Chapter 2
"If I tend to your wounds, will you kick and scream?"
Riding into the camp, a lot of the guards were startled by how quickly Fidella and Cassandra rode in, and her new rider, who seemed to be badly injured and unkempt. "We have a victim who needs urgent attention!" Cassandra said, getting off of Fidella, holding Varian in her arms, securely. The guards signaled for the nurses and doctors that were left of the castle infirmary and brought them to Cassandra and Varian. The nurses took a hold of Varian, "Put me down, put me down!" Varian screamed, beginning to throw his fists and kick his feet no matter how much it hurt him to do so. "Kid, relax! They're going to help you, just calm down. Please." Cassandra beg.
Varian's breath hitched and he squeaked, distressed and upset. But he stopped and allowed the nurses to carry him to the tent where they'd take care of him. Cassandra worried about the young one, since he was, well, young. He didn't par take in the war, Cassandra was sure of, but he was still in it, just like...the...innocent...sky... Cassandra closed her eyes and clenched her fists.
Once Varian and the nurses and doctors were in the tent, Varian was clearly upset with being held and managed to break free, but he didn't get too far, and actually fell where he was supposed to be laying anyway. "Be careful..." The nurse said gently.
Varian cried, "Leave me alone, leave me alone..." His voice cracked yet again.
"Don't touch me..." Varian curled up in a fetal position, various parts of his body hurting.
The nurses were a bit confused on why Varian wouldn't let anyone except for Cassandra hold him, but they didn't question it as it wasn't their job. It was their job to heal and tend to his aid... However, every time the nurses tried to check his wounds, he'd panic, kick and scream...
The doctors tried too, but the same outcome was granted.
"Ma'am, he seems to be very distressed at the moment and we can't even begin to get to his wounds, if you could, since he seems far more comfortable with you, can you help us out? Please, Ma'am?" One of the nurses pleaded to Cassandra. At first, she wasn't going to do it, because she couldn't bare to see it, the wounds, but she remembered she had seen far worse things in her life... Like her stepfather killed by Zhan Tiri right in-front of her. She flinched at the thought.
"Yes... Of course..." Cassandra slowly walked to the tent and entered.
Looking at Varian, she felt sad for the boy. He was scared, and he had only just arrived here. He was terrified of all the people at once; "I should have known better, of course he'd be afraid!" Cassandra thought to herself angrily; she should have waited and slowly introduce him to others.
"Hey, hey, it's okay..." Cassandra sat down and put her hand to Varian's hair, stroking it slowly in an attempt to comfort him. Cassandra had realized that he had a small fever as well, she assumed he had sustained it during the turmoil of the war. "You have a fever..." She murmured.
Varian whimpered and whined, "Yea...yeah..." He sniffled. "Explains a lot..." Cassandra said to herself, then began to put her hand on Varian's forehead. Yep, he definitely had one. It was one that would go away really soon, however. Just some medicine alone would do Varian wonders.
"Look, the nurses are going to help you. Okay? Just...please stop trying to hit them, alright? They...uh, They don't like that." Cassandra explained to the boy. Varian closed his eyes tightly, tears prickling in his eyes and rolling down his cheeks again. "No...no, not again, no, no no no no." Varian cried. Why was Varian so scared of the nurses and doctors?
Cassandra frowned.
"If I tend to your wounds, will you kick and scream?" She asked in a voice so carefully.
Varian's response didn't arrive until he reopened his eyes, after his contemplation of the situation.
"...No." He looked at her with glassy eyes. "Okay." Cassandra grabbed some of the supplies.
She grasped a roll of bandages, some rubbing alcohol, some medicine and a rag. She gently poured some of the rubbing alcohol on the rag and held it firmly in her hand. "This is going to sting, but I'm not meaning to hurt you. It's unintentional, honest..." Cassandra slowly put the rag to one of Varian's arm wounds. He jerked back, but Cassandra had her hand on his forearm, so he couldn't move it but so much. He let out a yelp of pain, not expecting it to sting that badly.
"This is a big wound... This must have been done deliberately by someone." Cassandra said through her teeth, glaring at the wound. Varian shakily gasped and then shook his head yes, agreeing what she had said. "So it's true?" Cassandra peered to the boy.
Varian closed his eyes tightly and shook his head yes again before letting out another wince.
Cassandra took away the rag and began to wrap bandages around his arms carefully. She focused on that, and made sure she wasn't to hurt him more than he already had been by...someone... She didn't know who, but they didn't seem to be nice, whoever they were, obviously.
She continued to do this for several wounds, cleaning them and bandaging them up. "...Cold." Varian muttered. Cassandra looked at him for a moment, then got up and searched for a small, thin blanket to wrap him up with. She didn't want to give him a thick blanket, as he was actually burning up and sweating, but the fever just made him feel cold.
Cassandra gently put the thin blanket on him and sat back down with him. "Is that better, Varian?" She asked. He nodded, "Mhm..." He snuggled up in the blanket, his brows furrowed upwards in pain and discomfort from the wounds and the fever.
Cassandra continued to tend to him, specifically cleaning his face from the dirt and cleaning out the twigs and leafs from his unkempt hair. She couldn't help but wonder what the streak was from... Was he...born with it? Or something? Cassandra ignored it and finished up.
She used a bucket of cold water to dip the rag in, wrung it out and then set it on Varian's forehead to help the fever go away. "There you go; kid." Cassandra patted the rag firmly.
Varian murmured something undecipherable, but it was a thank you, even if it wasn't understood. He snuggled into his blankets more and closed his eyes, an occasional tear rolling down his face. He felt...safe... Not when the nurses and the doctors and the others were around, but with Cassandra, he felt like he wasn't in-danger. Nevertheless,; he couldn't describe why...
