We'll Bleed For This Cause
A/N: A special shout out to Hirundine for your wonderful (and huge) review! Also, I love to reply to people via PM to personally thank them for reviews and answer any questions so if you want to receive that please make sure you have PM turned on! And thank you to everyone who has reviewed, faved, or put this story on an alert list 3
Chapter 7: Head Trauma
Confined to the center of camp where Wynne could keep an eye on her had Elissa feeling like a little girl again. When she had returned from their her trip into the forest sporting a bump almost the size of an egg and a small cut on her head, the older woman had sat her down with a stern look and told her not to move. Elissa hadn't argued while Wynne simultaneously looked over the injury and lectured her on the detrimental effects of multiple head wounds in a short space of time. Then Wynne had cleaned the cut, wrapped a bandage around her head, and instructed her to stay by the fire and not do anything overly taxing for the rest of the night.
So there Elissa sat, leaning back against the large log they had been using as a seat and throwing twigs into the fire with a frown. Her head still hurt, and the bandaged wrapped around it itched. She had been prodding and pulling at the material earlier but Leliana had slapped her hand away and told her not to touch it. Since then she made sure to only scratch at the material when she was sure no one was looking, which wasn't often because somehow Wynne had talked everyone into keeping an eye on her.
She reached for another twig to throw into the flames and found her little pile had run out. After searching the ground around her, Elissa established that she had already gathered all the twigs within reach and was now effectively left with nothing to do. With an exaggerated sigh she slouched down even further.
"Are you quite done?" Wynne asked from the other side of the fire.
"It would be great if I was allowed to do something. Anything," Elissa replied. She found she couldn't really be mad at Wynne, even if she wanted to be. The woman had been like a blessing from the Maker when it came to dealing with injuries and ailments throughout their journey, and if the only downside about that was that she got a little strict with her patients? Elissa couldn't begrudge her that.
"Head wounds are tricky. You may think you're fine only to go to sleep and not wake up the next morning," Wynne said.
Elissa's frown deepened. "But that's not going to happen to me, is it?"
Wynne laughed and Elissa relaxed a little. There was no way that Wynne would laugh so lightly if her head trauma were that serious.
"No. You, Elissa, are going to make a full recovery. But only if you listen to me." Wynne stood then and made her way around to Elissa's side of the fire. In her hands was a small cup that she held out to Elissa. "For the headache I know you must have."
Elissa accepted the cup with a raised eyebrow. "And how did you know that?"
"It's almost a certainty when someone is hit in the head as hard as you were. That and the particular frown you are wearing I have come to realize is your 'I'm in pain but I'm going to solider through it and not tell anyone' frown." Wynne's small smile betrayed her amusement at the situation. "Do make sure you drink that. I promise it will help." With a polite nod of her head Wynne wandered off towards the tents.
Elissa turned her attention to the cup held in her hand, lifting it to her nose to take a tentative sniff. It didn't smell bad, so that was a good start. She jerked slightly in surprise when someone sat down on the log next her, having not heard anyone approaching. Looking up from the drink, she tilted her head back until she could see it was just Alistair.
"I don't think its poison, you know," he said, gesturing to the drink.
"Did Wynne send you over here to babysit me?" Elissa asked. She looked back down at the drink, swirling it around in the cup a little. It was a rather unappealing color.
"I can't just come over her to sit by the fire? Maybe I wanted to enjoy the always delightful conversation my fellow Warden supplies?"
"You know that you babble and change subjects when you're trying to lie, right?"
"You know you get tetchy when you're hurt, right?"
Elissa just shrugged. She couldn't really rebuke that when he was completely right.
Alistair sighed, the sound exasperated but a small smile on his face betrayed a certain fondness. "I was sent over to make sure you didn't do anything reckless while you're supposed to be resting. Wynne can be very good at persuading people to do what she asks."
Elissa chuckled. "What kind of reckless things do you think I'm going to do?"
"Perhaps run off into the forest and fight a bear. You strike me as a thrill seeker."
Elissa laughed outright at that. "That's so crazy." She took a sip of the drink Wynne had given her nearly spat it right out when the horrid taste registered. She quickly forced herself to swallow the small mouthful she had taken. "Yuck! That is disgusting."
"Wynne also said I was to make sure you drank all of that. Even if I had to force it down your throat," Alistair said with a grimace. "Though I would appreciate it if it wouldn't come to that."
Elissa leveled him with a stare. "You really think you could do it anyway?"
Alistair pointed at her face. "See? That look there is what makes me think you could take on a wild bear and win."
"Well, fear not, because I'm not going to run off and fight and bear. And I am going to drink this." She lifted the cup in an imaginary toast. "Here goes nothing."
She downed the rest of the drink in one go, leaving her coughing and spluttering at the foul taste. Alistair patted her gently on the back and plucked the cup from her hand.
"Surely it's not that bad," he said, looking at the cup critically.
"No," Elissa said, "It's worse. If I wasn't sure it was actually going to make me feel better I would have thrown it into the fire after the first sip." She let herself tilt to the side and rested her head on Alistair's thigh. His hand came up automatically to rest on her shoulder, squeezing softly.
"Tired?" he asked, looking down at her.
"Apparently head wounds do that to you."
Alistair shook his head in mock disappointment. "Tsk, tsk. This is why you should have brought me with you."
"I don't know," she mused, "You were very squeamish about my last head wound."
"Don't remind me."
Elissa laughed quietly, watching the flames of their campfire dance until she was eventually lulled to sleep by Wynne's concoction and Alistair's deep, even breaths.