Thank You For Your Lovely Reviews.
Mara: They do work well together don't they? They will be fine don't worry. Thank you for reviewing.
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I have to say this though, without your continuously support, I would not be able to keep writing. I appreciate it very much and feel honoured you do so. I love you all.
In these days of cool reflection (reflection)
You come to me and everything seems alright
In these days of cold affections
You sit by me - and everything's fine.
- This Could Be Heaven by Queen -
Chapter 9: Worried.
Hephaistion opened his eyes slowly but closed them again, because of the sunlight shining in his room, hurting his eyes. Next he became aware of his wounds and sighed trying to open his eyes again. Sitting at a nearby table he saw many of his classmates, looking worried and talking softly. He looked around, not seeing Alexander anywhere. Remembering what happened he panicked and sat up in a rush, ignoring his wounds.
"Where is Alexander?" soon he was surrounded by his classmates, who all asked how he was feeling, if he was in pain. He ignored them all and asked again, "Where is Alexander?" they all shared a look before Ptolemy stepped forwards,
"He's still in surgery. They are trying to remove one the Lion's teeth who has lodged himself near one of his major arteries. One mistake and he could die." Hephaistion gasped, instantly turning pale but felt grateful for Ptolemy's honesty despite of it,
"I want to see him as soon as he's…" stated Hephaistion trying to get out of his bed
"The doctor says for you to rest, not creep around the corridors to visit Alexander…" started Ptolemy who pushed him back down.
"NO! I need to see him. I have to know if he's safe. I have to…" muttered Hephaistion in a rush, panic gripping his heart as he remembered Alexander fighting the lion to safe his life and all the blood afterwards. It suddenly turned black in front of his eyes and Hephaistion lost his footing, he braced himself for the fall that was sure to come but it never did. Warm arms caught him and deposited him back on the bed.
"Will you stay in bed or do I have to tie you up?" Hephaistion looked into Ptolemy' hard eyes and he slowly shook his head, hearing the others snigger in the background. Ptolemy shot a look at the others who promptly fell silent bowing their heads. He motioned with his head from them to leave. They left one by one, whispering 'Courage' to Hephaistion as they passed the bed. Hephaistion noticed a difference in the way they acted towards him now and he frowned.
"They respect you now." Explained Ptolemy understanding Hephaistion frown. "You saved Alexander's life and acted most courageous. You made friends today."
"I did not safe Alexander's life. He saved mine." Muttered Hephaistion closing his eyes as he laid his head down on the pillow. He opened them again as he heard Ptolemy chuckle.
"You know Alexander said the same thing before he went into surgery…." Explained Ptolemy as he saw Hephaistion stare at him, "He was awake for a brief moment asking about you before losing consciousness again."
"I need to see him Ptolemy…" said Hephaistion after a long silence, Ptolemy sighed nodding his head,
"I know…." Ptolemy gave Hephaistion something to drink, which he drank, before staring to leave seeing Hephaistion's tired eyes. "I'll see what I can do…"
"Thank you…" Hephaistion trailed of falling in a restless sleep.
The next thing Hephaistion knew was someone softly shaking his uninjured shoulder until he was awake. He opened his eyes and noticed it was dark outside before turning back to Ptolemy who motioned for him to be silent.
"I asked the doctor…" whispered Ptolemy hunching down, until he was level with Hephaistion, talking into his ear. Hephaistion immediately woke up and asked hopefully,
"And? Can I visit?"
"Actually no…" noticing Hephaistion was about to protest Ptolemy quickly added, "But we are going to anyway…" Hephaistion frowned, "The doctor is on his break now leaving Mathaeus, one of his understudies, to watch Alexander. I know him well and I was able to convince him to let us in for a moment."
Hephaistion smiled happily and felt relieved but won't be totally satisfied until he saw Alexander for himself and actually seeing how he was doing. A voice cut through his musings.
"Well, are you coming?" Ptolemy smiled at Hephaistion and offered a hand.
At first Hephaistion ignored the hand but when he stood on his injured leg, he almost fell to the floor. He took Ptolemy's hand, who said nothing, only wounding his good arm around his shoulders mindful of his injured shoulder.
Together, they slowly limped towards Alexander's room, who was luckily just across the hall. Hephaistion, didn't want to admit it, but the short distance to Alexander's room exhausted him and beads of sweat were already on his forehead. Ptolemy softly knocked twice and soon the door was opened to reveal a skinny boy with red hair and a freckled face. He nodded towards Ptolemy and shot a quick glance at Hephaistion. He gestured them in before looking up and down the hallway before softly closing the door.
"The Doctor will be back soon, you'll only have a couple of minutes."
Hephaistion vaguely nodded while he heard Ptolemy talk to Mathaeus, soon their voices where drowned out as he saw Alexander lying on the bed. Hephaistion gasped as he limped closer. Alexander was very pale and even though his chest was bared it was mostly covered in red-stained bandages. Hephaistion limped closer and frowned worriedly when he heard Alexander ragged breathing. He stopped next to Alexander's bed, sinking down in a nearby chair, probably the doctor's, and stared at him for awhile. He softly reached out when he saw Alexander shiver slightly and combed his fingers through his hair noticing it was damp with sweat. He moved his fingers down and came into contact with Alexander's hot skin. He frowned when he caressed Alexander's face. Suddenly a voice cut through his worried mind.
"He has a fever. We're trying our best to bring it down."
Hephaistion nodded slightly but his attention was riveted back to Alexander when he started to moan and trash slightly in his sleep. Hephaistion stood up and sat down on the bed, taking Alexander's hand in his, bending down until his lips almost touched Alexander's ear and softly talked to him.
"Sssshhh, Alexander. It's just a dream. Just a dream."
Soon after, Alexander calmed down and his breathing evened back out as he slept on. Hephaistion smiled to himself and continued to caress Alexander hair.
"He's never calmed down that quickly….." Hephaistion turned around and came face to face with a stunned Mathaeus. "…..Most of the time we have to restrain him when he starts dreaming. He has ripped open many stitches before….. What did you do?"
Hephaistion just shook his head, shrugging his shoulders before looking back at Alexander. His eyes scanned over the bandages and he frowned again in worry. Turning back around he asked,
"When will he wake up?"
"We do not know. He has lost a lot of blood and had to have many stitches. He mostly needs to rest, undisturbed rest. Only the King and Queen are allowed to visit but I think…" suddenly Mathaeus stopped and looked towards the door before turning pale. "… you have to go quickly. The doctor is coming back and when he finds you here, we will all be punished harshly. He has the king's permission…." He quickly ran to the door opening it and staring down the corridor, which had a faint light at the end. Ptolemy quickly carried, a protesting Hephaistion, in his arms and into his room.
No sooner then they were safely inside they heard a faint noise signalling the doctors arrival and they both sighed in relief.
The coming week only the King and Queen were allowed to enter, though they never did at the same time. Even now, when their only son was gravely injured, they could not stay civilised and argued when they saw each other. Olympias blamed her husband for her son's injury knowing fully well Philip could have intervened. Philip on the other hand was quite proud and did not intervene because he knew Alexander was ready. Hephaistion himself was once visited by Alexander parents as well. Olympias thanked him for saving Alexander life before leaving with tears in her eyes while King Philip named him Alexander's 'First Companion', thinking him worthy of the title. Hephaistion felt grateful but wished he could see Alexander more, wishing for him to wake up.
Each night, Hephaistion crept out of his room, with the help of Ptolemy and visited Alexander every time the doctor took his break. Mathaeus told him Alexander only slept soundly after Hephaistion had visited. Hephaistion felt himself grow warm inside when he heard it and blushed slightly, earning a chuckle of Ptolemy. Hephaistion felt more at ease though when Mathaeus informed him that Alexander's fever had broken and was almost gone, only spiking in the evenings.
Time passed and soon a week had come and go and Alexander had yet to wake up. Until one evening, Hephaistion once again crept into Alexander's room, finally able to walk on his injured leg, though it still stung most of the time and took his usual seat by Alexander. Hephaistion stared at Alexander like he did most evenings but yawned suddenly, feeling more tired then he realised. Without noticing he slowly drifted of in a light slumber holding Alexander's hand loosely, afraid to hurt him but wanting the contact.
Alexander slowly blinked to wakefulness, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was the stinging of the stitches on his shoulder, neck and chest. Next was a warm presence nearby and soft voices in the background. He turned his head to the presence nearby and noticed it was Hephaistion sitting slightly slumped over in a chair. Alexander looked him up and down seeing the large bandage sticking out under his chiton, binding his shoulder and leg. Alexander felt relieved when he saw Hephaistion, realising he was alright and could finally set his mind at ease.
In the week that he was unconscious he kept on having the same reoccurring dream; he was standing in the clearing of the woods and saw Hephaistion fight the lion and losing, when Hephaistion turned to him for help he found himself unable to move and the lion killed Hephaistion. It frightened him to no end.
Alexander was snapped back to the present as Hephaistion sighed deeply in his sleep and he smiled in affection. He tried to whisper his name but due to the lack of use he couldn't manage to form a word, so he decided to slightly squeeze Hephaistion's warm hand in his.
Alexander squeezed very softly, not able to do it harder due to the lack of strength, but it was enough to wake Hephaistion up, who immediately opened his eyes to stare at him. Alexander smiled at him but soon found himself with his arms full of Hephaistion, who had rocketed himself of his chair when he saw Alexander was awake and was carefully hugging him close.
"I was so worried…" whispered Hephaistion his voice breaking as he softly started to cry, Alexander held him close, petting his hair, feeling Hephaistion's hot tears stain his chest but said nothing simply held him close. After awhile Hephaistion moved back feeling embarrassed, but when he saw Alexander smile he simply smiled back. Alexander caressed his face softly, whispering in a croaky voice,
"I'm alright." Before dropping his hand feeling tired. Alexander looked around and noticed for the first time they weren't as alone he first thought. Ptolemy smiled at the display and nodded to Alexander as he noticed his gaze. Mathaeus too nodded, smiling slightly but before he could introduce himself the door suddenly opened and the room was filled with light. They all turned to see a shocked doctor staring at them with an outraged look on his face.
"What is going on?..." shouted the doctor looking at Mathaeus and then the two visitors, not noticing from the angle he was standing that Alexander was awake. "… did I not give express orders to leave the patient alone? He needs to rest…." Ranted the doctor advancing on Mathaeus who suddenly looked very pale and afraid. "… who allowed you two to enter?..." asked the doctor looking between Hephaistion and Ptolemy. "… who did…" but the doctor never finished his sentence because suddenly a voice cut through the air making him stop,
"I did…" they looked towards Alexander who sat up, staring at the enraged doctor who looked shocked to see him awake.
"My Prince…" stuttered the doctor,
"I asked…" he looked towards Hephaistion for help who mouthed the name, knowing what Alexander wanted, "…Mathaeus… to get my friends for me. None of them did anything wrong, they simply obeyed my wishes. If you wish to punish someone, punish me…" stated Alexander, who by now looked pale and tired. The doctor stammered and bowed slightly,
"My prince… I would never assume…"
"Very well. I shall like to rest now….." Muttered Alexander sliding down dismissing the doctor, who bowed again, before squeezing Hephaistion's hand, "….We shall all rest…." He ended staring in Hephaistion eyes. Who couldn't believe Alexander worried about him still even though he was in a far better shape then he was. He smiled and squeezed back before nodding and limping off towards his room followed by Ptolemy. Hephaistion turned back when he stood in the doorway and noticed Alexander was clearly fighting of sleep so he could watch Hephaistion enter his room and be sure he rested.
Hephaistion smiled again, shaking his head in unbelief before entering his room, closing the door behind him. He quickly climbed into bed, drifting of as soon as his head hit the pillow.