Gandalf stayed until the end of March and then was off again. Frodo was very upset at this, but knew he would probably see his old friend again soon. I had become friends with the old wizard and hated to see him go as well, but if I would have known what was to happen next in our lives, I would have wished he could have stayed a little longer.
The morning of our two year anniversary, Frodo and I received an urgent knock on our door. It was the doctor.
"Hello, Dr. Boffin," Frodo exclaimed. "Please come in."
"Mr. Baggins, Mrs. Baggins, I'm very sorry to disturb you, but we have a problem that needs to be dealt with properly."
"What is it?" Frodo asked as I poured both of them some tea.
The doctor took a sip of his tea and then turned to my husband with a grave look on his face as he continued.
"As you may know, there have been several hobbits who just in the past couple of weeks have died. I do not know what the cause of death is, but it seems to be some sort of illness that cannot be cured by anything I have. I have come to you because first, you are the mayor and need to know of these kinds of things, and also because I know that in your travels, you have met elves. I know that your wife has some elvish blood in her veins and I thought that perhaps you may know of an elvish healer who could come and help Hobbiton. Please, we need a miracle of some sort. First it was only a family who had died. I thought perhaps it was something they had eaten, but now more and more hobbits are dying. Do you know of anyone who could help us?"
My husband looked at me and said, "Berythna, will you write a letter to King Elessar and tell him if he can manage to come at once. I believe he can help."
"I will send word to both King Elessar and Lord Elrond."
"Begging your pardon, Mr. Baggins, but you are speaking of kings and lords. They will not come to the Shire to help hobbits, will they?"
"You do not know King Elessar, Dr. Boffin," Frodo answered. "He will come as quickly as he can, I can assure you."
"Thank you very much, sir," the doctor said. "I should be off now."
That very afternoon, Frodo sent for his messenger.
"How can I be of service, sir?"
"Will you take these two letters to Rivendell and Gondor?"
The boy looked up in surprise.
"Rivendell and Gondor?"
"Yes. Here is enough money to make it there and back again. Please hurry and only rest when you need it, or when your horse is tired. You may take my pony. He has been on adventures such as this before. Make all the speed you can."
"Yes, sir, but I need to tell my wife and children where I will be going."
"I understand, but please hurry. Tell your wife not to worry. The roads are safer nowadays than they used to be. Fulfill this task for me, and there will be a great increase in your wages."
"Yes, sir," the boy answered with more enthusiasm.
An hour later, the boy was off towards Rivendell.
Even though Frodo and I were feeling very upset by this turn of events, we still enjoyed our two year wedding anniversary. I fixed one of his favorite dishes for supper, which of course consisted of mushrooms, and again, we spent a very exciting and all together sensual evening in the privacy of our bedroom.
About a week later, Frodo came home early one afternoon and complained that he was not feeling well and was going to take a nap in our bedroom. I followed him into the bedroom and as he laid down, I quickly felt his forehead. He was very feverish. I rushed to the wash room and brought back a wet rag to dampen his forehead. As he slept, he tossed violently and awoke an hour later in a cold sweat. I took him out of his clothes and washed him with a cool rag as he shivered uncontrollably. I then changed the bed sheets and dressed him comfortably as he began to drift off to sleep once again.
I sat up with him the whole night and performed this routine at least five times during the night. He complained of being very cold, but as I felt his forehead and washed his body, I knew that his entire body was very feverish. I did not want to think of what would happen to him if he had whatever the illness was that the doctor had spoken of only a few days ago. I prayed silently that King Elessar and Lord Elrond would come quickly.
The next morning, he awoke very late and said that he felt a little better, but refused breakfast. I made him stay in bed for the morning, even though he wanted to get up and go to his office.
"I have things that need to be done today, Berythna. I am behind on yesterday's work and I need to get caught up today."
"You need to rest, my love," I replied as I dampened his forehead. "You are still a bit feverish."
Finally, he agreed and went back to sleep. He awoke in a cold sweat once again and complained of begin extremely cold. I felt terrible watching him sit in the chair by the fireplace shivering in a blanket as I changed his bed sheets.
By nightfall, Frodo had gone from bad to worse. He was beginning to have hallucinogens and cried out even as he looked at me.
"There is something behind you, Berythna. Oh Illuvatar, it's an orc! Run, Berythna. Run quickly! He is coming! He has the Ring! Why has it come to this?"
"Frodo, there is nothing behind me. Try and sleep now, my dear."
"They are all around me! They have knives and axes! They are going to kill me for keeping the Ring from them! Oh Berythna, run and get help! Quickly!"
"Darling, calm down. There is nobody in this room accept you and I. Don't be frightened, dear. Sleep now."
Finally, he drifted off to sleep, but was plagued by terrible nightmares throughout the night. At least once every hour, he would awake in a sweat screaming that someone was following him and that the Ring had not been destroyed or that another one was being made.
"You must tell Strider!" he would say frantically as I tried to calm him. "Sauron is not dead. He is forging another Ring!"
The next morning was horrible. Frodo would not even awake and spent the day tossing and turning violently in bed. By now, I had to come to my senses and tell myself that he had the terrible illness that Dr. Boffin had spoken of. All I had left to hope was that Lord Elrond would come before it was too late. I spent the day mostly in the bedroom, watching my beloved slowly die in our bed where we had once spent so many wonderful nights together.
That evening, I stepped out of the bedroom to fix a small supper for myself. I hadn't eaten in so long and I knew that I had to keep up my strength if I was to care for Frodo any longer. I had a small plate of bread, meat and cheese, but then slowly made my way back into our bedroom. Frodo lay on the bed barely breathing. He looked up at me and for the first time in the past couple of days, his eyes seemed to actually fix on me. He seemed like his head was clearing and he spoke rationally.
"Berythna, I know I am dying," he whispered, barely audible. "I know I am going to be dead in the next day or so. I want to tell you now that I love you and that you have made me very happy during our short marriage. Find someone who will love you and take care of you. Maybe he will be able to give you the child you want so badly."
"Frodo, don't talk like this. You're going to be all right. I know that Lord Elrond is coming even now. Just hold on a little longer and I know that help will come."
"My dear, I feel like I've held on longer than was possible. Perhaps help will not come and the Shire is lost. I hate to see it all end like this."
"It is not ending, Frodo," I replied as tears stung my eyes. "It is just beginning."
"I love you, Berythna."
"I love you too, Frodo."
I kissed his forehead and laid my hand to his heart. He closed his eyes and his breathing soon became normal again. He was asleep.
I quietly walked out of our room and made my way down the wall into the closet where I pulled out some blankets and a pillow. I slowly walked back to our room and sat down in the chair for a night of broken sleep. But this did not happen.
I awoke late in the morning and I was surprised at not being woken up during the night by my husband. I glanced over at the bed and he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, so I decided not to bother him. It was then that I noticed what had awakened me. There was a knock at my door and suddenly, hope leapt into my heart once more. I hastily rose from my chair and raced to the door to find none other than Gandalf standing there with Lord Elrond and King Elessar.
"Oh thank Illuvatar!" I exclaimed and quickly led them into our room. "He has become sick as well."
Lord Elrond rushed to his side as I greeted King Elessar and Gandalf.
"King Elessar and I were visiting Lord Elrond at the time your message arrived," Gandalf explained. "Luckily we were able to come at once. How long has Frodo been ill?"
"About four days now," I replied, anxiously. "Yes, today will be the fourth day."
"We have come too late," I heard Lord Elrond exclaim as he rose from where he was kneeling at the bedside. He looked gravely at me and then at Aragorn and Gandalf as he whispered, "Frodo is dead."