Evening My Lovelies
Right there's still some time for you to decide what happens to Durand, here are the votes so far
Redeem: 3
Leave: 1
Unbothered: 1
You've still got a little bit to make a decision so let me know :)
Notes On Reviews:
Deana: Thanks for the review - Glad to see you happy for Henri being awake :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
criminally charmed: Thanks for the review - Oh yeah I think Beaufort and Reynard are going to find themselves on some horrid mission for their actions lol Unfortunately Treville can't really do the same for Moreau so he'll have to settle on getting revenge on the musketeers :) We'll be back with the inseparables for the 2nd half of today's chapter and tomorrow's will be more focused on them I think. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Debbie (Guest): Thanks for the review - We're seeing a bit more of the other men today as well but we'll be returning to our lovely boys in the 2nd half. Corbett's pretty bad unfortunately but he wont die so there's that :) Enjoy the new chapter! x
watlocked: Thanks for the review - Haha glad you liked it :) I think Treville will be getting his own back by sending them on some horrid assignment as revenge :) I'm beginning to think none of our muskys have any idea about the concept of knocking as they all seem quite happy just charging into whatever room they're heading to. I'm glad I've got my next story planned too :D It's got great potential for some heart-melting cute brotherly/comfort moments if I can write it right as well as some evil whumpage so should be good. I have a couple of one-shot ideas I want to write as well so they'll probably come out while I'm getting a chunk of the new story written. Enjoy the new chapter! x
f1gymnast: Thanks for the review - Probably not the wisest move on our muskys part but it got Treville to rest, they'll just have to handle the consequences of it later when Treville decides to get his own back. Nah you're not evil after all you could have asked me to kill him so i'd say your fine lol :D We're checking in with all our boys today, inseparables and other muskys :) I might have Treville call the betting musketeer's out on their actions later if he finds they're still at it, haven't quite decided yet. Enjoy the new chapter! x
Issai: Thanks for the review - I agree, angsty Treville is quite enjoyable, both to write and to read :) As for Issac/Favier ... But of course we can have a glimpse of them :D I kinda felt the need to hug Favier after writing their bit so I'm hoping it was sort of what you were hoping for/expecting. With everyone else being injured it's pretty easy to forgot about poor old Henri lol. I like the idea of Durand saving someone important to redeem himself, could work quite well with what I have planned should I choose to redeem him. Enjoy the new chapter! x
MicheeO: Thanks for the review - Glad you're happy :) Jacques will actually be waking fairly soon so you've that to look forward to :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
Lilac Lavender: Thanks for the review - I did guess it was you though I'll admit I wasn't 100% sure but the timing, length etc seemed to match you :D Seeing as how this story wouldn't have reached the heights it has without you lovely lovely people I figure asking your opinions on what you actually want to read is the least I can do as thanks :D I think Beaufort and Reynard might end up regretting the decision to drug the Captain when he decides to get his own back and sends them on some horrible mission. Treville will probably take action against the betting musketeers if he learns its still going on. I've explained exactly why they've locked themselves in today, hopefully it makes sense and you like it :) I think Aramis might be fearing another scolding from our doctor hence them letting him in lol. We're seeing a bit more of our other musketeers today but we'll also be checking in with our boys. I'm looking forward to Jacques waking up too, I've got a cute scene in mind for when he does :D Enjoy the new chapter! x
As always much love and many thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing/reading
Love you all!
Enjoy!
xxx
Chapter Ninety-Five: Path To Healing
True to his words to the Captain, once he had departed from the newly awake Henri's room Moreau began making his rounds, checking on his patients, ensuring each were recovering as they should before he left to get some food.
Corbett's room was the first one he entered and Moreau couldn't push away the disgusted feeling within himself as he saw the musketeer asleep in his bed.
The doctor may not have been part of the rescue, nor had he been made privy of everything that happened to the three men during their capture but the injuries littered across Corbett's skin gave him enough of an idea to paint a fairly accurate image of what the man had been forced to endure.
It is what made the doctor so disgusted with himself for drugging the musketeer so he could rest. After everything that the poor man had been through Moreau felt he was prolonging, or at least adding to, the harm done to him. The drugs they were giving Corbett were strong enough to keep his quite heavily asleep, but that also meant that the man would be incapable of waking should his mind be attacked by a nightmare, leaving the already mentally and physically weak man to the mercy of his own subconscious.
Moreau had seen the sort of extreme nightmares his patient could very well be facing during his attempts to treat Aramis, admittedly he had left before seeing their true impact on the man but what he had glimpse had been enough to make him doubt his current course of action. In fact, if it weren't for the very real risk Corbett was putting himself in every time he woke up agitated he would have stopped drugging him days ago.
As it was though Moreau's words to Treville weren't lies, Corbett had been extremely agitated whenever he woke before and despite being disgusted with himself for doing so Moreau was willing to drug the man if it kept him from inadvertently killing himself.
"Morning Doctor," smiled Reynard as he entered the room behind Moreau. The regiment had seemed to slip into a routine of shifts that ensured none of the injured men were left alone any longer than a few minutes at a time. Moreau honestly didn't know if they sat down and discussed this or if it was just an inbuilt reaction to not leave their wounded to wake up alone but either way he took comfort in the fact that the injured men would have a friendly face upon waking.
"Reynard," nodded the Moreau as he jotted down some notes on his clipboard in between checking over the sleeping musketeer.
"How's he doing this morning?" asked Reynard, not bothering to hide the concern from his voice.
"His fever seems lower so it may very well break soon. We'll need to keep an eye on his infected wounds though."
"When do you think we can stop drugging him?" enquired Reynard, his unease with the method crystal clear.
Moreau was quiet for a moment, internally weighing the pros and cons. "We can start weaning him off the drug once he's fever breaks but if he continues to be so violently agitated when he wakes I will resume the current dose… at least until his ribs have healed enough that I'm not fearing him puncturing a lung."
Reynard smiled, grateful that he might get to see his friend awake before too long. The pair continued to talk about lighthearted topics while Moreau finished his examination and treatment of the unconscious musketeer, stopping only when Moreau stated he had to move on to the next patient, leaving Corbett under the watchful guard of Reynard.
The next man he checked on was Jacques and he was pleased to see more colour in the boy's face then there had been the day before. The negative part of him tried to convince himself that it was only because of the lighting but he pushed that down, focusing on the hope that was building within him for the boy's survival.
He greeted Beaufort, who was quietly reading aloud to the unconscious boy with a soft smile and a nod before moving to continue his examination.
As Beaufort seemed intent to focus on his reading Moreau left him to it and worked in silence, though the soft smile never left his lips the entire time.
Jacques had significantly fewer wounds then Corbett so the doctor was done fairly quickly and after sending the musketeer a look instructing him to summon him the second it looked like the boy was about to wake, he left to continue his rounds.
Blaise was his next patient and Moreau found himself once again working in silence as he discovered that the musketeer was still asleep when he entered the room. He did let out a small breathy laugh though when he saw that Alain, the younger musketeer who had refused to leave his friend's side the entire time, was curled up in a chair next to the bed, one of Blaise's hands in his own while his head hung to his chest.
Despite knowing it would only give the young musketeer pain later Moreau decided against waking him, knowing that he had been fretting over his friend since they brought him back, never resting more than a few hours at a time.
Blaise was easily the musketeer in the best current condition, which meant his examination went by quickly, though Moreau was careful not to wake him as he worked knowing he would heal faster with rest.
The doctor did find himself pausing by the door of his last patient, Issac. The man's was in serious condition but remained fighting which gave him hope for the man's recovery, though that wasn't why he was refraining from entering right now.
He could hear a one-sided conversation going on behind the door and, sensing it was a private moment, Moreau decided to give them a moment, moving away from the door so as to not disturb the pair.
Favier's hand moved from his side and found its way into his brother's hair. "I… I know you're in pain but your body will shut down if you don't let it take in some food. Broth barely counts as food I know but you need it so please…" Favier begged, his voice trailing off as he gently lifted his brother's head in an attempt to help him drink more than a few measly sips of broth, a teary smile tugging at his lips as Issac drank a bit more than usual of the weak, watery broth.
"Please Is," whispered Favier, sounding more broken then he'd have thought possible as he watched his friend lying unconscious in the bed, placing the half empty cup of broth down so his hand could return to Issac's hair.
"You need to wake up… I need you. I know I scared you when I was injured," his other hand unconsciously coming to rest of the healed but still quite tender scar from the injury that nearly cost him his life.
"I know it scared you but…" his lips quirked upwards into another teary smile, "but it's really not fair of you to get your own back on me now."
Upon seeing no response from his brother Favier let the tears that had built up behind his eyes to flow as he dropped his head so his forehead rested against Issac's.
"Please," he sobbed, the pleading in his voice obvious even with the sobs that rattled the man, "…Is, please."
Moreau's heart broke for the men when he returned to hear muffled sobbing through the door, unwilling to interrupt the man just yet Moreau decided he could leave checking on Issac for a few more minutes while he went to get some food and checked on their remaining herb stock that had become greatly depleted since the injured men returned.
Unaware of the conditions of the other injured men in the garrison the inseparables were currently dealing with issues of their own, as that morning, much like every other time either Aramis or D'Artagnan slept, the group was struggling to combat the after effects of a nightmare.
This was precisely why Athos had locked the door to his rooms, keeping everyone out. Both Aramis and D'Artagnan were suffering from near crippling nightmares that assaulted their minds whenever they slept and Athos was determined not to let anyone else in the regiment see his friend's in such a state, knowing full well it would break them to appear weak in front of them.
As it was the swordsman was simply grateful he didn't also have to contend with nightmares from Porthos, though he was willing to admit he had expected them. He wasn't sure he would have been able to handle trying to comfort all three of his brothers as their own minds tortured them.
Porthos did also seem to be improving, which was cause for relief for the stressed swordsman. Another of the reasons Athos had locked the door was to prevent any more violent protectiveness episodes from his brother whenever anyone unexpected arrived. Part of Athos knew that the only reason Porthos appeared to be improving was because of the locked door, but another part of him hoped that helping their brothers was also helping him, having deduced that Porthos's episodes caused him to react upon a fierce desire to protect his bothers, not himself. Athos hoped that by actually helping his brothers it would ease the subconscious need to do so that triggered the over-protective instincts in his friend.
Currently though the trio of inseparables were working to comfort D'Artagnan as the boy violently shook after waking from yet another nightmare.
D'Artagnan's nightmares always seemed to revolve around the same thing understandably, his torture at the hands of Marcel's goons and whilst they were significantly terrifying for the boy the consistency of the subject matter was something the musketeer's found they could work with unlike Aramis's nightmares that seemed to shift from memories of Savoy, his guilt over Marsac and Vivienne's deaths to being responsible for his friend's pain and everything in between.
With D'Artagnan the inseparables knew what to do, it could and often did take a while but they only need to continue to reassure him that he wasn't in that cell anymore, that Marcel and his men were dead and could no longer hurt him, that he was and would be okay, for the terrified Gascon to eventually calm down. Although then they would spend the next few minutes reassuring the boy that he had nothing to be ashamed about whilst also trying to get him to talk about exactly what happened to him, something he stubbornly refused to do, though his denials had become increasingly weaker with every return of his nightmare.
Having a plan definitely helped the men work and comforted them greatly, which is why is was often a greater struggle to calm Aramis down after one of his own as they often didn't know what his subconscious had decided to torture him with so working out the best way to calm him took some time.
"That's it whelp," smiled Porthos softly as he gently ran his hand up and down a part of D'Artagnan's back that was injury free, barring a few bruises. "Just breathe, you're okay, we've got you."
"Don't give us that look," scolded Athos lightly as he noticed the embarrassed and shame-filled look that appeared on D'Artagnan's face. It was a look they had seen a lot the last few days and it hurt each time to see it. No matter what they said it never seemed to fully convince the boy that there was no weakness in his nightmares.
"None of this is your fault," stressed Athos, keeping his gaze locked onto D'Artagnan's so he could see the truth there, "You have nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm being tortured by my own mind," whimpered D'Artagnan though it was clear he was trying to be strong but the memory of the nightmare was too fresh and too strong. "And I'm powerless to stop it, I'd say that gives me plenty to be ashamed of."
"Talk to us D'Art," pleaded Aramis, hating the pain he could hear in his friend's voice. "I was like you… After Savoy… Never wanted to talk about what haunted my dreams but when nothing else helped and it became too much I had no choice but to open up."
The inseparables could see D'Artagnan was intensely listening to what Aramis was saying, knowing it had to be the truth if he was willing to bring up Savoy.
"Did…" mumbled D'Artagnan a few moment's later and the three musketeers could detect a faint trace of desperate hope in their friend's voice that all but broke their hearts. "Did it help? Talking about it?"
Aramis nodded, smiling sadly at his young friend. "It was painful, for all involved I think but knowing there was someone who knew what was going on in my head and could help me make sense of it all definitely helped."
For another few moments D'Artagnan was quiet, though the musketeers could see the war going on in his mind, the want to stubbornly battle through it on his own was fighting against his desire to have someone to talk to about everything that happened.
Eventually, to the musketeers' great relief D'Artagnan nodded, silently agreeing to open up and talk.