Celia the Witch

Chapter 8 - Waking Up

The slightly cold air swept past Tom's face helping him wake from the groggy state he was in. His eyes couldn't fully open as a sharp spike of pain coursed through his body, making his breathing labored and irregular. The light was stabbing at his squished eyes and his efforts to open them fully seemed to be as futile as the headache that was forming at his temples became excruciating. He let out a short gasp and using all his strength he willed himself to confront the blinding light in front of him.

It took a few minutes for him to process what he was seeing, he remembered bringing Celia to the cabin and crawling into the bed with her, in order to calm her as she was exhausted and stressed due to the whole fiasco from before. Just remembering the battle that took place and his poor Beatrix laying still in her own blood was enough to slap him awake more than anything else. His body was still protesting at the effort from the battle and the wounds were making him feel weakened and frail, a sensation he wasn't used to. Looking around the room and at the light coming from outside, he understood that it was now quite late in the evening, however how many hours have passed at this time he was unsure of. He heard light shuffling in the kitchen and one of his hands automatically reached towards the sword placed at the side of the bed while the other was searching for the small body that was beside him when he fell asleep, nevertheless the spot was empty and cold.

Numerous thoughts went through his mind as he noticed the absence of Celia, and despite the protests of his own body, he stood up and with his heavy sword held closely to him, he sneaked up as quietly as he could towards the main living area. As he turned toward the kitchen he froze in place and his shoulders sagged as he saw the young witch stirring over a small pot over at the stove. Multiple plants were spread over the small table right next to her and she looked so engrossed in her work that she didn't even sense Tom moving closer.

"Celia..." Tom muttered and his heart felt at peace when she turned to look at him surprised.

"Why are you up?" Celia moved slightly towards him and a frown spread over her brows as she looked him over. "You're not well yet, get back in bed!" She insisted and with a soft push she guided him back to the bedroom.

Tom looked at Celia as he was mesmerized by this little girl, by her vitality and energy which he seemed to be lacking. She almost forced him to lay back down in the bed and after she looked over his wounds, which only now he noticed were patched up neatly. Linen was wrapped around his chest and abdomen keeping his wounds protected and the light smell of something similar to chrysanthemum could be felt from the wraps.

"Did you do this?" He asked pointing towards his wounds and the simple response amazed him.

"It's what I do." She replied and without giving another thought at the silence that was now surrounding them, she quickly slipped over in the kitchen and was soon back with a bowl of reddish-brown liquid and small chunks of plants thrown in.

"Drink this!" She ordered placing the bowl on the small table at the top of the bed and Tom had to stifle a laugh when he heard her command.

"Yes mistress." He jokingly replied but when he stretched his arm towards the bowl the pain worsened and he flinched retreating his hand. Celia noticed this and without saying another word she took the bowl into her own hands and took a seat on the bed.

"I'll help." And as she said that, she took it near her mouth and gently blew on the piping hot mixture. Seeing her movements seemed to enchant Tom as he watched Celia pout her lips slightly and he could feel the warmth of her body slowly caressing his bare arms. He felt at ease, he felt relaxed, he felt lucky that his little witch was feeling better and she wasn't hurt. With small and precise movements, Celia turned more towards him and lifting his head slightly, she inclined the bowl at his lips, making it easy for him to drink the foul tasting mixture.

"Ugh, what's this?" Tom asked and grimaced as the warm liquid made its way down his throat.

"Medicine."

"That explains the taste." He jokingly added between gulps of the strange liquid but was weirdly happy observing the worried expression on her face.

Now that he saw her closely, she seemed to be paler and thinner than the day they went to the festival but that wasn't really weird considering she went through a lot of suffering in just a short time. Her eyes were concentrating on her patient but he could see the red rims becoming more obvious as time passed. She was surely very tired herself but she wouldn't stay put for more than a couple of minutes. She was moving and fussing over the kitchen and him and there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Celia took charge of Tom's well-being and part of this was the changing of the wrappings and checking of his wounds. She had no choice but to inspect closely the now closed wounds that were still swollen, they were extremely painful if the way he flinched every time she touched him was any indication and she was running low on the salve that made it less painful. Using her fingers to lightly apply the medicine to the wounded area made Tom tremble slightly and a strange feeling of nervousness consumed him. He looked at Celia as she worked endlessly on fixing him up to the best of her abilities.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked when he noticed the look in her eyes change to a strange blankness. She was doing everything almost mechanically, with a serious expression on her face, muttering various plant names from time to time. He has never seen her so concentrated on anything before and he felt that she was so different from the happy-go-lucky girl he once knew. This saddened him but at the same time it made sense, after all she went through and now she had to take care of him. I should have just been more careful when fighting and all this wouldn't be necessary. He thought to himself as he watched the thin hands moving restlessly over his wounds.

"Celia... are you okay?" He asked again when her reply failed to reach him. The hands that were shifting frantically suddenly stopped when he reached out and took them in his own. "Are you hurt anywhere?" He asked again and although his whole body was screaming at him not to move, he raised himself to a standing position and looked over at the young witch.

"I'm fine." Celia finally replied and her eyes became moist as the memories of the other day flashed before her once again. I must not think of that, I must fix Tom before anything else, I can't lose him as well. She thought to herself and tried to restrain the sobs threatening to take control over her.

Tom felt like he did something he shouldn't when he stopped her from the activities she surrounded herself with, but avoiding this discussion was not going to make this any better. He carefully pulled Celia over to him on the bed and while holding her hands tightly in his, he continued the conversation that he knew would hurt her but at the same time, it was necessary for her to move on.