Early into her vigil of the young man, who was fast asleep, she fretted that she did not obtain more detailed instructions from Dr. Mountand. He had instructed that he not sleep 'too long'- how long was 'too long'? Ten minutes at a time? Two hours?
As the boy was fast asleep, and had been for at least an hour now, Constance, panicking, shook him by the shoulders.
"Ummmmm!' D'Artagnan moaned in protest, as his eyes reluctantly opened half-way.
"Why did you wake me?!" D'Artagnan demanded, his eyes already closed, trying to conjure back Morpheus.
Constance, relieved, "I'm sorry- alright, you woke up, so you can go back to sleep again I suppose."
"Then why did you wake me up in the first place?!" D'Artagnan said, as he opened his eyes, suddenly groggy but cross with her.
Constance, swallowing a chuckle, simply replied, "Never mind. But as you are now awake, can you tell me who did this to you?"
D'Artagnan sighed, then said, "Three Red Guard…"
"Alright then, just rest then." D'Artagnan closed his eyes again.
Suddenly, he opened them and said, "Oh, damn."
"What?"
"I- need the chamberpot."
"Alright, I'll help you…"
"What?! No! I can do it myself…"
Constance rolled her eyes and relented, knowing that D'Artagnan's unique combination of stubbornness and pride would not be swayed.
"Alright, I'll give you some privacy," but she waited to see if the Gascon could get out of bed on his own.
As he struggled to get up, he uttered a litany of 'ow's every few seconds. Each movement up prompted another one.
"Ow… Ow. Ow…" D'artagnan said, his two large brown puppy-dog eyes looking directly at Constance as he let loose yet another pronouncement of pain.
Constance, despite herself, found it adorable and was smiling at him.
"Con-stance! Don't laugh at me! Ow…"
"Alright, I won't," she said, snickering.
Now D'Artagnan was also smiling. "Constance! Ow…"
The look on D'Artagnan's face, going in seconds from laughter to a pinched grimace, should have elicited sympathy from Constance.
But it only made her laugh harder.
"Huh! You're so mean! It h-hurts…"
"I'm sorry! You just look so cute..." She followed this comment with another outburst of laughter.
Then D'Artagnan let out a laugh, followed by another groan. "Constance! Stop making me laugh! It- hurts when I laugh…"
"I can't help it! I can't stop…" Constance confessed, now giggling uncontrollably.
"What in the world is going on in here?!"
Both Constance and D'Artagnan were startled by Jacques' presence at the bedroom door.
Still laughing, Constance pointed to D'Artagnan and blurted out, "He needs the chamberpot…"
"Constance!" D'Artagnan yelled, still smiling.
"And how is that funny?" Jacques demanded.
But both of them were still in hysterics. As D'Artagnan bellowed out another cackle, he held his pounding head, as the laughter did his headache no favors.
Jacques just rolled his eyes and mercifully began to exit the room.
Constance and D'Artagnan's gazes went from the departing man, back to one another. They bit their tongues until Jacques had left the room. Then they simultaneously broke into hysterics, like two children who had been caught acting up in class.
After Constance gave D'Artagnan his privacy to use the chamberpot, she oversaw him get back into bed. Satisfied that he survived the ordeal without mishap, she let him sleep. She drifted off a few times in her chair, and repeated the process of waking the boy up with success, until finally sleep claimed them for the rest of the evening.
And so it was that the next morning, after a fitful night of sleep, D'Artagnan departed for the Garrison. Constance fed him a full breakfast, which he accepted gratefully despite a bit of a protest from his stomach, but he realized he needed to eat something, and didn't wish to be rude and turn down Constance's hospitality, especially in light of her assistance last night. However, he now had aches and pains absent the day before, as the pounding he endured the other day began to catch up with him in new ways.
When Constance expressed concern that the same three Red Guard may still be looking to do him more harm. he promised her that he would remain vigilant on his way to the Garrison. He wasn't sure why, but he sincerely thought that they felt they had taught him enough of a lesson to leave him be from now on.
He couldn't thank Constance enough for her night-long vigil in watching over him. He must really think of a proper thank you when he got the chance.
Since he would be arriving at the Garrison at approximately the same time he would on a normal day, he realized that he might be able to hide his injuries from Treville and his older brothers. But he was certain that the pain he felt on his face must be visible as bruises and probably a black eye, so he doubted that hiding anything was an option.
Suddenly, however, he thought how no good deed goes unpunished, as his gracious acceptance of Constance's breakfast was now making his stomach churn something fierce.
He hardly had time to lean against the wall of the closest building before he began to vomit violently. That felt much better going down than coming up, he thought.
The last few yards to the Garrison were a tricky affair, as now he was no longer nauseous, but very dizzy indeed.
Well, at least he survived the trip without getting ambushed by more Red Guard. Now it was an even bet if he would survive the smothering attentions of his newly found older brothers. For even though he did not know these men very long, for some reason they all seemed to have already taken him under their protective wings like a precious, vulnerable and newborn bird.