The Gisborne Chronicles

CHR8/CH6 - A Slow Recovery

As Guy lay in his bed of pain, all thoughts of Gwyneth and Edmund's nuptials went from their minds. Edmund had journeyed to Llanlivet, there to ring the dwarven message bell, and word was carried to Thorin to postpone any arrangements made.  Because it was of course unthinkable, that such a joyous occasion could be celebrated whilst Gwyneth was needed to care for one of her own.

Over the following days, life at the farm was little altered save for the farmer lying sorely wounded on the parlour floor. They had thought to move him upstairs, as the healing slowly began, but the thought of lying there alone in his pain was more than Guy could bear, and he pleaded to remain where he was.

Edmund declared that he would dismantle, and fetch down Auriel's 'birthday bed' as gifted to her by Guy, and the thought of lying next to Guy again brought such joy to Auriel's face that the task was soon carried out. The work took several hours, and the efforts of all three farm workers, including Hywell, using the plans that Guy had originally drawn up, and  removing the parlour door to fit it through, but by supper time Guy was resting like a King.

That he suffered great discomfort as they lifted him from the feather mattress on the floor, and thence into his own bed, was apparent by his expression, but he made no sound, because he knew that his sweet girl would feel the pain with him, if she saw it on his face.

It was a large bed, and the parlour small, but chairs and settles were moved upstairs to accommodate it, and it was decided not to replace the door so that Guy could see into the kitchen, and feel part of the family circle whilst still lying slightly outside of it.

Though not an ideal patient, and a mite fractious and uncomfortable, Guy bore the pain mostly in silence, but there were times, especially at the beginning, when it was almost too much for him to bear.

In the second week he took a bad fever, and the wound festered for a while, but Gwyneth and Glenys fought hard between them to ensure that the setback in his recovery was short lived.

Midway through the fourth week, he declined the poppy juice on offer, saying that he would endeavour to sleep without it, though Gwyneth questioned the decision.

" You may regret it," she said, "but it shall be as you say, I will leave the mixture here."

After supper, his children came to him once again for the nightly blessing that he had been unable to bestow for a while, and he relished the giving of it, though little Guy was chided gently for the enthusiasm he showed in his somewhat sticky embrace.

" Honey," said Guy softly, when all of the children were abed, " my son tasted of honey.  Dear God I thought never to kiss my children again, it has felt like a lifetime."

Then he looked at Auriel, standing there at the end of the bed, so beautiful, her belly softly rounded with his child.

"And you my darling girl, I have almost forgotten the touch of your lips on mine. You have slept alongside me these past nights, and yet I had no knowledge of it. Poppy juice can stifle pain, but it gifts a strange emptiness to those who receive it."

"It has taken you from me for a while," she replied, " but I was here, I will always be here. "

" But please, my darling, do not deny yourself relief for my sake. I look for no more than the comfort of lying with you in our bed, whether or not you are aware of my presence."

"An hour, " said Guy, the pleading evident in his voice, " an hour only, lie here beside me, and speak of things other than pain. Speak to me of love, and our children, speak to me of the child you carry, speak to me of life, that I do not feel the presence of death!"

"For pity's sake speak to me of what my life was, that I may believe it will be so again!"

In an instant she lay at his side, her arms tight about him, wondering that he had kept these fears from her, though she knew it was only to shield her that he had kept silent.