The Price of Peace   von chelle76
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                       Kapitel 7: Falling Down A Spiral
                       --------------------------------


I DO NOT own Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs or Sei Jushi Bismarck, they are
owned by their respective animation companies.

The Price of Peace
Chapter 6: Falling Down A Spiral



Colt and Robin are sitting talking in the sitting room when they see Amanda go
past them and quickly out the back door. “I wonder what that’s about?”
Robin asks.

Colt shrugs, “I figure if something is wrong, she’d have stopped and asked
for help.”

“I would hope so,” Robin replies.

“Hey, have either of you see Saber or Amanda today?” April says coming from
the kitchen a few minutes later.

“Amanda just blasted out the back door a couple of minutes ago. Haven’t seen
Saber since last night, actually,” Colt replies.

“I wonder if everything is okay. Did Amanda seem upset?” April asks.

“Didn’t really get a look at her, to be perfectly honest. She blew through
here so fast. She didn’t even stop to say hello. But I figured that maybe she
was embarrassed about last night,” Robin replies.

April nods, “She was pretty shaken up. I thought I heard her and Saber talking
earlier this morning in the kitchen, but I didn’t stay around long enough to
hear what was said.”

“Maybe you should have,” Colt says.

“I don’t like eavesdropping on a private conversation, Colt,” April says.

“I didn’t mean that you had to listen to the entire thing. Just hang around
long enough to see if they were just chatting or if one of them was angry or
something,”  Colt replies.

April plops down on the couch and sighs, “Maybe I should go and check his
room. Perhaps he said something to upset her, so she left for a while. He has
been a bit moody lately.”

“Are you talking about Saber?” Fireball says coming down the stairs.

“Yes. Have you seen him today?” April replies.

Fireball comes down and sits beside April, “Not since last night or rather
earlier this morning,” he replies. “He didn’t seem to be in the mood to
talk to anyone, so I left him alone. Last time I saw him, he was in the kitchen.
That was around three this morning.”

“What were you doing up at that hour?” Colt asks amused.

“I heard something downstairs and went to investigate. I entered the kitchen,
saw him fixing something to drink, I asked him if he was okay, and he just
nodded, never spoke, so I said good night and went back to bed.”

“I heard him talking with Amanda about five, but I think she had just come
down. I didn’t stay around to listen, I thought they could use the privacy,”
April states.

“So no one has seen or heard from him since about five this morning, and you
have only seen Amanda a short time ago. She left in a hurry and he wasn’t with
her?” Fireball states, getting nods from the others. “I think something is
up.”

“It’s probably been close to an hour or so since we saw Amanda now,” Robin
says.

Just then the door to the kitchen swings open and they all turn to look, “Have
any of you seen Saber or Ms. Kelly?” Elaine asks, trying to mask the concern
in her voice.

“We were just discussing that very thing, Ms. Elaine. Why?” April replies.

“Well, she was looking for him about an hour ago. She had gone into his room
hoping to find him. I entered to put away a few things, I saw the concerned look
on her face and we talked. I said that I was surprised to see her because I
thought that she was with him. Thomas said Saber had left earlier on Steed, and
he was still gone. Ms. Kelly mentioned that she had said something that seemed
to make Saber mad and he left. She was giving him time to calm down, but then
she couldn’t find him, so she went off looking for him.” Elaine replies.

Colt let’s out a whistle, “She actually got him mad? That’s funny.”

“Not really Colt, he could get hurt going off on his own when he’s angry.”
April states. “Did she say what she said to him?” April asks.

Elaine shakes her head, “No, but I can imagine what was said. I heard her
raise her voice to him this morning, but I didn’t want to intrude, so I went
about my chores. He was replying in a low voice when I got too far away to
hear.” she pauses before continuing, “I do know she used his real name,”
she adds with a chuckle. “Not too many people dare to do that.”

The others look at her a bit shocked. “So he’s been gone since around five
and it’s after noon now. She’s been gone for over an hour, and we’ve not
heard from either one since?” Fireball says. “I don’t like it. Has anyone
tried calling his phone?”

The others look to each other and shake their heads. “I tried a short time
ago, Mr. Hikari.” Thomas says as he approaches the group and everyone looks
up. “He’s not answering. Neither is she. I tried her phone as well.”

“I say we go look for them,” April says standing up and looking to the
others.

“I agree., Fireball says as he stands up, Colt and Robin following suit.

“We still have three more horses, so you can take them to go and search for
them,” Thomas offers.

Fireball nods, “Let’s do that.”

Colt turns to Robin, “Why don’t you stay here with Thomas and Elaine, in
case they come back. Call us if they do, and we’ll call if we find them.”

Robin nods, “I can do that,” she replies and sits back down. “I know only
having one person per horse would make it faster.”

Colt nods, “Thank you,” he kisses her lightly. “We’ll call as soon as we
know something.” She nods and he turns to April and Fireball, “Ready?”
They nod and they leave to go searching for them.

They head off in a random direction and after about half an hour they stop.
“Maybe we should have split up. The estate grounds are huge. We have no way of
knowing if they are even in the same place,” April says looking around at the
expansive grounds around them.

Fireball nods, “Yes, maybe we should split up. We each have phones and
com-links, so if one of us finds one or both of them, we can let each other
know.”

“Okay. Let’s go,” Colt says as he heads in a random direction. Fireball
and April each head off into different directions as well.

Nearly an hour later, Fireball hits his com-link, “Hey guys, find anything
yet?”

“Nope. I’m about to cut back towards the house, in case they passed behind
me,” Colt replies.

“April?” Fireball asks.

“I’ve not seen anything yet, but it looks like there’s some sort of
building up ahead, don’t know why anyone would be way out here though,” she
replies.

“I’ve not seen anything, so I’m heading towards your location., Fireball
replies.

“Okay Fireball. I’ll be heading back after I scope out this-” she suddenly
gets quiet.

“April?” Fireball says.

“Steed is here, and so is another horse. There are noises inside. Could be
fighting. Should I go in?” April says quietly.

“No, I’ll be to your location in about a minute, wait for me,” Fireball
replies.

“Okay. I’ll get as close as I can without being noticed.” She replies.

“Colt, are you still going to the house?” Fireball asks.

“No way! I’m heading towards you and April. If you get there and think you
need to go on in, go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” Colt replies.

Fireball arrives and April waves him over near the well. “It sounds like a
physical fight in there. Do you think it’s Saber and Amanda?” April
whispers.

Fireball shakes his head, “We know for a fact Saber is in there, but the other
horse could be anyone. I don’t think Saber would hit a woman, no matter how
pissed he is.”

They move to the door and pull their guns, “Ready?” April asks, getting a
nod from Fireball. “1-2-3” They open the door and enter, blasters first.
Once their eyes adjust they stand there in shock. They see Saber and Amanda
sparring with sticks. Just then Colt bursts through the other door, causing both
Saber and Amanda to stop and turn towards him, sticks ready in a fighting
stance.

“What the bloody Hell?” Saber asks in Colt’s direction.

“Saber? Amanda?” April asks dumbfounded as she lowers her weapon. Fireball
quickly holsters his weapon and they slowly approach them.

Saber jerks towards April’s voice, still in a defensive position. “What is
going on?” he asks annoyed, as he lowers the stick and goes to sit down.
Amanda comes up and sits beside him, laying the stick on the ground beside her.
Both look exhausted and are drenched in sweat.

“What’s going on?” April asks shocked. “We were worried sick about both
of you, you’ve been missing for hours!”

“We have?” Saber asks. “I suppose I lost track of time.”

“So did I, I was caught up in learning from you,” Amanda says.

“You know,” Fireball says, “I thought you were here to teach him, not the
other way around.”

“Sometimes you learn more by teaching someone than by them teaching you,”
Amanda states as she grabs the pail of water and takes a drink before passing it
to Saber.

Saber takes it and after drinking some, sets it down between them and sighs,
“I’m sorry that we worried you. I came out here to clear my head. She came
out later, looking for me, and found me here. We talked for a while, then we
started doing the fighting.”

“We tried calling your phone, and her phone, neither one of you answered,”
April states.

“I left my phone in my room. I left in a bit of a hurry this morning,” Saber
replies.

“Yes, so we gathered from Elaine,” Fireball says trying to not sound angry. 
"What about your phone?” He asks looking pointedly at Amanda.

“Um, I guess I never heard it ring,” she replies sheepishly and starts
digging through her pockets. “Orrrrr I don’t have it.” she mumbles barely
audible. Saber stifles a smile.

“I can’t believe you two” April says annoyed.  “Gallivanting around the
estate without your phones.”

“Last I checked it was my estate,” Saber growls “And I never seemed to
need a phone before this.” Saber manages to stifle his anger before asking,
“Are you implying that I am unable to take care of myself on my own
estate?”

April stares at him in shock. “Um, no, that’s not what I meant” she
stammers.

“Oh really, what did you mean?” his resentment apparent in his tone.

“I’m just worried about you, that you...” April trails off.

“Might get hurt because I’m blind?” Saber suggests bitterly, and April
blushes heavily at the dead on guess but remains silent. “So that’s how it
is? Even my friends doubt my abilities, is it just her, or is it all of you?”
Colt and Fireball look away from Saber in spite of knowing he can’t see them. 
“I find it very unusual that people that I have known for a number of years
and consider my friends and teammates seem to think of me an an invalid, and yet
Miss Amanda, a woman I’ve only known for a few weeks seems to have complete
faith in me.” He gets up and walks toward where he left Steed, finding his way
blocked by the others. “Move,” he says gruffly and they quickly move out of
the way not sure what else to do.

Amanda gets up without saying a word and follows Saber and sees him mounting
Steed, “Where you going?”

“I don’t know,” he says, trying to keep from snapping at her.

“Care for some company?” she asks hesitantly.

Saber sighs, “Sure, are you up to riding the horse you came here on?”

Amanda nods, then shakes her head, remembering that he wouldn’t see her
nodding, “Of course” she mounts and they ride off.

Back in the building Colt is the first one to speak ,“We are in deep trouble,
aren’t we?” April and Fireball look to each other in shock.

About an hour later Colt, Fireball and April arrive back at the manor and are
immediately confronted by Elaine. “Well, did you find Master Saber and Ms.
Kelly?”

April hangs her head as Fireball answers, “I’m afraid we might have made
things worse.”

“Well, you’d better come tell me everything,” Elaine replies. They
dismount and head inside, the groom takes their horses.  They tell Elaine what
happened over tea. “Saber will calm down, he and Amanda will be back, although
knowing Saber it make take a day or two,” she says reassuringly after hearing
their story.

“He doesn’t have any supplies,” April says. “How could he possibly live
for two days outside the house?”

“He once disappeared for an entire week, and claimed he never left the estate
grounds, but nobody ever saw him until the day he walked into the house.  He was
well fed, and relatively clean. Never said exactly where he hid, or what he ate,
but if he was able to do that then, I’m sure that even given his current
limitations he’d be more than able to take care of himself and Ms. Kelly for
several days.”

“So what are we suppose to do?” Fireball asks.

“We wait. He’ll come back when he’s ready, I’m sure that she’ll either
be with him, or he’ll have made her mad enough that she leaves outright,”
Elaine says simply.


Meanwhile, Saber and Amanda are sitting in front of a fire burning in a
fireplace. “So nobody is aware of this part of the basement, huh?” Amanda
asks staring towards the fire.

Saber smiles and shakes his head, “No. Apparently it was somehow walled off
from the rest of the basement, and the only way in is the entrance that you were
able to find,” he replies.

“I can’t believe how such minute details stick out in our minds, you were
able to direct me to the hidden door by descriptions alone,” she says, a hint
of admiration in her voice.

“It was almost like I could see it in my head when I was describing it to
you,” he says quietly.

Nearly a week later, they are finishing up dinner when Amanda stands up without
a word.

“Are you all right?” he asks concerned.

“Just tired and I have a bit of a headache. Thought I’d move about a bit,”
she says as she goes over and grabs another log and tossing it on the fire.

“Why don’t you lay down? I’ll be up for a while yet. Perhaps tomorrow we
can venture back to the house?” he replies.

“You sure you don’t mind?” she asks.

“It’s fine, Amanda,” Saber replies quietly. “I’m sorry that I’ve
drug you into this. I should have let you go back days ago.”

She chuckles, “I volunteered to come, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but I don’t figure you imagined that I would stay gone this long,”
he says seriously.

“I’ve actually enjoyed the peace here. I could use a slightly more
comfortable bed though,” she adds ruefully.

“Well, I promise, tomorrow, we’ll go back. Okay?” he says.

“Okay,” she replies and then goes to lay down on a makeshift cot, covering
herself and closing her eyes, drifting to sleep shortly afterwards.

Saber stays up for a while afterwards, making sure to add more wood to the fire
before retiring to a cot he set up closer to the entrance to the room they are
in. A few hours later, he’s restless, so he gets back up and sits by the fire
again, noting that it was cooler in the room, so he adds more wood again. He
starts a pot of water on the fire to make tea, taking care to not make a lot of
noise. Going through the motions, he suddenly realizes that he can see dim light
and gasps. He shakes his head to clear it, thinking that he’s just overly
tired, and continues heating the water. Carefully, he focuses on the fire and
realizes that he really can see a dim light and the outline of the pot on the
fire as he goes to remove it from the fire. He nearly drops the pot in shock,
managing just to spill some of the contents and knocking over the cups he had
set out. Quickly he rights them, hoping not to have awakened Amanda. He
doesn’t dare turn in her direction, afraid that he’ll discover that it is
just a dream. He finally pours some water in the cups and allows the tea to
steep for a bit. He sits in silence contemplating what to think of the new
development and debating whether to say anything.


“Tea?” Amanda says groggily as she wakes up a little while later.

“Your sense of smell is rather good if you managed to smell that over
there,” Saber comments.

“Maybe,” Amanda admits as she gets up and stretches before coming over and
joining him for tea. “Good tea,” she says after taking a sip.

“I try,” Saber says as he sips his tea. “When we’re done here let’s
clean up and then head on back to the house, unless I’m mistaken we should
arrive early enough in the morning that the others might not even realize
we’re back.”

”Going to keep them guessing until the end huh?” Amanda asks, some amusement
in her voice.

“That’s the general idea,” Saber says smiling as he finishes his tea and
then starts cleaning up. Shortly afterwards they head back to the main part of
the house and find Elaine preparing breakfast.

“Saber, Ms. Kelly,” Elaine says relieved, giving them a smile, “I knew
you’d both be back.” She hugs them both, “Hungry?”

“I’m okay” Saber says, “I think I’d like to take a shower and sleep in
my bed.”

“Me too,” Amanda says quietly. Elaine looks as if to say something and
Amanda shakes her head, to the unasked question.

“Very well, head on, get some rest, both of you.” Elaine says.

“Oh, Elaine, please don’t tell the others that we’ve returned just yet,”
Saber requests with a smirk.

Elaine smiles, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’ve not seen or
heard anyone this morning. No one has come through here.”

Saber nods satisfied and he and Amanda head quietly up the stairs. They arrive
at his room, “I had fun these last few days,” Amanda says sounding more
tired than she intends.

“So did I,” Saber admits. They stand at the door a moment neither of them
knowing what to say. “I, um, will meet up with you later I suppose.”

“Yes, of course,” Amanda says and she heads to her room. She goes in and
grabs some fresh clothes and takes a shower before going and laying down and
falling into a deep sleep.

Saber enters his room, closing the door behind him and heads for the shower.
After washing off he changes and plops down on the bed, his eyes closed. he
doesn’t move for several minutes, thinking back over the past several weeks.
He remembers the glimpses from the early morning and opening his eyes, he tries
to focus on the ceiling. For a while, he just sees a fuzzy light, but after
several minutes, he begins to see the individual ceiling tiles and some of the
decorative etchings in them. He blinks a few times, but the shapes are still
there. Involuntarily, he gasps and slowly stands up and walks over to the
dresser, where the pictures are. Picking up the frame holding the photo of his
parents, he realizes that he can see, not clearly, but they are recognizable.
After several minutes of looking over the various photos, he returns to his bed,
tired, but unable to sleep; afraid that if he falls asleep, he’ll lose the
vision that has returned.


Fireball and April come down the stairs and enter the kitchen. Elaine is setting
out breakfast for them. “Good morning.” she greets them as they sit down.

“Any word yet?” April asks hopefully.

Elaine looks away and shakes her head, “No ma’am. Not a word.”

“It’s been a week!” Fireball says exasperated.

“Yeah, and I’ve been out riding every day the last four days. The only trace
I’ve found of either of them is that the horses have returned to the
stables,” Colt says entering the kitchen, Robin not far behind him. They join
the couple at the table.

“So they don’t even have their horses?” April asks concern rising in her
voice.

Colt shakes his head, “Nope. The horses seemed well cared for, so I guess they
are all right where ever it is they are hiding out.”

“Maybe they went to her place?” Fireball muses. The others look at him
surprised. “Well, she’s local, they sent the horses back, who’s to say
they didn’t go there?”

“I suppose that’s a possibility,” April admits. “Does anyone know where
she lives?” They all shake their heads in reply. April sighs, “I suppose I
should call my father. He should have her information on file, since Calvary
Command is paying for her services.”

“I say give them another day or so,” Elaine interjects. The others look as
if to protest and she holds up her hands to silence them, “Think about it, if
the horses have returned, then they are most likely on the estate hiding out.
They will be back soon most likely. Wait one more day, then if they have not yet
returned, you have my blessing to call Commander Eagle.”

Fireball nods, “It would be best to keep him out of this, if at all possible.
I’m sure he has plenty of other things to be worrying over. He doesn’t need
this added to it.” Slowly, the others nod their heads in agreement, and they
eat, no one really saying much else.

After breakfast, they head out back and sit in the courtyard, chatting when Colt
stands up, “I’m going to go back out and look for them again. Does anyone
else wish to come along?”

“Sure.” April says. Fireball nods and Robin stands up.

“Let’s all go this time. Robin can ride the horse that Amanda had,” Colt
says and they head to the stables. After prepping the horses, they all ride off
together to look for Saber and Amanda.

Saber rolls over and looks out the window, squinting at the light. “I suppose
it’s almost noon now,” he mumbles to himself. Slowly he stands up and
stretches and looks around the room, he notices that things are still fuzzy, but
he’s grateful he can see. He goes to the door and quietly opens it. Looking in
both directions, he doesn’t see or hear anyone close by, so he makes his way
to Amanda’s door and starts to knock, but stops. He stands there for several
minutes, silently praying that no one finds him there, then after much debating
with himself, he quietly knocks on the door. After a minute, he hears no reply,
so he reaches for the door handle and hesitantly tries it. The door opens and he
slips in, closing it behind him. It takes a minute before his eyes adjust to the
dimmer light in the room, he sees the shadow of a figure laying in the bed,
covers pulled up. He starts to leave when she stirs, realizing that someone is
in her room.

She rolls over, facing the door and tenses for a moment, “Saber?” she says
barely a whisper.

He nods, “Yes. I’m sorry. I’ll let you rest. I apologize for waking
you,” he says quietly, stepping back towards the door and reaching for the
handle.

She notices his uneasiness, “Are you all right?” she asks concerned.

“I... don’t know,” he replies, still staying close to the door.

She goes to sit up, and quickly lays back down, “Ugh.”

“Are you all right?” he asks, concern in his voice.

“I’m not feeling very well. But I’m sure it’s nothing,” she replies
weakly.

“How do you not feel well?” he asks venturing a little closer to her,
grateful for the darkness of the room.

“My head is pounding and I’m freezing. I think I may have a fever,” she
says barely audible.

He slowly walks over to the bed, “May I feel your head for fever?” he says
hesitantly.

“Yeah,” she replies quietly.

He touches her head gently, noticing she’s drenched from sweat and burning hot
to the touch. “I need to get Elaine,” he says trying not to sound worried.

“Okay.”

He turns and quickly leaves her room, stepping into the hall. He closes her door
and glances in the direction of the stairs, squinting at the light.
Begrudgingly, he goes to his room and grabs the sunglasses he had worn when he
first arrived back home. He then takes a back entrance to the kitchen. Upon
entering, he doesn’t see Elaine, so he goes to their quarters and knocks on
the door.

The door opens and Elaine looks at him with a look of surprise. “Saber?” she
asks seeing the serious look on his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Amanda is burning up with fever. I think you should see about her, I think
she needs a doctor,” he says urgently.

“Take me to her,” she says and they go back the way he came and go to her
room, not bothering to knock. “Ms. Kelly?” Elaine says with concern upon
entering the room. Amanda stirs slightly in the bed, shivering and the covers
pulled up tightly around her. Elaine comes over and touches her head,
“You’re right, she is burning up, she says to Saber, who nods. “Go and ask
Thomas to call the doctor. He’s in our quarters.”

Saber nods and heads back downstairs. He enters the servants quarters,
“Thomas?”

Thomas comes around the corner from the other room, “Ah, good to see you back,
sir.”

“Thomas, please call for the doctor. Amanda is sick and has a high fever.
Elaine is with her.” Saber says trying to remain calm.

“Yes, sir. I’ll go now,” he says heading off to get the number.

“I’ll be in Amanda’s room, seeing if I can be of use to Elaine,” Saber
replies as he turns and heads back upstairs. He quickly returns and Elaine looks
up, noting his look of concern.

“She’s sleeping right now,” Elaine says quietly.

Saber nods and sits in a chair not far from the bed. “What can I do to
help?” he asks.

Elaine places a fresh washcloth on Amanda’s head and turns to study Saber
better. “Why do you have your sunglasses on?” she asks quietly.

Saber sits quietly for several minutes, thinking of how to formulate his reply,
“Well, this morning, I was able to see bits of light. It was giving me a
headache, so I went and got these to wear. It seems to help.”

“So light is all you can see?” she asks curious.

Saber shakes his head, “At times, I can make out shapes, like now. It’s dark
enough that I can make out your outline and her figure on the bed.” Elaine
gasps in shock. “Not much more than that. I can’t focus hard enough to see
normally, it hurts my head,” he replies quietly. “I first noticed it this
morning when I was making tea over a fire. I thought I was dreaming.”

“Does she know?” Elaine asks nodding towards Amanda.

Saber shakes his head, “No. I wasn’t sure if it’s temporary or permanent,
so I was waiting to tell her. One of the reasons I came to see her was I was
going to talk to her about it,” he replies quietly.

Elaine nods, “Perhaps the doctor should look at you as well. You said that you
have a headache too, right?”

Saber nods, “It started about the time I could see light this morning.”

“Is it possible that you caught something from Amanda? I’m sure you’ve
been in close quarters,” Elaine says looking to see his reaction.

Saber sighs and shakes his head, “Nothing improper has happened, Elaine, if
that is what you are trying to find out,” he says a bit more harshly than he
intends.

Elaine places a hand on his arm, “I didn’t mean it like that, Saber. I was
curious, but I noticed you went to your own rooms, so I figured nothing had
...happened,” she replies quietly. “I’m sorry,” she adds.

“It’s okay. I know that you are looking out for me, and that you mean
well,” he replies, the anger subsiding. “Do the others know we’re
back?”

“No. They have gone off to try and find you both,” She says with a smile as
Thomas enters the room, followed by another man.

“Master Saber, this is Dr. Ferguson. He came as soon as I called,” Thomas
says, then he quietly leaves the room.

Saber nods to him. “Thank you for coming so quickly, Doctor. This is Amanda
Kelly,” he states, nodding towards her sleeping figure on the bed. “Her
symptoms started late last night, I think. But she is much worse than even a few
hours ago.”

Dr. Ferguson takes out a medical bag and everyone moves back from the bed, so he
can examine her, several minutes pass in silence as they wait for some sort of
reaction. “Well, her fever is rather high. It’s running dangerously close to
forty one degrees.” He takes a small pouch and places some of the contents in
Amanda’s mouth. “This should help with the fever. I’ll come back later
with some injections to give her if needed. I’ll also bring some
antibiotics.” he turns to Saber, “Captain Rider, can you tell me what her
earliest symptoms were, and about how long ago they started?”

Saber thinks about the last couple of days, trying to think of when she started
acting differently. “Well, I suppose it was just after we ate dinner last
night. She got up and seemed...off. I asked her if she was all right, and she
said she was just really tired and had a bad headache. She went and laid down,
and this morning, she seemed okay. She mentioned that her head was still
hurting, but she came in here and laid down again. But she wasn’t very
talkative, so I suppose that’s why I thought something was off.”

The doctor nods, listening. “Have you had any of the same symptoms?” he
asks.

Saber shakes his head, “I’ve had a bit of a headache, but nothing
unusual.”

The doctor comes over to him and feels his head, “No sign of fever, and your
color is good, so perhaps you won’t fall ill, as she has.”

“Any idea what’s wrong?” Elaine asks.

“It could be any number of things. That’s why I’m putting her on a broad
spectrum antibiotic. If we can get her fever down, I think she’ll be fine. She
may not feel up to anything for several days, so I would limit other’s contact
with her, just to be safe,” he replies.

“What about us? We have already been around her,” Saber asks quietly.

“I would limit it to perhaps you that are here in the room. The fewer people
who come in contact with her, the less likely to pass this illness around,”
the doctor replies. Both Saber and Elaine nod.

“I can bring food up for both of you, if you don’t mind sitting with her,
Saber. I’ll come and help her change and bathe, if she feels up to it,”
Elaine says.

Saber nods, “Thank you, doctor. Should we call if her condition worsens?”

He nods, “Yes, I’ll be back later this afternoon to check on her and bring
some more medicine. Give her some more of this powder, about half of what’s
left in approximately two hours. I should be back before she needs a third dose,
and we can assess whether the treatment is working.” He stands up and nods to
both of them, “I’ll see you later,” he turns and heads downstairs.

Saber sighs, placing his head in his hands. Elaine comes over to him, placing a
comforting hand on his shoulder, “She’ll get better, Saber,” she says with
a smile. “I know you care about her.” she adds quietly.

He looks up at her, almost confused by her statement, “How could I care so
much for someone I’ve known only a short time?”

Elaine chuckles, “She’s seen you at your worst, Saber, and yet she’s still
chose to stay. It’s not often that a person meets someone that truly
understands them. I think deep down, you know that. In time, you’ll know what
you feel, and you’ll face it head on, like you do everything else. For now,
focus that energy on helping her as she has helped you.” She removes her hand
from his shoulder, “I’ll go and fix lunch for the others, then I’ll bring
the two of you up something, all right?” She hands him a washcloth, go and
moisten this in her bathroom, then swap it out for the one on her head. Do that
every fifteen to twenty minutes,” she says.

He nods, “Thank you, Elaine.”

“I’ll be back in about an hour. May I let the others know you are both back,
but not to be disturbed?” she asks, stopping at the door to await his reply.

He thinks for a minute and nods, “I suppose you should tell them what is going
on. I’m not ready to talk to them yet.” he pauses, then adds as an
afterthought, “Please don’t mention my change in vision to anyone just yet,
I’d like to wait until I know how this plays out.”

“Of course, Saber. You have my word,” she replies and leaves the room,
closing the door behind her.

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