the last kingdom ♡ oneshots

bodyswap | osferth (2)

iv. The Hospital Bed, Paris (Again)

"You know while you were fighting Jacques?" began Doctor O'Connor, snapping Osferth out of his reverie.

"Hm?"

"Did you hit your head at any point?"

Osferth's brows furrowed. "No, I don't think so. Who's... Jacques?"

He was unsure whether he had imagined the faintly distressed squeak from the doctor. Thankfully, Henriette returned with a cup of water to break the awkward silence that had fallen between them once again.

"Here."

"Thanks. So, uh, the plan. Right. Uh..."

"What's the plan for, Doctor?"

"To help you escape," he murmured, wincing.

Osferth squinted at him. "Why do I need to escape?"

"Becau- well, bec- youʼre English, for Godʼs sake!" Webster spluttered. "Youʼll end up in a prisoner-of-war camp if you stay here!"

Dimly, Osferth thought about pressing further, about asking where exactly here was, and what being English had to do with his safety - but ultimately he decided against it. If there was some way to measure how stressed Webster looked, Osferth was sure his stress level would indicate that he should be dead by now.

"Oh," was all he said. "Well, I wonʼt keep you waiting. Go on," he added kindly, his tone being something Webster clearly wasnʼt used to.

"Right. Well. I've, uh, I've talked to a couple of French guys who are setting up an escape route." The way he explained the plan felt rehearsed... almost as though he had explained it before.

Osferth felt a stab of guilt at wasting the doctorʼs time, even if technically none of this was his own fault.

"You go across the Pyrenees into Spain, Spain to Gibraltar, then home from there."

Truthfully, Osferth had never heard of any of those places, and the slight frown on his face spoke volumes.

Webster smiled thinly. "Donʼt worry. Youʼll have someone with you every step of the way."

"The Frenchmen?"

"Well, yeah, but also one of our nurses," said Webster. "Sheʼs agreed to leave too, 'cause the risk here is too great for her to stay. Although," he shrugged, "Iʼm not sure how happy she is with you at the moment."

"Why?"

"The fight with Jacques you had earlier?" Webster reminded him. "Or the fight you nearly had with another patient?"

Osferth winced. The real Tom, whoever he was, sounded more than a little problematic. He was certainly not grateful to have to suffer whatever consequences of Tomʼs actions inevitably lay in store for him. "Right," he said slowly. "Listen, I know I donʼt remember any of that, but Iʼm really sorry. I promise nothing like that will ever happen again."

Webster looked more than a little startled. "Oh! Uh... youʼre alright. As long as you stick to your word."

The doctor stood up then, almost imperceptibly smiling when Osferth quickly nodded.

"Are you leaving?" Osferth asked.

"I've got other patients to be attending to," said Webster apologetically. "Itʼd be suspicious if I spent too much time with you. But... look, I canʼt promise anything, but I'll try to come see you again at some point before you leave."

"Thank you, Doctor," said Osferth sincerely. "Youʼre a brave man."

Not for the first time, Webster seemed taken aback. "Just doing my job," he said but, at the praise, the smile on his face had widened nonetheless. "Good luck, Tom. Really."