In Good Hands

After they had given Marius painkillers and rebandaged his and Gavroche's wounds, Combeferre, Fauchelevent, and Grantaire went into the next room. Cosette and Courfeyrac stayed with Marius and Gavroche. As soon as they entered the room, Grantaire went to sit next to Enjolras. Combeferre began to remove the bandages from Jehan's leg while Fauchelevent took the painkillers and fresh bandages from the bag. Jehan groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"How are you mon ami?" Combeferre asked quietly.

"My leg feels like it's on fire," he said, "But other than that I feel like a field of roses."

Combeferre chuckled quietly. "Well hopefully what Fauchelevent has for you will eliminate the fire part," Combeferre said as Fauchelevent gave Jehan the same stuff as Gavroche.

"Merci Monsieur," he said.

"The wound looks fine, well, it does not look infected," Combeferre said, "We'll get it wrapped again and you should be fine." Combeferre smiled and moved aside so Fauchelevent could rewrap Jehan's leg. He moved over to where Enjolras lay and slowly wrapped his leg. As he did, Enjolras moaned and opened his eyes.

"Apollo?" Grantaire said quietly, but the man just groaned again.

"Enjolras?" Combeferre said and placed his hand on his friend's eyes, removing it immediately. "He's burning up."

"What does that mean?" Grantaire asked.

"The fever could mean a possible infection," Combeferre said as he examined Enjolras's leg. It was clear of infection. He then started to unwrap his friend's chest, but Enjolras tried to push his hands away.

"No," he groaned, "Hurts."

"I know mon ami, I'm sorry," Combeferre said, "But I think you may have an infection so I must check. Monsieur Fauchelevent has some medicine for you that should help with the pain." Combeferre finished removing the bandages and saw that the skin around the wound was red and enflamed. He probed the area gently and Enjolras grit his teeth.

"Sorry, sorry," Combeferre said immediately.

"Shhh," Grantaire murmured, "It's alright Apollo. You're going to be fine. Hush Enjolras, it's alright." Grantaire began running his fingers through the blonde's hair and Enjolras leaned into the touch. Fauchelevent scooped the medication into Enjolras's mouth and the man swallowed obediently.

"That's it mon ami," Combeferre said quietly as he rewrapped his chest. "It's not too serious right now. We just need to keep his fever down and the wound clean."

"I'll get you a bowl of water, and a cloth," Fauchelevent said, leaving the room.

"Grantaire," Combeferre said and the surprisingly sober drunkard looked up at him, "I need to go check on Joly, can you help Fauchelevent cool off Enjolras when he gets back?"

"Of course," Grantaire said immediately as he returned his gaze to their ailing leader. Combeferre turned and elf the room, knowing Enjolras was in good hands.

There's the next chapter! Plenty more angst to come because apparently that's what I was going for with this story!

Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!