Johanna parked her cart at the foot of the hill. She lifted the small girl in her arms and began walking up towards her house. She went slowly, finding the girl a little too heavy for her meager strength. She had to stop halfway up when the girl started coughing, straining to hold onto the child's shaking body. The girl finished coughing and glanced around with bleary eyes.

“Is that your house?” she asked in a hoarse whisper, pointing up at the hut.

“Yep,” Johanna replied with a smile as she pushed on up the hillside.

She arrived at the hut to find Eldrik standing in the doorway, staring at her in bewilderment.

“I'm sorry,” he began flatly, “what?”

“You told me you studied medicine at the capital,” Johanna replied. “Well, this girl is sick.”

“I was only there for three months, I’m not a doctor!”

Johanna sighed irritably and walked past him into the hut. She laid the girl on her bed of straw and wrapped her in a blanket. The girl coughed and looked up at Johanna with confusion.

“Is... he the doctor?” she asked.

“Yes,” Johanna replied, smiling cheerfully. “He doesn't like to boast, is all, but he's the best doctor I know.”

The girl seemed comforted and closed her eyes sleepily. Johanna stood up and went outside, shutting the door firmly behind her and turning to Eldrik.

“You want a chance to redeem yourself?” she asked crossly, keeping her voice low. “Here’s someone who needs help and you’re the only one who can save her.”

“And when she tells everyone the 'doctor' is a vampire?”

“For the last time,” Johanna snapped, “you do not have 'I am a vampire' carved into you damn forehead! She barely looks six summers old, to her you're just a grown-up with white hair and a bad complexion.”

“She should die with her family around her.”

“She’s not going to die! You’re going to heal her!”

“I told you,” Eldrik insisted hotly, “I only had three months of study and that was nearly two hundred years ago!”

“Have you ever healed anyone before?”

Eldrik let out an agitated sigh. “A handful at most. People who just happened to have common illnesses that I knew a cure for.”

“Then you should at least try!”

Eldrik sighed again and put a hand to his forehead. He was silent for several moments, then turned and pushed open the door.

“I can’t promise anything,” he said brusquely as he walked over to the resting girl.

He knelt and laid a hand on her forehead, then gently tilted her head back and examined her swollen neck. He looked over his shoulder at Johanna, who stood watching intently.

“How long has she been like this?” he asked.

“Several days,” Johanna replied.

“It could be diphtheria,” Eldrik said grimly, looking back at the girl. “I hope no-one else has caught it.”

“They didn't mention anyone else being sick.”

“They're lucky then.”

“But do you know a cure?” Johanna pressed.

“If I remember correctly,” Eldrik said with a wry smile, “the cure for diphtheria is to drench oneself in goat's blood as the sun rises.”

“Does it work?”

Eldrik chuckled. “I tried it once, an entire village slaughtered every goat they had. The dozen or so people infected poured it on themselves every sunrise... most of them still died. But if it's something less severe then there is an herbal remedy that might work; it'll reduce the symptoms and allow her to recover as long as she rests and eats well.”

“What do we need?” asked Johanna eagerly.

“I'll need to gather some thyme and ivy,” Eldrik explained as he stood up. “Meanwhile I need you to get a pestle and mortar and a pot of boiling water from the village.”

“No problem,” Johanna answered as Eldrik strode past her out the door.

She moved over and knelt beside the girl.

“We’re just going to fetch the ingredients we need to make you feel better,” Johanna said comfortingly. “We'll be back soon.”

The girl managed a smile before breaking into a coughing fit.

*   *   *

Johanna sat watching the water bubbling away in the pot, hung over a small fire.

“Sure took you long enough,” said Eldrik as he walked out of the hut.

Johanna looked up at him with a peeved smile. “Yeah, all you had to do was wander into the woods and pick some herbs.”

Eldrik knelt by the fire and dropped a handful of ground leaves into the water, stirring it gently with a small stick. The strong scent of thyme drifted from the pot.

“Doesn’t smell too bad,” Johanna commented.

“I just hope it works,” Eldrik said cheerlessly. “There’s a few other remedies I’d like to try just to be safe.”

Johanna smiled. “And you said you weren’t a doctor.”

“When this girl coughs herself to death, maybe you’ll believe me,” Eldrik retorted flatly.

“You're always so pessimistic.”

“Maybe that's because everyone I've ever trusted has let me down.”

Johanna rolled her eyes. “And so melodramatic.”

“I’m a damn preacher,” Eldrik said, smiling despite himself, “what do you expect?”

He picked up a wooden cup from beside the fire and leaned forward to dip it in the water, filling it about halfway. He got up and went back inside the hut. Johanna followed, watching as Eldrik knelt by the bed and lifted the girl's head.

“Drink this, it'll help your throat,” he said gently.

The girl slowly drank the medicine before lying back and closing her eyes. Satisfied, Eldrik motioned Johanna outside, shutting the door behind them.

“Don’t smile at me yet,” said Eldrik when she gave him an encouraging grin, “we’ll have to wait and see if it does any good.”

They stood together, watching the color drain from the sky as the sun set behind the treetops of Heiligtum Forest. Johanna glanced hesitantly at Eldrik before slowly putting her arm around him. He glanced at her confusedly but didn't pull away.

“Don't give up,” she said quietly.

She squeezed Eldrik before turning and walking back inside. She started to pull off her overcoat but stopped short as she remembered that her bed was currently occupied by the sleeping girl.

She turned to Eldrik and asked awkwardly, “uh... is it okay if I share your bed until mine's free?”

Eldrik shrugged and flopped down on his bed. “Your house, do what you want.”

Johanna took off her boots and coat and lay down beside him, pulling her coat over herself as a blanket.

“It's not really wide enough for two people,” Eldrik commented, glancing over at her.

“It’ll have to do,” Johanna replied. “Good night, Eldrik.”

Eldrik was silent for a moment.

“Uh... good night,” he mumbled.