Disclaimer: See the first chapter

Chapter 3

Elrond had spotted the tell tale signs of his son's collapse and moved forward to catch the young man as he fell from the saddle. As he caught his son, a stifled cry of pain came from Aragorn as his ribs were jolted. Elrond's concern increased as he felt how light his son was and at the difficulty he was having at keeping his balance. The elf lord assisted Aragorn as he attempted to stand upright. Leaning heavily on his father, gasping for breath, the ranger turned vaguely in the direction of his brothers who were looking extremely concerned. Glorfindel had taken one look at Estel and left to prepare the healing rooms. Still in great pain, Aragorn managed to gasp out a greeting of sorts towards his brothers. Elrond, supporting him, drew him into his arms lightly. Estel flinched as his father's hands came into contact with his back, brushing across his wounds. Elrond lessened the pressure on his son's back and looked intently into his eyes.

"Estel ion nin, were you hit on the head?" he asked slowly, trying to figure out why Estel was having so much problem staying upright.

"Herbs…pack…balance" Estel managed to gasp out. Elrohir, who had been observing his brother carefully, moved forward to his brother and caressed his face, which seemed to be one of the only places that his younger brother didn't feel pain.

"What herbs did you take gwador nin?" mused Elrohir as he opened the pouch at his brother's belt carefully. Looking over the herbs briefly, he found the herb Estel had taken earlier.

"Here it is ada. It's dilianaeg; he used it to stop some of his pain. It looks like he has already used up all his other pain reliever herbs, it was his last resort but he knew it would affect his balance so he rode here as fast as he could." Elrohir said this in a controlled tone but inwardly his thoughts were a second Bruinen that had broken loose. A wave of sympathy, and pity swept over him. His brother was obviously in a great amount of pain already and that was when he had taken numerous herbs to relieve some of his pain. Elrohir couldn't imagine how much pain he was in, he was surprised his brother hadn't passed out already. But that was like his brother, stubborn until his body could not fight the pain any longer. Come to think of it, he thought, it was a trait shared by all of the family, not to mention their close friend Legolas Thranduilion, who was perfectly happy to tell everyone that he was 'fine' and then pass out.

Elrohir focused back on his brother, who, with the help of his father was making his way towards the doors to the house. Elladan had already opened the doors to the house and was instructing a servant to prepare Estel's room. Moving to join his father, he helped his brother up the three steps and into the hall. As they moved into the hall, Aragorn sighed with relief. The hall was warm against the bitter chill outside. The sigh was accompanied by a stabbing pain in his ribs, which caused him to abruptly straighten. He paused for a moment, enjoying the sight of his home for the first time in three years. His happy memories were punctured by another assail of pain from his ribs and back. Seeing yet another concealed grimace of pain on Estel's face, Elrohir pointed out

"I think you should go to the healing rooms now gwador, you can wander Imladris later."

Nodding his agreement with his son, Elrond gently steered his son towards the healing wing. Elladan had disappeared in the direction of the family rooms, presumably to oversee the preparation of his brother's room. Looking back at Elrohir, who was looking a little unsure of what he should be doing, Elrond added

"You come too Elrohir, I may need your help with some of these injuries."

Elrohir rejoined his brother and father as they made their slow passage towards the healing rooms. Aragorn was swaying from side to side, his head dropping. Now and again he would jerk a little more upright as his body protested the movement. Aragorn's ribs felt like they were burning with the fires of Arnor, his body was practically screaming at him to let him collapse into his father's arms and rest but Aragorn was determined to make it to the healing rooms. Once or twice along the way, Elrond peered at his son concernedly seeing that he was on the point of collapse. Stubbornly however, Aragorn managed to reach the room and made his way to the closest bed, where he collapsed onto the mattress.

Glorfindel had already prepared the room with everything that would be needed. A kettle of water was heating in the fire and a brazier warmed the room further. There was a table already prepared with various herbs and rolls of bandages, needles and thread.

"Estel?" Elrond's voice penetrated the weary ranger's brain. He was holding a herbal tea to relieve the ranger's obvious pain. Watching as his son drank the infusion, he noticed his son shivering slightly in his damp clothing.

"Ion nin, let's get you out of those clothes." With the aid of Elrohir, Elrond stripped off the damp, stained ranger leathers to reveal his torn, bloodstained shirt and hastily bandaged arm.

Aragorn had watched these proceeding through tired, pain filled eyes. When Elrohir made to remove the remains of his shirt, Aragorn stopped him with a shakily raised hand. His brother paused, with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Estel? We need to remove your shirt to see to your wounds."

"No…back…stuck," Estel tried to explain the problem but his brain could not come up with the words to describe it. Luckily, Elrond deciphered the meaning of his words.

"Ah, Elrohir could you pass me the scissors? I think we will have to cut this shirt off."

The shirt was cut off to reveal his colourful, battered, ribcage. Aragorn hissed as Elrond probed the swelling ribs cautiously.

"You have two cracked ribs here Estel, and three others are severely bruised. The rest appear to be fine but I won't be able to tell for certain until the swelling goes down. Elrohir, please prepare a poultice for these bruises. Now ion nin, lets see your back."

Elrond inspected the gashes thoroughly, checking for any signs of infection. One of the wounds was slightly swollen at the edges; he would need to cleanse it thoroughly. The best thing, decided Elrond, was to send Estel into a long sleep while his wounds were cleansed and tended.

"I'm going to give you a sleeping draught Estel. You need the rest and I need to clean your wounds."

Aragorn gave a weary nod of assent, his body was emphatically agreeing with his father. The lack of food, rest and the relief of his pain made his resolve crumble, and he gave finally gave into his body's demands, succumbing to the darkness that had threatened him for so long. As Elrohir came over with the poultice for Estel's ribs he saw his brother's collapse and quickly ascertained that his brother was merely unconscious and not something worse. Elrond breathed a sigh of relief. With his son unconscious, they could work efficiently without the causing Estel more pain. To make sure he wouldn't awaken, Elrond used a touch of his healing power but it was unnecessary, the effort it had taken to reach Imladris had drained Estel completely, both mentally and physically. Together, father and son began to tend Estel, ending up working late into the night.

A/N: Ok that's the chapter. Next chapter will be Estel in Imladris. Please tell me what you think should happen after that. Constructive criticism is welcomed. I'm sorry if you think it's a little slow but I'm having difficulty in plotting the next parts so ideas are welcomed.