The Ghost

Chapter 5: Friendship

Marian entered Guy's room while Matilda was talking with Allan in the corridor. The healer had told them her instructions, then Matilda said that she had to explain to Allan a few details about treatments of more personal nature and she asked her to leave them alone.
Allan rolled his eyes.
"Listen, I know that you don't have a great opinion of me, but I'm not an idiot, you don't have to explain me how can I help a man to use a chamberpot or how to help him to walk to the privy. I had a brother, I took care of him when he was sick or drunk..."
"Oh, I'm pretty sure that he won't need much help with that, let him rest and he'll be fine soon enough. I wanted to talk you about the ghost."
Allan's eyes widened.
"Oh. Giz told you about it..."
"Yes. And I can see him as well. He's over there."
Sir Edward looked at her, surprised.
"Do you really can see me?" He asked.
"I can."
"Aren't you afraid?" The ghost asked.
Matilda grinned.
"I've seen enough weird things in my life. I'm not so easily upset."
"Well, you are upsetting me now!" Allan said, nervous.
Both Matilda and the ghost ignored him.
"Will Sir Guy be alright?" Edward asked, anxiously. "I didn't mean to hurt him."
"Well, don't touch him again. He has burns in shape of your hands where you grabbed him, and you almost drained his life out of him. He will recover, but you could have killed him!" Matilda rebuked the ghost, then she turned to Allan. "You will have to put an ointment on those burns daily, and be sure that Lady Marian doesn't see them."
Allan looked around, nervously, afraid that the ghost could hurt him as well.
Matilda grinned.
"Sir Edward says that you shouldn't worry: you sat on him earlier and you didn't even notice it."
"I sat on him?!" Allan exclaimed, horrified.

Marian entered into the room, and closed the door to give Matilda and Allan some privacy. She went to sit in the chair at the side of the bed, reassured by the healer's words, but still shaken and feeling guilty.
Guy was asleep, but this time his sleep seemed to be more relaxed and he was less pale than before.
Marian touched his hand lightly, to feel if it was still so cold, and Guy's fingers closed around hers, without him waking up.
The girl didn't retract her hand and stood still, with a little sigh.
She didn't know if she was feeling relief because the knight seemed to be better, or if she was still upset for the conversation they had before he got ill. For sure she was feeling sad and sorrowful.
She missed her father, and she couldn't help remembering how harsh her last words to him had been. She quickly wiped a tear from her cheek hearing the door being opened, and just a moment after, Allan entered the room.
The man glanced at the bed, and lifted his eyebrows for a moment when he noticed Guy and Marian's intertwined hands.
He dropped himself on the other chair.
"Well, at least he's sleeping quietly. It seems that this time you didn't kill him."
"I never meant to hurt him!" Marian protested.
"Well, you always do. What are your intentions now?"
"I promised him that I wouldn't leave him alone until he feels better." Marian sounded uncertain, and Allan shook his head, with an ironic smile.
"And then what? You'll go back to Robin and you'll forget about Giz until he could be useful to you and your boyfriend. Then you'll get his hopes high until you get what you want, just to kick him in the face and leave him with nothing once again, when you don't need him anymore."
Marian's cheeks grew hot with rage, and she glared at Allan.
"That's not true!"
"No? Oh, right. You usually punch him in the face before leaving him."
Marian blushed even more, now also with shame. Allan's words made her look like an evil witch and she knew that everything she did was to help people, but she also realized that to help people she had also hurt Guy without even thinking too much about it.
And still he always came back to her, steady in his love.
She didn't find anything to answer, so she just glared back at Allan.
"For your information," Allan said, completely serious this time, "even if you go back to the forest, you wouldn't leave him 'alone'. I'll stay with Giz and for once he'd be with someone who actually cares for him."
"You do? Or you just want to think that because you can't go back to the gang?"
It was Allan's turn to blush a little.
"Well, that might have been true in the beginning, but I came to like him. He has his faults, but he also has his good sides."
"I know." Marian said, and they both were quiet for a while.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Allan sighed.
He felt angry at Marian, but he knew that Guy would have wanted her to stay.
"What are you going to do?"
Marian looked out of the window: it was already dark.
"I should go back to the camp, Robin will be worried by now." She glanced at Guy. "But I promised him to stay until he was better."
"If Robin is worried, I'm sure that he can easily find you here. A lot of people saw you downstairs when Giz fainted, and I'm sure that some of them recognized you. But you shouldn't go to the forest at night, it might be dangerous."
"I am the Nightwatchman, I'm not afraid of riding at night."
Allan crossed his arms.
"Maybe you should. Listen, Marian, I can't leave him alone, so I can't escort you to the camp, but I won't let you go alone. If something should happen to you, both Giz and Robin would flay me alive."
Marian was about to answer that he shouldn't think that she was helpless just because she was a woman, and she was tempted to take a horse and go right back to the camp just to show him that she was able to do it. But then she looked at Guy, at his fingers closed on her hand, at his tired face, and she wasn't so sure that she wanted to go away.
"I guess that I will have to stay, then. Tell the innkeeper to bring another cot."
Allan stared at her.
"Are you going to sleep here?"
"I don't have money with me to take another room and then I won't be alone with him or with you. What's the difference than sleeping at the camp with all the lads?"
The former outlaw grinned.
"I hope you don't snore."