A/N: Ok people so I've resubmitted this to make it easier to read, the italics started to annoy even me. Enjoy.
I awoke with a start. Everything seemed quiet, as it should be at three in the morning I reminded myself. Wondering what had woken me I sat up listening hard. Since Lucy and I returned from our voyage with Caspian it has been harder than ever to awaken me come morning, three months on a moving ship will do that to you.
The only sound I can hear is the old clock in the hall that has been there for as long as I can remember, tick tocking its way through the hours. A hacking cough suddenly disturbs the silence. A shiver creeps up my spine even though I haven't heard that sound in years.
I leap out of bed, across the room towards the only other occupant who is incidentally one of the three most important people in my life.
"Peter" I speak sharply. He is curled up on his side coughing violently now. Hurriedly I get off his bed and run as quickly and quietly as I can downstairs and into the kitchen, grabbing Peters facecloth from the bathroom on the way down. Finding a bowl I fill it with warm water and carry everything back to our room.
I can no longer hear coughing as I enter the room and begin to mentally chastise myself for jumping to conclusions but as I near his bed I can see and hear that Peter's having trouble breathing.
Swiftly I place the bowl of water on the floor and place the now damp facecloth onto Peters chest, rubbing it in slow circles and urging him to sit with a hand placed around his back.
"S..sorry Ed," he wheezes.
"I've been wondering whether this would happen" I say.
He looks up at me with a sharp look.
"I was hoping you'd forget" he admits with a tiny grimace.
A loud snort is the answer he receives. Forget...forget that a Minotaur clubbed him in the ribs in the 5th year of our reign, making breathing difficult for him until he was fully grown.
"Oh yes my lord an easy thing to forget" I quip sarcastically.
He laughs then, his breathing finally becoming more normal.
"What would I do without you Ed?"
"You'll never have to find out my king" I promise.
He looks up at me and I can see the love and pride there.
"Thanks Ed."
I smile before growing serious once again, looking at him propped up in bed. "Peter, I sigh." "Do you ever wish that wounds from our past didn't haunt us just because our bodies happen to be in the same physical state as when they happened in Narnia?"
He was silent for a moment, looking at me while absent-mindedly running his fingers through my hair.
"No, he says softly, they are a part of us and Narnia and any pain that we feel is outweighed by what we learnt and were given as we served our great land and subjects."
I smiled, leave it to Peter to come up with such a response. A high king resided in England and his actions and words were as magnificent here as they had been in Narnia.
"Yes" I agreed softly. "After all it gave me my brother."
I was suddenly pulled into a hug, his breathing eased Peter crushed me to him.
"You'll always have me Ed and thank Aslan that I have the Just King always watching over me."
A/N: I didn't realise until I reached the end but when I posted this previously I had Ed fetch cold water instead of warm. I also fixed a few punctuation errors that I noticed. Just to let you know. Please REVIEW or PM me if you have something to say.