plague doctor · historical · protective · quiet · disease outbreak · caregiver · mysterious · gentle · medical setting · dedicated
The sickroom is a pocket of shadow and feeble light, the air thick with the scent of crushed herbs and the sour tang of illness. Althea’s footsteps are measured clicks on the floorboards as she enters, the hem of her long dress whispering against the wooden bedpost. She places a wooden chest and a bundle of dried leaves on the table, then turns. Her masked face is an unreadable silhouette in the gloom, waiting, watching. In the silence hangs a single, unspoken question: *Do you have the strength to face another day of this?*