She had already seen two people that morning for appointments and as soon as they had ended she had come to her shop and to the back room where she kept the sacred book of the Order of the Light that Katianna had given her. Kassia had been pouring over it for what seemed like forever, and though she now knew how to decipher it and was actually being added by Toren Len when he wasn't working as a Medic, they weren't getting anywhere fast. Things had to be done piece by piece. Bit by bit... She had just finished a difficult passage that had taken her a couple of hours when she had to stop. Her green eyes were beginning to see blurs instead of letters, and a dull ache of forming in her temples and radiating through the front of her head. She took a deep, cleansing breath and then another as she shut her eyes, trying to concentrate and force the ache away. But after several unsuccessful minutes she decided it was a lost caused. Her usual methods had failed her miserably. With a sigh, she shook her head. It was time to pay someone a visit, she thought.
Jayme had worked the late shift, caught several hours of sleep and woke when her alarm went off. After getting up she did some stretches, showered, and pulled a pair of stretch pants and a tunic that she'd bought shopping with Kassia several weeks before. She started studying as a pot of tea brewed on the counter. She mussed to herself that she hadn't seen or heard from either pilot, or Kassia, except at the kickboxing class.
Suddenly the sensor for her door sounded.
Jayme stood and unlocked the door. The door swooshed open and there stood Kassia. Lines of pain etching her forhead, diaphoretic and a few shades paler than normal. "Come. What's the matter Kassia?"
"I have a headache that my normal routes of treatment haven't made go away... In fact, it's gotten a little worse on the walk over here," she said, trying to rub the pain out of her head. She forced a smile as she looked at Jayme.
Jayme took the Kassia by the elbow and steered her over to the couch. "Lights, forty percent." The lights instantly dimmed and Jayme could feel a little relief flood through the other woman. Jayme had already started assessing the other woman covertly, and asked, "Why didn't you call Sickbay?"
"I didn't want to go to Sickbay over a headache..." she said. "I mean, I've just been working on a translation for several hours and it's a very difficult piece and I just figured it was from that..." she explained. "And I figured you were awake and I would come and see you," she smirked. Then she grimaced again. "So do you have any ideas on how to deal with this particular headache?" she asked.
Jayme stood, poured two cups of tea that had been infusing with her own particular mixture of herbs-chamomile, spearmint, lemongrass, pepermint, sarasparilla, and lemon balm. She handed a cup of unsweetened tea to her friend as she took a sip of hers. "As a matter of fact I do. I'm a Corpsman, but I think you are looking something a little more naturopathic." Jayme saw the slight nod of her friends head as she took another sip of tea. "Give me a minute to set up. Sit back and enjoy the tea while you wait." Jayme disappeared into her sleeping chamber. There she moved around the room lighting the candles she'd purchased at Kassia's Cave. "Heat, thirty degrees," she ordered. She opened a drawer and pulled out a briefcase and a plain flat folded sheet. She laid it on the bed and started lighting several sticks of incense which created a smudgy heavyness in the air. "Lights off." She returned to the main room to find Kassia resting her head in both hands. Jayme moved to a cupboard in her little kitchenette area and took out a bottle and poured two fingers full into a small glass which she took back and handed to Kassia. "Drink this, please."
Kassia raised her eyebrow and sniffed the liquid curiously. She sipped it. It had an unusual flavor. Quickly she drank the rest. "What was that stuff?" she asked.
"Whiskey." Jayme said with a smile.
"Ah! No wonder I didn't recognize it," she replied, now feeling the familiar warmth creeping through her body. "I usually have it mixed with something... and its been a long time since I've had a shot of it straight." She started to laugh a little as she remembered an incident at the Gunslinger, but then the pain stopped her short. It hadn't deadend her headache just yet. She opted for a simple smile instead.
"Usually, that's the way most people choose to drink whiskey. But I use it for a base for several recipes for healing." Jayme reached down a hand which Kassia took and pulled her friend to her feet. "If you'll just join me back here." Kassia sniffed the air noticing the various scents she couldn't identify. In the bed room, Jayme handed Kassia the sheet and pointed to the bathroom, "If you'll just leave all of your clothing in there , come out and lay down on the bed face up." Jayme left the room to finish her cup of tea.
Instantly getting the idea of the direction Jayme was going with this she nodded gently, so as not to aggrivate her headache further. "All right, will do," she replied.
Swiftly, she disrobed and did as Jayme had instructed. She closed her eyes and allowed the frangrances that permeated the air to fill her senses. She tried to lose herself in them. It helped to ease the pain a little, but not enough.
Jayme found the disk she needed and stuck it into the player and peeked around the corner to find Kassia laying down. It appeared she was exerting herself trying to control the pain. Jayme entered and clapped her hands together as she moved to stand in the corrner at the head of the bed. She continued to rub her hands together generating warmth from the friction then she lightly placed her fingers to the other woman's forehead. As she did that she closed her eyes and focused on quieting her own mind and lowering her shields, and seeing Kassia's Aura.
"This isn't going to hurt. You might feel the air between my hands and your body shift and warmth spread out from points that I work on but don't be alarmed."
Kassia sensed Jayme's mental shields retreating. Only someone who had mental abilities generally had shields as strong as Jayme's, Kassia realized through the pain. But as Jayme worked, she did indeed feel warmth spreading out from points on her body and her body shift and air flow over her... and in time, the pain started to fade. That, in itself was a great relief. She had not had a headache like that for some time.
Jayme knelt at the head of the bed, her briefcase opened where a second pillow normally would be. She applied pressure to various pressure points in the face, neck, jaw, and scalp and watched as the tension in Kassia's forehead eased and stiffly her body relaxed. Jayme continued for sometime and then slowly started withdrawing her physical touch to manipulate the other woman's aura. she could feel the gentle pulses of breath against her hands. While working on Kassia, Jayme found that her own shields never seemed to drop completely even when working healing medicine as her Grandmother had shown her. Ever since she learned to shield against other aura's and to keep hers from intruding on others... hmmm. Jayme moved around the bed clearing and adjusting the other woman energy centers or Chakras.
Kassia continued to breath normally and the more that Jayme did the less pain there was. As she continued, her breathing wasn't as forced. She was truly relaxing. Probably something she hadn't honestly felt for awhile. She certainly hadn't been relaxed completely since that book had been placed in her care by Katianna... But now, she felt relaxed. Very relaxed, like she could float away, she thought to herself.
Jayme continued to chant under her breath as she worked her way back to the head of the bed. There Jayme had Kassia roll over onto her stomach. Jayme added some warmed oil laced with cinnamon, sandlewood, and geranium, and started the massage phase of the treatment. Working her way from the neck, shoulders, back and extremities. Still chanting and working with the other natural energy pathways, breaking up muscles that were knoted up or injured from being knoted up for a long time. Finally, after the sheet was covering Kassia from head-to-toe Jayme said in a low warm voice, "Just lay there for a few minutes then rise slowly. I will be in the living room."
Kassia took her time and just relaxed there a while longer, allowing the last of the experience to wash over her. Blissfully, her headache was completely gone and she was pretty sure she had seen the last of it for a long while. Slowly, and steadily, she got to her feet and got dressed. As she emerged, she had a radiant smile and her green eyes were dancing.
"Thank you!" she replied. "That certainly got rid of the pain. I feel completely relaxed now... Even more focused than I was before."
Jayme sat at her small table, "That's good, and the way you are supposed to feel."
Kassia took a seat and looked at the PADD disc's scattered on the table top. "I am surprised you don't have a headache with all of this."
Jayme smiled, "I get them now and then but what I can't fix with exercise, mediation, can be fixed with chemicals from sickbay."
Jayme frowned as her shields built back up and snapped into place. She was surprised because normally after a healing session she could build them up slowly. Puzzled Jayme shrugged, and said, "you shouldn't let yourself get so run down both physically or kinetically. Maybe we should just schedule you for regular sessions?"
Kassia smiled. "You know, that sounds like a wonderful idea!" she replied. "And especially while I'm working on this project... I'm going to need to relax as often as I can, or I could end up with a couple more of those headaches..."
Jayme grabbed her printed schedule for the month and found her next day off. "Two weeks from today."
"That's perfect for me," Kassia smiled. "Put me down. I definitely want a repeat of this! I could use it!"
"You're down," she replied.
With a last exchange, Kassia left feeling much more relaxed and less stressed than she had since this whole thing started with Katianna. She now felt ready to get back to deciphering The Book of the Light. But first dinner with her family... With an inner smile, she walked to her quarters feeling very calm and relaxed. She couldn't wait to spend time with Tiyanna!