| |
Before returning to the campsite, I took a quick detour to visit Pestilence to let him know that the visitors would not be arriving as soon as expected. Len was not happy as he was greatly looking forward to meeting them, but there was nothing he could do about it so he just asked me to keep him informed. I promised I would, then vanished, materialising in my own tent. I got a few hours sleep before getting up once more.
Rob was still asleep when Rachel awoke and had not cooled down at all. I was not concerned. I explained that it was perfectly normal, so she calmed down a little. She was still worried, but not enough to stop her eating or talking more about herself when asked.
She spoke about university, her friends, her hopes for the future. She kept asking me questions about my personal life, but every time I managed to change the subject. I was frustrating her, but it couldn’t be helped. For the time being refusing to answer her questions was a lot better than answering them. While I happily talked about films I had seen, music I liked, just like any normal person, I refused to discuss my family, my childhood or anything that Rachel seemed really interested in.
We spent the day eating, dozing, tending the fire, looking after the patient and getting to know each other better. The more I found out about her, the more I liked her and the more I liked her, the more annoyed I got with myself. She was a human and would not be in the underworld for very long. I was stupid to like her even a little and I was beginning to like her way more than that.
The following day played out pretty much the same as the previous one and Rachel began to get very concerned about Rob. He had not eaten or drunk anything since the potion I gave him and he had been sweating constantly ever since. He was probably getting severely dehydrated, but I refused to try to get him to swallow any water.
“It may cool him down and that might stop the venom being entirely burned up. Lack of water will make him weak for a while, but it won’t kill him. Cooling him down too soon will.” Rachel didn’t argue.
The next morning Rob’s fever finally broke, though he didn’t wake up. He was no longer sweating and felt cool to the touch. Too cool. I stoked up the fire and Rachel put one of her blankets over him when he started to shiver.
The day was long and tedious with Rachel checking on him what felt like every five minutes, looking for any sign that would indicate he was waking up. As the sun was setting and we were facing the prospect of spending yet another night stuck between the wood and the swamp, Rob opened his eyes.
“Help him sit up, then give him water.” Once he was upright, Rob grabbed the cup from Rachel’s hand and started to gulp it down.
“Slowly,” I called out. “If he drinks too fast he will be sick.” Rachel pulled the cup away from Rob before he had chance to consume too much and put it to his lips, tipping it gently so that only a little tricked into his mouth.
“Thank you,” he said once the cup was empty. “How long have I been asleep?”
Rachel told him and he groaned. “I feel like shit,” he said. “And I am starving. What have we got to eat?”
Rachel looked at me, wondering what I was cooking over the fire. “Broth.” Rob groaned again. He did, however, eat it all and was even polite to me, thanking me for my efforts.
“You are extremely weak right now.”
“No shit Sherlock,” Rob muttered under his breath.
I ignored the comment. “But you might be well enough to continue the journey in the morning as long as you have another cup of broth before you go to sleep and one more for breakfast.” The broth contained a special potion that would restore his strength so I wasn’t saying this just to get him to do as he was told.
Rob did not look enthusiastic, but didn’t argue. He and Rachel both went to bed early, leaving me alone by the fire. I wasn’t certain that Rob would be fit enough to travel in the morning and could not help hoping that he wouldn’t be. I had greatly enjoyed my time alone with Rachel and, though I shouldn’t, I wanted to spend more time with her.
Once I was sure that neither of them would be leaving their tents I went to see Pestilence to let him know that Rob had recovered. Despite the late hour, Pestilence was in the pool when I arrived.
“You don’t look too good,” uncle Len said when he saw me. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Just something that is preying on my mind.”
“Care to talk about it?” he asked as he climbed out of the pool.
“Not really.” As the youngest of my father’s siblings he is the most likely to understand what’s bothering me, but I was not in the mood to talk to anyone about my issue. My feelings for Rachel were my problem and I needed to deal with it alone, at least for now.
“Rob’s woken up and depending on how he feels in the morning we may arrive here sometime tomorrow.”
“I’ll be ready,” Len said. “Are you going back into the forest?”
“No. Rachel has managed to persuade me not to. For some reason I can’t fathom she seems to think that going through the swamp is a better alternative.”
“And how exactly did she manage to persuade you?” Len asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“I should be going,” I said, not wishing to answer. It was simple; she asked, I didn’t have the heart to say no, but there was no way I was going to admit that to my uncle. “Just in case one of them wakes up and decides to do something stupid again.”
Len grinned.
“One more thing before I go. They are not aware that I have been visiting you to give you progress updates, so when we arrive, can you act as though you haven’t seen me in a while?”
He assured me that he would, then I disappeared.
There was no sign of life when I arrived back at the campsite, so I went to my tent and tried to get to sleep.