Chapter 32
In the tiny 'fresher she'd found, Meri stared at the grungy faucet caked in dust and grime and wondered if it would even work. The one in the mini kitchenette hadn't worked and she was desperate for some water to freshen up.
Hesitantly she reached out and turned the knob. The faucet gave a creaking groan and then began to spit water. Gradually its flow strengthened and Meri cupped her hands under the icy water.
She began to bend down so that she could splash the water over her face, but with a hiss of pain straightened quickly. [i]Mistake,[/i] she thought with an expelled breath.
Lightly she touched the Force in order to sooth the pain. When the fiery pain eased she took a deep breath, clenched her jaw and bent down, determined to wash her face.
Splashing the water on her face, she spluttered from the shockingly cold water and the pain that danced across her back.
With another splash and scrub she stood straight, gripping the edge of the sink and panting from the pain that threatened to buckle her knees.
It took several minutes for her breathing to slow and then she dabbed her face dry with the sleeve of the robe she was wearing. In order to keep it from hanging loose, she'd fastened a torn strip from her tattered shirt around her waist to hold the robe against her body for her. The robe still had a tendency to fall off her shoulders, but if she were careful, it would stay up.
With personal matters taken care of, she turned her thoughts back to her Master, who had fallen into a restless sleep earlier. He had a raging fever and she knew he needed water to keep from getting dehydrated. She was about to begin looking for something to drink out of when she heard her Master cry out for her in a panicked, feverish voice.
Her fingers loosened on the cupboard door she'd been holding and it slammed shut loudly.
Without sparing a look, Meri turned and hurried as best she could with her ankle from the small 'fresher. As she walked up to the bedside, her steps slowed.
Alex was tossing and turning and not awake, as she had hoped. It was quite obvious he was delirious in his fever and this concerned her more than ever.
"I'm here, Master," she tried to reassure the restless knight.
But if Alex heard her, he didn't act like it. He moaned loudly and his eyelids twitched as his body shuddered as though moving to something unseen.
He mumbled a few unintelligible words that Meri didn't catch, but right in the middle of a string of words, she heard quite clearly, even though he mumbled it, "I love you….my Tarrishagh."
Meri startled and her dark eyes widened at the words. Just *who* was this Tarrishagh? Strange feelings rushed over her in a wave and she took a step back, a frown on her brow.
//He's in love with someone?\\ she wondered incredulously.
For a moment Meri remained frozen where she stood as her thoughts whirled around her head. She wouldn't have believed it unless she had heard him say it with her own two ears. It seemed like some unbelievable joke.
//My Master…in…in love?\\ she thought haltingly, her dark eyes wide at the somehow disturbing thought. The foreign feeling from before wound its way from her gut up to her heart, clenching there tightly.
She'd never heard the name; though it was obvious he'd spoken it before, from the way it still flowed even from his fevered lips. This led to the question of why he had never mentioned her before to his apprentice; over the past three years, Meri had become very close to Alex. They never kept anything from each other…or so she had thought. It hurt to think he didn't trust her enough to tell her he was seeing someone.
//And why? Would I not approve? Who would I not approve of?\\ Meri wondered, trying to ignore the injured feeling inside. Her thoughts winged across the many knights and masters she'd met, wondering if any of them were this person. She could think of some knights she might not approve of. Particularly, a certain one who flirted shamelessly with her Master, when his apprentice was standing right there by his side.
At the very thought of the redheaded knight, Meri frowned. How could her Master be attracted to that? Meri couldn't even remember the knight's name. A testament of just how much she had, at least on first impression, disliked the flirtatious young woman.
//Just what is there to like anyway?\\ Meri thought with a small puff of expelled air. Okay, so maybe a large bosom and curves were likable by some and the vibrant, sparkling green eyes might be found attractive.
//And besides, maybe there's something there I'm not seeing? There could be something more to her…\\ Meri paused mid-thought, realizing that she had //no\\ idea if it really was the redhead or if her imagination was running away with her.
Shaking her head slightly at her own silliness, she glanced up; coming out of the daze of thought she had dropped into.
Her Master had fallen silent again, and Meri stepped closer and peered down on his pale face. She bit her lip as she stared, thinking how boyish and young he appeared. The black locks of hair that always fell across his forehead accentuated the young look.
Meri stared at the raven locks, and had to squelch the urge to brush them off his forehead, instead she let her gaze drop to fasten on his thick, black lashes that normally framed incredibly bright blue eyes.
//I can't blame her, whoever she is,\\ she thought with no small measure of wistfulness. Any woman would have to be insane not to think he was handsome, at least by her standards.
The foreign feeling within swelled up inside of Meri as she gazed down on Alex. It startled her and scared her just a bit. This feeling had always made her nervous, but its strengthening of late was becoming very disconcerting.
Quickly she turned away and resumed her search for something that her Master could drink from, this time starting in the small kitchenette.
After a few minutes of puttering around, slowly, she found what she was looking for and hurried to the small 'fresher to fill it with the cold water.
She was elated at her success, but bone weary as well. Because of her own injuries, her movements had been slow and stiff. All the small tasks she had done since waking earlier that evening should have only taken minutes at most, but had ended up taking half the night. She was ready to drop as she carried the cup of water to her Master's bedside.
He was back to mumbling as she approached and she would have sworn she heard her name mention alongside "Tarrishagh", but quickly decided she probably heard his slurred words wrong.
Holding the cup in one hand, she placed the other on Alex's shoulder and gently began to shake him. "Master, I've got something for you to drink. Wake up."
Alex's lashes twitched and he stirred restlessly. Meri switched to communicating over their bond and within moments of her touch on his mind, his eyes opened laboriously.
She almost didn't have the strength to lift his head and place the cup at his lips, but for his sake she pushed herself. She held the cup at his lips until he had drained it, but not without sloshing some of it out, so that it ran down his chin.
As soon as she lowered his head back to the pillow, his eyes closed and Meri gently wiped the moisture off his chin and neck with the edge of her sleeve. By the time she was finished her legs had begun to tremble and quiver in exhaustion and her head was spinning.
She stumbled her way around the bed and with some effort managed to crawl up onto it, before sprawling on her stomach next to Alex. For a few minutes she lay there; her back was throbbing in agony, her ankle was not any better and her position was very uncomfortable.
She couldn't sleep and for the next few hours jerked in and out of awareness; awareness of pain, cold, and aching muscles.
Finally, shivering, she edged closer to Alex under the blanket and lay still. That didn't help because she still wasn't close enough to feel his warmth and she had to keep the blanket down around her waist. Again she clumsily edged closer until they were touching, before falling into a light doze.
The new position seemed to make it all worse, because on the side she was touching him, she felt warmth, but that only accented the rest of her cold body. Her back was exposed to the air and while burning in pain, it still felt cold. She felt like groaning in frustration, but made no move to get closer.
Sleep claimed her at last and in her sleep she moved naturally to the source of warmth. By the time she was sleeping comfortably and deeply, she was sprawled across Alex, only the left side of her body hanging off slightly. Her head was resting on his chest; the steady beat of his heart drove her deeper into sleep, while her right leg intertwined with his.
She would have been mortified to wake up and find herself positioned as she was, but she didn't wake. Not for a very long time.
In the tiny 'fresher she'd found, Meri stared at the grungy faucet caked in dust and grime and wondered if it would even work. The one in the mini kitchenette hadn't worked and she was desperate for some water to freshen up.
Hesitantly she reached out and turned the knob. The faucet gave a creaking groan and then began to spit water. Gradually its flow strengthened and Meri cupped her hands under the icy water.
She began to bend down so that she could splash the water over her face, but with a hiss of pain straightened quickly. [i]Mistake,[/i] she thought with an expelled breath.
Lightly she touched the Force in order to sooth the pain. When the fiery pain eased she took a deep breath, clenched her jaw and bent down, determined to wash her face.
Splashing the water on her face, she spluttered from the shockingly cold water and the pain that danced across her back.
With another splash and scrub she stood straight, gripping the edge of the sink and panting from the pain that threatened to buckle her knees.
It took several minutes for her breathing to slow and then she dabbed her face dry with the sleeve of the robe she was wearing. In order to keep it from hanging loose, she'd fastened a torn strip from her tattered shirt around her waist to hold the robe against her body for her. The robe still had a tendency to fall off her shoulders, but if she were careful, it would stay up.
With personal matters taken care of, she turned her thoughts back to her Master, who had fallen into a restless sleep earlier. He had a raging fever and she knew he needed water to keep from getting dehydrated. She was about to begin looking for something to drink out of when she heard her Master cry out for her in a panicked, feverish voice.
Her fingers loosened on the cupboard door she'd been holding and it slammed shut loudly.
Without sparing a look, Meri turned and hurried as best she could with her ankle from the small 'fresher. As she walked up to the bedside, her steps slowed.
Alex was tossing and turning and not awake, as she had hoped. It was quite obvious he was delirious in his fever and this concerned her more than ever.
"I'm here, Master," she tried to reassure the restless knight.
But if Alex heard her, he didn't act like it. He moaned loudly and his eyelids twitched as his body shuddered as though moving to something unseen.
He mumbled a few unintelligible words that Meri didn't catch, but right in the middle of a string of words, she heard quite clearly, even though he mumbled it, "I love you….my Tarrishagh."
Meri startled and her dark eyes widened at the words. Just *who* was this Tarrishagh? Strange feelings rushed over her in a wave and she took a step back, a frown on her brow.
//He's in love with someone?\\ she wondered incredulously.
For a moment Meri remained frozen where she stood as her thoughts whirled around her head. She wouldn't have believed it unless she had heard him say it with her own two ears. It seemed like some unbelievable joke.
//My Master…in…in love?\\ she thought haltingly, her dark eyes wide at the somehow disturbing thought. The foreign feeling from before wound its way from her gut up to her heart, clenching there tightly.
She'd never heard the name; though it was obvious he'd spoken it before, from the way it still flowed even from his fevered lips. This led to the question of why he had never mentioned her before to his apprentice; over the past three years, Meri had become very close to Alex. They never kept anything from each other…or so she had thought. It hurt to think he didn't trust her enough to tell her he was seeing someone.
//And why? Would I not approve? Who would I not approve of?\\ Meri wondered, trying to ignore the injured feeling inside. Her thoughts winged across the many knights and masters she'd met, wondering if any of them were this person. She could think of some knights she might not approve of. Particularly, a certain one who flirted shamelessly with her Master, when his apprentice was standing right there by his side.
At the very thought of the redheaded knight, Meri frowned. How could her Master be attracted to that? Meri couldn't even remember the knight's name. A testament of just how much she had, at least on first impression, disliked the flirtatious young woman.
//Just what is there to like anyway?\\ Meri thought with a small puff of expelled air. Okay, so maybe a large bosom and curves were likable by some and the vibrant, sparkling green eyes might be found attractive.
//And besides, maybe there's something there I'm not seeing? There could be something more to her…\\ Meri paused mid-thought, realizing that she had //no\\ idea if it really was the redhead or if her imagination was running away with her.
Shaking her head slightly at her own silliness, she glanced up; coming out of the daze of thought she had dropped into.
Her Master had fallen silent again, and Meri stepped closer and peered down on his pale face. She bit her lip as she stared, thinking how boyish and young he appeared. The black locks of hair that always fell across his forehead accentuated the young look.
Meri stared at the raven locks, and had to squelch the urge to brush them off his forehead, instead she let her gaze drop to fasten on his thick, black lashes that normally framed incredibly bright blue eyes.
//I can't blame her, whoever she is,\\ she thought with no small measure of wistfulness. Any woman would have to be insane not to think he was handsome, at least by her standards.
The foreign feeling within swelled up inside of Meri as she gazed down on Alex. It startled her and scared her just a bit. This feeling had always made her nervous, but its strengthening of late was becoming very disconcerting.
Quickly she turned away and resumed her search for something that her Master could drink from, this time starting in the small kitchenette.
After a few minutes of puttering around, slowly, she found what she was looking for and hurried to the small 'fresher to fill it with the cold water.
She was elated at her success, but bone weary as well. Because of her own injuries, her movements had been slow and stiff. All the small tasks she had done since waking earlier that evening should have only taken minutes at most, but had ended up taking half the night. She was ready to drop as she carried the cup of water to her Master's bedside.
He was back to mumbling as she approached and she would have sworn she heard her name mention alongside "Tarrishagh", but quickly decided she probably heard his slurred words wrong.
Holding the cup in one hand, she placed the other on Alex's shoulder and gently began to shake him. "Master, I've got something for you to drink. Wake up."
Alex's lashes twitched and he stirred restlessly. Meri switched to communicating over their bond and within moments of her touch on his mind, his eyes opened laboriously.
She almost didn't have the strength to lift his head and place the cup at his lips, but for his sake she pushed herself. She held the cup at his lips until he had drained it, but not without sloshing some of it out, so that it ran down his chin.
As soon as she lowered his head back to the pillow, his eyes closed and Meri gently wiped the moisture off his chin and neck with the edge of her sleeve. By the time she was finished her legs had begun to tremble and quiver in exhaustion and her head was spinning.
She stumbled her way around the bed and with some effort managed to crawl up onto it, before sprawling on her stomach next to Alex. For a few minutes she lay there; her back was throbbing in agony, her ankle was not any better and her position was very uncomfortable.
She couldn't sleep and for the next few hours jerked in and out of awareness; awareness of pain, cold, and aching muscles.
Finally, shivering, she edged closer to Alex under the blanket and lay still. That didn't help because she still wasn't close enough to feel his warmth and she had to keep the blanket down around her waist. Again she clumsily edged closer until they were touching, before falling into a light doze.
The new position seemed to make it all worse, because on the side she was touching him, she felt warmth, but that only accented the rest of her cold body. Her back was exposed to the air and while burning in pain, it still felt cold. She felt like groaning in frustration, but made no move to get closer.
Sleep claimed her at last and in her sleep she moved naturally to the source of warmth. By the time she was sleeping comfortably and deeply, she was sprawled across Alex, only the left side of her body hanging off slightly. Her head was resting on his chest; the steady beat of his heart drove her deeper into sleep, while her right leg intertwined with his.
She would have been mortified to wake up and find herself positioned as she was, but she didn't wake. Not for a very long time.
