The Clash
His eyes were shadowed and smudged, as if he had applied his make-up with a
heavy hand and smeared it up. But he hadn't worn any makeup since Boromir's
accident.
Nor had he combed his hair, he thought as he picked up a comb and began
working it through his usually immaculate hair that had become, without his
noticing, a rat's nest that he would have a hell of a time getting the tangles
out of.
Boromir's health had been the only thing on his mind. Even though he went to
school as always, and did everything he had done before, his thoughts were
always occupied with his friend's health.
It had been nearly two weeks since Boromir had been hit by the car and so
far, nothing had changed. He still lay in the grips of the drugs and the
uncertainty of paralysis. They had decreased the drugs that had rendered him
comatose, but he was far from awake.
Even though they all visited him whenever they could, no one could wake him
up. No matter how much they talked to him, played music to him, were with him,
he lay with his eyes closed.
The doctors said it was normal and to give it time, but Legolas and Aragorn
were scared that Boromir wasn't going to ever regain consciousness. In the
private shelter of their bed, in their empty house, Legolas and Aragorn held
each other and wept as they wondered whether they would be able to go on if
Boromir was snatched away from them. It seemed like the days were just crawling
by and that with each day, he was slipping away from them even more.
So they waited. And hoped. And tried to hang onto life before they were swept
away. Faramir had become their anchor during these weeks, keeping them afloat
even though he too, was facing the same burdens as they were. He was strong
enough for them and had had to become even more so when Legolas had begun to
slip away himself.
Galadriel, noticing the elf's remoteness and Aragorn's hollow eyes and
cheeks, had invited them to live in their home, where she could keep an eye on
them and make sure that they weren't going to waste away from grief as they
waited for Boromir to get better. And that was why Legolas found himself
standing in the Lothlorien's bathroom, studying himself as he got ready to go to
school.
After he was done his inventory, Legolas rubbed his eyes. He was so tired
lately. Even though he tried to sleep, he just didn't seem to get enough of it.
It was a tremendous effort for him to even stay upright, never mind do anything
else. Mr. Elrond and Mr. Haldir had twice caught him sleeping in class and even
though he was trying his best, it just wasn't enough. He was just beat.
Sighing deeply, he began his self-appointed task only to leave it just
moments later as a wave of dizziness hit him. He swayed precariously on his
feet, the comb falling from his nerveless fingers and making a clatter that
sounded terribly loud in his ears and hurt his head.
A soft groan escaped his lips as another wave hit him, this one stronger than
the last had been. Bracing himself against the counter, he managed to keep
upright only for a few seconds before he collapsed completely on the cold
bathroom floor.
Aragorn shuffled miserably to the bathroom to get ready for yet another
hopeless day. He didn't know what he had learned the day before. Or the day
before last. All he knew was that he went to school, sat through his classes,
rushed home and went to the hospital to watch over Boromir.
He didn't notice anything else. Not the strained way that Faramir was looking
lately, or the way that Legolas had been slowly drifting away from everyone else
and just wasting away in general. Nor did he notice that he was being carefully
watched by Galadriel and Celeborn. He was so wrapped up in his own grief that
everything was passing him by.
He knew that he was becoming terribly lethargic over everything, just like he
had been when his mother had died, but he felt powerless to stop it. It was a
monumental effort for him to actually open his eyes in the morning and drag his
ass out of bed, never mind actually paying attention to his lessons and to the
people that he lived with. Boromir had pretty much become the centre of his
universe and now that he lay unconscious and in danger, Aragorn was close to
losing himself in the process. He should have been worried over that prospect,
but he was actually pretty calm about the whole deal. His life was ending and it
was just okay. He'd pick it up later.
He was so down on everything that he didn't notice his bro lying on the
bathroom floor right away. In fact, he nearly tripped over him before he
realized that Legolas was sprawled out on the floor, his face a greenish shade
of white as he lay on the worn linoleum.
"Lee?" Aragorn whispered, his apathy gone as he knelt beside his brother. He
placed a hand on his forehead and shuddered slightly at the heat of Legolas'
forehead.
He frowned at this. Elves never got sick. They could be slain and they could
die of grief, but he knew that there was no way of them ever getting anything so
mundane as a flu or a fever. But if that were true, then why did Lee's skin feel
as if he was burning from the inside out?
"Lee? Come on, Legolas. Open your eyes. Legolas?" His voice was shaking as
his hands flew over the unconscious elf's body in an effort to wake him up.
Biting his lip, he took the elf's shoulders and shook them hard, making the
elf's head snap back and forth violently. But even that rough treatment failed
to rouse the elf. Legolas was as out of it as Boromir was.
The idea of Legolas being as unattainable as Boromir made Aragorn's already
exhausted mind begin to crumble. Boromir's accident had hit him extremely hard
and he would have already given up trying to move through his days if it hadn't
been for the support that Legolas gave him. Even though Faramir was there,
Legolas was his only comfort.
The elf had always been his comfort. When he found his mother lying dead in a
bathtub full of bloody water, Legolas had been the one to calm him down from the
shock. When he had to suffer through the horror that was the mass and funeral,
Legolas had been there to guide him through the whole thing. When he had taken
that little trip from the world and had ended up unaware of his surroundings for
the whole summer, the elf had taken care of him. When his father had departed to
be with his aunt in Spain, Legolas had been the one that had listened to his
anguished shouts and ravings as well as wiped his tears away as he tried to
understand why his father couldn't bear the sight of him after his mother had
died.
Seeing the only person that could ease his troubles on the floor and
unresponsive like a corpse made Aragorn's senses finally leave him. His mind had
taken leave of his senses once again and was on its way to the darkest, coldest
corner of his conscious. It was all hurting him too much. He had to do it unless
he wanted to lose himself permanently.
He tried to fight it. He honestly did. That was why he held on to Legolas and
pleaded with him to come back and stop him from going into that blue blankness
again.
"Legolas, come on man! You gotta wake up!" Aragorn pleaded as he then
gathered the elf up in his arms. "You gotta wake up man! Wake up! I can't lose
you too! Wake up! DAMMIT! WAKE UP!!"
The shouting was what led to Faramir and Galadriel rushing to the bathroom to
find out why Aragorn was shouting after so many days of silence.
"What happened?" Galadriel asked as she carefully took Legolas from a weeping
Aragorn and began to examine the insensate elf.
"He won't wake up. He's sick and he won't wake up... he told me elves never
get sick... but he won't wake up... he won't..." Aragorn babbled hysterically,
his eyes wide and full of tears as he lay in Faramir's arms, his body limp as
his mind began to shut itself off from the outside world.
Faramir's eyes widened at Aragorn's words. He looked up at Galadriel and
tried to ask her what was wrong with Legolas, but his throat had become so dry
with anxiety that no words came out. He licked his lips and tried to speak, but
again he was foiled by his own worry.
"He will be fine, Faramir." Galadriel soothed him once she had noticed his
distress. "But I think that I will have to take him to the hospital just to make
sure that I am not wrong in my assumptions."
She stood up and easily picked up the unconscious elf, much to Faramir's
surprise. Even though he knew that she wasn't like a human woman, it still
amazed him to see her do such things.
"What about Aragorn?" He finally managed to rasp out above Aragorn's slightly
incoherent babbling.
Galadriel frowned at the human. She didn't want to admit it to herself, much
less to Faramir, but she was afraid that he had cracked from the pressure of the
events around him. If she guessed correctly, he had no idea as to where he was
or who he was with. His eyes were a dark blue blank in his face and his
mutterings had gone from English to the fractured Spanish that his mother had
instilled in him long before she had shut herself off from him and committed
suicide.
"Stay with him. He's not...well." She said in a quiet voice tinged with
sadness. She had suspected that Aragorn would break, but she hadn't expected for
the break to be so complete.
Faramir bit his lip at her orders. He wanted to follow them, but he also
wanted to make sure that his lover was well and truly out of danger. Legolas'
ill health had been a topic of discussion amongst him and The Usual Suspects
alongside his brother's own and this new development made him wonder if Legolas
was wasting away with grief over Boromir. Even though he didn't want to
entertain the thought, it often came unbidden to him late at night when he was
lying in bed comforting Legolas and Aragorn.
What if Legolas was still in love with Boromir? What if, despite all the
assurance that the elf had made to him, he burned for Boromir and only endured
his touch only because he imagined it to be another's? What if, despite the
happiness that his brother had found with Aragorn, the elf was still hoping for
another chance?
Faramir had tried to shut his eyes to these thoughts, since they seemed to be
products of his own uneasiness at his brothers' future. Although he was the most
optimistic about Boromir's health, he still couldn't help but to think about the
impact that his brother's accident would have on his own future. If Boromir
never woke up, he wondered whether he'd be able to stay strong enough for not
just himself, but for Legolas, Aragorn, Merry, Pippin and even his parents. He
also wondered whether he'd be brave enough to stand on his own two feet if
Boromir wasn't there for him. He had always run ahead, exploring all of the
possibilities and chances that life had to offer, but he had done so knowing
that if he looked back, his brother would be there waiting for him to return.
Nothing had been done without that knowledge. That was the security his brother
had offered.
And if Boromir did wake up, but was confined to a wheelchair, how would the
dynamics of their relationship change? He never contemplated this possibility
for long, since he firmly believed that Boromir *would* get better. There was no
doubt in his mind that he would. The idea of having his tougher older brother
weak and helpless was too much for him.
He refused to think about them. He had instead focused his energies on
Legolas. But even though he had found comfort in the elf, the nagging doubts
still plagued him. And having found him in Aragorn's arms, made his stomach
clench painfully as his subconscious taunted him, slapping him in the face with
his own jealousy.
"Will he be that ill for you?" His mind jeered as he tried to comfort
Aragorn, his eyes fixed on Galadriel as she pulled a blanket over Legolas and
made her slow way to the door.
"Do you think he'll be that miserable over you?" He shook his head at the
voice. He knew that Legolas loved him. Knew it with all his heart.
"Shut up." He ordered the voice. There was no point in entertaining his
jealous thoughts. They were all stressed out and there was no point in making
himself overstressed and give in to his insecurities.
He looked down at Aragorn and nearly cried when he saw the empty look on the
usually warm face of his brother's boyfriend. Galadriel had been putting it
mildly when she said that Aragorn wasn't well. Aragorn was far from well. In
fact, he was far from anywhere.
"Estel?" Aragorn's eyes twitched, and the babbling stopped. Aragorn looked at
him, and Faramir truly felt chills going down his spine. There was nothing
there. Absolutely nothing. His eyes were so empty of anything that they looked
like they were just glass marbles in his face.
Swallowing hard, he tried again, hoping that maybe he'd get a better reply
this time around.
"Aragorn?" The blue eyes flickered briefly with something, but the face
remained passive and calm.
"We need to get up, alright?" He asked as he disentangled himself from
Aragorn and slowly got to his feet. Once he was on his feet, he then extended a
hand to help Aragorn up.
Aragorn looked at the offered hand, then at Faramir for several moments
before finally taking it and hauling himself to his feet.
"Come on." Faramir said in a low voice as he then placed his hand on
Aragorn's shoulder and gently led him back to the bed that they all shared ever
since the accident.
Once there, Faramir pulled back the covers for Aragorn, who laid down like a
sick and tired child and let the younger boy pull the blankets up to his chin
and tuck him in.
He later wondered what possessed him to do what he did next. Maybe it was
because Aragorn looked so lost and empty and hopeless. Or maybe it was because
he ached so badly for him. He didn't know which it was. But either way, he never
figured out why he sat down on the bed beside the older teen and began to
carefully stroke Aragorn's hair in an effort to maybe soothe him enough to
forget the pain he was in even if it was just for a little while.
He lost track of how long he sat there. His mind drifted off as he kept on
moving his hand through the soft, wavy hair, making him lose track of time
completely until Aragorn's soft voice broke through the silence that had settled
between them.
"Va a regressar?" Faramir blinked and jerked his mind from the pleasant
fuzziness it had fallen into in order to understand what Aragorn was asking him.
He looked at Aragorn closely as he went back into his mind in order to grab
the knowledge of his native dialect to answer the question that had been asked
of him.
"Si. Va a regressar." He replied, his words halting and unsure as he spoke.
Aragorn nodded and closed his eyes before drifting off into a quiet sleep
that managed to smooth away the careworn look of his features away.
"Va a regressar." Faramir whispered before planting a soft kiss on Aragorn's
forehead and leaving him to heal in the arms of sleep.
Galadriel walked to the phone in the lobby of King George VI hospital, her
face drawn into a look of worry as she did so. Even though Legolas seemed to be
fine, she was still edgy over all of the boys.
If Faramir either got hurt or broke down emotionally, she knew that she was
going to scream as long and as loud as she could. Honestly, she was. She was
getting really, really pissed off at all the things that her family was getting
hit with as well as her inability to actually do anything to help the situation
along.
Rubbing her temples in an impatient gesture, she then spotted the phone, dug
into her purse for some change and made several calls.
The first was made to her boss, the second to St. Ignatius to let them know
that none of the boys were coming to school today, the third to Saruman, and the
last to Celeborn to inform him of the latest occurrence that had struck them.
After doing that, she stopped at the small hospital store and bought some pop
and candy for herself and Legolas once he came out of his stupor.
Having done that, she took the elevator to the floor that they had placed
Legolas in and walked to his room, expecting to wait another hour for them to
finish all the tests that they had to run on the poor kid in order to find out
what exactly was wrong with him.
It was quite a surprise then, to find Legolas still asleep and a doctor
sitting in the chair next to his bed with a folder on his lap as he shuffled
different papers around, a small frown on his delicate Elvish features as he
read the information contained there.
"Mrs. Lothlorien?" He inquired politely as he easily got to his feet and
walked up to her.
"Yes," she answered as she entered the room and placed her purchases on the
bedside table before facing the doctor.
The doctor was a dark wood-elf, which surprised her to no end, since they
were even rarer than blond Sindarian elves and tended not to live in cities at
all and tended to stick in rural areas most of the time. He had long, dark brown
hair, dark green eyes and was as tall as Celeborn, but his features were more
animal-like and he moved with a grace that reminded her of a large hunting cat.
"Hi. I'm Doctor Gwydion and I'm happy to say that we have gotten the test
results on Mr. Mirkwood. Would you mind stepping outside with me for a bit?"
Galadriel nodded and they both left the room. Shutting the door behind them,
she turned to the doctor with a raised brow.
"What is wrong with him?" She asked bluntly. She had dealt with doctors way
too much lately and was really in no mood to get a large passel of medical
bullshit and placating terms at this time.
Dr. Gwydion nodded and opened the folder that he had been reading when she
had come in.
"First of all, do you know what kind of elf Legolas is?" Galadriel shook her
head.
"No. And I don't think that he knows either. He was left by his family when
he was very young and lived in groups homes before he was taken in by Arathorn
Strider."
"Ah. I see. Well. The reason why I asked has to do with his condition." He
thumbed the papers before he looked at Galadriel.
"You see, Sindarian elves are the only race in which the female and the male
can both conceive and have children and it looks like Legolas is a Sindarian
elf."
Galadriel blinked at the doctor. "Legolas is pregnant then?"
The doctor nodded. "From the tests, we'd have to say that he's about two
weeks along right now. We think his collapsing today was a result of stress and
improper nutrition. Has there been some traumatic event in his life recently?"
Galadriel smiled humourlessly at the doctor.
"You could say that. His best friend, my son, was struck by a car in a hit
and run accident about two weeks ago and is still in the ICU."
The doctor grimaced. "Boromir Denethorson?" He asked softly. Galadriel
nodded.
"Have they caught the persons yet?"
Galadriel shook her head. The doctor made a small noise in his throat and
looked away from her briefly before he continued.
"Well... if you can, try and make sure that Legolas takes care of himself for
the child's sake. He seems to be fine now, but if he keeps this up, he may lose
the child. He needs rest and to eat healthy as well as to take some vitamins. He
also needs to avoid stress as much as possible. These next eleven months are
going to be hard enough on his body and he needs to be well-prepared in order to
deal with the physical stress this baby is going to put on him."
"I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything," Galadriel replied gravely,
even though her mind was reeling with the information. So Legolas was pregnant.
Celeborn had been right when he noticed that something wasn't right with the
young elf that night before Boromir's accident. It seemed that her month was
just getting better and better.
"I know that it is up to Mr. Mirkwood, but please make sure to tell him how
important it is that he take care of himself. Especially if he wants to keep the
child."
"I think he will listen, doctor. Legolas loves children. I doubt he would be
so stubborn to endanger the life of his own child." Galadriel stated firmly.
Even though humans might see it as a necessary evil to get rid of an unwanted
child, to an elf the idea was simply unthinkable. Even though the circumstances
may not be right when a child was conceived, it was still treasured and
cherished and brought into the world. Children were seen as gifts, even though
they may not seem like that at the time, Galadriel thought wryly as she recalled
her own daughter's birth, which was at a time when things had looked darker than
the midnight sky for her and Celeborn.
"I know. But it is still a possibility that it could happen," the doctor
amended quietly.
They fell silent and stayed that way for several moments before Galadriel
spoke up.
"Does he have to stay here any longer?"
Dr. Gwydion shook his head.
"He can leave as soon as he wakes up. We have no real reason to keep him here
anymore. His tests show that despite the stress, he's fairly healthy. There
aren't any complications with the pregnancy and I have already arranged for him
to see an obstetrician in two weeks from now. The nurse at the desk will give
you the information on your way out."
"Does he know?"
Again, Dr. Gwydion shook his head.
"He's been drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, but he hasn't
really been aware of anything as far as I can tell. You may want to wait a while
before breaking the news to him."
"Thank you doctor. I shall keep that in mind." She replied. Dr. Gwydion
nodded and shut the folder before reaching out to shake Galadriel's hand.
"It's no problem at all. Just make sure that he takes care of himself. And
now I must take my leave of you, Mrs. Lothlorien. Good-day to you and I hope
that things get better for your family."
Galadriel shook his hand and smiled briefly at the doctor before he left.
She watched him until he disappeared round a corner before she finally ran
her hands through her hair in frustration. That was the only gesture she would
allow herself to make in such a public place. No matter how angry she was over
the whole incident, no matter how much of lecture she wanted to give Faramir and
Legolas, she wasn't going to give in and make a fool out of herself. Besides, it
wasn't going to change anything even if she did. Sure, she would feel better,
but Legolas would still be pregnant and Faramir was still going to be a dad at
sixteen. Nothing would change.
"It's going to be okay." She finally muttered before she went to the doorway
and took a peek at the elf.
Legolas was, to her amusement, awake and tugging at his ear, a gesture she
had seen her daughter, Celebrian, do whenever she was nervous when she had been
very young.
"Lee?" The blonde elf looked up at her and blushed crimson in embarrassment
at having been caught doing a very childish thing in order to assure himself
that he was fine and not going off the deep-end due to all the shit that had
recently happened.
In a way, he was happy that she had walked into the room. She would be able
to explain why the hell he was here in the first place. One minute, he had been
standing in the bathroom combing his hair, and the next he was lying in an
uncomfortable hospital bed staring up at a flat white ceiling that for some
reason was making him dizzy even though he was lying on his back at that time.
"Where the hell am I?" He asked as he picked at the light blanket that was
covering his legs.
Galadriel sat down on the chair next to the bed and looked at Legolas
carefully before speaking.
"You passed out on the bathroom floor. Aragorn found you and I brought you to
King's when you wouldn't wake up."
Legolas frowned. "I don't remember that." He stated quietly.
"Well, I wouldn't expect you to, considering that you weren't really there
for most of the time that it took to bring you here and have you looked over by
a doctor."
Legolas smiled briefly at that before he pushed the blanket away.
"So why did the doctors look me over? I am an elf, I don't get sick." Legolas
stated a bit testily as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and began to
look for his shoes.
"No. You don't. But you are a Sindarian elf who had unprotected sex with my
son and is now pregnant."
To his credit, Legolas didn't fall on his face after that cool and crisp
matter-of-fact statement. He fell only to his knees and stared at the floor for
several moments before he located his shoes and met Galadriel's eyes.
He maintained eye contact with her even as he pulled on the battered sneakers
and got shakily to his feet. He didn't know what to say to this. He was just in
shock, plain and simple. Even though his brain was telling him that it wasn't
possible, he can taste the flavour of truth in Galadriel's words.
"I..I'm not a Sindarian." Is all that he can say as he looked at the female
elf in front of him.
Galadriel shook her head as she moved towards him. She then knelt next to him
and hugged him gently.
"Yes you are. The baby you are carrying is proof of that, Legolas. Only
Sindarian males are able to have children."
Legolas paled at this information, making Galadriel wonder if he was going to
pass out again.
"Didn't you know? Didn't your family tell you?" She asked, smoothing an
errant strand of hair away from his face as she spoke. Legolas shook his head
and curled himself up into a small ball.
"I don't know. I wasn't really visible to them. Father hated me. He blamed me
for killing my mother. My brothers were never around and when they were, they
used me as a pawn for their games against each other and my father. No one ever
thought of treating me like a person, much less telling me something that
important. And at the group home, I was just the elf. No one ever bothered to
find out what the hell I was, since we all look the same to them."
He finished this bitter explanation with a forced laugh that quickly turned
into a sob.
The sudden burst of information made Galadriel's heart ache. Sure, she had
known that Legolas had a hard time of it, considering that the first time she
ever saw him he was being restrained by three group home workers while Boromir
was having the same done to him as he shouted encouragement to his friend from
the opposite corner of the room while two other boys lay unconscious on the
floor of the common room. But she had never imagined that he had been so badly
neglected by his family. To her, the idea of an elf being treated so badly was
unthinkable. But it had happened and this poor child was proof of it.
"No one knew and I never bothered to find out. I guess I should have found
out and let Faramir know before he became a daddy."
He wiped the tears that had spilled down his face before he looked around the
room.
"Where's Faramir?" He asked, finally noticing that his lover wasn't anywhere
around.
"He stayed at home, Legolas." Galadriel told him as she stood up and then
helped him stand.
"Why?" The younger elf asked as he let her help him, even though he felt
extremely capable of standing on his own. But he let her, since he needed the
time to collect himself and to put his game face on again to deal with the world
in general.
He hated to admit it, but he was terribly embarrassed over the break-down he
just had. He had always prided himself on being so stoic and level-headed and to
show such a weakness was a serious blow to his pride. And his pride was the only
thing that he held close to his heart, since it was the only thing that he had
left at that time.
Galadriel bit her lip as she debated whether she should tell him about
Aragorn's breakdown when he had been unconscious in the bathroom. She usually
wasn't so indecisive, but after seeing how the elf had reacted to being told he
was pregnant made her rethink whether it would be a good thing to tell him or
not. But then again, he considered the boy his brother and that alone made him
have the right to know what exactly what had happened to the human.
"He stayed at home because Aragorn became hysterical when he found you. I
felt it would be better if he remained at home with Faramir."
Legolas sighed and rubbed his eyes furiously before he looked at Galadriel
with a weary statement on his face that made her wonder whether it had happened
before.
"Is he going to be fine?" Galadriel asked him, her voice low. Legolas bit his
lip.
"I don't know. The last time he went blank like that was when his mother died
and that lasted for several months. Luckily it was summer, so no one really
found out what exactly happened to him."
"What about his father? Didn't he notice that something was wrong with his
son?"
Legolas snorted before he shook his head.
"No. He's been in Spain ever since Aragorn's mom died. He makes sure that we
are both provided for and we don't lack anything at all, but he refuses to be in
the same country, never mind the same room as his son."
"Why doesn't he want to be with his son?" Galadriel asked, as she dimly
wondered whether her sons where just magnets for the emotionally battered and
wounded.
"Because he reminds him of his dead wife." Legolas told her before he crossed
his arms and looked away.
They remained silent, since Legolas was trying his best not to voice his
anger towards the man that had saved him from a lifetime of group homes.
Galadriel was silent since she was busy digesting the information she had been
given for later contemplation and wasn't really paying attention to the inner
turmoil that Legolas was going through.
It wasn't until she felt a faint touch on her arm that she pulled herself out
of her thoughts. Looking down she saw Legolas was clutching the bag of junk food
she had bought and was standing there, watching her carefully, as if he was
wondering what she was going to do with the information that she had been given.
She hated that look. She had hated it when she had seen it on Boromir's
twelve year old face and she hated seeing it on the young elf's face. It had
cost him a lot to let her know all that information and by the looks of it, he
regretted it and would fight back if he believed that it would be used against
him. He didn't trust her with it, that was plain to see. But then, she didn't
blame him.
"Let's go home, Legolas." She said to him after the long silence. "There is
no point in staying here any longer if we're going to come back later on today
to visit Boromir."
Legolas' head jerked up at the name of his beloved best friend and the cold,
calculating statement vanished from his face as the accident and the state of
Boromir's health flooded back to him full-force as if someone had poured a
bucket of ice-cold water on him. Shuddering slightly, he looked at Galadriel
with an statement of severe longing on his face.
"Can...can I see him? Before we go?" He asked as he tried to compose himself.
Even though he had a rough morning, he felt it wasn't an excuse for him to be
such a prat about everything that had happened. He had to push his feelings
aside and deal with them later if he was going to be useful and fix Aragorn and
also figure out exactly how he was going to actually break the news to Faramir
that he was going to be a father whether he liked it or not.
It was soothing, being in this place. It was warm and quiet and he felt
secure. It was light here. He liked it very much, since it made him feel so
good. He was safe here and the water that surrounded him was like a nice warm
bath.
Maybe he should have been afraid of being in this place forever. After all,
it was known, as the Sea of Night. But he wasn't. He liked it there. There was
no pain there. No harshness. Reality couldn't touch him if he remained hidden
there.
So he stayed. Even though he could hear voices calling him to come back, he
remained there. He didn't want to open his eyes and the longer he remained in
the Sea of Night, the softer the voices and their pull on him became. They were
getting so faint now that he was barely hearing them at all and when he did,
they were nothing but soft murmurs that didn't do much to disturb his sleep.
He had been lying in the sea, cradled in its warm waters when a voice
interrupted him.
He wanted to go back and sink deeper into the sleep, but this voice was more
powerful than the rest. It cut through the layers of unconsciousness and
demanded his full attention. It was making the sea recede with every word that
it spoke. Words that had been at first just garbled jumbles but were now
becoming clearer as the speaker kept on talking.
"-Miss you. He needs for you to come back. I need for you to come back.
You're my best mate. I need you to help me. Please wake up, Boromir. Please."
He sat up in the Sea of Night and shivered violently when he found himself in
the middle of a cold, dark-blue sea with no one around him. He wrapped his arms
around his body as he then got up from the now icy water.
It sucked at his body, not wanting to give him up so easily, but he resisted
its grip. He fought against it with all his strength, not letting it drag him
down into the depths again until it finally gave him up like an unwanted piece
of driftwood, signaling its defeat.
He had to go to back now. The grip of the sea upon him had been broken by the
sound of that voice. He wasn't welcome here any longer. He had to face reality
now.
He heard the voice again and began to walk towards it, confident that he
would find his way out of the Sea of Night. All he had to do was follow the
voice and use it as a guide to finally arrive at that place and ignore the way
the water lapped at his ankles and chilled him almost to his soul. He ignored
the cold though, and kept on walking. He was getting closer...closerÖÖ
The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was the dull, cheerless white
of the ceiling above him that made him wince and wish, for a split second, to go
back into that dream world he had just recently vacated.
The second thing he saw was Legolas looking down at him with tears running
down his face as he smiled at him.
"Boromir! Oh Boromir!" The elf sounded like he was laughing and crying at the
same time as he then bent down and kissed his forehead. "Boromir!"
He could hear noises in the room and tried to find out who or what was making
them, but his neck was stiff and he was unable to move it. He then tried to
locate the sources only by moving his eyes and found himself looking at a doctor
and an utterly relieved Galadriel as they came up to his side and looked down at
him.
He was puzzled when he saw the doctor and a nurse come in. What the hell had
happened? He didn't remember the reason why Legolas should be crying and why his
mother looked like her prayers had been answered. Why was a doctor looking down
at him? Why wasn't he in his own bed?
He tried to open his mouth and ask all these questions, but he was prevented
from even opening his mouth by something that was down his throat. He tried to
swallow to removed it, but it just made his throat achy and itchy, so he stopped
it immediately. What the hell was that thing?
He wanted it out. It hurt and he wanted to talk to his best mate and his
mother. Acting on that impulse, he raised his hand and was about to pull it out
when the nurse grabbed his hand and stopped him from doing just that.
"Don't do that, Mr. Denethorson. I know that it isn't the most comfortable
thing in the world, but you had to have it in since your lung was punctured and
you weren't able to breathe properly."
Boromir rolled his eyes and tried to talk over the respirator again. He
didn't give a shit what the hell that thing was doing in his throat, he wanted
it out NOW!
He saw the nurse and the doctor exchange glances over his reaction. He knew
that he was being childish, but the respirator tube was really bugging him and
he was also anxious to get some answers from his mom and Legolas.
Finally, the doctor nodded and the nurse moved away, leaving only the doctor
in his view.
"Boromir? Hi, I'm Doctor Tyler and I have been taking care of you since you
got here. The reason why you have that tube in your throat is to help you
breathe, since you broke some ribs and one of them punctured your lung when you
had the accident."
Boromir's eyes widened at this. Accident? When did he have an accident? He
didn't remember that.
"I'm going to remove this tube from your throat now, since it seems that your
lung and your ribs are healing nicely." The doctor said to him as he began
peeling the tape from his mouth.
"So just relax. All I want you to do is blow as hard as you can when I pull
it out, okay? Ready? One, two, three."
Boromir did as he was told and felt that he was going to cough himself to
death. It hurt like a sonofabitch when the tube was finally pulled out and he
managed to get some air into his lungs. His ribs felt like someone was kicking
them in with every breath he took, but it felt better than having that tube in
his throat.
"You did good, sweetheart." The nurse told him as she suddenly appeared and
wiped the tears of pain and effort that had run down his cheeks unnoticed.
The doctor then smiled down at him, turned off the respirator and left the
room.
After she was done, she carefully gave him some water to soothe his throat
before he began to talk.
"What the fuck happened?" He asked in a slightly raspy voice, much to
Legolas' relief. The nurse just shook her head while Galadriel couldn't help but
to smile. Even though she didn't approve of him swearing, she was glad to hear
him speak again, even if it was to swear.
"You were in an accident, Boromir. A car hit you when you and Aragorn were
playing with the hobbits." Legolas explained as he smoothed his friend's hair
back gently.
The nurse had, by that time, also left, taking Galadriel with her, presumably
to discuss Boromir, leaving the boy and his friend to talk in relative privacy.
"I don't remember that." Boromir told Legolas softly. "It's a big blank. I
just remember coming home with Aragorn and then waking up here."
His eyes then widened as he then began to look for Aragorn.
"He's at home with your brother, we're going to call them soon, okay? Don't
worry. It's going to be all right." Legolas soothed him as he then took a hold
of his hand and squeezed it firmly.
"HeÖÖhe wasn't hurt, was he?" Boromir asked Legolas worriedly. "Or the little
ones?"
Legolas bit his lip to keep the tears from spilling over at his friend's
words. God! He couldn't believe that even though he was lying there in a
hospital bed, probably in pain and confused as to what was going on around him
that he was more concerned over Aragorn and the hobbits rather than himself.
"No Sebastien. They are fine. Worried about you, but fine." Lee assured him
as he squeezed his hand again.
Boromir smiled faintly. "How long have I been here that they would be so
worried about me?"
"About two weeks now." Legolas replied.
"Damn! Poor Elrond. I guess he's going to have Arwen be Rosalind now."
Legolas laughed at this. "He actually changed the play. He said that it would
have only worked if you had been able to play the part."
"So what play is he putting on?" Boromir asked, yawning slightly. He was
feeling tired despite just having woken up from the coma and even that small
conversation was wearing him out.
He was also becoming more and more aware of the various aches and pains in
his body as well as the weird numbness that seemed to lie heavily in his hips
and legs.
"Macbeth. Aragorn got the part of Macduff. Danny got Macbeth and I'm doing
Malcolm. Eowyn, strangely enough, got Lady Macbeth. Glor is doing Donalbain and
Max got the gatekeeper."
"'Mmm. Cool. I hope that I get out of here soon so I can see it." Boromir
replied sleepily.
Legolas laughed again and was about to reply when the doctor and a couple of
nurses showed up.
"Sorry to interrupt you two, but we need to take some tests now that you're
awake. I promise that they won't take long and we'll have you back here in no
time, okay?"
"Not like I have a choice." Boromir muttered, making Legolas snicker a bit as
he was ushered out into the hallway, where a nurse then told him to go to the
waiting room at the end of the ward.
He walked over to the lounge and flopped down onto one of the couches, not
really sure what to do. There was a payphone directly across from him and that
sight was enough to spark him into action.
Pulling out his trusty phone-card, he then proceeded to call Faramir, Aragorn
and the Usual Suspects to let them know the good news.
"Could I have a word with you?" Galadriel looked up from her rummaging around
in her purse. She was standing by the payphone at the end of the corridor and
was looking for change when she was interrupted by Dr. Tyler, who had just now
returned from wherever they had taken her son for the tests that they had to run
on him.
"Sure," she replied. Dr. Tyler smiled at her briefly before he led her into
the empty staff lounge on the opposite end of the ward. Closing the door, he
then sat down at the table and invited Galadriel to do the same.
"We just ran some of the tests that we had to delay due to the swelling in
his spine."
Galadriel frowned at this. "What did you find?"
"No brain damage as we had earlier feared. Although Boromir has some memory
loss, it isn't unusual in this type of trauma. He seems to be aware of
everything and is only mildly confused about the time loss, but since he was in
a coma for nearly two weeks, that's to be expected. He has a couple of fractures
in the T10 and L1 area that we will operate on shortly. We will insert some pins
to stabilize the break and it should be as good as new."
"What about the swelling in his spine?" Galadriel asked, fearing that
something else was bound to come. A bad something else.
She knew she was right when the doctor ran a hand through his hair before he
dropped the bomb.
"His spinal cord is still pretty swollen. We have been giving him
anti-inflammatories to ease the swelling, but so far; we haven't seen much
progress. It may take weeks or even months to know if anything was affected or
not."
"Won't the swelling damage some nerves?" Galadriel asked him, her voice flat
as she spoke.
"We hope that with the anti-inflammatories we have given him that it will
stop that from happening. Also, we are just able to estimate the time frame that
the swelling will go down in. Like I said before, it could only take weeks, or
it could take months. We are, of course, hoping that it will be the former
rather than the latter, since there will be less chance of damage."
"I see. But if there is damage? What will be the extent of it if that's the
case?"
"If there is severe damage, he will never walk again. If there is mild
damage, at the most, he will have to deal with a limp."
"So we are just waiting on chance then?" Galadriel asked softly. The doctor
nodded.
She sighed and rubbed her temples to stave off the headache that had been
building up.
"I hate chance."
Faramir was a bit angry when the ringing of the phone woke him up from the
nice nap he was having and was tempted to tell the other person on the line
where in creation to go. The thought was banished when the torrent of words from
an excited elf poured into his ear.
"-He woke up! He woke up! He woke up! You have to get over here right now!"
"Whoah! Lee! Slow down! Take a deep breath and tell me what you just said.
Slowly and in English please," Faramir instructed his boyfriend as he sat up,
careful not to disturb the other occupant of the bed and listened carefully to
what the elf had to say.
"Boromir just woke up!" Lee nearly shouted into the phone. Faramir's eyes
popped open at this.
"What? Seriously?" He asked as he then reached over and shook Aragorn awake.
"Hngrhrgl. Whaat?" Aragorn asked, lazily batting Faramir's hand away from his
shoulder, a gesture that both annoyed and relieved Faramir to no end, since it
meant that Aragorn's brain hadn't taken a permanent vacation from his body just
yet as he had feared.
"Boromir just woke up!" Faramir shouted, knowing for sure that would get a
reaction from Estel.
Sure enough, the brunette sat up, his eyes clear and lucid once again at
hearing the news.
"Is that Lee?" He asked as he jumped out of bed and started pulling his
t-shirt and shorts off and began looking for clean clothes to wear.
Faramir nodded and Aragorn paused briefly in his mad dash to dress himself to
sigh in relief before asking whether the elf was okay, a message that was
relayed by Faramir to the elf.
"Uh yeah. I'm fine. The doctor said it was because I haven't been getting
enough sleep and some shit like that. There's more, but I can tell you that when
you get here. How long is it going to take?"
Faramir looked down at himself. It would take him at least three minutes to
dress. Aragorn seemed to be in control of his faculties and could drive as fast
a bloody demon and not get caught, so it would probably only take about ten
minutes or so to get to King's.
"Ten minutes. Fifteen. We'll be there soon." Faramir assured Legolas as he
gave Aragorn the thumbs up sign, making the older human sigh in relief.
"Okay then. See you here. Love you both."
Faramir returned the greeting and hung up. He then proceeded to tear around
the room pretty much in the same fashion as Aragorn had and got dressed under
two minutes, beating his own record.
"You sure you can drive?" Faramir asked Aragorn as they bounded up the stairs
and out the front door to Aragorn's POS.
"Yeah. I'm cool." Aragorn replied before they jumped into the car. "I didn't
go that bad off the deep-end." He defended himself as they sped off to the
hospital.
The statement was made in such a defensive manner that it made Faramir wonder
whether Aragorn was trying to convince himself more than he was trying to
convince him.
It was true that Aragorn was better than he had been in the morning. Hell, he
was better than he had been for the past two weeks. But the fact was that
Aragorn had broken down pretty severely and one just didn't just snap out of it
in one day.
Faramir wasn't a psychologist, but he knew from experience that one just
didn't sink and suddenly be cool again just hours later. There was no freaking
way that it could happen. If it did, it only meant one thing: There was more
shit to come and when it did, it was not going to be pretty.
The Spanish words roughly translate to "They are coming back?" in a
question and answer form. Also, if anyone is confused about that, I did explain
that for this story, Boromir and Faramir are French and Aragorn is half-Spanish.
Provencal is a dialect that is fairly close to Spanish, so Faramir would
understand it.
by Jim Morrison
Chapter XI
Ultra-Violet
"When you're lover's in a dangerous time
sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime
but nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight"
—Bruce
Cockburn.
egolas stared at himself in the mirror.
He didn't recognize himself at all. His face was thinner, and the skin looked
terribly translucent. He could swear that he could see the veins under his skin
if he stood a certain way under the light.
