Ghis (closed)

[KieranSoares]

Ciaran's gaze softened, "I miss you too, darlin', an' I still love ya. Most of all, I'm proud o' ya. You became th'very Queen an' wife Brogan needed t'be th'lovin' man 'e always was. I wish ya nothin' but the best, Julia... an' I'll see ya again one day." With one last gentle kiss, Julia woke to dull pain and a haze that enveloped all of her senses. She could hear Lunars talking around her, and make out their blurry shapes, and she could feel one checking her pulse and breathing once more. They'd successfully revived her in the few seconds she'd stopped breathing.

"Come now, Julia," she heard the soft voice of her father-in-law. "Hold on for us, my love... you have a whole family waiting for you, and two little girls who have yet to receive proper names."

Vincenzo came into her vision, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "Can you hear me, sweetheart...?" He took her hand, looking for any sign that she was with them.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia's eyes fluttered open as she heard Vincenzo's voice and she weakly squeezed his hand. She felt sluggish and hazy, frozen to the bone as she struggled to form any sort of words with a thick tongue. Instead, tears started to trickle down her cheeks, telling him that she understood but was in pain and couldn't speak.

 

[KieranSoares]

Vincenzo let out a silent sigh of relief, looking to the wolves, "She's awake."

The oldest healer appeared in her sight with another, much younger wolf. "This is going to hurt, dear, but not for long," the older wolf told her softly. And pain lanced through her lower body as she was lifted up and moved. But just as she was laid back down in a soft bed, a kind werepanther woman came to her side, helping her to drink a warm, sweet but bitter sort of tea that relieved her of the pain in minutes by making her go partially numb. She would still feel slight pain and pressure, but it made everything so much more bearable.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia gritted her teeth against the pain as she was lifted from the floor and placed in a soft bed. She let out a sigh as a woman came to her side and helped her to drink a tea that took away the worst of the pain. She had no idea what had happened but she knew that she was in the best hands she could possible be in.

Slowly, she turned her head to look for Brogan, frowning slightly when she did not see him. Her gaze found its way back to Vincenzo and she knew that something terrible had happened.

 

[KieranSoares]

Vincenzo knew the look in her eyes and he sighed. "... It was too much for him, Julia, when we told him what was happening with you... We didn't think you'd make it. That heart attack finally found him. But he's with Val and a couple other tribal healers now, and he survived. Kate is with him, and Annie and David have your new girls."

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia closed her eyes at that news, new tears springing to her eyes as she thought about the tremendous stress and strain that Brogan had been under. Her difficult birth had simply added to that. She felt incredibly guilty for everything that had happened.

 

[KieranSoares]

"He's going to be just fine, my love. I want you to focus on yourself right now... you're doing a fair bit worse than Emma was so long ago, and we need to make sure you heal properly."

It was some time before the wolves calmed, knowing they couldn't do much more than monitor Julia for now. And soon, Vincenzo brought in Annie and David with the twin girls, but he didn't let anyone else in yet.

 

[heartofcourage]

Annie slowly made her way to her mother's bedside and gently sat on the edge so that she could see the perfect little girl in her arms.

"They're both beautiful, Ma." Annie murmured softly as the little girl in her arms yawned and snuggled down in her tight swaddling. "Both with Da's dark hair and your green eyes. Identical."

Julia smiled weakly as she caught sight of her daughter for the first time. The little girl looked so much like Brogan. She cried softly as Annie leaned in and kissed her forehead gently.

"David and I will take care of them until you're well. I've been having to fight Sam and Rho off though. They think it's their duty to name them. I keep telling them that they are their little sisters, not a litter of puppies."

 

[KieranSoares]

David smiled and brought the second little girl for Julia to see. The second was smaller and more frail, but the same had been true of Rho when he and Sam were born, one twin stronger than the other. She'd be fine, though.


At the same time, Kate was joining her father's side as Valentina finally had him completely calm and breathing correctly again, slightly ragged as it was. "Keep a close eye on him, Kate," Valentina warned softly. "If he tells you about any pain in his chest or his left arm, give him some of the herbs on the table. I have to go get some things from storage."

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia looked at her son-in-law and she knew that he could see the thanks in her eyes for what he was doing. He was a sweet man who doted on Annie and she knew that her girls were in the best of hands. Soon, Julia grew tired and as Annie and David prepared to leave, she drifted into a heavy sleep of exhaustion.

Kate nodded at her aunt's instructions and watched over her father dutifully. "Da? Can you hear me?" She asked softly. "Grandpa said that Ma made it."

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan's blind eyes opened slowly and it didn't seem that he was lucid at all. He didn't respond, he didn't even seem to know she was there. It was either the herbs or the shock that left him entirely unaware of anything around him. Kate had never seen him in such a state. He looked so entirely vulnerable. He lifted a broad hand to his chest, realizing he no longer had a shirt. Valentina had gotten rid of it to be sure that there was absolutely no restriction to his breathing, and he tried to sit up. His body was just too weak to allow it, though.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Da, you're alright." Kate said softly as she took his hand and squeezed it. "You have two new daughters. If you like, Annie could bring them in for you."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Julia..." Brogan murmured, and tried once more to get up. He very nearly succeeded, but instead Kate found her father falling out of the bed and as he hit the floor, he clutched his left arm. A healer in the hall heard the dull thud and opened up the door. Upon seeing Brogan, she immediately called the others to come help her. Between four of them, they got Brogan back into the bed, but he wasn't himself. He was starting to panic, until they had to hold him down and he was forced to swallow yet another mash of herbs that rendered him unconscious and limp.

"Lady Katherine," the senior healer said softly. "His blindness is terrifying him. I don't blame him... being struck suddenly with illness and unable to see the strangers around him... We will do all we can to restore his vision, as should have been done long before this. You may stay with him if you like."

 

[heartofcourage]

Kate thought about what was being offered to her father. She knew that he had been too stubborn to ask for the help himself, but now it was at his finger tips and she was going to make sure that he took the opportunity.

"I will stay with him until you're finished." Kate said softly as she took her seat next to her father's bed.

She stayed through the night, leaving only when Annie entered with the twins in her arms. She lay one of the babies on the bed, the little girl sleeping soundly in her swaddling. The other little girl squirmed, her face wrinkling in displeasure as all the Ghis children had at being so tightly bound.

 

[KieranSoares]

The operation had been long and bloody, ending with the healers drawing out what seemed to be a broken werecat fang embedded under the edge of Brogan's skull where it had been digging in more and more with every movement. The only way to know it had worked was for Brogan to wake and let them know, but they let him sleep and he would wake in his own time.

David, standing alongside Annie, looked to be in his own emotional pain at the sight of the man who'd always been like a father to him laid so low and weak, but he knew it was Brogan's boundless strength of will and stubborn ox ways that were allowing him to cling on for his family's sake. David gave Annie a small smile, "He made it only because he's so bull-headed."


In the hall, Kell saw Kate leave Brogan's room and he took her hand gently. "Are you okay?" He asked quietly, wondering if Brogan was still holding on.

 

[heartofcourage]

"That's why he's always been my hero." Annie said softly as she looked at her father with a long sigh. "I just wish he could learn to relax without the weight of the world pressing down on him."


Kate said nothing as she wrapped her arms around Kell and held him tightly. "He made it through and they pulled free a fang. I just hope that he doesn't slip away in the night. My Ma needs him so much."

 

[KieranSoares]

"But he's a Ghis. Probably the worst of the whole lot," David gave her a smile and wrapped his arm around her. "And you know better than anyone that all of you are stubborn and like to consider yourselves responsible for everything that needs fixing." Then David looked up, seeing Brogan shift. The giant man seemed to know, even in his sleep, that his children were near, and his broad hand laid across the infant girl who was fighting with her blanket, calming her instantly. Annie had seen him do this for years with all of her siblings and even she herself, no matter their age.



Kell wrapped Kate up in a solid but gentle embrace that let her know he was watching over her. He had been doing so in Brogan's stead since they first joined forces as a pair makin their way to Wick. "... He's going to make it... I know it. They both will, but they're going to need all the help we can give them. Not least of all, making sure one isn't constantly worrying for the other." He looked down at her, brushing back a stray strand of hair from her face. "Come with me to the kitchen. You haven't eaten at all today, I know it. Neither have I."

 

[heartofcourage]

Annie watched him move in his sleep and she had the hope that he would be alright. "Da?" She called softly, bringing her sister to her shoulder to move closer to her stricken father. "Da, can you hear me?"



Kate let out a long sigh as he brushed back a strand of hair from her face. She nodded as he offered to take her to the kitchen for something to eat. She needed to get away for just a moment, letting her mind rest from all of the events that had happened so recently.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan didn't respond to her words, but after a long moment of her being so close, he shifted slightly toward her. All of his senses were deadened by herbs and painkillers, but not his intuition that told him his children were near and they needed him.



Kell kept Kate's hand, leading her down to the kitchen where they found Chessie working on a rich broth for Brogan and Julia next time they woke. She looked up and came to hug Kate tightly. "Hello, lovely... how're ya doin'?" She was worried about the children most, knowing they'd take their parents' injuries harshly.

 

[heartofcourage]

Annie leaned down and kissed her father's cheek, her free hand resting in his. "Aunt Emma and Aunt Marri are with Ma right now. She's healing nicely." Annie whispered against his ear. "We just need you to get well too before Sam and Rho try to name our sisters without you."


Kate hugged Chessie tightly and pressed her cheek against the woman's shoulder. "I'm fine." She said softly, even though her voice told her that she was anything but fine.

 

[KieranSoares]

It was several days of everyone pitching in to help the Ghis before Julia finally found herself back in her own room with her husband who had yet to truly wake. He would wake long enough to eat and whatnot, but he didn't respond to questions and he only seemed to notice people when they touched him. But one morning, Julia woke to the soft voice of her husband, murmuring to his new twin daughters as he sat before the fire with them as he had all of his children.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia woke in the early morning hours, before even the sun as she heard Brogan's deep voice. She turned her head on the pillow, tears filling her eyes as she watched him conversing with their little girls in front of the warm fire.

"Brogan?" She murmured softly, her voice weak, but her body still healing.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan's head turned to her, but Julia saw for the first time in more than seven months, his dark eyes focused on her. He gave her a weak but gentle smile. "Mornin' love... it's a little early, y'should still be sleepin'..." His two girls seemed perfectly at peace in his arms, both content and still.

 

[heartofcourage]

Julia was stunned at the sight of her husband watching her so intently after so much sorrow and grief. She couldn't help the tears that gathered in her eyes and fell down her cheeks as she held out her arms to him.

 

[KieranSoares]

Brogan rose and laid the girls on the bed on his side before kneeling by Julia to take her hand in both his own, pressing a kiss to her lips. When they parted, she saw up-close that his eyes still looked a bit foggy from such long disuse, but it would likely go away, and he seemed to be able to see her and perfectly as he had before. "... I'm sorry I wasn' there for ya, darlin'..." he whispered. "It just got t'be too much."