Wake Me Up Inside

Writers: AL, Heather
Date Posted: 21st July 2016
Series: Shipwrecked

Characters: Irabel, Thayde
Description: Thayde wakes up from his fever.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 17 of Turn 8

Thayde

Irabel had hardly left Thayde's side since their return. For the first time in turns, Irabel had requested some time off, and thankfully been granted it. That time wasn't spent in recovery, it was spent at the side of the man who's face had haunted her days and nights since his disappearance. It was by his side she sat, pensive, talking to him, telling him what had happened since he left, how they had kept looking. Eventually, however, she'd run out of words and fell asleep multiple times in the chair she'd put beside his bed.

The first thing that Thayde noticed was how quiet his surroundings were, and that made him pause for a moment. Even down at the cave you could hear the sound of the ocean as waves pounded against the rocks. He could detect no oceanic sounds. Smells came to him next, sterile smells, and occasionally a whiff of something he'd almost forgotten- klah.

A dream. He was in a dream, one of several he'd had since he'd been shipwrecked. This time he was in an infirmary bed it seemed, and there she was, the subject of many of his dreams, Irabel, sleeping beside his bed in a chair. A cruel dream, this one.

She stirred and her eyes fluttered. For a moment, they were barely half open, just enough to peer beneath golden lashes at the prone form upon the bed. Then they drifted shut, only to fly open a moment later as the realisation that his own eyes had opened. "Thayde!" The word rushed out in a loud whisper and she lunged forward to come directly to the side of the bed. "You're awake!"

"I am?" The question came out roughly, in a voice that hadn't been used in days. She was more real this time than in any other dream he'd had about her. She smelled like all of the things he remembered about the Dolphin Hall- sunshine, fresh air, the sea, and sand.

Her hand lifted to press gently against his forehead. The heat that had been so present over the last few days had finally faded, his skin cool to the touch. "Thank Faranth." Irabel murmured. "I was so scared..."

"You smell good," was Thayde's response.

She smelled good? Irabel's hand slid from his forehead and she sat upon the edge of the bed beside him. "Do you need anything? Water? Are you hungry?"

Food! Food was always his favorite part of a dream. Something that wasn't a small crustacean or a bit of fish. "Food sounds great... and water. No, make it klah, I smell klah." Shells, if he was going to dream eat, he might as well get what he wanted!

"Are you sure? Wouldn't that upset your stomach? Something simpler like a bit of bread might be better, wouldn't it?" Irabel would ultimately get what he wanted, but perhaps he still wasn't thinking straight.

"Klah. I want klah, and no bread. Too rough." Thayde said around a frown. Dream-Irabel didn't usually ask so many questions.

Too rough? Generally that was what was suggested when someone was having difficulty keeping food down, but Irabel wasn't going to argue. She nodded and rose. On the small table, a pitcher of klah had been place for her benefit. She took a mug and fille dit. While not hot, it was stil warm enough to be fragrant. "Here." She offered, sitting lightly on the edge of the bed and holding out the mug, careful not to let go until she was sure his grip would not falter.

When the klah touched his lips Thayde spluttered and choked, sending a fiery course of coughs through his chest. The real taste of the klah, and the pain in his chest, jolted him from the fog he'd been in. "It's not a dream," he wheezed.

It was a reaction Irabel had been ready for. She quickly pulled away the klah and set it on the table. "No. It's not." She affirmed quietly as she took a napkin and dabbed at the brown liquid.

Thayde forgot all about the klah and everything else. He grabbed Irabel's arms, "How?" He looked around and realized now he must be at the Weyr because he knew the Dolphin Hall's infirmary. The last thing he remembered.... Thayde blinked. "I was fishing, and I stepped on something, or something stung me," he couldn't remember which now, but he hazily remembered trying to get back to the beach, back to... "Where's Zathris?" He raised up more, as if to get up.

Irabel's hand pressed against his chest firmly. "We've been searching for the two of you for sevendays. Lord Zathris will be all right, he's resting in another room. You need to rest as well." He was so thin. Thayde had never had extra meat on his bones to begin with, but the man was currently almost a skeleton. "You should try to eat. Perhaps some broth to start with?" That would be even better than bread.

Even though his gut clenched at the word "broth" something else seemed more important. Grabbing Irabel's hand this time, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to gain control over his emotions, which were all over the place.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again." In fact he was still reeling, trying to absorb everything that had happened while he was out.

For a moment, Irabel sat in silence. For the first time in a long time, she almost felt like she could cry, but she managed to reign in the emotion, if barely. Her own hand curled about Thayde's as his clunt to hers and she half whispered, "I couldn't give up on you."

Thayde sank back against the pillows, exhausted despite having done nothing to warrant it. He reached up and touched his face. Someone had shaved it clean and, moving his hand to his hair, yes, someone had cut it back to its usual length. "I'm glad you didn't. Broth would be," his stomach twisted with hunger, "excellent."

Her fingers tightened, a gentle squeeze about his larger hand, then she let them slip from his grasp and disappeared behind the curtain that separated the small room from the rest of the infirmary. After a brief moment, she returned and sat back on the edge of the bed and let her hand return to his. "They'll bring you some in a few minutes." Her thumb tenderly rubbed his knuckles and she sighed softly before suddenly admitting. "I was scared."

"Me too," he admitted. "It wasn't so bad at first, I thought we would be found pretty quickly, but I didn't realize how far off course the ship had gotten during the storm."

"You were very far off course. It's why you weren't found." Irabel shifted, closing the small gap between them, her hip gently pressing against his thigh. "And the currents had shifted seasons. They hadn't realised that...so the currents carried you in a completely different direction than expected."

Well, that explained a lot. "I stayed healthy for so long. Zathris had a nasty cut from armpit to hip when we first washed up but we stitched it up and kept it from getting infected. We fed on whatever fruit grew in trees, and whatever I could scavenge out of the ocean. Until something stung me." All those days he'd gone spear fishing without incident.

"I'm glad we found you when we did." The healers had said another day and they might not have been able to do anything. Irabel's throat tightened painfully at the thought. "Thayde...I..." She hesitated, uncertain, shifting with the emotion she was desperately trying to keep under control.

But whatever she was about to say was cut off as the curtain parted and an apprentice healer walked in carrying a tray bearing warm broth and a glass of fresh water. "Here you go, is there anything else I can get for you?"

Thayde shook his head, "No, thank you." The broth smelled divine. Irabel accepted the tray and set it on the little table, moving the pitcher to sit on the tray as well.

"A journeyman will be in to check on you later." She said, before leaving them again.

"Can you sit up a little more?" Irabel's voice was low once again. She straightened, then moved back to the bed, ready to assist if necessary.

Pushing his palms down on the bed, Thayde scooted into a more upright position and then held his hand out for the bowl, "I never imagined being so excited over broth."

Irabel lowered herself once again on the edge of the bed, then passed over the bowl. She eyed his grip carefully, ready to take it back if he felt too unsteady. "Nor can I. But...I'm glad you're safe."

Thayde brought a spoonful of the broth to his lips and closed his eyes in satisfaction as the delicious, meaty flavor washed over his tongue. **Me too.**

Last updated on the July 22nd 2016

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