When I awakened, I had no clue where I might be. I was in a soft and comfortable bed, in a room lit by soft sunlight. I blinked. How long had I been asleep? I wondered. I tried to sit up, but found myself feeling very weak.

"Good morning, Trotter." It was Elrohir who sat by my side.

"Where am I? What time is it?"

"You are in my father's house," he said. "It is about an hour before noon. You have been asleep for ten days."

I blinked. Ten days? I tried to remember what had happened. "Thorn! How is Thorn?"

Elrohir smiled. "He is doing well. After all, his injury was to his head, which is the hardest part of him! He will be sorry to learn he missed your waking, for he has spent most of the last ten days by your side."

I tried to move, but once more was foiled by my weakness. "Why can't I move?"

"You have been given medicine to prevent pain, and you are gravely injured my friend."

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling foolish.

"Let me go find my father. I believe that he can explain things to you better than I." Elrohir rose, and I noticed how grave his expression was.

While I waited for his return, I looked about me. The room was very large, as was the bed in which I lay. To my right was a bank of great arched windows, uncovered by curtains. The center window stood open, and a pleasant breeze wafted in. Beyond the windows, I could see the tops of trees, and far past them in the distance, a waterfall. I turned my head to the left, and saw a beautifully carved chair-- the one in which Elrohir had been sitting. Against the whitewashed wall on the far side of the room stood a tall chest, and a tapestry hung next to it. I could not see the subject of the tapestry very well, but the colours were rich and vibrant.

I could see the door beyond the foot of the vast bed. It opened, and I saw an Elf enter, Elrohir behind him.

"Good morning, Master Hildifons. I am Elrond, Master of this House. I tended your wounds when my son and his friends brought you here."

"What happened to me? I mean, I know the rock fell-- that's the last thing I remember…"

He sat down in the chair next to me and leaned towards me.

"Master Hildifons, you were pulled almost free as the rock fell. But your feet were caught by it. It took quite some time for Elrohir and the others to remove the debris and free your feet. They were very badly damaged. Elrohir knew that healing them was beyond his power, and you were in much pain. So he put you into a deep healing sleep, and you were brought here to Rivendell, that I might tend you."

I bit my lip. "My feet are beginning to ache," I said. Indeed, I could feel them starting to throb.

"I will have a draught brought to you for your pain, for it is likely to increase now that you have wakened."

"How soon will they be healed?" I asked.

He gazed at me intently for several minutes, and then sighed. "It will take a long time, I am afraid, and they may never be healed completely."

My eyes widened in shock. "What do you mean? Why? Will I be able to walk?"

"You will be able to walk," he said, "but possibly never as well as before, and it will take a long time. Let me explain: in both your feet, the long bones which connect your toes to your heels were broken, all five of them in your left foot, and in your right foot all but the last one. In addition, the large bones in your heel were also broken in your left foot. Your left foot was crushed far more badly than the right. The difficulty in the healing of your feet is that the arch of your feet will never be the same, and your feet, especially the left heel, are likely to ache badly for the rest of your life. It will be a long time before you are able to walk again, and you may need aids to do so."

I shuddered and felt tears spring to my eyes. I would be a cripple.

"Another thing concerns me. The sharp rocks also damaged the hair and skin on the tops of your feet, scraping off a good deal of the hair and some of the skin as well. I fear that it will never grow back as well as before. The tops of your feet are likely to be rather unsightly after this."

I could not help it. I burst into tears and wept like a faunt

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Author's Note: My thanks to SurgicalSteel for all of her help in figuring out Trotter's injuries.