Eponine slept for a few hours, with Javert resting in a chair beside her. He could not help but be concerned at the fact that her complexion was pale and she seemed to be sweating. No longer able to take it, he placed a hand on her forehead. Fever.
"Monsieur Joly, Monsieur Joly!" Javert called quietly.
Joly, having heard Javert from outside the tavern, entered and approached Javert.
"Yes, Inspector?"
"The mademoiselle is burning up with fever."
Joly placed his hand on Eponine's forehead and shook his head in dismay. "Infection, I suppose. I had only washed the knife, but the rest of the supplies that we had used to mend her wound, it was risky here. Besides, she is still bleeding somewhat, and these old rags will not be enough eventually."
"What must we do?" Javert asked.
"Nothing, monsieur. In order to heal the infection, she'd have to have her wound mended again with proper supplies, she'd need real and clean bandages, and certainly rest which is not easy on an old table."
"You mean to say that she needs a hospital."
Joly nodded. "Yes, I do."
Javert squared his shoulders. "Then I'll take her there."
Joly's eyes widened in surprise. "Monsieur, with her wounds...It will take a day to make it to a hospital, and she's weak."
"Monsieur?"
Javert and Joly looked down at Eponine, who had opened her eyes and was looking directly at Javert.
"Yes, Mademoiselle?" Javert said.
"You had said that you would not let me die."
There was a moment of silence, before Eponine's body tensed. She reached for Javert's hand and held it. All instincts in him told Javert to pull away; but he could not. In honesty, he did not want to.
"I am a man of my word. I will save you, mademoiselle. Rest for now."
Once Eponine had closed her eyes again, there was the sound of gunfire outside. Joly rushed to see what the trouble was, but Javert was able to catch the glimpse of someone before the door closed: Jean-Valjean.
No, it couldn't be him. He'd never risk his life for these boys, it was not like him. But then, Javert knew that face well. It had to be him. At last, he could capture Valjean and put him back into prison.
"Monsieur?"
Javert came back to reality when he heard Eponine call for him. He went back to her and found more blood was seeping through the makeshift bandages. Perhaps he could mend the wound again; Valjean had to captured before he disappeared.
"It hurts, Monsieur." Eponine said quietly.
Javert looked down at Eponine. It seemed as though she was getting worse by the second. He suddenly realized if she stayed here a moment longer than she would surely die. It was either the life of Eponine or the capture of Valjean.
Eponine's brown eyes were begging him for help, and when Javert looked at those eyes. He knew that she could not die. He would not allow her to die. Perhaps if he left now, he could be sure Eponine was placed in a hospital and then he would return to the barricade for Valjean. It was a risk, but one that Javert felt needed to be taken.
Knowing it was not safe to exit out the tavern door with the gunfire, Javert gathered Eponine in his arms and climbed out a nearby window.
As Joly predicted, it took nearly a day to reach a hospital. Eponine was indeed weak and she had lost a lot of blood, but she still was alive. When Javert arrived at the doorstep of the hospital with Eponine in his arms, he used his foot to pound against the door. A nurse soon answered.
"My goodness, what's happened?" The nurse asked.
"She was shot. The ball has been removed, but there was not enough supplies to avoid infection and bleeding. Please help her."
The nurse nodded and escorted Javert inside. She took him to a near vacant room, that had only a bed and a small window.
"I'll send for the doctor."
The nurse left the room and Javert laid Eponine on the bed. He held onto her hand until the nurse returned with the doctor.
"So much blood for someone small." The doctor muttered.
As the doctor began to tend to Eponine, the nurse took Javert by the arm and led him out of the room.
"How did you get her here in such a terrible state?" The nurse asked.
"I carried her."
"Carried her? Monsieur, I know well that the barricades are a good distance from here. A day's worth of travel. You mean to say, that you carried a dying woman here with no assistance?"
Javert nodded. "I did. Now, will you allow me to go? I must return to the barricade, for unfinished business."
The nurse only nodded and Javert began to walk away, when he felt a sudden urge to turn back towards the nurse.
"Madame, be certain that she lives. That she is treated well." Javert said, trying to hint away from his desperation.
"I will, Monsieur."
Satisfied, Javert turned and continued out of the hospital. With Eponine in the hands of a doctor, Javert could return to the barricade and at last satisfy his lifelong chase of Jean-Valjean.
