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Disclaimer: If I owned the Chronicles of Narnia, then I probably wouldn't be writing a fanfiction for the Chronicles of Narnia.
Blood Poisoning.
The two words terrified Queen Lucy like nothing else. She had heard the stories about it from the healers, been told of the days of fever that it produced, and the immense pain that the afflicted was put through. But these facts had not sunk in until she had seen the red streaks trailing up her brother's leg. The filthy dagger had been removed from Edmund's leg too late. Infection had developed. Lucy had raced to her brother's side, as Peter carried Edmund in from the battle. At the beginning, when the dagger was first removed, the healers had told them that Edmund would be safe. That they wouldn't have to worry. For a while they didn't. Until Lucy noticed the marks. Red streaks were a sure sign of blood poisoning. Lucy's cordial had no power over infections, only injuries. Father Christmas had failed to mention that. Lucy stood up and walked over to the nearest healer. The healer turned around, and, seeing who it was, curtsied politely.
"I believe that King Edmund has blood poisoning." said Lucy.
She could hear the worry that laced her own voice. The healer scrunched her eyebrows, called over another healer, and followed the young Queen to her brother's cot. One healer felt Edmund's pulse, as the other inspected the streaks that Lucy pointed to. The one who was feeling Edmund's pulse gave a quick gasp, and ran to the medicine cabinet. The other, who was looking at the marks, turned to Lucy, and said grimly,
"You are correct."
Lucy felt her heart clench. She sat down in a chair, and focused on breathing as the healers informed her brother and sister about what was going on. She could vaguely hear Susan's gasp of horror, and Peter's outraged exclamation of,
"Well why don't you just use the cordial?"
Lucy looked up to see the healer shake her head.
"I'm sorry High King Peter, but that will not work. The fire-flower juice heals only injuries, not infection."
Lucy could barely hear her own voice as she whispered,
"Will he survive?"
The healer shook her head.
"I don't know."
The first night after the discovery of the blood poisoning, Edmund developed hypothermia. The whole night, all three of the Pevensies held Edmund's hand as over one hundred healers brought blankets, medicine, everything that they could to keep their King alive. Peter fell asleep in his chair at two in the morning, and Susan fell asleep shortly after. Even though she was exhausted, Queen Lucy stayed up the entire night, holding her brother's hand, praying to Aslan that he would pull through.
The second night that the infection ripped through Edmund's body, he had a raging fever. His temperature never went below a 101.1, and they had to keep cool washcloths on his forehead, waking up every half hour to change them. Lucy vowed to herself, that until Edmund healed, she would stay by his bedside, only sleeping and accepting food when absolutely necessary. The healers tried to get her outside, to get a breath of fresh air, warning her that the fever could be contagious. But she didn't care. She just kept holding her brother's hand and praying to Aslan.
The third night was the worst. The healers told her that if Edmund could pull through one last night, then he would be safe. Lucy had trouble believing that. Edmund spent the entire night moaning through a fitful sleep, and having dreams twisted by fever. When he woke up, he was incoherent, and could not eat anything. Finally, after what seemed like years, Edmund settled down, and drifted into sleep. Thanking Aslan, Lucy drifted off too.
When Lucy woke up, she was confused. Instead of the stiff, uncomfortable red chair that she had been sitting in, she was now in her overlarge bed at Cair Paravel. And sitting by her, in one of the velvet-covered chairs was…. Edmund. A little paler than usual, and thinner. But still. He was there. Alive. He was holding her hand, rubbing his thumb across the top of her palm. When he noticed that she was looking at him, a large smile broke across his face.
"Hey, Lu." He said. She gave a small squeak of relief, and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace.
"How did we get back to Cair Paravel? The last thing that I remember was falling asleep in the healer's tent."
Edmund grinned, and smoothed down her hair.
"I woke up about an hour after you fell asleep. Then we traveled back to the Cair. You slept the entire time."
Lucy scrunched her eyebrows together.
"But that's-"
Edmund nodded.
"Three days."
Lucy groaned, and Edmund chuckled. But suddenly he sobered.
"Lucy, is it true that you barely ate or slept the entire time that I was ill?"
She nodded, slightly ashamed.
"Well, I have something to tell you."
Lucy braced herself, prepared to get yelled at. Then Edmund said something that explained the bags under his eyes, and why he looked much thinner than usual.
"I did the same thing."
A/N I know, I know, cheesy ending. But I had to do it :) And, yes, technically speaking, Lucy's cordial didn't heal this time, but pretty please ignore it, because I had to do a chapter with blood poisoning. Please review! It makes my day, and I always read the reviewer's stories, since they took the time to read mine!