OOM - part two

[gods_that_haunt_me]

[Part One]

Early in the morning, Helga wakes up and carefully slips out of bed, not wanting to disturb Floki. She cooks breakfast for the both of them, porridge, as it's the only thing Floki can eat at the moment. Gently waking him, she helps him sit up, and she spoonfeeds him, sharing the porridge out of the same bowl.

Later, with the assistance of a servant, Helga changes Floki's bandages and applies a fresh healing paste to his wounds. The gouges in his side still ooze blood, but they don't seem infected. Helga only worries that they're too deep to close up properly.

For Floki, sitting up to have the bandages removed and the clean ones wrapped around him is painful, as his ribs still feel as if they're stabbing his lungs with every breath he takes. But he is determined to do some things on his own. Like standing. With the help of a wooden staff, of course. But not for too long because the bed is really quite comfortable and lying down is good.

Sometimes, with a silent plea to the gods, he tries to move the fingers of his right hand. And tries not to panic when he finds that he can't.

He would truly go out of his mind if not for Helga. And this idea of Athelstan's is the next best thing to divine intervention.

Comments

[gods_that_haunt_me]

"Good. Now I can get out of this infernal chair."

When Athelstan maneuvers him closer to the bed, Floki leans on his staff and hoists himself to his feet, setting his jaw against the dizzying pain. He may have overdone it with the feistiness.

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan sticks close by, not touching Floki but ready to catch him if he looks like falling before he's safe on the bed.

[guppy_sandhu]

"Easy there." Guppy says, making sure he's safe before conducting an examination.

"Okay, I'm happy with your chest, I'll get your arm fixed now. You need to keep nice and still. It will feel uncomfortable but not painful."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

The bed is much more comfortable than the chair!

He then looks on with curiosity as the doctor presses the cold metal thing to his chest and appears to listen through tubes stuck in his ears. Very strange.

'With all the pain I've already had, what's a little more discomfort?"

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan steps back, letting Guppy work.

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy works carefully.

"How's that feeling?" he asks when he's done.

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Floki stays as still as he can while Guppy uses the machine on his arm. There is no pain, it's true, just an odd sensation, like prickling or crawling underneath his skin as the bones knit. And then he realizes, there is no pain. At all.

"Good," he says tentatively. "Can I-- move my hand now?"

[guppy_sandhu]

"Go for it. You'll need to be gentle on it for a week as I said, and it may still be a little sore or stiff."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Slowly, Floki moves his fingers, and curls them into a loose fist. He carefully flexes his wrist and stretches his arm. The joints do feel a little stiff, but he can move his hand again. He can move it, when moments ago he couldn't even feel his fingers.

An bright, childlike giggle escapes him (it might sound odd to, well, a lot of people).

"This is astonishing."

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan watches, smiling.

"I'll tell Ragnar you're going to be all right."

[guppy_sandhu]

"Let me know if you've any more problems." Guppy smiles, and goes to clear up.

[ooc: I'll duck out here unless you need me :)]

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Floki continues to flex his fingers, getting the sensation back into them, when he looks over at Guppy.

"How can I repay you?"

It's not a suggestion. Floki will repay him.

[guppy_sandhu]

"No charge." Guppy says. "If you like you can make a donation to the infirmary."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

He tilts his head.

Guppy probably means those gold and silver coins that some people tend to favor as forms of payment.

And then he bobs his head in a nod.

"Consider it done," he says agreeably, and with gratitude.

He then turns to Athelstan.

"Home, priest! But I am not going back in that chair."

[athelstanthescribe]

"I'll get a better one", Athelstan says with deceptive meekness, and mutters as he turns away, "For a stork."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

"What did you say?" Floki crows. "My arm was broken, not my hearing!"

With his left hand (following doctor's orders), he grabs his staff leaning against the bed and eases himself up.

"And don't bother! I'm going to walk."

[athelstanthescribe]

Athelstan turns back again, giving him a dubious look.

"Are you sure?"

[gods_that_haunt_me]

"Don't give me that look with your face, of course I'm sure!"

Without having to worry about his arm now, though it's still kept wrapped in a sling, his other injuries take priority. So he gets to his feet, braced heavily against his staff. Yes, things still hurt, but the pain is somehow easier to bear as he slowly shuffles toward toward the door.

[athelstanthescribe]

'That look with your face' would make him laugh in Floki's face, but now isn't the time for that.

"All right, then. Just don't fall on your arm."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

"I'm not going to fall on my arm," he growls insistently.

It takes a lot of effort, but he finds the determination to make it through the door and into the hall. One length of the journey down.

"Do you have any idea what it's like to come face-to-face with Rollo in battle, priest?"

The question is posed conversationally, if a little breathlessly.

"It's like encountering a mad bear, where you have nowhere to turn. And you have no choice but to fight, because if you turn away, he will kill you anyway."

[athelstanthescribe]

"I've been face to face with Rollo", he says quietly. "You could hardly have called it a battle, but I know what it's like to know he'd kill you without a second thought if he could - and only Ragnar prevented him."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Floki glances at him, an eyebrow raised.

Then turns back to concentrating on his walking.

click, step, step. click, step, step.

"Ragnar," he murmurs after some silence. "Always Ragnar."

He's sure that Rollo would have finished him in the fight. Jarl Borg would certainly have wanted him to.

But through the madness Floki heard Ragnar call his name, and the gods saw to it that it was not his time.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Always Ragnar", he echoes. "Luck was with me that he found me first."

[gods_that_haunt_me]

Floki is not going to allow this to turn into a bonding moment.

But he is not going to say that Rollo should have killed Athelstan either.

"Luck? Luck has nothing to do with anything. Do you not thank your Christ god for sparing you?"

[athelstanthescribe]

"I can't say which god it was, any more." He shrugs, and his voice is neutral. "I haven't felt the presence of mine since Lindisfarne - so perhaps it was His plan, but perhaps it wasn't."