Part 13

"Father?" Marian said her brow creasing in a frown. "Mother?"

She looked at them with a puzzled expression on her face. It had seemed she had been on a very unusual journey, twirling through tunnels of darkness towards a channel of light and now she stood before them. She wasn't quite sure how she was able to stand as her last remembered thought was that her hand was so painful she wanted to curl up and die against Will's shoulder. Marian looked down at her hand, it was whole, no trace of any wound upon it and she thought that strange as she looked back up to see her parents holding hands with one another.

She knew it was her mother, for her father spoke and called her Kate. Her father beckoned her towards him and she took a tentative step forward. When they were a few paces apart, she went to hug her mother, a woman she loved but had not seen for ever such a long time. Her mother stopped her with a shake of her head and Marian looked to her father who backed up his wife and kept their daughter at a distance.

"Where am I?" Marian asked.

"This is a place between life and death between heaven and earth," her mother told her.

"Am I dead? Are you taking me to heaven?" she asked, still a little confused.

"No," Edward said gently. "We are sending you back to earth."

"But why?"

"Don't you want to be back on earth with the ones you love, for the cause you are fighting for?" asked Kate.

"Yes," Marian told her, suddenly remembering Robin and her heart constricted in pain as she thought of going to heaven and not seeing him again for a very long time.

"It is not your time…Not yet….not for a long while."

"Then why am I here?"

"Sometimes when we are hurt, ill, injured we take this journey to meet with loved ones of our past who help us to see that now is not the time to join them in heaven but to remain on earth with others we hold dear and cherish, to fight the fight that has been laid out for you." Kate said.

To which Edward added. "To save England; for the King. To keep the dream alive. I am sorry Marian we did not say good bye."

"And I am sorry I said you were weak, you were a hero, my father whom I love," she answered, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears for him.

Kate took her daughter's hand and said "You have grown into a beautiful woman, one which I am proud to call my daughter. Now go, go back to your Robin Hood and your life with the outlaws."

The light began to fade and her parents with it before she had time to say goodbye she travelled further and further from the light until she was aware of voices in the background of her consciousness. With it came the pain, more intense than she recalled before, a deep throbbing which made her feel as though her left arm and hand were not part of her any more at all.

She tried as hard as she could to open her eyes, but the effort was a struggle she could not overcome. Slowly she began to recognise the voices surrounding her, she picked out Djaq, Much, Little John and Will, but no Robin, she wondered if he was there too as she listened to the conversation, wanting more than anything to be able to tell them she could hear what they were saying that she was alright, if only she could find the strength to open her eyes.

"Give me the dressing's Will," Djaq commanded and Marian heard the shuffle of feet.

Marian inhaled sharply as Djaq opened the dressing to reveal the wound to the stuffy air of the dwelling.

"She responded if I am not mistaken," Much inserted.

"Good," Djaq replied.

Marian felt as though a thousand knives stabbed at her as Djaq examined her hand. She felt the gentleness of the Saracen but even so it was almost enough to send her into the dark world of unconsciousness once again. Only the urgent need to know where Robin was, kept her awake, but still without the strength to open her eyes. She felt each minuscule movement as the dressing was changed.

"It is looking better that yesterday," Much said.

"If it was worse we would be considering amputation," Djaq replied wryly.

"I don't think I could stomach that," he replied after suffering direly when they cauterised it.

"Then you would go outside until it was done. I can not have you fainting or being ill when I am treating my patient."

"I just said…"

"Well as it happens I do not think amputation will be necessary,"

"It won't?" said a breathy Robin from a distance away.

'Robin!' Marian wanted to scream, but no words came out. She was relived he was there too; she heard his footsteps and felt his solid form as he sat by her side. She didn't know how he and the gang had found Will and herself but the knowledge comforted her considerably.

"No luck with the traps?" asked Will to Robin who after the constant nagging of the others had gone to check the traps for a breath of fresh air.

"Not yet," Robin said. "How is she? Apart from not having to have her arm amputated."

Marian felt him run his fingers through her hair and willed him to continue, it felt so good to feel him touch her, and just as she hoped, he did. Running his fingers through over and over again, soothing her into a lazy haze. Only when Djaq spoke did she force herself to concentrate on what was going on about her once more.

"Better than last night when we thought we'd lost her." Djaq replied.

Marian felt Robin sigh and his hand moved away even though she begged it again not to, but it took her hand in his instead and she decided that felt just as good if not better as he drew circles upon the back of it with his thumb.

"Will she waken soon?" asked John.

"I do not know, that I can not tell." Djaq told them.

"She is not so hot," Much said feeling her forehead.

The hands swapped and Djaq felt instead saying. "But still fevered."

"What do we do now?" asked Will as Djaq finished tying off the bandage.

"We wait, she can not travel like this and we are safer here than most places. There is no direct road or footpath outside the cottage."

"Hovel more like," Muttered Much.

"I have seen worse," Will told him.

"Done, let her rest, go, go on, maybe you should set more traps we will have more luck of eating meat tonight and when she does waken she will need good nourishing stew, she is wasting away."

Marian listened as they moved away their voices a quiet hub in the background with Robin still drawing patterns on her hand by her side. Maybe she should try and open her eyes again, just to let them all know she was alright. She willed them to open but they did not and she bit back inward frustration that it was beyond her. She heard Little John call Robin over and he pressed a delicate kiss to the back of her hand. She didn't want him to leave her not even to go to the other side of the room to speak to John.

Somehow someway she had to convince him to stay. Not sure whether she was speaking or not her mind began calling his name over, over again.

"Robin."

Robin who had just stood up looked back at the patient on the floor and the gang drew closer.

"Did she….did she?" Much uttered.

"I think so," confirmed Djaq.

Robin knelt back down and took her hand once more. "Marian, Marian."

Like a whisper on the breeze she responded and replied. "Robin."

And this time they all heard her call Robin's name.