Chapter Nine
Stricken – Part Three
The fire sparked widely.
The reddish orange hue splashed Thorin's face, warming the features of his nose, his chin and the dark hair that framed his face. The braids had all been untangled and his hair had been washed. His wet clothes removed and thrown over a laundry rack to dry by the fire. His wounds had been treated and wrapped in bandages. And the covers had been pulled up to his shoulder to keep him as warm as possible.
Dis leaned left against the frame of her bedroom door, arms crossed over her chest. She watched her brother's chest rise as he drew in breath and fall as he exhaled. The stillness to her brother's face would have frightened her but there was something surreal and calm about it. She smiled. But behind that smile was nothing but heartbreak. Her eyes were moistened by unshed tears; broken pieces of her heart only held together by the knowledge her brother was still breathing.
This wonderful, beautiful man who sheltered her, protected her, put clothes on her back, food on the table and delivered her son. Thorin was everything to her. Maybe the fact he was with Kildri as her husband passed into the Halls of Waiting did bring her some comfort.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Dis walked away from her door frame and moved slowly across the floor boards to the right side of her bed. "How's he doing?" Reaching forth, the princess grasped her brother's hand and although she didn't feel him responding, she knew he could feel her there.
"His body is responding well," Balin answered while still holding two fingers to Thorin's pulse. It bothered him just as much to see his best friend like this, and to see Dis so distraught under the circumstances. Then he lifted his eyes to his princess's face. "And you? I will be here for you, myself and my brother, whenever you need us. I'll take Fili for a few days, whatever you need me to do."
"Thank you, Balin. I appreciate you saying that and for saving my brother's life but this is something I need to handle."
"Very well."
The white-haired dwarf placed Thorin's wrist down then stood on his feet. He watched his friend breathe for half a second before his eyes skipped over the princess, and then their eyes were both drawn to the doorway and the tattooed dwarf standing there.
Dwalin wandered in a few inches. "Well, Fili's finally asleep." He stepped over to the bedside where Dis sat and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I can stay if you want me to…"
Dis shook her hand. "No. You and Balin have done enough for us tonight. Thank you."
Just as Dwalin dropped his hand from her shoulder, Thorin started to stir from his sleep nearly catching the three of them by surprise. His vision was foggy at first and his head was pounding something fierce. But when this cloud finally started to dissipate, it was just three very clear faces hovering close to him.
Balin helped Thorin sit up then motioned for Dwalin to follow him. The muscled tattooed dwarf gently squeezed Dis's shoulder then followed his brother out. Once the front door shut, the Durin siblings were left on their own. Remembering now everything that had happened, Thorin turned to his sister and took her hand. He pressed his lips to her knuckles then brushed off a tear as it trickled down the side of her face. To see her in pain and to know why she was in pain just about broke his heart. Dis leaned her forehead against his; Thorin's temperature was back up. Dis was glad for small favors. When she started crying harder, her brother did everything he could to offer to comfort her. He swallowed his own sorrow and held his hand against her cheek, brushing his thumb across her skin over and over again.
It was the first time since she gave birth to Fili over five years ago, when her son would have been born dead if not for her brother, that she felt a deep and powerful sorrow in her heart. Dis cried and cried until she didn't think she would ever stop, and then she cried some more. And poor Thorin did all he could not to cry along with her. Kildri wasn't just his brother-in-law; the dwarf was his best friend. He was good to Dis and he was good to Fili, and that was all Thorin could have hoped for.
The little boy they thought was sound asleep was anything but. In fact, he now stood in the doorway of his mama's bedroom with his bear clutched to his side and a thumb hanging out of his mouth. He had either heard Dwalin and Balin leaving or he heard his mama's crying and decided to investigate. Either way, it was hard to know just how long he had been standing there.
Fili plucked his thumb out of his mouth and wet his lips. "Mama?"
Dis picked her head up from her brother's forehead and looked past her right shoulder. She gazed down at her golden-haired child then brushed tears from her eyes. "Mama's fine, baby. Go back to sleep." She was anything but fine, but she didn't need her son worrying about that.
"Couldn't sweep." He started walking in. "I had a bad dweam. Uncle Thorin!" Seeing his uncle sitting up in his mama's bed, Fili's tiny body threw itself across the room and crawled up on the bed to toss himself around Thorin's chest, nearly crushing his bear between them. "You okay! I had a bad dweam you weren't okay. But you are! You are!"
Despite wanting to comfort his nephew, the pressure Fili put on his ribs was hurting him. Thorin hissed a little, but wrapped an arm around the child none the less. "I am. But baby, Uncle Thorin can't breathe…"
Gasping, Fili pulled back in a fright. "I sorry!" When Thorin took a breath, Fili asked, "Uncle, where is my da? When is he coming home?"
Thorin and Dis shared a look, and Dis was wiping tears from her eyes again. "He isn't."
"What do you mean he isn't? Where did he go?"
Dis carded her fingers through her son's hair. "He went to be with Uncle Frerin and Grandda Thrain, baby boy." When her son looked at her with a confused look to his eyes, she gathered him to her and wrapped her arms around him. "Baby, there… there was an accident tonight. Your da, he was hurt real bad."
"But- " Fili looked away from his mama to his uncle, " –he's gonna be okay, right?" Then he looked back to his mama. "Like Uncle Thorin is?" He saw that look in his mama's eyes and it made him frown deep. "Mama, why are you crying?" Now his eyes were starting to mist up. "Where is my da?!"
"Fili, your da is in Mandos. He's not coming back," Thorin said, tears choking his throat but he was able to keep them down.
Fili's face scrunched up and tears fell down his face in droplets, at first. He threw himself into his uncle's body and despite the pain in his chest and shoulder, Thorin was able to wrap his arms around his tiny nephew's body. He pulled the child into his lap, sat up further and started rocking back and forth while pushing his fingers through Fili's golden-blonde hair.
Dis put her hand to her son's head and leaned herself forward to kiss his hair. She looked at her brother as Thorin continued coddling Fili and carding his fingers through his nephew's hair.
"Your da loves you, Fili."
SHIT! I'm sorry this took so long to put out there. I was having a SEVERE writer's block but I'll try to get back with this story. The next chapter will be a bit happier, hopefully.
