BEYOND THE BARRICADES || Enjolras

Chapter 20

Lesgle jumped up and opened it.

Madame Hucheloup, owner of the Musain barged in, carrying a box. "Where's the girl?" she asked frantically.

How did she know?

Enjolras led her down the hall to his room, "How..?"

"Joly stopped by." She said curtly.

The leader knocked on the door to his bedchamber.

"Come in," Joly called.

Madame pushed open the door and shoved the box into Enjolras' arms for him to carry.

He wasn't prepared to enter but she pulled him with her anyway. Allete was still unconscious, a piece of her stained blouse cut away, revealing the wound.

Enjolras averted his eyes from her bare skin.

Hucheloup all but pushed Joly aside as she inspected the wound. "You clean it?"

"Yes ma'am." He bobbed his head.

She grabbed Allete limp wrist and felt her pulse. "Merde, she's gone into shock."

Joly nodded solemnly.

Enjolras struggled to reign in his panic, "What- there has to be something you can do."

Madame reached into the box he held and pulled out an amber colored glass dropper. "A concoction of my own, you see." She explained.

She shook it until the herbs floated around the bottle then applied it generously to Allete's open wound.

She pressed a towel to it and looked at Enjolras with pity. "I'm sorry but this is the best I'll be able to do." She sighed, "She'll either wake up later tonight- in great pain. Or she won't."

His heart shattered in his chest.

Hucheloup looked at Joly while dabbing some of a yellow substance on a cloth and pressing to where Allete would inhale it. "This is supposed to help increase blood flow." She paused, looking back at Enjolras, "It may be too late."

"Stitch it up after applying the tallow." She instructed Joly.

"Yes ma'am." Joly nodded and got to work.

She smiled sadly at Enjolras, who stood transfixed, staring at Allete's ashen complexion. "Walk with me, love."

He swallowed, "But..."

"There is nothing more to do. I apologize for being blunt, but she'll live or she'll die in the next few hours. There's nothing more that you or I can do. Joly is going to close the wound. Now come walk with me." She gestured at the door.

He painstakingly tore his gaze from Allete and walked with her out the back door of his apartment.

"Now, I recon you aren't feeling talkative this evening, so I'll do most of it." She folded her hands in front of her and he followed beside her, his thoughts elsewhere.

"She's a beautiful girl- and as I'm not completely informed of what you boys spend your days going on and on about in that room, I do have an idea. It is not a woman's' place to take part in an activity of that sort- nor do most find interest in it." She patted his arm and sighed, "What I'm trying to say is she's special, and I can see why you've given her your heart."

His head snapped up and he quickly opened his mouth to protest but she stopped him.

"Do not deny it." She shook her head, "I saw you two, remember?"

His cheeks flushed as he recalled her intrusion when he was with Allete.

"Listen to me, I know love when I see it." She insisted. "My husband, rest his soul, was a general under Napoleon until 1815. He never gave any thought to women, none at all. So very focused on war and his command. He was twenty-six and had never been to a brothel. I was a girl of twenty-two and a nurse, traveling with my close friend and the army. That's why I'm well versed in medical dealings. I've seen and dealt with more bodies than anyone. One day he was brought into our tent, they told us to 'make him comfortable' in his final hours. The man had three pieces of shrapnel lodged in him and a bullet." She chuckled at the memory.