Ambush - Infirmary
'Where did they take Lord Elrond?' asked Eoela as they walked along a corridor.
'To the healing room. Elladan, Elrohir, and Estel are all healers in their own right. Of course, none of them are as proficient as Lord Elrond. But don't worry they'll soon set him right.'
There was the sound of shouting and a yelp of pain from a door just in front of them.
'That's the healing room,' said Firréwen. 'It doesn't sound like things are going too well, does it?'
Eoela ran to the door and opened it. A scene of chaos greeted her. Elladan was lying on the floor senseless. Elrohir and Estel were struggling to hold a naked elf on the bed.
'What on earth is happening in here?' she said.
'Quick! Shut the door, he'll get out!' said Elrohir and then shouted to Firréwen. 'Get some help quick Firréwen, he's going mad!' Firréwen slammed the door shut and could be heard running along the passageway.
Eoela realised that the naked elf was in fact her patient from earlier on. He looked like a wild thing, there was blood everywhere, covering him, the bed and the two people trying to hold him down.
'What can I do?' she shouted above the noise he was making.
'We need to strap him down somehow, can you grab a sheet or something and tear it into strips to tie him down?'
At that moment Elrond's whole body spasmed and Estel and Elrohir were thrown off. His back arched cruelly until only his head and the heels of his feet were in contact with the bed, and he screamed, a gut-wrenching scream that tore through the souls of everyone in Imladris. Without thinking Eoela stepped forward and tried to soothe him. She did what she always did when someone was in pain. She gently stoked his face and neck, trying to relive the paroxysm that was convulsing him, and all the time softly speaking to him.
'Hush now, my little elf lord, hush, just you relax, and Eoela will take the pain away, just relax, let the pain go. It will be better if you let the pain go. That's it give the pain up, give the pain up.' His tortured body seemed to be relaxing, the arch of his spine eased as he settled onto the bed.
'Quick, Estel, You need to get a dressing for this wound. Something to stop the bleeding.' Estel and Elrohir swiftly placed a thick dressing over the wound and bound it tightly. By this time, Elrond seemed to have drifted into a trouble sleep. She slowly took her hands away from his fevered brow. Taking a moment to survey the room, she saw what appeared to be various surgical instruments scattered around.
'What happened in here? What happened to Elladan?' she asked. The eldest twin was stirring now, he tried to sit up then gasped in pain.
'I think my arm's broken,' he said. 'Great, I'm supposed to be the healer and my patient breaks my arm. Hello Eoela, what are you doing in here?'
'It's a good job she did come in when she did. She's managed to quieten Ada down, and we've finally got a dressing on that wound,' said Estel.
'Will someone tell me what's going on?' Eoela exclaimed. Then, moving to help Elladan to his feet, she sat him in a chair and with a swift pull realigned the bones in his forearm.
'How do you do that? I didn't feel a thing! It normally hurts like blazes when Ada resets a bone!'
'As if you'd know,' Estel said with a snort.
'Well, you always made enough noise when he set yours,' Elrohir shot back.
'Stop arguing, both of you. Are you like this all the time? Get me something to act as a splint for this arm. Now.'
Estel hurried to do her bidding and shortly Elladan's arm was firmly splinted and in a sling supporting it.
'Now will someone tell me what happened in here?' demanded Eoela. 'I thought you were going to treat your father!'
'We did, or rather we tried. He's just too strong for us. I thought that if Elrohir and I worked together we would be strong enough but we're not,' Elladan said. 'We did manage to get the arrowhead out, then things started to go bad. I was trying to stitch the wound and Elrohir was starting the healing. Suddenly Adar went berserk. He threw me across the room, gave me this-' He held up his splinted arm. 'Then Estel and I tried to calm him down but he just seemed to get worse. And he was bleeding everywhere. Then you came in and did your- well, whatever it was you did.' said Elrohir.
'So let me get this straight. You took an arrowhead out of your father without even putting him to sleep?'
'No, he was well sedated. I used the poppy syrup, a lot in fact. It should have kept him placid for a couple of hours at least. But as soon as I removed the arrow....'
'He went like a wild thing.' finished Elrohir. 'When we worked with Adar on Cairian the yearning didn't start for a couple of hours after taking the shard out. I've never seen it come on so fast.'
'How did you cure Cairian then?' she asked
'We didn't so much cure him, we kept him safe until the yearning went. Adar did most of the work,' Elrohir replied.
'Well, if that's the case then that's what we'll have to do too. Just keep him safe until this yearning passes.' She looked at the three young men. 'Why don't you all go and get something to eat? You can bring me something, then we can work out what we need to do.'
There was a timid knock at the door, which was opened by a very frightened looking Firréwen. 'Is is safe to come in? I've bought some help.'
Elladan went to the frightened group. 'Its all right, everyone. Lord Elrond is sleeping now. Everything is under control. I think it's best if we let him rest. He's very ill.'
'Can you bring some food up for us Firréwen? I think we'll be staying with him for a bit yet.' Estel asked. Firréwen nodded.
'I'll keep an eye on the children as well,' she offered.
The group retired leaving them alone again with their patient.
