To the Barricades

Joly

All Eloise remembered was coldness, a feeling which paralyzed and burned. Now it was warm, very warm as there was at least five heavy blankets piled upon her. She heard voices, talking in hushed tones but no words could be made out. Daring to look at her surroundings, Eloise opened her eyes, seeing nothing but blurred light at first.

When Eloise's eyes adjusted, she ssaw a room, not very large, but very clean, with a bookshelf of what looked like medical books. She observed the she was lying in a bed, comfy and furnished nicely, but not excessively. A wooded door on the far side of the room opened and Enjolras entered as well as another man whom Eloise recognized from Café Musain.

"Ah, our patient is awake!" The other man said, apparently pleased that Eloise was conscience. "Um, Enjolras, would you mind leaving, I must check on her health.".

"Oh, alright. I'll wait out there." Enjolras awkwardly stepped out and to Eloise's surprise, she found herself wishing that he had stayed.

"Glad to see you were able to wake up, Mademoiselle. I am Joly, friend of Enjolras, student of medicine, and member of les Amis de A B C."

"What's les Amis de A B C?"

"Oh, um, never mind that! I'll just be checking your heartbeat, simple tests like that, today." Joly, completely ignoring Eloise's question, began to check her health. When he had finished he walked over to the book shelf, grabbed a book, flipped through a few pages, then set it down and returned to the bedside.

"Eloise," Joly said in a serious tone. "You are lucky that Enjolras found you last night. Your arms and feet have mild frost bite, that should heal quickly if you stay warm, but you also have pneumonia."

"Oh." Is all Eloise said. So it was Enjolras who had brought her here last night.

"Mademoiselle, what were you doing outside last night?" Joly asked, his voice full of concern.

Eloise took a deep breath, "Monsieur Joly, that is where I live." He didn't say much only a quiet acknowledgement before he stood up and left the room.

Curious, Eloise stood an staggered to the door leaning against it to hear what was being said.

"Enjolras, what do we do? She lives on street in that cold with all those germs!"

"I know Joly, she stayed with me one night but I don't think she would allow herself to do that again."

"Well, Enjolras, I would take her in, she could sleep on the couch, but with Muschietta..."

"I understand, she'll have to stay with me. My pride is not worth more than her life."

Before Eloise knew what was happening, the door opened, and she found herself falling. Moving quickly, Enjolras, who had opened the door, held her upright in his arms, not allowing her to hit the floor.

"Well, Eloise," Enjolras said, bringing her back to the bed, "As you probably heard, I am bringing you to stay with me until we can make other arrangements. No arguments, not in your condition."

"My condition?" Eloise said, wrinkling her nose. "When you put it like that it sounds like I'm pregnant! I am just a little sick."

Joly began to laugh, "You two are going to have fun!" His laugh was care free and cheery and in that moment Eloise decided that she would get along just fine with Joly.

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After one more night in Joly's care, Eloise was helped to Enjolras's home and plopped in his bed for the second time that week. She was instructed to stay put and sleep but no matter how hard she tried, rest just didn't come.

"Enjolras! Could you come here?" Eloise called out.

He practically ran into the room a worried expression on his face, which vanished once he saw Eloise was alright. "Do you need something, Eloise?"

"Could you fetch me a book? I really don't care what it is, any literature will do."

"Um, okay. I'll get you something to read." Enjolras disappeared for only a moment before he came back in with a book.

Eloise accepted it and read the cover, "Republic, by Plato. Sounds interesting enough." She began to read but found it difficult because of all the big words used. Eloise had only a basic knowledge of reading and writing, so she soon called for Enjolras again.

"Could you tell me what some of these words are, Enjolras?" She requested, slightly embarrassed.

"Oh, I can do better than that." He smiled taking the book and sitting on the edge of the bed. Enjolras began to read to Eloise, speaking with clarity and conviction. A few times Eloise asked for an explanation of what was just read but Enjolras didn't mind. It was clear that he had read this before.

Soon, Eloise found her eyelids becoming heavy and eventually they closed completely. Enjolras also began to feel quite tired as it was becoming dark but he kept reading as long as he could until his eyes closed as well. They both had a restful night's sleep, dreaming of a better world described in the Republic.