Chapter
Six: Fighting Back the Pain
"Close your eyes."
Sunni did as Grammi asked her and
felt the stinging liquid pour over her. Alcohol. Her fever had gotten past
acceptable so Grammi took to bathing her. Alcohol would bring it down, she'd
said. Right now, Sunni didn't care. She was so hot and miserable that she was
beyond caring.
In fact, the pain had gotten so bad
that Sunni had shocked herself, saying,
"Let me die."
It was a grim fact but a fact. In
her dreams, relief came as death.
But this mix of alcohol and herbs
gave her relief. It was faint but it was something. It was so cool. It cooled her
burning body. But it did nothing for the pain her body, like the weakness in
her legs and the fire inside her throat and her legs. But she tried to take the
small comfort she could get.
"Stay with me, Sunni dear."
Sunni jerked her body up, trying to
keep from falling asleep. Even while she was in a bath, the weakness could be
deadly. Now she understood why Grammi insisted on bathing her. Sunni had
originally said she could do it herself but Grammi was far more determined than
she was. Even usually Grammi was but when Sunni was sick, her will weakened.
"Okay, that's enough."
Grammi picked her up a bit and
wrapped a towel around her. Sunni instinctively drew to her. Grammi took her
back to her room and wrapped her in new underclothes before finally drying her
hair. Sunni was weak enough and wet hair was asking for those ammonia germs to
come flying.
"How do you feel dear?"
Sunni groaned. She felt terrible and
beyond terrible.
"Rotten…just plain rotten."
Grammi wet a washcloth and dabbed
the already present sweat on her forehead.
"Sleep, Sunni. That'll help."
Sunni nodded. She couldn't do
anything but sleep. It was wearing on her but she couldn't do anything else.
She hurt too much. And even now, she was so weak that she thought that she'd
pass out at any minute.
Her feelings were right, as they had
been lately.
She was asleep and in dreams before
Grammi even had laid the compress on her brow.
* * *
Buddi was faintly aware of his
surroundings but not entirely. He was so hot. And he was tired but in so much
pain he couldn't sleep. The pain was agonizing. He felt someone grab his hand
and give it a delicate squeeze. He swallowed and immediately groaned in pain as
the fire burst loose in his throat again.
"Baby?"
Buddi forced his eyes to slide open.
Ursa gave him a smile and stroked his forehead with a damp cloth. He sighed.
That felt good. But he still hurt and he still felt like he'd pass out but
didn't dare sleep as the pain prevented it. He swallowed again and grabbed
Ursa's hands.
"Mama Ursa…it hurts. Make it stop."
Ursa looked at her child. His eyes
were glassy and his cheeks had long since turned bright red, with fever. She
pulled him up so that he was cradled in his arms. He was burning up. She looked
at him with loving eyes.
"What hurts, Baby?"
Buddi motioned to his head. Ursa
nodded.
"Okay, your head. What else?"
His hands went to his throat, his
stomach and his arms and legs. Ursa finally said,
"Oh, poor Baby. You hurt
everywhere?"
Buddi nodded. Ursa bit her lower
lip. His face was flushed and sweaty. She put the back of her wrist to his
cheeks, his throat and then finally to his bare chest. All his body felt like a
fire, it was so hot. Ursa watched him cling to her, considering her options.
She could-
Suddenly, Buddi gasped and drank in
air as if he was desperate. Then, he stopped breathing and went limp in Ursa's
arms.
"Buddi? Buddi? BABY!"
Ursa laid him down and did not even
think, she reacted on instinct. Grabbing his wrist, she found a faint pulse,
already growing weaker. Forcing his mouth open, she put her lips against his
and forced her air into his lungs. She waited a moment and got no response. She
pressed her lips again and pushed her air into his limp form. Nothing. Fighting
the tears in her heart from appearing in her eyes, she pushed again,
desperately.
Buddi gasped for air.
Ursa's heart started again. She held
her child close and put the fever strip on his forehead again as he gulped air.
When she took it off, she felt the fear freeze her heart again:
"One hundred and six!"
Buddi looked at her, pleading:
"Make it stop."
Ursa took her cloak from her
shoulders and wrapped it around Buddi, like he was a newborn again. Scooping
him up, she slowly walked out of the room and down to Grubbi's room. She looked
at Buddi, so miserable. He didn't deserve this. He hadn't done anything to
deserve this. Ursa knocked, her face uncannily calm.
"Come in," came Grubbi's reply, that
older and wiser voice kind.
"Grubbi?"
The oldest Barbic looked up as Ursa
came in. She said nothing irrelevant but skipped directly to the point.
"I need those herbs we have for
fever."
Grubbi stared at her. Those herbs
were extremely rare. Ursa would not ask for them unless she absolutely needed
them. Grubbi looked at Buddi. His face was flushed and pale, sweat beading on
his forehead. Grubbi looked at Ursa and nodded.
"How many?"
"Three. One for the compress, one
for the drink and one for a bath."
Grubbi nodded. He drew three small
roots from a cabinet. They were about the size of onions. He took two of them
and split them down the center. He chopped one up in fine powder and put it in
an empty bottle, which he gave to Ursa. That would be for the drink. He took
the second and ground it into a chunky powder for the bath. Finally he opening
the third and removed the pulp and juice, which he mixed into one for the
compress. He gave the three substances to Ursa. She thanked him, sincerely.
Ursa laid Buddi down as soon as got
back. Then, she took the herb for a bath and started to run one. Buddi looked
at her. He felt too weak. He didn't want a bath, he wanted to sleep. Ursa
seemed almost able to read his thoughts.
"I'll help you Buddi."
She chuckled at the way his already
red cheeks blushed a deeper shade. "Buddi, I used to do it all the time. And you're
too weak to do it alone."
Buddi nodded. Ursa added the herbs
to the water. The liquid turned a faint blue color. That was good. She went
back to Buddi. He didn't have much on, just his underclothes. She helped him
peel those off. They had to peeled; they were so damp with sweat.
Then, Ursa lifted Buddi up into her
arms and carried him into the bathroom. She'd purposely made the water cool, as
she knew Buddi was hot enough already. She knelt down to sit on her knees and
set her cub into the waters. He instinctively tried to hang onto the sides but
he was too weak and would have collapsed had Ursa not been there to hold him
up. She pushed him against the side of the tub, so that he had a support.
Ursa took some of the herb she saved
and rubbed it into a washcloth. It foamed, bluish foam. She pulled Buddi to her
and scrubbed his chest and arms, until they were coated with similar foam. She
took another cloth and drenched it in water before wiping the foam from Buddi's
body.
Buddi let Ursa wash him. It helped.
The smells alone had some sort of effect. His whole body felt cooler. And it
felt good to be cared for. In fact, before Buddi knew it, the bath was over and
Ursa was picking him up and wrapping him in warm towel.
Buddi was only half aware of what was
happening. Ursa dried him, leaving his fur fluffy, like a puppy's. But she
didn't dress him. She just laid him down and covered him up. He drew his knees
to his chest. Ursa sat by him, and started to stroke his face.
"I'll wash your clothes. For now, just
stick with the blankets al right?"
Buddi nodded and moved his head so
that it was leaning against her legs. She smiled and stroked his hair and face
again. Buddi was tired, exhausted. She could tell, by the way he breathed, so
slowly and evenly.
And his temperature had dropped.
She could feel that but she drenched
the compress and laid it on his forehead. Buddi breathed in her scent.
"Ursa?"
"Yes? What is it, Buddi?"
"I'm…I'm sorry for all this. I mean,
you usually would-" He stopped and coughed, for a few minutes, "be training but
now you have to be with me all the time."
Ursa smiled and knelt, kissing his
temple. It felt so warm against her lips. His fever was still high but she was
relieved to know that it had dropped from the danger zone. But she still
wouldn't leave him.
"It's okay, baby. It's not your
fault."
Buddi started to say something else
but stopped. He closed his eyes. Ursa laid him down on his bed and pulled his
comforter tighter around him. She lay by him and draped her arm around him,
protectively.
Buddi was asleep in minutes. Ursa's
own worry and concern was taking her, overwhelming her. If her baby had…she
shook her head. They would conquer this. They would find a way to beat this
demon spawn, this Celina back to wherever she came from. Ursa tightened her
grip on Buddi.
Buddi didn't know if it was the
herbs or not.
But knowing ursa was there…at that
moment, the pain went from unbearable to tolerable.
He and the pain were fighting a
battle but as long as Ursa was there, as long as his Mama Ursa was there…
He was winning.