WARNING for gag-worthy material? A.K.A. puke and infected wounds. Weak stomachs be advised.
First it was wheezing, then it was coughing, then it was hacking and then the sound of gagging and puking was what Alfred finally woke up to in the morning.
Alfred sat up from his spot quickly in the dim morning light. His eyes quickly shot to Arthur who was leaning on his side and heaving uncontrollably. Alfred rushed over to his side and instinctively leaning him onto his stomach as to not choke and put a hand on his back as the other threw up what was left in his stomach. Which unsurprisingly wasn't anything. The only thing to come out was bile which now coated the grass in bright yellow.
When Arthur's gags subsided Alfred carefully flipped him back over. Immediately he could tell something was wrong. Arthur was weak, he was sweating heavily and his face was white as a sheet.
"I-" he coughed, "I think I'm sick." he said weakly.
"Ya think?" Alfred felt his forehead. "Shit, you're burning up." Alfred said balling up a shirt under Arthur's head as a makeshift pillow.
Arthur started hacking again.
"What should I do?" Alfred stammered.
"Look at the wound." Arthur wheezed through coughs.
Alfred pulled aside the coat which Arthur had used to cover up in the night to look at the wound. "It's red and swollen."
Arthur reached his hand down and probed the wound. A white substance oozed out coating Arthur's fingers as he brought them up to look.
"It's infected- shit." Arthur coughed. "I need something to clean it up with." Arthur said to Alfred, catching his attention. "I need you to get me water and some alcohol. I'll also need some herbs but you can do that later." he said weakly.
"Right, okay." Alfred said, agreeing without a second thought and got up snatching a nearby bowl from an abandoned soldier's pack. He beelined for the woods. Luckily, he saw a stream in the woods the day before and knew exactly where to go.
Somewhere along the way he paused for a moment, coming back to his senses. Why was he even helping this man? Shouldn't he be sticking with his plan to threaten the information out of him? Instead he was letting the man use him to help himself get better. He should beat the information out of him if he needed to, he was going to kill the man anyways wasn't he? One less man was one step closer to freedom, he reminded himself.
But even if he did try to threaten the information out him, would it even work? If the man knew he was going to die anyways why would he tell him? Alfred would have to wait until the man got better, until he had some hope, to threaten him. That must be it.
Alfred paused. But... that would be a little cruel wouldn't it?
What was he thinking?! He mentally bashed himself. This was a red coat he was talking about! Of course it wasn't cruel!
Still though… Alfred bit his lip.
Then he kicked himself, pulling him out of his thoughts. He didn't have time for this now. Regardless if wanted him dead or not he would be either way if he didn't help him now.
Back on his task, he stopped and raided a few other soldier's bodies for an canteens that may have rationed alcohol in them on the way to the stream and soon he was back at Arthur's side. After he set what he found down he backed away, a little awkward, not knowing what to do.
Arthur didn't seem deterred, he picked up the water and using a rag which it looked like he ripped from something, wiped away at the wound. He tried to squeeze as much puss out as possible between pants before taking the flask of alcohol and dumping it into the wound.
"Argh!" He screamed and winced in pain. His head began to lul back and his eyes droop.
Alfred caught on. "Hey!" he barked, leaning back down at his side and shaking him. "Don't fall asleep!"
"Right." the other said blinking himself awake and reaching back to the task at hand. Alfred could see he was still panting heavily and his hands were shaking. He was getting pretty out of it.
"Wait stop," Alfred said pushing his hands away, "Just let me do it."
Arthur let himself fall back, letting out a breath of relief. Alfred went to work cleaning out the wound, he could do that at least. Somewhere along the way a cool wet rag was placed on his forehead as he rested his head back, his eyes closed as he winced at the pain every so often. When Alfred was pretty sure he was done, he pulled away. Arthur relaxed, sighing.
"Thank you." Arthur rasped as Alfred cleaned up the materials.
Alfred didn't acknowledge that. "What about those herbs you talked about?"
"Oh right," Arthur said and then groaned. "I'm not even sure if they grow around here let alone grow in the wild."
It was silent, neither knowing what to do until Alfred spoke up.
"I know of a plant that will bring down fevers." Alfred remembered. "My mother used it to treat my brother and I when we got sick. I can go find it." Alfred suggested but winced at the mention of his brother.
Through the sweat and breaths Arthur gave him an odd look Alfred couldn't quite place.
"Yes, that would be helpful, thank you."
Alfred nodded but didn't say anything else as he got up in search of the plant. It grew in the forest. It took him a while to find it but he eventually did, also along the way he picked up a few more things he thought he would need for a camp.
It was past noon when Alfred got back. Arthur was sleeping, tossing and turning under the coat he used as a blanket. Alfred felt his forehead. It was burning. He quickly got to work preparing the plant, boiling it until it was ready. When it was, he slowly shook Arthur awake. Putting a cup of the substance to his lips. Arthur drank it all. Alfred could tell he was forcing himself to take all of it. The day's events and his fever must have caught up with him because he fell right back to sleep.
Well, Alfred sat back, he couldn't do anything now but wait.
And so he waited.
I'm back! Big ol' family reunion, fireworks, food, had lots of fun. Sorry you all had to wait.
Also, apologies, this chapter was kind of hard to write. Not sure why, maybe I just need to get back into things. Sometimes it seems like the quality of my writing decreases the more I write. It was also a little short and probably not all that satisfying. Oh well, had to get it posted in time. Hopefully the next chapter will be better.
Thank you all so much for all your feedback!
See you next time!