Chapter 61: The Emergency

The doctor arrived. Claude hurriedly carried Esmeralda to one of the spare bedrooms, laying her down on the bed.

Only after being profusely assured that the bleeding had stopped did Claude uncover the wound. The doctor inspected it nervously.

"How bad is it?!" Claude asked frantically. "Tell me she's not dying!"

"I'm not sure..." The doctor said apologetically. "The knife missed her organs, but she's lost a lot of blood."

Claude's eyes froze on the blood that covered his wife. She'd been soaked as soon as the knife had been pulled from her. Even Claude's body was covered in Esmeralda's blood, which had gotten all over him when he'd held her. It was certainly a lot of blood to lose...

"I can patch her up," The doctor continued. "But we'll have to wait to see if she..."

Claude's face was drained of color. Panicked tears filled his eyes.

"I'll do what I can." The doctor promised.

He got to work on the wound. Claude watched in horror.

He'd seen blood before. He'd seen people savagely harmed. He'd been responsible for it much of the time.

But during that time, Claude had never expected to care when he saw someone like this. He hadn't dreamed that it would tear him apart like it did now.

His dearest friend and love of his life was just clinging to life in front of him, stabbed and soaked in blood...

Claude couldn't watch this. He stormed out of the room as tears rushed from his eyes. Along with devastation and panic, a third emotion burned in him.

His face strained in a brutal scowl and he hurried to the dungeon.

"Where is the lieutenant?!" Claude furiously asked the dungeon guards.

They looked at the judge in fright.

"Sir, are you alright?!" One of the guards asked.

Claude remembered his half-clothed, blood-soaked appearance. He looked down at himself and felt his eyes gush even more.

"It's not mine..." He said in a sobbing growl, referring to the blood. "The lieutenant! WHERE IS HE?!"

Realizing what was going on, the guards nervously showed Claude to a nearby cell. They opened it when he ordered them to, and Claude hurried inside with clenched fists. He found the lieutenant sprawled on the floor, groaning like he'd only just regained his consciousness. He visibly panicked when he noticed the judge.

"Sir! I-"

Claude didn't let him finish. He sharply kicked the man's side, eliciting a scream, then knelt and started to punch him repeatedly. The lieutenant cried out in agony.

"You made an incredible mistake..." Claude said through gritted teeth. "In thinking I'm SOFT!"

He threw his fist at the lieutenant one more time, hitting his face sharply and causing him to scream and spit out blood.

"Please!" The soldier begged. "Don't kill me!"

Claude grabbed him around the neck, making him choke and stare up in terror.

"You dare ask me for mercy now?!" Claude thundered. "For trying to kill me, I only would have imprisoned you. But you've hurt the woman I LOVE!"

Claude tightened his grip around the lieutenant's throat, worsening his struggle for air. He wanted to let the man die like this, but Claude barely managed to restrain himself from strangling him to death at this moment. He couldn't make such a rash decision right now. Esmeralda was fighting for her life, and he needed to get back to her.

"You'd better start praying for her!" Claude threatened. "Because if she dies, I WILL FINISH YOU!"

With that, he slammed the lieutenant's head into the floor and stormed out of the cell. The guards watched in shock, but Claude didn't care. He was too angry to care what anyone saw right now.

He ended up stopping in front of the door to the room where Esmeralda lay. He urged to enter, but he became afraid. What would he find if he went into that room? Had she died? Was she going to? Claude feared the thought of seeing her lifeless body.

He'd seen the corpses of his parents, and those images had haunted him for years afterwards. Could he bear to see Esmeralda like that, someone so much more important to him? Claude was hurt by the mere thought of it.

Instead of opening the door, he broke down crying in front of it. He looked down at his blood-covered hands and hated himself. How had he allowed this to happen? He should have stopped it, even if that wasn't realistic! Somehow, he should have been able to protect her! Somehow, he should have prevented her from being stabbed for his sake!

Claude turned around and stepped toward the wall, banging his fists against it and letting out a bloodcurdling scream. He collapsed against the wall and sat on the floor, grabbing his face while he depleted every tear in his eyes.

From the balcony, Quasimodo watched the sunset with Elaine. They weren't talking, but Quasimodo eventually decided to break the silence.

"I've been thinking a lot," He shared. "About Frollo..."

"What are you thinking?" Elaine inquired.

"Well, I'm still mad." Quasimodo confessed. "But I'm also curious. There's a lot I don't know about him..."

"And... You're going to find out?" Elaine asked hopefully.

Quasimodo hesitated.

"Esmeralda told me to." He shared. "She said if I just talked to him, everything would make sense."

He looked at Elaine with curiosity.

"Do you think I should?" He asked.

He wasn't prepared for Elaine's immediate, passionate "Yes!"

"Why are you so sure about that?" Quasimodo asked.

"Because... He's a good man. I know he wasn't before, but he's been working so hard to make amends. I think he's worth talking to."

"You believe in him a lot for someone who doesn't really know him..."

"I know him well enough."

"How?"

"He saved my life!"

Quasimodo stopped to think about what Elaine could possibly be talking about. When had Frollo ever saved anyone? Except...

"Wait... Was that you in the silversmith's attic?!" Quasimodo asked.

Elaine nodded.

Quasimodo was speechless. He'd completely forgotten about that incident.

"I was so scared..." Elaine remembered. "They were going to hold me for ransom. But then he came. He risked his life to save me..."

Quasimodo gawked as he took in this information.

"So..." He started. "Without him... I wouldn't have you..."

"That's right." Elaine agreed.

The bell ringer looked down at the street.

"Maybe you're right." He admitted. "Maybe talking to Frollo is what I have to do..."

"Quasi, I'm not saying you have to." Elaine explained. "I know you don't owe him anything. But... If you're asking whether I think he's worth it, the answer is yes."

Quasimodo thought about it. But before he could make another comment, an unexpected series of footsteps came through the belltower, and two armored men came rushing up to the bell ringer and his friend.

"Bell ringer!" One of them said hurriedly. "You need to come with us! You've been summoned to the Palace of Justice!"

"What?!" Quasimodo asked. "Why?!"

"It's an emergency!"

The guards only briefly explained what the emergency was, but it was enough to make Quasimodo panic.

He'd been about to say something to Elaine about the other person he needed to talk to, the best friend whom he needed to make up with. But it occurred to him that he may never get the chance.

Almost immediately, he broke into tears. Esmeralda had been stabbed.