Chapter 19

Calvert rushed to the infirmary, where the guards had informed, him the Rogue had been taken.  He'd been shocked when he heard that Emeric had been savagely beaten, the young man was a brilliant warrior and was more than capable of defending himself...Being injured was a rarity for the Rogue, Calvert knew.

He burst into the room without pausing to knock, as he should...The matter was too urgent.  He was still furious with the Rogue for the injustice he had done in the Dome, Calvert wanted to settle the score...

His eyes landed on the beaten figure on the working table and all thought of punishment fled from his thoughts...He stopped dead in his tracks, too shocked to take another step forward.  'Savagely beaten was close to an understatement', Calvert thought horridly as his eyes skimmed over the Rogue.

Aire was hurriedly working on the Rogue, assessing the amount of damage.  She noted Calvert's presence but she didn't spare a second away from her work to great the Dome Keeper.

"Bandage." She instructed, holding her hand out as Darius handed a clean bandage to her.  She hastily pressed the rolled up piece of cloth to a bleeding wound on the Rogues head.  "Put pressure on this." She ordered Darius as she moved on to treat the other evident wounds.

She worked with fast precision, halting the rapidly flowing bleeding from the worst wounds then started inspecting Emeric's body for unseen injuries.  She halted when her fingers lightly felt over his ribs.  She winced and then frowned. 

"What is it?" Calvert asked. 

Aire met his eyes.  "He has fractured ribs, it could be serious." Darius stepped closer to aid, already knowing from the unspoken command in Aire's eyes what had to be done.  Using his dagger, Darius ripped open the Rogue's shirt so that he lay bare chested on the working table.

This time it was Calvert who winced as he saw the extent of Emeric's injuries.  His torso was covered in discolored bruises and some areas had succumbed to an unnatural swelling.  The body looked bedraggled and if it weren't for the faint rise and fall of the Rogue's chest, Calvert would have believed him to be dead. 

A soft moan caught everyone's attention as Emeric started to rouse from his state of unconsciousness.  His knuckles turned white as he grasped the sides of the table, his back arching as a spasm of pain ran through his body.  His breathing came in short gasps of pain. 

Aire lightly placed a hand on his chest, pushing him down on the table "Breathe slowly, Emeric." She softly instructed, but Emeric didn't hear her through the ringing in his ears.  He was blind and in unimaginable pain.  Unknown to the other occupants in the room, he was terrified and had no idea of what was happening to him.

Emeric tried sitting up, to escape the agony in his body, but a cry of pain was torn from his lips as an ache, which felt like a dagger in his ribs, sent him falling back down.  He slowly lifted a hand to touch the tender area.  'Definitely broken.' He thought gloomily.

Then slowly, Emeric's breathing calmed again as he fell back into a merciful, dreamless sleep.

Aire sighed softly as her worried eyes swept over the Etreshian.  "Will he make it?" Calvert asked, and for the first time ever, Aire thought she heard a faint hint of concern in the grizzled man's words.  She shook her head, "I don't know.  I've never treated anyone who'd been beaten this bad." Calvert nodded, almost sadly.

"Just do your best." he replied. 

"Darius help me lift him into a sitting position." She instructed lightly.  Darius cautiously lifted the younger man into an upright position.  Aire hastily started wrapping a bandage tightly around his ribcage.  Tight enough so that Emeric could only take shallow breaths, but the wrappings would prevent the ribs from being pushed out of alignment if Emeric accidently took a deep breath.

After treating the remaining injuries she lightly started cleaning the blood off of Emeric's beaten face while Darius prepared an ointment that would bring the swelling down.  He dipped a small piece of cloth in cool water then applied the ointment to the cloth.  He repeated the process a few times with more cloths and then started placing them lightly on the Rogue's face.  The coolness of the cloths and the ointment did wonders for the swelling.

Aire and Darius took turns, at hourly intervals, to apply new cloths.  But no matter how much they tried, Emeric's chances of surviving seemed to grow slimmer with each hour that passed.  Behind all the bruising, his skin was threateningly pale.  And despite the bandage around his chest, his breathing was extremely shallow.

He hadn't woken again and Aire feared that he never would...

*****

Aire continued the treatment, but two days had passed and Emeric hadn't shown any sign of improvement.  The swelling had gone down considerably, however, he hadn't stirred in the slightest manner. Aire had prepared a broth which she slowly poured between his lips in meagre amounts, fearing that he might choke, but Emeric swallowed with some effort. 

It was all she could do for him, but in all honesty, her hope had nearly vanished. 

At one stage he had started shivering uncontrollably as a treacherous fever took hold of him.  Aire had done her best to rid the symptoms from his body.  It had been a battle for his life and Aire had barely gotten any sleep as she remained by the Etreshians side day and night.  

*****

Aire sat on a stool next to the working table, she was resting her head on her arms which lay crossed on the edge of the table, next to the still figure.  She had drifted off into a much needed sleep when something had woken her...A slight moan.  She slowly sat up and noted that Emeric's eyes were open slightly, taking in the room.

She stood up so fast that she sent the stool flying back.  Emeric slowly turned his eyes to her, not comprehending much.

Aire placed a light hand on his shoulder, "Do you know where you are?" She asked softly to see if he was truly awake.  His eyes traveled to her hand on his shoulder.  He tried speaking but no words seemed to come.  He tried harder but only ended up in a coughing fit. 

He groaned as he placed a hand on his ribs which were throbbing intensely after his fit.  "Inf...Infirmary." he managed to say in a raspy whisper.  Aire let out a sigh of relief.  Emeric lifted his eyes to hers, "What happened?" he asked huskily.  Aire frowned slightly as she realised that he was concussed.  But it was to be expected after what he'd been through.

"You were attacked." She said finally.  A slight frown crossed Emeric's bruised face, "By whom?" Aire shook her head, "We were hoping you could tell us that."

Emeric shut his eyes as he tried to ignore his aching side, but it was to no avail. "How long have I been here?" He finally asked thickly.  "Three days." Aire replied softly, knowing that Emeric would be sensitive to loud noises. 

For a moment Emeric looked shocked, but then he fell into an expressionless façade.  He tried recalling what had happened, but the last thing he recalled was fetching his food in the cafeteria.  That was when he remembered that his thoughts had fearfully travelled to Calvert and the punishment he was bound to be given when the Dome Keeper heard of his reluctance to kill in the Dome. 

'I guess Calvert got to me sooner than I thought he would.' Emeric thought gloomily, almost totally convinced that the Dome Keeper had put him on the physicians table where he lay now, with his head propped up on a pillow.

Emeric heard a light groan as the door opened.  Through the corner of his eye, he saw Darius walk in.  He stopped when he saw that Emeric was awake.  "Well, I'm glad to see you awake.  You were beginning to give us all grey hair." Darius said with a mildly cheerful tone of voice.  Emeric frowned, 'Why would anyone care about me? I'm nothing more than a Rogue.'

"I'll inform Calvert," Darius said as he turned to leave.  Emeric wanted to jump up and stop him, but keeping his heart beating was proving to be challenging enough.

It didn't take ten minutes before the tall man walked in behind Darius.  Emeric, laying defenceless on the table, felt way too exposed and wanted to flee.  He fearfully looked up at Calvert, but his bruised face showed little, if not any, emotions.

Calvert got straight to the point, not wasting any time on small talk. "Who did this to you?" Emeric frowned, and then hesitantly, not wanting to offend the tall man, he said, "I thought it was you." The words were scarcely louder than a whisper, but the met Calvert's ears none the less. 

"If you weren't already beaten, it might have been me." He said with a threatening air about him.  Emeric knew his anger was because of that fact that Emeric's opponent was still breathing.  "But," Calvert continued, "I will never beat any of my Domers to the extent that might prevent them from performing the following day, much less, till they are half dead."

For some reason the words were almost comforting to Emeric. 'Strange'  he thought, 'The things that ease my nerves these days.' 

"So the question remains.  Who did this to you?"  Emeric shut his eyes momentarily, trying to ward off the headache that was starting to cauldron in the back of his head, "I...I don't know." He replied after a few seconds of silence.  

"Well think, boy.  Is there anyone who wants you dead?" Calvert asked in a raised voice.  Emeric winced as the loud words sent his head into a proper throb...No more hope of warding it off now.

But regardless, Emeric found himself weakly chuckling, "I'm a Rogue, remember? Everyone want me dead."

Calvert got a displeased frown over his face, "Don't try and be a smartass with me. Anybody in particular who hates you more than the others?" Calvert reprimanded. 

Now that Calvert mentioned it, Emeric's thought went instantly to Nedes.  The bully had thoroughly been making Emeric's life a misery at any given opportunity.  And Emeric had no doubt that Nedes would shy away from the opportunity of beating Emeric senseless.

Calvert notices the light going on in Emeric's eyes and waited for the answer.

"Nedes." Emeric said eventually.  "He's been threatening me since I got here."

Calvert frowned when the name rang bells in his head.  And then he remembered the smirk on the boy's face when Calvert had asked Marven where the Rogue was.  It could be a coincidence, but one that Calvert wasn't willing to ignore.  He was determined to find the wrong-doer and put the whole situation to justice.

Emeric shut his eyes again as a nauseous sensation passed over him.  Aire noticed and instantly turned towards Calvert, "Maybe we should continue this a bit later.  He's still regaining his strength." She suggested in a tone that left no room for argument.

Calvert sighed, "Fine.  But he goes back to his cell tonight.  All this special treatment might make him feel important...And I don't want that."