My Dear Savior

Episode 9

Once I returned safely to the warm room and organized the berries for my mother, I went to work skinning and cleaning the rabbits that had been caught in our traps for some stew. It would be light on his stomach and easy for him to get down in his current state. I added in some herbs I knew would promote healing and fight off a fever and placed the mixture over the fire.

I inconspicuously rinsed off the blade and stashed in into my waistband. A girl could never be too careful.

When I turned to the boy, I could see that color had returned to his cheeks, there was a slight glisten to his forehead, and he was sleeping in a more relaxed pose as if he had had a chance to thaw out under the blankets by the fire. My brow furrowed at my assessment.

I quickly walked over to him and felt his forehead. It was like his temperature had done a complete turnaround from iciness to fire in a few hours. I lifted the blankets and unbandaged his wound. It had begun to grow a little inflamed and puffy around the stitches. I shook my head and went to grab a scrap of cloth. He should not be that hot and his wound should not look like that, and I knew it was an indication that an infection had set in. I cursed myself for not being my mother for probably the hundredth time today.

I stuck my head out the front door and grabbed a few handfuls of snow, stuffing the fluff into the cloth. I placed the cool rag on his forehead and went to work on a paste I had seen my mother use to kill off an infection. I smiled wryly at the thought of how much I had teased her for over-stocking our herbs this year. Now, I was all too thankful for her preparedness.

Once the paste was set, I cleaned off the area around his wound with a damp cloth and then smeared on the concoction.

“I can tell by your wrinkled nose that whatever that is can’t smell nice.” He huffed out a small laugh that turned into a wince of pain at my prodding.

“You don’t need to worry about how you smell right now. Just focus on healing.” I twisted my mouth ironically at him as I finished up with his wound. “Don’t your people have magical powers? Why don’t you go ahead and heal yourself instead of making me baby you?”

His eyes narrowed at my teasing and replied cryptically, “If only.”