The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[thatsfascinating]

She raised her eyebrows and swallowed the food in her mouth. "Oh, I do! Definitely! And it's a huge deal. I definitely want to remember it. It's going to be beautiful."

She frowned a little, concerned, trying to work out how Malcolm was feeling about the idea.

"Do you still want to do it this way? If you don't, it's totally okay. We only do this once, right? I want you to be happy with it."

[abrightboy]

"I'm happy," he protested. "I want to do it. I just... I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how it's going to go, that's all. And that's probably the head injury. I'm probably not in the best place to plan it right now." He looked at her, his gaze imploring her to believe him. "But I want it."

[thatsfascinating]

"That's fine!" she assured him. "We don't need to talk about it now. We'll have plenty of time in the next couple days. You can rest right now."

[abrightboy]

He took a steadying breath and ate another bite of soup.

"This isn't very fairy tale, is it?" he noted softly.

[thatsfascinating]

Her heart ached at that, and she put down her fork and took his hand.

"Are you kidding?" she said softly. "You're my Prince Charming. We're going to have a beautiful wedding in a beautiful little village in southern France. It's pretty fairy tale." She smiled a little more. "Besides, have you read Grimm's fairy tales? They're pretty gruesome. This is, like, a hundred times better than those fairy tales."

[abrightboy]

"This is pretty gruesome, but... you're right. It'll be nice when we get there, right?" he conceded.

[thatsfascinating]

"It will be amazing," she said with perfect confidence, reaching up with her other hand to gently brush his hair back from his face. "We could get married right in the backyard of our villa. Or find a beautiful centuries old chapel somewhere. You don't have to decide right now!" she added quickly. "Not making plans, just...imagining possibilities."

[abrightboy]

"We'll look around when we get back there. It should be scenic," he said.

[thatsfascinating]

"Shouldn't be too hard! Like, ninety eight percent of everything around our villa is scenic." She smiled and sighed. "I can't wait to get you out of here."

[abrightboy]

"I'm really over being in hospitals," he agreed. He ate another spoonful of soup. "Even the nice ones."

[thatsfascinating]

"Even the nice ones," she agreed, going back to the salad. "And man is this one nice!"

[abrightboy]

After they ate, fatigue overtook Malcolm and he fell asleep again.

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa made sure he was comfortable, and that the restraints were secure. She softly kissed his forehead, then went to the other bed and climbed in, curling up under the thin hospital blanket. She watched over Malcolm until her own eyes grew heavy and she drifted off.

[abrightboy]

Malcolm's night terror didn't start with subtle stirring. He jolted into the bedrail, screaming, then thrashed the other way, hitting that rail too.

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa bolted out of bed, rushing to his side. Dammit! She had forgotten to pad the rails! It was too late now...she couldn't get that close without risking getting hit.

"Bright, it's okay!" she said, standing as close as she could. "I'm here. I'm right here."

[abrightboy]

He screamed and screamed, thrashing from side to side. A nurse and two orderlies rushed into the room.

[thatsfascinating]

She turned toward them, holding out her hands, palms facing them. "It's okay it's okay! He has night terrors! He'll wake up any second, I promise! We just need to wait!"

There was really nothing they could do that wouldn't make things worse. She just hoped they spoke enough English to understand her.

[abrightboy]

One said something to the other in French, then looked at her.

"He... scream every time?"

[thatsfascinating]

She pointed at her. "Yes. Yes he does." She grimaced. "I know, it looks terrible. But he's going to be okay, I promise."

[abrightboy]

He sat bolt upright and gasped awake, breathing heavily, blinking into the dimly lit room, disoriented, trying to remember where he was.

[thatsfascinating]

Oh thank god. She immediately went to his side, touching his arm. "It's okay," she said softly. "You're in a hospital and I'm right here. Everything is fine."

[abrightboy]

He looked at her. It took his eyes a second to focus.

"A hospital?"

He frowned.

"France."

[thatsfascinating]

"France," she confirmed with a nod. "Concussion. How do you feel?"

[abrightboy]

"I'm... I have a headache."

The nurse stepped over, pulling out a penlight, urging Edrisa aside so she could assess him.

[thatsfascinating]

She stepped back to give the nurse room, wringing her fingers. A headache was to be expected with a concussion, so he was probably fine...but she was still worried.