Loving Care
Ioreth and her fellow assistants were attending to Frodo and Sam,
carefully removing their soiled clothing and gently washing them.
Ioreth noticed something and grew concerned. She left the bedside and
approached Aragorn and Gandalf at the back of the room where they
were watching silently.
"Pardon me my lord" Ioreth said to Aragorn "but the
Pheriannath appear to have been burned. I think you should come and
check it out." With a questioning look at Gandalf, Aragorn
followed Ioreth to Samsí side.
Aragorn checked Samsí arms and legs. He gently lifted one of
his arms off the bed. Sam let out a yelp that startled everyone in
the room. Aragorn leaned close to Samsí ear. "Sam, Can
you hear me?" asked Aragorn. "Gaffer?" Sam whispered
weakly. "No Sam, its Strider. Can you tell me where it
hurts?" "Its hot" replied Sam "so
hot...canít breath...." And Sam slipped back into
darkness.
Aragorn turned to Frodo carefully checking his arms and legs. It was
true. Both hobbits had been burned. The skin was red and blistered in
spots. It appeared to be only on the skin that was exposed. The skin
that was protected by their clothing was OK. It was only then that
Aragorn noticed the finger missing from Frodoís hand. "By
Elbereth!!" Aragorn exclaimed, "What happened?"
Aragorn instructed Ioreth to thourly clean and dress the wounded
hand.
Aragorn looked up at Gandalf. "Where did you find them?"
Aragorn asked the Wizard.
"At the foot of Mt. Doom. The mountain had exploded and they
were on a small rock surrounded by fire." Gandalf told
Aragorn.
"Elbereth help them." Aragorn prayed. "their injuries
may be more than on the surface. If the air was hot enough to blister
their skin then Iím afraid it may also have burned their
throats and lungs.
Turning to Ioreth Aragorn said, " place both hobbits into one
bed and make a tent of linen over it then bring me two large pots of
boiling water. "yes my lord, right away." Ioreth replied
and she and the other assistants got busy.
Walking to the table which contained the plants and herbs he had
gathered, Aragorn chose Athelas and Aloe Plants. "What do you
intend to do Aragorn?" Gandalf asked from behind him. Aragorn
turned "The aloe will soothe the burned and protect the skin.
the boiling water will produce steam to keep their throats moist and
the athelas, I hope, will ease their breathing." Raytheon spoke
up, "Pardon me my lord, but, wouldnít Eucalyptus oil be
better for that purpose?" "We may still need to use
that" Aragorn replied "but I fear that it may be too harsh
on their burned throats and only make breathing more difficult."
Raytheon simply nodded in agreement.
As Aragorn Looked at his two friends lying on the beds he said a
silent prayer that he would be able to help them. He knew he would
have to draw on all he knew about burns if Frodo and Sam were to
survive.
