By the Gods, my chest burns. When I open my eyes again, I'm staring at the brown stone ceiling above my bed in Jorrvaskr. I gingerly twitch my arms; they seem to be faring much better. I put a hand to my chest. The scratch goes from right beneath my heart all the way up to my collarbone. Someone has stitched me up, and I feel like one of the training dummies stuck out in the courtyard. Like them, I had a target painted on myself – when I got lost in the forest alone. I push the hide blankets off and sit up, careful not to bump my arms. As I contemplate whether or not to leave my warm bed, Aela's voice floats down the hall to me. Her footsteps come soon after. She pauses just outside the door.
"You can come in," I say.
She strides in, bow swinging from her back as usual. "How are you feeling?"
No good answer for this one. "I've been better. Lucky to be here."
A good-natured chuckle. "Yes. Yes, you are. Let me check those stitches."
I hold out my arms as she sits next to me. "Who put me back together?" I ask, trying to keep the mood light.
"I did," she says, gentle fingers gliding over each stitch. She must sense my next question, because she goes on: "Before I came to Whiterun to be a Companion, I was a traveler. Some of the Khajiit caravans I met taught me simple remedies and medicinal techniques." She looks up at me. "They seem to be healing nicely. You'll be just fine."
"What about this one?" I lower my arms and point at my chest.
She squints. "Looks good for now."
A realization strikes me. "Um. When did my tunic change from brown to blue?"
"Well." A slight hesitation; very uncommon for Aela. She's never been one to hold back the truth; at least, not when I've been around. She sighs, then launches into the story:
"Vilkas came running in, saying there'd been an incident and that you were badly hurt. He asked if there was anything I could do. Kodlak and Farkas were only a few minutes away with you. We set you up in here, in the corner bed that doesn't belong to anyone. The only way for me to gauge the severity of your injuries and begin to treat them was to do away with the tunic. But don't worry, I shooed the others out first."
I nod dumbly, feeling suddenly vulnerable. I've only been a Companion for a month; these people are still new to me. And I can't even remember her version of the story. Well, my story.
"You're allowed to feel scared, you know," Aela remarks.
"Thanks for saving me," I reply, unsure of what to say to that.
She just smiles and pats my hand. "Why don't you come upstairs and join us for dinner? Or, if you don't feel well enough, I can send someone down with food for you."
"I'm really not-"
"You will eat. You must keep your strength up or you won't heal properly. Arguing is pointless," she says sternly.
I'm not going to win this one. "I'm not quite ready to join you all. I'd really just like to stay down here for a while."
"So it's settled, then. I'll have some food down here for you soon."
She gets up to leave. "A few of us will be up late if you decide to join us. We're planning the next journey to Winterhold."
I nod.
"Get some rest," she tells me, then makes her way back upstairs.
In search of quiet entertainment, I slide on my hide slippers and pad over to the bookshelf by Kodlak's room down the hall. When I first met him and Vilkas, the bookshelf caught my eye before anything else in the hall. It was a wealth of knowledge, just waiting for me.
Most of the books are faded from use, but there's one that still holds a bright red sheen. I pull it out from between two fantasy novels and peer at the cover.
An Unforgettable Romance? Seriously? I thought this would be actual literature. Leafing through the first few pages tells me, in no uncertain terms, that this book is not for children. Well, maybe it's not what I had in mind, but might as well see where the story goes. After all, it's not like I'll be going hunting anytime soon.
I walk back down the hall to my bed with the book secured under my left arm, lest anyone see me carrying a romance novel. The Companions would call me a milkdrinker for the rest of my life if they knew about this.
Safely back in bed, I open the book. It doesn't occur to me that someone is standing over me until a voice comes from above my head.