The Thorn and the Rose

Chapter 5: Recovery

My night is plagued with pain and nightmares. More than once I wake up in a cold sweat, a monster having been about to eat me in my imagination. Finally, the sun peeks through the curtains and I sit up, propping myself against the pillow. There’s a knock on the door and I call out for them to come in. I’m expecting Eric so when an elderly gentleman walks in I'm a little shocked.

“Good morning, miss, I hope I didn’t wake you. Master Eric sends his regards as he has business to attend to this morning. He asked me to make sure you have everything you need.” His voice is deep and calm, showing little emotion. He is also very posh spoken like he’d grown up in a palace. He is quite tall and thin, wearing a tuxedo. His white hair is short and slicked back and his grey eyes sparkle with a hint of mischief.

I look at him with a little shock and fear. “W-who are you?” My voice breaks as yet another stranger is thrust into my life.

“Gosh, where are my manners? Forgive me, miss, my name is Harold and I work as Master Eric’s butler.” He gives me a thin but genuine smile. “I have brought you breakfast,” he continues before turning and pulling a small trolley into the room.

On the trolley is a host of items, various cereals, croissants, waffles, pancakes, as well as milk, honey, and cream for toppings. My eyes go wide at the spread while my stomach growls audibly, making me blush. 

Harold smiles again at my reaction. “Seems your body knows what it wants,” he says kindly before also pulling out a plate and a bowl. “What would you like, miss?” 

I look over the various foods and quickly point at the pancakes and honey, my mouth virtually dribbling as he dishes it up for me. As he passes it over, I sit up more fully, almost grabbing at the plate as I realise just how hungry I am. Not having food for a few days will do that to you, I guess.

Harold bows to me and I give him a thank you with my mouth full as he leaves, letting me eat in peace. I wolf the food down quickly. These taste like the best pancakes I’ve ever had, light and fluffy and delicious, and the honey is so sweet and fresh, not like the cheap supermarket stuff I normally get. After the pancakes are devoured, I also lick the plate clean, not wanting to waste a single tasty drop. I put the plate on the bedside table and settle back into the covers slightly, feeling pleasantly full and cosy. I nod off to sleep once again.

The rest of the day is much like the morning. Harold comes in with food for me, waking me up, then, after I eat, I fall back asleep. It seems that, though I feel as if I'm wasting the day, my body just needs the rest to repair. Later, well after Harold had brought me dinner, I got a knock at my door.

"Come in," I call sleepily, the knock once again having woken me up. 

The door opens and Eric enters with a smile. "Oh, I didn't mean to wake you. I can go," he says apologetically, beginning to back out again. 

I shake my head. "No, it's fine. I've been asleep all day anyway, could do with the distraction." I smile back at him, feeling strangely shy. "I wanted to thank you, anyway."

Eric moves over and sits in the wicker chair before looking a little confused at my comment. "What for?"

I look at him with shock for a moment, feeling it is obvious. "For letting me stay and not packing me off to some hospital or something."

He waves a hand at me. "Oh, don't be daft, they wouldn't know how to help you anyway. I can't let someone as special as you die just because they are a little different from a human." He replies with an honest and friendly voice, that and his words making me blush a little more. "Now I'm sure you have questions about how you ended up here and I have questions about how you ended up in the cave. Are you up for some talking?"

I take a slow breath, trying to cool my cheeks down and focus my mind a little. I nod after another moment, thinking about everything that happened. I swallow a little nervously.

Eric looks concerned. "Are you sure? If it's too much, we can try when you are stronger." His voice is soft and he watches me with worried and supportive eyes.

I shake my head, trying to seem a little more confident than I actually feel. "No, it's fine. You are right that I want to know how I got here." 

He smiles again, trusting my word and, nodding, he spoke. "Well, if it's ok with you, I think you should go first, keep everything in order," he places a hand gently on my arm, "but if you need to take a break, or even stop completely, just say so."

I nod in understanding, feeling calmed by his touch. It is a simple gesture but the warmth of his hands make me feel more confident and safer. "Okay, well, I guess it would be best to start from my first encounter…"

I explain to Eric in as much detail as I can what had happened over the last couple of days, starting with the werewolf encounter on my way home from work and ending with a slab of stone covered in black fog. I decide to stop there, believing the bow had been just the blood loss having caused hallucinations. Even if it was real, I don't think he’ll believe me anyway, fog couldn't turn into a solid object after all. "... Once I got down to the slab I got really dizzy. I don't remember much after that. I think I remember a dancing fire, or light, or something, but," I shake my head slightly, honestly not sure on that part, "I could have just imagined that.”

Eric listens with focused attention, asking a question here and there to try to clarify things, but for the most part he says nothing during my tale. 

Once I am done, he sits back in the chair and looks very thoughtful. "You see, the reason I really wanted to know is I've been trying to get into that room for the last month or so since I found it. Then you stumble your way down and gain access just like that, very intriguing and irritating." He seems to speak more to himself than me, stroking his chin as if he had a beard which makes me giggle.

"I'm sorry." I quickly cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing more, but the sound seems to break him out of his thoughts.

Eric smiles at me with mirth in his eyes. "What's funny?" he asks with genuine curiosity, looking at me carefully.

"I'm sorry, that was rude. It's just the way you were stroking your chin, would look better with a beard then you'd look like a young Merlin." I can't help but giggle again as the image of Eric stroking a beard leaps into my head.

Eric smiles too and chuckles with me. "I can see that, I'll take it as a compliment. Merlin was wise, after all, even in his younger years according to the legends." He grins then and looks at me with amusement.

I am glad I hadn't offended him with my laughter, finding my cheeks heating up again as he looks at me. I almost lean towards him, but catch myself and just smile instead. I feel drawn to Eric and scold myself, reasoning that it is only because he saved my life. 'And accepts you for what you are,' my thoughts remind me.

Eric breaks the almost hypnotizing eye contact we have been holding and smiles again. He has such a nice smile, genuine and honest. He clears his throat and sits back in his chair again. "And for the rest of your tale, so you can fill in the blanks," he says, trying to sound somewhat professional. "It started as a normal day, I decided to take another look at the stone door, not expecting much but knew I had to keep trying. The fact that I can't open it just means there’s something important that I need to find, see. I have to admit, I was a little worried when I saw the blood by the entrance. I hoped it was just some animal that had been hurt, a cave like that can be a refuge for smaller creatures running from a predator, no doubt. Going into the cave, however, I immediately noticed the difference, the darkness caused by the umbra lapis seemed to have been disturbed.”

I look at him with confusion. “Wait, what’s umber lapis?” I ask, quickly interrupting as I'd never heard of that before.

“Ah, umbRA lapis,” he emphasises where I had mispronounced the word. “It is a very rare type of mineral only found in a few places across the planet. Little is known about it other than it seems to seep a black fog-like phenomenon. Some say it’s magical in some way, though I doubt that.”

“That’s why the cave was so dark?” I aske, understanding dawning on me.

Eric nods. “Yes, in addition electric light does not penetrate it either. You need fire if you want to see anything down there,” he continues to explain before realising he’s gone off topic. “It’s fascinating stuff, but I’ll show you at another time.” He smiles. I nod and let him continue. “So the disturbed fog got me a little excited as nothing had changed with the cave since the day I had found it. When I got to the door and found it open, I had to stop for a moment and admire the huge chamber that I could see beyond. It was so much bigger than I had been expecting, even with the size of the doors. Though, I was also a little apprehensive. Finding the door open was also a little spooky after so long," he pauses and chuckles at himself. "After gathering my courage, I stepped in and saw your body at the bottom of the steps. I rushed down, looking around for the danger that might be in there, but when I saw your back I quickly put the pieces together. Thankfully, you were still alive, though I could tell you didn't have long.”

He pauses and takes a breath, the memory seems to worry him even though I’m right here. “I was crouched over you when you first woke. I had a flame torch. Like I said, fire being the only light that worked in that cave. Thinking about it, that was probably your dancing fire.” He smiles at me and I nod. It makes the most sense. “In the light, you tried to back away from me. I think what little energy you had left was spent in that moment of movement because you slumped again almost instantly." He grimaces at the memory. "You were in such bad shape, I'm honestly amazed you survived, there was just so much blood." He takes a breath and continues, forcing a smile, trying to reassure me and likely himself too. "I wasn't sure what to do at first, calling the doctor down here seemed dangerous and I'd need to get back out to do so anyway. I didn't really want to move you either for fear of making things worse, but decided it was the better option. I carefully carried you out and down to the car. Sitting you down, I took a look at your back in daylight and knew I'd made the right call. I probably broke a few speed limits getting you here." He looks away, a little embarrassed. "But it was worth it. I called the doctor on the way and he met me at the door. Between us, we got you cleaned up and Bates cleaned and dressed your wounds while babbling about how amazing you are." He chuckles again, rolling his eyes a little. "I tell you, that man acts like a child on Christmas Eve half the time. Anyway, the rest you know." He smiles at me. "I hope that helps a little."

I nod, thinking hard about what he said. “Now I know why I’m here, but I have a few other questions,” I say slowly, looking worried he might not have the time.

“Of course.” He smiles at me. “My evening is free, I’ll help you however I can.”

I smile back as a small wave of relief washes over me. I finally decide that Eric really is a nice guy and isn’t about to turn me over to some scientist at a moment's notice. “First, I really am worried about work, you don’t know my boss.” I look down at my hands as they fidget in my lap. “I know I’m still healing but..”

“Say no more,” he interrupts me with a raised hand. “As luck would have it I am actually your boss’ boss. You work for one of my offshoot companies. If Clare gives you so much as a harsh look if you go back, let me know and I’ll deal with it.” 

My eyes go wide as he speaks. This really is a stroke of luck if it’s true. I instantly relax a little, the thought of going back to work has been on my mind the whole day. I look at him suddenly as his words sink in better. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘if’?” 

He smiles again at that. “I was hoping you might take on a new job once you are all healed up. I could do with an assistant who knows that more exists than what the average person knows. You seem to fit the bill perfectly.”

My eyes widen again, I seem to keep getting shock after shock in this house. “But I…”

“Don’t worry about it for now though, just get better. We can sort out the details when you are ready to do some work,” he interrupts me again with another glamorous smile.

“Oh, okay,” I respond meekly, not sure what else to say, his offer completely wiping my mind of any more questions. 

He pats my leg and stands up as he notices my blank face. “You look tired, Candria. Get some more rest and we’ll talk more tomorrow. I believe Bates will be here mid-afternoon, and, while I will be out for the morning, I’ll be here to curb his excitement when he arrives.”

I nod, feeling worried again. Dr Bates seems like a nice enough guy, though he was definitely overbearing and a little scary in our first encounter.

Eric heads to the door, wishing me good night as he leaves. I stay sitting in the bed, my mind wandering through our conversation, trying to figure out his intentions with the whole assistant idea. Eventually, I give up. Who can know the mind of a rich man? I shrug at my own question and settle down to try to get some more sleep.

The night is once again full of nightmares about monsters and werewolves and I end up getting very little sleep. The sun begins to shine through the window and, not long after, Harold comes in with breakfast. I take my fill and thank him as he backs out of the room to leave me to eat. I’ve got much more energy today and, unlike yesterday, I do not instantly fall asleep. I begin looking around the room, searching with careful movements for something to do, but it’s basically empty of activities. I think for a moment of leaving the room, but I decide against it, for a couple of reasons. First, I don't have any clothes and, second, I’m likely to get lost. I realise I’m going to go stir-crazy in this room with nothing to occupy myself. I remember Eric had a laptop when I first woke up and I make a mental note to ask if I can borrow it to play a few video games or something while I'm stuck here. Either way, right now I am very bored.

Clocks go so slow when you are waiting for them to move. At first I fiddle with my hair, braiding it, and trying different styles, trying to make my own fun, but that quickly stops being interesting. Then I poke and prod at my own skin, watching as blood rushes back to where I had apply pressure, that kind of thing, but that gets old even faster. Finally, I try to get a bit more sleep. If there is a way to make time speed up, it’s normally sleep. 

I am semi-successful, though, more often than not, I find my eyes open and staring at the clock. Shortly after Harold brings in lunch, freshly made BLT sandwiches, I finally hear movement out in the rest of the house. I can hear Eric and Harold’s voices, though their words are too muffled to make out what they are saying. It isn’t long before I hear a knock on the door and Eric comes in with one of his smiles. I like his smile, it makes me feel comfortable and safe.

“Hey, how are you doing?” he asks as he sits in the wicker chair, looking at me. “Resting well, I hope?”

I smile shyly back at him. “I’m okay, sleep comes and goes.” I shrug as casually as I can, seeing no reason to tell him about the nightmares. Then I remember my note-to-self. “Oh, but I am getting incredibly bored. Could I borrow your laptop or something, play some games?”

Eric looks a little shocked at my words, I guess he’d not thought of that. “Right, stuck in the same room and bed would be rather dull,” he comments, more to himself. “I’ll sort you out something as soon as the doctor has left, he should be here any minute.” 

I smile my thanks to him, actually surprised by how accommodating he is being. Just then the doorbell rings and Eric smiles, though he didn't move. “Ah, that’s likely him. Harold will get it though.” And he isn’t wrong. A knock came on my door and both Eric and I said “Enter” at the same time. I giggle like a teenager while Eric just smiles apologetically as, at the moment, he is in my room and probably shouldn’t have tried to answer it.

The door opens and Dr Bates walks in. I tense a little as I see him, trying to be ready for his over enthusiasm, but it doesn’t come. He just looks tired today, done with the world at large, though smiles as his eyes fall on me.

Eric looks a little worried “You okay, Bates? Long day?”

“One of the longest,” Bates responds with a sigh, though cheers up a little and waves it away. “Some people just won’t take no for an answer. Anyway, seeing you two helps. How are you doing, Candria?”

“I’m okay, it still hurts a lot,” I respond, referring to my wounds as he comes over. 

“Right, well, let’s see what your body thinks.” He reaches over and I sit up so that he can unwrap the bandages. As the wounds get revealed, he nods his head, making thoughtful sounds to himself.

“Well, looks like the excessive bleeding has stopped completely now and you are well on the way to recovery. You definitely heal faster than average, so that will help. Yes, I think you’ll be fine now. Same rules apply as before. Just do what you feel up for, don’t stress yourself.”

I nod as he speaks, showing that I understand what he's saying. “How long do you think it will take?” I ask with a slight tremble in my voice, scared of what the answer will be. I hate sitting still for long periods of time.

Bates looks thoughtful. “Well, I’d say a good week from now before you can start moving more normally, then another week for the bandages to come off. Probably a third week before you can think about flying though, the skin on your back will be delicate for a while.”

Again, I nod as I listen, my heart sinking a little. I glance at Eric, wondering if he is going to get irritated with me being around, though he just smiles. “Stay here for as long as you need,” he responds as if reading my mind.

“I’ll be back in a week now, unless you have any extra pain,” Bates said as he got out fresh wrappings for me. 

“Er…” I feel nervous about my next question. I feel dirty and want a shower. “Before you wrap me up again, could I, you know, have a wash?” 

Bates looks at me seriously for a moment, again looking over my wound. Finally, he frowns. “I’m afraid not, the soap, even the running water itself wouldn’t be good for the wounds, and sitting in a bath of it all would be even worse,” he said with an apologetic look. “Just a week, then you can. For now just washing your hair will have to suffice, I’m afraid.”

I sigh a little dejectedly. I hate feeling greasy, but I didn’t really expect a yes. Dr Bates begins to bind me back up with practised fingers and leaves with a tired farewell once he is done. 

Eric came back from seeing his friend out the door and he had his laptop clutched under his arm. “Right, let’s get you some entertainment,” he spoke as he sat back down, opening up his PC. “If you give me your address I’ll retrieve anything you want from home. As for a computer, I would offer mine, but I use it a lot for my work, so that's not going to work.” He looks up at me with an apologetic smile and must have easily seen my sour expression as he chuckles. “Don’t worry, I’m assuming you don’t have a laptop of your own by your face, so we’ll get you a new one.”

My eyes widen at his casual tone. “Wait, what?”

He watches me confused. By his expression he thinks I’d just misheard him and repeats his words, “I said, we’ll get you a new one.” 

I shake my head quickly. “No. I mean, I can’t afford that right now, I’m trying to save for a small car.”

He laughs at me next, making me blush with confusion and a little embarrassment. He probably doesn’t think about saving money for stuff like that. “No, we’ll, as in I and my estate,” he grins. I just look at him in shock again. “Now, you said you wanted it for some games, so check that box, and we want a chunky processor, and good space, and a long battery life. Let’s see here... right, this should do the trick.” He turns his screen to me and I swear my eyes just pop out of my head on a spring, like in a cartoon. 

What he is showing me is a top of the line gaming laptop with a price tag to suit it. “$4500? For a laptop?” I virtually yell at him in distress.

“Sure, why not?” He shrugs and, before I can say anything more, clicks the buy button. “Should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, you can last that long.” I just stare at him in a shocked silence. “Look, if it worries you that much, see it as borrowing still. Just use it while you are here or something. It’s really not a problem either way.” He responds to my expression so casually, like it’s a cheap end item that’s worth very little. 

I sigh and lay down properly, putting my arm over my eyes as I try to, once again, process the situation I have found myself in. I’m not one for taking advantage of people, but here is a man just throwing money at me. There is literally no way I can repay him in kind. I sigh with a little frustration and lower my arm to look at him. He’s watching me with a mixture of worry and mirth on his face.

I shake my head, focusing on him more. “I don’t know what I did to deserve any of this but, thank you, for, well, for literally everything. I owe you a lot.”

He smiles brightly as I speak, waving me away with my last words. “If you want to make it up to me that bad, have a serious think about my proposal from yesterday.”

“Right. I’d forgotten about that a little. Don’t really have much choice the way we are going.” I laugh humorlessly, though his expression turns much more serious.

“No, don’t say that, you do have a choice, of course you do. Anything I do for you between now and when you are better is because I care for the people in my house, especially my long term guests.” He speaks honestly and seriously, though he obviously hopes I do take his offer as his assistant.

The next week goes by surprisingly quickly. The laptop arrives like he said it would and I quickly get to work installing my favourite games onto it and playing them to death. It’s the nicest gaming experience I’ve ever had, being able to have everything on max settings and it still run as smooth as silk is just the best experience a gamer can hope for. He also retrieves some of my personal things from home, my phone, for a start, as well as a couple of books, some clothes, and my favourite toiletries. He made a little comment about how big my clothes are but quickly understands when I explain it is to try to hide my features.

Soon, the week is over and the doctor returns. Entering my room with a smile, looking much better than he had done before, he greets me with the same excitement in his eyes that he’d had the first time. “Right, hopefully this will be the end of being wrapped up, hmm?” He grins as I nod my head hopefully. Slowly, he takes the bandages off and gasps with surprise as my skin is revealed. “Well, my dear. Looks like you heal even quicker than I thought,” he said as he ran a finger slowly down my back. “How does this feel?”

I nod and concentrate on where his finger meets my skin and scales. I can feel where it is, the skin  still tender in places, but it didn’t hurt at all. “It’s fine, weirdly ticklish though.” 

“That’s incredible.” He touches my wing slightly. “May I?”

“Yeah, sure, I guess?” I respond, unsure as to what he is asking for.

Bates very gently encourages me to extend my wings, stretching them out as far as I can before pulling them in as tightly as I can. He does the same with my arms too. “How does this feel? Any tightness in your back muscles?” I shake my head. “Incredible. Well, I would still like you to stay away from more strenuous exercises but, other than that, you can get on with life at your leisure. The only thing wrong is a little more healing of your skin and scales and you’ll be as good as new,” he said with finality. “I’ll see you in a week, just to be on the safe side. Let me know if you are still here or if you have moved back to your own place,” he adds, passing me a business card with his name, number, and surgery address on. “And if you ever need a doctor again, consider giving me a call. I have a number of supernaturals as patients, so I know at least somewhat what I’m doing.” He smiles as he gets up to leave.

I reach out for him and touch his hand before he can leave. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Between you and Eric, you saved my life.”

He smiles and nods his head in thanks. “You are welcome, miss,” he responds happily, “and if you ever want to look into your own physiology, consider me as a helping hand?” I can see the hopefulness in his eyes. “I would very much like to see you fly, for example.”

I giggle a little at that, partially thinking the same myself as he speaks. I nod my head and he leaves the house with a skip in his step which makes me giggle more.

Eric came in soon after with a smile and a question clearly on his mind. “So, you are free, what now?” he asks, though I don’t think it is quite what he actually wants to ask.