Unfortunatly I don't have extensive medical knowledge - all I have is a big book and this big book doesn't tell me how to perform surgery to remove a blood clot from someone's brain so none of the opperation will be in great detail - it probably wouldn't be that interesting anyway. It probably won't be in this chapter though, the next one I think. Also about something in the last chapter. I have no idea how they would know exactly where the blood clot was seeing as they don't have a CT scan or anything, but we'll just have to trust that they have some way of figuring it out.
Also this chapter is dedicated to Viresse for being a faithful reviewer throughout and leaving long thoughtful reviews!
Part Eight
"Elladan," Elrohir whispered as his brother's grip loosened on his hand. "No, please."
Elrond rested a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "He'll be alright Elrohir, I'm not going to let anything happen to him."
Elrohir looked round tears shining in his eyes. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
"I wanted to," Elrond admitted. "Elladan didn't want to say goodbye."
Elrohir looked slightly hurt, and turned his silver gaze on his sleeping brother. "Why would he do that?"
"Elladan said that he'd said all he needed to," Elrond said softly.
Elrohir nodded sadly and Celebrian walked round the bed to sit next to the younger twin pulling the boy into an embrace. "It'll be alright Elrohir," she said trying to comfort the boy. "Your father will make sure nothing happenes."
Elrond suddenly felt sick, Celebrian was not helping his nerves one bit. He wasn't even doing the operation, but the idea that he was going to be in there with his son terrified him. Then again he didn't want to have to wait outside either.
"I'm sorry, but you two have to leave now," Elrond said his voice serious. "I need to find Nesteron and the other healers and then we can operate on him."
Celebrian nodded understanding how hard it was for her husband to try and act like Elladan was just a normal patient. "Come on Elrohir," she said helping the boy to stand up. Elrohir grabbed his brother's hand again and at first the elder elves thought that they might have to fight him to get him out of the room.
Elrohir surprised them though by simply watching Elladan for a silent moment before leaning forwards and whispering in his brother's ear. Whether Elladan could hear him or not none of them would know. "Goodbye 'Dan," Elrohir said quietly. "I'll see you later."
Elrohir turned then, not once looking back as he left the room, trying to convince himself that the tears running down his cheeks weren't there. Celebrian kissed the elder twin on the forehead and gave Elrond a sad smile before following Elrohir out of the room.
Elrond sighed brushing a strand of ebony hair out of his son's face then stood slowly and went away in search of Nesteron.
Elrohir stormed down the corridor to his room ignoring anyone that tried to offer him help or asked what was wrong. There was a great feeling of anger inside him and he didn't know why. At first he had thought it was because Elladan hadn't woken him, but then again his twin had been right. They had said everything that was left to be said. All he wanted to do at this very minute was lock himself in his room and never come out again - at least not until the opperation was finished, if it went well. He didn't want to listen to his mother worrying over what would happen and he didn't want to hear the false reassurances that everything was going to be perfectly fine. Nothing was fine! Everything was horribly wrong.
"Elrohir?" The younger twin was waylaid by Sidhe - the weapons master - in the hall as he made his way to his bedroom.
Elrohir simply tried to pull away, not trusting himself to speak. He kept his eyes averted from the elder elf, his face expressionless. He tried to pull away again, but had no luck, Sidhe held him firmly.
"Elrohir what is the matter?" The warrior asked concerned for the younger elf. "Do you want me to find your mother?"
"No, I'm fine," Elrohir said and felt like laughing at the bitter irony in his words.
"You don't look fine," Sidhe tried to catch Elrohir's silver gaze with his own emerald one, but Elrohir turned away his ebony hair falling across his face. "Elrohir please I am trying to help."
"Let go of me!" The younger elf shouted suddenly his temper reaching boiling point. Sidhe was startled by the sudden outburst, it was not like Elrohir to anger quickly, he was always far calmer than his brother. The weapons master knew something of what had happened to the twins over the past few days, but the healers had been very discreat and no one, save the peredhel family, really knew what was going on. He knew that the twins had been hurt in some way and if Elrohir was acting this way because of some sort of psychological after effect then he could understand. The boy was being irrational now though and the best thing for him was really to be with one of his parents.
"Where is your mother Elrohir?" Sidhe asked still holding onto the elf.
"I don't know!" The younger twin shouted struggling to pull Sidhe off him. Finally, having no other option, Elrohir dug the fingernails of his free hand into the elder elf's skin so hard that it drew blood. Sidhe let go immediatly and Elrohir raced away down the corridor dodging those standing there who moved quickly aside.
As he neared his bedroom Elrohir was grabbed again, but he quickly disentangled himself from whoever had caught him hitting out at anything and everything until the elf let go. This was not proper behavior for a son of Elrond and Elrohir knew it, but he didn't care, all he wanted to do was get to his room.
After what seemed like ages, but was in fact only mere seconds, he reached his room. Elrohir wrenched the door open slamming it behind him, locking it before sliding down the wood to sit on the floor, the tears finally spilling over.
Sidhe rushed to the golden haired elf that was leaning against the wall trying to still the pain in his stomach. "Are you alright?" The younger elf asked the Balrog Slayer. Glorfindel had tried to stop Elrohir in the hall as well and had gotten a similar reaction from Elrohir, probably a worse one.
Glorfindel nodded straightening up. "He's got a strong arm."
"Hmm," Sidhe said glancing down at his own arm which was now marred with what looked like claw marks.
"Glorfindel, Sidhe!" Celebrian called hurrying down the hall towards them her face worried, she had lost Elrohir when he had broken into a run and now had no idea where he had gone. "Have you seen Elrohir?"
Glorfindel nodded. "Yes actually."
"Where is he? Where did he go?" The Elven Lady's worried cerulean eyes suddenly caught sight of Sidhe's arm. "What happened to your arm?"
"Your son happened to my arm," Sidhe snapped. The elf shook himself inwardly. "I apologise my Lady, I just did not expect that sort of behavior from him, it is my fault really."
"What happened?" Celebrian asked the pair worried about Elrohir. She couldn't believe that he would have done something like that, it was not like him at all. He would have to apologise to the Weapons Master later, but right now she was more worried about Sidhe.
"Elrohir looked upset so I asked him what was wrong," Sidhe explained. "He wouldn't answer me so I asked him if he wanted me to get you for him. He still wouldn't answer me, he kept on saying that he was alright and asked me to let go." Sidhe looked at Celebrian apologetically. "I should have probably just let him go then, but I thought it would be best to find either you or Lord Elrond. He just wanted to go so he dug his fingernails into my arm and I let go of him."
"I apologise for my son's behavior Sidhe," Celebrian said knowing that there was need for formality despite the fact she simply wanted to find Elrohir. "His brother isn't very well," she admitted, she knew she could trust the Weapons Master. "I fear he has changed somewhat in the past few days, although I know that is no excuse. I will make sure he apologises to you later, I am very sorry Sidhe."
"It is alright my Lady," the Weapons Master said quickly. "I think that your son needs you now."
"Thank you Sidhe," Celebrian said as Sidhe inclined his head in acknowledgment and walked away.
"Elrohir went to his room," Glorfindel answered the question before Celebrian could even ask him, knowing what she would say. "He was in quite a state, is Elladan alright?"
"Elladan is being prepared for the operation," Celebrian said sadly. "Elrohir... well he feels like we all do, but I think it is harder for him." Celebrian really did not know how it could be harder than it seemed to be for her, but the twins were conected in some way that made it far worse. They had probably inherited the some psychic skills from both Elrond and Galadriel. "I should probably talk to him, being on his own will do him no good," Celebrian decided walking down the hall towards Elrohir's room, the Balrog Slayer following in her wake.
When they reached Elrohir's room the Elven Lady tried the door handel only to find that the door had been locked. She wondered vaguely why they had allowed the twins to have locks on their doors, it had never really aided anyone. Whenever the twins had a spat or they didn't want to talk to anyone then they would end up locked in their rooms for hours.
She sighed heavily and knocked on the door. "Elrohir?"
Elrohir didn't make a sound not moving from where he sat leant against the door, although he tried to hide the sound of his tears. It didn't work, however, he sniffed rather loudly and Celebrian's sharp ears heard.
"Elrohir please let me in," Celebrian said kneeling down so that she was level with where she knew her son was sitting.
"I'm fine Nana," Elrohir managed his voice only a little choked. "I just want to be on my own."
"Elrohir please, if not for you then for me," Celebrian begged. "I need to be with you now, even if you don't want me to."
"No," Elrohir whispered standing up and walking to his bed laying down on his front - his back was still giving him some trouble - his head burried in the pillows. His mother continued to call him, but he was no longer listening, he wasn't going to come out and nothing on Arda would make him. He needed to be alone now, he needed to think. He could still feel Elladan, he knew his brother was still there, he was alive - for now. It was just a matter of waiting really, and deep down Elrohir knew it, he was waiting for that tearing feeling again, like his soul was being broken in half. He knew it would happen again and this time he feared that it would indeed shatter his soul.
Celebrian sat in the hallway for a long while, Glorfindel standing beside her. Her voice had nearly gone hoarse from calling to Elrohir and her worry for her elder son was growing minute by minute. The balrog slayer had tried to help her encourage the boy to open the door, but his efforts were in vein. It angered the ancient elf to see that Elrohir was causing his mother pain, however unintentional it was, the poor Lady had been through enough.
"Elrohir," Celebrian said her hand beating lightly on the wood.
When Elrohir didn't answer Glorfindel stepped in hammering on the door. "Elrohir let your mother in this instance, you're causing her grief that she doesn't need right now!"
There was a shuffling sound from inside the room and Glorfindel was glad that he had at least made the elf consider moving. Celebrian was looking at him a little shocked, but he ignored her. He knew he had no right to shout at her son, but he had known the twins since they were born and had always been a good friend of both Celebrian and Elrond. The Elven Lady would never shout at her sons, she wasn't that sort of person - and that was Elrond's job. Sometimes she really needed to muster up the courage to yell at them, sometimes the twins took advantage of her soft nature. Normally neither of them knew they were doing it, but they did all the same. Celebrian was a very selfless person and sometimes she had to concentrate on what she needed and not everyone around her.
The door opened suddenly and Elrohir's blotchy, tear stained, face appeard. He looked away as his mother stood up, unable to meet her gaze, trying to hide the tears that were rolling down his cheeks with a curtain of ebony hair. The younger elf turned back to his room and both of the elder elves followed him before he could shut the door on them again.
"Elrohir?" Celebrian asked as the youth sat down on his bed not looking at anyone.
"Sorry," the younger elf whispered.
"There is nothing to be sorry for," Celebrian said quickly sitting down next to the boy and wrapping an arm about his shoulders.
"No there is," Elrohir replied. "I was wrong to shut you out when you only wanted to help, Glorfindel was right, I was being selfish."
Celebrian pulled her son tighter to her, her cheek rested against the top of his head. "Well, although I still feel that you need not apologise, if it makes you feel better you are forgiven. I can understand how hard this is for you."
Glorfindel watched them both sadly, wondering idly which of the two elves this was hurting more. In a normal case he would have suspected that the parent was the one who was being put through the most grief - although the difference would have been a slim one. Elladan and Elrohir, however, were quite a different case. They could tell what the other was thinking, they knew how to help each other sometimes when no one else could. They were two halves of the same soul as the Valar had obviously meant them to be. To Elrohir it must have felt like part of him was dying.
"Thank you Nana," Elrohir said his voice was tired and full of sorrow, his face troubled and etched in misery. Celebrian was wearing a similar expression, but there were no tears in her crystal blue eyes. The Elven Lady was beyond tears now.
Celebrian simply smiled wistfully at her son's voice realizing sadly how small it sounded. She wondered how her husband was coping with actually being in the room with Elladan. Celebrian didn't know whether waiting was harder than actually being in there. She hated waiting and found dread clutching at her heart as she remembered her Elladan's words before he had fallen asleep. She should have stayed with him a little longer, she should have talked to him, sat with him. What if it had been the last time she would ever see Elladan alive?
She shuddered, thinking like that would not help, she had to stay posative. The Valar would not be so cruel, would they? Now that she thought about it she was not so sure.
Elrohir's eyes flickered up to the balrog slayer and he wondered if he was in trouble with the two elder elves, he knew it had been Glorfindel that he had hit - although at that moment his mind had been set on escaping.
"I'm sorry about hitting you Glorfindel," Elrohir said when the balrog slayers sapphire eyes turned on him. "I wasn't thinking I just-"
His words were cut off by an abrupt cry of agony and the young elf lurched forwards in his mother's hold. A sudden pain, exploded in the youth's chest, ripping, tearing, burning. His chest was on fire, and the air had been stolen from his lungs.
"Elrohir!" Celebrain cried terrified by the sudden turn of events. What in Arda was happening? Was there something seriously wrong with Elrohir? Something Elrond had overlooked? How could her husband have been so careless? She clung to her son tightly, terrified, tears of fear and panic stinging her eyes at the expression of pure agony on Elrohir's face, his lips parted in a silent scream. Glorfindel raced across the room as the boy pitched forwards again, breaking out of his mother's tight hold. The Balrog Slayer caught the young elf before he hit the floor and Celebrian dropped down beside them as Glorfindel supported the boy's shaking body.
Elrohir couldn't breath, he was in agony, if he didn't know better he would say that a sword had just been driven through his heart slicing the whole way through him. Then pain exploded in his brain and he saw - if it could be called seeing - the thing was that he knew, it didn't matter whether he saw or not he just knew.
"Elladan," the boy choked, gasping for the air that was being denied to him. "Elladan..."
"What is it Elrohir?" Celebrian asked as her son's eyes slipped out of focus, she had seen Elrond do that before and her mother. Elrohir was either close to unconsciousness from pain or he was seeing something. "Elrohir what is the matter? What has happened to your brother?"
Elrohir was shaking badly now, swet beading on his forehead, his face going deathly pale, his lips turning blue. The murmered whispers were impossible to interprate, but Celebrian could see her son's lips forming his brother's name over and over again. His eyes were still unseeing, they were glazing over now and the elder elves didn't know what to do. They just knew that they had to do something and quick!
Celebrian was completely terrified, fear seizing her heart when she realized that she may be loosing both her son's. "It's Elladan," she whispered suddenly in understanding, her mind refusing to believe it. "Elladan... he's dying..."
Glorfindel looked at her wide, pale blue eyes suddenly too shocked to move. He tried to get his unresponsive brain to remember what he should do, there had to be some form of basic medical knowledge inside of him that would help Elrohir. He had been trained in basics and of course being a trusted friend of the best healer in the whole of Arda had it's advantages, but his mind wouldn't work properly. He hadn't felt this helpless since years ago - thousands of years ago when he had been very young and trying to remember the answer to a particularily hard mathmatical equation. It seemed like eons ago now - which come to think of it, it was. Ai,he had to concentrate, why was it that when the life of his friend's son was at stake the only thing he could thing about was his own child hood?
Celebrian's mind seemed to be working far better than the Balrog Slayer's at the moment, she grabbed the young elf laying him on the floor to help his breathing, clutching his hand. Well mayhap that was all she could think to do at the moment, but it was better than just sitting there.
Elrohir's world seemed like it was literally turned upside down, and in that moment there was nothing he or anyone else could do about it. His mind had put a hold on time, his body twitching as the pain shot through him. The only thing he could think about was Elladan. His brother was dying, his brother was leaving him. He knew he couldn't survive without his twin - and at the moment it seemed that he didn't have a choice, he was being dragged under with him.
Another sharp starb of pain pierced his heart, radiating outwards through out him, until it felt like his body was on fire. His vision was going dark and he wondered if it was the end. He wondered if this was hurting his brother as much as him, but no, death was supposed to be peaceful, like falling into a great slumber - not like this. Then a terrible thought struck him and he cried his brother's name at the very idea of it, screamed for Elladan to stay with him. He himself was not dying. This searing pain was not the welcoming arms of death, it was the feeling of his brother being viciously torn away from him, somewhere where he himself could not follow.
The pain grew stronger the intense feeling making the young elf shake in shock as part of himself was torn from his being - from the very fibre of his soul.
"Elladan," Elrohir whispered, his voice hoarse from crying. "Fight it, muindor, saesa..."
A scream was torn from the boy's throat as the final wave of fire far more terrible than the other's shot through him, blinding him, deafening him to nothing but the white hot pain. Then he was falling into darkness his last thoughts of his brother, now lost to him forever.
Sorry for the cliff hanger and one thousand apologies for not updating sooner. I've recently started working at the stables near my house to get work experience for a future job (hopefully) so now I have even less time - and then there are the sats in May...
Please review!
ElvenHope!
I am sorry if I have not replied to reviews that have been sent, I am a forgetfull person, I still really do appreciate them and try find the timeto reply -- when I remember.