposed to marry Felicity. A widow. I didn't want to, but I had to so we could get out, and now..."
"Callah will figure it out," I told him. "You worry about this first. Between all the new things and the healing, it will be harder than you think. And in a day or so, we'll start teaching you how to understand their language. It's called Vestrian, and it's really pretty easy to learn."
His eyes closed and he let out a heavy sigh. "Good. I was worried I'd be confused forever."
"Nope. After Ayla got here, they realized how she speaks English, and more people have been figuring it out. They have to learn how to read it in school, but reading things isn't the same as saying them."
He nodded again, almost like it was his nervous response. "Meri?" He pulled in a breath. "I'm scared."
"And you're safe now," I said.
"But I'm not. If I don't tell those..."
"Men," I supplied when his words trailed off. "They have tails and scales, but they are men. Lessa is a woman. They are people, just like us. They look a little different, but everyone up here does. You will too."
"But my mother wasn't in quarantine," he said.
"Nor mine." I shrugged. "But sunlight and food change many things. Sylis, are you hungry?"
"Too nervous to be hungry. They made me eat on the way here, but it isn't easy."
"Okay," I said. "Well, you need to bathe, and it looks like you can't bend easily. You also can't soak, so we're going to need to use a cloth. When I had surgery - "
"Like mine?" he asked.
