Viggo's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Part 24-Paralysis part 1

"I can't move my legs."

"What?"

"I. Can't. Move. My. Legs."

"... Why?"

"I don't know. I fell off the cliff and... hit a rock? Or maybe a tree. I hit my back pretty hard though, and I can't stand up."

Viggo and Ryker, a few days before, had entered a thickly forested island in search of a new plant that would be sold as a polish for dragon products. They had been climbing a tall hill to get a better view of the terrain when its jagged cliffside fell away beneath them, sending the brothers plummeting into the trees far below.

Ryker was thankful to be uninjured, but it appeared that Viggo hadn't been so lucky.

The elder grimborn lifted his brother's shirt and sucked in a breath at the nasty sight; Viggo's skin was scraped and bleeding on top of rapidly darkening bruises. They mottled the entirety of his lower back, concentrated along his spine and hips. "Well you definitely hit something. I'll have to carry you."

Viggo grunted in annoyance, but didn't protest until Ryker started to lift him. "Ahh!" Ryker quickly set him back down, alarmed. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, it just jarred my back more than I expected. Ignore any noises I make and try again."

The pain was horrible, but Viggo bit his hand to muffle the noises as Ryker carried him back to their ship on the coast of the island.

Ola was picking herbs on the hillside, humming and minding her own business, when she saw the brothers round the corner. The healer gasped and dropped her basket, rushing towards them and demanding to know what had happened. As Ryker explained, Ola's eyes grew wider and wider.

"Set him down right now!" She yelped. "You should never move someone with a back injury!" She gently turned Viggo onto his stomach once Ryker set him down, then pulled up his shirt and started feeling his back.

Then she looked straight at Ryker and stated, with her mouth drawn tight with worry, "Who knows what further damage has already been done."