The Pharmacist and The Prince

PPE

PPE : short for personal protective equipment

The pain and pride in Reuentahl’s voice shocked Ebony. She was instantly reminded of this morning when his face had darkened, his expression filled with pain. It was that same expression that he had on now.

She felt her eyes drop and sympathy pour out of her. His father was the King, now Reuentahl was the one serving as King. It was obvious what had happened.

Ebony bowed her head. “I’m sorry,” she said in a low voice.

Reuentahl laughed softly. “He’s still alive.”

Her head jerked up quickly, eyes wide. His father was still alive. She thought… “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Reuentahl raised his hand, waving the apology away. His voice was full of understanding as he said, “It is completely fine. It is a reasonable thing to conclude.”

Ebony shook her head. She had spoken out of turn. “Yes, but it is not reasonable to speak without confirming my conclusion. I’m sorry about that.”

Reuentahl looked sideways at her before returning his gaze to the world outside the carriage. “You’re hard on yourself.”

“I hold no grudge to your statement. My father is alive. Barely, but alive. He is a shell of his former self, mentally and physically. Yet, his every thought and word is of the kingdom.” Reuentahl’s voice was dark and full of sadness.

Silence ruled in the carriage as Ebony observed the man seated opposite her and as she watched him, she got a glimpse of someone else.

Ebony had known him for less than three days. In fact, this morning was the longest stretch of time they had spent in each other’s company. Nevertheless, she had a feeling that the Reuentahl in front of her was one that not many people knew or saw.

The man in the carriage was emotional and battled with wretched memories. He looked sunken, smaller even though she knew that he hadn’t changed physically. She was still thinking of what to say to the brooding man when the carriage halted in front of the Guild of Textile Magickers.

Reuentahl made no move to leave the carriage, still staring out of the window. A knock from outside the door jolted him into awareness and he withdrew his gaze from outside the glass.

The driver called from outside. “Your Majesty, milady. We have arrived.”

Reuentahl ran his hand through his blonde hair, ruffling the fine strands. “We will be out shortly.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Ebony looked to the closed door and could imagine the driver bowing with the statement.

“Ebony.”

At the sound of her name, she turned to face him once again. “Your Majesty.”

Reuentahl opened his mouth as if to say something. Then seemed to change his mind and shook his head. “It’s fine. Let’s see the magickers.”

Ebony nodded, curious about what he had wanted to say.

The door opened and they both alighted from the carriage. The atmosphere inside the carriage had made her unaware of what the Guild of Textile Magickers looked like. However, as she stood with the building directly ahead of her, Ebony found it difficult to breathe.

Unlike the Construction Magickers guild building that was full of metal -metal pipes, metal spires, metal doors, this looked like a place you could leave a toddler to play in, without fear of the toddler getting hurt by anything in the building. It looked…

“Squishy. Like there isn’t any metal in the building.”

Ebony didn’t realize she had spoken out loud until Reuentahl’s deep laughter sounded from beside her.

“I’ve never asked but I would not be surprised if you are right. This is the Guild of Textile Magickers, after all. Let’s head inside, shall we?” Giving orders to the driver to wait for them, Reuentahl led Ebony into the soft-looking building.

Once they were inside, one of the magickers saw Reuentahl and after bowing repeatedly, ran to alert the rest in the building of his presence. Within a few minutes, the entire group of magickers in the building were gathered in front of them, much like what had happened with the construction magickers.

This time around, though, Ebony found it hard to concentrate on the magickers and what she was here for. She was too busy staring at the room. She was beginning to think that there wasn’t anything solid in the building.

Everything looked like it was made out of one fabric or the other. The floor felt like it was made with hard foam, sinking slightly as she stood on it. The tables looked like they were made out of silk, the roof looked similar to tarpaulin. The walls, she was certain, were stiff cotton sheets, wisps of cotton fraying out of the wall.

What in the world was this?

Her eyes spun around, gawking at the fantastic hall, mouth opening every time she saw something new and different, which was all the time.

She would have continued staring had Reuentahl not coughed slightly beside her. Ebony jolted, a blush settling on her cheeks as she realized how strange she was acting. Now, the men were all staring at her with confusion and she was sure it wasn’t her skin colour that was confusing them.

Shifting her weight on the springy floor, Ebony smoothed the front of her gown, even though there was nothing to smooth, and began to speak. She started, like she had done previously, by explaining the concept of isolation centres. She watched as their eyes got progressively larger, occasionally sneaking glances beside her.

Ebony had no idea what Reuentahl looked like but he hadn’t interrupted her the first time and it didn’t look like he would interrupt her now. She concluded her explanation by narrating the journey to the Guild of Construction Magickers.

Once again, she dug around the pocket of her billowing gown and found the diagram the construction magickers had provided her.

“The construction magickers were kind enough to provide me with the measurement of the beds. Please let me know what you think.”

A skinny man stepped forward, bowed and plucked the diagram from her hands. He quickly hurried back and magnified the diagram for all gathered to see. And like their construction counterparts, they had questions for her.

“Will the beds need pillows, milady?”

“Well, yes. That would be more comfortable.”

“Will the beddings need to be changed frequently, milady?”

“Yes, they will. We have to keep them clean.”

“Will the workers need work clothes for the centre, milady? We can provide clothes, if necessary.”

“That is a very good idea. The workers will be…” The workers will be exposed to the sick and infected. Ebony went silent, her eyes glazing over as the realization dawned on her. They had to be protected. If they weren’t, the cycle would continue. They would fall sick and die. There would be no one to treat the sick.

Then, the kingdom would really fall.

Ebony ran her hand through her hair, a chill running through her body. She could not believe she forgot something so basic. How could you treat an infectious disease without protecting yourself first? No way. It wasn’t possible. That was one of the fundamentals of infectious disease treatment.

Protect the health workers.

And here she was, making arrangements to expose them to a hundred sick people all at once. That would have quickly become a fatal mistake.

But what to do now?

In her world, the answer was simple. Personal Protective Equipment. Commonly abbreviated as PPE.

PPE was a full body suit that was made to protect the wearer from a variety of hazards, including biological hazards. Typically tear-and-puncture resistant, PPE would isolate the wearer from the environment but also allow heat and sweat to leave from inside the suit.

That was the normal solution. But it was not a solution here. PPE was made with a polyethylene fabric coated with different materials and layered so as to provide maximum protection against hazardous elements.

How would she explain the concept of PPEs to the textile magickers, Ebony wondered, not realizing she had been silent for minutes now.

The entire hall maintained the quiet, waiting for her to finish her last statement. When it became apparent she was lost in thought, Reuentahl tapped her on the shoulder. “Is there a problem?”

Ebony started, snapping out of her daze. Her eyes refocused and she was met with the concerned gazes of the magickers and Reuentahl. Which was all she needed to know that she had been staring into space, like a retail worker fantasizing about her shift end.

Hoping the blush on her cheeks was not too prominent, she said, “Yes, the idea of special clothes for the workers is a very good one. One that I foolishly overlooked. I’m sorry about that.”

The group of magickers looked to one another, visibly confused.

Ebony felt her face get even hotter. They evidently had no idea why she was apologizing. When would she stop embarrassing herself?

She tried again to convey her thoughts plainly. “Regarding the clothes for workers, I have an image of what the fabric of the clothes should be. But I am concerned about the practicality of the idea. I don’t know if it will be possible to make such a fabric here.”

Rapt attention. The challenge of making a strange fabric seemed to incite them.

“The clothing item that the health workers will use is called Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE. It is a full body suit, like a glove but for the entire body.”

Furrowed brows all round.

“Milady,” the skinny man started, “mayhap it will be best if we continue this discussion in our workshop so we can make notes of what you require.”

“That will be completely fine.”

“This way, milady, Your Majesty.”

He led them out of the entrance hall and into one of the hallways shooting off it. As they walked down the brightly illuminated hallway, Ebony stretched out a hand and ran her fingers on the surface of the wall. Yup, cotton.

The magicker stopped in front of a door on the left, he made a sign, like he was writing on the air above the door knob and immediately a click resonated in the hallway, the door swinging open.

Ebony wasn’t shocked anymore. After all, this was not earth.

The room reminded her of a tailor’s workshop with bits and pieces of all sorts of fabric strewn around the room. There was a long rectangular table in the centre of the room, with up to ten chairs around the table.

They all entered the room and settled around the table, with Reuentahl at the head; Ebony and the skinny man, on his right and left. The remaining magickers who couldn’t find a seat stood around the table, close enough so they could hear the conversation. One of the magickers seated at the table had conjured a quill and a sheet of paper, ready to write.

So she spoke.

“As much as is possible, the PPE needs to be seamless. Woven together not sewn. The PPE will cover the hair, the neck, the chin and the rest of the body, leaving only the hands, feet and a little part of the face uncovered. We have to layer it for maximum protection, it should have an external, internal and a middle layer. All breathable but still protective.”

She paused for breath and then continued. “All the edges of the ppe, like the space for the face, the hand, the foot, they should be able to constrict over the gloves and the shoes the health workers will wear. Speaking of gloves,” she glanced at the gloves the King Regent wore, “I don’t think the typical leather glove will be suitable for the job. Latex gloves will be preferable.”

“Latex, milady?”

Ebony turned to the man who had spoken, further down the table and lo-and-behold, his eyebrows had disappeared into his hair. It wasn’t just him. All the magickers were sporting similar expressions.

“Yes, latex,” she repeated slowly. “Is there a problem?”

The magicker tilted his head. “Well, we use latex for a lot of things but for gloves…the idea seems a bit strange, milady. But it can be done.”

Ebony nodded. They knew what latex was and had worked with it before. “That’s good. For the ppe itself, I’d like to see any materials you think can fulfill the criteria. I think polyethylene-based material would be best.”

Blank stares.

“Poly…polyethylene?”

So they didn’t know what polyethylene was. “Don’t bother with it. I’d like to see any materials you have.”

The magickers got to work. Within seconds, they had placed in front of her all sort of materials. Some she recognized, others that were completely strange. She touched and felt all the samples she was given, shaking her head at each one. They wouldn’t do.

She had no idea how long passed. She examined fabric after fabric and none were suitable. She was starting to get exhausted.

Tossing her head back, she lifted her eyes to the roof. The tarpaulin roof.

Tarpaulin, polyethylene. PPE, polyethylene.