Rabbit stick proving superfluous, Liz had to settle for
simply fishing Einar out of the water barrel, flopping him over onto the floor
and making sure he was still breathing, which he was, if so barely as to be
hardly discernible. Didn’t look good at
all, Liz wondering for a moment if she was going to have to start giving him
rescue breaths, but he woke at the impact of his injured feet on the floor,
coughing and sputtering and shaking the water from eyes and hair as he stared
wildly up at Liz, looking terribly confused.
Liz was confused also, having been sure at first that his encounter with
the water barrel—strange choice, but he was a mighty strange fellow—had been
intentional, but seeing him now she was not at all sure.
“What’s going on, Einar?
Did you trip over something and fall in, or was that your idea of a
bath?”
“Bath?” Voice came
ragged, barely enough breath, and when he tried sit up the world went all dark
and soft around him. Lay back down
then, but not by choice. “Not taking a
bath, just…think I wanted to come see you and didn’t quite...”
Something in his tone scared her, the grave, almost
desperate sound of his voice. “I was
over in the opposite direction. What’s
going on here? Are you alright?”
“Not…so bad, just a little…legs a little wobbly when I…”
“Come to bed. Can
you get to the bed?”
“Not time for bed.
Still light.”
“Don’t argue, just move.
I don’t want to have to carry you…”
He laughed a little at that, but did not move. Didn’t want her to see what “a little
wobbly” looked like, and could tell nothing had changed since his last failed
attempt at moving across the cabin.
He’d stay right where he was, just give it a little more time, and it
would pass. Would have to. Wasn’t of much use in his current state, and
not only did he have a length of cordage to finish, but he needed to go
retrieve those traps in a few days, as soon as his feet were doing a bit
better. So, better be doing something, hadn’t you, even if it doesn’t involve
the bed just yet. You stay here flat on
your back on the floor like this, and you’re just gonna keep on sinking deeper
and deeper into this thing, whatever it is.
Not good. On your feet.
Did it, Liz trying all the while to keep him down, keep
him still for she could see now the difficulty he appeared to be having in
getting his breath, wanted him to stay right where he was until she could check
his vitals and try to get some idea of what might be going on with him. Things weren’t appearing much better to
Einar from his new upright position—Liz, despite all her trying was unable to
keep him lying down, would literally have had to apply the rabbit stick had she
wanted to prevent his rising, and the use of such force hardly seemed the
wisest thing at the moment--legs trembling beneath him and threatening once
more to give out and drop him to the ground, and he locked his knees, bracing
arms against the walls to prevent himself losing ground and having to start all
over again. Breathless but a bit
steadier for the shock of pain that had gone through him as he put his full
weight on the injured feet, he tried his best to reassure Liz.
“Better now. Just
got…little dizzy before and had to try out the water barrel. Must have helped. Won’t happen again.”
“No, it certainly won’t, because you’re coming to bed
right now and you’re going to stay there while I fix you some broth, and then
I’m joining you. You’re freezing. I wish you’d told me you were getting in
trouble, because I would have helped you sooner.”
No objecting, though he did want to, for already Liz was
hurrying him off to the bed, one hand firmly beneath his shoulder as she pushed
aside the bear hide and all but tossed him down beside Will, Einar turning his
head and grinning at the little guy as she hurriedly got the furs pulled up
over the two of them.
“Well, looks like we’ve been told what’s what, haven’t we
Snorri? No two ways about it, and if
we want to keep away from that rabbit stick, better not be trying to get around
her, either.”
Only he did intend on getting around her, at least to some
degree, waited until she turned to the stove and wasn’t looking—and he’d more
or less caught his breath; it took an alarmingly long while—before rolling from
the bed, creeping on hands and knees over to the open door where he’d left his
cordage project and retrieving the material, very nearly making it back to the
bed before being discovered by Liz. Wanting
to scold him, she instead simply gave him a playful shake of the rabbit stick,
watching to make sure he made it back beneath the furs.
Einar was nearly asleep by the time Liz finished making
her hasty pot of broth, elk with honey and some bits of bear fat, partially
completed string of cordage gripped so hard his knuckles had gone white, but
little progress made on it. Seemed he
couldn’t quite remember how the twists were supposed to go, nothing looking
right to him, nothing making sense, but he dared not let it go, either. Liz took it from him, gently prying open his
hands, helping him to sit up a bit straighter and replacing the cordage with
the broth pot, warm but not hot, Einar staring into the steam and blinking
slowly, hands shaking too hard to successfully raise the vessel to his lips. No matter.
The steam was enough. Smelled
wonderful, warming him, eyes drifting closed and head bowing until Liz, having
stepped away to close the door and add wood to the stove, joined him in the
bed. He was about to drop the pot, and
she took it from him. Some dusty,
distant corner of Eianr’s brain mourned the loss of the warmth and steam. They had been good, but good things seldom
lasted, and he would go on. Not so bad
being cold, he was used to being cold, and could still sleep…
Liz was shaking him, hand all wound up in his hair as she
tried to lift him, get his attention.
“Wake up, Einar. You have to
drink this.”
Didn’t even open his eyes. “Steam’s good.
Steam’s…enough.”
“No.” She sounded
angry, and he did not understand. “You
cannot live on steam. You’ve got to
stop trying to live on steam and ice and little shreds of frozen muskrat every
five or six days, or you’re just not going to make it. Now wake up and drink!”
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