The burn victim

The burn victim is an unnamed woman who appears briefly in a field hospital tent attached to the Forthright Battalion during ongoing combat, roughly a year after the street fighting in Ilmar. Her arm is described as "charred kindling from past the shoulder," and she is one of a dozen severely burned soldiers arriving in a rush amid active fighting. She undergoes an emergency amputation performed by the old surgeon, during which the Maric is pressed into holding her down and stitching the stump. She is one of the patients whose presence turns the hospital tent into what the Maric calls Hell.

Her role in the series is small but concrete: she is the patient whose amputation sequence forces the Maric into close physical contact with a burned soldier and into the surgeon's sight, prompting the surgeon's alarm when he realizes the Maric can see the patient's god. After the procedure, the bearded orderly guides the Maric outside with the now one-armed woman, who sees four dead squad-mates; Spectacles then measures her stump and records the missing limbs. She is never named, never given a line of dialogue, and never reappears. Her entire narrative function is to be the body on the table that makes the field-hospital scene possible.

Character

Appearance

Her visible injury is total and immediate: one arm is "charred kindling from past the shoulder," rendering it dead tissue fused to living flesh at the boundary the surgeon must sear through with a heated saw. After the amputation she is described simply as "the one-armed woman." No other physical detail - face, build, age, uniform - is given. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4

Personality

The section records no interiority or verbal expression from the burn victim. She is restrained by the Maric during the amputation, implying she is in extreme pain and not under voluntary control, but no temperament, speech, or habitual behaviour is attributed to her. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4

Beliefs & Motivations

Nothing is stated. The only fact that hints at a prior life is that she sees four dead squad-mates when guided outside, which establishes she was embedded in a military unit, but no motive, creed, or personal rule is recorded. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4

History

House of Open Wounds

In the field hospital tent attached to the Forthright Battalion - a space the Maric calls Hell - a rush of severely burned soldiers arrives during ongoing combat, at least a year after the street fighting in Ilmar - ch 4. Among the dozen victims tended is an unnamed woman whose arm is charred kindling from past the shoulder, and another unnamed woman whose jaw is half gone - ch 4. The latter is stretchered out for Spectacles to assess - ch 4. The arm victim undergoes amputation: the old surgeon's saw, heated by the fire god's tongue, sears through the boundary between living tissue and dead char while the Maric holds the patient down; the Maric then stitches the stump - ch 4. The surgeon notices that the Maric can see the patient's god and is alarmed - ch 4. Later, the bearded orderly guides the Maric outside with the one-armed woman, who sees four dead squad-mates; Spectacles measures her stump and records missing limbs: arm, hand, jaw - ch 4. The jaw victim's fate beyond being taken for assessment is not recorded - ch 4.

Relationships

• the Maric - The Maric physically holds the burn victim down while the old surgeon sears through the boundary between living tissue and dead char, then stitches the stump. The Maric is also able to see the patient's god, which alarms the surgeon. After the procedure the Maric is guided outside with her by the bearded orderly. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4
• the old surgeon - Performs the amputation using a saw heated by "the fire god's tongue." Notices the Maric's ability to see the patient's god and is alarmed. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4
• the bearded orderly - Guides the Maric outside with the one-armed woman after the surgery. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4
• Spectacles - Measures the burn victim's stump and records missing limbs. - House of Open Wounds, ch 4

Tags

1. patient · #wounded · #unnamed