Breaking the Rules

[GoblinFae]

Harkness' sudden collapse onto the table made Primrose's heart stop for a moment. That moment though seemed to last a lifetime as she stared in shock, listening to his slurred and slow speech. His face was pale and drenched in sweat. It was quite obvious that something was wrong.

Eyes still focused on the elf, Primrose jumped out of her seat, knocking over the chair and moved to stand beside him. "Harkness? Harkness are you alright? Can you hear me?" She did not wait to hear his response as she pressed a steady hand to his neck and forehead. 'No fever. I don't understand. It's all so sudden!'

[Haze]

What was that? There was a little buzzing sound in his ear now, and something hot and heavy drumming down on his head and neck. He groaned as he unfurled his hands from the table, and swatted at Primrose's hands. "G'way." His breathing shallowed, thin and reedy as he took in quick short gasps, without exhaling properly.

And then he was moving, as if in slow motion. Hark forced his eyes open for one short moment, reached across the table and swiped at the plate of cookies as he went tumbling out of the chair. For a man usually of such grace, his faint was anything but graceful. The plate went crashing off the table, cookies breaking all over the floor, and all over and into Hark's hair.

[GoblinFae]

"Harkness!" she screamed, lunging for him as he went tumbling to the ground. Primrose immediately went into crisis mode. "Jolie! Jain! Janus!" Kneeling beside him, the woman took his head and placed it into her lap while trying to roll him onto his side. His weak, erratic breathing greatly concerned her as she tried to quickly diagnose his problem.

The three called-for figures dashed into the kitchen each with a different reaction. Jolie gasped and froze in place beside the silent Janus while Jain rushed to his mistress' side. "What happened Miss Primrose?" She waved them over and took command of the situation. "Jolie hold his head, make sure his airways, his mouth and nose are clear. If he vomits he'll choke and die. Janus I need you to talk to him for me. Alright? You need to help me keep him conscious."

Her hands moved to press on his chest repeatedly, harder and harder as she struggled with what was happening. "He's having a heart attack." Primrose was in a completely different mindset than her usual nervous and boisterous state. Her hands did not shake nor did her voice. There was a stern sureness about what her movements and words that exemplified exactly why she was gifted enough to teach at the healer's college even if they would not let her.

Jolie took one of Harkness' hands in her own as she held his head. The movement caught Primrose's attention and gave her pause. 'What did I just see?' Taking the elf's other hand in her own she examined his nails, shocked to find them turning a shade of purple-blue. "Kia! It's not a heart attack."

Primrose's eyes flashed up to meet Jain's. 'He's been poisoned!' Her breathing sped up even as her secret love's began to slow. "Janus switch places with your mother. Jolie garlic, I need garlic. Quickly!"

The older man placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned into her ear. "What is it Primmy?" She swallowed heavily, her eyes tearing up as she squeezed Harkness' hand in her own. "Poison." Her breath left her in a whoosh of air as she fought to maintain control. "Settle child. You can do this. You will save him. He needs you!"

She nodded her head and accepted the cooked garlic from Jolie. Even as it burned her fingers from coming just off the fire she took them up and mashed them up as best as she could before trying to feed them to the elf. "Come on Harkness!" she sobbed. Jain took the food from her and began to take over assisting feeding the male, palpating his throat to make him swallow.

[Haze]

He was so unaware of all the hustle and bustle going on around him. There was a solid heaviness over his body that he couldn't bring himself out of. Everything was cold. Everything was in black. He struggled and fought inside his mind to come up from the abyss. As Primrose fed him the garlic, his body acted of it's own accord, gagging and choking on the mashed stuff, but slowly and surely getting it down.

For a moment his eyes flickered open, looking unseeingly towards the ceiling. Then his mouth started moving. "Xun... naut cal... ol. S'ck." Everything was a struggle, his words slurred and garbled. His eyes fixed for a moment on Primrose's face, and he smiled lop-sidedly. "Sokoya... Dos ph' ji ... ssin'urn...

"F'sarn aluin ulu el." And he fell back into his stupor.

[GoblinFae]

Primrose gently caressed his face, trying not to grimace as she felt how clammy his skin had become. "Shh ssinssrigg. Usstan zhaun, Usstan tlun lorith doeb whol dos. V'dre, dos ph' naut aluin ulu el, naut pholor ussta kyorl." She tried to smile but could only feel her lips wobble instead. Pulling herself together, the noblewoman instructed the two healthy males to help her carry the elf upstairs to her bed where she could better tend to him and keep him comfortable.

Much of the night passed this way, with Primrose tending to Harkess and the other three hovering close at hand. When the sun at last began to make its ascent in the sky, all had fallen asleep in various places about the room. Janus lay curled up against Harkness' side with the teddy bear squished in between them while Jain and Jolie had fallen asleep huddled together on the couch. Primrose on the other hand had fallen asleep kneeling on the floor by the bed with her head rested on where her small hands clutched one of the elf's larger ones.