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Old 07-08-2006, 11:07 AM   #131
Celuien
Riveting Ribbiter
 
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Assigned to Mordor
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Celuien has just left Hobbiton.
If Primrose's leg had painful before, the process of setting the bones back into place was twice as bad. Her jaw clamped down tightly and she stiffened in the few seconds that Master Puddifoot took to put her twisted leg into normal alignment. Just a few seconds, and it was over. He wrapped her leg against straight planks of wood to keep it in place. Already, she was beginning to feel more comfortable.

At any rate, Will seemed better. She managed a soft smile in response to his hand against the back of hers. "I'm fine, Will. Really. It's just my leg, and Doc Puddifoot's taken care of that." The smile faded for a moment. It's my fault she even tried to climb up the blasted ladder. "It's not your fault at all. It's mine. I shouldn't have joked about coming up the ladder. I'd no business to. And now you're hurt." Her voice quivered on the last word. "I'm sorry."

Primrose took another sip of tea, half watching and half trying not to watch Doc Puddifoot winding the splint bandage around her leg. As soon as the last wrap of the bandage tightened above her knee, she asked him, "How's Will's wrist? And he took a nasty bump on the head too."

He bent Will's wrist and fingers, causing the ostler to wince. Primrose couldn't help wincing with him in sympathy. One finger was broken, but the wrist was only badly sprained. Next, Master Puddifoot ran his hand over the growing bump on the side of Will's head. Just a bump. Nothing serious. Primrose sighed in relief as Will's hand was treated in much the same way that her leg had been.

"There you are. That hand ought to be as fine as Prim's leg in no time at all. Just give it a few weeks rest and don't try climbing any more ladders for a while." For Primrose, at least, that last warning was hardly necessary.

Suddenly, as relief spilled over her, Primrose laughed merrily. "A fine pair we make, Master Will, with your hand and my leg. We're practically mirror images."

Cela was already starting the soup. Work. Primrose thought she'd better get back to it now that Will was seen to. "Cela, please hand me those carrots and potatoes. My leg may be broken, but I can still chop vegetables for the soup."
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