Chapter 7

Jake had been floating in a world of darkness. It had wrapped him in a warm and comforting blanket, locking out all of the thoughts that he didn't want to have. He had been sat in the tavern after the fight when Will had suddenly grimaced and touched the back of his head, fear had flared in his heart, but Max had looked at Will's head and didn't seem concerned so, he decided, it must be all right and nothing for him to worry about. It was then that he had become aware that although he could see Will, Katia and Max talking he couldn't actually hear what they were saying and that the numbness in his side had now grown to cover most of his body. He found that he could no longer fight the drowsiness that was overcoming him and he sank into a state full of memories and familiar faces, Ma, Papa and Lotte were all there, along with Will. But as he watched their smiling faces turned to masks of death and he saw each of them in their coffins and he was scared that an image of Will would soon join them. Thankfully, these images were rapidly replaced by a welcome darkness. This had become his entire world and somewhere he would happily have stayed.

But that was not to be. Little by little the darkness was slipping away from him and he reluctantly become aware of the world around him. He became aware of a softness that supported him; he tried to move, only to find that something was restraining him. Whilst his mind tried to deal with these confusing things had became aware of a voice. The voice was saying something that he found very familiar and it came to him that it was one of the stories he had written. He then realised that the voice sounded very familiar as well, in fact it sounded like Will, but for the life of him he couldn't think why Will would be reading one of his stories. What was Will doing with his book? It was all very confusing.

He needed to get his thoughts in some sort of order to understand all these things that were confusing him. So he tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs didn't seem to want to co-operate, actually all his muscles seemed to be heavy and weak and when he finally did get them to react the result was an agonising pain that shot through his body and made him cry out. Then the voice was talking to him.

"Jake! Jake, can you hear me? You've been hurt. You mustn't try to move." The voice definitely sounded like Will.

"Will?" his voice was barley more than a hoarse whisper.

"Yes, Jake. It's me. You must keep still." Jake thought that was funny, he felt so weak that he doubted he could move if his life depended on it. He tried to smile, but wasn't sure whether or not his muscles actually moved.

Jake had always been a person who thrived on information, needing to know and understand what was going on around him. And although he had got feeling back into his body and he could hear what was going on around him the fact that he couldn't see was starting to annoy him. He concentrated on getting his eyelids to lift, at first they wouldn't cooperate, but after he concentrated all he efforts into the movement they finally responded and he was staring up a rather bleary image of Will, with what appeared to be a relieved look on his face, which as he watched turned into an equally bleary smile.

"Hello," said the bleary Will.

"Hello," came his whispered response.

A stray thought passed through Jake's mind. He remembered, or at least thought he remembered that Will had asked him to leave, but at the moment he seemed happy to see him and he hoped that Will wouldn't remember he had said to him. He liked Will being happy to see him.

"Jake, I need to get Max. I want you to promise that you won't try to move while I'm gone? You have been hurt and it's important that you don't move."

"Hurt?"

"Yes, Jake. You were hurt in the fight."

"Fight?"

"Okay. Obviously a little too much information. Just promise me you won't move?"

"Anything you say, Will."

Jake's voice had faded almost to nothing and Will knew he needed to get Max. So he dashed from the room and down the stairs. By now the tavern was filling up with customers again and he had to look for several seconds before he spotted Max. Max spotted him at the same time and they met half way.

"Max, come on. It's Jake!" Max's initial concern was removed by the smile that was plaster across Will's face.

"It a certain younger brother awake, then?"

"Come and see," His smile wavered a bit, "he spoke, but his voice faced. Please come." With that Max followed Will to the room.

When they entered the room Jake lay with his eyes closed again.

"Jake?" Will touched his brother's shoulder.

Jake opened his eyes and looked at them.

"Welcome back!" said Max with a smile that matched Will's. He reached under the covers and gently took hold of Jake's wrist. He took his pulse and then laid his hand on his forehead.

"Hello," it was the same hoarse whisper.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired…and my side hurts…"

"Does it? Let me have a look then."

"But I'm not supposed to move…"

"Who told you that?"

"Will …" Jake's voice had faded again.

"Well, in that case I guess will have to wait until "doctor" Will says it's all right," he turned to Will with a smile on his face, "Will, can you get me a glass of water. Your brother's mouth must feel like a desert."

"Of course." Will grabbed a jug from a nearby table, where it had been left alongside a bowl for washing and filled a cup from the table beside Jake, he then passed it to Max who supported Jake whilst he drank. Then Max laid his head back against the pillow and sleep overtook him again.

"How is he?" Will asked after they had made Jake comfortable again.

"He was lucid, obeyed instructions and didn't vomit, so I would say he's on the mend.

But, he still has a long way to go and his underlying lack of strength is going to make his recovery slow, so he is going to be here for some time."

"I think I can cope with that."

"Good. Now, I think it's best if we leave Jake to get some sleep, so why don't we go and let Katia know how he is?"

Will crossed the room and stood by his sleeping brother for a moment. Jake's chest rose and fell in rhythmic breaths, in a deep sleep. The first step on his road to recovery.

"Sleep well, little brother. I'll be back soon."

They retraced their steps back to the bar and found Katia waiting for them. With a smile on his face Will told her of Jake's continuing recovery and he could almost see it in her eyes as she started to plan what she could prepare to tempt Jake and put some flesh onto his bones.

"Does this mean you have made your decision?"

"Yes. I think it's time I got to know Jake again. He's change quite a bit since the last time we were together"

"And so have you, no doubt. Especially in the last day or so."

"Right again. When exactly did you get to know me so well?"

"The first time you walked in here."

--

For the next few weeks all Jake seemed to do was sleep, eat and excrete and have his side checked. But that was all right with him, Jake was getting better. He spent his days helping Max take care of his brother and Katia with the tavern, and his nights watching over Jake and reading from his book. And through the book, he found himself getting to know Jake a little better. But there was one thing about the stories that worried him; they all had happy endings. Happy endings that were achieved by magic in some form and he knew that in real life there were few happy endings and none had anything to do with magic. Somehow he had to convince Jake that magic wasn't real and couldn't solve his problems. But there would be time for that in the future.

As time went on and the wound in his side began to heal, Jake spent more and more time awake and they had time to talk. At first he did all the talking, Jake would just listen and add the odd word when prompted; he seemed to be happy just letting him do all the talking. It wasn't until he brought up the subject of one of the stories that he had read in the book that Jake began to enter the conversation and, to his surprise, his discovered that he was beginning to like his brother. He turned out to be intelligent, imaginative, and so full of ideas and enthusiasm that he couldn't help but smile.

"Jake, what exactly is this?" Will held up something and Jake squinted trying to make his bleary vision clearer.

"Oh, sorry. Here, let me help you." The object swam into focus as Will slipped his glasses onto his face.

"It's my rabbit's foot. It's lucky."

"So you wear the limb of a dead animal around your neck because you think it's lucky? Who for, certainly not the rabbit!"

"But it didn't die."

"It didn't? Do you think that there is a rabbit out there somewhere hopping around with a wooden leg?"

"No, it has crutches."

"Crutches!"

"Yes, I've seen it."

"I don't know what you have seen, Jake. But I think that I need to have a word with Max about what exactly he is giving you, because I think you are getting too much of it!"

Max was talking to Katia when Will found him.

Will, it's rabbit stew for tonight, do you know if Jake's likes rabbit? Asked Katia.

"Only if it has crutches!" Will ignored the stare he got from her and turned his attention to Max. "What are you giving Jake? He seems to be having hallucinations. I thought that you said he was getting better."

"Will, calm down and tell me all about it."

After he had finished Max sat there and considered what he had said.

"Rabbit's on crutches, eh?"

"Yes. What do you think is wrong with him?" Max noted the look of concern on Will's face

"Katia, I think we all need a drink."

Why, thought Will, was what he had to say going to be that bad?

When they each had a drink in front of them, Max raised his glass.

"To a day I never thought would come." Will and Katia just looked at him, not raising their glasses. "Will, Jake is conning you and you fell for it. But I have to admire his creative imagination, rabbits on crutches." Max began to laugh.

Will couldn't decide whether to angry with his brother for fooling him or happy that Jake had recovered enough to be able to come up with the con. So he decided to stay down in the bar when Katia took Jake his food up, merely sending Jake a message that he was too busy looking for the rabbit's crutches to see him. He spent the night helping Katia, having a drink or two and answering questions from the regulars, who had discovered the truth about Jake. It wasn't until much later that Will finally climbed the stairs.

"Jake…Jake…" called Will as he entered his brother's room. But he had fallen asleep again, "Oh Jake…you know that you shouldn't sleep in those, you'll just end up braking them." He reached out and removed his brother's glasses and placed them on the table by his bed. Beside them he laid something that he had made as he sat in the bar, two pieces of wood fashioned into a crutch, and just the right size for a rabbit.

--

Jake was sat up in bed, supported by pillows and cushions, eating his midday meal when

Max entered.

"And how is the patient today?"

"He's trying to eat Katia out of business, as far as I can see," replied Will.

Jake just looked embarrassed.

"Jake, I was joking! You know Katia's not going to stop feeding you until she had put some meat on your bones."

"And you do need the strength to continue with your recovery," added Max, "speaking of which do you feel up to a little exercise?"

"You mean I can get up?" Jake's voice was full of excitement.

Since he had woken to find Will watching over him Jake hadn't quite been able to believe what was happening. Will was actually spending time with him and he seemed to like it, and for a while Jake had been happy enough to just listen as Will talked, just enjoying having him there. It felt like he had his brother back again after all these years. Then Will mentioned one of his stories and Jake realised that he must have been reading his book and he feared that everything he had gained was going to melt away and he would be back to where he was before, only this time with added bonus of having to fight he way back from illness. But Will had seemed genuinely interested in the story he had written and before he could stop himself Jake found himself telling Will all about the folktales he had heard that inspired the story he had written and then about his studies at the university and his travels and he had even seen Will smile! It made the pain he was in every time he tried to move worthwhile.

Max had regularly checked his side and each time had said that it was healing nicely and, indeed, the pain in his side had gradually decreased until one day Max had Will support him as he removed the stitches and told him to rest. But, by now he had grown bored of just lying in bed and the idea of finally being able to get out of it was a dream come true.

"As long as we are careful, I can't see it causing any problems. Will…"

Jake removed the covers, adjusted his nightshirt and, carefully placing his feet on the floor, sat on the edge of the bed. He could feel the cool of the floorboard against his souls of his feet and then, with Will and Max supporting him, he pushed up and then he was standing. He felt himself sway slightly, immediately followed by a tightening of their grip by Will and Max as they steadied him.

"It's all right, Jake, " Max's voice sounded in his ear, "It's been a while since you last used your leg muscles. Just let your body get used to being upright again and then we can take step or two."

Jake took a deep breath, held it and then let it out slowly. He glanced at his brother, smiled and then took a step. His body responded, taking his weight and there was no pain in his side. He felt Will and Max relax their grip a little. He took another step and then another, he could feel them coming with him, supporting and guiding him. He could see the fireplace ahead of him and he decided he was going to reach it.

"Jake," Max's voice was again in his ear, "that's enough for today."

"No, just to the fireplace. I feel great and there is no pain. Just to fireplace and then I'll stop," Jake looked at Max, "please?"

"Okay."

They completed the steps to the fireplace. Will and Max removed their hands and let Jake support himself against the fireplace. He felt like he had climbed a mountain, but he had made it. He took a few breaths and then carefully turned himself around, always keeping a hand on the fireplace to steady himself, and looked at his brother and Max.

"Yes!" Jake had a look of triumph on his face and Will couldn't help but give a gently laugh

"What?" demanded Jake.

"I've never met anyone who got quite so excited as you about a fireplace, Jake."

"I don't know, Will. It is a very nice fireplace," added Max.

This was followed by laughter, which Jake completely ruined by suddenly slumping over.

"Jake!" Will cried as he caught his brother. But there was no response.