"What are you doing here? God Eponine the things you do!" Marius exclaimed, with a slight grunt as he laid another wooden board against the barricade.
"You're not worried now are you monsieur Marius?" Eponine asked with a slight grin.
"This is no place for you, you could get hurt." Marius replied urgently.
"Look at you all worried now, you must like me quite a lot." She replied with a satisfied grin.
"Maybe there is something you can do to help." Marius mused.
"Name it monsieur I shall do anything for you!" She replied ecstatically.
Marius reached into the pocket of his petticoat and handed Eponine a letter, her heart sank when she saw Cosette's name scrawled neatly across the envelope.
"Take this letter to my beloved Cosette, make haste and hope that she's still there!" Marius exclaimed as he closed Eponine's fingers around the letter.
Eponine nodded her head "I shall do it monsieur." She replied, less enthusiastically.
"And do me one other favor 'Ponine." Marius inquired.
"If it's in my power Monsieur I shall." She replied.
"Stay away from the barricade tonight, it won't be safe, promise me mademoiselle you will not come back." he asked urgently.
No-one had called Eponine "mademoiselle" in quite a long time, she was taken aback a little by his tone, but managed to nod her head once, Marius returned the gesture.
For a while the two did nothing but stare at each other with unspoken words.
"Marius! Climb over the barricade, we shall start our preparations for tonight!" Enjorlas called from the top of the barricade.
Marius looked up and nodded.
"I must go Eponine, go, find my beloved, and stay away from the barricade!" Marius said quickly, but with an edge of urgency in his voice.
Without another word Eponine gives Marius one last look, leaving the confession running through her mind unspoken.
Little he knows, little he cares.
Eponine continued walking the streets of Paris looking for Cosette's house, the night was still and cool and her worn petticoat did little to block out the chill, here fingers were getting numb, she rubbed them together vigorously trying to warm them back up.
When finally she reached the house of Cosette, she tapped on the door lightly, a rather large man with brownish hair that was beginning to gray, with a beard to match opened the door, looking at her with caution and confusion.
"I have a letter monsieur." Eponine said quietly.
"A letter?" he asked confused.
"It's for your daughter, Cosette, from her beloved who stands at the barricade tonight." Eponine finished.
Eponine holds the letter out, the man taking it.
"Rest assured Cosette will know what this letter contains." He assures with a nod of his head, closing the door quietly.
Eponine turned from the cold stone house and headed on about her way.
And now I'm all alone again nowhere to turn no-one to go to.
As Eponine was walking aimlessly through street after street, a light rain began to fall, adding to the sadness that had already been tugging at her heart. Her mind on Marius, as it usually was.
On my own, pretending he's beside me
All alone, I walk with him till morning.
Eponine looks up at the sky, rain drops hitting her in the face, adding to the chill that was already hanging in the evening air, she'd made up her mind, besides, she hadn't EXACTLY promised Marius she would stay away from the barricade.
She quickly made her way through the streets towards the direction where the barricade was standing, as she got closer she could hear gun shots ringing through the quiet and still evening, she knew she was close, it was dangerous, and maybe slightly stupid, but she was going to be with Marius tonight, even if it meant it would be her last.
She quickly tucked her hair under her hat.
Finally she could see the dark outline of the barricade just ahead, while the martyrs were holding their fire, she started working her way up a corner of the barricade.
"There's a boy climbing the barricade!" one of the revolutionaries called out.
Marius looked up, gun raised, but he quickly recognized the face of the "intruder"
"Have you no fear Eponine?" Marius hissed. "Have you seen my beloved, did you give her the letter that I sent?" he asks urgently.
"I have delivered the letter monsieur do not worry." Eponine replies.
There's a slight pause.
"Eponine you must go now, while you can, clear out of here." He says urgently.
Before Eponine had a chance to reply though, a lone shot rang out.
"The second attack has begun!" Enjorlas exclaims from his position.
Marius gives Eponine a mortified look, though out of love for his friend, or out of his own fear, he cannot tell.
"Stay low 'Ponine, we will finish this discussion later." He says urgently as he once again picks up his gun and begins to climb to the top of the barricade.
Eponine follows close behind. "No monsieur Marius! I cannot let you-"
But her voice is cut off by another round of gun fire, Marius climbs to the top of the barricade, joining his friends, there is blood everywhere, men all around Marius begin to fall, martyrs and students both. The onslaught continues, until finally the head martyr calls for a cease fire.
"They're not done!" Enjorlas warns. "They'll be back." he finishes quietly.
Suddenly Marius remembers.
"Eponine!" he calls. He looks below from his spot on the barricade, and sees Eponine lying motionlessly on the ground below.
Quickly he climbs down the barricade, kneeling next to Eponine, picking her up and cradling her in his arms.
She looks up at him with a weak smile.
"Eponine." He whispers.
He notices she's clutching her chest; he pulls her hand away, revealing a gaping hole, blood pouring out of the bullet wound.
"Eponine, you're hurt!" he exclaims.
"Do not fret, monsieur, I feel no more pain" she says weakly, holding Marius' hand tightly.
"You're here, that's all that matters now." She finishes even quieter, closing her eyes.
"But you will live 'Ponine! You have too." He pleads.
"Just, let it be, monsieur…it's…my fault…anyway" She says, struggling to get her words out.
"No Eponine, you will live! I'll see that you do! Don't you dare blame yourself for this!" he exclaims desperately as he stands, cradling Eponine against his chest.
"IS THERE NO-ONE WHO WILL OPEN THEIR DOORS?" he calls out to the surrounding buildings.
After a few minutes of silence, one of the doors squeaks open. A woman peeks her head out cautiously.
"This way monsieur!" she gestures.
Marius carefully, but quickly makes his way to the door.
"Bless you mademoiselle! I need a doctor! Please is there no-one here who can help?"
He asks as they make their way up a small flight of stairs.
"I am a nurse." The lady answers quietly. "I will help in any way I can, but she will still need a doctor's care."
The lady looks at Eponine, lying limply in Marius' arms.
"From the looks of it, she'll need help fast, but first; we must worry about sterilizing that wound, lest an infection should spread"
Finally they came to a stop at a door; the lady quickly pulled out a key unlocking the door and gestured for Marius to go in.
He followed the lady to a room in the back.
"Lay her there!" the lady exclaims, pointing to a bed as she pulls some supplies out of a medicine cabinet.
"Is she conscience?" the lady asks.
"No, I-I do not think so." Marius replies, sincerely hoping it wasn't too late to help her.
"it's probably all for the best, that bullet will have to come out, it'll be painful, the doctor will have to do that, for now though I'll do what I can, starting by sterilizing the wound, and stopping the blood flow."
The lady poured some medicine over the wound, mopping up what blood she could with a clean rag, and then she wrapped layers of bandages around it to stop the bleeding.
"What's your name mademoiselle?" Marius asked suddenly.
"Caroline." The woman answered absentmindedly.
"I've done what I can, I'll call for a doctor, pray he gets here in time."
Marius sent up a silent prayer, he loved Cosette, but life without his best friend would mean nothing to him.
Marius pulled a chair up to the side of the bed, sitting down wearily, taking Eponine's hand in his, he didn't know if she could hear him, but he started whispering to her anyway.
"I'm sorry Eponine, I'm sorry I've been so oblivious, that I haven't been more grateful for your constant company, or for the things you've done for me…I'm sorry you were trying to show your love to me…and I didn't see it, please, 'Ponine, please, don't leave me."
Suddenly Caroline returned.
"I have good news monsieur, the doctor shall be here very soon" she replied, closing the bedroom door behind her.
Marius sighed ever so slightly, he knew Eponine's fate was still unsure, but at least the doctor would be here sooner than later.
Eponine was starting to regain some of her consciousness, her memory was fuzzy, but of a few things she was certain of, there was an immense amount of pain in her chest, breathing was almost impossible, and she was lying in a bed, and she heard two voices, one that she did not recognize, but one, that should we recognize any day.
"My dear Eponine, the doctor is coming, he will help you…he has too."
It was Marius.
She wanted to stay awake longer, to try and figure out what had happened, but she couldn't, she felt too weak, and she soon slipped back into unconsciousness.
It was only an hour or so later when the doctor burst through the door, medical bag in hand.
"Over there Dr." Caroline pointed to where Eponine lay.
After a quick examination the doctor finally spoke.
"That bullet must come out, when it comes out though the wound will begin bleeding again, get some bandages ready." He finished as he began laying out his tools.
Caroline went back to the medicine cabinet retrieving a roll of bandages.
"And you'll also need to take care that you keep the wound clean so infection will not set in." the doctor added.
"Yes monsieur." Caroline added.
"And you are?" the doctor asked, gesturing at Marius.
"A friend, I'm the one who brought her here." Marius replied in a quiet and shocked tone.
"You've done well monsieur, had you not found help she would surely have died." The doctor replied.
He took another look at Eponine, and sighed.
"Best get this done now, before she wakes." The doctor said as he pulled on his leather gloves.
The next time Eponine gained conscience again, she noticed and intense amount of pain in her chest, like knives.
She gripped the sides of the bed she was laying on, gritting her teeth.
"m-Marius!" she called out in fear and agony.
She felt a hand slide into one of hers.
"I'm here Eponine, I'm here! Don't squirm, we're trying to help you!" he exclaimed.
"Can't…breathe." Eponine gasped.
"I know, I know, just hang on they've almost got the bullet out, and then you'll be able to."
Bullet?
Suddenly Eponine remembered, she'd gone to the barricade so she could be with Marius, she'd been told not to but she did anyway, she also remembered one more thing.
"Cosette?" Eponine gasped.
"Shhhh, shhh, don't worry about her, I'd rather be here with you, if I don't cross Cosette's path again…I'll take it as a sign." She heard Marius reply.
"I'm sorry Eponine, I didn't know the way you truly felt about me…and now I realize I love you more than I previously believed."
"Marius…" Eponine began weakly, but Marius pressed his lips against hers before she could finish.
"We got it." The doctor finally exclaimed with a sigh.
As Marius had promised, once the bullet had been removed, Eponine found it just a bit easier to breathe.
"Hurry! Hand me the bandages now, we don't want her losing any more blood." The doctor exclaimed.
"You're going to be okay Eponine, are you in any pain?" Marius asked worriedly.
Eponine scoffed weakly.
Don't you fret, monsieur Marius, I don't feel any pain.
A little fall of rain, could hardly hurt me now.
From that point on Eponine only continued to get stronger, the next day she finally had the strength to sit up and open her eyes, the first thing she saw was Marius, still with her.
"Monsieur Marius, do not stay here out of pity, if you must, go be with your beloved Cosette, I thank you for your care, but I will not keep you if you must go." She said with an appreciative smile.
"Perhaps you do not remember this mademoiselle." He said with a grin as he leaned in.
The first time it'd happened Eponine thought she had been imagining things, out of delirium from her wounds.
But when Marius pressed his lips against hers for the second time, she knew that she hadn't imagined it, with the energy that she could muster, and without causing pain to her chest, she leaned into his kiss, kissing him back.
Marius and Eponine discovered a few days later that Cosette and her father had left town, Marius also discovered that he was not devastated by her departure like he had previously thought he would be.
And some months later, Eponine Thenardier
Became Eponine Pontmercy.