Lisbet sat by the bedside watching the flickering candlelight play over the face of her husband. It had been two weeks since he had been bitten by the strange dog, and he had not woken since that night. When she had woken the next morning and been unable to rouse him she had panicked and got help immediately. But there was no physician on Mhalwae and the best they had was the young midwife, who had only been able to suggest a few things. They had moved Cordell to a bigger, warmer room and there Lisbet had sat, in the same chair day after day watching as his condition steadily worsened.

The light from the candle, moved over his face, casting ghastly shadows in the deepened hollows. She could not believe this was the strong, sturdy man she had argued with for hours and hours, could not recognise that this was that man who had angered her so frequently. This seemed a shell of that person, just a body with no remnant of her husband left inside.

She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts. Cordell was still in there, still fighting for his life. And she knew he could fight for hours, so why not with this illness then. She sighed deeply and stifled a yawn. She was so very tired. She could not remember the last time she had slept, sometimes curling up on a mat in the corner of the room, sometimes sitting in this very chair.

She was suddenly dragged back to alertness by a terrible rasping sound coming from the bed. Cordell’s mouth gaped open wide as he struggled to take in enough air. She found herself holding her breath too, until the dreadful choking noises dissipated, and Cordell ‘s breathing returned to normal.

She sat and watched. She had lost track of all time. Time did not seem to matter now. Nothing really mattered anymore. There was just her and this chair, and her sick husband tossing and turning in the bed before her. He looked strangely peaceful now though, after winning his battle for air. She had always thought it strange that he was able to sleep with that same calm look upon his face, even after the worst of their fights, when she could not.

She could not remember a time she had felt so tired, every fibre of her body drooping with weariness. She had been told by other women that there would be many days after she was married when she would be tired from staying awake to do her duty as a wife. This had never happened but there had been many days of exhaustion, awakening with a hoarse throat from the yelling.

Her eyes began to slowly shut, the dull weight of her eyelids pulling them gently closed. She could feel now two strong arms wrapping around her waist to hold her while she slept, the heat of another body pressed against hers, her face pillowed on a warm chest, listening to the soft thud of a heartbeat.

Her head snapped up again, from its final resting place on her chest as someone entered the door. It was Cindra. She hurriedly stood up pushing the chair away and almost knocking down the candles with her clumsy movements.

“My dear Lisbet, how are you? You look exhausted”, Cindra gently asked her friend.

“Oh, you know I am getting by”, she replied.

“How is Cordell?” Cindra had almost said “your husband”, but had carefully omitted this from her question, knowing how Lisbet hated to call him that.

“Oh, as well as to be expected I suppose”, she tried to centre the conversation on medical details, but at the end of a lengthy description of his breathing her voice unexpectedly cracked and her carefully prepared mask fell.

“Oh Cindra”, her voice was bordering on tears, “How could I have been so very, very wrong”.

Then, the dam that had been holding back her emotions for the past weeks was breached and the tears poured fourth in an unstoppable torrent. She cried for her stubborn stupidity, she cried for all the times she had been unnecessarily cruel and most of all she cried for the simple fact that she had never gotten to know her husband and now she probably never would.

Almost instantly Cindra’s arms were around her friend holding her as tightly as she could, clasping the shaking, sobbing body to her until the tears subsided. She wished she could somehow make things better but she knew there was not much she could do for them.

She could only think of one thing.

“My dearest Lisbet, tell me now… how long is it since you last slept?” she was still holding her sniffling friend.

Lisbet pulled away, “I do not know, I think I may have slept a little today… or last night… I cannot remember”.

“You must get some sleep you silly thing”, Cindra said in a no-nonsense voice, patting her friends arm.

“But I cannot leave… what if something should happen”, she shivered slightly, “What if my husband needs me?”

“How about you go and get some sleep and I will watch over him tonight. I promise I will wake you if he makes even the slightest peep”.

After much convincing she finally sent Lisbet off to bed. Then she was left sitting in the darkened room with the sick man. As she sat she thought about her poor, silly friend, to only find out now that she cared for the man when it was too late. She knew that Garrick needed her too, but tonight was for Lisbet and Lisbet’s husband.

Arwaduhn, Tadhgar