Take These Broken Wings

Meadow was even further away her den today. The area she found herself in today had shorter grass and the small woman could actually see over the stalks. Picking her paws up high in happiness, she moves through the green grass. A form in the distance has her slowing her forward progress and moving more cautiously toward this new creature. As she approaches, the form resolves into an eagle that has its wings spread wide, head tilted back, mouth wide open. The poor thing is sitting on the ground, completely exhausted and unable to move.

The golden creature doesn’t even protest as she moves to help it. It looks thin and one of its wings is slightly askew. As she nears it she makes soothing noises and says, “Hello. My name is Meadow and I am going to help you.” The only response she gets from the bird is when the eagle tilts backwards slightly to get away from her. Still making the comforting sounds, Meadow shrugs off her bag and roots through it.

Finding a small, wide strip of leather Meadow takes it out and moves quickly to cover the big predator bird’s eyes. This will help calm it and keep it from lashing out at her as she tends to its injuries. With that task done she grabs the small bottle filled with water that she always has in her bag. Carefully she pours a small amount into the waiting mouth of the eagle. A small squeak of surprise from the bird is heard before it greedily drinks the minuscule amount of liquid. The wolf knows that to give it more at this point would hurt the dehydrated animal more than help it.

Next, she turns her attention to the injured wing. It looks broken near the joint and the small healer feels to make sure that the bones are still in aliment. With a quick palpation and some protests from her patient, Meadow quickly runs off to find two flat sticks that can be used to splint the break. She finds a branch that can serve her purpose and breaks it in half. Finding a sharp rock, the woman uses it to whittle down the broken ends and flatten the sides that will be against the eagle’s body.

Returning to her patient and her bag, Meadow searches for the strips of leather that she keeps in the bag to tie bundles of herbs together. Retrieving four of the little strips, Meadow moves to the eagles wounded side. Tying the strips of leather to one of the small sticks she quickly maneuvers the sticks into place. Careful of all the feathers, she gently but firmly ties the splint in place. Sitting back, the woman looks at her work. The bone will take a few weeks to fully heal but the wing should regain full range of motion.

Now comes the hard part. She will have to take the eagle back to her den to watch over and nurse it back to health. It needs food and to be given small amounts of water at regular intervals. Gathering her things together, she shoulders her bag after giving the golden bird a little more water. Then she moves the creature to her back. It is a rough go, trying to coax the blindfolded eagle to step up onto her back and not dig its talons into her too much but the pair finally are on the move again.

Walking slowly so as not to jar her charge too much, Meadow makes slow progress back to the den. It is almost night by the time the eagle and her make it back home. Her back aches from where the bird has had its talons dug in for so long and the small healer knows that she will need to tend to those puncture wounds soon so they do not become infected. Entering the den and moving down the branch to her room, Meadow clears a spot on the floor near her bed and sets the bird to rest there. Checking that the blindfold is still firmly in place, she nods to herself when she finds it is still secure.

Moving to a small recess in the wall, she shrugs off her pack and grabs a container with water in it. Rejoining the eagle, she gives it some more water before she says, “I know you must be hungry so I am going to go catch you something to eat. You will be safe here. Just rest and I will be back soon.” With that the tired wolf once more leaves the den, this time on a mission to find her patient some food. She knows that rabbits can be found nearby and the woman hopes that she can find some at this hour.

It takes some time but Meadow returns to the den sometime later with a large rabbit clamped tightly in her jaws. Laying the kill outside the opening, she removes the pelt and sets it aside to be cured later. Shredding the meat into small strips, Meadow looks at her work a moment before nodding to herself that it is satisfactory and gathers it up. Returning to her room, the golden eagle’s head turning toward the sound of her return, the woman smiles to herself to find that it is not breathing so heavily.

It gives a small, weak cry as she approaches and she knows that is good sign. Dropping the meat near the container of water, Meadow first gives the creature water before offering one of small sections of meat. Both are quickly consumed and she settles next to her patient as she readies herself to be awake the whole night. She will give him small amounts of water every hour along with a very tiny amount of meat.

This will continue through the night and into the morning. After she is certain that it is strong enough, she will space the feedings out more, giving him slightly bigger portions every two to three hours along with a larger amount of water. That will continue for two to three days until the birds’ stomach can tolerate normal amounts and food and water. After that it will be feed three times a day and will have a bowl that it can drink water freely from. She will also check the splint daily and tighten it if it is needed.

Meadow orders her patient’s care plan and she ticks off the seconds into minutes until the next feeding. This is a big reasonability for her but the healer is ready to do anything to make sure that the eagle will be healthy once more.