The Thorn in My Shed-Chapter 38: Official Business

After a few days, Eilownia’s condition had significantly improved.

Dr. Lein tore off his gloves as he finished his examination of Eilownia’s wounds.

"They’re healing nicely. I want you to continue with bed rest until our next follow up. Continue keeping these clean and I want you to keep up with that soup too." Dr. Lein said as Jinya brought in the bowl, steaming and freshly made from the kitchen.

Eilownia nodded with a smile.

She was sitting up and leaning against piled up plush pillows in a brand new nightgown.

Marix was laying right next to her and shot Dr. Lein a smug look, who then let out a huff as he rolled his eyes.

"Alright, I admit defeat. You can stop looking at me like that."

As soon as Eilownia turned to look at Marix to see what Dr. Lein was talking about, Marix looked down at her with a confused look.

Eilownia then matched his look and stared back at Dr. Lein. Behind her, Marix looked at Dr. Lein with that smug look again.

Jinya let out a quiet laugh as she handed the soup bowl tray to Marix. The steam lifted the scent straight into his nostrils.

His expression shifted from arrogance to disgust.

"It’s much more pungent than last time. What is in this?" He questioned, staring at Dr. Lein as Eilownia leaned over and took a whiff.

"Now that she’s conscious and her fever is down, I’ve given a new prescription mixture. This one will continue to fight off any lingering infection as well as help her sleep, with properties that will strengthen her body as well."

Marix’s nose twitched as Eilownia stared at the soup eagerly, "It definitely smells like it has some strength....." He said as he handed Eilownia the tray.

She grabbed the spoon and lifted it to her mouth as she blew it carefully. Marix watched intently.

"I’ll leave you to it. Jinya follow me out so I can give you her medications and when she should be taking them in addition to the soup."

Dr. Lein left the room with Jinya following closely after him.

Eilownia gulped hard as she stared at the spoon.

"Are you nervous to eat it? Just pinch your nose to get it down." He encouraged, nodding his head.

She stared at him and shook hers.

"I’m not nervous, I’m excited. It smells delicious!"

"Delicious? It smells rancid-"

"Rancit?" She tilted her head and stared at him with an inquisitive look, "What is rancit? Oh! Ran-Sit! You take a run and then you sit down...." She nodded her head in understanding, "I don’t think it smells sweaty."

Marix shut his eyes and furrowed his eyebrows as he tilted his head down and gently slapped himself on the forehead a few times.

In all his worry for her, all his admiration, he’d completely forgotten how much her limited vocabulary had frustrated him.

"Not ran-sit, rancid. It means rotten, bad, not good, expired." He corrected her.

"Eggs....pired? Oh! Eggs Sired? An egg tha-"

Marix cut her off by shoving the spoon into her mouth as he shook her head, "Nope. It means the same as the other ones I said."

Eilownia’s eyes widened as the soup hit her tongue.

"Mmmmmm~!" She smiled wide as she put the spoon down and lifted the bowl to her mouth, blowing it a bit before she started to drink it straight from the bowl.

"H-Hey!" Marix grabbed her hands and slowly lowered the bowl away from her.

Eilownia licked her lips as the bowl was pulled away from her.

"Be careful. You’ll burn yourself or give yourself indigestion. You have to take this slow too. Don’t overload your body. Slow down." He warned as he handed her the spoon.

Once she started to sip slowly with the spoon again, he settled back against the pillows and wrapped an arm around her.

"It’s good that you’re doing better, let’s keep it that way."

Eilownia nods and continues to eat the soup, "Mhmm~"

He picked up a book he kept on the side of the table, it was all about astrology. Since he’d been spending most of his time watching over her at night, he’d kept it with him to read during the times Jinya was sleeping to help stay awake.

Now that he was sure she was taking it slow, he got back to it.

After a few moments of her slurping the soup, he wondered if she was able to stomach it okay. Judging by the scent, it must be difficult.

’That must be why she wanted to chug the thing.’

He cleared his throat, "Is it bitter?"

Eilownia shrugged, "I don’t know what is bitter~ It tastes better than I’m used to eating. It’s so delicious~!"

Marix glanced over. She seemed to be actually enjoying it.

His eyebrow twitched upwards as he looked at the soup. The broth was a cloudy white color with large chunks of herbs and roots mixed in.

’It even looks rancid-’

A look of disgust came over his face, "Is it?"

He checked her face again and while she looked exhausted and unwell still, there was nothing to indicate she thought it tasted bad.

Eilownia nodded and looked up at him with a smile on her face.

She held up the spoon with some broth on it.

"It is! Do you want some?" She slowly wiggled the spoon to entice him, but not so much that it would spill over.

Marix eyed the spoon suspiciously but then nodded.

"If you say it’s good, then I will trust you."

Marix leaned down and blew on it a bit before opening his mouth. Eilownia spooned it in and then pulled back.

She batted her eyelashes as she waited for his verdict, but it was much different than she’d expected.

He dropped his book as the taste washed over his tongue. It fell off the bed and landed on the floor with its pages open.

His eyes were red and tearing up as he pressed the back of his hand against his mouth to stifle his choke.

It was extremely bitter! Probably 5 times worse than the medicine he had to mouth feed her a few days ago. He turned his head away from her and sputtered and coughed.

"You’re playing! It’s not bad, it’s delicious!" Eilownia laughed as she rubbed his back.

Marix shook his head violently. "You’ve misled me!"

"I didn’t! I didn’t!" She laughed.

Jinya walked down the hall with a small paper bag as she headed back to Marix’s room.

As she did so, she slowed down a fraction to eavesdrop on the whispers of the other maids.

They were gossiping as they dusted and cleaned.

"General Marix hasn’t left his room hardly at all since he brought back that girl....he doesn’t usually like to be cooped up for so long."

"There’s a war going on too....is it okay for him to prioritize staying in his room over the war efforts? What do we do if our General doesn’t pay attention..."

Jinya stopped and cleared her throat as she entered the room they were gossiping in. They turned to look at her with worry on their faces.

"You don’t need to worry about things like that. The General is working on his official business from his bedroom for the time being. Please just focus on your duties. Our General is the greatest, there’s no need to doubt him."

She then turned on her heel and continued to his room.

Inside Marix was still reading and glancing over at Eilownia suspiciously, who would then catch his glances and giggle.

"I said I’m sorry!" She said through laughter.

"Yeah right."

Jinya knocked on the door to let them know she was entering and then approached Marix to hand him the paper bag.

"Sir. The item you requested has been completed."

Marix took it and nodded, allowing her to leave.

However, she stopped at the door frame.

"General, I hope you do not forget your official duties as well. Perhaps it would be better for you to move your work up here for the time being."

Marix took a yellow plush rabbit that looked like Strawbunny out of the bag.

"Alright. Sounds good."

Jinya smiled and nodded before leaving the room.

Marix handed the plush to Eilownia who smiled wider than he’d ever seen her smile before putting her bowl on the nightstand and taking it from his grasp.

"Mold is no good for you, especially when you are already ill. You’re right, my Little Flower. Just because something is flawed doesn’t mean it should be thrown away."

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "But, if it’s poisoning you then you should remove it from your life."

Eilownia stared down at it and gently touched its soft fuzz.

The rabbit ears stuck straight up and had light pink silk on the interior. Its eyes were made of black beads with a bright pink nose and black yarn mouth to complete its facial features.

Its pose was in a laying down position with its dewlap accentuated by white tufts of fur and its tail on the back was sticking up.

"Is this for me?" She questioned as if it were some sort of impossible joke.

Marix nodded and pushed it close to her chest. "It’s one that won’t poison or harm you. These," he said as he gently wiggled it in her arms, "are the things to keep in your life."

Tears rolled down Eilownia’s face as she hugged it tight, the smile that was spread across her lips didn’t fade once.

Marix leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.