Jesnsera was not about to call for medical assistance from the normal sources. Jahrae was a person of interest to the government; Jesnsera knew this by combining what she knew about llhaesa and Jahrae with what she sensed might have brought the dishevelled and obviously very distraught young woman to the area.

And so Jesnsera – about as tall as the 1.875 metre llhaesa but bulkier, gently picked up Jahrae and carried her all the way back to Jesnsera’s flat, a distance of 6 city blocks. Accompanying her were close friends Dlzelsa and Seja, who also happened to associate with Jesnsera for other purposes.

Jahrae had no way of knowing this in the moment, but she had literally fallen into the protection of another organisation working for change, except unlike EREGS, this one was intentionally informal, with no desire for public visibility, with no name by which they could be identified. They preferred to work clandestinely.

Once in Jesnsera’s flat, Jahrae’s clothing was removed and replaced with clean sleepwear. She was then placed in Jesnsera’s bed. Jahrae’s pulse was steady, but all three of the women felt caution should be exercised, and so a call was placed to a local physician who occasionally provided services to the unnamed group.

Within a half hour she was at the flat, and for safety purposes, no names were mentioned. An examination of Jahrae quickly found symptoms of the addiction, and triggering a search of her bag and clothing. The elsferodol was found and taken by the concerned physician. “Heavy duty stuff” she worried out loud. The examination showed a young woman in otherwise superb health, so she was not a long term elsferodol user. This in turn meant the heavy usage was for some rather recent emotional trauma. She looked again at Jahrae… something was stirring deep in her memory.

“Unless you find a way to deal with her emotional issues, she will find a way back to this drug or to another. I suggest you go easily with… with…” At this point, Jesnsera felt obliged to blow past usual precaution, and shared the name. “Jahrae. Jahrae Khentavra.”

The physician let loose a low volume whistle. “I knew she looked familiar. Nenseru Woods, llhaesa t’yaeli’s wife, right?” Three nods answered her question. “Oh my. Llhaesa?” the doctor asked, hoping for a different answer than what she anticipated. Her answer came in the form of three simultaneous shrugs, quickly followed by Jesnsera suggesting she feared something had happened to llhaesa. This was something they had long discussed as a possibility, for the musician was fearless, and sometimes careless.

“More than anything, Jahrae needs to sleep. I’ve also given her something to counteract and reverse the effects of the elsferodol. She might well sleep for a couple more days, and when she wakes… have light foods ready.” The doctor was subtly taking charge. “I’ll be back in two days to check on her status. If anything happens before then, call me immediately.” She extended goodbye greetings to the conscious three, and was off and on her way back to her office.

Dlzelsa and Seja spent the next two days at Jesnsera’s flat, they weren’t about to leave when Jahrae was in the throes of finding the door to recovery and consciousness. Each of the three took turns sleeping on the floor by Jahrae, checking her every couple of hours as ordered by the doctor. They would see this one to good health, no matter their personal risk and cost.

And in fact the doctor was pretty close to being right on the money, as Jahrae woke on the morning of the third day in Jesnsera’s flat. Completely disoriented as sleep receded from her mind and senses, and so for all the world looked a helpless and confused child. She was met not by words, but rather a great, squeezingly big, hug.

Given she had no memory of the initial encounter on the streetway, Jahrae had just formally met Jesnsera. Names would follow later.