Life.
It was not something she wished to return to.
The abyss lay open before her, steadily pulling her towards it, and she did not fight. She knew it would mean her death, knew that the dark chasm brimmed with evil, but it somehow seemed so inviting, like a warm hearth to rest by after a cruel day of . . . life.
Had her brother not been at her bedside, his worried, painful tears ringing sharp but muffled in her mind's eye, she would never have woken.
When she did, she wished she hadn't, for the first face she saw was a great source of her pain. He breathed in relief and sat back wearily. For a moment, all she could see was him, causing hurt and confusion to register on her features before she caught sight of her brother.
"Eowyn?"
The voice broke her thoughts and she turned. Her heart lurched as she recognized Eomer's tear-stained yet now hopeful face. All she could get out was a scarcely audible, "Yes?" He laughed in shaky relief and stooped over to hold her as gently as he could.
"I thought I had lost you! When I found you out on the Pelennor . . . oh, Eowyn! How could you have done such a thing? I meant to keep you safe by leaving you behind . . ."
He let go of her and searched her ice-colored eyes with his own slate ones.
She could not speak. What would she say that he would not rebuff? Her eyes flitted to Aragorn for a moment, who was gazing at her pitifully. Again, she wished she had not woken.
Her voice breathless and wispy, she managed, "Safety is for those who lack honor."
Eomer shook his head and began to refute her statement, but Aragorn stopped him and said, "She is yet exhausted from her struggles with the Black Breath. We should allow her some time to heal before distressing her with argument. It would be a fairer discussion if she were recovered, anyhow." At that, he smiled slightly.
Her brother was not so certain, however. Reluctantly, he kissed his sister's head and rose to leave. After promising to return, his form disappeared from the hall of wounded. She watched him until he was gone, not wanting to turn to the other face still beside her.
"I will make sure there is a place for you to heal in the Houses, Lady. It is my sincerest wish that you will find hope and solace there."
She did not answer. She only continued to stare at the place where her brother had been.
Aragorn sighed and rose to go assist the others still unconscious under the Black Breath. "Get better, Lady," and with that, he was gone.
She did not know if she would obey his command. Death's door still lay open before her, and although her love for Eomer kept her from walking immediately into it, how long this would last could not be guessed. Even after waking only minutes before, the pull of darkness scratched faintly in her mind, whispering smoothly for her to go back to it. Where she would fall into the abyss.
Hours later, still laying in the same spot, she concluded that life was still not something she wished to return to.