Gimli looked inside the cave and was surprised to see Frodo and Sam apparently asleep. Stepping inside, he walked over to them as quietly as possible to make sure both Hobbits still breathed. Being satisfied on that account, he began to move some boulders over to the cave entrance to stack them at night, as was the routine. The boulders would provide some shelter from the wind and make their presence there a bit less conspicuous if the enemies’ spies were patrolling the area. Once he had moved all the boulders he could find, he stepped out again to find some small stones to fill in the cracks as much as possible.

Sam meanwhile, woke up and looked around restlessly. He was under strict instructions to rest as much as possible, but that was completely unnatural for him and it was becoming stressful. Finally, he felt he could take it no longer. He pressed his back against the wall for support and got up slowly to walk around the cave. The fact that he was overly optimistic quickly became apparent, however. He took a few tentative steps, but fell to his knees before he got much more than a few feet. Gimli appeared in the doorway at that very moment. Sam blushed scarlet and wondered how to defend himself as the Dwarf eyed him critically.

“Did Aragorn not tell you to rest?” Gimli asked at last. “How are you going to recover if you over exert yourself?”

The Hobbit stammered for a few seconds and pointed out that Gimli had apparently been moving heavy boulders. “At least I wasn’t doing that!” he countered. “Begging your pardon, Mr. Gimli, but you seemed to have been exerting yourself more than I was.”

“You were told to rest, I was not,” Gimli reminded him flatly. Sam knew this was true, of course. His argument failed to carry much weight, he realized. He slammed the wall with his fist, having nothing else to say and feeling only frustration and despair at that moment. Gimli’s expression softened. He had never been a particularly caring person. As a Dwarf, he was not brought up that way. In this case, however, he felt Sam’s pain acutely. Enforced rest would seem like torture to him, he realized. Enduring it would take all the inner strength he had.

“I understand your feelings, Master Samwise,” he said quietly, kneeling by the Hobbit’s side. “I absolutely despise feeling idle, but this is the only way for you to regain your strength and we need you and Frodo needs you. You make such a difference to him, what would he do if he lost you?”

Sam’s eyes snapped open at the mention of Frodo’s name, then he looked down silently for a minute. “You’re right, of course,” he said at last. “It’s just that, I never had to keep still for any length of time, unless I wanted to. My family wouldn’t approve, I’m sure. All my life I’ve been taught the value of hard work and endurance. It's just not natural for me.”

“I understand that,” Gimli told him, “but let me share something with you that might help. I believe that everything happens for a reason, even if that reason is beyond our comprehension. Perhaps this is a test for you, or a chance to learn of a different kind of hard work. If I were in your situation, I would consider it the ultimate test of courage and endurance.”

“Oh, I never that of it way,” Sam replied thoughtfully. “I think my family could accept that, when they understood that I couldn’t help Mr. Frodo if I didn’t get well myself.”

“I believe they would, Sam. But the important thing is, do you understand and have you accepted it?”

Sam considered this for a minute. It wasn’t his way to think solely of himself, or even by himself. He had always consulted his family when he was even slightly unsure of something, but things were different here. He was completely on his own for the first time and had to make independent decisions. He found it frightening, but liberating at the same time.

“Yes,” he said at last. “My responsibility to Mr. Frodo is to take care of myself, so I’ll rest for as long I’m told to, even though it’s going to be difficult. Would help me get back to back to my bedroll, Mr. Gimli?”

As Gimli helped Sam to his feet wondering how well he could hold up in a situation like that and hoping he would never have to find out, Frodo, who had been listening silently to this conversation rolled over and smiled to himself.