A Cure for the Afflicted - Sex Stories

A Cure for the Afflicted

The city around Matteo was eerily quiet as he strode along its streets. A quarantine had been implemented at the onset of the most recent outbreak, making the citizens virtual prisoners. No one was permitted to enter or leave the city walls, with the exception of the plague doctor. Matteo's contract with the city stipulated that he would treat the sick residents, and in return, all his needs would be provided for. Because his needs were few, the city administrators immediately agreed to the paltry compensation he requested.

The quarantine had brought some of the city's poorest to the brink of starvation, but no one dared to approach Matteo for aid. Even those weak with hunger fled when they saw him. His outfit was admittedly sinister-looking, but he knew it served to protect him from illness. Though the June morning was growing warm, Matteo wore a black overcoat of oiled leather. The outer garment covered his body from the neck to the ankles. His wide-brimmed hat, also black, was similarly oiled to prevent contamination. He wore thick gloves while carrying a sturdy wooden cane. But it was Matteo's mask that instilled such terror in the city citizens. Covering his entire face, the mask bore a protrusion in the shape of a bird's beak. The beak, a compartment of sorts, was now filled with wormwood herb to ward off bad air and the smell of death. The mask's eyeholes were covered by glass.

Matteo reached the home of a prominent merchant whose daughter was ill. It was the ...

... merchant who answered the door, and he was quick to explain that the servants he normally employed had fled or succumbed to sickness. "Are you alone?" the man demanded of Matteo.

"I am."

The merchant furrowed his brow. "Are you not required to be accompanied by a custodian at all times?"

Matteo was glad for the mask, which concealed his exasperation. "My former custodian is dead, and the city has found no replacement for him." The custodian had been responsible for ensuring Matteo observed proper quarantine procedures following his treatment of plague victims, but the elderly man had himself fallen ill and did not survive. Matteo had just emerged from his own self-imposed quarantine. By now, he was used to those frequent periods of solitude.

The merchant, while none too happy about the breach of protocol, wasn't about to turn away the only man willing to treat his daughter. "Beatrice took to her bed with fever and headache three days ago," he explained while leading Matteo through the house. "The plague felled her mother only last summer, and due to the lack of reliable help, Beatrice has become a kind of helpmate to me. She oversees the household and cares for my younger children, who are now at the home of my brother." The merchant spoke in a rush, betraying his anxiety. "Beatrice is of the age to be married, but she wishes to remain here for the time being. I do not know how I would manage without her, Doctor."

Matteo fought back the urge to tell this man that ...