CHAPTER 22

Light came briefly to her bleary eyes. “Pippin?” she whispered hoarsely, “How?” As she began to focus, her gaze fell on the crutches that leaned by the chair where he was sitting. “How…how long?” It was hard to get words out, her voice felt rusty and unused.

He smiled that sweet smile of his, and brushed her forehead gently. “A little over two weeks, dear.”

She gasped, not certain whether it was from the knowledge of how long she had been ill, or from his use of the endearment. Then she began to cough again. It was painful, and tears came to her eyes.

Pippin sat forward. “Mother!”

Eglantine got up from where she had been sitting at the other side of the room, carrying with her a cup containing a mixture that had been left by Lavender.

Pippin sat back out of the way, and Eglantine held the cup to her lips. “You are to drink as much of this as possible, my dear,” said Pippin’s mother.

Diamond recognized the taste, tangy and minty, laced with honey and vinegar, and smelling of herbs, it was a drink that not only eased a cough, but helped to replace the fluids that were lost during an illness due to fever and sweating. She must have been very ill indeed for Mistress Lavender to be using this on her.

She forced herself to drink the whole cup full. At first, she wasn’t sure she would be able to keep it down, but she did, and in a few moments was feeling much clearer. She drew a deep breath, and did not feel the urge to cough. The coughing wasn’t over, she knew, but it was no longer the deep and wracking cough she remembered. The pain of her cough now was left from her earlier trials, which had left her sides and stomach sore.

“Thank you, Mistress Took,” she said, blushing. It felt strange to have herself tended by the Mistress of the Great Smials.

“You’re welcome, Diamond, my dear.” Eglantine stood and went to the door of the room, and called out “Garnet?”

Diamond looked at Pippin, who was frankly staring at her with pleasure. “I must look a sight,” she said, more to say something than anything else.

“A sight for sore eyes,” he said. “It’s good to see you feeling better. I was horribly worried.”

“Were you?”

He nodded. “I’m glad I got my crutches, so I could come and look in on you. I don’t think your mistress was well-pleased.”

“Pippin, I--”

“Shush, now, lass. You don’t have to say anything now. There’ll be time enough for talking later. I’ll tell you a secret:” he leaned close to her ear, “I *can* be patient when I have to, whether anyone believes it or not.”

His voice was furrily pleasant in her ear, and sent a chill of a wholly agreeable kind coursing through her. She blushed again.

Eglantine chose that instant to return, with Opal’s sister Garnet.

“Oh, Diamond! It’s so good to see you awake! I’m going to tell Mistress Lavender. She wanted to know, you see, as soon as you were.” Garnet bent over, and gave Diamond a little peck on the cheek, and hurried out.

Diamond lay back on her pillow, feeling tired out. She meant to stay awake until her mistress came, but she soon drifted off.

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Garnet made her way to the healer’s cottage, and knocked briskly on the door. It was opened in only a few minutes by Lavender, looking as though she had been awakened, but still, fully dressed.

“Mistress Lavender, I know that you wanted to be told as soon as Diamond awakened.”

Lavender nodded. “Let me get my satchel. Who is with her?”

“Cousin Tina and Pippin,” said Garnet.

The healer sighed. She had begun to realize she was fighting a losing battle. The Thain’s son was completely enamored of her apprentice, and with his whole family apparently approving the match, she had no chance to stand against it. And if she were certain it would truly make Diamond happy, she’d gladly withdraw any opposition. But Diamond, she knew, had a healer’s heart. How could the lass be happy if she gave up her life’s ambition now? True, *she herself* was married and practiced her profession. But Polo was a remarkably understanding spouse, and being wife of the Bunce was not nearly as demanding a role as being the wife of the future Took and Thain of all the Shire. She could not imagine Diamond, for example, being able to drop everything to go elsewhere than her home to work the way she had, for a whole year.

And then, of course, there was the whole ethic involved. Peregrin *was* after all, a patient, even if he were the one who initiated things. Grabbing her medical satchel from the hook by the door, she sighed, and followed Garnet to the Smials.

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Merry and Estella were in the Took family sitting room, on the settee usually occupied by Pippin. Paladin had engaged Rosamunda in conversation across the room, and Pearl was occupied with some embroidery in the armchair by the fire. It was as much privacy as they were likely to get for a while.

“Well, Merry? Have you thought any more about what I have asked you?” said Estella seriously.

He sighed, and leaned forward, his hands clasped, his arms leaning on his knees. “I suppose that I am as ready as I will ever be to talk about this to you. I wish that you would re-consider--” he looked at her face, “no, I thought not. You are very stubborn, Miss Bolger.”

“I’m half Took.”

“So am I for all the good it does me,” he said with a rueful chuckle. “This is not something we can talk about right now, though, and--” he stopped. “I can’t really tell all of it to you by myself.” He glanced at her, and she was surprised to see tears standing in his eyes. “Would you mind, terribly, if Pip helped me talk to you? I know it makes me sound a coward, but--some of it, I’m not sure I can get out by myself.” He remembered telling his father, and how drained he had felt afterward; he had thought then that he would never have to recount the full tale again. He was not sure he could.

Estella glanced over to where her mother stood. She was ever so grateful to the Thain for absorbing Rosamunda’s attention. She placed her hand on Merry’s, and bent close to him. “Merry, the last thing you are is a coward. And if having Pippin with you will help you to talk to me, then I don’t mind.” Actually, she did, just a bit, but not enough to matter.

He nodded gratefully. “Give me a day or so to talk to him, and then we will try to arrange a time when we won’t be interrupted.” And he too, gave a brief glance at his future mother-in-law.

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Diamond dozed only lightly, and she opened her eyes immediately at the sound of Mistress Lavender’ s voice in the doorway. She turned to Pippin.

He gave her that smile again, and said, “I know you’ll want to talk to your mistress. I’ll be seeing you again soon.”

Pippin got up a bit awkwardly with his crutches. He was still somewhat wobbly on them, but doing well. He swung himself out of the room, Eglantine hovering at his elbow. His mother was not sure exactly what she would do if he should start to fall, as he was much too large for her to support him. He glanced down at her.

“Mother, I don’t think you should try to cushion my fall,” he laughed, “for though I’m not quite so large as a troll, I’m afraid that I should squash you just the same.”

She looked up into his twinkling eyes, and grinned. It was so good to have him at home.

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Lavender walked over to the bed, and looked at her apprentice. Diamond was pale, her eyes bloodshot, with dark circles underneath. She had clearly lost weight during her illness, as well. The healer placed her hand on her brow--”You’re running a low fever again, Diamond.” She turned to the nearby dresser, and prepared some willow-bark tea, which she brought over.

Diamond scooted up in the bed and took the cup, making a slight face. She began to sip it. “I am sorry to have been so much trouble, Mistress Lavender,” she began.

“Nonsense, my dear. You will learn that healers are *not* immune to the illnesses they treat. You are going to fall ill from time to time. It is inevitable. However, you will never again fall ill from spotted fever. I know that you have had both kinds of pox, and the swelling sickness, so most of the illnesses of children are behind you. There are other sicknesses that are contagious, but many of them are uncommon, and you may never encounter them.”

Diamond nodded.

“You do still hope to become a healer, do you not?” Lavender asked.

“Of course I do!” Diamond was shocked at the question. “Just because I was sick, you think I might back out?”

“No, not just because you have been sick. There is a question between us that we have both been avoiding. Do you return Peregrin Took’s regard?”

Diamond blushed. Then she looked Lavender in the eye defiantly. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

“I see.”

“Mistress, tell me, *why* is it that healers do not get involved with their patients? Many times you can’t help but feel affection for someone!”

“It’s true that you may often find yourself feeling an attachment to a patient, of friendship, or sometimes with children you may feel almost as a parent to them--and while these kinds of involvement are still unwise, it cannot be helped if you have any kind of heart at all. When you care too much about a patient it can sometimes affect your judgement of his or her treatment. It is why a wise healer will ask a colleague to treat family for anything but the mildest of ailments.”

Diamond nodded. She had worked that much out for herself. But it still was not what she wanted to know.

Lavender continued. “A romantic attachment, my dear is different. It is not unknown for a patient to mistake gratitude for love; the healer who takes advantage of that is unethical. A healer with no scruples can even induce a patient to fall in love, especially one of wealth or standing.”

“But what happens if they are truly in love?” she asked. The part about wealth and standing stung. She did not care about Pippin’s wealth or standing, but she was sure there were others who would think she did.

“It’s a prickly question, Diamond.” Lavender’s voice was sad. She was sure she was about to lose this most promising lass.

“Well, I have no intention of giving up on being a healer, Mistress. Neither of us is of age, so we can’t do any formal courting anyway, not and remain respectable. And it will only be a couple of years after that when I finish my apprenticeship.”

“And you think you will be able to practice your profession as the wife of the Thain’s heir?” Lavender was both surprised and hopeful.

“I don’t see why not.” Diamond brought her chin up stubbornly.

Lavender smiled at her. “Well, you are certainly a Took already! Perhaps if anyone is stubborn enough to do that, you will be.”

Diamond sighed with relief. It would be good to have her mistress on her side again.

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