I stirred in the nest in the medicine cat's den, blinking in the sunlight that streamed in the cave. Echosong had given me more poppy seeds to get me to sleep after Bouncefire's vigil. Now it was morning, and I could feel them wearing off as my thoughts sharpened. I shifted uncomfortably in my nest, every part of my body feeling stiff and achy.
I turned to look over at Wolfshade, anxiety swirling in my stomach. He was still asleep, but I calmed myself by counting the rising and falling of his flanks as he breathed.
"Wolfshade," I meowed.
He didn't stir.
"You're up," Echosong said, padding over to me at the sound of my voice.
"Has Wolfshade woken up at all?" I asked.
Echosong shook her head.
My stomach clenched with concern.
"Let's change these herbs," Echosong meowed briskly, changing the subject, and getting to work on my wounds.
"Can I check on him?" I meowed, struggling to my feet before she could even reply.
"Lightningfire. Take a look at yourself. You need to rest," Echosong meowed sternly.
I peered down at my paws. I was standing on very shaky legs, taking laborious, panting breathes which made my ribs throb with pain, and the wound on my back was oozing blood around the herbs that coated it from the movement.
Echosong helped lower me back into the nest, and I didn't resist her.
"I don't want you leaving this nest at all today," Echosong meowed.
I blinked up at her in dismay.
"I know you're worried about him," Echosong said quietly.
I sighed, putting my chin down on my paws.
That's an understatement.
"I'll get you some fresh-kill," Echosong murmured, leaving the den.
I heaved a sigh again, still staring at Wolfshade. I fiddled in my nest, rolling from side to side. It was hard to find a comfortable position with my sore foreleg, injured back, and aching chest. At least I had an appetite, and I waited impatiently for Echosong to return with food. But, it wasn't Echosong that came through the entrance of the den with fresh-kill, but Sagewhisker instead.
"I brought you a thrush. That's your favorite, right?" Sagewhisker meowed, putting the bird down at my paws.
"Yeah, thanks," I meowed.
"How are you feeling?" he meowed sympathetically, his pale green eyes flickering over my pelt, taking in my wounds.
"Like a badger dragged me through the forest and back," I said with a short burst of a bitter purr.
"Sorry. That was a dumb question," Sagewhisker said, ducking his head in embarrassment.
"No. It's okay," I said.
My gaze flickered to Wolfshade.
"I don't mean to be snappy. I'm just stressed and worried about Wolfshade," I meowed quietly.
"I can't imagine what you're going through," Sagewhisker said softly. "I mean with Wolfshade. And, your injuries. And, seeing Bouncefire…"
Sagewhisker's voice trailed off, and he dipped his head, sadness in his eyes. My heart twisted as the memory of Bouncefire's death washed over me again, and at seeing the grief on the grey tabby warriors face.
"Your father came to guide him to StarClan in the end," I meowed quietly.
Sagewhisker's ears pricked. His gaze drifted back up, and he looked at me intensely.
"Rainfur? Really?" he asked.
I nodded.
"I heard Bouncefire say his name," I said.
Sagewhisker's eyes misted over.
"It's nice to know he's still watching over us," he said quietly.
Sagewhisker was silent for a moment. I was looking at Wolfshade, but as the silence stretched on, my gaze flickered back to Sagewhisker. Sagewhisker was staring at me, but when our eyes met, he quickly looked away. He cleared his throat.
"I'll let you eat your fresh-kill," he said, getting to his paws.
"If you ever need something… just give a yowl," Sagewhisker added with a soft purr.
Then he walked out of the den.
I ate the thrush in silence, gazing over at Wolfshade the whole while. The morning was starting to wear on.
I'm sure, any moment, he'll wake up.
But, still, doubt gnawed at me. He's been knocked out for so long. Could cats even come back from such a long sleep?
I gave my head a vicious shake.
Don't think like that!
I settled down into my nest, eyes locked on Wolfshade, determined to wait.
Other cats came to visit me, or to check on Wolfshade, during the day. Nightstorm stopped by, delivering the news that no new badger scent had been found on our territory. After he left, my parents came, and they talked with me for a while, until Echosong ushered them out, saying that I needed to rest. I napped for a while during sun-high. After I had woken up, Cherrytail came down with all five kits in tow.
"Now you can't be rough," Cherrytail told them sternly as they entered the den. "Lightningfire is hurt."
Wrenkit and Rosekit approached me first, their green eyes wide.
"I was so worried about you!" Wrenkit cried, burying his head in my shoulder fur.
"I'm going to be okay," I said with a reassuring purr, licking the top of his fluffy brown tabby head.
"Did the badger do that to you?" Rosekit meowed, her face furrowed with concern as she looked at all of the wounds on my pelt.
I nodded.
"But, you fought them off?" she asked, her high pitched voice insisting.
"Yes," I replied.
Rosekit relaxed. She scraped her tiny claws against the ground.
"Good," she growled.
"Were you scared?" Ripplekit asked, his eyes wide.
"Yeah," I said quietly.
The kits were silent, looking up at me with solemn eyes. They seemed frightened by my admittance that I had been afraid.
"What's wrong with Wolfshade?" Wrenkit asked, breaking the silence as he glanced over at the grey warrior with concern.
"He's hurt," I muttered, not wanted to get into the details.
"You must have been so brave," Owlkit said, her eyes growing as wide as her namesake.
"Don't worry," Adderkit meowed. "Sharpclaw says the badgers are gone."
"I think that's enough," Cherrytail interrupted, meowing to the kits. "Lightningfire is probably tired."
They started to whine, but Cherrytail shushed them. With a goodbye to me, she deftly herded the kits out of the den.
I continued to wait, but Wolfshade still didn't stir. Echosong padded over to Wolfshade, giving him a thorough check up, sniffing the herb mask on his face.
"No change?" she meowed to me, still crouched over him.
I wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement, but I nodded anyway.
I could see an upset look creep over Echosong's face at Wolfshade's condition, but when she straightened, her expression was smooth.
She doesn't want to seem upset for my sake.
I gazed at Wolfshade. The left side of his face, including his eye, was coated in herbs and a bit of dried blood. If it wasn't for that injury, I could almost imagine he was simply sleeping peacefully.
The day continued to trickle past, and soon the sky was darkening as the sun set. Echosong walked into the den, her mouth full of newly picked herbs. She sat and began sorting them. I looked over to her. Like she felt her eyes on me, her gaze drifted up and met mine.
"Why won't he wake up?" I said, my voice hoarse.
Echosong bowed her head sadly.
"He has a head injury. More than just the slashes on his face. See here," she said, getting up and walking over to Wolfshade.
With her tail, she lightly brushed a bump behind his ear that I hadn't notice before.
"He hit his head against something hard. Bad head injuries can cause a cat to fall into a deep sleep. And there are times…" Echosong's voice trailed off as she hesitated.
"And, sometimes they never awake," she finished with a sigh.
I breathed in deeply, feeling like the air had been struck from my chest again. My ribs screamed in pain at the deep breath, but that even that pain dulled in comparison to my internal agony. I closed my eyes.
My thoughts whirled, surprisingly focused and calm.
Because there was still a spark of hope, like light glimmering at the far end of a deep cave. Echosong said sometimes.
Wolfshade can still wake up.
"That's why you didn't want me to sleep when I injured my head, during my training as an apprentice," I meowed to her, my eyes opening.
Echosong dipped her head to me in confirmation, looking slightly surprised that I remembered her treatment. I suppose she was used to warriors hurting themselves, then charging right back to battle again without giving a second thought to their treatment.
"So what can we do to help him wake up?" I asked.
Echosong shook her head.
"This is a battle he must fight alone, Lightningfire. I can give him herbs to help his body heal, but not even the greatest medicine cat in the world can cure the mind," she meowed.
I lashed my tail, feeling a sudden spark of anger. It sounded to me like she was giving up.
"Mouse-dung," I spat.
Echosong looked at me in surprise.
"The mind and body aren't separate things. They're tied together like how night and day are. To help one, you must help the other. How can the mind heal if the body is weak?" I said.
Echosong blinked, taken back at my uncharacteristic tone.
My tail tip twitched. I felt a little foolish lecturing a medicine cat on medicine, but I couldn't let Wolfshade wither away because Echosong felt that she could do nothing to help him.
Echosong had remained surprisingly calm during my outburst. And, when she leaned towards me, she looked at me not with hostility, but with keen interest. An unidentifiable emotion gleamed in her eyes.
"So Lightningfire, what would you suggest I do?" she asked.
I hesitated, but only for a moment.
"He needs water. He's been passed out for a whole day now with nothing to drink," I meowed.
"But, he's sleeping. If we just poured water into his mouth, wouldn't he choke?" she asked.
My brow furrowed as I thought about it.
"We swallow our saliva when our mouth is closed while we sleep," I said slowly. "So, no. He should swallow it, as long as we drip the water in slowly."
Echosong nodded, then poked her head out of the den to call for wet moss. Sootypaw brought some in, and Echosong took it from him. I watched as she carefully held Wolfshade's mouth open as she dripped the water in. When a tiny pool of water had formed by the back of Wolfshade's tongue, he swallowed.
It worked!
I felt a flash of delight. I looked over at Echosong. I could tell by the confident way Echosong held his jaws and the moss that she had knew it all along. She had been testing me.
"But, he needs more than water," I said as Echosong continued to drip the water in Wolfshade's mouth.
I didn't wait for her to ask me what she should do.
"He needs to eat too, but he can't chew. We could use blood and give it to him like we're giving the water," I meowed. "But, I think it would be better to chew up some fresh-kill and give it to him, so he has some real sustenance."
My brow furrowed. The problem was how to get the fresh-kill mush into his mouth. We could try scooping it in with our paws or dropping it in from our mouths, but if we missed, we would waste a lot of food. We also couldn't risk getting too much food in his mouth because then he would choke. If there was only a way to concentrate a small amount on the back of the tongue, so it wouldn't go down his windpipe…
A image of the reeds that grew in the river appeared in my mind. I thought about how Nightstorm and I used to play with them as kits, and how we were startled one day when we broke some and discovered that they were hollow inside.
"What if we used some reeds from the river?" I asked.
I explained my idea to Echosong. She thought about it for a moment, her brow furrowed.
"It's worth giving a try," she finally said with a nod.
She fetched a few reeds for me, each varying widths as I requested. We picked the one that looked like it would work best with the size of Wolfshade's mouth. Not too big, but not so small that no food would make it through. I broke the reed to the correct length, ending up with a small hollow tube.
Echosong began to chew up a tiny bite of a mouse.
"I need you to help hold his head," Echosong said around her mouthful.
I got out of my nest and hobbled over to her. She instructed me where to put my paws, so I could hold his mouth open, without tilting his head too far back. Echosong picked up the reed tube and bit one end carefully, holding it steady in her jaws.
I stifled a purr at how ridiculous she looked with the reed sticking out of her mouth, and watched as she carefully lowered the other end of the reed into Wolfshade's mouth. The mouse mush came out of the end of the reed and ended up at the back of his tongue. Echosong removed the reed, dripped a few drops of water from the moss into Wolfshade's mouth, and his throat convulsed as he swallowed the mush easily.
Echosong and I both hesitated, making sure that he did not choke or cough. Wolfshade continued to breathe easily.
"Well done Lightningfire," Echosong purred to me.
My pelt warmed at her praise. We fed Wolfshade the rest of the mouse. It was slow and meticulous work, but I was so happy he was getting food.
Get your strength back,Wolfshade, and heal. Then come back to me.
As it became night, I asked if Echosong could move my nest next to Wolfshade's. Echosong obliged and set up a new nest for me.
Feeling exhausted and achy, I curled up against Wolfshade's side, and I let the rise and fall of his flank guide me to sleep.