Am I a True Bro? - Part 10

Ow...

Kailee's head was in a soupy fog. She tried moving her hand, but it fell feebly back onto the bed she lay on. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes to a wooden ceiling strung with old-fashioned lights. Blinking, she somehow found the strength to move her head again...it looked like some sort of infirmary, lined with beds with clean white sheets.

Her arms were feeling a bit stronger now, and she lifted her hand to her face. Loudly sighing, she made a move to sit up in bed, which proved to be a mistake. A big one...

"....AHH!" she cried out, seized with pain all around her torso. "Ow, ow, ow...." she groaned, letting herself fall back into bed. Where on earth was she now? And where were the others?

Her voice must have alerted someone, because a dark head of hair poked in through an open door. "Oh, you're awake!" he said, his soft features showing clear relief. He began walking closer to Kailee's bed, and she quickly noted that his eyes were a deep forest green, not piercing amber. "We were all so worried, you were bleeding very badly!" he continued, revealing a glint of light from his round and clear glasses, "You could hardly tell Stephano's robes were yellow when he brought you in!"

Wait, Stephano? So...she was obviously still in the game.

Kailee cleared her throat, almost anxiously. This young man had the dark brown hair of Barrels she had already seen, but his was in a neat and straight hairstyle, and his green eyes betrayed no sinister intent...at least, nothing obvious..nor was he wearing much brown. His long pants were, but his tunic and vest matched the deep green of his eyes.

"Who...who are you?" she finally asked. The boy looked surprised, and gave an embarrassed laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot about myself...I'm Clarence, but...my friends here just call me 'Mr. Chair'." he smiled as he continued,"I heard from Stephano that your name is Kailee?"

"Ah...yes, that's me." Giving another attempt to sit up, Kailee suddenly started feeling lightheaded. Mr. Chair reached her side as she collapsed back into bed again, placing a warn hand on her bare shoulder.  Kailee felt her face flush at the contact...where did her shirt go?!

"Stop moving so much, please! You lost a lot of blood, and I hardly want to see you faint again because of it!" He said, gently pushing her back down.

Kailee quietly sighed, and dropped a hand against her face to block out the light. "O...okay...but, where are the others?"

"Ah....Pewdie had to leave, but Stephano, Piggeh and Jennifer are all waiting outside..." Mr. Chair replied, moving away from her bed. Across the room, he reached into a cabinet and pulled out a small bottle and cloth bandages. "Pewds was so upset when he ran out of time to stay, but he promised to come back bright and early tomorrow!"

"You mean...I have to spend the night here?" Kailee groaned at the thought.

"Hey! This place isn't ALL that bad, you know."

"Oh? You don't look like you got clawed by a monster!"

"Well, you gamers leap right into trouble, I've learned how to avoid it with chair-mode!"

Kailee found the strength to cross her arms, and she loudly sniffed. Clarence just started laughing, and snagged a vial of Laudanum and an empty bottle. He brought the tonics to a clear desk, and expertly began measuring liquids in the lone bottle. Stirring the mixture, he picked it up, and carried it and the bandages back to Kailee.

Mr. Chair was evidently the resident Doctor of Brennburg Castle!

He slowly turned Kailee over in the bed, and began unraveling the bandages that were wrapped tightly around her torso. She anxiously cleared her throat, and she felt the cloth stop moving on her back.

"Everything alright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah, uhm....." Kailee buried her flushed face with the pillow, and finally asked, "What...happened to my shirt?" In response, she heard Clarence chuckle, and he continued removing the bandages.

"Well....I didn't think you'd really want it back, it was pretty much in tatters!" he admitted, his laughter fading at the memory. "Don't worry though; you have a replacement waiting." His voice dropped as he continued working, and Kailee's back was now bare. The formerly clear skin now had three angry red tears that were thankfully, closing fast.

"Ow...!" Kailee bit her lip as she felt air, but the painful groan managed to escape.

Working quickly, Mr. Chair soaked the fresh bandages in the mixed tonic, and gently dabbed the rest into Kailee's back. He then started re-wrapping. Within minutes, Kailee's entire torso was covered again, and Mr. Chair was throwing the old bandages away.

He barely had the time to open the door and poke his head out when the impatiently waiting members of the Bro Army made their entrances! Jennifer, Stephano, and Piggeh nearly ran over the poor Mr. Chair, and crowded around Kailee's bed.

"I'm pumped, I'm so freaking pumped, to finally meet you!" Piggeh loudly announced, reaching her first. With him so close, it wasn't easy to miss the bright pink ears poking just above his messy hair. Taking her hand to shake, he lightly kissed it. Grinning at Kailee's reddened face, he continued, "Oooh, you look so...pretty close-up~!"

The pig got about three more seconds to "marvel" at her before a hand sharply took hold of his ear. "Ow, ow, ow owowow!" he cried out as Stephano dragged him away from the flustered Kailee. "Lemme go!"

"Certainly! After you stop harassing the patient." He replied, dropping the ear. Beside him, Jennifer rolled her dark eyes and took Kailee's other hand, ignoring the bickering pair.

"I'm so glad you're awake!" she managed to say, "We were all so worried... you were bleeding so badly, I just had to follow a trail of-"

Kailee had started to go pale again as Jennifer went on, and by then, the trampled Mr. Chair had returned. "Jennifer, please...no need to give her nightmares!" he interrupted. The flustered stone quickly backed away, muttering an apology.

"S-so..." Kailee murmured, lowering her head. "Pewdie's up and left me for the night?"

"No, of course not!" came Stephano's timely response from across the room with Piggeh, "He swore to me that he'd be back early the next morning!"

Kailee rested her head against the pillow as Jennifer quietly returned to her bedside. "Even if he is, you'd need to be careful moving around in the morning." Mr. Chair piped up from her other side, as he moved bottles of tonic from cabinet to cabinet, "Despite the Laudanum wrap, the cuts will take at least a day to heal up complet...."

Slowly turning over in bed, Kailee shut her eyes and without meaning to, blocked out the incessant arguing, as well as Mr. Chair's voice. She tried holding onto Pewdie's echoed promise, but even that faded from her mind as she began to drift into sleep.