The Wolf and The Lion || Jaime Lannister

Fifty Six

Rayna

My hand covers my mouth to muffle the cry of relief that escapes it. My other hand grips Jon's tightly to ensure I remain standing.
He will live.
Once again I am shaking. I truly thought he was gone, that he wouldn't survive. For a moment I believe my hearing has betrayed me then Sansa smiles up at me.
"He's alive", she says quietly.
Perhaps the Gods are real if Jaime has survived. Perhaps fate has finally chosen us.
I used to curse fate and the gods, if they are real they had never been anything but cruel. My parents were taken from me, my brothers were taken from me and I thought they would take Jaime from me.
He's alive.
Jon touches my squeezes my hand tightly "Go to him, we'll take care of this".
As soon as I leave the hall I begin running. All the emotions I've suppressed these past few hours hit me at once as I run through the halls to him.
When I reach the maesters chambers I stand outside the door and try to compose myself.
Finally I open the door and walk in as quietly as possible. He is lying in bed unconscious or asleep, I don't know which.
I pull up a chair next to the bed and try to muffle the sob that escapes me.
He is naked from the waist up and so pale from the blood loss. The stab wound is sealed with stitches but it still looks awful as does the gash on his shoulder. The life looks gone from his face, anyone would think he was dead if not for his shallow breathing.
My hand is shaking as I caress the side of his face.
"I had to give him milk of the poppy, he woke during the surgery and his heart stopped, he was able to be resuscitated but barely", the Maester says as he enters the room "I didn't think he would live but he's a fighter"
"He is", I smile as my tears begin to fall again.
"Cases like his are what gives me faith in the gods, a true miracle"
"Thank you so much for saving him", I say, truly grateful beyond belief.
"He will need ongoing treatment to ensure there are no infections"
"Will he make a full recovery?" I ask hesitantly.
"Well that is difficult to say, none of his major organs were damaged too significantly, once he wakes we will know more but it's difficult to ever recover fully from a wound like this"
I see a dagger on the table with his other tools.
"Is that the dagger?" I ask
"Yes, clearly the assassin meant to slit his throat to kill him, not to stab him so the dagger was shorter than average but with a very sharp edge"
"That's a good thing isn't it?" I ask "A sharp edge means the wound should be cleaner"
"Yes indeed so your grace"
I walk over and pick up the dagger. It's indeed shorter than the average one but still long enough to do some significant damage.
"If the dagger was longer, would it have killed him?"
"Certainly, I was concerned about his physical state due to his age but he is very fit and his heart is healthy, his muscle mass helped stop the dagger from penetrating too deeply"
Jaime is a fighter, training with Bronn everyday is certainly keeping him fit. He sees fighting as his purpose, he has trained so hard to be able to fight again and if he wasn't able to fight then it might ruin him.
"He is a fighter, when he is healed will he be able to fight again?" I ask knowing that it might be the difference between recovery and defeat for him.
"Well internally he isn't too damaged, it was the blood loss that nearly took him, if he takes things easy and waits several months before training again he should be alright to fight"
I can't imagine Jaime will be too compliant. He will want to get up and moving as soon as possible. He won't want to be bed ridden for months.
"How long do you think it will be before he is no longer critical, before he can stand and walk without any risk of ripping open wounds"
"A few weeks perhaps, everyone is different, time will tell"
"Thank you Maester Wolkan"
"Anything for my Queen, I only wish I could have helped you when Roose was Lord", he says sadly.
"You are a kind man, and you saved my husbands life, I am grateful", I smile.
"Would you like for him to be moved to your chambers when he wakes"
"Yes, thank you", I say and he leaves me to be alone with Jaime.
I return to his side and take his hand in mine and bring it to my lips. His golden chain hangs around his bare neck and my ring rests on his collarbone.
We have come so far, the night I gave him my ring I thought it was the end. Now years later we are inseparable. Tonight I risked everything going public with my marriage, it's not like I had much of a choice however. No more hiding. He spent most of his life hiding his love for Cersei, and then for me.
No more. I love Jaime and he is my husband, now there's no more hiding.
I nearly lost him today and it's reminded me that no one can protect anyone as much as we try to. But I will try. I would risk everything for this man.
I stay with him all night, not daring to leave his side despite Maester Wolkans assurance that he will be fine.