Lost and Found

43: I can do it...

"Please stop."

Peter's hand froze, hovering over the horrific burn on his brothers back. He gripped the wet flannel he had as tightly as he could and took a deep breath. "Ed, we're no where near done." He choked out.

Edmund was sobbing, his shoulders shaking as he buried his face against the pillows. "Please." He whispered, voice muffled and broken. "I - I can't."

"Yes you can." Peter told him gently, before looking up at Orious, a pleading look in his eye.

Orious sighed. "We cannot delay this any longer." He said sadly. "His wounds need tending to, we have to do it as soon as possible, otherwise he - he won't make it back to Cair."

Peter swallowed hard. "Ed?" He murmered. "Hear that? I have to do this, your wounds will get infected if i don't."

Edmund didn't say anything, he just continued to tremble, sobbing quietly into the pillows.

Peter sighed. "What hurts the most?" He asked slowly, dunking the cloth back in the water, which had gone a lovely pink from all the blood, even though Orious had only just changed it.

Edmund said nothing for a long while. "The - The burn." He choked. "My - My right arm and my ribs."

Peter frowned. "Your arm?" He asked. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Edmund took a deep, shaky breath. "He - He dislocated it." He choked out. "And put it back into place forcefully."

Peter felt sick, and had to blink back tears as best he could. "Ed, we're gonna roll you onto your back again okay? I wanna check your arm and your ribs before we move onto that burn and the rest of the whip lashes."

He glanced up at Orious, who nodded and helped him roll Edmund onto his back, earning a choked sob from his brother followed by a whimper.

"Shhh." Peter soothed, placing his hand to Edmunds forehead to calm him even as he was careful to not press down too hard seeming as there was a sizeable gash on his forehead. "You're okay."

After this, he carefully took hold of Edmund's arm, hesitating when Edmund winced, squeezing his eyes shut as tightly as he could.

Peter and Orious both had a look at the arm, and after a while Peter looked slowly up at the centaur, frowning.

"It wasn't put back into place properly." Orious murmered. "Which has caused it to slip out of place again. It's still dislocated."

Peter sighed, he knew what that meant. "We have to put it back again don't we?" He whispered.

"I'm afraid so." Orious replied sadly.

"No."

Peter looked down at his brother, gently running his hand through his thick, greasy hair. "Be brave okay?" He choked. "It'll be quick, I'll do it quick okay?"

"You know how to do it?" Orious checked.

"Yeah." Peter breathed, taking a hold of Edmund's shoulder.

"Please." Edmund whispered, and Peter knew that if he had the strength he'd be trying to get away.

"Take a deep breath Ed." Peter told him. "You can do this."

"No, please Peter. I'm begging you don't do-"

But he cut himself off with a heartbreaking scream when Peter suddenly slipped his shoulder back into place with no warning whatsoever.

Peter let out a sob at the scream, immediately trying to calm his brother down. "Breathe, that's it, in and out, come on Eddy" He choked. "It's over."

It took a long while, but eventually Edmund relaxed again, tears sliding down his cheeks as he took deep breaths, but he winced every time he did, which moved Peter's attention to his ribs.

It was no wonder they hurt so much, his entire torso was littered with bruises, some black, some purple, some even yellow, the white of his skin was hardly visible beneath them.

Taking a deep, shaky breath Peter gently placed his hand to Edmunds ribs, jumping back slightly when Edmund cried out.

Orious sighed. "Broken." He muttered without any hesitation whatsoever.

"You're sure?" Peter asked, even though he knew Orious was right.

"One hundred percent." The centaur replied.

"How - How many?"

"Most of them."

Peter squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, taking a deep, shaky breath to steady himself.

"If this is too much for you sir, I can take over." Orious told him kindly.

But Peter shook his head. "I - I want to do it." He choked. "I can do it."

Orious nodded. "We can't do anything for the broken ribs until he has Queen Lucy's cordial I'm afraid." He said sadly.

Peter nodded in understanding, opening his eyes and taking another deep breath. "I know." He breathed.

After a moment or two Peter took a closer look at Edmunds black eye, noticing the eye was bloodshot and filled with so much pain it was hard to look at, and surrounding the eye was the most painful bruise Peter had ever seen, as well as small cuts surrounding it.

He looked down at the split on his lip, before sighing and running a hand over his face. "You want me to have a look at that burn?" Peter asked gently.

"Will - Will it hurt?" Edmund choked out, sounding terrified.

Peter bit his lip. "Yeah." He whispered.

"Please, no more pain." Edmund choked.

"Ed I've told you this." Peter breathed. "If I don't do this the wounds will get infected."

"Sire." Orious stepped in. "He's in too much pain and he's too exhausted to comprehend what you're trying to tell him. He just wants the pain to end, and he knows that if you carry on, it will just mean more pain."

"No more pain." Edmund murmered, shaking his head back and forth and closing his eyes.

Peter stared at Edmund for a while, stared at his injuries, watched as he sobbed and cried and muttered under his breath, and it was then that it became too much.

He quickly stood, knocking his chair over and ran from the tent, leaning over as he threw up, choking and coughing and trembling.

Once the worst was over he collapsed, sitting with his back to the tent he buried his face into his hands and just burst into tears.

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