I Just Wanted To Help

His plans of leaving delayed unexpectedly, will Keogh ever be the same again?

   He was having that same dream again: suspended in swirling darkness, the silence suffocating. He felt a sharp tingling all over, as if he was being pricked with a thousand needles at once. He tried moving his limbs, but every movement merely led to greater pain. He was trapped. He tried to look over his surroundings, but he couldn’t move his head or open his eyes. He suddenly felt terribly cold and lonely. He wanted nothing more than to escape from this desolate darkness, bur where could he go? There was nowhere he could go even if he could move. Suddenly, a great light appeared in the distance, burning with warmth against his sightless eyes. He desperately tried reaching out to the light, and at last felt his arm move, but this brought about an unbearable, searing pain that quickly spread throughout his body. The pain was becoming unbearable; all he wanted to do was scream! Then, finally…

 

   He screamed.

 

   Instantly he came to his senses; he felt…warm, thankfully. A few sparse rays of sunlight had frolicked over the thick blanket which now covered him, leaving him in their warm embrace. He looked up at the window next to the bed he found himself on, where the dawn sunlight was slowly sneaking in. He quickly pushed the blanket off and stood up to examine his new surroundings. It was right about then that he realized how much he was hurt. A dull pounding in his head, coupled with a sharp, piercing pain in his chest, was more than enough to ground him again with a dull thud.

 

   “Hey, what the…” a voice cried out from the next room, followed by footsteps. “You’re in no shape to be going anywhere, mister!”

 

   Next thing he knew, she was at his side, helping him up. That same girl he had only met a day ago; he barely knew her. Why was she…here…? He couldn’t remember…and he was in too much pain to care, regardless. With her assistance, he struggled to find his balance and make his stiff and sore limbs work. His head still throbbed, but the pain began to let up once he was safely in bed. Satisfied, she sat down on a chair near the bed, looking rather perturbed.

   “Don’t you dare try that again, got it?!” she scolded.

   “Sorry…” whispered Keogh, eyes closed, trying to relax.

   “I’m pretty sure you broke a few ribs, so just take it easy the next few days, ok?” she reassured him, visibly upset, “It’s safe here, so don’t worry.”

    Silence fell back over the room. She wanted to apologize to him, but he was already asleep. For the past day she had been telling herself that maybe, if she hadn’t tried to play the hero on her first day in the city, none of this would have happened. More than anything she hated the reality she had found here, on her first visit to the capital. She had witnessed it firsthand the night Keogh was attacked. There was silence; then suddenly a rush of voices and a blur of activity from outside. Rushing out to see what was happening, she found a powerful-looking man beating several thugs off a bloodied, limp body. She was shocked to recognize the red mop of hair from the man who had helped her earlier that day. Fortunately, he was alive, albeit badly injured, so she attempted to treat his wounds. Satisfied that the thugs were either gone or unconscious, the powerful-looking man approached her. Duke, he introduced himself as. Duke paid for a room at the inn and asked her to take care of the wounded Keogh for a few days.

   “You stay here; it’s too dangerous for you to be in town.”

   “Um, are you his father?” she had asked him.

   “No, just a concerned friend. Take good care of him.”

   With that, Duke left. A day had passed since that incident when Keogh woke up for the first time. He was in pretty bad shape; based on her rudimentary knowledge of first aid, she suspected he had a concussion and several broken ribs, not to mention the black eye, broken nose, and numerous other bruises. ‘Who would do this to another human being?’ she thought. Satisfied he was fast asleep, she turned to leave him be once more, when he spoke up. He had been working up the nerve to ask her the one question bugging him since they met.

   “So…umm…” he quietly spoke up, “I don’t even know…err…what’s your name?”

   Surprised, she turned to face him, smiling softly. “It’s Aria,” she said.

   Keogh breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again. “Nice to meet you, Aria…”

   Before she could reply, he was fast asleep.

 

   “I’m sorry, Aria.”

   Those three words had caught her completely off guard. The sun shone brightly on her third day in the city, but no word from Duke had come yet. Although still bruised and sore, Keogh appeared to be much more coherent today. He was awake and talking, but this was the last thing she expected to hear.

   “W-what? Why?” she asked him, surprised.

   “I’ve taken up too much of your time, haven’t I?”

   “Don’t say that! You’re the victim, here!” she scolded. “Besides, your friend asked me to take care of you.”

   “Really?” he wondered. He didn’t have any friends in his line of work.

   “Yeah, what was his name…” she recalled, “Duke!”

   “Duke?!” he said, surprised. Duke was there? He recalled barely hearing a scuffle going on around him after the thugs had left him alone. Was that him?

   “He found you before I did. You were hurt pretty bad, so don’t apologize, ok?” she smiled.

   “Ok,” he replied, “Sorry.” Aria sighed; ‘What a piece of work,’ she thought.

   “By the way, I never got to ask,” he spoke up, “Why did you come here in the first place?”

   “Well, I was looking for someone,” she replied.

   “Did you find them?”

   “Your friend Duke is asking around in town for me. He should be back later today,” she said. Shifting uncomfortably in her chair, she asked nervously, “Keogh? Do you remember your parents at all?”

   Keogh shook his head no. “Sorry,” she sighed, “Well, I grew up in an orphanage. The couple who run it, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson, are the only parents I’ve ever known. Just last week, Mr. Nelson disappeared. I just…just…” Aria looked like she wanted to cry. “I just wanted to help them! That’s why I came here!”

   “I’ll help” Keogh said.

   “What?”

   “I’ll help!” he repeated, trying to sit up, and grimacing in pain as a result. “I’ll help…once I can move again.”

   “Okay, then hurry up!” she laughed.

   “I’m trying!” he smiled, closing his eyes.

   “Thanks…” she whispered softly.

Author's Note

To be completed and posted soon today. Please let me know if something doesn't make sense plot-wise to you, and any flagrant grammar errors.

Reviews

[Matthew Ian Herrawood W]

keogh is in two places at once in this. in the inn and in the street with Duke. it near the begining so you should be able to find it pretty easily. but apart from that it was good.

[Kelley]

I think your plot was perfect and this chapter was quite interesting.
Just the right amount suspense and action. Keep them coming.

Kelley