Chapter 13: Hurt

**Warning: Might get a bit gory here because of the injuries and the procedures. Also may be a bit sad.**

Leona and Gabrielle entered the infirmary as Neferet and the other healers moved to prep the surgery area.

"Neferet! Where is Primus Bomani!" Gabrielle called to the fellow healer.

"Gabrielle! Thank the gods you are here, we need as many hands as we can get!" Neferet responded. Gabrielle rushed to the senior healer's side and prepped along side her.

"What do we need to do?" the blond asked.

"The primus and his wife are badly injured. Carina has a puncture in her lung and it has collapsed. I have to close the puncture. Bomani has bleeding from his neck as someone attempted to slit his throat. We need to stop his bleeding with cauterization. Can you handle it?" Neferet explained.

"Yes." the blond accepted.

Just as she had received instructions, a crying scream was issued from near the children's ward. It was from their son Adji. He had woken up from being unconscious after a blow to the head. He was walking toward the familiar looking healer and was put into hysteria at seeing his parents bleeding and unconscious.

"Someone take care of him! He shouldn't see them this way!" another healer yelled.

"Leona! Take Adji!" Gabrielle instructed. Upon being shocked out her reverie, Leona hurried toward the toddler and attempted to soothe him and bring him out of the infirmary.

The healers worked in tandem, both trying to save the wife and husband. There was so much bleeding. Gabrielle was glad that he was unconscious for the procedure. She looked at her patient. Bomani was bathed in blood all over his clothes, skin, and face. She cut away all of his clothing and proceeded to identify all the major bleeding points. She pointed out to all of the points to her assistants and set about to take care of the one on his neck. The cauterization tools were readied and heated over hot steaming coals. The wound was a slice across his neck, above the carotid artery. The ends of the wound were jagged as if a dull knife were used. "Savages!" the blond thought to herself. She took hold of a cauterization tool that was similar in size and pushed it to the exposed artery that was spurting. A sizzle and singe sound could be heard, and she quickly rushed to irrigate it. She could smell the burning flesh and the blood, making her nauseous. Bomani looked pale and listless, but at least the artery at his neck was finally stopped from bleeding. She set about to slowly sew the slice closed, as her assistants cleaned and cared for the minor wounds.

Carina wheezed loudly and painfully as she breathed. She was also unconscious from her injuries. Neferet finished cleaning the wound and covered the puncture with a non breathable patch. She sealed off three ends leaving one end allowed to flap to allow the re-inflation of the lung and still keep air from entering through the puncture. She turned Carina to the side with the injury.

"Osiris!" Neferet yelled from across the pallets as Carina still not awake, vomited a mixture of food and blood.

"There's nothing we can do for her, she has internal bleeding. She has lost too much blood. Opening her up to locate it, would only speed up her death. The best we can do is pray for her safe journey to the afterlife." Neferet finished.

Gabrielle could feel her knees weakening. Her heart felt like it was sinking. Seeing her friend so weak and knowing his wife's prognosis was fatal was a blow to the bard. Seeing Bomani losing his love and soul mate and not even knowing, was devastatingly tragic. She turned toward a wall and leaned her head against it in dejection. After a manner of moments, she closed her eyes in sadness as she heard Carina take her last breath.

After ensuring Bomani was taken care of, Gabrielle needed to check on Adji. She exited the infirmary attempting to find Leona and Adji. She headed to the garden, assuming Leona would want to distract the child or soothe him somewhere far from the infirmary. She soon spotted them seated at a flower bed. Leona sat cradling the toddler in a protective hug. Tears were still streaming from the boy's eyes. He looked exhausted and downcast, whimpering softly. Leona looked just as dejected attempting to sooth the boy. Turning to Gabrielle with tears threatening to escape, she opened her arms to the bard. Gabrielle hugged the pair to her, and released her tears as they all cried together at the shocking events that had happened. They rocked, consoling each other. Thoughts filled with the sadness tightening around their hearts and minds. Who would attack a family? Who would harm a child! Gabrielle's heart tore at the thought and the fact that this boy had now lost his mother and a husband had lost his wife. She thanked the gods that he was a toddler and may not remember the ordeal, but the truth of the matter was it was a horrible tragedy that should never befall anyone.

Xena's body emanated anger. What she saw in the portal had evoked an extreme bout of jealousy, unlike any she had ever had. She knew she shouldn't put any stock in what Ares ever told her, because almost always, it was for his own selfish reasons. To her dismay however, there was something undeniable. Gabrielle looked backed at Leona similar to how she used to look at all the other men she had fallen for. That adoring smile that the bard shared for the people she had romantic interest in. Suddenly, Xena realized exactly what her mother had been explaining. "Gods! She used to look at me like that. Why did I never see that before!" the warrior deduced. There was a high probability that it was because she had never seen the bard direct it at another woman before.

She grabbed a quill and scroll, intending to write a letter confessing her feelings in light of her new findings. She decided it would be a perfect way to reveal her feelings so that she would not be at a loss for words in person. Being in front of Gabrielle had a way of turning her into a monosyllabic conversationalist. Then again, it may have been attributed to the fact that she tried to hide her feelings and emotions. 'Well now is not the time to hold back, it's time to come clean.' Xena thought as she put her love to paper with newfound confidence. Her thoughts were interrupted as her heart felt squeezed and pained. 'Gabrielle..' Xena thought to herself as she ran toward the inn, intent to pack and head out for a trip to Egypt to make sure that the woman was okay. She knew it was their connection that called out to her and it was too painful to ignore. Although it was probable that she would not be in time for any trouble in order to save her, Xena felt it important to try. She wanted to be there if Gabrielle needed her.

Gabrielle returned to her palace room. She had asked Shiana to bring Adji with her to her home while they tried to find relatives of Bomani and his wife. Shiana had many cousins Adji's age to hopefully keep him company. Normally she would have taken Adji with her to her room, but her soul weighed heavily with the pain of today's events, she needed to get rest. She thought about the whole ordeal. It was depressing and disappointing to be hit in the face with the fact that, even not traveling fighting for the greater good, would expose someone to such tragedies. 'I guess there is no safe life from pain and dying.' she thought bitterly. Her heart turning to steel itself, she vowed to try to find the perpetrators of the event and bring them to justice. She just hoped Bomani would live through this, she didn't want Adji to have to suffer the loss of both his parents.

A knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts.

"Come in." she said as she rushed to the door wondering if she was needed in the infirmary already.

"Ms. It is I, Amun. Xena sent a letter for you." Amun relayed.

"She-what-huh?" Gabrielle looked at Amun, thoroughly confused. She had been pretty sure that she was clear that she would not be coming back. She figured that Xena would be angry for a while, so a letter was a bit of a surprise. She shook her head, and the confusion away and received the letter.

"Thank you Amun." she said as she handed him a coin for his trouble. Amun thanked her and left the room. She had no clue what could be in the letter since she never had known Xena for writing letters. 'This should be interesting.' the bard thought to herself. She sat at her desk, unrolled the scroll and began reading.

Dear Gabrielle,

I received your letter and you don't know how relieved I am that you decided to write me. I have done so much thinking since you have gone and realized so much wrong that I have done to you. First, I don't fault you for leaving me, I deserved it. For years you have been by my side, suffering for staying with me. You had to give so much of yourself and I barely compromised to help you not have to lose yourself. You said that you were unhappy and things were not the same, you were right. I took you for granted, barely ever gave you credit, and didn't treat you like an equal. Especially that night you left. I should have told you everything and listened to you, I am so sorry. Also after Eve was born, I should have shared her with you more and not forgotten you are a big part of the family as well. I wish I did, because I if I did share her, I could also share more of myself to you. Well enough of my apologies, I'm sure I've bothered you enough. Please know that I am miserable without you. I miss you so much that it makes my heart ache, but I understand that you are not coming back. You deserve to be happy, even if it means you are not with me. If you ever give a second thought to coming back, please know that I will be different. I love you. Your eyes are beautiful, I wasn't trying to flatter you, I was just telling the truth.

P.S. Here is a poem I wrote for you, I'm sorry it isn't great, but its from the heart:

All these times I have taken you for granted and still you stayed.

The love you showed, and gave to me, can never be repaid.

You were hurt and unhappy inside, and I never figured all this out,

The willful lack of equality on my part had led you to this doubt.

If you come back, I promise that what you need is what I will try to give,

For, if only the one true fact; without you, I can not happily live.

Love,
Xena

Gabrielle broke down in sobs, weeping at all the events of the day and now this letter. She couldn't believe what she saw in front of her. It had to be the longest letter Xena had ever written. Not to mention the fact that Xena had written a poem. Her emotions were going through a roller coaster and she had no idea what to think, or what to feel. Her stomach cried out in discontent and she vomited in distress.

To be continued in Chapter 14