Despite having a guard that he didn’t know, Crow slept much better that night that he had the last. He mostly attributed his success to the blanket Jane had been forced to bring him. It wasn’t enough to keep the cold completely away, but it certainly helped quite a bit, leaving him much warmer than the night before. He still slept lightly, since he still wasn’t safe in the camp of his enemies, but he managed to rest fully throughout the night, and woke up feeling more well-rested in the morning.

Crow yawned and stretched as much as he could without straining his wound, feeling better already. There was still a deep ache in his body from the injury, but at least he wasn’t in so much pain that he could barely breathe. This was much more manageable. He hoped that as the days went on, the soreness that remained would start to lessen as well, because his appetite was finally starting to come back. He doubted he was in any condition to eat just three days after receiving such a serious wound though. If he tried, he would probably just hurt himself even worse. It wasn’t worth the risk.

He winced and shifted slightly on the bed as his stomach chose that moment to let out a low growl. After going a few days without food, he was beginning to feel the effects of not eating. He brought a hand to his chest and traced his fingers down the length of his torso. It was still subtle, but he could feel the faint outline of his ribs. He was definitely losing weight. He sighed. In addition to that, he felt physically weaker too, with a lethargy to his movements and a lightheadedness that plagued the clarity of his thoughts. He had a suspicion that, if he wasn’t able to eat again soon, these symptoms were going to become more unbearable than the pain of his actual wound.

“Do you need anything from Jane?”

Crow turned at the sound of a familiar voice to see that his guard from the night before had been replaced sometime during the night with Gavin. “No,” he shook his head in response to the knight’s question. While he would have liked someone to bring him food, he could tell from the pain alone that he was in no condition to eat yet. He supposed he could ask the physician how much longer she thought it would be before he could eat again, but it wasn’t an urgent question, so he saw no reason to pester her at that very moment. She already despised treating him. He didn’t want to start calling her over to answer his questions and irritate her further.

“If you’re certain,” Gavin shrugged, leaning back into the chair he was seated on.

“I am,” Crow affirmed, closing his eyes again as he rested. “But… thank you.” It was still strange to him to be able to speak with Gavin so calmly, but he appreciated the knight’s intent to make sure he was getting proper care.

Gavin just grunted in response, and the two men lapsed into silence again.

With nothing else to do, Crow decided to take a nap, since it would make the time go faster, and he found sleeping to be more pleasant than lying awake and in pain. So, letting out his breath in a slow exhale, he drifted off into a light sleep as he waited for Penelope to visit again.