Chapter Thirty-Three: Beechtail of Redwall
The first thing Beechtail was aware of was pain; he hurt all over. He felt that he was lying on his back, on something soft. Opening one eye a fraction, he saw a shadow bending over him.
A voice he recognized as Maplefur's called out, "Hey, I think he's waking up!"
Fully opening his eyes, and looking around at his surroundings, he found himself in the infirmary of Redwall. Maplefur was leaning over him. Her face broke into a relived smile, "You're up early."
Beechtail asked, "How long have I been out?"
Maplefur grinned even more, "About six days."
"Six days!"
"Yep, and the Abbot didn't expect you to wake up until sometime next week, assuming you didn't die."
They were joined by Abbot Thren and Lord Adaracor, the Abbot spoke first, "Good to see you up, how do you feel?"
Beechtail lifted his head a bit, and looked at himself. Most of his body was heavily bandaged, "Not very good."
Adaracor chuckled, Maplefur gave Beechtail a "no duh" look, Abbot Thren started listing Beechtail's injuries, "As far as we could tell, you've got three ribs and a leg broken, the gash in your side, and probably a minor concussion. Not bad really, considering how far you fell, even though Lutran caught you, more or less. You knocked him flat."
"Is he okay?"
"Well…he still talks like a hare, although after he caught you he was groaning, and it sounded like molespeech, but he's not really hurt. Does that answer your question?" said Maplefur.
Beechtail considered that, "I guess so."
"By the way, great jump. You missed the first rope, but luckily you got a second chance. So it seems, you're not a completely hopeless climber; we'll start your lessons again as soon as the Abbot will let us," said Maplefur.
Beechtail groaned and leaned back on his pillow.
"You did well, Beechtail. Martin made a good choice when he appointed you champion," Abbot Thren walked off, "If you'll excuse me, I've got to go back to work."
Adarcor also left. Maplefur watched them leave, "It's a good thing the Redwallers are such good healers, there are a lot of wounded."
"How many?"
Maplefur looked sad, "Around seven score, some more seriously, a few might die. Until a minute ago, you were in that group. Only the most seriously injured get a bed in the infirmary, most are in the attics. There are already about three hundred casualties from the battle, including Aspen."
"I'm sorry. I know how much he meant to you."
"It wasn't Aspen I loved, it was you, Beechtail. When I saw you on top of Lutran, all bloody, with your leg at a weird angle, I was so afraid you were going to die, but you're alive!"
Beechtail was not able to reply, because Maplefur suddenly hugged him tightly. In a normal situation, Beechtail wouldn't have minded; he probably would have enjoyed it, but with three broken ribs...ouch.
"Gah," Beechtail gasped, "get off, that hurts."
"Oops," Maplefur let go and grinned sheepishly, "sorry, I forgot about the ribs."
Beechtail waited a few seconds for the pain to subside. He looked up at Maplefur, "By the way, what was the thing you wanted to tell me?"
Maplefur looked exasperated, "I just told you!"
The infirmary rang with the two squirrels' laughter.