Thorin ran as fast as he dared, trying to be as mindful of the arrow that was sticking out of Kíli's stomach as possible. Soon enough they neared the healer's house. Dwalin overtook Thorin, running at a speed Thorin didn't know his friend possessed and burst through the doors up ahead.
Moments later Dwalin appeared in the doorway talking to the head healer Oin, a good and old friend who had patched up Thorin and his family more times than anyone could count. Oin could be seen yelling out orders to the other healers while he waited for Thorin to enter the building.
Thorin ran straight inside the healing house and followed Oin to a room, whilst other healers scurried around taking all sorts of supplies to the room they were heading to.
"Bring him in here!" Oin called out.
He moved into the room and saw Oin by a table as well as four other healers all preparing to help the injured dwarf.
"Thorin I need you to put him on the table then wait outside, you two as well." Oin said looking at Dwalin and Balin.
"I'm staying Oin!" Thorin growled as he placed his unconscious nephew on the table carefully.
"Come laddie, there's nothing more we can do here, we'll just be in the way." Balin said gently, placing his hand on Thorin's arm.
"Aye, Oin's the best healer here, Kíli's in good hands now." Dwalin agreed, and with Balin's help they guided their friend from the room.
"You stay with me Kíli, don't you dare leave us!" he called out, hoping that somehow in the darkness surrounding him Kíli would hear him.
Balin guided Thorin back towards the entrance where they could wait. He knew if Thorin was outside the room and Kíli started crying out then the door wouldn't be enough to keep him from his nephew. As they sat down the door to the Healing House burst open and Dís rushed in, closely followed by Gloin.
"What happened? Where is he? Where are my babies?!" Dís yelled, looking around desperately. Thorin hurried over to his sister and wrapped his arms around her.
"Thorin, where are they?" Dís sobbed.
"He's in with Oin; they're doing everything they can for him Dís." Thorin said, choking slightly on his breath. He couldn't get the image of Kíli, his boisterous, wild-haired and trouble making Kíli looking so pale and still out of his head.
Dís looked at her brother and could see the pain and grief on his face. She held his face with one of her hands and forced him to look at her. "What aren't you telling me Thorin?"
"It's bad, Dís, he's been hurt pretty bad," he whispered, fighting a losing battle to stop tears falling from his eyes.
Dís whimpered as her legs gave way, Thorin following her down and the pair of them clung to each other seeking comfort.
Dwalin motioned to Balin to follow him and he moved to the opposite end of the waiting room. He fell into a chair, scrubbing a hand over his face before looking wearily at his older brother who was leaning against a table.
There was silence between them before Balin gave him a small smile. "Don't think I've ever seen you run that fast in my life."
He rolled his eyes. "I can, yer just never the one I'm chasing." Balin snorted quietly before silence settled over them once more.
"Do you think he'll pull through?" he asked with an uncharacteristically small voice.
"Aye, the lad's tough, he won't let this beat him, he's too stubborn for that." Balin said, trying to reassure not just himself but his younger brother as well.
He nodded, yet to be convinced. Kíli was strong, sure, and he'd had his fair share of injuries, but never to this severity and whether the young dwarf's body would be able to cope remained to be seen.
Dís' hoarse voice echoed through the quiet room. "Where's Fíli?"
Dwalin and Balin looked at the two Durin's on the floor, watching as the blood drained out of Thorin's face when he realised who he'd forgotten in the panic.
"Oh Mahal," he choked out looking at his friends desperately "Fíli… was he…"
Dwalin shook his head. "I didn't get a chance to get a good look at Buttercup because you needed help with the lad, but there weren't any ropes like what Kíli had and from what light there was I couldn't see any blood, so either he wasn't hurt when he fell off, or he was never on Buttercup in the first place."
Either way it's not a good sign, I just hope he's safe. Balin prayed silently.
"Thorin," Dwalin continued quietly "if Fíli wasn't hurt he'd be the one who brought Kíli back, nothing would keep him from making sure his brother was okay. Him not being here, it can only mean -"
"Don't! Dwalin please don't say it. He's fine, he has to be." Thorin moaned, running his hands through his hair in distress.
"We need to send people out looking for him."
"Where would they look, Dwalin? That forest is huge and we have no idea where they were camping," his brother responded dejectedly.
"It's better than doing nothing, Balin."
"Don't you think I don't know that, Balin?" Thorin growled. "Dwalin, you and Gloin organise and send patrol's out but tell them to stay in pairs and keep their eyes open, we don't know who did this or if they're still nearby."
"I will, I'll check the horses again for clues then I'll come back."
Half an hour passed and still there was no word from Oin. Thorin, Dis, Balin and Dwalin (who had returned after checking the horses and helping organise the search parties) had been given a room to wait in but all four were restless, ears straining for any noises from the youngest Durin, or constantly going and waiting for a healer to leave the room in order to corner them for information. Worryingly they'd also had no word from any of the patrols currently out searching with information on their missing heir.
The door opened and Oin walked in, a cloth in his hands to wipe off the blood.
"How is he?" Dís asked immediately as she pushed off her seat.
"He's alive, in bad shape but he'll live. I'll explain his injuries later but the small dose of poppy milk I gave him will start wearing off shortly so he'll start stirring, if you need to talk to him, now would be the time before I give him a stronger dose."
Thorin nodded and hurried down the hall, the others hot on his tail. When they reached Kíli's room a hush fell over them, Thorin opening the door quietly and they all slipped in. A quiet sob escaped Dís' lips as she hurried to her son's side.
Kíli looked awful. He'd been moved to a bed to keep him comfortable, and as they got closer they could see he was incredibly pale; his skin colour only a shade darker than the white sheets he was laying on. His cheeks were flushed, his entire face shining with sweat and causing his hair to stick to his skin. They'd tucked him under several thick blankets, and with the fire that was crackling away in the hearth to help him sweat out the fever his skin was hot to the touch.
A healer was currently replacing the cloth on his forehead with a colder one, and she promptly moved aside when Dís sat on the edge of the bed.
"He's burning," she whispered shakily, gently pulling his hair up and away from his neck to tie it in a messy pony tail to help keep him cool.
Kíli whimpered in his unconsciousness, beads of what Thorin thought was sweat trickling down his cheeks.
"How bad Oin?" Balin asked in a whisper.
"Well he -"
"Fee..." Kíli whispered.
"Kíli? Its Oin, can you open your eyes lad?" The healer said as he hurried to the table and clasped his hand.
"Fee... Please" Kíli whimpered again.
"C'mon darling open your eyes!"
Kíli turned his head slightly into Dís' touch before he let out a sob. "Don't leave me Fee, please."
Thorin grasped his nephews face gently and stroked his thumbs over his cheeks. "Kíli, focus on my voice alright? I need you to open your eyes; we need to know what happened."
Several moments passed before Kíli's eyes slowly cracked open, his face set in a pained grimace just from the slightest of movements. "Uncle," he whimpered. "Fíli? Where is he?"
"We don't know, Kíli; we need you to tell us what happened, where were you camping?" he asked gently.
Kíli's eyes rolled backwards as he struggled to hold on to consciousness "Fee..." He sobbed. "The... Lookout," he choked out, eyes snapping open and looking around unseeing "At… Lookout... FEE!" He cried brokenly before going still once more.
Thorin motioned for Balin and Dwalin to follow him from the room, leaving Dís to watch over her son.
"Recall the patrols, I want you to get Gloin, Bofur, Bifur and fifteen others and meet me at the gates in ten minutes, fully armed on horses. We're bringing him home." Balin and Dwalin nodded before hurrying off, Thorin turning to head back to Kíli's room.
He placed a gentle hand on Dís' shoulder when he arrived, and she looked at him with red eyes.
"We'll bring him back Dís, you'll see."
She nodded and wiped away a stray tear. "Good luck."
Hopefully they wouldn't need it.