A/N: Okay I managed to get this finished quicker than I expected, so here it is, chapter 5! Enjoy :D
December Desolation Chapter 5
Etienne heaved a shuddering breath as he desperately blinked against the tears burning at the back of his eyes, what was taking Treville so long!
Aramis had settled slightly, flailing movements slowing to a disturbed tossing, which was even more worrying as his breaths began to come as wheezes.
The only reason he could even tell that his brother was still breathing was from the slow rise and fall of his chest.
"Damn it Aramis" his voice hitched painfully "next time you offer to teach first aid, I'm the first in line!"
Swiping a sleeve across his face to catch the tears he carried on "I wish I could do more for you brother but I'm here, okay, you aren't alone!"
He punctuated his tearful words with a hard squeeze to the Spaniards hand that he dearly hoped punctured the burning haze of fever.
The door banged open loudly as Treville stormed in, visibly fuming to such an extent that it seemed jets of steam were flowing from his ears, fists clenched with the noise of creaking leather.
"Captain!" Etienne cried desperately, "he's hurt"
"Yes son, I know but a fever is treatable" Treville soothed calmly, placing a comforting hand on his soldiers shoulder.
"No Captain, you don't understand... He's been shot!" He contradicted, shaking his head emphatically.
The atmosphere of the room suddenly became charged with disbelief and fear, so strong that it could be cut with a knife.
Treville's already pale face drained of any remaining colour and for a moment, Etienne worried that he would pass out, swaying dangerously on his feet.
Then his face hardened, becoming the picture of control and business that kept the Garrison running through even the hardest times, and instilled such a deep respect and trust in all his men.
"Right Serge, get Doctor Lemay!" He barked out the order without even sparing a glance towards the poor bewildered cook, "I had hoped it wouldn't be necessary, but knowing Aramis, I should have called him from the start"
A helpless snort sounded from Etienne, a cross between a laugh and a sob tearing at Treville's heart.
"Etienne, son, look at me"
He waited until tear glazed blue eyes locked absently with his own and smiled reassuringly.
"You have done well, Aramis will be fine. I need you to stay right where you are okay, keep holding his hand. Can you do that for me son?"
The shell shocked man nodded shakily in response, heartened by the Captains confidence.
"'Thos" came a hoarse moan from the top of the bed followed by a weak whimper.
"Shh Aramis it's alright" Etienne soothed quietly, "we're here"
"No, P'thos, 'Thos, D'art, no" he whimpered tossing his head weakly back and forth, almost as if he were searching for the missing men within his mind.
"Shit, they should be here" Treville growled angrily, as he grabbed a bowl of water from the cooks hand, sloshing it dangerously around the edges.
Almost simultaneously, there came a thunderous knocking upon the door, the sturdy oak vibrating in its frame with the force of the blows.
"Jesus" Treville swore as he swung the door open violently, "what the hell do you want!"
The other three quarters of the inseparables stood sheepishly in the doorway of the room, hats held limply in hands and contrite expressions plastered across their faces.
"Captain please" Athos begged uncharacteristically emotional, "we made a mistake, let us see our brother!"
The other two nodded vigorously at their leaders words, almost like sheep following along with each other.
They quailed under the full force of their Captains heated glare and narrowed eyes, fixing their most penitent expressions upon their faces in an attempt to inspire pity.
"Fine" Treville ground out, tone clipped and short. "But only because Aramis needs you"
The men visibly deflated with relief and swarmed into the room like a breaking wave, settling around the cramped bedside and staring in horror at their brothers sallow skin, contrasting shockingly with the bright glow of fever high upon his cheeks.
"Christ" Porthos breathed in dismay, "what happened Mis?"
"We were hoping you could tell us that" Etienne breathed thickly, bringing all eyes to land on him as his hand tightened its grip on Aramis', to the extent that his knuckles turned a sickening shade of white. "I for one don't understand how this could have happened"
The three inseparables flinched backwards visibly in the face of Etienne's threatening tone and subtle dig, he raised his head and glared defiantly at the three men, allowing them to see the evidence of his worry in the glistening tear tracks, red eyes and blotchy skin.
"Etienne are you alright?" D'artagnan asked, voice dripping concern at the state of a fellow musketeer that they were considerably closer to than the rest of the recruits, having trusted him to aid them in a few missions.
Silence reigned in the small room.
Etienne's shoulders began to shake with tremors, almost as if an earthquake were shaking the foundations of his body, fists clenching tightly as he stood up in a flash.
"Alright, ALRIGHT" he began to laugh somewhat manically."Am I alright he asks!"
As abruptly as it had begun the laughter ended, replaced with harsh sobbing that was almost harder to bear in a way.
"No, no i'm not okay" he shook his head repeatedly from side to side, "if we lose him... I will NEVER forgive you" he whispered vehemently before returning silently to his seat and taking up the limp hand of his brother once again.
"O..kay" D'artagnan frowned, giving Etienne a look that clearly displayed his opinion that the man had lost his mind, "but Mis is fine isn't he, just having flashbacks?" he queried in confusion wondering at why Etienne believed they would lose their brother.
At that point Treville had reached the end of his tether and barged his way past his dumbfounded men.
"You. Sit down. Now. Silent" he barked out orders in quick succession, setting the bowl of water down on the bed by Aramis' thigh.
Treville kept up a litany of soothing words as he began to cut away the fabric of Aramis' breeches with a sharp dagger, hissing through his teeth at the jagged skin surrounding the bullet hole. "It's alright Aramis" he placated as the man began to writhe in pain as he gently prodded at the edges of the wound and searched patiently for an exit wound at the back of the leg.
He cursed again for what felt like the hundredth time that night and wondered why this poor man could not catch a break, removing a bullet was not a pretty process.
"I need the extractors Etienne"
What colour was left in the man's face immediately drained away at his Captains request "No" he whispered horrified before reaching into the pack Serge had placed beside him and withdrawing the hated bullet extractors.
"Wait! He was shot! Where! When!" Porthos cried, feeling tears begin to well up at the back of his eyes, the familiar burning attacking his senses.
"SILENCE" Treville roared "or I will not hesitate to order you to leave and court marshal you if you refuse" he threatened.
Taking the silence as their acquiescence, he gripped the scissor like implement in steady hands and approached the wound, pausing before the rounded paddles reached the ragged skin he addressed Etienne quietly "Hold him down son"
With a quiet sob Etienne did as he was told, leaning on his brothers chest and gripping each arm with a hand, pressing him firmly to the surface of the cot. Once satisfied that Aramis was not going to move and make a painful procedure a hundred times worse, Treville began to work the metal extractor into the gaping wound and search for the bullet.
As the metal sank deeper, inch by inch into his thigh Aramis began to buck and whimper crying out against the burning that was attacking his leg with a vengeance, pleas dropping from his lips with quiet intensity.
Minutes went by with Aramis' thrashing growing weaker and Treville's expression growing eternally more grim as he failed to locate the foreign object lodged in the wound.
Just as he was about to give up hope on ever finding it, the paddles of the extractor made contact with something hard, holding his breath and hardly daring to hope, Treville opened the paddles wide and gained a grip on the bullet.
Slowly, slowly he began to pull the extractors backwards out of the wound, keeping a firm grip on the bullet between them, sweat dripping down his back as the stress of the situation finally began to get to him. Suddenly the extractors slipped and the bullet slick with blood shot out of his grasp, pulling a pained gasp from Aramis as it dug into his flesh once more, extractors pulling uncomfortably on the edges of the wound. As Treville began to replace the extractors to attempt once again to remove the bullet, a soft voice interrupted him from behind.
"Captain, just use your fingers" Athos whispered, tears clear in his voice as he was forced to watch helplessly as his brother was in pain "once it's that close to the surface, it's easier to just use your fingers... Mis told me"
With a curt nod to the man behind him, Treville turned back to the task at hand and after taking a deep breath plunged his fingers into the bullet hole. Getting a firm grip on the elusive bullet he pulled it from the wound and heaved a massive sigh of relief, that was mirrored by all occupants of the room. He doused the jagged wound with a healthy amount of alcohol, dearly wishing that he could be drinking it instead, and began to shakily thread a needle to stitch the ragged skin back together as best as possible.
"He won' be best pleased by that Capn" Porthos laughed tearfully once Treville had finished his stitching, "you know how finicky he is about needlework"
"That I do Porthos, that I do" Treville replied smiling wryly as he bandaged the freshly stitched wound as tight as he dared, draping a wet towel over Aramis' forehead in an attempt to combat the fever that was slowly rising.
A peaceful silence settled over the room as the frantic motion died down. all that could be done for Aramis having been completed and now all that was left was the waiting game, to see if his fever would break, if infection would set in and most importantly if he would wake up and recover from this latest ordeal.
Despite the anger that Treville harboured towards his three men, he allowed them to remain in the room, their regret and sadness obvious in their faces and postures, but also a large amount of fear and desperation as they faced the fact that this might be it.
They might lose Aramis here, and four would become three.
A/N: Well personally I am really happy with this chapter! I hope you liked it and please review, let me know what you think! Also thank you so much to all of you who are keeping up with this story and reviewing it really helps me keep writing! I do try and address any questions or advice in the following chapter but if there is anything that I haven't cleared, that you still aren't sure of or would like to ask me then please let me know :D The next chapter should be up by next week!
