FOR THE LOVE OF JED (Pt 1)

by Jay Squires

FOR THOSE NEW TO THE TRINING, here is a summary of the last several chapters. Since it's been a while since the last post, it wouldn't be a bad idea for everyone to brush up on this summary.

          Doctrex—his army being the second to arrive at the Plain of Djur, in readiness for an all-out assault on Rhuether at the Castle of Qarnalt—takes a number of volunteers to go back to attempt to rescue Eele Jessup and his army who had been ambushed en route to the Plain.
          Doctrex and his men are themselves ambushed and Doctrex and three men in the front ranks are captured. Doctrex is initially mistreated while one of the three men was tortured to death.
          Meanwhile Supreme Colonel Zarbs, who had so mistreated Doctrex, now makes a complete turnaround. He has been ordered by Glnot Rhuether, himself, to treat Doctrex as a guest until he is brought to the Castle.
          Doctrex, in control now, demands the two living prisoners be returned to him. Karule Barsach is the first returned. Under suspicious circumstances, he swallows a poison capsule, he could only have gotten from Jed, and dies. Jed is next to come in. Missing an eye, very near death, Doctrex and the “enemy” medic try to keep Jed alive.

BOOK III
Chapter Nineteen
Part 1

LAST PARAGRAPHS FROM PREVIOUS CHAPTER:

Garvin extended the canteen toward him, but I reached out my hand. "May I?" I asked. He handed it to me. I tilted the canteen to Jed's lips, noticing his attempt to pucker that fell short. I let enough dribble out so a few drops trickled between his lips. His tongue flicked out to capture it. I glanced over at Garvin, who nodded approval. "A few more drops?" I asked Jed. He didn't have to say anything. I tilted it again, letting a few more drops settle on the inside of his lower lip. This time he swallowed.
"You know, Jed," I said, pulling the canteen away from him, "I was thinking a few minutes ago of that time back when you helped me draw lots for which group would choose their crossans first. You remember? That was the day we left Camp Kabeez. I knew right then I needed you as my courier." His mouth relaxed into a natural smile. But soon his eye left mine and moved to the canteen. "Less talkin' more drinkin', huh?"

*************************************************************************************************************

An hour, perhaps longer, had passed, and about a quarter of the canteen had transferred into Jed’s eager lips.

Garvin left the room and I continued on.

Could I be imagining it? As I brought the canteen down toward Jed’s face, I seemed to feel waves of heat generated against the back of my hand. I had already been noticing a gradual change in the fine muscles of his face, a tautness in his cheeks, tiny tremors, barely perceptible, around his one good eye. It was easily accountable in my mind to that eye’s compensation for the blindness in the other eye, so I tried to ignore it. Not a rational idea, but I desperately wanted nothing less than his steady, growing improvement now that we discovered the magic elixir of water.

I lowered my open palm gingerly to his face. It was definitely hotter. And his breathing! Why didn’t I notice that before? There was no sound to it before, but now his exhale was raspy and erratic.

I intended to mask my concern until I could get Garvin back in the room, but Jed winced, and his lips tightened to a grimace.

“Buddy?”

He stared at me, sighed out another breath and closed his eye.

My heartbeat quickened. “Jed?”

He opened his eye. A slow smile spread. But before I could respond, it contorted to tight, trembling lips.

“I know you’re hurting, Jed. Don’t hold it in. It’s okay to show it.” I stood up. “The medic will be back soon. Let me see if ...” I crossed to the front of the bed, and at that moment Garvin came though the opening of the door, holding another canteen.

“I had some broth prepared,” he said, ambling toward me. “He needs strength to fight off the infection.”

I intercepted him, out of Jed’s view. “He needs something for the pain,”

“Unguent.” He nodded. “The skin’s drying out, stretching. It causes pain.” He told me he would apply the unguent and re-bandage while I continued giving him water.

I think he sensed something more in my voice or expression, because he maneuvered his body, so he was facing away from Jed, and continued in such a muted voice, I had to lean toward him. “The next few hours are most critical, sir. I—”

I shook my head and mouthed: “No, he’s going to be fine.” I nodded, trying to smile, and I was still nodding and repeating to myself he’s going to be just fine when I returned to Jed’s side and picked up the canteen. The muscles around Jed’s eye must have been straining to find me or the canteen in my absence because now they relaxed some and locked onto my face.

“The doc’s going to stop the pain, Jed. You’ll be just fine. You know what?”

He waited while I removed the cap.

“The doc was out getting you some broth, Jed. You know? Just a little more water in you and we’re going to start with the broth. Does that sound good? Nice warm broth?”

Behind Jed, Garvin was working feverishly, his face a mask of intense concentration. I poured a few drops of water into the corner of Jed’s mouth. He made a tasting movement with his lips and tongue. But the instant Garvin pulled the bandage away from the wound, a huff of air escaped Jed’s lungs and mouth and Garvin’s eyes turned to me, reflecting something more than concern, something bordering on despair.

A stench permeated the room. I put my hand over my mouth and swallowed hard.

“Unguent,” Garvin said, and then in a louder voice, “we need more unguent, medic!”

A head looked in from the doorway, withdrew. In a few moments the helper who had been with Garvin earlier rushed through the door bearing a bowl, heaped with an amber-colored jell and a brush angling out of one of his hands. He stood staring at Garvin, and then turned away, gagging.

Garvin turned from swabbing the wounds. “Get busy, man; is that what they trained you for?” Seeing the helpless look on the other’s face, he said, “Set it down. Get out of here.”

The medic-helper jammed the brush into the concoction, set the bowl down and raced back through the door, retching and holding his hand over his mouth.

“I want to help,” I said.

“No, thank you sir, I’ll be finished in a moment. He should be feeling less pain soon. It’s important you keep him hydrated, now more than ever, and he needs strength. He’s awake, right?”

I looked down at Jed. His eye was on me. Is that a glint of hope I’m seeing? “Yes, he’s awake.”

“See if you can lift his head to get more water down his throat. Okay? Then, in a while we’ll start the broth.”

“You up for that, Jed?” I asked. He managed a weak smile, and my heart surged.

Garvin repositioned the weighted cushions behind him, careful not to put any pressure against the newly affixed bandage. I cupped the back of his head in my palm, making note of how hot it was, and raised it up. Bringing the mouth of the canteen to his lips, I tilted it back, just a little at first, and let some trickle down his throat. I watched him swallow, and then I pulled it back. “More?”

I felt movement in the back of his head.

“You do? Good.” I tilted the canteen a little more this time, until he swallowed, and then tilted it a second time.

After about ten minutes of this, Garvin suggested we hold off for a while. “His temperature seems to be adjusting down. Let’s let his stomach rest a while and we can begin with the broth.”

I glanced down at Jed. His eye was closed. The other was like a dark crater. The light sheet covering him was rising and falling with gentle regularity.

“I think he’s asleep.”

Garvin nodded, but I recognized from his expression something was troubling him.

“Sir,” he said, under his breath, “if we may talk ...” He gave a slight movement of his head toward the wall to his left that was roughly equidistant from Jed and the door, “over there?”

I agreed, not wanting to hear what he had to tell me.

Write A Review

Recognized

CAST OF CHARACTERS:
DOCTREX: The name Axtilla gave to the man who woke up on the shore of an alien land without memory or identity.
VIKTOR BRUEEN: Doxtrex's identity before he passed over to this dimension.
AXTILLA: The young lady who discovered the ailing man on the shore, brought him to health and then held him captive, certain he was Pondria.
GLNOT RHUETHER: According to Axtilla, the name of the dark entity who is destined to empower the lodging [the Trining] on their plane.
GILN PROFUE: One of the three who helped Doctrex & Klasco in the Tavern Brawl.
SHELECK PROFUE: One of the three who helped Doctrex & Klasco in the Tavern Brawl & was stabbed.
ZURN: Intellectually challenged, Giln and Sheleck are watching out for him.
CROSSANS: They are similar to horses, but broader in the chest and sloping down to smaller haunches than horses.
JED: Formerly Doctrex's personal courier; now an Advance intelligence Man.
ENGLE: Doctrex's Courier after Jed left to become an AIM under Arval.
BRAIMS GLASSEM: The Medic for Doctrex's troops. The first to hear voices in his head.
AIM: Advance Intelligence Men. Do undercover surveillance in advance of troop movement.
KARULE BARSACH: After their ambush and capture, one of the soldiers Zarbs' men tortured.
ARKLYN ZARBS: Supreme Colonel of Rhuether's army, whose men ambushed and captured Doctrex and his men.
GARVIN: Medic for Arklyn Zarbs' army.

Pays one point and 2 member cents.

You need to login or register to write reviews. It's quick! We only ask four questions to new members.

A chapter in the book THE TRINING Book Three

FOR THE LOVE OF JED (Pt 1)

by Jay Squires

Browse Now