Jaycee Woods

Sharing a Boudica and The Butcher clip from a scene in the infirmary. Asclepia instructs Boudica on how to comfort the injured soldiers. That lesson is then practiced on Jonesy, who lost the lower half of one leg.

The draft is raw with a need for cleanup but at least it is formatted.

**

Asclepia assumed a tone of authority, “Boudica, come with me while I change bandages. You are to converse with the patient while I work and monitor you. Find out each man’s own purpose and practice getting him to tell you about it. The more he talks while you listen, the better job you are doing.” Asclepia walked away for Boudica to follow.

Boudica would be sitting and listening to the injured while talking with them. She would be helping them recover by letting them talk, but she paused a moment, wondering something as she walked behind Asclepia. “How…how can I get them to talk?”

Asclepia instructed, “Begin by asking them where they are from. Ask if they will return there when the war is won. Get them to begin talking about what they like about either that place or the place they are going. Focus on the positive and a future.”

Boudica nodded, taking Asclepia’s advice. She slowly followed after Asclepia, preparing herself a bit for the task. Boudica should focus on positive things, a future, that was what she should focus on. She slowly nodded, focusing. Boudica needed to focus on the positive to get them talking about their home, what they like, and make them focus on the future.

Asclepia directed Boudica, “Don’t you forget.” As if remembering her manners, she said to a patient named Jonesy, “This is Boudica, the commander’s own slave. She is new so you might need to distract her with conversation, so she doesn’t puke while I change your bandage. If she keeps down her lunch, then I will give you a lollipop for being a good boy just like ol’ Doc Phillips did when you were little. Tell her about that fish that got away. I don’t think she will believe it until you go back to that lake and pull him out.”

Jonesy smiled widely in anticipation, “Doc knows best.”

Asclepia sat down next to the injured soldier, he was missing his right leg from the knee down. To him, she said, “Jonesy, you smell better than yesterday. Did the nurse give you a sponge bath?” He nodded. Asclepia sniffed then teased, “I think that the nurse missed a spot. I will prescribe you another sponge bath tonight.”

Jonesy smiled sheepishly, “Yes, ma’am.”

Boudica looked on, listening to Asclepia’s banter with the soldier. He seemed to enjoy her teasing, and she seemed happy taking care of him. Boudica paused, hearing Asclepia’s introduction of her, before slowly nodding. Boudica reminded herself that she needed to focus on him while Asclepia changed his bandage. Asclepia seemed to know how to get him comfortable with Boudica, playing with him like a child but also mentioning some memory of him getting a lollipop, making him think of better days.

As Asclepia changed the bloody bandage on his stump, Jonesy began excitedly to tell Boudica his story, “I was in my boat at Skeeter Lake. You probably ain’t been there, but it was the spot back home.” He briefly winced in pain as the bandage was removed. “Anyways I wasn’t that drunk even if that ‘shine did have a kick to it. There I was drowning my worm when my bobber jumped. I was drifting at the time without an anchor. I tried to reel it in, but that fish kicked harder than the ‘shine. Before I knew it the fish was pulling my boat around the lake like I was on a carnival ride. Just when I was arguing with myself about whether or not I should take one hand off my rod to hang on the boat, the line snapped. I never saw that bobber again.”

Boudica listened as he talked, hearing about how he was trying to fish. It must have been quite the fish as big as he was making it sound. His story about the fish was interesting, and she could not help but give a small giggle as he told it. “It…must have been a large fish. It sounds like it was a good fight before it broke the line.”

Jonesy said, “I told my pappy about it later. He said the same thing happened to him. We made a bet about who will catch him first. In his last letter, that ol’ coot told me to hurry on and finish this war cuz my dad was using this time to gain an advantage over me in our bet. I don’t mind if he wins as I know that he will keep a piece of that fish in the freezer for me.”

Boudica slowly nodded, getting a bit invested in his story. It was obvious how much the bet with his father meant to him by how his attitude changed when he spoke about winning or losing it. His attitude brightened and his smile got wider when he thought about his father keeping some of the fish frozen for him, as if the memory of that would be a good one for years to come. “It’s cute how much you two care about your bet…I’m sure your dad will save some for you.”

Finished with changing Jonesy’s bandaging, Asclepia reached into the pocket of her white jacket and handed him a lollipop. His eyes lit up as if he were five again. As Asclepia got up to attend the next patient, Jonesy said, “Goodbye for now, Boudica. You are a beautiful slave.”

Jonesy smiled with a nod then said to Asclepia, “Aren’t you forgetting something, Doc?”

Asclepia said, “I am done with your bandage, Jonesy. I can’t spend all afternoon talking to you as I have patients who are really hurt. The commander is likely to be by later to check on when you are ready for a peg leg, so you can get back to whipping the rebels. With his swollen eye, you and the commander make quite the pirate couple.” As if confidentially, she whispered to him, “The commander wouldn’t tell me anything about Pilgerruh, so see if you can find out the real info as these rumors aren’t enough.”

Boudica stood a little taller, feeling a bit better about herself as Jonesy complimented her, and she smiled a little as he spoke. “Thank you. You’re a brave soldier…and a good storyteller.”

Jonesy appreciated the wiggle of Boudica’s hips as she walked following Asclepia.

Boudica walked after Asclepia, and when she noticed Jonesy looking at her, she purposely exaggerated the sway of her hips a little, wiggling slowly. She thought he had earned a little show.

The afternoon passed with similar exchanges with her master’s injured men. When Boudica had been a rebel soldier, she would have wanted to kill them. Now they lay broken and healing as they told her about their lives, and they became individually important people to her instead of a nameless and faceless enemy.