A Helping Hand

Of all the times for something like this to happen...

Helios moved through the snow with urgency despite the bags under his eyes. He had been caught flatfooted at the worst possible moment. The hospital had been in a period of quiet, as was common during the winter months, and almost all of his fellow doctors were unavailable. Dr. Nerique was in the middle of a well-earned vacation abroad, and Dr. Blooper had taken the day off to go deep-sea diving and couldn't be contacted. With only a skeleton crew at the hospital, disaster had struck - an avalanche had rumbled its' way down one of Glasetera's most popular mountains for skiing, and over a dozen people had gotten caught in its' path. Fortunately, it seemed no one had died, but injuries were widespread and Helios was being run ragged trying to deal with it all despite being the only doctor on call. He had requested emergency aid from the ZFPD and they had been able to send Burnin, Justice, and Patty Wagon to at least help with finding the injured and getting them into ambulances, but things were still frantic and the lack of other healers was proving a dire issue.

"H-help... help me..." 

Helios stopped in his tracks as he heard the muffled voice, looking with alarm at a fallen tree. He could just barely see a glove shakily reaching out, the arm connected to it vanishing into the snow and under the tree. "I need some assistance over here!" Helios shouted, and Burnin and Justice hurried over to examine the situation.

"Hang on, we got this!" the two cops said, Burnin and Justice grasping the tree... and failing to lift it. Helios watched them struggle, then followed the length of the tree to its' base and saw the problem - while it had toppled, it was still rooted to the uneven and frozen ground, presenting a nearly immovable obstacle. Even the strength of BURNIN' JUSTICE was proving inadequate, as Justice's hands slipped and sent her tumbling back into the snow while a sweat broke out on the brow of Burnin as she stepped back and shook her own hands to recover from the strain.

"The hell's with this tree?!"

"It's stuck. We can't just roll it off." Helios pointed out.

"I know one thing we can do!" Burnin said, her hair flaring up as she shoved a hand inside the flames to ready a weapon-

"NO! What about the person trapped underneath?!"

"...Oh. Right." Burnin sheepishly lowered her hand.

"What to do, what to do..." Helios grimaced, trying to consider his options. His "Exit" white magic spell carried risks when trying to transport the injured. The safest route would be to chop the tree, but no one here had any means of doing that, and the time spent finding a good enough axe could-

Helios was snapped out of his thinking by the sound of wood being split. Steady, rhythmic chops filled the air as a large axe was repeatedly slammed into the tree, carefully chopping directly through it and finally separating the body from the roots, allowing Burnin and Justice to at last haul off the fallen tree and get it away from the victim underneath. As they moved the tree, Helios looked in surprise at the woman standing there, axe in hand, who had shown up at the perfect time.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Th-thank you..." Helios stammered. "You had just what we needed, miss."

"It's no problem. I'm here to help. There are people who need us."

"You're a healer?" Helios asked, before finally taking notice of the bag hanging around the waist of the woman, who tugged at it in response to his question.

"Yes, I am. Castti Florenz. Apothecary." She placed a covering over her axe before hooking it to her back, leaving her hands free. She knelt down by the man who'd been under the tree, carefully examining him. Noticing a nasty injury, she nodded and began rooting through her bag, quickly mixing up a simple medicine. "Drink this." she said quietly, offering him a small vial. Helios couldn't help but notice how soft and soothing her voice was, and he was reminded of his own wife, Celestia. Memories bubbled up of how she comforted their children when they had been hurt while playing...

"Sir?"

Castti's voice was a little louder now, Helios blinking as he realized she was looking at him. "Yes?"

"There are others to treat. Do not worry about me, I can handle this one."

"Right, of course!"

***

After a busy evening of helping the wounded and transferring those who needed further care back to the hospital, Helios stood in the hospital's lobby, looking at Castti as she double-checked her bag to ensure everything was in order.

"That was something else. I rarely see skills like yours." Helios said admiringly. Only parental instinct made him want to rank Josephine and her chemist talents over this mysterious woman, and though she didn't appear to match the genius of Lucy DeMonde, it was practically an unfair comparison for anyone to be judged against her.

"Thank you." Castti replied. She reached into her bag once more, pulling out a business card and handing it to Helios. "Here is how you can reach me. Please, don't hesitate to call for my aid if you need it. I am here to extend a helping hand to all those in need."

"So I see." Helios said, looking down at the card, which was printed with the same 'extend a helping hand' slogan she had just rattled off. "Are you new to this region? I'm surprised we haven't crossed paths before, otherwise."

"Yes, I am new here. I'm a traveling apothecary, going where I am needed."

"Well, you have a magnificent sense of timing. We really got lucky to have you show up when you did."

"Luck was on my side today." Castti replied with a smile. "I only hope it will continue."

"If there's any way I can repay you-"

"It's alright, don't concern yourself about that." Castti said, waving off Helios. "Though... if you can inform me of some quality lodgings in Whalestrand, that would be most helpful. I am unsure where to stay the night."

"You want the Safe Harbor Inn." Helios said, without hesitation.

"I see. Have you stayed there before?"

"No... but I know a few people who have." More like a few hundred, but details, details.

"That was very helpful." Castti said politely, nodding her thanks at Helios and turning to leave. "I expect to be remaining in this city for some time, so we may see each other again soon. Do take care, Doctor." 

"And you take care of yourself, Ms. Florenz."

Helios watched her leave, but just as she was stepping out, he held up a hand. "Oh, Ms. Florenz!"

"Yes?"

"I did have one question... How did you know we needed an axe?"

"I didn't. I always have this axe with me." Castti said, reaching behind her and tugging on the axe a bit. "Good night, Doctor."

And then she was gone, leaving Helios to marinate on what he'd learned today... before being roused from his musings by a call on the PA system, urging him to hurry to tend to a patient.

"...Maybe I should have offered her a job application..."