While Ben had been speaking his men had been busy, and a full compliment of tents had been erected around us. From my position in the dirt I could see one of them was at least twice the size of the others. I thought that this must have been Ben's tent, and I was surprised when a soldier gingerly helped me to my feet and thorough the flap of the large tent. Within were 10 stretchers running two abreast down the length of it, with two harassed looking doctors hurrying from one to another. All except one were occupied with young men, all in various states of injury. The betrayal of Jessie had not come cheaply where Ben's men were concerned.
The soldier propping me up led me to the empty cot and set me down. For a second he looked unsure of himself, of whether he should stay to guard me. I could tell from the way his eyes flickered around the room that he didn't want to be here any longer than necessary. His relief was visible when one of the doctors came over to us and motioned for my guard to leave.
"She won't be any bother here, will you Miss?" The doctor had a calming voice, and although he addressed me, his eyes never left the soldier, who still looked a tiny bit conflicted.
"N-no." I stammered, relieved just to be out of the mud. There wasn't a lot I could do in my condition, even if I weren't in a camp surrounded by armed enemies. The doctor nodded.
"Just so. Out with you lad." The guard turned tail and left without another word.
"Let's get you some pain relief and then set that shoulder. Then we should take a look at the rest of you, if we can get to you under all this mud." He pushed my good shoulder back lightly, indicating for me to lie back. I complied, enjoying the sensation despite my pain.
"My name is Dr Rowan. I know it might be hard to believe, but you're safe here, at least while you are in my care. I take my oath very seriously." His creased face was solemn and earnest, and I found it impossible not to trust him. A wave of exhaustion hit me suddenly, and I closed my eyes as the doctor loaded a syringe from a small vial.
"Just some morphine. You'll appreciate it when we sort your arm." I nodded lazily and he went ahead and gave me the drugs. He waved his colleague over and motioned for me to roll onto my good side.
"We'll do this as quickly as possible, but it will hurt, even with pain relief. On the count of three.." he took my injured shoulder in his hands as his colleague held me still.
"One… two…" There was a swift whooshing noise and an audible click as a wave of white hot pain shot through my body. I let out a muffled scream. Then as suddenly as it had started, the pain was over.
"…three. Well done. That should be fine in a few days… or well…" he sounded uncomfortable, and I realised he must know I was going to be sentenced to die well before my shoulder would heal. "At least it won't cause you as much pain. I'll see to these cuts now." His colleague went back to his duties as Dr Rowan set about cleaning my face with a damp cloth. I let my eyes drift closed, the morphine and the events of the day washing over me. The last of the pain subsided, and I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
When I awoke I found I was still in the infirmary cot, although my arms had been loosely tied to the sides. My head throbbed and my whole body ached; I could feel the pressure of numerous bandages. I opened one eye, squinting against the light. I had less company in here now, but there were buckets of blood soaked rags by three of the previously occupied beds and I felt sure that the patients had not left due to a speedy recovery.
Dr Rowan noticed I had come round from the furthest side of the tent and made his way over to me. His previously white coat was stained with fresh looking blood. I looked questioningly at him.
"Glad to see you're awake." He motioned at his clothing, in response to my expression. "Some of our scouts ran into a little trouble. I believe it is well in hand though." He looked away, his eyes shifty as if he was only telling my half truths. He made a small gesture towards my restraints, changing the subject.
"I'm sorry about those, but it's the only way they'd let me keep you in here. Having you sleeping in a wagon in the rain would undo all my hard work."
"T..thanks." my voice was harsh and my throat sore. The doctor rushed to pour a glass of water and held it to my lips. I drank gratefully. He looked down at me, still looking concerned.
"I'm afraid you'll have to go back into the cart shortly though. The camp is packing up to move on. Benjen is keen to get us back as quickly as possible." The doctor's mouth tightened. "...I'm sorry."
As if his words had given birth to the sound, I was suddenly aware of a great cacophony of noise outside the infirmary, tents being packed up, horses being saddled, men arming themselves for potential trouble.
I tried to give the doctor a reassuring smile, but it felt more like a grimace.
"Not your fault doc. Thank you for fixing me up, at least temporarily."
He reached out and patted my good arm gently.
"They'll be here to get you soon. I'll leave you to rest while you can."
Dr Rowan busied himself on the far side of the tent and I closed my eyes, feeling the dull ache that seemed to radiate across my entire body, and tried not to think too hard on my imminent death, only days away, from the sound of it.
I needed to find a way out of here, I needed to find Keri and we needed to get as far away as possible. There were several problems, my bust up body, the hundreds of loyal, armed men, the lack of transport, the fact I had no idea where Keri was, if she was even here.
My mouth tightened. No, She would be here because Ben was here; because I was here and he would make sure she had a front row seat to whatever fate he had in store for me. He would want her to see me suffer, for Keri to think it was her fault.
One problem down then. The thought almost made me laugh, given the insurmountable odds stacked against me living through this ordeal. The sounds of soldiers entering the hospital chased away any temporary amusement. I forced my eyes open in time to see a full contingent of 6 men heading directly towards me. It seemed a little like overkill, given my injuries. They stopped, arranged neatly in a semi circle around the foot of my bed. One took a small step forward, a young lad, barely even finished growing judging from the loose fit of his leather armor.
"Get up." He growled, with a very unwarranted hint of fear betraying him. "You're to go back in the cart."
I gestured towards my restraints with my chin, and gently shrugged my good shoulder at him.
His dark eyes flashed from side to side until one of his colleagues stepped up next to him. They moved quickly to my sides and I felt rough hands work the ropes binding my arms. When they finished they pulled me roughly to my feet, and I gritted my teeth against the pain that filled my body like fire. I must have let out a noise because I could hear the doctor returning, shooing the soldiers out of his way with a cool authority. My vision returned in time to see them stumbling over themselves to clear a path, as Dr Rowan brandished a loaded syringe.
"She needs one last shot before she goes." He hurried to my side and quickly injected my right arm, while leaning in close to my ear.
"It should be enough morphine to ease your pain for the journey. I'm sorry I can't do more." There was a sincere tone to his whispering apology that spoke to more than just my uncomfort in the back of a wagon, and I choked back a wave of emotion.
"Thank you." There was no time to say more, as the soldier who had spoken earlier became impatient and made a move towards us. The doctor jumped up and backed off quickly.
Rough hands gripped my arms once more but I was ready for them this time, and I moved with them as much as I could, knowing that any pain would be gone in a few minutes.
I stumbled through the tent flap gripped tightly in between my escorts, wincing as I emerged from the dimly lit hospital into the bright sunlight. It was fortunate that someone had thought to bring the cart close by, as my head started swimming - a mixture of fear, exhaustion and drugs. They didn't take much care loading me in, but I was grateful that nobody seemed keen to hog tie me this time, and my hands were merely bound in front of me. I let myself fall into the soft straw, and waited for the pain to subside. It took a long moment, and when I finally opened my eyes, I found that my travelling companion and I had been joined by another prisoner. They were curled tightly in a ball facing the corner, and I could only see the muddy, bloodstained back of their armour. I tried desperately to make out more detail but I couldn't seem to focus my eyes, my limbs started to feel like lead. The morphine was finally taking hold, and rather than fight it, I let the tide take me, drifting into an easy memory, somewhere between awake and asleep.