Chapter 11

The next few days were a blur around the halls of Erebor.

Fili and Bofur prepared for their trek to the far side of the Woodland Realm, whereas Kili spent most of the day working with non-injured dwarves in preparing the halls for the arrival of their kin leaving Tauriel to care for the wounded.

Bombur was easy going and healing very well, only coming in daily for a checkup.

Dwalin though, even though it had been nearly five days since the furnace collapsed was still touch and go. His infection had seemed to work its way out, but she could not get a grip on his pain.

Pain from the wound on his leg and the broken bones that she had discovered later in his hands. He was tense and occasionally lashed out when she tried to heal him using Elven spells, but Oin didn't fare much better with him. His hallucinations were going to kill him and probably both Tauriel and the old doctor.

He seemed to be resting, his eyes closed as Tauriel neared him with the intent on changing his bandages. She pulled off the bandage and nodded appreciatively at its progress before looking at Oin. "Will you get me some more Kingsfoil, please?" She asked the old dwarf who nodded, removed his trumpet from his ear and walked into the storeroom.

She turned to her table, her attention off the dwarf long enough for his eyes to open, blinking a couple of times. He recognized the stone as his home, but did not the lass next to him. What he noticed was her pointy ears, peaking through her curtains of hair.

A fit of rage filled through him and his breathing sped up enough for her to notice, but not react fast enough. He growled and launched himself at her causing him to fall on the floor, pulling her down with him.

"I'm only trying to help you." She yelled as his hands clutched her throat. His eyes were wide as he realized that his body hurt all over and that he couldn't grasp effectively.

He screamed in pain and moved in favor to use his arm to cut off her airway, he sat on her thighs, making her legs useless. "You turned your back on us!" He growled.

Tauriel punched her fists at his face, using the length of her arms to her advantage. Dwalin was too far into his hallucination to really react. "You were hurt," She coughed through. "I've been trying to heal you."

"Lies!" He growled picking up her shoulders and shoving her back into the ground. She gasped as pain shot through her body, her strength was nothing compared to his. "You're here to kill the king!"

She gasped a couple of times and hoped that Oin would hurry, because he couldn't hear the commotion. She looked for anything to help her, to her right was a glass flask just outside of her reach. Her fingers couldn't grip the smooth surface and she could feel herself start to black out. With every ounce of strength, the tip of her fingers reached the flask. Moving it close enough for her hand to grasp it, she used all of her energy to swing her hand into his face-smashing the glass against the side of his head. Knocking him off her enough to breathe.

She laid on her back for a moment startled until she was able to roll over and start to crawl amidst the broken glass.

Dwalin seemed to come out of his stupor long enough to grab her leg with his good hand and pull her back towards him. She let out a cry and did her best to kick him with her other leg, but the mixture of the herbs he was given and his naturally strong body made her useless against the aggressive dwarf. He was able to pin her down again.

He pushed himself up just enough to wield a fist into her direction.

The blow never came. She heard a crash from the doorway and a black haired mass shoved the big dwarf off of her. Dwalin and the dark haired dwarf rolled on the floor a couple of times for dominance, Dwalin sending blind blows in every which direction with his good hand. Tauriel forced herself to sit up to see that it was Thorin who had pushed Dwalin off of her. "Dwalin!" He cried, pinning him to the ground and the aggressive dwarf almost immediately froze in surprise.

"Thorin!" He said breathlessly. "We are over run with elves."

Thorin shook his head. "No, she is only trying to help you." Thorin defended, climbing off of his lifelong friend in favor of helping the elf, who still laid on the floor trying to catch her breath. "Are you okay?"

She closed her eyes and forced herself to sit up, Thorin placed a hand on her shoulder to support her. Her hand went to her stomach and she groaned inaudibly. Panic went through the king's veins as he gave her the once over, there was blood all over her and a lot of it.

"Oh mercy me." Said Oin, who had returned from the store room with wide eyes. Thorin motioned to Dwalin who was writhing in pain on the floor and Oin nodded, turning his attention to the dwarf.

Thorin's attention was on the expectant mother who was trying to stand up. He hoisted her slowly to her feet and she groaned again. "I'm okay." She said taking a couple of steps before doubling over again. Thorin caught her before she fell over.

"You are not okay, come sit down." He said, motioning her to one of the bed that lined the wall. She obeyed and sat down on one of the beds before he moved to give Oin some instructions. Thorin returned with a basin of water and some cloths, determined to find the cause of the bleeding. She held out her hands that had glass imbedded in them and with gentleness that she didn't know he possessed, he washed her hands free of the blood without a word.

He removed a rather large piece of glass from her right hand, when her left went to her stomach with a gasp as a spasm shot through her belly.

Thorin froze and looked up with concern. "What is it?" He asked.

She shook her head, waiting for the pain to go away. "It feels like a tremor in my stomach." She said breathing deeply trying to describe what was happening to her body without panicking herself or the king. She didn't know what the feeling was, but she knew that it wasn't normal. Tauriel hissed again and prayed that the baby wasn't coming, not yet.

Dwalin moaned from the floor, Ori had just given him some stronger medicine to knock him out before disappearing from the room.

Thorin turned back to her, eyes wide with concern. "Is the baby coming?" He asked. He didn't know much about elves, but he did know that it was still way too early for the baby to come.

She shook her head. "I don't think so." She answered rubbing the sore spot on her stomach. "Just a reaction to . . ." She wanted to say the stress that her body had just undertaken, the pain went away. She didn't know the first thing about childbirth, but when her senses returned she sensed that it wasn't coming yet.

Thorin nodded and finished binding her hands, his hand went to the neckline of her dress and hissed at the painful bruising that was forming. She felt uncomfortable under his intense gaze. "The bruises will go away in an hour or so." She whispered, she looked up and was hit with a wave of vertigo. Her hand went to her forehead and she swayed a little. "I think I need to lay down for a moment."

He helped her lay down and placed a sheet from another bed over her body. He moved to get up, but she caught his arm. He looked down on her tenderly. "It wasn't his fault, he was having a hallucination." She whispered.

"Rest now." He said quietly. "We will take care of him."

She nodded as another wave of dizziness washed over her.

When he was certain that she was resting, he walked over to his friend who was laying on the floor in a daze. Oin had given him something to sedate him and he seemed to have calmed down.

Thorin dropped to his knees next to him and was greeted with his eyes opened wide. "Thorin?" He asked groggily.

"You are going to be alright, my friend." He said patting his shoulder. Dwalin's eyes closed and he gave a loud sigh. Thorin was glad that at least he wasn't in any pain at the moment, though he had glass imbedded in his cheek.

The sound of footsteps running towards the room made him look behind him. Oin had returned with Gloin, Bofur and Fili, all three of them had wide eyes trying to piece together what had happened.

"Help me lift him." Oin ordered and the three other dwarves grabbed a limb. "Careful lads! His bones haven't been set into place yet."

They lifted Dwalin and carried him into a quarantine room so that Oin could set his bones and be far from the elf. The room went silent once the door shut, save for the quiet footsteps of the blond dwarf that appeared next to Tauriel.

She opened her eyes at the sound of the footsteps, but couldn't lift her head without feeling sick. She curled onto her side and buried her face into the pillow until Fili sat next to her on the bed. "Fili?" She asked weakly.

"Are you okay?" He asked rubbing his rough hand on her arm.

She nodded with a wince. "Just some spasms." She said, rubbing her stomach to ease the ache. Fili placed a hand on her stomach and took over, rubbing away the tension with his warm hands.

"Is this okay?" He asked, it was way too intimate for their relationship, but he wanted to keep her comfortable. She nodded appreciatively. Her muscles began to relax at his touch enough for her to roll on to her back and stretch out. Her eyes closed and she could feel the baby move inside of her as it seemed to relax. Fili rubbed slow and lazy patterns on her belly but froze when he felt a soft bump. "It kicked!"

Her eyes fluttered opened and she smiled. "It does that a lot when Kili talks." She said quietly.

Fili was in awe and ran his fingers over the spot again receiving another kick from a small foot. "It is strong." He whispered, smoothing the wave in her dress. "Like its mother."

Her smile softened as her eyes closed, but it was short lived as footsteps came running into the room, knocking over a cart of supplies. It was Kili, whose eyes were wide in panic. "Tauriel." He cried out, trotting over to the bed and sitting on the opposite side of his brother.

He brushed some fringe off her forehead before pressing his lips to her forehead. "I was worried." He said, resting his own against hers with his eyes closed.

Her hand went to his cheek and she tilted her head enough to capture his lips with hers. "I'm alright." She said and he pushed himself away to sit up straight. Her hand went to her stomach, this time without wincing. "We're alright."

Kili rubbed her belly with his hand. "I felt the baby kick!" Fili said happily. Kili lit up tremendously, happy that his brother got to experience something that was so precious to him.

But the moment cut short as he sobered up when he saw the bruising at her. "What happened? Ori wasn't specific."

Tauriel sighed and closed her eyes, she knew that it was going to upset the brothers. "Dwalin was hallucinating and became aggressive. . ." She answered, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "I let my guard down just for a moment and he attacked me."

As she predicted, Kili jumped up with a look that she hadn't seen since the war. Her reflexes were enough to catch his wrist and pull him back. "It wasn't his fault, Kili!"

He turned around and faced her, still with a glare on his face. "He could've seriously hurt you!" He bellowed as he paced in the small space next to him.

Tauriel sighed and pulled him back to sitting next to her. "I'm okay." She said placing a bandaged hand on his cheek. "King Thorin pushed him off of me and treated my cuts, they will go away soon."

Kili pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him. He knew that he couldn't blame Dwalin, but he couldn't help but feel angry about the situation. "I'm so glad you are alright." He said in a whisper.

Fili rubbed her back to show that he was just as worried about her.

The moment was cut short by a very drained looking Thorin came out of the quarantine room. Fili stood up, but Kili didn't relinquish his hold on the elf. Tauriel looked up at the king. "How is Dwalin?"

Thorin stood next to Fili, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Oin was able to reset the bones in to place, the others are helping him with the poultice." He announced with a sigh. "Oin is very optimistic."

Tauriel pushed back from Kili slightly, but didn't let go of his hand. "We were planning on setting his bones and splinting it today before . . . ." She said, put down by the fact that she wasn't able to help Oin with her responsibilities. "Thank you for helping me."

"Are you feeling better?" He asked genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. "We can send a message to the Woodland Realm for an elven healer if we need too. "

She almost cried out because of Thorin's thoughtfulness. "I think I will be okay with some more rest." She answered. "But thank you."

He nodded towards her and bid them all farewell as he disappeared out of the medical hall. Fili sighed and stood up as well. "I'm going to see if they need any help with Dwalin." He announced and leaned down, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I will come see you later."

She scooted over to allow Kili to lay with her on the bed. He immediately gathered her up in his arms, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "I was really scared." Kili whispered against her.

She pushed herself to look down on him, her hand traced his jawline. "I was too." She whispered. "I'm sorry, I was careless. . ."

He caught her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. "No my love, just don't go where I cannot follow." He answered and kissed her softly on the lips. When he pulled back her face broke into a grin. "What?"

"You can be so trite when you want to be." She said with a soft chuckle and a smile broke his face.

He only shrugged. "What can I say, you bring out the best in me." He said and she tossed her head back with a laugh. It was the most magical sound he had ever heard and he vowed to hear it more often.