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singillatim2023-10-24 09:23 am
2. Well, I might call you Doctor.
Who: Harry Goodsir and OPEN
What: Doctor's hours
Where: Harry's cabin, around town
When: Anytime during October, early November
Warnings: TBD
It's taken some weeks—including the awful voices and even, ironically, the words of Cornelius Hickey—for Goodsir to finally act on advice he'd given to Edward Little when they'd first arrived.
He starts by placing a notice on the board. Then he starts scavenging the town for all the medical supplies he can find, consolidating a store of them in his cabin. What he does manage to find, in combination with the contents of his surgeon's chest, isn't nearly as much as he would like, but it will do.
He has learned much, these last few weeks. That disease and infection is caused not by miasma, by tiny animalcules that may be spread by various forms of contact, and that wounds must be kept clean—disinfected—thus averting festering and gangrene. That there are compounds in food that keep the body healthy, and that not all foods contain those compounds. He tries not to dwell on the lives he might have saved with that knowledge on the expedition, and to focus on the here and now. As he said to Little: to live, and do what good he can.
And to try not to let his hatred of Cornelius Hickey consume him.
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"I was born in Anstruther—across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh," he says. Being addressed as doc sits uncomfortably, but he lets it slide for now. "A fishing village, very small."
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"Edinburgh.. That's over in Europe, right?"
Somewhere in Europe. That's the best he's got.
"I guess they're really pulling people here from all sorts of places. I'm from New York City." Technically, anyway. He'll save Goodsir more confusing talk about other worlds with fairytale creatures when the poor guy was already confused enough about the wolf thing.
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"Scotland," he says. "New York—that is on the eastern coast of America, isn't it? I've never been, though I hear it's a remarkable place."
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That's the kindest thing Bigby will say about it, though he does suppose he got pretty used to the place if it now feels strange to be here, rather than there..
"Usually I would say I'm a little more fond of being out in nature, but this place kinda feels like it's specifically designed to change my mind on that one."
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Goodsir chuckles a little at that. "I'm inclined to feel similarly," he admits. "Though it's less harsh than the Arctic ice. It might prove to be as dangerous, but differently so."
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It could just be a coincidence, especially when people here seem to be brought from so many different worlds. But considering the nature of the coincidence, Bigby can't help but ask.
"You know Edward?"
Sorry, Goodsir, Bigby doesn't know about ye olde decorum.. Just going straight to casually calling a man by his first name..
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"Lieutenant Little? Yes—we—we served in the same expedition," Goodsir says. "There were two ships, Erebus and Terror. He was Terror's first officer, and I the assistant surgeon aboard Erebus."
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"I met him when we both first showed up here, out in the woods. Pretty much the first thing he told me back there was that he was looking for his men." Bigby isn't sure whether that would include Goodsir if he was on a different ship-- It probably means it wouldn't include him, if he had to guess, but it's not like Bigby knows even the slightest things about anything related to ships or the navy.
"Guess it's a good thing it means you guys at least aren't alone out here." .. he pauses, then adds with a realisation: "Unless you happened to not be able to stand each other."
Look, you never know. Bigby is part of a relatively small community where there are some people he sure can't stand. It happens.
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At that, Goodsir actually lets out a very tired laugh.
"Lieutenant Little is ... we were not friends, but there is no enmity between us." Unlike at least one other Goodsir can name. "I didn't know him well, as we were on different ships. But he was liked well enough, across both crews."
Whether he was respected is a different matter entirely, and one Goodsir isn't going to get into right now.
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"I can see that," he concludes with a nod after considering it for a moment.
A moment later the corners of Bigby's lips curl up into a near-smile. "You must be liked too. Y'know, if not just for being willing to put up with all this nonsense."
Look, he can't imagine he's the only non-human coming in today. Goodsir must have had a lot to think about..
"Not to mention doctor Swineheart could sure learn from your way of treating people."
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Swineheart. What a name.
"I can only try my best," he says, with a modesty that might ring false coming from anyone else. "Often I feel as if I've scarcely got a hold on anything happening here, but if I've been able to help anyone, I can be glad of that."
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.. maybe not the most reassuring message in the end, huh. But it is the truth, and Bigby - if nothing else - likes sticking to practical reality in that sense.
"So you have just as big of a chance to figure out stuff about this place as any of us who come from stranger worlds do. You seem smart enough for it." Or.. well, you don't become a doctor without having to be smart, right?
Bigby's view on this might be a little simple, actually being a wolf and all.