28Wow, it's been a long time! I have been so busy with both jobs and just have not had the time, nor energy to write. I have been working on this new story for a long time and have only been able to get to it every now and then. I was going to wait to post until I'm finished with it, but I decided that if I post chapter 1, maybe that will be the kick in the butt I need to work on it more often. I'm not planning on it being very long...hopefully 4 chapters at the most so maybe I can get it completed within a few months. No promises though. Anyway, here we go...
Left Behind
Chapter 1
When Charles d'Artagnan awoke, in pain and feverish, in a room he'd never seen before and his brothers nowhere in sight, he felt a tremendous heaviness come over him. A fear, so sudden and deep that he gasped out at the sheer magnitude of it, gripped him and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out again. A woman who was a stranger to him hurried to his side, her face warm and smiling, but there was a crease between her brows that indicated her worry.
"You are awake! Are you in much pain?" the woman asked as her fingers gently swept down his right side.
Pain erupted in where the woman had touched him, but d'Artagnan was only concerned with one thing. "Wh-where are my friends?" he asked breathlessly, the pain nearly taking his ability to breathe away. "Are they safe? Are they okay?"
The woman's smile faded as she met d'Artagnan's eyes, her own eyes filled with sadness. "They are fine, young man. They left…two days ago," she answered, her voice soft and comforting as if she knew the pain that the information would cause her patient.
"L-eft?"
The woman took d'Artagnan's hand and squeezed it gently. "Yes. They brought you here in the middle of the night, asked if there was a doctor in the village and when I said there was, they handed me a bag of coin and asked me to summon him. Once the doctor arrived, they mounted their horses and rode away." Tears welled in her eyes at the look that came over her young charge's face.
"I…I…did they say when they were coming back for me?" d'Artagnan asked hesitantly.
"I'm sorry…they didn't say. They just said to take care of you and that they had to leave," the woman replied. "They did look pained to go, if that helps at all," she added with a small smile.
d'Artagnan gave a weak smile of his own before his gaze moved down to his heavily bandaged torso. "What happened to me?" he gasped as another stabbing pain shot through his side.
The woman looked down at his torso and sighed tiredly. "I don't know how it came to happen, but you were shot. The musket ball was still inside of you. Doctor Pasquale had to dig it out and sew you back up. You've developed an infection, but we're keeping it in check as much as we can," the woman answered.
With a sigh, d'Artagnan nodded, which sent a sharp lancing pain through his head. He hissed as he lifted his hand to his forehead. "M-my head…"
The woman gently gripped his hand and pushed it back to lie beside him on the bed. "You received a blow to head as well. Doctor Pasquale sewed up the cut, but there isn't much more he can do. The good thing is that you have awakened, so his biggest fear has not come to pass," she explained.
d'Artagnan swallowed thickly and turned his head to stare at the wall. The woman watched him for a moment then turned to the other person in the room. "Bring a mug of cool water and warm up the broth. Our young friend needs some nourishment if he is to get better," she called and a young girl who was standing back from the bed quickly nodded and went to work to gather what she'd been asked for. Once the water and broth had been brought to her, the woman cupped d'Artagnan's cheek and turned his face toward her.
"Here…let me help you sit up a bit so you can take some water and broth," she said softly.
"'m not hungry," d'Artagnan muttered as he tried to turn his head away again.
The woman sighed and leaned forward, a sad smile on her worn face. "You must eat if you are to be strong and healthy when your friends return for you," she said. Her smiled widened when d'Artagnan gave a slow nod and pushed himself up onto his elbows. She held his neck as he slowly drank some water, then broth. When both cups were halfway drained he slumped back to the bed and sighed.
"Can't drink anymore," he mumbled sleepily, his dark eyes drooping as he once again turned his head away.
"You did well. Now sleep. The doctor will be back in a few hours to check on you," the woman said as she placed the mugs on the floor beside her and straightened the blanket over the Gascon's torso.
d'Artagnan sighed in acknowledgement then turned his face and met the woman's gaze. "You have been so kind to me and I don't even know your name," he said, his voice thick with pain.
The woman smiled and tilted her head. "I am Marie and that is my daughter, Yvette," she answered as she tilted her head to the silent girl standing at the foot of the bed. "And what is your name, if I may ask?" she added.
"I am d'Artagnan," he said in reply.
"Well, d'Artagnan, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," Marie said. "Now, get some sleep. You need all that you can get."
d'Artagnan nodded, wincing when the pain in his head spiked. His fingers gripped the blanket as he rode out the pain and finally, he relaxed and breathed out a long, slow breath. He opened his eyes and met the worried ones of his caregiver. A small smile let her know that he was okay, or as okay as he could be under the circumstances. He closed his eyes as he gave way to the pain draught that he realized must have been put into his broth. He was out in seconds. Marie watched the young man for several minutes before rising from the chair she had been sitting on. She straightened out her dress skirts and gazed down at her charge. Yvette came to stand beside her, her own eyes taking in the sleeping young man before she glanced up at her mother's face.
"Will he be alright, mama?" Yvette softly asked.
Marie looked down at the girl and smiled sadly. "I hope so…but, I am afraid it may very well depend on how quickly his friends return," she answered. "I can only hope they had a very good reason for leaving him behind in such dire condition," she murmured with a hint of anger in her soft voice.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Five Days Later
"d'Artagnan, you must drink…you must eat. You need your strength to fight this infection! Your friends will be very upset when they return and find that you have wasted away to nothing!" Marie cried as she wrung her hands in worry and frustration.
Sorrowful eyes looked up at the worried woman and it took all of Marie's strength to keep from dragging the young man into her arms and squeezing him tight. "Oh, d'Artagnan, I know it's been longer than you had expected, but please don't lose hope that your friends are coming back," she cried softly as she dropped to her knees and gently cupped the Gascon's cheek.
"Why haven't they come for me, Marie?" d'Artagnan whispered brokenly, his dark eyes searching hers for an answer that she didn't have.
"I don't know, but I'm sure they will be coming any day now," Marie answered, hating herself for the lie she believed she was telling.
d'Artagnan sighed and looked past Marie to the door behind her. "What if something happened to them after they left here? What would I do, Marie? They are all that I have," he asked, his voice cracking at the very thought of never seeing his brothers again.
"Don't say that, d'Artagnan! Don't even think it! They are fine. They have just been held up somehow," Marie exclaimed, her heart breaking at the haunted look in d'Artagnan's eyes.
"First I lost my father, and now maybe my brothers. I have no one, Marie. I am alone." A single tear spilled from d'Artagnan's eye and trailed down his reddened cheek, breaking the hold that Marie had on her emotions. She took d'Artagnan's face into her hands, her thumb tenderly brushing the tear away.
"They will be here. Please don't lose hope. I know that I don't know them at all, but from what you have told me about them, I can't see them not coming back for you," Marie comforted. "But, if for some reason, they do not return, you have us, my sweet boy. You are not alone, no matter what happens, you will always have us," she whispered before placing a soft kiss on the Gascon's forehead.
Marie watched as several emotions played over d'Artagnan's face. Finally, he smiled sadly and turned his head away. He closed his eyes and within minutes his breath evened out as if in sleep. Marie sat for several more minutes, thinking about what she had said. It was true, what she had told her young charge. In the short time that he had been in her care, she had come to care a great deal about him. She didn't know exactly what it was about him, but she did know that it would hurt her deeply if he did not recover.
"Oh, d'Artagnan, what am I to do with you?" she whispered as she straightened the blanket over the Gascon's still form. "You must get better. Yvette frets so…she's quite taken with you I'm afraid. She thinks of you as the big brother she never had and she is terrified because you hardly eat a thing."
d'Artagnan turned his head back to face Marie and opened his eyes. "'m sorry, Marie, to be causing you and Yvette so much grief," he mumbled sleepily, his eyes shimmering as he stared woefully up at his caregiver.
"I thought you were asleep," Marie said with a warm smile.
"I almost was," d'Artagnan responded. He turned and looked up at the ceiling before returning his gaze to Marie. "Why do you fuss so over me? I'm hardly worth the trouble. And Yvette…she should be out playing, not helping you tend to me," he added guiltily.
Marie shook her head and took the Gascon's hand in hers. "Oh, you silly, silly boy. She chooses to help because she cares a great deal about you, just as I do. Like I said, she thinks of you as her big brother," she replied.
d'Artagnan gazed up at her for a moment or two, then shifted on the bed. "I believe that I am a bit hungry, Marie…now that I think about it. Maybe Yvette could bring the bread and cheese back for me? And maybe some of that tea and milk that settles my stomach?" he asked with the slightest of grins.
Marie quirked her head and smiled down at her charge. She knew right away what he was doing, but she was not going to call him on it for fear he would change his mind. "I think Yvette would be delighted to bring your supper back to you," she answered with a grin.
Marie made her way to stand, but a gentle grip on her forearm made her turn back to face d'Artagnan. "What is it?" she asked.
d'Artagnan sighed as he released her arm. "I did not realize how much worry I was putting you and Yvette through while I have been wallowing in self pity. It is not fair to you and I am truly sorry for my behavior," he softly said.
Marie smiled and patted d'Artagnan's hand. "There is no apology needed. I can only imagine how you must be feeling. Just please promise me that you will try to bring yourself out of this pit of despair and that you will eat so you can gain your strength back enough to at least get out of that bed," she replied.
With a slight nod, d'Artagnan smiled warmly up at his care taker. "I promise to try, Marie," he said.
"That is all that I ask," Marie said in reply before pushing to her feet. "Now, I will go fetch Yvette to bring you your supper."
Once Marie left, d'Artagnan let out a heavy sigh. He felt intense guilt for how he was worrying Marie and Yvette and he hoped beyond hope that he could keep his promise to the both of them. He reasoned that if he could at least eat and regain his strength, then he could get out of bed and help as much as he could around the house to repay his care taker's kindness. If he could be busy, he could possibly keep his mind off of his missing brothers, at least for a little while and then maybe…maybe he could begin to crawl out of the dark hole he felt he had fallen into. He feared though that the only thing that would bring him completely back into the light again was the sight of his three brothers safely back with him.
Poor d'Artagnan. I really hope the Inseparables are okay so they can get back to him. Thanks for reading and remember...reviews are love 3
Cindy
