Lost
Chapter Ten
Rosalin glanced down at her husband, Johan, and worriedly put a hand on his forehead. A day past infection had come to the wounds and the meager supplies of medicine they had wasn't enough to help get rid of it. Thankfully, he had not yet caught fever and the infection was not bad.
He tossed and turned though, as if troubled by feverish dreams. The nightmarish images that kept him crying out for help too much for her to even guess at.
They were only a half-day's trip to the safe haven of Rivendell now, but they had to stop their long trek when the night came and along with it a storm.
The children were ushered into a group and looked after by elderly women who tried to keep them calm, the elderly men looking for firewood. The young males were off looking for meat to bring back, already a deer and a few rabbits had been taken down, plenty to feed the entire group, but unknowing whether they would have to pay something to the Elves for their care when they arrived, they hunted still.
The rest of the women, like herself busily went about looking after those who were too injured to do anything else. Her spouse naturally got all her attention.
"Rosalin, here," Merrelin, her neighbour and friend said, handing her a few dried herbs to stop infection. "Johan might need these. It seems to keep the fever away."
"Aye, but it is not helping his wound. I am worried..."
Merrelin gently squeezed her shoulder, before the other woman sat heavily down on the pallet next to hers. They were soon joined by another, Rosalin's adult daughter, Elize.
"I am sure Da will be just fine after we get him to the Elves," Elize stated, grabbing gently and squeezing her mother's hand.
Rosalin nodded, before looking after the wound on her husband's back. Every time she touched it though, he would whimper in pain.
"Rose?" came the unexpected soft voice of Johan and it made her jump.
"Johan? Are you awake?"
She recieved no answer and noted that he must have called out her name in his sleep.
She prayed for the night to go by fast so she could get him looked after properly.
After their meal, in which Glorfindel had eaten so much it had made Erestor snort with concealed laughter, they had tried to play a game of chess. Unfortunately for him, Glorfindel had fallen into a deep sleep half way through one of his turns and the game had to be put on hold.
With a slight move of his neck and back, cracking both in hopes of getting out the kinks in his joints from sitting so long in a small chair, he made his way to his office.
He was greeted by a stack of work so large, he would have cried if he wasn't in such a good mood. He set to it immediately, sorting the papers into piles from urgent to a pile he nicely dubbed 'can wait for tomorrow'.
And wait for tomorrow they would. A peal of thunder making him slightly jump and blot a report he was writing. It was the first bit of bad luck he had had all day and it didn't bother him overly much. What did bother him were the two cries he began to hear not too far away.
Shaking his head, he was going to continue on when another clap of thunder made itself known, this one closer than before. Another storm was brewing it seemed.
Thinking of retiring to his bed and reading a little before sleeping, he was about to leave his office when the door opened and a scruffy-looking young Elf came in. It took Erestor a few seconds to recognise Dînthoron under the mess of black hair, but it was indeed the youngest pupil to join the Healer's.
"Master Erestor, your presence is wanted in the Healing Rooms. Please come quickly, we cannot calm Glorfindel down," the young lad stated, before bowing and waiting for him to follow.
"What is wrong? Do you know?" Erestor asked, somewhat surprised by this sudden turn of events. Glorfindel had been more his normal self before sleep had claimed him.
"We think it may have been a nightmare, he woke so suddenly and has been telling all the healers to 'make it stop'."
Confused even further by this rather strange occurence, Erestor let the boy usher him to the Healing Rooms and to his friend for the second time.
What he saw made him want to hug Glorfindel close. The warrior had his head buried under a pillow and his body fully quivered with fright. A flash of lightning lit up the room, followed shortly by a loud crash of thunder.
Glorfindel squealed, then began to cry out for someone to make it stop.
"Of course, the storm," Erestor muttered quietly to himself and shook his head, suddenly quite amuzed. It seemed as though his old friend had reverted back to his Elfling fear of storms since his accident. And no wonder! Last time, he had almost been crushed by a falling tree limb.
"Glorfindel, it isn't going to hurt you," he stated quite loudly to his hiding friend. When Glorfindel unburied his head to glare angrily at him, he shook his head and chuckled. He couldn't help but laugh at the little lost boy look on his friend's face.
"I fail to see what is so funny, Erestor."
This just made Erestor grin like a fool. "Of course you do not. Rest assured that seeing an adult Elf of your age hiding from a storm like an Elfling is rather funny to witness."
For a reply, Glorfindel reddened in his cheeks and once again buried his head under his pillow. This did nothing to curb Erestor's laughter. In fact, it made him laugh all the harder.
"Ai! Glorfindel, don't act like this. I am sorry that the storm seems frightening to you, but please understand that even us healers need to rest every now and then," Luinwen, in her healer's wisdom, stated. Glorfindel turned his back on her, but at the next crash of thunder he stayed quiet.
Erestor, pleased that his friend was alright and nothing untoward had happened took his leave, Dînthoron with a yawn following him.
"I am sorry. I would not have called you from your work for something so trivial. If I had known..."
"Dînthoron, thank you for the apology, but it is unneeded. I am actually quite pleased to have seen that, it means he is alright. I am always afraid that he will fall into his unresponsive mood again when he sleeps."
The young Elf nodded, before heading off towards his home, leaving Erestor to finish off the last report and go to bed.
"My love, are you feeling better?" Celebrían asked of Elrond the next morning as he stretched and groggily began to wake for the first time since being put to bed.
She watched as a slow smile passed over his face. "Aye, I feel well rested. Thank you for making me sleep. I needed it."
With a smile of her own, she leaned in close and kissed her husband, before getting out of the bed and moving towards the bathing chamber. As she washed herself clean she thought of her love. Elrond was well, awake and ready for a day of work it seemed. Now, if she could somehow sway him from going to see Glorfindel, everything would be well.
"What has happened since last I was awake?" came the gentle voice behind her when she had entered their room and changed into one of her dresses. Arms wrapped themselves lovingly around her waist and a kiss was put to the back of her neck.
"Another storm. The boys were hysterical by the time the second clap of thunder sounded and it took a while to calm them."
She could feel the smile that was spreading across her husband's face against her shoulder, where his head now lay. While she was the one to comfort Elladan and Elrohir through their fears, Elrond found it more amuzing to watch her do so. Lifting one hand, she ran her fingers through the long hair of her bonded and laid her head on his. While it was a loving gesture, it was a little uncomfortable and soon they drew apart.
"How is Glorfindel?" came the dreaded question as Elrond left her side to go bathe and dress.
"He is...better. I think he is bored and his anger is still very much present, but he will shed that when the time is right for him to do so. Until then, expect a few temper tantrums."
Elrond's laugh followed that and it lightened her heart. Perhaps the sleep he just had truly had helped more than she thought it would.
Elrond soon was clean and dressed, his dark hair in a long braid down his back. Without a word, he held out his hand and she took it willingly. Before what had happened to Glorfindel, Elrond had taken her for a walk every morning before breakfast. They had stopped when Elrond had begun to care for his friend while he was unresponsive.
They were silent in each others company as he led her to the Gardens and down the open paths that wound their way through. Celebrían never said out loud how much she loved the flowers when they were in bloom, or the Gardens covered in a thick layer of snow during the winter. But nothing beat the fall, as the trees dropped their changing leaves to the ground, all reds and golds and yellows.
Elrond simply knew that she treasured the walks they shared each morning and without them, she had been missing something.
Now, in the early Spring weather, the new green shoots and budding leaves and flowers, it seemed quite fitting to be starting these walks again. New life growing all about and new life inside.
The new life inside not being as pleasant or nice, but shewas sure now that Glorfindel, with his usual smiles and optimistic outlook would soon be acting normally again, even if he didn't gain back his legs.
Finding a bench along the path, Elrond led her to it and they both sat, Celebrían leaning on Elrond's side as they used to before the accident which seemed to have shifted the way of life for all those close to Glorfindel.
"I miss this," she whispered, before sighing quietly.
"I am sorry for not being there for you the last couple of weeks. I have been preoccupied with Glorfindel's accident."
Celebrían laid her head on Elrond's shoulder and closed her eyes contentedly as her love began running his fingers through her hair.
It was a good half-hour before they got up and went back inside, Elrond's long, singular braid now loose and the thin braids he usually wore during the day were in place falling just in front of his ears.
They were met by the entrance of the main House by Erestor, each of his hands gripping one of the twins by the back of their shirts.
"These two decided to sneak into my room and wake me, by jumping on me. I was up most of the night and I have a lot to do today," the advisor stated, before letting go of the boys and letting them drop the small distance to the ground.
"We only wanted to say good morning," Elladan said softly, rubbing at his broken wrist.
"Aye, we didn't know you would be angry at us," Elrohir followed, a small unhappy frown on his face.
Celebrían just smiled. Between the twin boys, Elrond's temper and the added stress on Erestor with two people's loads of work to do, it would be one very long day. For the men at least. She would be quite happy to watch everything unfold.
And speaking of unfolding..."Elladan, why is your bandage loose?" Elrond asked sharply, grabbing everyone's attention.
"Ah, that is my fault, my Lord. I had grabbed that arm before I realised what I was doing and it was tight then, I must have loosened it. I didn't hurt him, it was above the break," Erestor replied, bowing his head in what Celebrían noted as his gesture of shame.
The argument that could have spurned from that little conversation was interrupted by a voice that, while small, carried meaning with it and got everyone's attention.
"I'm hungry," Elrohir stated, before walking over to his father and tugging on his sleeve. "Can we have breakfast now?"
Quiet seemed to descend upon the group and, after looks were exchanged, along with silent apologies between Erestor and Elrond, they all headed off for the Dining Hall.
Five sets of stomachs after all were growling to be fed.
A/N - Well, I did plan on bringing the Men into Rivendell this chapter, but thought of this idea instead. I still don't really get the storm part, but I thought it funny anyway...and I thought it about time to bring in some more humour. No matter how silly it may be.
Thanks to those of you who have stuck with this story and are still reading, and hello to any new readers. I am sorry it takes me so long to update, but I am never working on only one story at a time. Five is my number at the moment, plus any challenges I may do (especially Marigold's, I never knew writing Hobbits (no slash) could be so fun!), but I have been almost exclusively writing "Someone to Call Friend" of late. In which a male drow is gang raped by the female warriors of his House. And yes, it is a very serious story.
Well, I hope you like this part. Next part Johan, Rosalin and Elize will enter Rivendell and then the real 'fun' can begin.
Thank you once again for all of you who review, whether by the system here or by email.
I will reply to your replies in the next chapter, as I have a headache at the moment and have just logged on to update, aren't I nice? Ah well, hope you enjoy.