till forever falls apart

chapter 23: eyes open

Elrond walked back to Legolas' healing room and entered without knocking.

Idhrenel was sitting almost lifelessly beside Legolas' bed; she had obviously been crying for some time. Thranduil was nowhere to be seen. Elrond couldn't decide who looked worse, Idhrenel or Legolas. Legolas was pale because he had lost a lot of blood, but his neck had already been placed in a brace and he seemed to be sleeping deeply and peacefully. Idhrenel, on the other hand, was even paler than Legolas; had Elrond not seen the rise and fall of her chest, he could have easily mistaken her for a corpse. "I'd prefer to be alone," said Idhrenel hoarsely. "I don't think you should be alone, Idhrenel. Not at a time like this."

"Do as you wish then." Elrond pulled up a chair and sat opposite her. After a few minutes he cleared his throat to speak. "The boys told me what happened. It wasn't Berion's fault."

"I really couldn't care less." was Idhrenel's response before Elrond recounted what his sons told him. "I understand if you blame Elladan and Elrohir," he added. Idhrenel smiled a rueful smile. She didn't blame the twins; it wouldn't be fair to blame them. She knew her son and knew that he liked to court danger. "I don't blame them. I know my son. This was probably as much his idea as it was theirs. It was only a matter of time before they decided to do something insane together." After a pause, Idhrenel said, "Do you really think he'll live? Tell me the truth. I don't think I'll survive if he doesn't. He's all we have you see..."

"I do. It's a promising sign that he survived-" Idhrenel interrupted, "As long as he survives, I'll take what I can get." Idhrenel felt a little better about her son. If the best healer in all of Arda believed Legolas was going to survive, then she had a reason to be hopeful. 

Elrond studied Idhrenel's face. He hadn't realised that the mother and son looked a great deal alike. "You know, in your letters, you never mentioned that he looks so much like you." Idhrenel looked up and smiled.  "All I see when I look at him is Thranduil. He has my eyes, his smile, my kindness, his sense of humour. Also his want for adventure and even danger.  He takes after him a lot more than he takes after me." She chuckled to herself.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. From what I've seen in the past couple of days, he's a great deal like you." Their conversation was interrupted by Galion. "My Queen, I've had dinner set in the dining room. I can keep watch over Legolas while you eat." Idhrenel shook her head gently, "You go Elrond. I'm not leaving his side." Lord Elrond looked at his sister-in-law before before placing a hand on her shoulder and standing up. "I could bring your food in here." Galion offered but yet again Idhrenel shook her head, "Galion, do not worry. I'm not hungry at the moment." The two of them left the room and Idhrenel stayed by the side of her son. The days passed and Idhrenel didn't leave the room, she barely slept and hardly ate anything. Thranduil would visit either before they went to bed or sometime during the day when he wasn't on duty.

Elrond came in to check up on Idhrenel and Legolas periodically.  Everytime he came in, he became more concerned, not for Legolas, but for his sister-in-law. He could tell that Legolas was getting better just by looking at him, but Idhrenel was getting worse by the minute. He feared that if she stayed like that, she would never return to normal.  She was extremely pale, with dark circles under her eyes and the natural glow of her skin was almost gone. Elrond tried to assure her that Legolas was already getting better, but she refused to believe it until she saw Legolas awake with her own eyes. Elrond went to Legolas' room on the fourth morning. He found Idhrenel sitting in the same place she had been sitting since it all began. As usual, there was an untouched meal beside her. "You need to eat something. I know you haven't eaten in days."

"I'm not hungry," she growled. "You still need to keep your strength up. It won't do for Legolas to get better while you slowly waste away. Why don't you go take a bath? It will help you relax." Idhrenel looked up. "Can't you understand? I don't want to relax. I can't relax until he wakes up. I don't want him to ever feel like I abandoned him." Elrond knew he was fighting a losing battle. He suggested that they all eat breakfast there, to which Idhrenel reluctantly agreed.

Idhrenel pretended to eat by pushing her food around her plate with her fork; like Legolas did when he wasn't in a good mood or hungry. Idhrenel couldn't bear it; she decided to take a break from staring at her food to check on her son. When she looked towards Legolas, she saw two big, expressionless, green eyes staring back at her. She then abruptly stood up from her seat, almost knocking the table over, and ran to Legolas' side. Elrond followed suit and joined her only a couple of seconds later. "Don't move, tithen las," whispered Idhrenel. Elrond uncovered Legolas' foot and pinched the sole of his foot. Legolas' face remained expressionless, but his foot instinctively twitched when Elrond pinched him. This was a good sign and Idhrenel felt tears flow from her eyes as she pulled her brother-in-law into a tight hug not wanting to let go. 

"I'm going to give him a sleeping draught. He's getting better already, but he still needs time to fully heal," said Elrond quietly. He gently opened Legolas' mouth and poured the liquid in. Even Legolas' disgusted face at the liquid made his mother smile. She then made her way to the door, and stuck her head out to communicate to a nearby guard. "Send word to my husband that our Prince has awoken." Idhrenel ordered as she smiled.