A Beast's Tale

Chapter 40

"Well, look who's finally awake."

The doctor's voice immediately jolted me into wakefulness. Ivetta was awake. After three days, she was awake. I sat up on the sofa, just as she sat bolt upright in the bed. She cried out in pain, the sound piercing my heart. I was on my feet and crossing the room in an instant. The doctor put a gentle hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down onto the bed.

"It's okay, no need to be afraid," he said kindly, but she was still struggling feebly against him.

I came around the bed opposite the doctor to look down into her frightened green eyes, eyes that I'd feared I'd never see again.

"Ivetta."

She immediately stopped fighting, her eyes locked on mine as she panted for breath. Her bruised, swollen face was still unrecognizable, but it was scrubbed free from blood, and her black, silky hair had fallen in front of her eyes. I reached out to gently brush it back out of her face. She was still confused, but the fear was already fading as she looked up at me.

"This is the doctor, Ivetta. We're back at the palace. You're safe here."

I held her gaze, watching her relax with each soft word. The doctor got back to work again on her other side, and she flinched violently away from him, but she didn't struggle as before.

"Don't mind me, Miss Ivetta. All I'm doing is changing your bandages," he said reassuringly. "You've been through quite an ordeal. You've suffered a concussion, several broken bones, excessive blood loss, bumps, bruises, cuts, the works. I'm going to have to insist that you stay in bed and rest until you are fully recovered."

I'd heard it all before, in much greater detail than what he'd told her. It was my request that he not go into the specifics with her. She would live, and that was all that mattered. She didn't need to know that if we hadn't found her, or if we'd delayed until morning, she wouldn't have made it through the night. That it was uncertain for the first twenty-four hours whether she would even pull through.

She closed her eyes again. I sat on the bed next to her and took her hand. Heavy duty soft bandages wrapped around the deep cuts in her wrists, cuts that she had made when she tried to free herself from her manacles, still fighting with everything she had until her strength had run out. She had a lot of such bandages, though the rest covered injuries not of her making. There were too many areas needing frequent bandage changes for casting to be practical, so her numerous fractures were stabilized by thick layers of the cloth to prevent any movement.

"There, all done. How's your pain?" the doctor asked as he finished.

She opened her eyes again and looked up at him. "Bad," she said quietly.

Worse than that, for her to make such an admission. Given her injuries, it was probably unbearable. But her soft voice was music to my ears, regardless of the words.

"Well, now that you're awake, I can give you something for it. Are you feeling up to eating?" the doctor continued cheerfully.

"Not right now."

He smiled down at her, his wrinkled face creasing further. "That's okay. I'll be right back with the pain medicine. It'll take an hour or so for that to take effect, but then you'll start feeling much better."

"Thank you. And...sorry."

Back in her right mind, and worrying about others again. Somehow, this hadn't changed her. Nothing she'd been through seemed to be able to do that.

"Don't worry about it. I know my face isn't the nicest thing to wake up to." He winked and left the room.

The door closed, and she looked back at me. I'd missed seeing those beautiful green eyes, still full of pain, but also full of life.