A Mouse's Tale

Chapter 22

Mouse slowly opened her eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the brightness of the whitewashed room. She stretched, wincing at the sudden sharp pain on her left side. She put a hand to it and could feel the weird texture of bandage wrapped around her side. She stiffly turned her head to the right side and smiled as she saw Vyron, sleeping in a chair beside the bed that she was laying in. She heard something move on her other side and turned her head that way to find Iris watching her.

"How do you feel?" she asked, her voice a low whisper as to not wake Vyron.

"A little sore," Mouse admitted, gently touching the tender spots on her neck where Lord Gregory's hands had been. Just touching the skin sent shivers down her spine as she was reminded of the feeling of his hands around her neck and not being able to breathe. She gently touched her side again.

"Are they broken?" she asked, looking up at Iris.

"No," she smiled, shaking her head. "There have been no signs that come with broken bones. Your ribs are most likely just bruised. They will be tender for a couple of days, but they should heal up nicely in no time at all."

"Good," Mouse smiled as well. The thought of being stuck in bed for a long time horrified her. She sent a silent prayer of thanks to The Creator that her ribs had not been broken. She did not think that she would have been able to survive being stuck in bed for so long.

"Mouse," she heard Vyron's voice mumble as he shifted beside her. She turned her head back to him, wincing slightly at it's tenderness. He was still sleeping and he actually appeared to be dreaming out something.

"About me," she realized as he mumbled her name again.

"Mouse, I love you," he mumbled some more. "I can't leave you!" He jerked and twitched sharply in his chair. "No, I can't! No, I won't!" his voice rose louder and louder, slightly scaring Mouse.

"Vyron!" she reached over and grabbed his sleeve, tugging on it as she tried to wake him. "Vyron, wake up! Vyron, snap out of it! Wake up!" He suddenly jolted upright, startling Mouse. His eyes were wild as they danced around the room, finally falling on her. They softened when he saw her, his body relaxing as he realized that he had been dreaming.

"Vyron, are you alright?" Mouse asked, concern laced through her voice.

"I'm fine," he replied, putting a hand to his head as he shook it as if trying to shake away the dream he'd been having. "It was just a dream. I'm fine. You're fine." He leaned forward and took her hand in both of his, squeezing it gently.

"You are alright, aren't you?" it was his turn to be concerned.

"I'm fine," she smiled at him. "Just a couple of bruises, no biggie." She lightly touched the tender spots on her neck with her free hand, surprised as his eyebrows knit together unhappily.

"Vyron, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked, suddenly self conscious of her neck, pulling the blankets up to try to cover it.

Are they really that bad? she wondered as she looked at Vyron, who hadn't answered her question, and realized that he wasn't even looking at her anymore. "Vyron?"

"Mmmm?" he turned back to her, coming back from what ever world his mind had taken him to. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Vyron, is something wrong?" she asked. "You seem... distracted."

"It's nothing," he replied, shrugging her off. Mouse was taken aback by this action. Vyron had never been like this around her before. He seemed tense and uneasy, his focus kept wandering, and he wouldn't give her a straight answer. Before she could call him out on this, the door slammed open and Elsa came strolling in, skipping excitedly as she brought a silver platter over to her.