Call of the Wild (rewrite)

Chapter 49

Poppy woke up the next morning, groaning softly as she began to stir in her bed.

"Ugh..." she groaned, her head spinning like crazy as she blinked her eyes open, looking up at the ceiling in confusion. "Wha... what happened..."

She tried to sit up, but felt something heavy on her chest, the weight of it holding her down firmly to the bed she was currently in.

Slowly, she raised her head to see what was on her, quickly realizing it was Branch...

He was curled up in a ball, sleeping somewhat peacefully on her chest, wearing his usual shorts, his leaf outfit the young princess had made for him completely gone. Instead, he was covered almost completely in bandages, which were all stained red with blood. Especially the one wrapped around his right ankle...

"Branch?" she said quietly, gently placing her hand on the puppy troll's head, but he didn't wake up... he didn't even move, seeming unable to awake from his dreamless sleep...

Slowly, Poppy looked away from Branch to examine her surroundings, instantly realizing she was laying in a bed, which sat in a room with a fireplace. She was wrapped up tightly in blankets, and there was a fire roaring in the fireplace to keep both her and Branch warm. How had they gotten here?

Suddenly, the door to the room the two friends were in opened, an older purple troll walking in with more blankets. She looked over at Poppy, smiling once she realized the young troll was awake.

"Good morning," she said in a kind voice. "You were asleep for a long time..."

"Uh..." Poppy muttered softly, looking at this stranger in confusion. She had never seen this troll before, and she knew everyone in Troll Village. "I'm sorry... but... who are you?"

"Oh... where are my manners?" the old troll chuckled softly, placing the blankets neatly down on the bed. "I'm Rosiepuff. But you can call me Rose if you'd like."

"Um... well... hello, Rose," the young princess greeted, still slightly confused. "I'm Poppy..."

She tried again to sit up, but Branch whimpered involuntarily as she moved, a sharp pain shooting through him as he slept on top of her.

Poppy gasped at the pained sound that had just come from her friend, slowly laying back down, not wanting to hurt him...

"Is... is he gonna be ok?" she asked the older troll, petting Branch's head gently as a few tears began to form in her bright pink eyes.

Rose looked away sadly, not really wanting to answer the question, but she knew she had to... it would be wrong of her to not warn the young girl about her friend's devastating fate...

"He's... lost a lot of blood..." she finally explained softly. "I bandage him up, but..." She paused, sighing as she looked away, unable to make eye contact with the young troll she was speaking to. "I don't think he's gonna make it..."

Poppy gasped at this troll's words, looking down at Branch with tearful eyes.

"He's only woken up once..." Rose continued softly. "I had put him in that bed over there, but he forced himself over to you. I don't know how... must of been pretty painful though... there was a trail of blood on the floor..."

     Poppy didn't say a word... she just kept staring down at Branch in devastation... she just couldn't believe she was actually going to lose him... forever...

     "I've replaced his bandages four times," the old troll said, looking back up at Poppy. "But he keeps bleeding though them..."

She looked at Branch, seeing the blood all over his bandages...

"Probably should change them again," she sighed. "Won't do much good though... how did this happen?"

Poppy sighed, looking away as she wiped away some of her tears.

"Party Crasher attack..." she answered softly.

     Rose gasped at Poppy's words, her eyes widening in shock.

     "Party Crashers?" the old troll questioned. "They're back!?"

     Poppy nodded, looking back at Branch who was still asleep on top of her, soft whimpers escaping his throat with each difficult breath he took...

"He was protecting me..." she muttered softly. "Their after us both, but..." She sighed again, still not looking up at Rose as she continued. "I think this particular one was only after him... it attacked him, and left... didn't take him... didn't look for me... just left..."

She looked up at the old troll, her eyes red with tears.

"He escaped from them twice..." she explained. "They aren't happy... they want him dead..."

"Well... I hate to say this..." Rose said, looking down at Branch sadly. "But... they might have gotten their wish..."

His heart beat was very slow, and each breath seemed more difficult than the last, as if he didn't have much left in him...

"You should come out and eat something..." the old troll finally said to Poppy with a slight sigh. "I'll get him off of you..."
"No," Poppy quickly said, as Rose reached down to take Branch away. "Let him stay... please..."

The old troll nodded, stepping away a bit as she smiled kindly.

"I'll... bring your breakfast in for you..." she finally said after a moment of silence, watching as Poppy pet Branch's head gently, her fingers slowly moving through his thick bluish-black hair. "You'll... need your strength..."

     She turned, beginning to walk out of the room, but paused, turning back when she heard the young child start to speak...

"How much time does he have?" Poppy asked softly through her tears, still gazing down at her best friend.

     Rose sighed, looking away sadly.

"A few hours tops..." she responded softly. "There's just so much blood... so much pain... I'm surprised he's even still with us at this moment..."

Slowly, trying her best to not hurt the little puppy troll, Poppy moved Branch up next to herself, so she could hug him tight, crying softly into his chest, her heart aching with despair...

     Rose knew there was no point in making this young troll breakfast... she wouldn't eat it... she couldn't eat it... she was just too heart broken...

     Slowly, the old troll looked down at Branch's leg, seeing that the formally white bandage wrapped around it was now completely red...

"I'll be right back with more bandages..." she said softly with a slight sigh. "We'll do our best to keep him as comfortable as possible in his final moments..."

Poppy snuggled up with Branch, closing her eyes tight, as she cried into his light blue skin, just wishing he would wake up and be ok...

"I'm so sorry, Branch..." she whimpered softly to the little puppy troll resting weakly in her arms. "I should have never brought you here... this is all my fault..."

Rose sighed at those sad words, knowing exactly how Poppy was feeling right now, and then slowly turned, leaving the room to get more bandages...