Reinette startled slightly as a Healer made his way into the room; she'd been staring at DĂșlinnor's hand, practically unblinking, off in her own world. Thurilostel had given her a tight hug before she and her husband had left, careful to avoid putting pressure on Reinette's back where she'd fallen on the rock. All she'd been able to do was acknowledge her with a small forced smile and a nod when Thuri had told her to be strong, that this would pass.
And then, Reinette had been left to her thoughts, up until about just then. The Healer was looked DĂșlinnor over, before offering her a gesture and a few words she didn't understand. She wiped her tear stained cheeks quickly as he looked at her. She wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but the man was soon pulling back part of DĂșlinnor's tunic, revealing the slightly bloodied bandages underneath. He was changing them, ridding of the old ones and replacing them with new clean wrappings and ointments to heal and discourage infection.
The sight of the wound caused Reinette's stomach to turn, and she had to turn her face from it. She'd never seen an injury of that nature in person, a stinging behind the backs of her eyes as she tried not to think about how terribly it must have hurt. She was sure the pain of the wound by itself would have done her in, regardless of whether or not there was poison in it.
The Healer was soon done, Reinette having snuck tentative glances toward DĂșlinnor. He hadn't moved, hadn't made a sound. Nothing. Her heart was heavy...
The male Healer bowed to her again before leaving, Reinette once again alone with DĂșlinnor. She'd made herself comfortable again, sliding her chair closer to the bed. Her hand took its place once more, threading her fingers through his own as she watched his face. He was so pale, her free hand brushing some stray hair from his face. All she wanted was for his eyes to open, for him to awaken and gather her up in his arms and tell her that she was just silly, that he was alright, and that he'd never leave her.
"You promised me..." She whispered. "You promised you'd never leave me... I can't do this without you."
Without meaning to, Reinette eventually fell asleep there, her head sleeping on her arm which rested on the bed near DĂșlinnor's hand. A Healer had brought her in a blanket, tucking it around the woman's shoulders.
Reinette had felt the passage of time like the ticking hands of a clock. Each moment that passed felt like an entire lifetime.
She'd spent the majority of her time in DĂșlinnor's room, sitting nearby. She'd only spent a few nights by herself at his flet, but soon found that she couldn't bear the thought of being away from him in case something happened. That, and the nightmares that plagued her small form when she was at his flet overnight were nearly devastating, sending her into silences that even frightened Thurilostel. She'd remain quiet for days after particularly bad ones, and the Elven woman was beginning to see the effects of stress on the younger Mortal. She looked tired, her bruises having taking a lot longer than they should have to heal. Now, only some yellow spots remained, where the white blood cells had gathered to fix the bleeding beneath her skin.
Over the past two months, she'd brought over her guitar, as well as few books. She'd been studying Sindarin really hard, finding that it was easier for her to pronounce the written language than it was for her to try to formulate original sentence in it. There were times that she would get tripped up on words, but with a bit of reference material, she could plow through them. Most of the time, she wasn't entirely sure what she was saying, but it didn't even matter to her - she just wanted to help him, somehow. So she'd decided to start reading to DĂșlinnor, stories from his childhood and from the history of his people, hoping that the familiar stories could at least reach him. She'd had no idea if he could hear what she said, but she couldn't help herself and wanted to try all the same.
She'd also tried playing to him, but had found that her will to play was growing weary with the passing days. She wasn't seeing improvement. For the past week, her guitar had sat on a nearby chair, practically untouched save a few short instrumental songs. Thurilostel had stopped in many times, growing ever worried by the Mortal. She was sure that this kind of mental stress wasn't good for her. Sometimes, she'd even had to remind Reinette to eat - the girl would seem dazed when she'd mention the food in front of her, like she hadn't even noticed.
But even so, Thuri kept her spirits up to try to revive Reinette's, and for that effort, Reinette was more than thankful. She'd tried to push more smiles onto her face, thankful that at least Thurilostel seemed to care about how she felt. Bregolon had been a help, the small toddler climbing up into Reinette's lap on more than one occasion, chirping at her in Elvish toddler talk that she didn't understand. But she couldn't help but smile anyway, lightly cuddling the small child while his mother would sing Elven lullabies to DĂșlinnor.
That morning, Reinette was in her usual place, having assisted one of the Healers in changing DĂșlinnor's bandages a few hours prior. She'd grown accustomed to assisting, the sight of the wound no longer causing her to turn her head. It had only been about an hour and a half later that Thurilostel, Aglaron and their son had come to see DĂșlinnor. Aglaron had acknowledged her on his way in, Thurilostel coming to take a seat next to her.
The two woman spoke in hushed tones, Reinette offering the Elven woman a small smile, insisting that she had eaten. "You will wither away," Thurilostel had told her a few days before, and Reinette had made it a point to eat enough that she didn't feel hungry anymore. Thuri seemed happy at the news, before Aglaron's voice cut into their hushed talking.
Thurilostel turned to regard her husband, Reinette keeping an eye on Bregolon who was watching her from his mothers lap, waving a hand at her happily. Aglaron's voice was there once more, except this time the word that came from his mouth was recognizably DĂșlinnor's. He seemed to be speaking to him, and Reinette tore her gaze from the Elven child, in order to see what had caused Aglaron to speak his name.
She caught a glimpse of open eyes, and her breath nearly caught in her throat, eyes widening at the sight. He was awake! A flood of emotions burst into her, each one as strong as the next. Her hand squeezed the fabric of her dress tight, balling the material up against her thigh where her hand was pressed rather harshly at the influx of feeling.
Healers rushed into the room, blocking her vision of the Elven man. She looked at Thurilostel, tears pricking the sides of her eyes. The Elven woman looked back at her, a smile on her face. It felt like an instant had passed, as words were exchanged. Reinette found herself standing next to Thurilostel, though she hadn't remembered standing up.
DĂșlinnor was propped up against pillows, Healers moving in and out of the room. One of them pushed a cup of liquid into her hand as she stood nearby the bed, the Healer talking to DĂșlinnor before moving to redress his wounds. He certainly was being brave about it all, she figured - she could only just tell that he was in pain, and she was sure he was in a lot more pain than he was putting across.
The Healer who had handed her the glass of liquid motioned for her to give it to DĂșlinnor. His grey eyes met her gold ones, and she could practically feel her heart begin to hammer in her chest at the sight of them. It was like a shock as she handed him the glass, moving almost as if not of her own will. She'd been wishing day in and day out that she could see those eyes again, see the life behind them. And here he was - he was alive!
She stood their rather dumbly as the others in the room hugged him or spoke to him, before slowly leaving one by one. Before long, it was just she and DĂșlinnor together in the room. It was quiet, and she couldn't tear her face from him.
"My heart sings at seeing you again."
She felt the same way, the furious pounding of the muscle in her chest an indication that she had missed him terribly. Slowly, she made her way to the seat that she usually sat it, pulling it closer to the bed. Her eyes traveled up his form, finally resting on his face again.
She couldn't help the tear that slipped out of her eye. She was surprised at it, to say the least. She thought that she'd cried herself dry over the past two months. Thought that he would never wake up again, never smile at her again. Never hold her. Never kiss her...
"I thought I'd lost you..." She was barely able to whisper it out, her voice cracking toward the end. "...I thought I'd killed you, I..."
She shifted closer to him, wiping the tear away with the back of her hand only for it to be replaced by another. Her fingers tentatively found his, her hand sliding into his that rested on the bed, a small whispered sob making its way out of her mouth as she felt his hand move slightly to squeeze her own.
So she wasn't imagining it then. She wasn't dreaming it all up. A smile made its way onto her face, as she tried to scoot herself even closer to his bed. "I was afraid," she admitted, looking back up to his eyes. "I..." She paused, her direction of words turning instead from the terrible feelings of sadness she had experienced to those of the happiness that she felt as his awakening.
"I'm happy though. I'm happy you're awake... You have no idea how glad I am to see you." She squeezed his hand lightly, standing and leaning over the bed slightly to place a soft kiss to his cheek. She didn't know if it was entirely appropriate; they were in public, and she wasn't really sure what they 'were'. But damn it all! She just wanted to kiss this man before her. Wanted to hold him and never let go. He'd ravished her lips before he'd left, and she ached for the feel of them once again.
She tucked a few strands of her own hair behind her ear, as she studied him for a moment. They were rather close, but she liked the closeness. She wanted to tell him that she'd been by his side for the past two months, but she didn't want him to worry now that he'd finally woken. All she knew was that she was dreading when the questions would start flooding to her, pressing about why she was out in the woods when it was so dangerous. To her benefit, she wasn't entirely aware of the dangers, had never been informed of the large presence of Orcs that weren't normally so keen to try to wander into the woods.
The thought of them made her shudder slightly, her left hand rising slightly to touch the nearly-faded yellowed bruises on the side of her face, before she thought better of it and dropped her hand.