Chapter 10
Frodo awoke when the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, warming his face. He soon became aware that someone was knocking on the front door, and, yawning, slid out of his Uncle's bed and onto the floor. "Probably Mr. Gamgee," he mumbled to himself as he shuffled towards the front hall. He heard the sound of the door being unlocked and then jumped when it opened.
"Ah-good mornin' little master. I was gettin' a bit worried when you weren' answerin'." Sure enough, Hamfast stood in the doorway with a pleasant smile on his face. "Do you need anythin' from the market? Bell wants me to stop and pick up a few things."
Frodo glanced over his shoulder as a loud sneeze errupted. "I'm sorry- just my allergies. Um-actually, could you go and fetch the healer? Bilbo broke his ankle last night when we were hiking and we were too exhausted to fetch you then."
Hamfast's eyes widened in surprise. "Bilbo's hurt? You shouldn't have waited so long with somethin' like that. I'll fetch Dr. Burrows right away, sir. Just keep Bilbo calm till I get back." The gardener tipped his hat and hurried down the lane. Frodo sneezed so hard after he closed the door that the small hallway table seemed to tremble. He wiped his nose with the corner of his pajama sleeve as he headed back to Bilbo's room, to find the older hobbit awake.
"Good morning, Frodo. Who was at the door?" Bilbo asked, struggling to lean up against the headboard.
"Mr. Gamgee. He went to fetch the healer and shouldn't be more than an hour or so."
"Are your allergies bothering you again? I heard you sneezing."
Frodo nodded as he continued sniffling. "Each sneeze gets harsher and harsher, Bilbo. I think I might blow something over at one point."
Bilbo laughed. "Well-when you blow over a vase like I did when I had that cold, then we'll start to worry. I'll have to glue my furniture to the floor."
"Why do we sneeze so hard?" Frodo asked as he crawled up to sit on Bilbo's bed. The old hobbit gave his nephew a sympathetic smile.
"One of the many mysteries out there, my boy." Bilbo yawned and glanced out the window. The upcoming day promised to be beautiful-warm and sunny, and here he was with a broken ankle and most likely unable to go out until the healer provided him with crutches.
"Would you like some breakfast, Bilbo? I can make you some toast and jam and tea. I'm not too good with baking."
"How about slicing some of that ginger bread for the both of us? That would be just fine. And tea would be lovely too-you can choose whatever flavor you want, all right? But do I get my morning kiss?" he added with a twinkle in his eye, and Frodo smiled, planting one on his Uncle's cheek before hurrying into the kitchen. It was strange not having the smell of bacon and eggs drifting through the corridors, but Frodo was too afraid that he'd burn the smial down if he tried cooking without Bilbo's instruction. So he took Bilbo's advice and sliced two thick pieces of the still-fresh gingerbread and put it on plates, surrounding that with strawberries and grapes. Then he filled the old iron teapot with water, set that on the stove and pulled the box of tealeaves down from the pantry.
"Cherry tea sounds good." Frodo said, grinning. He grabbed two mugs and stood keeping a close eye on the teapot, waiting for it to whistle. When it did, he turned off the stove and lifted the kettle.
"Looks like you're doing a marvelous job, Frodo Baggins." A voice spoke from behind him. Frodo screamed, throwing the kettle clear into the air and watched in horror as it aimed for the floor.
The intruder caught it with one hand and handed it back to the hobbit.
"Gandalf?" Frodo cried. Gandalf the Gray was a famous traveling wizard and was close friends with Bilbo. Gandalf had urged Bilbo to go on a grand adventure with a group of thirteen dwarves fifty years before to uncover gold from the cave of the dragon Smaug. Unfortunately, many of the local hobbits felt that Gandalf was a "Disturber of the peace" and often said that "If he'd let those poor hobbits alone, they may one day be respectable."
"Yes. I was in the area so I decided to stop by. My you've grown since the last time I saw you."
"Which was when I was ill." Frodo replied. He hadn't seen the old wizard for nearly two years following his bout with pneumonia, which nearly killed him. That, he figured, was the main reason Bilbo became so overprotective.
"How are you feeling, lad? You still look too pale for a hobbit."
"I have allergies now and I can't seem to stop sne.." He covered his mouth with one hand and once again sneezed. "Sneezing." He finished.
"You never get a break, do you?" Gandalf chortled.
Frodo shook his head. "I'm sorry, Gandalf. Oh-thank you." He accepted the teakettle and began filling the mugs. "Bilbo's hurt. He broke his ankle when we went on a hike the other night, and we're waiting for the healer to arrive so he can reset the bone."
Gandalf raised his bushy gray eyebrows. "I say-I do hope he is not suffering too badly! Is he in his bedroom?"
"Yes. And I've been taking good care of him." Frodo handed one plate of food and one mug of tea to Gandalf so that he didn't have to balance both breakfasts to Bilbo's room.
"Gandalf! Isn't this a pleasant surprise!" The old hobbit cried with delight as he saw the guest. "When did you come in?"
"Nearly startled the daylights out of me a few moments ago," Frodo replied, handing Bilbo his breakfast.
"Thank you, honeypot." Bilbo told his nephew. "Have a seat, Gandalf. I suppose Frodo told you what happened?"
"He did. Are you all right?"
"I'll live, but it feels as though I won't."
The wizard smiled. "Oh, Frodo-I brought you a little present from my travels."
Frodo beamed as he watched the wizard pull something from the pocket of his blue robes and handed the wrapped object to the lad. "Thank you!"
"Open it," Bilbo chuckled. "Don't just look at it."
Smiling, Frodo took off the brown wrapping and gasped. In his hands he held a snowglobe with the Rivendell setting in the center. "It's beautiful," He said. "I do wish I could go and see the Elves one day."
"That's not all, Frodo-on the bottom there is a little wind up button."
Frodo noticed it and cranked it a few times, and a soft, calming melody began to play. (For those who saw TUCK EVERLASTING it is the melody that Jesse's mother's music box plays) He felt a bit sleepy when he listened to it, and blinked when it ended. "I love it very much, Gandalf." Frodo gave the wizard a big hug.
A few moments later there was another few knocks on the door, and Frodo stood. "I'll get it-probably Dr. Burrows."
Bilbo sighed. "Time to face torture." He mumbled as he watched his nephew go to let the healer in. Sure enough, it was Dr. Burrows and the healer was very surprised to see Gandalf.
"Good day, sir!" He greeted.
"Good day to you as well." Gandalf replied laughing.
"Now Bilbo, this may hurt a bit, but it must be done. I have to reset the bone that you snapped."
Bilbo nodded and gritted his teeth in pain when the healer uncovered his injured leg and inspeected the bandage work. Frodo felt a bit ill when the bandages were removed and found that Bilbo's ankle had swollen dreadfully and was black and blue. "Don't look, Frodo, if you don't wish to." The healer warned. "You may leave the room if you'd like."
Frodo glanced at Bilbo who just smiled weakly at him. "Go on, cricket. I don't want you to have to see this. Go and talk with Gandalf in the living room and AIE!" He cried out when Dr. Burrows attempted to straighten the ankle. "Go Frodo." Bilbo gasped, and the tweenager led Gandalf into the parlor. The two sat on the large, overstuffed couch and just gazed ahead as they heard Bilbo's muffled sobs. Finally there was a loud SNAP and a shout. "Bilbo!" Frodo cried, and made to run to his Uncle, but Gandalf held the boy firmly still.
"Let the healer do his job, Frodo. Re-setting bones is nasty business."
"But Dr. Burrows is hurting him!" Frodo sobbed.
"Calm down, lad." Gandalf encouraged, not liking the sound of Frodo's raspy breathing. The hobbit coughed and took a few deep breaths, starting to feel the familiar tightness in his chest. "Just take a deep breath and try to relax. Through your nose and out your mouth. There you go." Gandalf praised when Frodo's breathing softened. Eventually the healer returned to the parlor with a smile.
"The bone is reset, and I've wrapped it very tight with very thick bandages. Frodo-I am going to have to ask you to aid Bilbo in daily chores for the next few weeks while the ankle heals. He'll be on crutches for about two weeks and then for the third week he'll need to work slowly on getting it back into shape again."
Frodo nodded. "Is he going to be in a lot of pain?" He asked.
"A bit, Frodo. Broken bones are nasty things, but at least they're not life-threatening unless you're stuck out in the wild."
"Well thank you very much." Frodo added.
"I'm not finished, lad. Bilbo tells me you've been having trouble breathing because of your allergies lately, that you've been feeling tighteness in your chest whenever you feel scared or run. Is that true?"
Frodo nodded. "I just felt it a moment ago when I thought you were hurting Bilbo. It feels like something is squeezing my lungs."
"Those are symptoms of asthma, Frodo. Asthma is often a symptom of hay fever and can be either mild or serious. All I can recommend for you to do is to take it easy for the summer seasons and spring seasons, when your allergies are worse. Use herbal steambaths to ease your breathing and drink plenty of fluids. I would not recommend running around outside, especially since the pollen rate is rather high this time of the year."
Frodo looked as though his birthday had been canceled at the idea of his not being able to run around with his friends and cousins during the best seasons for doing so. The healer noticed this, and patted the lad on the head. "Oh come now. Surely you and your friends can find things to do that are not strenuous?"
Frodo shrugged as he felt a single tear fall down his pale cheek, and allowed Gandalf to pat him on the shoulder. "It's not so bad now, Frodo my lad. I'm sure Bilbo will find plenty of exciting things for you to do."
Frodo sniffed and continued to stare at his feet.
"I'll tell you what. I'll provide you with a lovely scent for your herbal baths. How does cinnamon sound?" Dr. Burrows asked, as he dug through his leather case and pulled out a packet of cinnamon spice. Frodo smiled weakly.
"Sounds fine I suppose."
"You'll feel better soon, Frodo. And just keep telling yourself that it is not a life-threatening illness. Well-I've given Bilbo a few painkillers but he will be rather groggy for a bit, so I would let him sleep a while. Keep applying ice to the ankle, to stop the swelling. Well- I'd best be off. Here is the cinnamon-plenty of it for you. Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon," Frodo and Gandalf replied in unison and watched as the healer left Bag-End. Frodo stood after the door shut behind Dr. Burrows and headed into Bilbo's room.
"Hullo, Frodo." Bilbo told his nephew quietly.
Frodo didn't respond-he just fell into his Uncle's arms and cried.
Frodo awoke when the first rays of sunlight streamed through the window, warming his face. He soon became aware that someone was knocking on the front door, and, yawning, slid out of his Uncle's bed and onto the floor. "Probably Mr. Gamgee," he mumbled to himself as he shuffled towards the front hall. He heard the sound of the door being unlocked and then jumped when it opened.
"Ah-good mornin' little master. I was gettin' a bit worried when you weren' answerin'." Sure enough, Hamfast stood in the doorway with a pleasant smile on his face. "Do you need anythin' from the market? Bell wants me to stop and pick up a few things."
Frodo glanced over his shoulder as a loud sneeze errupted. "I'm sorry- just my allergies. Um-actually, could you go and fetch the healer? Bilbo broke his ankle last night when we were hiking and we were too exhausted to fetch you then."
Hamfast's eyes widened in surprise. "Bilbo's hurt? You shouldn't have waited so long with somethin' like that. I'll fetch Dr. Burrows right away, sir. Just keep Bilbo calm till I get back." The gardener tipped his hat and hurried down the lane. Frodo sneezed so hard after he closed the door that the small hallway table seemed to tremble. He wiped his nose with the corner of his pajama sleeve as he headed back to Bilbo's room, to find the older hobbit awake.
"Good morning, Frodo. Who was at the door?" Bilbo asked, struggling to lean up against the headboard.
"Mr. Gamgee. He went to fetch the healer and shouldn't be more than an hour or so."
"Are your allergies bothering you again? I heard you sneezing."
Frodo nodded as he continued sniffling. "Each sneeze gets harsher and harsher, Bilbo. I think I might blow something over at one point."
Bilbo laughed. "Well-when you blow over a vase like I did when I had that cold, then we'll start to worry. I'll have to glue my furniture to the floor."
"Why do we sneeze so hard?" Frodo asked as he crawled up to sit on Bilbo's bed. The old hobbit gave his nephew a sympathetic smile.
"One of the many mysteries out there, my boy." Bilbo yawned and glanced out the window. The upcoming day promised to be beautiful-warm and sunny, and here he was with a broken ankle and most likely unable to go out until the healer provided him with crutches.
"Would you like some breakfast, Bilbo? I can make you some toast and jam and tea. I'm not too good with baking."
"How about slicing some of that ginger bread for the both of us? That would be just fine. And tea would be lovely too-you can choose whatever flavor you want, all right? But do I get my morning kiss?" he added with a twinkle in his eye, and Frodo smiled, planting one on his Uncle's cheek before hurrying into the kitchen. It was strange not having the smell of bacon and eggs drifting through the corridors, but Frodo was too afraid that he'd burn the smial down if he tried cooking without Bilbo's instruction. So he took Bilbo's advice and sliced two thick pieces of the still-fresh gingerbread and put it on plates, surrounding that with strawberries and grapes. Then he filled the old iron teapot with water, set that on the stove and pulled the box of tealeaves down from the pantry.
"Cherry tea sounds good." Frodo said, grinning. He grabbed two mugs and stood keeping a close eye on the teapot, waiting for it to whistle. When it did, he turned off the stove and lifted the kettle.
"Looks like you're doing a marvelous job, Frodo Baggins." A voice spoke from behind him. Frodo screamed, throwing the kettle clear into the air and watched in horror as it aimed for the floor.
The intruder caught it with one hand and handed it back to the hobbit.
"Gandalf?" Frodo cried. Gandalf the Gray was a famous traveling wizard and was close friends with Bilbo. Gandalf had urged Bilbo to go on a grand adventure with a group of thirteen dwarves fifty years before to uncover gold from the cave of the dragon Smaug. Unfortunately, many of the local hobbits felt that Gandalf was a "Disturber of the peace" and often said that "If he'd let those poor hobbits alone, they may one day be respectable."
"Yes. I was in the area so I decided to stop by. My you've grown since the last time I saw you."
"Which was when I was ill." Frodo replied. He hadn't seen the old wizard for nearly two years following his bout with pneumonia, which nearly killed him. That, he figured, was the main reason Bilbo became so overprotective.
"How are you feeling, lad? You still look too pale for a hobbit."
"I have allergies now and I can't seem to stop sne.." He covered his mouth with one hand and once again sneezed. "Sneezing." He finished.
"You never get a break, do you?" Gandalf chortled.
Frodo shook his head. "I'm sorry, Gandalf. Oh-thank you." He accepted the teakettle and began filling the mugs. "Bilbo's hurt. He broke his ankle when we went on a hike the other night, and we're waiting for the healer to arrive so he can reset the bone."
Gandalf raised his bushy gray eyebrows. "I say-I do hope he is not suffering too badly! Is he in his bedroom?"
"Yes. And I've been taking good care of him." Frodo handed one plate of food and one mug of tea to Gandalf so that he didn't have to balance both breakfasts to Bilbo's room.
"Gandalf! Isn't this a pleasant surprise!" The old hobbit cried with delight as he saw the guest. "When did you come in?"
"Nearly startled the daylights out of me a few moments ago," Frodo replied, handing Bilbo his breakfast.
"Thank you, honeypot." Bilbo told his nephew. "Have a seat, Gandalf. I suppose Frodo told you what happened?"
"He did. Are you all right?"
"I'll live, but it feels as though I won't."
The wizard smiled. "Oh, Frodo-I brought you a little present from my travels."
Frodo beamed as he watched the wizard pull something from the pocket of his blue robes and handed the wrapped object to the lad. "Thank you!"
"Open it," Bilbo chuckled. "Don't just look at it."
Smiling, Frodo took off the brown wrapping and gasped. In his hands he held a snowglobe with the Rivendell setting in the center. "It's beautiful," He said. "I do wish I could go and see the Elves one day."
"That's not all, Frodo-on the bottom there is a little wind up button."
Frodo noticed it and cranked it a few times, and a soft, calming melody began to play. (For those who saw TUCK EVERLASTING it is the melody that Jesse's mother's music box plays) He felt a bit sleepy when he listened to it, and blinked when it ended. "I love it very much, Gandalf." Frodo gave the wizard a big hug.
A few moments later there was another few knocks on the door, and Frodo stood. "I'll get it-probably Dr. Burrows."
Bilbo sighed. "Time to face torture." He mumbled as he watched his nephew go to let the healer in. Sure enough, it was Dr. Burrows and the healer was very surprised to see Gandalf.
"Good day, sir!" He greeted.
"Good day to you as well." Gandalf replied laughing.
"Now Bilbo, this may hurt a bit, but it must be done. I have to reset the bone that you snapped."
Bilbo nodded and gritted his teeth in pain when the healer uncovered his injured leg and inspeected the bandage work. Frodo felt a bit ill when the bandages were removed and found that Bilbo's ankle had swollen dreadfully and was black and blue. "Don't look, Frodo, if you don't wish to." The healer warned. "You may leave the room if you'd like."
Frodo glanced at Bilbo who just smiled weakly at him. "Go on, cricket. I don't want you to have to see this. Go and talk with Gandalf in the living room and AIE!" He cried out when Dr. Burrows attempted to straighten the ankle. "Go Frodo." Bilbo gasped, and the tweenager led Gandalf into the parlor. The two sat on the large, overstuffed couch and just gazed ahead as they heard Bilbo's muffled sobs. Finally there was a loud SNAP and a shout. "Bilbo!" Frodo cried, and made to run to his Uncle, but Gandalf held the boy firmly still.
"Let the healer do his job, Frodo. Re-setting bones is nasty business."
"But Dr. Burrows is hurting him!" Frodo sobbed.
"Calm down, lad." Gandalf encouraged, not liking the sound of Frodo's raspy breathing. The hobbit coughed and took a few deep breaths, starting to feel the familiar tightness in his chest. "Just take a deep breath and try to relax. Through your nose and out your mouth. There you go." Gandalf praised when Frodo's breathing softened. Eventually the healer returned to the parlor with a smile.
"The bone is reset, and I've wrapped it very tight with very thick bandages. Frodo-I am going to have to ask you to aid Bilbo in daily chores for the next few weeks while the ankle heals. He'll be on crutches for about two weeks and then for the third week he'll need to work slowly on getting it back into shape again."
Frodo nodded. "Is he going to be in a lot of pain?" He asked.
"A bit, Frodo. Broken bones are nasty things, but at least they're not life-threatening unless you're stuck out in the wild."
"Well thank you very much." Frodo added.
"I'm not finished, lad. Bilbo tells me you've been having trouble breathing because of your allergies lately, that you've been feeling tighteness in your chest whenever you feel scared or run. Is that true?"
Frodo nodded. "I just felt it a moment ago when I thought you were hurting Bilbo. It feels like something is squeezing my lungs."
"Those are symptoms of asthma, Frodo. Asthma is often a symptom of hay fever and can be either mild or serious. All I can recommend for you to do is to take it easy for the summer seasons and spring seasons, when your allergies are worse. Use herbal steambaths to ease your breathing and drink plenty of fluids. I would not recommend running around outside, especially since the pollen rate is rather high this time of the year."
Frodo looked as though his birthday had been canceled at the idea of his not being able to run around with his friends and cousins during the best seasons for doing so. The healer noticed this, and patted the lad on the head. "Oh come now. Surely you and your friends can find things to do that are not strenuous?"
Frodo shrugged as he felt a single tear fall down his pale cheek, and allowed Gandalf to pat him on the shoulder. "It's not so bad now, Frodo my lad. I'm sure Bilbo will find plenty of exciting things for you to do."
Frodo sniffed and continued to stare at his feet.
"I'll tell you what. I'll provide you with a lovely scent for your herbal baths. How does cinnamon sound?" Dr. Burrows asked, as he dug through his leather case and pulled out a packet of cinnamon spice. Frodo smiled weakly.
"Sounds fine I suppose."
"You'll feel better soon, Frodo. And just keep telling yourself that it is not a life-threatening illness. Well-I've given Bilbo a few painkillers but he will be rather groggy for a bit, so I would let him sleep a while. Keep applying ice to the ankle, to stop the swelling. Well- I'd best be off. Here is the cinnamon-plenty of it for you. Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon," Frodo and Gandalf replied in unison and watched as the healer left Bag-End. Frodo stood after the door shut behind Dr. Burrows and headed into Bilbo's room.
"Hullo, Frodo." Bilbo told his nephew quietly.
Frodo didn't respond-he just fell into his Uncle's arms and cried.