Getting A Physician

Getting A Physician
Theophilus's POV

The air almost touched me, almost embraced me with an electric charge of expectancy that came with the fighting that still was going on in the background. The sight and sound of swords meeting swords, and loud voices of pain and a guide from all ends filled the town. Every strike caused my heart to pound. I was striding around the camp area, ensuring that all was well with the wounded soldiers who were brought in, concern growing with every passing step, my boots grinding the dry ground.

What if the enemy was able to advance into the Capital?

Each second seemed to be a lifetime, and I wished I could climb into Moana’s arms, hug my unborn child, and wish for better days for all of us. Memories of my wife and our unborn child were with me; I saw them imperiled for their lives. Desperation struggled against responsibility in me; my heart tightened with each passing second.

‘I can’t stay here,’ I thought to myself, growing impatient. But I couldn’t go; I had responsibilities, I had commitments to my soldiers, to my people, to the northern Wolves.

For some reason, I decided in a brief clear moment to send Curtis to the capital. He was dependable, and powerful, and protected me like a true knight or a knight in shining armor. "Curtis!" I called out, upon sighting him a few meters off, and my tone, though tense, wasn’t shaken by the churning doubt in my stomach.

He arrived quickly with a look of concern and wide-awake eyes. "My lord?" he asked. "Is anything the matter?"

“I want you to go to the capital,” I told him, my tone as serious as they come. "Because I can't help but worry that the enemy soldiers may advance to the capital. Look for my wife and take her to a very safe place. Where the war wouldn't get to her as soon as you can. I would not forgive myself if anything were to happen to her."

"Of course my lord," he said with a soft and pleasant smile. "I shall see to it that she is safe."

Suddenly the fear of his leaving gripped me as he was ready to go. Was I thus launching him into danger? But there was no other choice. Cyrus, the Alpha and our king, had assigned me here so I could not leave my responsibilities without his wrath. 

Curtis was the only man I could trust enough to handle such. 

Tina's POV

I went from my room to my children's room to check on Lucian and Valeria. They now remained as thin as the sheets of paper; their cheeks as white as snow, their eyes sunken and lifeless.

In the dim lighting of the room, Lucian’s face was a bright shade of red and sweat trickled down his forehead. What used to be lively sparkling eyes had become small, weak-looking eyes with tiny bags under them, the signs of poor sleep, lack of rest, and hopelessness.

Valeria’s small and slender hands were lying motionless on the bed, her fists tightly clenched. Sweat was streaming from her skin; her hair was thick with the tangle created by the fever. I watched her breathing become ragged, shallow, and labored movements of her chest.

Half in concern, half angrily I walked round the room once more and then back to their beds. I turned to Lucian's side, his eyes opened up but lacked focus. “Mother, I feel as though I am dying..” he said in a very low tone almost a whisper-. He spoke with the urgency of both frustration and desperation.

"Don't say that," I murmured with tears in my eyes.

I touched his forehead with my hand and he was burning with fever so I knew he had had severe flu. The hair on his head was bedewed and greasy, like a wet towel lying low over his head.

The sound pulled Valeria out of her sleep and she turned next to him, her emaciated figure shaking under the blanket. Her eyes then opened and her dazed expression and pale face betrayed the amount of anguish she had been feeling.

I crouched next to them wincing at the pained expressions on my children's faces. They inhaled and exhaled barely audibly – their little breasts shaking, their bodies shaking with fever.

Lucian's lips were chapped and split; his mouth opened in a soundless scream. His nose was red and swollen, he was having difficulty in breathing. His eyes were watery.

Valeria’s nose was congested, she breathed in fast and short breaths. Her eyes were very red; almost as red as the flames from the torches in the room.

The smell of sickness pervaded their room; the smell of sweat, fever, and things medicinal. As if wrapped up in a wet sheet, the air oppressed me.

The moment my eyes met the children, my mind began to rage angrily at the worst possible things that could befall them. What if the physician couldn’t help? What if that condition had become worse?

Almost as soon as they looked away from me, they fell asleep. If not for the rhythmic rise and fall of their chest, I could have easily mistaken them for dead bodies.

There was a dread gnawing at my guts, I had to get help, cost or no cost involved.

Out of sheer desperation, I made my decision. Out I would go into the dark to search for a physician to attend to them. They needed help and I had to do something.

I put on my cloak hastily and cautiously walked towards the door, trying not to awaken anyone in the house. The cold air outside invited me, as adrenaline of fear and defiance ran through me. I drew in a long, slow breath, tense and prepared for what would come.

I had to leave, to get a physician, no matter what it would cost me.