Hey guys! I know it's been a while. I really didn't mean to go this long without updating, but school and life and ... yannow how it is. Anyway, here's a new chapter! Hope you all enjoy it :))))
Halt and Gilan sat in the cabin, catching up and discussing the going-ons in their feifs. Gilan had been unable to see Will and Halt since their return from Skandia when they had spent days in Araluen, and he was eager to catch up with his fellow rangers. His arrival had been unexpected but welcome, and Halt knew that Will would be overjoyed to see Gilan.
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a shrill whinny from outside the cabin. Halt immediately identified it as Tug.
"Will," he said urgently. He got up from his chair, knocking it back in the process, and rushed out the door. Gilan followed closely behind.
Outside, they saw a pale Will slumped against Alyss in the saddle. Both Alyss and Will had a considerable amount of blood on them, and Halt rushed to help them.
"What happened?" Gilan asked. He helped Alyss down as Halt grabbed Will and carried him into the cabin. Gilan rushed in to clear off the dining table so Halt could lay Will down.
Now settled, the oldest ranger could look at Will more closely. The entire left side of Will's tunic was covered in blood, and Halt couldn't tell where the bleeding was coming from.
"It's his shoulder," Alyss said. "He wouldn't let me treat it, so we hurried here instead." Her eyes full of concern and question, it clicked for Halt.
His shoulder. His back. His scars.
Halt turned to Alyss.
"We've got this from here. You should go back to the castle and get cleaned up." Even though he looked meaningfully at the blood staining Alyss' hands and tunic, she caught the underlying message.
"I don't know what you're hiding from me, but please don't make me leave, Halt. I can wait outside, but please don't make me leave."
Halt considered for a second, then nodded. "The bathhouse is in the back if you'd like to clean up there."
Alyss nodded her thanks before she walked outside, casting one last concerned glance in Will's direction. Then she was gone.
The air in the room instantly filled with urgency as Halt turned to Gilan. "Help me flip him onto his stomach - gently."
Together they rolled the apprentice over. Gilan rushed to the cabinet he knew contained the medical kit and brought it back. He gave Halt a knife to cut open Will's shirt with.
As the knife cut through the fabric, Halt spoke quietly to Gilan, "You're about to see something, and there is no way for me to really prepare you for it. Just. . . don't ask now, and I'll explain later."
And with that, Will's shirt was off and his back was visible. Among the blood on his back, there was a deep cut on his shoulder, and Halt grabbed a clean cloth from the kit and held pressure.
"Boil some water, Gilan. We need to get this cleaned and stitched up."
Gilan got up and did as Halt asked. As the water heated, he walked back over to where Halt was taking care of Will. There was so much blood covering his back that it was hard to tell what exactly had happened, so Gilan went in for a closer look. That's when he saw them.
It was hard to tell with the current state of the boy's back, but Gilan could still see the unmistakable lines marring his back. His stomach dropped, and he looked to Halt, horror plain on his face. But Halt only shook his head.
"Check the water, Gilan."
Gilan hesitated, then walked back to the kitchen. He returned a few minutes later with a bucket of water that had cooled. Sitting down next to Halt, he grabbed a clean cloth, dampened it with water, and began cleaning the Will's back. The scars looked even worse than he first thought.
As Gilan did his task, Halt got out the supplies he would need to stitch up the wound.
Once Halt had everything situated, he began the stitches.
As he dug the needle into Will's skin , the boy woke up with a groan. Gilan leaned down to Will's head and spoke softly to him. "Stay still, Will. I know it hurts, but try not to move."
Will opened his eyes. "Gilan?"
Gilan smiled, a bit sadly, and answered. "It's me, buddy. I'm here. Now don't move."
Will grunted, "Mmkay, I'll try."
"Are we ready?" Halt asked. Gilan looked from Halt to Will, then back to Halt.
"Yeah, do it."
Halt pushed the needle in, and Will's whole body tensed. Halt looked to Gilan, who placed one strong hand on Will's good shoulder, and the other on his back. "I got him. Keep going."
It took a few minutes to finish the stitches. Will was mostly quiet the whole time, but by the end his face was damp with sweat and tears.
"All done. Here, let's move you to a seat," Halt said.
He went to help Will sit up, but as Will went to move his shoulder, he cried out in pain.
Halt's annoyance for the boy's hasty actions was dampened by his concern, and he asked, "Are you okay?"
"It really hurts, Halt."
Halt and Gilan made eye contact, and both felt the urge to mentally facepalm. In their haste to treat the obvious cut, they both forgot to check for any other injuries.
Halt helped Will to sit up, more slowly this time. "Gilan, get over here and help him stay up," Halt ordered.
Gilan did so, and Halt moved to Will's back, where he carefully felt around and manipulated his shoulder. He pulled away with a tsk.
"It's dislocated. I'm going to have to pop it back in." He looked at Will. "This won't be pleasant."
Will mumbled to himself, "Not like it's my first unpleasant experience."
Gilan looked at Halt, who froze. Halt took a deep breath, struggling to control the flood of emotions. After a few moments of awkward silence, he turned to Will.
"Are you ready?" Halt asked. Will nodded shortly. Gilan adjusted his grip on him and nodded as well.
"Okay, on the count of three. One, two, -"
On two Halt pushed Will's arm and his shoulder back into its socket. Will yelped in pain, then slumped into Gilan's arms. He was barely conscious at this point.
Between the pain and the fading adrenaline, Will suddenly realized how exhausted he was. Gilan seemed to realize as well, and turned to Halt. "Can you help me move him?"
Halt nodded. "We'll lay him on the couch, here. We can both take care of him easier, and you can stay in his room."
Together they lifted Will and laid him down on the couch. Once he was settled, Halt set Gilan to bandaging Will's stitches and putting his injured arm into a sling, while he searched for a loose shirt for Will.
Halt walked back into the room as Gilan was opening a jar of warmweed salve, and jumped. "Not that one," he whispered loudly.
Gilan was puzzled. "What do you mean? We always use this one."
"Will doesn't," Halt said. He walked over to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a nearly empty jar of another salve. "Use this one. I'll explain later."
Gilan frowned. "You keep saying that."
"And I mean it," Halt responded with finality. "C'mon, let's finish this up. I'm sure Alyss is pacing a hole in my veranda."
Once all was done, Gilan went out to find Alyss. She was sitting in the smaller of the two chairs, and she practically jumped out of her seat at the sight of Gilan.
"Ohh, you rangers love to just magically appear, don't you," she said breathlessly. "How is he?"
She still has blood covering the front of her tunic, now dried. But she had washed it off her hands.
"He's fine. We fixed his shoulder, and he's resting now. You can come in and see him, if you'd like."
He opened the door, and followed behind her as she walked in.
Inside, Will was laying on the couch, a thin blanket on top of him, and the fire was blazing. Halt sat in a chair at the table nursing a cup of coffee.
Alyss walked over to Will and placed one hand on the side of his sleeping face. "Oh, you will be hearing a mouthful once you wake up, you fumblefoot, you."
Halt waited a moment, then spoke. "Alyss, I'm heading to the castle to get some more medicines for Will. I can take you there with me so you clean yourself up." He saw her hesitate. "You're welcome to come back later this evening, when he's awake."
She saw the sense in his offer, but still paused.
"No one says no to a ranger," said Gilan, gently.
Alyss smiled. Lady Pauline does, she thought. But still, she knew she should leave
Saying goodbye to Gilan, who would stay and look after Will, Alyss followed Halt out. All that was left in the cabin was a sleeping boy, a concerned young man, and the heat from the fire.
Soooo here's the deal. I wrote this chapter a while ago, then forgot about it. So i am kind of out of the swing of things. But I have a vague plan written out and hopefully I'll be able to get the hang of it, again. I probably won't have a very regular update schedule, but I will try to not let it go that long between updates again. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter and that you're doing well! I'll see y'all next time ;)