The healer (Legolas love story)

Chapter 17: Fall of fellowship

Nestarel opened her eyes slowly and blinked in the darkness of night. The stars were twinkling in the sky before. Her body was sore and was covered with a few blankets. She had been laid down on her back. Slowly the memories of before she passes away flood into her mind and her heartbeat increased. 

She sat up quickly and that proved to not be a wise decision. Her vision became blurry and she felt dizzy. She put a hand on her head and groaned. She felt a warm hand on her back. "Easy there, lass." Gimli's voice made her look up and her eyes saw his worried eyes.

"Gimli!" she whispered. Her voice was hoarse. 

"Good that you're awake, lassie." he said with a sigh of relief. "You gave us a heart attack back then. You looked ghostly pale. Legolas was losing his mind."

"Nestarel!" She heard Legolas velvet voice call her name and the next second she was engulfed in his arms in a secure hold. She put her hands on his solid chest and nuzzled her face in the crook of his neck and inhaled in his fresh scent. Her body relaxed instantly. Legolas pulled away a bit and kept her at arm's length and searched her face for any sign of pain. "How are you? How do you feel? Are you still in pain? you look so pale." he bombarded her with questions.

"I'm fine, Legolas, and I feel no pain." she said but then coughed. Her throat was dry.

"Here. Drink." said Legolas and held a flask of water on her lips. Nestarel drank gratefully. She then looked around. Aragorn and Boromir had stood behind Legolas watching her with relieved faces. She could make the outline of hobbits laying a few feet away, seemingly sleeping.

"What happened?" asked Nestarel.

"It was a Nazgul, riding on top of a vile creature. Everyone was panicked but You and Frodo were the worst, especially you." explained Aragorn quietly. "Legolas brought it down."

Legolas shook his head and closed his eyes. "I only killed the creature it was riding." He said with a painful voice.

Nestarel squeezed his hand reassuringly, trying to tell him it was not his fault. "How is Frodo?" asked Nestarel concerned. 

"He is fine." answered Gimli. "He was not as bad as you. He is now sleeping. It was you who scared us the most. I swear you were not breathing for a second."

Nestarel dropped her face, embarrassed. "I'm sorry to make you all worried." she said softly.

"Nonsense my lady. It was not your fault." said Aragorn firmly.

"He is right." said Boromir. "Try to have a rest. Sleep while you can." he said, bowed a bit, and then walked to continue his watch. Aragorn followed and joined him and Gimli walked away to his blanket.

"Lay down." said Legolas gently and helped her to lay down. He rested beside her and pulled her to his chest with his head on top of hers and draw comforting circles on her back.

Nestarel traced her finger on his chest. She could feel his uneasiness. "Don't." she whispered. Legolas pulled away a bit and stared at her captivating blue eyes. "Dont' blame yourself. It was not your fault, not a bit." she continued. 

"I failed to protect you, Nesta." he said and his jaw clenched. "I should have done better. Yet I let you suffer more. I ..."

"Shhhhh" said Nestarel and put her finger on his lips to silence his angry rambling. "Yet, you did it. You protected me. if you were not here, I could have been dead. You saved me when no one else could do any other thing and was paralyzed by fear." she said while staring lovingly at his eyes and caressing his jawline to ease his clenched teeth.