Disclaimer and other information in Prologue.
Chapter Four
" Why isn't she waking up?" Roxton asked Challenger anxiously.
" Come now, she has to be exhausted from all of this. I'm sure she's just resting. See? The remedy has already brought her pulse back to normal speed and her fever has all but receded." Challenger said as he examined the patient.
" I suppose so." Roxton mumbled, taking Marguerite's hand into his own to confirm what the scientist was saying.
"Give it time."
" It's been too long already, George."
" Yes. Far too long since you've had a rest, Roxton. Why don't you go and get some coffee and try and sleep a spell. There's nothing else to be done here and we don't want you falling ill as well."
" She needs me, George. I need to be here."
" A few minutes aren't going to hurt anyone. I promise I'll call you if there's the slightest change."
Roxton pondered this for a moment, his loyalties divided. Sighing with acceptance the hunter nodded slightly and walked out of the tent with a brief kiss to Marguerite's hand before doing so.
" It will be best to return to the tree house. There are better supplies there and it will do her good to be in a warm bed."
" It's been three bloody days, Challenger. Why isn't she waking up?"
" I don't know, Roxton. I wish to hell I did."
" Are you ready yet?" Malone said peeking his head inside the tent.
"Yes." Roxton said reluctantly. " I'll help you with the stretcher, Malone."
" It's ready when you are."
" Come back to us, Marguerite. Please." Roxton pleaded after the tent had been vacated. Lifting her still form in his arms he cradled her to his body as he carried her out into the sunlight and laid her on the stretcher.
The tree house was a welcome sight for the weary explorers. Their mood was less that content, however, and even the clanking of the elevator as it lifted them to the top of the mighty tree seemed dismal.
Placed in her bed, Marguerite looked even paler against the red of the linens she so enjoyed. Roxton was grateful for the chair that Challenger instinctively placed at her bedside; knowing that the man would be staying there until his body required sleep and sustenance and then he would leave for only a moment or request that food and a blanket be brought to him there. It had already become much of a routine among the household; with shifts taken to watch both Marguerite and to monitor Roxton.
After a week had passed with very little change in Marguerite's condition the explorers were rapidly losing hope of a full recovery. Roxton seemed to be in denial that she was anything but tired from the ordeal while the rest of the adventurers didn't have the heart to argue with the man. Challenger monitored her pulse and breathing; her condition hadn't taken a turn for the worse but it wasn't getting any better either. The consensus changed from when she would wake up to when it would be certain that she wouldn't.
Veronica was the optimist of the lot; arguing that as stubborn as Marguerite was that a simple bug couldn't defeat her that easily. The woman had survived giants and homicidal pirates; why would this even remotely be a challenge for her?
Still the weeks went on and finally Roxton emerged from the bedroom every now and then to hunt or to eat with the rest of them. At night he practically lived in the chair that was placed by Marguerite's bedside so that Challenger and Malone constructed a small cot for the hunter to sleep on. Someone was always by the heiress's side in case any slight change might become evident. Veronica would read out loud from the collection of books housed in the tree house; and Malone would recount stories from his journals since Challenger had told all of them that a human voice had in the past brought back unconscious patients from the darkness that engulfed them. Roxton would hold private conversations with the woman he loved and Challenger would confer with her about experiments that he wished to try in the future.
It was a stormy and dark night that this routine was permanently changed. Excepting Roxton, the group was scattered about the main room either reading or writing or, in Challenger's case, dozing in a chair. Almost simultaneously with a particularly loud crack of thunder an anguished cry could be heard from the vicinity of Marguerite's bedroom, startling all of the explorers into attention. Almost sounding like a complete madman Roxton's voice could be heard even above the noise of the wind and rain pummeling the sides of their home.
" Marguerite! Dear God! Marguerite!"
Chapter Four
" Why isn't she waking up?" Roxton asked Challenger anxiously.
" Come now, she has to be exhausted from all of this. I'm sure she's just resting. See? The remedy has already brought her pulse back to normal speed and her fever has all but receded." Challenger said as he examined the patient.
" I suppose so." Roxton mumbled, taking Marguerite's hand into his own to confirm what the scientist was saying.
"Give it time."
" It's been too long already, George."
" Yes. Far too long since you've had a rest, Roxton. Why don't you go and get some coffee and try and sleep a spell. There's nothing else to be done here and we don't want you falling ill as well."
" She needs me, George. I need to be here."
" A few minutes aren't going to hurt anyone. I promise I'll call you if there's the slightest change."
Roxton pondered this for a moment, his loyalties divided. Sighing with acceptance the hunter nodded slightly and walked out of the tent with a brief kiss to Marguerite's hand before doing so.
" It will be best to return to the tree house. There are better supplies there and it will do her good to be in a warm bed."
" It's been three bloody days, Challenger. Why isn't she waking up?"
" I don't know, Roxton. I wish to hell I did."
" Are you ready yet?" Malone said peeking his head inside the tent.
"Yes." Roxton said reluctantly. " I'll help you with the stretcher, Malone."
" It's ready when you are."
" Come back to us, Marguerite. Please." Roxton pleaded after the tent had been vacated. Lifting her still form in his arms he cradled her to his body as he carried her out into the sunlight and laid her on the stretcher.
The tree house was a welcome sight for the weary explorers. Their mood was less that content, however, and even the clanking of the elevator as it lifted them to the top of the mighty tree seemed dismal.
Placed in her bed, Marguerite looked even paler against the red of the linens she so enjoyed. Roxton was grateful for the chair that Challenger instinctively placed at her bedside; knowing that the man would be staying there until his body required sleep and sustenance and then he would leave for only a moment or request that food and a blanket be brought to him there. It had already become much of a routine among the household; with shifts taken to watch both Marguerite and to monitor Roxton.
After a week had passed with very little change in Marguerite's condition the explorers were rapidly losing hope of a full recovery. Roxton seemed to be in denial that she was anything but tired from the ordeal while the rest of the adventurers didn't have the heart to argue with the man. Challenger monitored her pulse and breathing; her condition hadn't taken a turn for the worse but it wasn't getting any better either. The consensus changed from when she would wake up to when it would be certain that she wouldn't.
Veronica was the optimist of the lot; arguing that as stubborn as Marguerite was that a simple bug couldn't defeat her that easily. The woman had survived giants and homicidal pirates; why would this even remotely be a challenge for her?
Still the weeks went on and finally Roxton emerged from the bedroom every now and then to hunt or to eat with the rest of them. At night he practically lived in the chair that was placed by Marguerite's bedside so that Challenger and Malone constructed a small cot for the hunter to sleep on. Someone was always by the heiress's side in case any slight change might become evident. Veronica would read out loud from the collection of books housed in the tree house; and Malone would recount stories from his journals since Challenger had told all of them that a human voice had in the past brought back unconscious patients from the darkness that engulfed them. Roxton would hold private conversations with the woman he loved and Challenger would confer with her about experiments that he wished to try in the future.
It was a stormy and dark night that this routine was permanently changed. Excepting Roxton, the group was scattered about the main room either reading or writing or, in Challenger's case, dozing in a chair. Almost simultaneously with a particularly loud crack of thunder an anguished cry could be heard from the vicinity of Marguerite's bedroom, startling all of the explorers into attention. Almost sounding like a complete madman Roxton's voice could be heard even above the noise of the wind and rain pummeling the sides of their home.
" Marguerite! Dear God! Marguerite!"
