There and back again - The end of the Journey

CHAPTER 11 - GUY'S RECOVERY.

In the morning he woke late, after she had bathed. She was in her usual corner, which was untidy and apparently methodical only to her. It was piled with books and parchments, bowls, herbs and other strange things.

    "I think you are wearing a blue dress today my lady," he said, "my eyes are dim, but I am able to make it out."

    She walked towards him as his eyes continued to clear, with a smile so full of joy, that it almost stopped his heart. "Never believe that you are not beautiful," he said, "for any that say it are either liars or fools."

    She brought him his morning potion and sat beside him as he drank it. "Seldom has a recovery pleased me more Guy of Gisborne, my heart has ached for the loss of your sight every day you have lain here. It pleases me more than you know, that I have been able to bring that recovery about, by using the small skills with which I have been blessed."

    "You are so very tall," he said, smiling, then he added, "but in a very pleasing way. The first woman I ever loved had hair such as yours, it brings a sweet recollection to me when I look at you. I would touch your face again if I may."

    She looked at him questioningly, but then nodded her head.

    When his hands started to move across her features, she noted that he had closed his eyes and that he was smiling. "This is to remind me." he said. "For of the many comforts you have brought me, this was the one, that in my darkness, brought me the most hope. You are exactly as I imagined and you have been a blessing."

    "It will be a difficult parting of the ways for me when you are finally in good health," she said. "For we have spent a fair time in each other's company. But your skin has lost its pallor and the red weals fade. Something in the potions I have given you is aiding your recovery, though we may never know what it is. Would you like to spend a short time in the balmy air today? I would not yet allow contact with others, but I can place a chair here in the doorway, where the sun shines after midday. Later I will send word that your sight is restored."

    "That would be quite wonderful, he said," and his smile broke her heart.

    He continued to grow in strength as the days passed, still taking the potions she provided and pissing in a cup twice a day so that she could mark any changes in her journal, though he thought it strange that she could tell whether or not he was well, merely by looking at his water, and it did cause laughter between them. She eventually pronounced that he could soon return to his family, providing that his water remained the healthy colour it had become for at least ten days.

    He began to notice that she spent more time at his bedside during the day, but was glad of her company. She often read to him, sometimes tales that were of interest to him and sometimes not.

    She would also ask to brush his hair and would bring salves with which to soothe his face where the red weals remained, though they were fading. She would also rub these ointments into his hands, at one point also massaging it into his dry lips. She was ever mindful of his comfort, constantly asking him if there was any service she could provide that would enhance his recovery.

    She would draw back the covers to gently exercise his legs, massaging them with scented oils, telling him that it was to strengthen his muscles that they did not weaken and she provided the same service to his arms, chest and back.

    He sensed something change in her attitude to him as the days passed and he grew in strength, though the level of care she provided did not diminish. Then he saw that her face would flush and her breathing quicken whenever she was close to him.

    One night, she came to stand by the chair he now sat in during the evening, whilst she turned back his bed or changed the bedclothes. She handed him the final potion of the day, as he sat there in his linen nightshirt, and he noted that she was nervous and agitated so he asked if he had given offence in some way.