The way to Gondor (Aragorn and Legolas fanfic)

Terrible news

Aragorn POV

My head hurt as I woke up. Gandalf sat at my side on a chair and watched me. Slowly, I tried to sit up, but the happenings of the night came back to me. Pictures of broken chairs and extreme pain flooded my mind, and with a silent cry I fell back on my pillows again. At the same time, I felt the tears run down my cheeks, and I couldn't stop them. 

"Just rest, Aragorn", the old wizard said to me with a kind smile, but even in my state, I could see his concern. 

"What happened to me?", I whispered and stared up at the ceiling.

"You should rest first, then I will tell you."

"No!", I said louder. "I must know now!"

He sighed.

"I'm not sure about it", he started, and didn't seem to want to continue, but I gave him the sternest look I could come up with, so he went on. "You had some kind of fit, and even though I have not seen such things before, I must say I think I know what it was."

This sounded really bad. But whatever it was, I needed to know the answer.

"Have you been attacked lately?", he interrupted his explanation. I looked at him, then sighed.

"Not really", I said, but then I remembered something. "Just ... some days after Moria ... "

Suddenly he was all ears and sat up straighter. "What about it?"

"We had just started our journey from the mines, and we rested in the forest for one night. Around midnight, we were attacked by some stray wolves, but we killed almost all of them. Gimli and Boromir got a few bruises, and I was wounded on my side, but it was nothing really. Legolas apparently thought it was worse than it looked, because he took me to Lórien and the white lady, and I was healed quickly. But I don't even feel the wound anymore, it's surely not important", I answered.

Gandalf was not surprised at all. Instead, he gave me a sad look.

"You should have told me about this, Aragorn. This wound was more than you think, and the same counts for the wolves. Pull down the blanket and look at it!", he said.

I did as he told me, but found it rather strange. What met my eyes was however not at all what I had expected. My left side, where the wound had been, which had been completely healed again, was bandaged tightly. The middle was colored bright red, and it smelled of blood and herbs.

"What has happened to me?", I whispered. The tears started running down my face again, and I was to tired to wipe them away. 

"We had to cut it open last night", the wizard said soothingly, but that didn't make me feel better at all. All I could do was whisper: "Why?"

"Lady Éowyn did it. She knew better than me what to do. You see, these wolves were werewolves, and not simply that." He told me about the Morinaura, and I didn't want to believe a word of what he said. "Éowyn knew she had to try to draw out the poison from your blood, and it needed to be done at its source, which is why you have that bandage on your side. Aragorn, I must tell you: I was scared about you. I don't know if it is enough to get the poison out, and if not, I don't know if I can help you."

The news were hard to hear. Basically I was deadly sick, being a danger to myself and others, and noone knew how to heal me. I needed to let the thoughts sink for some minutes and Gandalf just watched me. Finally I closed my eyes and he stood up to leave.

"Don't let Legolas come here, I don't want him to see me in this state", was the last thing I said before I drifted off to sleep again. I didn't know it, but Gandalf stood there a long time, looking at me. Then he left to wake up Éowyn and Gimli.