Hey everyone! I had surgery to remove my kidney stone on Wednesday, and it was an awful experience! They put a stent the whole length from my kidney to my bladder to drain the backed-up fluid, and I was so weak that I could hardly stand up. They took out the stent yesterday and I feel better now. I can't stress this enough: DRINK WATER! I hate water and never drank it, and this was the consequence. I wouldn't wish this surgery/recovery on my worst enemy! Thank God the stent was only in for 2 days...its presence made life impossible.
Anyway, on to the new chapter!
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A week later, Aramis still was not fit for duty. He still had dizzy spells that made life difficult; sometimes striking without warning, and always happening if he bent down or turned around too quickly.
On his second day of staying outside with the others, Aramis unintentionally scared everyone to death when the captain called to them from the balcony outside his office and Aramis looked up. Everything around him started to spin and he fell backwards.
Porthos—standing beside him—managed to catch Aramis before he landed flat on his back.
When a hand suddenly patted the side of Aramis' face, he opened his eyes to find himself lying propped in Porthos' arm.
"Aramis!" said Treville. "I'm so sorry!"
Aramis blinked, feeling confused.
A cup of water suddenly touched his lips, and Aramis drank it, blinking again after Athos pulled it away. His mind cleared and he said, "Oh," when he realized what had happened.
His day had ended there by Treville forcing him to go to bed.
From that day, everyone was careful to ensure that they didn't do anything to startle Aramis or make him move too quickly...which wasn't always easy. They also discovered that Aramis had no balance on his horse, as they found out by helping him mount and then catching him when he immediately fell right off.
Bella, his horse, huffed with apparent surprise and turned her head to nose Aramis' hair as he sat dejectedly on the ground with his two friends beside him.
"Some musketeer I am," Aramis said, in a rare moment of depression. "I can't even sit my horse!" He closed his eyes with a hand on his head as his vision spun.
Someone else in the garrison had apparently witnessed what happened and notified Treville, who came running into the stable. He was glad to see the Aramis was conscious and appeared uninjured, and was about to order him to bed, but Aramis suddenly looked up at him, and the dejected expression on his face made Treville hesitate.
Porthos and Athos, kneeling beside Aramis, looked at their captain, waiting for him to speak.
With a sigh, Treville walked over to them and held out a hand to his ailing soldier, who grasped it and let the captain pull him up. "You know what they say, Aramis."
"What's that?" Aramis asked, blinking his vision into focus.
Treville smiled. "When you fall off your horse, get back on."
Aramis smiled back, and a minute later, he was back in the saddle. His head was spinning and he was holding on for dear life, but with his friends' help, he didn't fall off that time.
All three of them had a grip on him, and they quietly watched as Aramis tried to adjust. It took quite a while before some color finally came back into his face and he reopened his eyes.
"How is it?" Treville asked.
Aramis looked down at him, which proved to be a huge mistake, as his brain reeled and he slumped sideways.
"I did it again!" Treville exclaimed, switching his grip to grab Aramis under the arms and carefully pulling him down.
Aramis' eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily. He didn't resist when they pulled him over to a bale of hay and sat him down, and he opened his eyes a minute later.
"I'm sorry, Aramis," said Treville. "Again!"
Aramis smiled slightly. "Not your fault...it's not as if I wouldn't have moved had you not spoken."
"Should we try again later?" Athos asked, making it Aramis' decision even though it was obvious by his question what his opinion was.
Aramis took a deep breath and let it out noisily as his vision started to right itself. "Yes."
They did indeed 'try again', and the trying went on for a few more days before Aramis was able to mount by himself. When he finally managed it, he grinned and exclaimed, "Looks like I can remain a musketeer after all!"
His friends' smiles vanished. "You thought you wouldn't?" said Porthos, holding onto Aramis from below to keep him steady.
Aramis shrugged, gripping the reins tightly. "I had my doubts a few times," he admitted. "I dreamt one night that I was permanently left this way...too dizzy to ever ride a horse again."
"Nothing ever prevails over you, Aramis," said Athos. "The whole garrison knows this."
"Yeah," said Porthos, loosening his grip.
Aramis almost nodded, but caught himself. He was dizzy, but not too badly, and he didn't want to make it worse. "And I have God and you both to thank for that!"
Porthos smiled and reached up to help him down. "Come on."
Aramis frowned. "But I just got up here."
"Are you stable?" Athos asked, still holding onto one of his arms.
"Yes."
"Even if we let go?" Athos pressed.
Aramis hesitated. He was getting dizzier the longer he remained mounted.
"That's our answer," said Porthos, gently tugging on his arm. "Get down."
"No," Aramis stubbornly answered.
"You're not planning to actually ride?" Athos asked, sounding surprised.
"Well...maybe not," said Aramis. "But how can I regain my balance if I don't stay here for a while? If my brain has to relearn how to handle height, then getting down so soon will make the whole attempt pointless."
The others understood his reasoning, and let he remain where he was.
"Make sure you say somethin' if you plan to fall off the horse or faint," said Porthos.
"Pass out," said Aramis. "And I don't plan on either, thank you!"
To Aramis' credit, he did manage to stay mounted for a while before finally being obedient and getting down with their help. The dizziness increased with the movement, but he hid it from the others until his boot touched the ground, and he was so disoriented that he slipped sideways out of their grasp and hit a bale of hay before landing on his rear end.
"Aramis!" Porthos exclaimed, mortified at having 'dropped' him.
Aramis closed his eyes as the scenery spun around him, and when he reopened them, his two friends were kneeling beside him looking worried and upset...with Bella's nose between them as she stared at her master on the ground.
"Are you all right?" Athos asked.
Aramis' answer was a chuckle.
"He's laughin'!" said Porthos, incredulously.
"I'm fine," Aramis told them. He reached out a hand to pet Bella's nose, but missed.
"Right," said Porthos, sarcastically. "Up you go." With that, he and Athos pulled Aramis to his feet and sat him on the hay bale.
Aramis repeatedly blinked as his spinning vision calmed down.
"That's enough for today," Athos said.
"I'll be riding by the end of the week," said Aramis.
Porthos frowned. "How can you be so sure? This hasn't exactly been a fast process, Aramis."
"I'm sure," Aramis told them, as he finally managed to see Bella clearly enough to stroke her nose. "Not very far, most likely, but I'll be riding."
True to his word, that Saturday, all three musketeers rode out of the stable.
Athos, being strict, was gripping Bella's reins as Aramis held onto the pommel of his saddle. Porthos rode next to Aramis with one hand gripping his friend's arm.
"This is embarrassing," Aramis complained. He'd been bundled-up against the chilly weather, and between that and being led, he felt like a child.
"The garrison is nearly empty," said Athos.
"Nearly," Aramis echoed.
"Come on," Porthos said. "Everyone knows you were ill."
"I should've recovered by now," Aramis said, even as a dizzy spell assaulted him as they rode in a wide circle around the courtyard.
Porthos saw Aramis waver and tightened his grip. He opened his mouth to tell Athos to stop the horses, but Aramis prevented him.
"No," he hissed. "Say nothing."
Porthos closed his mouth.
They completed the loop around the courtyard and Aramis let go of the pommel with one hand to try to pry the reins away from Athos.
"No," Athos said.
"But—"
"NO."
Aramis sighed and let go.
They left the garrison when it appeared that Aramis was handling the ride, and he was further embarrassed by being led in public.
"We can return to the garrison if you'd prefer," said Athos.
Aramis sighed again. "No."
"Slump over," said Porthos. "And you'll have every woman here showing their concern for you!"
Aramis' face dawned with inspiration, and his whole body slid towards Porthos, who gave an exclamation of shock before realizing that Aramis had taken his advice.
"I meant for you to slump over Bella's neck!" said Porthos, trying to adjust his friend's dead-weight against his side.
Aramis, eyes closed in faked unconsciousness, simply chuckled.
Athos rolled his eyes and they continued their ride.
Aramis eventually sat up straight again, and they left the town, heading towards a lake. When they reached it, Athos grabbed Aramis by the arm before he could move.
"Don't even think about getting down without us."
Aramis submitted, and waited for his two friends to reach up and grab him before he moved. He was standing on the ground a moment later, but his brain thought that he was still on his horse.
"I gotcha, Aramis," he suddenly heard, and he opened eyes that he hadn't realized he'd closed.
Athos and Porthos were both looking at him intently, holding onto him with grips that actually hurt.
"M'okay," Aramis told them, his words slurring unexpectedly.
"We'll be the judge of that," Athos said. He slowly let go of Aramis and grabbed the bedroll off Bella's horse before laying it on the chilled ground for Aramis to sit on.
Once Aramis was safely seated, Porthos grabbed a canteen that he'd brought of hot broth and handed it to him. They watched him drink it for a moment before Athos spoke.
"How are you feeling?"
"Not bad," Aramis answered. "The dizziness is bearable."
"Not when you first got down it wasn't," Porthos commented.
"Which is normal, considering," Aramis answered. "Truly, it could be much worse."
"It may be once we return to the garrison," said Athos.
"Perhaps not," said Aramis, drinking the broth again, grateful when it acted against the chill in the air.
They remained seated until most of his dizziness went away, before carefully helping Aramis mount and heading back. The return journey was harder for him but he fought not to show it.
Once they rode into the garrison, it was obvious that the others had noticed anyway, as Athos directed the horses towards the table. They helped Aramis down and didn't even give him a chance to stand before they lowered him to sit on the bench.
Not letting him properly stand for a moment with his knees locked actually did more harm than good, as the smooth motion from the horse to the bench caused a floating sensation in his head similar to a swaying ship. He gasped and blindly reached for something to hold onto, finding an arm that he gripped tightly, eyes closed. Someone worriedly called his name but another voice hushed him, and he felt more than four hands on his body keeping him steady. When Aramis finally opened his eyes, he saw why.
Captain Treville was the owner of the arm that he'd been clutching, and Aramis realized that he was gripping it with bruising force.
"I'm sorry," Aramis said, letting go.
Treville squeezed his shoulder with his other hand. "It's fine, don't worry." He looked at the others. "It didn't go very smoothly, then?"
"It did for a while, actually," said Porthos. "He handled the first half all right, but the return trip was harder."
"Normal," Aramis said, reaching for the cup of water that Athos suddenly handed to him. He didn't resist when Athos guided it to his lips, since he was still dizzy and didn't want to miss and spill it on himself.
Everyone watched him, and as Aramis pulled the empty cup down, he was suddenly struck with a wave of doubt. His friends were so diligently taking care of him, and Treville was waiting so long for him to recover, losing the services of all three of them in the meantime. "I'd like to lie down," he suddenly said.
The others were instantly concerned. "What's wrong?" Treville asked.
Aramis nearly shook his head, but caught himself in time. "Nothing, I'm just tired."
Porthos, sitting beside Aramis on the bench, pulled his friend's arm around his neck and gently pulled him upright. "Up you go, then."
Treville sighed as he watched the three friends make their way to Aramis' room. He'd seen the sudden shift in Aramis' mood, and he fervently hoped that it wouldn't last.
TBC
