Rising Fire

Healing Enes

This scene begins in the point of view of Fathimah Gianna.

"1. 2. 3. NOW!" Jusuf, Brooke, and I lift a groaning Enes onto the kitchen island, belly down.

Gulsum, Enes's mom, freaks out at the sight of my face.

"What happened to you?!?' Gulsum gasps trying to stop me.

"I'm fine. It's nothing compared to the pain Enes is in." I reply trying to calm her and push her out of the way. Just then she is summoned over by her daughter and Enes's sister Betul to help her get morphine into Enes to calm him. Enes groans louder as his mother injects him with a full dose of morphine to ease his pain.

"This is gonna sting." Betul tries to assure Enes, but to no avail. He groans loudly in pain as the cold water is poured into his open wounds to clean them and prevent infection from setting in.

"Alright here's our plan of action. Brookey, you prepare treatment for Fathimah's eye. Mom, get some sort of nutrition into Enes. We don't need him losing muscle. fathimah, go find some fresh snow, I'll grind the herbs. Ready?" Betul explains as we all put our hands in.

"Family on 3. 1,2,3, Family." We all break and go our separate ways.

After I collect some fresh ,clean snow, I head back to the cottagehouse. Brooke meets me at the door, gives the snow to Betul, and sits me down to treat my eye. Enes has already passed out from pure exhaustion from the pain. I don't blame him. I'm in quite a bit of pain myself.

"So, what ever did end up happening to your beautiful face, dear Fathimah?" Gulsum asks as she feeds me some warm soup. Her recipie is always so good.

"Jozsef hit me. He got my back pretty good too, but I'm fine. Thanks for caring for me so much though." I respond as I feel another spoonful slide into my mouth and down my throat.

"My pleasure dear. You are one of us, and ever since Enes took you under his wing, I've always seen you as one of my own."Gulsum responds as she gets up and plants a kiss on my forehead.

"Now, get some rest dear. You and Enes both desperately need it after today." Gulsum soothes.

I love her. I love her as if she is my own mother, and she loves me as if I am her own daughter. I drift off into a peaceful sleep. I am just close enough to take Enes's hand. I fall into a much needed gentle sleep, feeling his warm touch and ever so thankful he's alive. After all, it seems as if Commander Jozsef was going to keep beating him until he died. If I hadn't shown up, we would've brought back a bloodied and dead Enes, I would be widowed just 10 days after my marriage like Brooke, and I would more than likely be right back where I was during my darkest days.

Midnight

I uncover my eye to find that it is midnight and everyone else is asleep. The fire is going to keep me and Enes warm. I find a metal cylinder that has a familiar chicken smell to it. It must be soup. There's a note left under it.

"A warm kiss from me to you. Give Enes a few kisses for me too. I love you both. Rest well,my beautiful doves."

Gulsum knows I have insomnia and that I'll wake up in the middle of the night, so I might as well tend to Enes. He is my husband after all, and he did save my life multiple times, now it's my turn to return the favor and save his.

I press my lips to his forehead to wake him up peacefully.

"Hey sweetheart." He whispers.

"Hey." I reply while opening the soup container.

"Meds?" He asks.

"Nope. Soup." I reply getting my first spoonful ready for him. He takes it and then whispers,

"You need some too."

"No, I'm fine my love." I reply.

"No, I want to see you have some. I haven't seen you eat anything all day." He insists.

"Mom fed me while you were out. I'll be fine." I respond as I feed him another spoonful

"Please." He begs softly.
"Alright." I respond as I sip the warm liquid from the spoon. It's satisfying. Even in his pain he still cares for me. He still shows his love that way.

I quietly feed him the rest of the container, taking a few spoonfuls myself to encourage him and reassure him that I'm well cared for and I've got some nutrition in me. He wouldn't want me losing any muscle or stamina either.

As he finishes his last spoonful, I close the container and set it back on the counter and write on the back of the note I found.

"Fed Enes around 12. He seems stable. He begged me to have some, so I did."

I press my lips to Enes's and fall peacefully back asleep next to him, listening to the peaceful dwindling crackling of the fire.