Chapter Three: First Aid

"Peter?" Edmund called as he ran down the hallway. "Peter! Are you all right?" He came to the main staircase without having received an answer from his brother. Looking around, he didn't see Peter. Then he looked towards the foyer and spotted Peter lying in a heap on the floor. "Peter!"

There was an answering groan from his brother and Edmund dropped the charts on the floor as he hurried down the stairs. He knelt at his brother's side and laid a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"That hurt," Peter muttered, slowly shaking his head as his eyes opened. He blinked up at his brother for a moment before trying to sit up. "Ouch!" he cried almost immediately, laying back against the marble floor.

"Peter? What's wrong?" Edmund asked, concerned.

"Ugh…I think I pulled a muscle in my back," Peter mumbled, closing his eyes as he tried to suppress the pain running down his back.

Edmund winced in sympathy. "Can you roll over? I'll check it for you."

Peter looked up at him and nodded slowly. Edmund gently slid his hands under Peter to help support him as, with a grunt of effort and pain, he managed to roll onto his side. Edmund frowned at the sight of his brother's shirt, which was shredded in several places. He could see blood on the edges, and with the utmost care, he gently pulled the fabric away from his brother's back.

Peter's back had several raw, slightly bleeding welts on it. None of them were serious, but they were long and red, so Edmund could imagine that when Peter tried to sit up he had caused the skin to pull and that had caused the pain.

Edmund gently pressed down on Peter's back, carefully avoiding the welts. "Does that hurt, Pete?"

Peter shook his head. It wasn't until Edmund gently touched one of the welts that he yelped. "Ed, that hurts! By the lion, what are you doing?"

Edmund chuckled. "I think you'll live Peter. It looks like you just fell straight back and scraped your back up pretty well. I think if we can get you on your feet and into the loo to wash you up, you'll be fine." He rose to his feet and moved to stand next to his brother. Holding out his hands, he wiggled his fingers. "Give me your hands Pete. I'll pull you up."

Peter reached up and put his hands into Edmund's, wincing a little at the pull on his back, then, as Edmund began to pull, he got his feet under himself and with a grunt of pain and a suppressed yelp, managed to get to his feet. "By Aslan," he muttered, "that hurt."

Edmund frowned and looked up at the top of the stairs, before looking back at his brother. "Pete, how'd you manage to fall down here anyway? I don't think you've ever fallen down a flight of stairs in your life…even when we had to wear those ridiculous formal robes."

Peter looked up at the top of the stairs. "There's a painting up there…the woman in it looks like Kris…"

Edmund helped his brother up the stairs and as they reached the top, he looked at the picture Peter was referring to. He frowned. "Peter, that looks nothing like Kris."

Peter took another look and realized that Edmund was right. The woman in the picture had dark hair, but other than that, there was absolutely no similarity to his wife. The woman in the portrait had green eyes instead of Kris' brilliant violet, the shape of her face was all wrong, and she was at least ten years older than Kris. Flushing in embarrassment, Peter ducked his head. "I just caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye before I slipped."

Edmund sighed. "C'mon, Pete. Let's go and get you cleaned up." He led his brother down the hallway, pausing long enough to pick up the roll of charts that he had dropped. "I need to give these to the Professor first. Think you can get back to the room on your own? I'll be right there and I'll help you."

"Ed, I'm not a child," Peter said, sounding exasperated. "I'm not going to suddenly fall over."

Edmund glanced, pointedly, back towards the staircase. Peter frowned, but didn't debate the point.

As they reached the next corner, Peter turned off to the left, heading for their room, while Edmund headed down the right-hand hallway. He paused at the Professor's door and knocked. A muffled "Come in," sounded, and Edmund pushed the door open.

"Professor? Is this what you were looking for?" Edmund asked, walking over to the desk and laying the documents on the surface.

Professor Kirke picked up the documents and unrolled them, studying them for a moment before smiling at Edmund. "They are indeed. Thank you, young man."

"You're welcome, Professor," Edmund said with a smile, before turning and heading out the room. He was anxious to get back to Peter and help him get cleaned up. He hurried down the hallway and into their room, where he found Peter sitting on the edge of his bed, his shirt unbuttoned, although he seemed to be having difficulty actually removing it.

"Hang on, Pete," Edmund said, hurrying into the washroom and filling a shallow basin with water before grabbing some clean cloths and coming back into the room. Setting the bowl on the bedside table, he reached over and gently helped Peter ease the ruined shirt off his shoulders. He tapped Peter on the shoulder, indicating that he wanted him to turn around so that his back was to Edmund.

Peter adjusted his position and Edmund dipped a cloth in water, ringing it out and then gently running the cloth over Peter's back, cleaning out the gashes and washing the blood off. Peter stiffened under Edmund's gentle ministrations, and Ed muttered softly, "Easy, Peter. I'm almost done."

As he continued to wash Peter's back, Edmund's mind flashed to one other time when he had had to care for Peter like this. It didn't happen often, so the few times that it had were very vivid in his mind.

Edmund watched from the corner of the room as the healers tended to Peter. Earlier that day, the two Kings had been returning to the Cair after settling a dispute that required their physical presence and were riding along the cliff that overlooked the Eastern Sea. Unbeknownst to them, the last series of winter thunderstorms had eroded part of the cliff and the added weight of the Narnian party had been enough to send a portion crashing down to the beach below -- taking Peter and his horse with it.

Edmund had panicked and after backtracking quite a ways, their party had found a path that led down to the beach. The horses had picked their way down the path and then ridden as fast as he could back to where Peter had fallen.

Peter had landed on some rocks and had broken his left leg and his right arm, as well as being covered with dozens of small abrasions and bruises. He had been unconscious when Edmund had found him, but had woken up soon after, which had eased some of Edmund's fears. Edmund had sent the rest of the party back to get some assistance in moving Peter, since they didn't have the supplies that they needed to get the High King back to Cair Paravel without further injuring him.

It had taken several hours before the group had returned with a healer and the necessary equipment to get Peter home. Lucy and Susan were away in the Lantern Waste visiting Mr. Tumnus, otherwise they would have brought her back, along with her cordial. After much effort, they had managed to stabilize Peter for the trip back. The High King's horse had also been badly wounded, but thankfully it had been a Talking Horse and had been able to tell the rescuers exactly where it was hurting, so he too had been stabilized and transported back to the Cair for further care.

Now, Edmund watched as they continued to minister to his brother. Their work was efficient and it wasn't long before they had Peter bandaged and splinted and resting on a bed. The High King was still in some pain, but the healers had given him several herbal infusions to help to ease the majority of the pain.

As the healers finished their work, Edmund moved over from the corner where he had been waiting and came to stand next to his brother's bed. Peter was groggy and not entirely coherent, but he managed a wavering smile at Edmund. There were still traces of blood and dirt on his face and hands, although the healers had cleaned the majority of the wounds off.

"Hey, Pete. How're you feeling?" Edmund asked quietly, reaching down and taking his brother's left hand in his own.

"Not t' bad, Ed," Peter slurred, his voice thick with weariness and the influence of the medication.

"You're a bit of a mess, Peter. Not very kingly-looking right now," Edmund teased his brother, knowing that as High King, Peter was always conscientious of his appearance. He looked around and spotted a basin and a pitcher of water sitting on a nearby table. Spotting one of the healers, he asked for a clean cloth. When the healer brought one to him, the younger King picked up the pitcher and filled the basin with water, bringing it back to Peter's bedside. Carefully, so as not to cause his brother any pain, he finished cleaning off the dried blood and dirt that had encrusted Peter's head, neck, and hands.

Edmund shook his head as he wiped the last of the blood off of Peter's back and ran a dry cloth over the skin. Returning to the washroom, he found some bandages and brought them back out to Peter. Carefully, he bound Peter's wounds, then found him a clean shirt to wear and helped him put it on so as not to aggravate the cuts. "There, you're all set, Peter."

Peter gazed up at his brother. "Thanks, Ed."

"You're welcome, Pete," Edmund replied quietly, before sitting down on the bed next to his brother. He hesitated. He and Peter had grown very close when they were in Narnia, but this sort of conversation was mostly foreign to him. "Peter…I can't begin to imagine what you're going through, but I just want you to know that I'm here. I mean…if you need to talk, or…"

Peter shook his head, stopping Edmund's words. "Ed, I appreciate the thought, but right now…I…I just need time to accept it."

Edmund sighed. "Ok, Peter. I understand. Just know that I'm here when you're ready.

Lucy coughed as she waved a dust cloud away from her face and opened an old, tattered, leather portfolio. She was careful, since the leather was very close to disintegrating in her hands.

Inside the portfolio was a neat pile of papers. They were stacked upside down, and she gently laid the portfolio on the floor before reaching over and picking up the first piece of paper.

She turned it over carefully so as not to tear it. She gently blew the dust off of it so she could make out what was written on the page. As the dust settled, she took another look.

It was a sketch, finely done, of one of the most beautiful apple trees that she'd ever seen. The branches were heavily laden with the luscious looking fruit. She put the page aside and picked up the next one.

The second page depicted a winged horse and two children riding on its back. They were in mid-flight, and the ground below them had been skillfully rendered so that it appeared that they were high above it.

"Susan…have a look at these," Lucy breathed softly. "I think they're sketches of Narnia."

"What?" Susan asked, turning to her younger sister.

"Look…I think this is the professor and his friend Polly on that winged horse Fledge," Lucy said. She picked up the first drawing again. "This must be the apple tree that Aslan sent him to find."

"These are exquisite," Susan breathed. "Let's take them downstairs and look at them in better light. The professor might want to see them again too."

Lucy nodded and carefully gathered up the papers and the portfolio. Susan helped her to her feet and the two girls headed down out of the attic and back towards their room.

As they entered the sitting room they heard Edmund talking from inside the boy's room. "There, you're all set, Peter."

"Thanks, Ed."

"You're welcome, Pete." The bed creaked, as if someone had just sat down on it. For a moment the conversation seemed to have stopped, but then Edmund spoke again. "Peter…I can't begin to imagine what you're going through, but I just want you to know that I'm here. I mean…if you need to talk, or…"

"Ed, I appreciate the thought, but right now…I…I just need time to accept it."

Edmund sighed. "Ok, Peter. I understand. Just know that I'm here when you're ready.

Out of curiosity, Susan pushed open the door to the boy's room to see Peter and Edmund perched on the edge of Peter's bed. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Oh, Peter just took a little tumble and scraped his back up," Edmund replied. "I was just helping him get cleaned up."

"Are you all right, Peter?" Susan asked, concerned.

Peter and Edmund both nodded as Lucy came into the room. She had heard Edmund talking and was going to show him the sketches, until she realized that Peter was in the room too. Given his understandable feelings about leaving Narnia, she knew it might be too soon to show him the sketches, so she hid them behind her back, intending to slip out and hide them until she, Susan, and Edmund could look at them later.

Peter spotted her hovering behind Susan before she could slip away, however, and he offered her a smile. It was only a shade of his normally brilliant smile, but it brought an answering smile to her face. He reached out his hand. "C'mere, Lu."

Lucy hesitated, but then reached out and set the folder on a small table near the door before stepping into the room and moving over to the bed. She took Peter's hand and he pulled her into a light hug. "I'm sorry, Lu. I was acting like a beast yesterday. It wasn't your fault we ended up back here."

Lucy snuggled into his hug, relieved that her brother seemed to be back. "I'm sorry, Peter. If I had known…"

"You couldn't possibly have known, Lu. We all forgot about England, not just you. If you had remembered, you never would have led us there. I'm not angry any more." He looked down into her eyes. "Forgive me?"

"Of course, Peter."

Author's Note: Review? Please?