If I Lay Here [Closed]

She hadn't even gotten a chance to catch the SkyClan tom's name.

What was she thinking? Trespassing on an enemy Clan's territory like that?

She must be going insane.

A myriad of thoughts filled Ivybrook's brain as she padded back into RiverClan camp, blood dripping from her eye. Crimson stained the grey tabby's face and chest, and the claw marks across her left eye were left stinging as the crisp Leaf-fall breeze blew against them. She'd been without sight in her left eye immediately after the owl raked its razor-sharp talons across her face, scoring brand new scars that would last for the rest of her life. The trembling in her legs and whiskers had finally stopped, but despite what she wanted to keep telling herself, Ivybrook was scared. Not just for herself and her vision, but for the litter of kits that were still growing within her belly. She'd managed to carry them this far into the pregnancy, and she swore that if saving the life of that pathetic SkyClan excuse-for-a-warrior had cost her the lives of the kits, he'd pay. Dearly.

Taking a small peek into the medicine cat den, the deputy tried her best to dismiss the thoughts. Promising herself that the kits were okay was the only thing that was keeping her sane. Delivering the kits was not an option- Once that was finally over, she'd be able to fully get back to her duties.

"Mistlepaw?"

Her ears flickered when she didn't hear an immediate response. Venturing further into the den, she settled near the entrance and waited for a response.

Mistlepaw turned at the sound of Ivybrook's voice, a greeting half way out of her mouth. "Hello Ivy...oh...oh," her gaze immediately settled on the long gash that was across the queen's face, with blood oozing steadily from the wound. "Starclan help me," she prayed inwardly, stumbling to her feet and rushing to the injured she-cat's side. She helped her towards an empty nest and eased her into it, murmuring that she would be right back with the herbs. Oh Starclan...this was one of the worst injuries she'd treated yet! Pricklebush wasn't here to help...but she was more experienced this time. Surely, she could handle it! But her determination didn't stop the bile from rising up to her throat, and the small shudder she did as she forced it back down. "Keep the contents of your stomach to yourself! Ivybrook needs us!" She took a quick glance back at the she-cat, her eyes landing on her swollen belly, "her kits need us, too.."

She scurried into the back of the den, nosing through the supply of herbs. She grabbed moss, a stick, cobwebs, celandine, ivy leaves, and a small amount of poppy seeds. Good thing she had just been sorting them, and the memory of their locations were still fresh. She immediately padded back to where Ivybrook was laying, and dropped the herbs at her paws. She nudged the black seeds towards her, "swallow these. It'll help with the pain and lets you sleep better after I'm done," then gave her the stick to bite down on. The injury looked horrible, and had to be causing a lot of pain..With that, she set to work on the eye. She lifted the moss towards her eye, and meowed to her, "I'm going to clean some of the blood away. It will hurt, but I'm going to try to be gentle." She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, and began to work. She dabbed the wet moss onto the wound as gently as possible, hesitating whenever Ivybrook squirmed or made a noise of pain. "I'm sorry..I'm sorry..I know it hurts, I'm sorry," she apologized mentally, eyes shining with sympathy as she cleaned the wound.

Finally, the worst of it was over. Mistlepaw covered her eye with cobwebs and applied as much pressure as she could without harming the queen too much. She waited, only removing it to check if the blood flow had stopped or ceased all together. Once she was satisfied, she grabbed the celandine, chewed it, and allowed the juice to trickle into her damaged eye. Then, she applied ivy leaves and used bindweed to keep the herbs in place. It would help to keep dust and other debris away from her eye. She stepped back, legs shaking from the anxiety and stress she felt during the treatment. "I..I think I'm done. How do you feel?" she meowed, concern evident in her voice. Riverclan couldn't afford to lose any more cats; especially the deputy and her potential kits.

Ivybrook could tell from Mistlepaw's initial response to her presence that whatever condition her wound had put her in was bad. She didn't utter a word as the medicine cat apprentice guided her to a nest, and she sat down slowly. As she was watching the younger cat gather herbs together and approach her, the only thing she could think of was how horrible the situation was for such a young cat. Many of the things she had to deal with weren't anything that she deserved, yet StarClan threw her into a role that she was expected to fulfill, no matter the costs. Sure, she had a choice- but at such a young age. For whatever reason, the deputy felt bad for Mistlepaw. Where all the emotion had come from so suddenly, she was unsure. A few moments ago, she was worried about the health of her kits through all the stress she'd just put herself through, and now, she was upsetting herself over the medicine cat apprentice. What was going on?

Any attempts to distract herself with whatever it was that Mistlepaw was doing didn't seem to help in the slightest, and her mind kept bouncing back and forth between worry for her kits and sympathy for the she-cat tending her wound. The sharp pains she felt in her eye did a good job at momentarily taking her mind off the subjects, but soon after it seemed like the thoughts just came flooding right back in again. She simply nodded as Mistlepaw spoke, hearing the words but not exactly thinking about them the way she normally would. Was this what happened to all pregnant she-cats? Or was she going insane?

Once Mistlepaw was done her eye seemed to be in just as much pain as it was before, with perhaps the sharp edge take off by the poppy seeds she'd given her before starting. Looking up at her when she spoke, she shook her head gently. "It certainly doesn't feel good." Her words weren't spoken sarcastically or with malice intent- She just said whatever came to her mind first. "That was beautiful work, though. Fallowlight would be proud." She nodded her head gently, trying her best to encourage her. "Where's Pricklebush today? Back in ThunderClan?" Even though her head was in a different place, she was still aware of the Clan happenings... for the most part, at least.