Legolas kept his promise to Frodo and watched over Sam, keeping him occupied and listening attentively to any stories he felt comfortable sharing about the grueling journey.

"-So, once we were in Emyn… Uh… Emyn-"

"Muil?"

"Uh, yes… Well, it started raining… But there- Wasn't any-" Sam slowed his words and quieted his voice upon noticing a faint, unnerving sound coming from somewhere, and eventually stopped talking all together once he saw in Legolas's face that he heard it too. Legolas focused his keen hearing on the noise and once it became clear and loud to him, he stood up immediately, alarmed, and quickly excused himself from the room. As he approached Frodo's door in the hall, he found himself ever closer to the sound's origin. He burst into the room to find Frodo hysterical- screaming and struggling against Aragorn's grasp, desperate to escape. Legolas took a few brisk steps forward, his brow creased in utter concern, but Aragorn motioned for him to stay back, grabbing Frodo under the arms and placing his flailing body back at the head of the bed to lie on his stomach. Frodo continued to struggle and cry out as Aragorn held him down, and a guttural scream pierced the air that sent icy chills down their spines. Aragorn was forced to straddle him about the waist (careful not to put much weight on him) to keep him from twisting about and hurting himself.

"What's wrong?!" Legolas asked.

"He's hallucinating." Aragorn grunted out forcefully as Frodo continued to writhe and yelp, "Legolas- those bottles there on the table- that small one toward the back-" Aragorn said as Legolas placed his fingers at the neck of one, "Yes, bring it here- and some cloth too. Hurry, now!"

Legolas gathered the required items with impressive speed and agility and brought them to Aragorn, who let go of Frodo's wrists only to pour the liquid onto the cloth before handing the bottle back to the elf. Grasping the nape of Frodo's neck to keep his head to the side, he placed the cloth over Frodo's nose and mouth, and over time Frodo's strength diminished greatly, as did his cries, though unfortunately not before Sam appeared in the doorway, extreme concern etched in his face.

"Frodo?!"

Sam came quickly stepping in, only to be met and held back by Legolas.

"What's goin' on?!" Sam demanded anxiously, struggling to get past the elf, "Frodo?!"

"Take him out, Legolas!"

"Come, Sam. It's alright-" Legolas assured, urgently trying to pull him from the room, but Sam maneuvered out of his grasp and hurried to the bedside just before Frodo went completely limp and lost consciousness. Legolas attempted to retrieve Sam again, but Aragorn saw that he would not be kept from Frodo and motioned for Legolas to let him go, exhaling sadly as he climbed off of Frodo.

"Frodo?!" Sam said, worriedly.

Getting no response from the almost lifeless body, he looked to Aragorn for answers.

"What's wrong with him?!"

"I'm afraid I had to put him to sleep, Sam. He was hallucinating." Aragorn said, carefully turning Frodo to lie on his back and then sitting down in the chair by the bed with a thud.

"Hallucinating?" Sam repeated, feeling Frodo's forehead, expecting to find a raging fever.

"It was caused by a certain medicine. It was natural reaction, but… An unfortunate one." Aragorn told him.

"Owh… Poor mister Frodo…" Sam said in sympathy, "Is he going to be alright?!"

Aragorn nodded.

"He only needs rest. It has been a very trying day for him."

"And he's got a cold too, hasn't he…" Sam added, his brows furrowed compassionately.

"I'm not certain about that. It seemed so earlier, but it might have been something else entirely." Aragorn said as he went to the end of the room and began to move the chaise toward the bedside, Legolas catching on and helping him.

"Like what?" Sam asked, worrying that it may be even worse than a cold, "Please tell me. I want to know!"

"Well, if you must know, I believe the symptoms may've been the result of anxiety, heavy smoke inhalation and of the… Strangulation…" He said, hesitating, as he did not know the full story of the incident nor the perpetrator- he knew only that the ring had had a horrible effect on all who were near it and was very capable of twisting a person's mind to make them act out in a way unlike themselves. He didn't want to inflict any feeling of guilt onto Sam, should he have been the one to do this to Frodo, he thought.

"Go and rest, Sam. Frodo will sleep for some hours now. I'll stay with him tonight. I promise you I won't let anything happen to him."

Sam lingered by Frodo, not wanting to leave him. How helpless he looked, lying there as he was, he thought.

"You'll come and get me when he wakes up, won't you?" Sam asked.

"We'll see. You need your rest too." Aragorn said, "Go on. You'll need all your energy tomorrow for Frodo." He added with a small smile.

"Well… I s'pose… Good-night, then…"

"Good-night." Aragorn said.

Sam eventually tore himself from Frodo's side and walked back to the hall with Legolas' hand assuredly on his back.

Aragorn ambled through the room blowing out candles and gathering an extra blanket and pillow for the chaise before slipping his boots and vest off. He tried to make Frodo as comfortable as possible before lying down- pulling the covers up and positioning pillows to properly support him.

Finally, he eased himself onto the chaise, gazing watchfully at the tiny, worn hero until he fell asleep himself.

"Le gar-brenio beleg um, tithen ben… I Valar galw le ah sîdh pant îdh a nestad sin daw…" ("You have endured such hardship, little one… May the Valar bless you with peaceful rest and healing this night.") Aragorn whispered.