Treville no sooner stepped inside Denis and Jehanne's house than he saw d'Artagnan waiting for him.
"What in the world happened?" he asked immediately.
"D'Artagnan had assumed that Treville knew already, so the question surprised him.
Treville saw his reaction and said, "All I was told by the messenger was that you found Aramis, but also found trouble, and Aramis was hurt." Then, he repeated himself, "What happened?"
After d'Artagnan explained in more detail, Treville whistled as he shook his head. "Richelieu! I knew he was a man of few scruples, but even I thought he had lines he wouldn't cross. Apparently not after this."
Shaking his head again, he continued. "This big man who dragged Aramis out of the house. Do we know who he is?"
A quiet voice from a dark corner of the room spoke up. "He is my brother."
"Laurent," d'Artagnan exclaimed. "That was Mattieu?"
Laurent slowly nodded his head. "To my everlasting shame, yes. And the coward who resides in me hid from him in fear."
D'Artagnan didn't let him get any further. "You are not a coward, Laurent. Anyone who went through what you did at his hands as a child would have done the same. You risked your life rescuing me. You knew what kind of man Mattieu was, as well as the men he led, but your sense of right and wrong, and your compassion spoke much more loudly than anything Mattieu ever tried to drum into your head. You are a very good, caring man who I am proud to know."
Laurent was silent as d'Artagnan spoke, his head still lowered.
Treville walked over to his side, and stuck out his hand. Laurent looked at it, confused, and Treville spoke firmly, "I see no one in front of me except someone who rescued one of my men, even at the risk of his own, and knowing his brother would want to seek revenge someday. Know this, Laurent, if Mattieu ever shows his face as a threat to you, you will have the full force of my regiment on your side."
Laurent, speechless, hesitated a moment, then firmly grasped the Captain's hand. The smile he gave Treville was shy, but with a hint of confidence now shining through.
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Jehanne became both wife and nurse as soon as two of Treville's troop laid Denis down on their bed. She didn't care in the least that their sheets and blankets became soaked with her husband's blood within seconds. She set to work assessing the wound, then cleaning every bit of blood, dirt and debris from the wound area, all the while allowing one hand to keep straying to his cheek to caress it.
Rubbing her ointments into the wound, she then wrapped cloths as tightly as she dared around his torso.
She was already thinking he had a chance, after she saw exactly where the wound was and its condition. Her heart began to pound when she realized this.
"I will pull you through this, my love," she whispered in his ear, hoping he could somehow hear her words. She needed him to fight harder than he had ever fought in his his life-for himself, for her, for them.
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The next time Aramis awakened, he found all three of his brothers, plus the captain, range loosely around. He couldn't help himself. His smile appeared and grew. He felt so blessed to have them as his brothers and his captain.
"Feeling a little cocky with that 'killer elbow', are we?" Porthos teased him.
"How are you feeling, Aramis?" Treville asked, concern in his eyes.
And they heard it for the first time in what seemed like ages.
"I'm fine..."
He got no further as all three of his brothers took him to task at once.
"Aramis," the definite warning note coloring his words as Athos spoke.
"You are teasing us, aren't you?" d'Artagnan's words spoken in disbelief.
"You just slept for fifteen hours, Aramis," came Porthos next. "Have you seen your body lately? You are still scrawny from lack of food, your body is black and blue, riddled with cuts and gashes, and I'm not even going to regale you with the condition of the wound in your side. And you say…" Athos' voice softly but firmly called a halt to Porthos' tirade, well-intentioned as it was meant to be.
Athos had seen the smile gracing Aramis' face slowly fade away, leaving it full of hurt and confusion.
"Aramis," Athos gently began. "You have come so far in your recovery, for which we are very thankful. But you still have a long way yet to go. Do not try to get ahead of yourself, brother."
"We just don't want you to think you can overdo, like you always do when you are injured, "Porthos added, having seen Aramis' crest-fallen face, and now starting to feel guilty.
Aramis' eyes were traveling back and forth to the faces of the four men in front of him. His eyes were already getting heavy-lidded again, a by-product of the total lack of peaceful sleep he had endured
"Aramis," Treville spoke now. "We just want to make sure you heal well. We know you do not like to always be in bed. None of us do. But you need to follow the directions you give us and all your other patients. Rest is essential in healing. You know that better than we do."
Aramis nodded slowly, and was silent for several minutes. Then, no looking at any of them, he said softly, "I'm sorry. You..rescued me. And you have all taken..such good care of me. And I made..a joke, saying I was fine. I..feel better than I have since…."
"Aramis, it's all right. You don't have to explain. We just want you to be well again," Porthos said, feeling guilty that they had all jumped him.
Aramis had finally lost his battle to stay awake, though, and his eyelids had finally closed all the way. Porthos began fussing about him, adjusting the blankets, feeling his forehead to make sure no new temperature had crept in.
The others just smiled as they watched their gentle giant so quiet and tender with Aramis.