I hurried up the steps of the home of Lord Elrond. Many Elves stared at me as I passed through with the nearly-dead Hobbit cradled gingerly in my arms. They looked shocked to see that I was holding the nearly lifeless Hobbit in my embrace. But I ignored their stares and continued my way to the royal house of Elrond.

And there stood Lord Elrond. He stood at the top of the stairs leading to his grand home. When I approached him, he gave me a slight smile, eyeing the injured Hobbit that I held in my arms.

"Is that the halfling?" he asked, nodding in Frodo's direction.

He still lay unconscious in my arms, nearly dead. I sighed, closed my eyes, and nodded. I tried hard to not let the tears flow. Elrond extended his arms so that he could take in the injured Hobbit.

"I will take him," he offered.

I sighed shakily and pressed a gentle kiss to Frodo's dangerously cold forehead before reluctantly handing Frodo over, doing my best to be careful with him. Elrond also did the same, being incredibly careful with the injured Hobbit.

We began to walk quickly through the empty, silent corridors of the home. There was barely any sound, except for Frodo's desperate gasps for air and an occasional whimper. He was alive, but just barely.

"I was becoming very worried," Elrond explained. "I felt a dark shadow hovering over your party as you and your group were headed here. I sent your cousin, Arwen, to find you. If you had delayed your journey here any longer, he wouldn't have been able to make it."

I shuddered, trying hard to not think of what would have happened if Arwen had not come. Frodo definitely wouldn't have been able to survive if we'd delayed our escape.

Once we'd reached a room, Elrond gave me a firm look in the eye.

"Stay out here," he advised. "I know you are eager to stay with the Halfling, and that you are very protective of him. But this will not be the best thing for you to watch."

I stared at Frodo's sickly-pale face. His chest rose and fell, stuttering heavily in between, as he struggled to breathe. His lips were beginning to turn purple from the sharp cold that flowed through his veins. I finally drew my attention to Lord Elrond again, gripping at his elbow.

"Please," I whispered desperately. "Keep him safe. Make sure he stays alive. I can't lose him. Not now."

Lord Elrond nodded and took Frodo into the nearest bedroom. He closed the door behind him so that I could not see what was going on beyond the walls.

I spent the next hour-and-a-half pacing up and down the corridor, biting at my lower lip as I did when I got anxious. I was pretty sure that they bled at some point from all the biting I'd been doing.

I could hear Frodo whimpering in pain as Lord Elrond tried to get the nasty shard from his wound. I wanted to go in there and comfort the unconscious Hobbit, but I continued to do as Lord Elrond told me. I continued to pace up and down the halls of the elves, waiting for Lord Elrond to get done.

Finally, Lord Elrond opened the door, and I turned sharply to face him expectantly. My eyes lingered on the blood stains on Lord Elrond's fingers, and my face paled. For a split second, I thought that Frodo had not made it, as there were bloodstains all over Lord Elrond's hands.

Frodo's blood.

I froze. My face paled even more as I realized what I was seeing. But, luckily, Lord Elrond smiled gently at me, causing me to relax, knowing that Lord Elrond had succeeded in healing that innocent Hobbit. 

"He is safe now, Elysia," said Lord Elrond, and I allowed my body to relax. "I have managed to get the shard out of the wound; it was slowly going towards his heart. If the shard had succeeded, he would have turned into one of them. It took me a while to find it, but I managed to get the thing out."

He pulled out a cloth that he kept in his pockets and carefully unwrapped the shard to reveal it to me. I shuddered at the sight of it. Despite the amount of blood that covered the small shard still glinted in a dull, menacing way.

Tears began to brim my eyes. Who knew that such a tiny piece of a blade could cause an innocent Hobbit so much pain?

"Can I see him?" I asked, though I hesitated. I didn't know what Lord Elrond would say. But to my surprise, he just smiled.

"Of course, you can, little one. I know that he is very special to you, Elysia. But don't expect him to fully wake up for a couple of days. He may awaken from the pain in his shoulder, but please get me if he is in any sort of pain."

He stepped aside and allowed me to go into Frodo's bedroom. There he laid on the bed, his expression peaceful, but his face still slightly pale. He no longer looked as though he was in pain, and that greatly relieved me. I noticed that his lips were no longer purple as they had been days before. They were now the same, soft, pink lips. Both of his arms were out on the top of the comforter that covered is still body. I was relieved that this Hobbit was no longer in any pain.

I smiled softly at him before approaching his side. I slid down on the edge of his bed, shoulder-to-shoulder with him. I reached my hand out and gently held his hand in mine, carefully lacing our fingers together. 

"I will stay by your side, Frodo Baggins," I whispered in a soft voice. I pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek. I watched him as he slept peacefully on the bed. His chest rose and fell softly. So unlike what it had been before when it had been stuttering. "I promise, I will not leave you."

In the middle of the night, I was awoken to someone whimpering. The whimpering sounded familiar, and it took me a second for me to realize who the whimpering belonged to. My eyes snapped open, and immediately went to comfort him, whispering soothingly to him as his entire body tensed. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was trying to claw at his wound with his free hand.

"Shh," I said in a quiet voice as I grabbed the hand that was trying to claw at the wound in his sleep. With my other hand, I brushed the stray curls from his forehead. "It's alright, sweetheart. You're safe. Nothing can hurt you here, okay? I promise."

It took a while, but eventually, Frodo began to calm down, but his breathing was still a little shaky. His chest rose and fell sharply, stuttering slightly. He slowly blinked open his eyes. I knelt down next to his bedside and smiled gently at him as I brushed back some of the hair that rested on his forehead

"Hey, sweetheart," I cooed in a soft voice. "I'm here. Nothing can hurt you."

He suddenly winced, whimpering slightly, gripping my hand more tightly than before. That immediately got me concerned.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"It burns, Elysia," he said in a quiet voice. "It burns."

"What burns?" I whispered softly. I continued to run my fingers through his hair in an attempt to comfort him.

He winced again, trying to bring his hand over the wound. But I stopped him, preventing the injured Hobbit from messing with it. The less he messed with it, the faster it would heal. The faster it would heal, the better.

"My shoulder," he whimpered.

Tears came to his eyes, and his breathing became heavy again as he looked away.

"I'll get Lord Elrond for you. Okay? I won't be gone for too long, I promise."

He winced again, clutching my hand, hard, before I left. "Please hurry. It really hurts."

"Of course," I replied.

I bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead. And with that, I made my way down the magnificent halls of Rivendell and managed to find Lord Elrond's study. I stood at the entrance to his office for a moment, as he was writing something, before clearing my throat to get his attention. He jumped slightly, startled. He then turned to face me, a slight smile on his face.

"Elysia! What are you doing up at this time of night?"

"Well, Lord Elrond. . . . It's kinda urgent," I admitted.

Lord Elrond raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by 'urgent'?"

"Urgent enough for you to come immediately," I replied, drawing myself to my full height. "It's Frodo's shoulder, sir. He woke up with pain in his wound a few minutes ago. I was hoping that you'd be able to come and fix it."

Lord Elrond smiled slightly. "That I can do. You can lead the way."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

We went over to the bed chamber that Frodo currently rested in. As we neared the room, I could hear him whimpering in pain. I walked more quickly to get to him and wrenched his bedroom door open.

My heart broke when I saw how much pain he was in. I noticed that he clutched at the wound on his shoulder. His entire body tensed up from the pain, and he pressed his heels more deeply into the mattress, his back arched slightly.

"Frodo," I said in a soft voice.

He must have heard my voice because his eyes opened. So much pain was held in them. I hurried over and took the hand that messed with his wound, in my own, and he squeezed it tightly. I pressed my other hand firmly, but gently, to his forehead.

My heart sank. His temperature was dropping again. Maybe not nearly as much as it had been when he was first injured, but still not good.

"Please hurry, Lord Elrond. It's really hurting him," I pleaded desperately as I began to brush some of the loose curls from his forehead. Frodo squeezed my hand more tightly than before, whimpering.

Lord Elrond swiftly made his way to Frodo's side, and undid a few buttons of his nightshirt before getting to the wound. He placed a hand over the nearly-healed wound that was covered by a sheet of gold cloth, and chanted a spell to help get rid of the pain. 

  Slowly, Frodo's violent shivering had ceased, and his body relaxed. He softly closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of content. Some of the color returned to his face a little bit, much to my relief. He looked the same again, no longer delirious with pain. 

I smiled softly at his sleeping form, brushing his curls through my fingers. I looked up at Lord Elrond, smiling gratefully at him.

"Thank you, Lord Elrond."

He bowed his head, smiling slightly. "Of course, Eirina. And, like you just did, if Frodo is in any more pain, come and get me. I'll heal him."

"Thank you."

"I will leave the two of you alone. Good night."

"Good night," I replied,

He left, leaving the two of us together. I sat back down in my seat, staring at Frodo's young, innocent face. There was no longer any trace of pain etched in his skin, which relieved me from my stress. I hated to see him be in so much pain.

I began to doze off as well, but Frodo began to stir again, causing me to become alert, in case he was in any more pain. He slowly blinked his eyes open until they landed on me. I smiled, leaning forward to brush some of the looser strands of hair away from his forehead. He leaned into my touch, causing me to smile. He continued to blink the sleep out of his eyes so that he could see more clearly, but his eyes were still half closed from exhaustion.

"Hey, sweetheart," I murmured in a soft voice.

"H-Hey," he answered, his voice slightly hoarse.

"How are you feeling?"

He winced, clutching my hand, but not nearly as badly as he did when he was first stabbed on Weathertop.

"In pain. But that's expected." He hesitated, blushing slightly. "C-Can you maybe stay next to me tonight?"

I smiled and bumped my nose gently against his, causing him to smile softly as well. God, I missed that smile!

"Of course. I'll always be by your side. I'm not gonna leave you, okay? I promise."

I went to the other side of the bed and laid down. I could feel Frodo's eyes watching me as I got myself adjusted to a comfortable position. Once I'd gotten adjusted, I patted my chest, allowing Frodo to rest on top of me. He blushed before slowly making his way over. He then settled down, getting comfortable. He snuggled against me, an arm wrapped around my waist, sighing happily. 

I wrapped a protective arm around his waist, bringing him closer to me. His head fit perfectly beneath my chin. Frodo continued to adjust himself into a more comfortable position before going still.

"Sleep now, sweetheart," I murmured in a soft voice as I gently ran my fingers through his curly hair. I could feel Frodo's body relaxing against mine. I pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead, causing a slight smile to appear on his lips as he got himself comfortable at my side. "You're safe, now. I promise."