The Girl and the Orc - (A Middle Earth Story)

Stitched Heart

      Rain wasn't sure if the tourniquet Havish made would work. Havish, however, was sure of his skills. He had made several tourniquets before during his time in battle. Thankfully, Bogwater's leg wound wasn't near as bad as some of the cases he'd seen. It was a deep cut, but nothing he couldn't fix. The old man took a needle and some string from Rain's bag and sewed up the cut. The leg could be saved and Bogwater would live. Rain hovered over him while he worked.
    "You are breathing on my neck," Havish grunted as he pulled the thread tight.
"He'll be okay, right?"
"He's lost a lot of blood but he'll be fine," Havish gave the girl a comforting smile, "Now stop breathing on my neck!"
Rain took a step back, "Fine then. Sheesh McGeesh."
"I need you to be further back."
Rain blinked, "Excuse me?"
The old man pointed to a tree in the far distance, "Go over there."
"It's ten feet away!" Rain groaned.
"Get!"
Rain sneered and crossed her arms as she walked over to the tree. Pouting, she plopped down onto the snowy ground. The snow was starting to melt now that the sun was once again out, but it was only a matter of time before it would snow again.
Havish tied off the thread into a tight knot. It would have to be good enough for now. The Orc was still unconscious, which was understandable due to the amount of blood he lost. Havish knew it would be a while before he would wake up again.
"Rain, come here."
"Oh, so now you want my help?" the girl scoffed.
"I said come here!" Havish snapped, "Don't be such a damn baby!"
Rain mumbled under her breath to herself as she got up and went back to her two friends. "Watchu want?"
"Help me sit him up against this tree."
"Alright." Rain took one side of him while Havish took the other. They heaved Bogwater to the nearest tree, leaning him against it. The Orc was a lot heavier than Rain imagined, but she supposed she shouldn't be that surprised.
Once they got Bogwater comfortably situated, Havish began looking for twigs to make a fire. Rain sat next to her sleeping friend. She couldn't help but worry about him. Rain knew that without Havish, he probably would have bled out to death. "Thank you, Havish," sighed the girl as she took her sleeping friend's hand in hers.
"Ah, don't worry about it. I'm glad to help," the old man grinned, crouching down and setting some sticks into a pile.
The girl took Bogwater's hand and held it to her face, it was so cold.
"He'll wake up soon," Havish stated as he lit the fire. He saw the girl was still worried about her friend.
Rain smiled, "I know."
It wasn't soon however, he didn't wake up again until the next morning. Rain sat next to him during the whole time, refusing to move an inch. Bogwater seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but she was still worried something would end up going wrong during the cold night. What if the cold made him sick? Rain ended up falling asleep against Bogwater's chest, her hand still in his. Havish didn't sleep at all during the night, focusing on keeping the fire going for his patient. While he wasn't tending to the fire the old man drew a detailed picture in his journal. It was of Rain and Bogwater sleeping next to each other.

Bogwater woke up with a start the next morning. He had a dream. This time it wasn't of the burning village. Instead it was of a blood covered Rain, dying in his arms. The Orc looked around frantically for the girl, before realizing that she was asleep on his chest, her hand in his. Bogwater sighed and relaxed back against the trunk of the tree. She was okay.
Havish looked up from his journal, "Hey, you're awake."
"Yeah."
"Rain thought you were dead," the old man nodded in the direction of the sleeping girl.
Bogwater looked down at the girl with an admiring twinkle in his eyes. She was such a nice person. Bogwater looked back up at the old man, "You stitched me up, didn't you?"
"Of course. Rain couldn't. She was acting a fool," laughed the old man, "She was so worried."
Bogwater laughed along with his friend, "She's funny like that."
"Funny is one word for it," Havish snorted.
Bogwater's attention went back to the sleeping girl. He brushed some stray hairs off of her forehead with his hand. Rain blinked awake at the touch. She glanced around in confusion for a bit, before her eyes grew wide at her friend.
"Bog!" She grinned brightly.
"Morning."
Rain buried her face in her friend's chest, "I thought you were gonna die!"
"Thought? You acted like you knew for certain, the way you were goin' around breathin' on my neck and all," huffed the old man.
"Oh, shut up!" Rain stuck her tongue out at him playfully.
"You were! I thought you were gonna pass out too the way you kept pacing around."
"Aw," laughed Bogwater, "Poor thing! You were worried about me."
"Of course I was!" Rain retorted.
Bogwater smiled down at the girl. How could such a little thing be worried about an Orc? Of all things! He couldn't understand it at all. It seemed like she would be better off worrying about more important matters, such as finding her missing parents. He wasn't worth the trouble. After all, he was the reason her parents were missing in the first place.
Rain smiled back up at him. The girl had no idea that Bogwater had been thinking such hard things about himself. In her eyes she thought he was the most amazing person, or Orc, she ever met. He was so kind to her, even though she was a silly klutz. Rain knew she was more trouble than it was worth. Why he kept her around for so long, she didn't know. All she knew was that Bogwater was her best friend, and nothing could change that about him.
"Can you walk?" Rain asked, sitting up. Bogwater was disappointed that she left from his side, but he couldn't help it.
"I don't know."
"Maybe he could try to stand?" suggested Havish. The whole time the old man was trying to figure out how they could get to Rivendell from their current position. He had no idea the silent smiles the two had just shared.
Bogwater pushed himself up with his hands, "Ow." He winced as he tried to put weight on his hurt leg.
Rain shot up, holding onto the Uruk's arm to steady him, "Are you okay?"
The Orc nodded, once he steadied himself the pain wasn't that bad. The makeshift cast the old man made kept his leg straight and from falling.
"Hey, you can walk!" Havish grinned as Bogwater took a slow step.
"Hardly, but we can cover a little ground at least," the Orc gave a sharp chuckle.
"A little is all we need," Havish showed them the map he had drawn in his book, "A river is just a little near here. A boat is all we need, and we can get that from the village here," he pointed, "It's a straight shot for Rivendell."
A grin spread on Rain's face, "We've almost made it."
"I'll be human soon," the Orc's eyes filled with hope. He would be able to be with Rain.
Havish smiled, "I can't wait to see Rivendell again."
"I can't wait to see a real Elf!" Rain laughed.
"Well, wait are we waiting for?" Bogwater pulled Rain into a happy hug, "Let's get out of here!"
Havish took the Orc by his other arm, helping Rain to steady him as he walked.
"Just a few more miles."