CHAPTER 4

"Horatio? Horatio?"

Archie leaned over his friend, looking down at him hopefully as he began to stir, before rushing to the bedroom door in a state of feverish elation to instruct someone – anyone – to inform Captain Pellew that Horatio finally appeared to be showing signs of regaining consciousness. Archie had been busy reading – seated in his usual position in the hard wooden seat pulled up close to Horatio's bedside – and had looked up from his page, only briefly pausing mid-flow to check on his friend.

It was nothing more than false hope which had caused him to abandon his idle occupation every time Horatio showed the slightest sign of life – for, as he had explained to Captain Pellew only days before, his condition had remained constant and he had shown no signs of improvement since they had first docked at port – and so it was that he inevitably had allowed his gaze to reluctantly return to his book.

It had been one Horatio had lent him, and Archie had sought comfort in it – being one of the last gifts his friend had given him before the assault upon him. He had found some of it most useful – especially if he hoped to rise in the ranks himself someday. Although some of the subject matter was perhaps a little tedious and hard going at times, and he had taken a break from his page to watch the gentle rise and fall of his friend's ribcage and reassure himself that he was at least still alive.

He had risen gingerly from his seat and flinched as his stiff and aching legs had nearly given way beneath him. He hadn't eaten and had barely drank in days, and was beginning to feel the effects of many sleepless nights. There had been no work to do here apart from watch over his friend, and no obvious danger to keep him on his toes – lest Horatio should wake up to an empty room and a strange and unfamiliar bed whilst his men slept and dined and drank their heavy hearts into a numb oblivion. What did it matter if he had had to sacrifice his health for the sake of his friend's life? He asked himself.

"Archie…" Horatio muttered with a small smile as he prised his eyes open.

"Shhhh…" Archie put a finger to his friend's cracked lips to silence him, but true to form Horatio could not be silenced and with a wince of pain he started to try and elevate himself into a sitting position.

"Horatio just lie there and rest awhile." Archie bade him softly, applying a gentle pressure to his friend's shoulders and easing him gently back down onto the bed – tears of relief welling in his eyes. "I can hardly believe that you're awake." He sighed quietly, almost as though he were talking to himself, and silence lapsed between them for a while after that.

Archie thought that his friend may have fallen asleep again.

"I thought I heard you call me in my sleep." He finally spoke however, unable to bare the silence between them any longer, and needing to say something, anything, to fill the void – even if that meant talking to himself.

"I did." Horatio responded much to his friend's surprise. "I guess I just wasn't quite ready." He smiled.

"And now?" Archie asked him.

"I'm sick of sleep." Horatio managed a laugh, before weakly asking, "How long have I been asleep?"

"Close to a month." Archie answered honestly – his lip quivered visibly with the memory of the past few weeks, and this made his voice crack slightly as he sucked in a large intake of breath to steady his shattered nerves. "You gave us all such a scare Horatio, so many times we thought we had lost you…. I've never known so many of the men so quiet!" He added with a smile.

"How are they all?" Horatio asked, thinking back to the evening he had sustained his injury.

"A little subdued maybe." Archie considered. "They'll be all the better to hear that you've finally decided to return to us." He explained. "Physically, most escaped serious injury, just minor cuts and bruises for the most part."

"I'm glad." Hornblower smiled upon hearing this.

"The Captain will be relieved to know you are awake." Archie told him.

"What, he's been here?" Horatio asked.

"Every day since we docked, he's been a shadow of himself for the past few weeks." Archie's voice was hollow as he explained.

"Poor old Pellew." Horatio grinned affectionately.

"He saved your life." Archie pointed out – although rather needlessly. He'd been unconscious for most of the time since receiving his gunshot injury, but he'd had some periods of lucidity, and Hornblower remembered enough about what had happened to him to be aware of the fact that he owed the Captain his life.

"I know," He replied, "and I am forever in his debt."

Archie seemed to be about to respond to this but there suddenly came a knock upon the door and Styles and Mathews entered cautiously before he could say the words which he'd been about to speak – both smiling broadly at the sight of the young Hornblower.

"Sorry to intrude sir," Mathews spoke first, "but we had to come and see for ourselves if what people are saying was true."

"No need to apologise Mathews, come in." Horatio's speech was growing stronger by the minute as he was reunited with his friends one by one. "It's good to see you." He smiled at the man.

"Not 'alf as great as it is to see you sir!" Styles grinned like a Cheshire cat.

"I can't tell ya how glad we are to see such an improvement in ya sir!" Mathews smiled. "I must admit there was a moment back there when we thought we may have lost ya."

"Yes… well…" Horatio faltered, his smile wavering a little with the thought of what very nearly may have been.

"Sorry sir, I didn't mean to…" Mathews checked himself, recognising the pain in the slight quiver of Hornblower's voice and realising that the events of the past few weeks must still have been very fresh and raw in the young officer's mind. Horatio raised a hand in protest however, indicating to Mathews that an apology was not necessary.

"Oh, Mr Kennedy before I forget some of the men have been asking for you sir, I think it's regarding the young Mr. Hornblower's condition." Styles said. Each man regarded the other knowingly.

"Well I had better go and humour them then." Archie grinned. "Perish the thought that we should keep them waiting any longer." He joked, looking at Horatio who weakly returned the gesture. "Although I must admit that there has been something vaguely refreshing about their new found calm these past weeks."

Horatio smiled.

"If you don't mind I'll come with you sir." Styles informed him. "Now that Mr Hornblower seems to be on the mend I have a few things I need to do before my shore leave ends."

Archie nodded.

"Will you be ok?" He asked, turning to his friend.

"I'll stay with him sir." Mathews offered. "You go do what needs to be done."

Archie looked at the older man gratefully, although still stole one last glance at Horatio – who nodded briefly to his friend in reassurance that this was alright – before Styles and Kennedy left.

Both Hornblower and Matthews sat in silence for a while after the two men had left, but as soon as Horatio was sure that Archie must by now be a safe distance away from his rooms he tried yet again to heave himself to a sitting position – taking the older seaman by surprise.

"What are you doing sir?" Mathews asked, taken aback by the young man's uncharacteristically rash actions, and immediately concerned.

"I'm getting up." Horatio strained to speak through the pain, which had again gripped his abdomen.

"Oh… no sir… I really don't think that's such a good idea." Mathews tried to reason with him – not prone to panic but uneasy non-the-less, and knowing that his words would most likely be falling upon deaf ears before they had even parted from his lips. "I'm not sure Mr Kennedy would approve." He reasoned, hoping to inspire Horatio into submission.

"Well he's not here." Horatio pointed out bluntly – pain lowering the natural good humour which had made him so popular amongst his men. "Now help me up!" He demanded of the man.

"Sir?" Mathews pleaded with him one last time. "This is not the way, you could do yourself further injury!"

"That's an order Mathews!" Horatio barked at him however, and with that the old seaman knew that he was beaten. He gently pulled the covers back from the bed, exposing Horatio's thin and pale legs – he looked so weak Mathews wondered if he would even be able to support himself, let alone walk unaided – but the young officer was determined. He wrapped Horatio's bony arm around his shoulders and heaved him up until they were both standing. Horatio wobbled slightly but Mathews refused to let him fall. Suddenly Horatio pulled away from him abruptly and as Mathews grip was realised with the surprise the young officer stumbled and fell to his knees with a harsh thud.

"DAMN!" Horatio cursed, thumping the mahogany floor with his fist in frustration.

"Never mind sir, you'll find your sea legs again in no time." Mathews reassured him as he helped him back into bed, but to his surprise Horatio hardly seemed to hear him as he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

"It's just gonna take time." Mathews whispered to him as he took Archie's place watching over the young man – seated in the hard wooden seat beside his bed.

He couldn't help but smile – despite the young man's evident frustration and lack of energy for the first time in a very long time he finally felt confidently reassured that Hornblower would eventually make a full recovery…