Selfless Love

Feeling Helpless

Trigger Warning: mentions a child who is sick.

Riftan could count on one hand the number of times he had truly felt helpless...this was one of those rare times.

His precious, energetic son Andrew had fallen ill a few days ago and instead of overcoming what everyone had assumed was a common cold, he had progressively gotten worse as the days wore on. 

Maxi and Ruth had scoured numerous books trying to find the proper diagnosis, but nothing had turned up yet. 

His fever would spike throughout the day and when night fell his body was racked with intense chills. He had no appetite, which worried his parents greatly as he usually had a large appetite as he was a growing boy. He barely ate and when he did eat, he couldn't keep it down. It left him with barely any energy to get out of bed, in his room which he hadn't left for a week. His breathing had become labored and when he tried to take a deep breath it sounded like a rattle in his chest, soon followed by a nasty hacking cough and wheezing. 

Between the two of them, Maxi and Riftan had gotten a combined six hours of sleep in the last three days. They could rest when this was over, they didn't need sleep they told themselves they just needed answers. 

Riftan wished there were something he could say to comfort his distressed wife, but he didn't have any more answers than she did. At night they held each other as their minds raced trying to figure out how to help their son get better. The worry had them on edge and they found themselves unable to stay still for long, as they checked on Andrew every few hours even though he had multiple staff members looking after him around the clock. 

One evening Riftan had come back to their room late after a meeting had dragged on in the council room. He hoped that he would find his wife sound asleep as he knew she must be beyond exhausted. He slowly opened the door trying not to make a sound and disturb her. He began to walk into the room when he froze. His wife was on her knees. She was kneeling beside their bed facing away from the door, her head bowed, and her hands clasped together. 

She was praying for their son. Maxi was weeping as she begged for the healing and full recovery of their precious boy. She was crying so hard she wasn't speaking in full sentences, and Riftan felt as though his heart was being shredded, piece by agonizing piece, at the sight of her despairing and helpless.

"Please!" she wailed, her voice slightly hoarse, "save— I can't—— help—— take it——...." 

Riftan quickly made his way over to her, and knelt beside her. He gently placed his hand on her back, and she jumped slightly at the unexpected touch. She looked up at him, too upset to care if her hair was a wreck, her cheeks were puffy, and her eyes partially swollen from her tears. 

She slowly reached up her hand and moved her thumb across his cheek just under his eye. It took him a moment or two to realize she was wiping away a tear he didn't know had fallen from his eye. 

Maximilian's beautiful face contorted in pain as her body was once again wracked with sobs. He pulled her against him in a fierce hug as she wept in his arms. 

"Riftan," she choked out between her cries, "w-what are we going t-to do?!" 

She clung to him, and he clung to her. They were each other's lifeline and support. Riftan held her tighter and tried to take a few deep breaths to keep his own emotions from overwhelming him. 

"I don't know," he said truthfully. "But we will find something."

For once even Riftan didn't believe his own words. He hoped they would have a breakthrough, but he didn't sound confident. He said a prayer as well, silently begging any deity who would listen for mercy and answers. 
The young parents held one another and wept until they ran out of tears and had to find the strength to crawl into bed and collapse out of sheer exhaustion. 

Riftan and Maxi were still asleep when the sun came up, though they were not asleep for long. A loud bang startled them awake and they both shot up in bed to see about the noise. 

Ruth had barged in, throwing the door open not caring for etiquette and waking the lord and lady. Were this any other time he would have expected Riftan to have his head on a platter within the hour, but Ruth knew this simply couldn't wait. 

"I'm sorry to barge in," the mage said quickly. "But this couldn't wait."

Maxi paled and feared the worst, that their son had been taken by this terrible illness. 
Seeing that the lady was on the verge of hysterics Ruth continued. 

"Your son is all right, well, as all right as he can be given his current condition. Anyway, I was reading a new set of books we had delivered to the castle yesterday, the ones by Mage Eros who specializes in more rare illness and- "

"Damnit Ruth," Riftan seethed through gritted teeth, "get to the point."

"I think I've found an accurate diagnosis," Ruth said, smiling brightly at the couple as he knew this would hopefully provide them with relief. "There isn't much known about it as it is a newly discovered illness, but their treatment seems promising for the most part."

"What is it," Maxi asked fearfully. "What's caused Andrew to become so sick?" 

"It is an illness called Pneumonia, my lady." Ruth said quietly, debating for a moment if now was the right time to explain the illness. 
"It mainly affects the lungs," he continued, "which become infected making it hard to breathe." 

"What caused it?" Riftan asked, wondering if there was something he should have seen coming or could have done differently. 

"Hard to tell," the mage said wearily. "The book said it is caused by bacteria or a virus so it could be anything. We can sort that out later, right now, my lady, I need your help putting together the ingredients to create a treatment for Andrew. The sooner we create a treatment the sooner he gets better, and his condition will stop getting worse."

Maxi, dressed in a long nightgown, leapt out of bed, and ran over to the desk grabbing a cloak that hung on the back of her chair. She threw it on and briskly walked towards the door where Ruth stood. She had a brightness in her eyes and a skip in her step that Ruth hadn't seen in over a week. 

She quickly turned on her heels and raced over to Riftan side of the bed. Maxi leaned over the bed and gave him a short but sweet kiss before beaming at him joyfully. She turned around a walked out of their room grabbing Ruth's arm, practically dragging him along with her as they hurried to the his tower to grab the necessary ingredients. 

Riftan watched, amused by the sight of his tiny wife pulling his old friend down the hall, completely at her mercy. A wide grin spread across his face at how she had flown around their room moments ago with renewed energy and a bright spark of hope. 

He offered some quiet words of thanks for their answered prayers before getting up and heading down the hall to tell his son the good news. His heart warmed as he anticipated his son's soft smile when he hears that he will feel better soon and that everything was going to be okay. 

Riftan entered his son's room. By now the morning rays of the sunlight bathed the room in a golden warmth. It was a warmth he hadn't bothered to feel in the last week, but now it felt almost reassuring. 

He walked over to Andrew's bedside and looked down at the small boy who was still fast asleep. With his eyes closed, Riftan felt as though he were looking at a younger version of himself. 

He reached down and brushed some of the dark hair that had fallen in front of his son's eyes. He carefully caressed the boy's head, trying not to wake him, as he knew his son needed as much rest as he could get.

"You're going to be just fine, son." Riftan said in a soft, quiet voice. He spoke gently, trying to keep his voice low but also because a small part of him feared that it was too good to be true, after so many worrisome days and restless nights. 

Riftan once again gave a silent prayer of thanks for sending his family the answers they needed. His son, his daughter, his wife, they were the most important people in his life and this week had reminded him how delicate life is and how grateful he should be for the time he has with each of them. 

The boy smiled in his sleep, not waking but sensing a comforting presence. Riftan smiled back at the boy even though his son could not see him. 

"You're going to feel better very soon, Andrew." Riftan said quietly. "I promise."