Unbroken

Chapter 10

Chapter 10:
While the young frost slept Frigga left and went to get the healers and to tell the kitchen to make some food for him. The first thing she'll do when he wakes will be to feed him. When she came back he was still asleep. He almost disappeared under the blankets, she hadn't piled too many on him but he was so small that the comforters seemed to swallow him. She hoped the healers could do their work without waking him up, the poor thing would probably be terrified if he woke up to a bunch of people he didn't know with sharp objects hanging around him.
After a few minutes the healers came in and went over to the bed where he was sleeping. Frigga didn't need to tell them to be careful, they felt just as sorry for him as she did and they didn't want to wake him up. Frigga was afraid he'd wake up anyway, he was used to being harshly woken so he probably never slept very deeply, and she was right. As soon as one of the healers touched him he woke up startled, but before he could even say 'I'm sorry' she held a glass to his lips and made him drink some liquid that sent him right back to sleep.
The healers worked on him for almost three hours. They stitched up the deep gashes, bandaged his bruises, set his broken bones, stopped infections, and put a medicine on his burns that would numb the pain when he woke up. He had so many injuries that it took hours so fix everything, every time they bandaged a wound they were afraid they were breaking something else. How in the world is he not dead? None of them understood how he was still alive, he should be long dead, between being starved, overworked, beaten, and dehydrated they didn't understand how he could keep himself on his feet.
"Is he going to be alright?" Frigga said after a long time.
The healers turned to her and said nothing for a moment. Of course he wasn't alright, he's half dead.
"Honestly I have no idea. I think that with enough time and care his body will heal, but he should be dead right now. It's a Miracle he's still alive, so I don't know what will happen" one of the healers said. Frigga looked at the boy who was still asleep.
"Thank you... how much more do you need to do with him? I want to wake him up and give him something to eat" she said. The healer nodded.
"We're finished. Just make sure he doesn't move too much, he'll have to stay in bed and completely still for about a week" she told her. He needed to give himself a lot of rest. Frigga nodded
"I won't let him do anything active. I'll make sure he stays in bed" Frigga said. The healers all nodded.
"Good, he needs it. And make sure he eats full meals three times a day, he doesn't have to eat fast and he doesn't need to eat huge portions, but he needs to gain a healthy steady diet, he's been starved on an insane level and he needs to start gaining some weight and getting nutrition from food. Even if he says he doesn't want to eat at a meal time you need to make him eat at least a little bit" she said.
"I will, I'll keep him eating a drinking regularly. Are there any drugs I need to give him while he's healing?" She asked.
"Not yet. I would love to give him some pain medication but because of his weight and Injuries and all the problems going on inside him I don't think his body could take any more interference. We just need to let him heal naturally" she told her. Frigga nodded. She wondered if he'd even show he was in pain. Laufey never let him make a sound when he was hurt, he just had to sit there and take it, what if he's in a ton of pain and doesn't tell anyone? He could easily hurt himself.
"Thank you all for your help" frigga said "I'm going to stay here with him until he wakes up, I want him to feel a little bit safer with me" she said. The healers all nodded and left the room. Frigga sat near the young frost giant and just held his hand and stroked his face, he couldn't feel it but she wanted to do something gentle for him, no one had ever been kind to him and she wanted to change that right now. After a few minutes he started to wake up. He didn't jerk out of his sleep like he normally did, his one good eye opened slowly. He wasn't very aware of what was around him, he remembered being bought and taken to Asgard and he remembered the bath that didn't hurt, but he didn't know why he was wrapped up in all of this white cloth or why he couldn't move. He didn't know what bandages felt like and didn't realize that that's what was covering his injuries and helping him heal. He didn't know that what was covering most of us body was actually helping him. When he saw frigga he looked a little scared, but before he had the time to shrink back into the blankets she leaned over and kissed his forehead.
"some food will be here for you in just a few minutes, I'll help you eat so you can rest alright? I want you to stay in bed until you feel better" she said. He looked confused and cautious, like he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be afraid or not. But he didn't say anything. She was still holding his hand and tracing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. It confused him, he was totally lost and had no idea what to do or what to expect from this world. It was frightening.
"I know this is all new. I'll try to make it as easy as possible for you, but try to understand that none of us here are going to hurt you" she told him, he still looked cautious and guarded, he was so tense that she knew he was ready to get up and run if he needed to.
"What's your name sweetie?" Before he had time to answer his food was brought it. When he saw the maid with the tray he immediately lost all sense of caution and just stared at the food longingly, he was trying to stop himself from jumping and stealing the food from the maid. He guessed it was probably for Frigga, Laufey ate in front of him all the time because it was 'funny'.
Frigga got up and took the tray form the maid and then came back and sat down on the bed next to Laufeys son, helping him sit up a little bit. She put a bit of food on the spoon and held it up in front of his mouth so he could eat. He looked at her with confusion mixed with fear. He wanted to eat more than anything, but this was a trick right? If he tried to eat it she'll have him beaten won't she?
"Come on, eat. It's for you" she coaxed. "There's nothing wrong with it, I promise" she said, maybe he thought she was poisoning him. After a moment of her holding food in front of him he honestly didn't care anymore. He was starving, he had never had a hot meal in his entire life and now there's a bowl of amazing smelling food being offered to him. He gladly opened his mouth and took he food. After he had one bit he became desperate to get the rest, frigga was glad she was feeding him because he probably would have found a way to eat the entire bowl of soup all at once if it was left up to him, but even though he wasn't holding the spoon himself he chewed and swallowed so quickly that he barely tasted it.
He had never been handed food before, any food he ate was if someone dropped their food on the ground and he was able to get to it quickly enough and eat it before someone took it away from him, right now he feared that if he didn't eat fast enough she'd take it away, and he was so hungry that he prayed that didn't happen. Frigga almost told him to slow down and enjoy it, but she decided that she'd let him be, it's his first meal in... well she didn't know how long, but clearly a long time, if he wants to eat fast he can. After just a few minutes all the food was gone but he looked like he could easily eat anther bowl. When she stopped giving him food he looked confused, like a child who had had his toy taken away and didn't understand why.
"That's it for now" she said as she put the empty bowl and tray aside "tomorrow morning I'll bring you breakfast though alright? You just can't have too much right now, your body needs to get used to eating"
she realized that that was probably the the saddest thing she'd said in a long time. He actually does need to get used to having food in his stomach. Every time she spoke to this poor young man she hated laufey more and more. Surprisingly he seemed to understand her though, he didn't know why his body had to get used to it, all he knew was that he was hungry. But he knew she had some reason, and he knew he wasn't getting any more food.
"Get some more sleep" she said as she helped him to lay down again and re-covered him with the blankets.
"If you get to hot you can move the blankets. You don't have to keep them" she said. She could see a bit of confusion in his face but there was nothing she could do about it. The idea of having free will was confusing to him, but she couldn't explain everything, she just had to give him the ability to make choices and he'd soon figure it out.
After she laid him down and covered him again she dimmed the lights in the room and and left so he could be by himself while he slept. She hoped she could show him enough kindness to heal the emotional and mental scars Laufey had given him.