The nursing house had been quiet lately. Adelheid was humming some song while she prepared balms to help wounds healing. Hilda was cleaning up the front room. It had been that way for the last two months, since the men had leave. Two months during which they had had no news of them. Two months without seeing Tharn.
Also, two months since she was no more his official concubine. They had only shared the night before his departure, and she wondered what it would be like when he'll be back.
Because she sincerely wished for him to come back. She missed him but didn't express it to Hilda, who sometimes mentioned him to see how the young woman would react.
For the last two months, she had been living with Hilda and her husband, who was one of the men guarding the Clan.
After his last night in the Clan, she had woken up alone, his warmth and scent still impregnating the sheets of the bed. Adelheid had immediately gone out to see if she still had a chance to say goodbye and to tell him she wanted him to come back safe, but it was too late, the ship already long gone in the ocean.
The last two months had been quiet for her. She used them to develop her skills as a nurse, and Hilda taught her many things.
"Here is some lavender to grind. The men will surely be back with some lices and we need to rub the sheets with some to prevent those from spreading." She told Adelheid with a grunt, mumbling about how her husband always brought some home after his expedition.
As she started mashing the lavender in the bowl, Adelheid was reminded of the visit Tharn had paid her here, soon after the welcome feast events had occurred. She remembered how afraid of him she was. How she had tended to his wounds without hesitation even if deep down she was scared. How she had wanted to escape at this time. She also remembered ho he had taken care of her after Birgir's assault. How he had been gentle with her, a side of him she had no idea existed.
She realized that right now, she would love to see him barge in. She would probably go to him without hesitation. Their last night together had proven so to herself.
It had revealed something else to her.
A few days after, she had wondered if it was truly what she thought, but after two months of hoping he'd be back, she was now sure. She was in love with him.
She wanted him back, not only to see him again, but because this time, she would accept to be his without hesitation. Her heart squeezed painfully as she thought that the feeling might not be shared. He had obviously displayed his attraction to her, but he had never confessed anything close to caring for her more than for her body. His reaction towards Birgir had obviously shown that he didn't want another one to approach her, but that might have been mere possessiveness. And she was sure this didn't necessarily mean he loved her.
She wasn't too sure she wanted to tell him about her feelings when he'd be back. She was wondering if she should keep them to herself, so that she wouldn't feel too vulnerable.
This is what had occupied her mind everyday for the whole two months. She couldn't stop thinking about him.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Hilda barged in the backroom, a huge smile on her lips.
"Adelheid, they are back! Let's take the baskets full of healing supplies and go help the ones in need."
The young woman had no time to think about what she'd tell him anymore, she gathered the baskets and they lifted some chests on a barrow before hurrying towards the small harbor.
Many thoughts went through her head. Maybe he would bring back some other women from his trip, just as he had done with her. Maybe he would make her his concubine or marry her. Her heart ached at the thought, but she tried to remind herself that his words on their last night promised many more to come, which appeased her.
She stopped thinking about that as soon as the men in the small barks arrived to the land.
First, she noticed that Tharn wasn't in one of them, which was strange considering how he'd been one of the first to go on land when she had been brought here, which made her worried.
Secondly, she noticed how many men appeared to be in a very bad state. They were bandaged, covered in bruises and dried blood. The sight was quite painful to observe, but at least none of them appeared to be deadly hurt.
As Hilda urged her to go help them and check their wounds, Regan came to them, looking exhausted and worried, and talked to Hilda while making large gestures with his hands, pointing to the boat.
Adelheid didn't know how to speak properly, but she definitely understood the words "Jarl", "Hurt", "Cabin".
She needed no more explanation before she took one of the baskets full of healing supplies and asked Hilda to tell him to bring her to him.
Regan brought her to one of the barks and they hurried back to the boat as Hilda took care of the men brought back on the land.
One on board after a little trip that had seemed agonizingly long, she rushed to the cabin where she had first laid eyes on Tharn, when she had been so lost and afraid.
Finally, she saw him.
He was laid down on the bloody sheets, eyes closed, in an agitated sleep. Adelheid's lip trembled, but it was no time to be weak or fragile.
Concentrating, she managed to ask Regan to bring the crew healer, since there was supposed to be one, but Regan answered her that he was dead. She would have to understand what had been treated and how it had been treated on her own.
She brought the sheets off of his body and considered what was in front of her eyes.
Left in his breeches, a large wound had sliced his stomach, not too deep but also not stitched up very well, so much that the scarring seemed to be complicated. Also, on top of his shoulder, the one she had taken care of so many times, an open wound was exposed. Deeper, larger and scarier. Some blood had dried up on top, but it was obvious that it had not been treated at all and that some blood would gush out as soon as she tried to stitch it up.
On top of that, many bruises covered him, especially a nearly black one on his ribs, which made her suspect he had broken one.
Regan briefly explained that they had been ambushed after taking care of the scavengers by a few of their Clan who had cowardly escaped when seeing they would lose. The wound on his shoulder and broken rib came from then, his sliced torso came from the battle before and had been treated by the healer in-between as a temporary solution, waiting to be back on the ship to heal it better. But the healer had been killed during the ambush and they had hurried back to the Clan once on the ship and the ambushers dead.
It had been two days since that had happened, and Adelheid knew it was a miracle that Tharn was still alive and had survived being carried in the cabin without getting an infection or losing so much blood that it would be deadly.
Not wasting one more second, she reached in the basket for some alcohol and wipes to clean him up and be able to stitch him up cleanly, avoiding any possible infection that way. Adelheid asked Regan for his assistance, which he agreed to, trying to be as helpful as possible.
Once Tharn was clean, Adelheid decided on starting by treating his shoulder wound since it was the one who could be infected the easiest. She pierced through the dried up blood to be able to see inside in case something might provoke an infection.
She was right: a small piece of wood was stuck inside, no longer than a nail, but big enough to be dangerous. As blood was starting to gush out, she asked Regan to take care of cleaning it gently bit after bit so that she kept a good eye on the inside of the wound.
Once she managed to pick up the piece of wood, she gently tore it out as blood was gushing out faster. She would need to be fast in stitching him.
Her lip trembled as she took the needle and put some thread in it. It was no time to cry, she reasoned herself as she took a much-needed deep breath of air, remembering that time when she had stitched him, only a few days after he had forced her to become his concubine.
She bent over him and neatly stitched him, her hands getting covered in blood, but she didn't mind it as Regan gently cleaned it up progressively. As Tharn moaned in pain in his unconscious state, she clenched her jaw to give herself courage, muttering prayers that he would survive this.
Once she knotted the tread, she let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The blood was no more gushing out, only some tiny dots coloring the clean fabric with which she gently dabbed the wound.
She finally applied some balm on it and placed a clean bandage on top.
As she reached for his forehead to check his fever, she was glad that he seemed to be less agitated.
After that, she took care of his stomach wound, which was much easier to take care of but still stressed her out: she would have to put the threat out to start clean, but it would be painful for him and might be bad since his skin was already damaged from the first thread or leave it that way. But it was not stitched close enough and she was afraid it would get infected.
She couldn't risk him suffering from an infection which would sure enough lead to death.
Taking a deep breath to concentrate once more, she asked Regan to make Tharn drink some alcohol to make him less reactive of what she had to do. Taking off his stitches would hurt him, a lot. Much more than a normal stitching would have.
She started to take it off, enduring the cries of agony from Tharn with pain as she did her best to help him, to help the man she loved.
Once she was done, it was obvious that the loss of blood had made it impossible for him to even react to what happened. She bandaged him after applying the same balm as on his shoulder, hoping that Hilda's composition would be efficient.
Regan went to fetch some broth to feed him and Adelheid cleaned her trembling hands before going next to Tharn. She patted his forehead which was drenched in sweat. The fever had gone worse, which wasn't surprising since he had to go through a lot.
She now needed to make this fever go down and make sure the wounds were treated well to avoid any infection, so that he had a chance of survival.
With the help of Regan and of some other men, she managed to change the sheets which were drenched in sweat and blood after making him completely clean. This would limit the risk of infection.
She fed him the broth as she could, the liquid sliding through his unconscious body with tearful eyes. She also made him drink some herbs mix that Hilda had brought her before finally, she stayed by his side without being able to do anything anymore.
The gentle sway of the boat reminded her that in an ideal situation, he should have been brought back to land, but that would have risked his wounds opening up again and she couldn't risk it so she remained by his side.
Holding his hand, she handed up falling asleep hours later duetoexhaustion, her head in her arm on the bed and still sitting on the ground.