Trails of Intertwined Stars: Chapter 74

~Chapter 84: Nails Clawing~

Jiu made his way to the room Leora had been placed in. It was all so morbid. The room she'd been birthed in would be the room she-. No, Jiu refused to think like that. She'd promised him, hadn't she? She wouldn't die. He made his way to the room, hesitating at the door when he heard voices talking; immediately recognising them to be Henry and Julian, both had mostly returned from London that night. He didn't manage to catch what they were saying, so opened the door, and entered. His heart sank at the sight. Julian and Henry were talking quite heatedly about something regarding Leora's health that he didn't understand. Leora was sat in bed with Soren by her side, holding her close and trying his best to comfort her. She was dreadfully pale that morning, and barely conscious. That was not the horrifying part. Her nails were covered in blood, her own blood. They looked damaged. Had Vincent and Emmeline seen the sight, they would have most likely been distraught to see their final wish so forgotten.
"It's getting worse, Henry!"
"Of course it is, Julian, I'm not bloody blind am I?"
"She's mental."
"Either that or the medication is doing it."
"Are you suggesting my medicine is flawed?"
"I'm suggesting that perhaps electro therapy may be a better solution."
Jiu's expression darkened," What's going on?"
The room grew deadly silent for a long while.

"Leora's very ill," Soren finally spoke up," The medicine seems to be taking its toll on her mind and body."
Jiu frowned, confused.
Henry pointed at the door," She's been trying to claw out of here."
His heart lurched at the sight. Last night, he'd seen small scratches around the key hole but thought them to be nothing of importance. Yet now, the majority of the door seemed to be covered in these marks. Yet they'd grown more horrific, as if in a desperate attempt or panic. Blood dried into the wood in parts of it.
"I saw scratch marks last night, but I assumed they were old," Jiu muttered.
Julian frowned," You were here last night?"
"Yes, Leora had managed to escape her room, sleepwalking that night with a high fever. I took her back, she was quite distressed. I administered the medicine and made sure she fell asleep before I left."
"No wonder!" Julian snapped, suddenly.
It seemed, because of being such a prideful know-it-all doctor, Julian loathed the idea of being the cause of an issue. When something went wrong, he made it a battle to find someone else to pin the blame on.
"She was not supposed to have another dose, she had one before! You made her terribly ill you fool!"

Jiu snapped at this.
"If the medicine was so great, then why was she suffering from a god awful fever last night!?" He demanded," It must be doing more harm than good to her in that case. What was I supposed to do? Leave her to suffer all night?"
"Comfort her!" Henry hissed, quite evidently on Julian's side than his.
"'Comfort her'? I WAS COMFORTING HER, YOU IDIOT! That medication is supposed to comfort her, not bloody cure her! What do you want me to do? Pat her back and patronise her suffering rather than finding a way to relieve it? You truly both are idiots, aren't you?"
"She would have recovered from the fever in due time-!"
Leora let out a low whimper, hiding her face in Soren's shoulder.
"That's enough from all of you," The tutor hissed, keeping his voice low, but firm," Argue about this elsewhere. Can't you see she's in pain?"
Jiu glanced away, slightly ashamed he'd had this argument in front of Leora and Soren, but he couldn't quite help it. Not when Julian and Henry both seemed to be clawing desperately at the chance to get Jiu out of their hair and away from the manor. It was evident, now, that they were finding faults with him to class him as a danger to Leora, when, in truth, the greatest problem seemed to be them.

"I think Leora needs to be separated from the house and its members more," Henry stated.
Jiu scowled," To encourage her to claw more at the door, is that it?"
"No, to get rid of a reason to claw to escape. She'll get used to this room and she'll forget about the house and its people; aside from me, of course, who matters the most to her."
Jiu nearly gagged at his last comment, but suppressed it.
"I was thinking a similar thing," Julian hummed," Those close to Leora may be granted fifteen minutes a day to be alone with her in this room, then it's under strict regulation. Henry or I will always be present."
"And how, exactly, are Edward, Jiu and I a problem to Leora's health?" Soren stepped in, crossing his arms over his chest," What impact do we have?"
"Simple," Julian stated," You're a bad influence on her and her health."
"Why you-" Soren hissed, but immediately kept his cool.
Both he and Jiu exchanged a look. Arguing with this was like arguing with a wall to learn how to ballroom dance. It was hopeless in all shape and form. Henry would never agree, because Henry was the one who concluded she should be separated from the manor, and Henry, regrettably, had all the power in this moment of time.

"May I spend my fifteen minutes alone with her now?" Jiu stated, his tone clipped," I...need to sit with her for a bit, without you two breathing down my neck."
Henry and Julian both scowled at this comment.
"She needs to be bandaged first," Julian huffed.
"I can handle that perfectly fine," Jiu stated, daring him to argue further," I'm quite capable of treating wounds. Being on the front lines most of your life does that to you. Now, if you'll excuse us."
Julian opened his mouth to argue further, but relented and he and Henry stormed out, like two tantruming toddlers. Soren gave Leora's shoulder one last reassuring squeeze, before getting up and smiling softly at Jiu; leaving and closing the door behind him. The general sighed, his gaze flickering down to the miserable, hunched girl in her bed.
"Right...we need to talk."