Heart and Home~ Edmund Pevensie

Chapter 7: Awakening

As Edmund rushed down the steps towards the lower decks, Caspian and Lucy right behind him, he could already hear her voice.

"I need to see him."

"He's on his way, m'lady, I can assure you-"

"No! I need to see him now!"

"Calm down madam! No! Don't get up! You just had surgery!"

Edmund burst into the infirmary, the door hitting the wall with a loud BANG. It felt like the whole ship shook. The infirmary was quite small, only two white beds and a small desk and counter with medical supplies. Narnia, albeit in most ways behind his old world, actually had very strong medicines. They didn't need machines, they had special herbs that only grew on the mainland and a select few islands. That's what Edmund saw, herbs. Thousands of jars. Most of them were opened, most likely having been used to treat Amelia.

Then he saw her.

She already looked better to him. Her skin was no longer an ashen green color. The bruises had fade slightly. Her hair was untangled and washed. Her lips plump with moisture. She was fighting the medic, a young faun, to stand up. Her legs already hung off the bed and her arms were in the process of shoving her shoulders away. Edmund couldn't help but smile.

"You do realise you were moments away from death only a few hours ago?"

She turned to face him, and she paused. He could see the shock in her eyes. Her hands dropped to her sides, her body became still. He felt as if he was the only person in the room. Slowly, he walked over to the edge of the bed and gently lifted her legs back onto the mattress. She only looked at him. No words needed to be said. Somehow, he just knew.

He shifted her feet and sat on the mattress. The heat from her body, buried under several layers of blankets, sent goose bumps up and down his arms.

Finally, she spoke, "Ed?"

He nodded, "It's me."

She didn't seem to register, "Ed?" she gasped. Her hand lifted and she gently touched it to my cheek, her thumb caressing the area under my eye, my nose, the lining of my lips, "Oh my god, Edmund!" Next thing Edmund knew, she was on top of him. She sat on his lap, her face buried in the crook of his neck while her arms latched onto his body. His body naturally responded and he enveloped her small body in his arms, gripping onto her, never wanting to let go.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Caspian and Lucy leave the room, Caspian lingering for a few seconds before he closed the door behind him. His mind returned to Amelia when he felt wet streams running down his neck. She was crying. His heart broke.

"You're safe now," he whispered to her, "I have you, and I'm never letting go. Never again. Either we both stay, or we both go." She knew what he meant. She always knew the day would come.

Her sobs grew louder and he only held on tighter, afraid to let go.

"You... d-don't...understand E...Ed." She tried to control her tears, "What a person can do to another person..."

"Shhhh," He placed his hand at the back of her head, massaging it to calm her down, "You don't have to say anything."

He held her until the sun was high in the sky, until her tears had run out and all she could do was gasp for breath and sniffle incoherently. The faun brought food down for the both of them, only the hadn't touched it. She was broken. So broken.

Late in the afternoon, after they spent hours alone in silence, her voice reached his ear drums, "The first one wasn't so bad, now that I think about it." She was telling the story. The story he never wanted to hear, but the story that she needed to tell, "He never really touched me or anything, I guess I just had lots of hope back then. And he was the first one. That just made it feel worse.