36: The Storm Takes its Toll

The students used the bathrooms in shifts, since none wished to venture too far from the cafeteria. With no hot water available, large pots of water were warmed on the stove and then set on a service counter with a dipper. A bowl was placed next to it with some liquid soap and everyone used their own towels. After each person washed, the bowl was emptied and wiped clean before the next person was allowed to use it. It was a slow process but most of the students took it in good stride, lining up with blankets around them. Once washed, they went through the cafeteria line for scrambled eggs and bacon, toast and juice, a few joking with their teachers who had donned aprons and were happily serving them. Since the tables and chairs had been cleared out, stacked in the hallways along the third floor dorms, everyone returned to their sleeping bags and ate there, chattering away about the ‘camp-out’ as they were calling it, some half jokingly asking Amroth if this counted towards their camping requirement.

The Elf merely smiled as he ladled out scrambled eggs.

Once everyone was served, Glorfindel announced that after breakfast students would be allowed to return to their rooms long enough to change their clothes but otherwise they were advised to remain in the cafeteria. Board games and cards would be brought up from the game room and anyone who wished for reading material could visit the reading room but there was to be no general wandering in the halls and he and the other teachers and administrators would be monitoring the halls to make sure that students obeyed that stricture. Someone asked if they could go outside and play, but Glorfindel said that until the temperatures rose above zero, no one was to go out.

“Last night, while you were all snug in your sleeping bags, the temperatures plunged to minus thirty with a wind-chill of minus sixty-five. Even now with the sun up, the outside temperature is still only minus twenty. So, for the duration, we’re all stuck inside.”

“Why’s it so cold?” another student asked.

“Unfortunately, both generators froze during the night and one has a broken belt. We’re hoping that as the temperatures rise we can get at least the one going again, or power may be restored in the meantime. So, until we get power back, it’s best if everyone stays here where we are generating heat from the kitchen. We’ve got the ovens on and hot water boiling on the stoves. We’ll keep these doors open to let the warm air come through and we’ll keep hot water available for coffee, tea and cocoa.” He paused and gave them a sly smile. “And in a little while we’ll serve second breakfast. We will, in fact, offer several light meals through the day. Your bodies are burning up calories trying to stay on top of the cold conditions so you’ll need to fuel up more. Hopefully, this situation will not last for long, but until we get power back, I’m asking everyone to cooperate.”

“What about our friends who are sick? And what if we get sick ourselves? That bug is still running loose, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, and we need to be extra vigilant in keeping clean as best we can, especially washing hands. There will be a pot of hot water specially designated for that in the kitchen. Those who are sick have been made comfortable in the lounges. Please be mindful of them when you have to leave to use the bathrooms. We're going to ask you to use the bathrooms on the second floor and leave the ones on this floor for them. If anyone here starts to feel unwell, they are to let us know immediately so we can transfer you out of the general population. Those who seem to be recovering will move in here. Now, let’s have those living on the first floor go to their rooms and change. We’ll do this floor by floor. You have twenty minutes, so don’t dawdle.”

There was a general exodus as students nearly rushed to leave the cafeteria. Barahir and Eirien went with them to supervise, while Elrohir and Serindë volunteered to go down to the game room and bring back as many board games and card games as they could. Jud and Derek, along with a couple of other students volunteered to help.

All this time, Alex slept, for Elladan had placed him in a healing sleep. Derek had been surprised to see him sleeping beside him when he woke and Glorfindel assured him that he was recovering. “By rights, he should be with the other people who are sick, but he became very agitated when he came to, insisting he needed to see you, to make sure you were all right and so we let him sleep next to you.”

Derek gave him a puzzled look. “It’s not as if we’re lovers or anything. Why would he get all upset?”

“He was running a very high fever,” Glorfindel explained. “From what we’ve been able to gather, he woke up in the clinic convinced that something bad had or was going to happen to you. That’s why he left in the middle of the storm to come here, looking for you, making sure you were safe. Why he felt you were in danger, who can say? The mind does funny things when people are that sick. Now that he knows you’re okay, he should heal faster. For now, we’ll let him sleep a little longer. Roy or Dan will keep an eye on him. Now, I don’t think Alex will mind if Jud borrows some of his clothes for the duration as they appear to be about the same height, so when it’s your turn to go change, take him with you, all right?”

“Sure, no problem.”

And so the day progressed. By nine o’clock, everyone had had a chance to change their clothes and were back in the cafeteria. Many of them had brought along their winter gear and were sitting around wearing coats, hats and gloves as they gathered in small groups to play the board game or card game of their choice while others were content to read or even to go back to sleep. Around ten, the Elves set out a second meal consisting of hot cereals — oatmeal, cream of wheat and farina — along with cinnamon rolls and muffins. Some of the students offered to help with kitchen duty to give the teachers a break and their offers were accepted. A rotation schedule was set up, since not everyone could help at the same time.

It never occurred to any of the students that the teachers and administrators who busied themselves with providing meals, checking on the sick and generally keeping watch over the students, all the while giving them cheerful smiles and warm encouragements, hadn’t slept in two days and were unlikely to sleep until the crisis was over.

Just before lunch was to be served, Elrohir brought Alex out of healing sleep, making sure that Derek was the first person he saw when he opened his eyes. Alex smiled sleepily up at them.

“You’re safe,” he muttered.

“And you’re two fries short of a happy meal, my friend, venturing out in the middle of the storm like that. If you weren’t so sick, I’d knock you halfway to next Sunday for pulling such a stupid, brain-dead stunt like that!”

Alex frowned. “You can’t yell at me like that.”

“I can’t? Why not?”

Now Alex smirked. “Because we’re not married.”

Derek stared at him in disbelief, while Elrohir did not even try to hide the smile of amusement on his face and Jud, who was with them, snickered loudly and started humming the Wedding March from Wagner’s Lohengrin. Derek rounded on him and gave him a punch on the arm, then turned to Alex, shaking a finger at him. “You should count your lucky stars we aren’t,” he said, “or else you’d be singing soprano in the choir.”

At that, Elrohir broke out laughing and Jud joined him, while Alex stuck his tongue out at Derek who relented and gave him a smile. “I still have half a mind....”

“Only half?” Jud couldn’t help asking, giving him an ingenuous look and now even Alex was laughing.

Derek just threw his hands up in defeat.

“If you feel strong enough,” Elrohir said to Alex, diverting the Mortals’ attention, “you should go wash up and change your clothes. You slept through breakfast...”

“Twice,” Derek interjected with a grin.

“...and it’s almost time for lunch. There’s broth if you think you can handle it.”

“Let me wash up first and wake up a bit more before I decide on food,” Alex said as he struggled out of the sleeping bag. “I wouldn’t mind some coffee but I’ll settle for tea.”

“Coffee would not be a good idea, but tea will do. Derek and Jud will go with you just to be safe.”

Alex didn’t protest that and the three Men left the cafeteria with Alex leaning on Derek for support, still feeling weak. A half an hour later, the three Men were back in the cafeteria and were told to return to their sleeping bags while someone brought them their lunch. Jud and Derek had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches while Alex sipped carefully on chicken broth. Afterwards the three amused themselves with a game of poker for an hour or so until Alex declared he was feeling unwell again and wanted to lie down. Elladan was called over. He brought some herbal tea, stating, for Derek’s sake, that it would settle Alex’s stomach and help him to sleep, then, after the tea was drunk, he sent Alex into healing sleep in such a way as not to arouse Derek’s suspicions. Once Elladan was satisfied that Alex was indeed sleeping, he left, giving the two other Mortals a quick smile, which they returned. The two of them continued playing poker as they watched over their friend.

****

All day long, the students tried to see out the cafeteria windows but ice covered them, distorting their view. Some started to feel agitated and restless with the enforced inactivity. Jud suggested that those who wished be allowed to run or walk through the halls to burn off some of their energy.

“They may even feel warmer for the exercise,” he pointed out and Glorfindel agreed. To that end, the third floor was designated a walking floor and the second floor was designated for running with the first floor out of bounds. Doors to the rooms that looked onto the quad were opened to allow some natural light to stream into the hallways from the windows so people did not need to walk or run with flashlights. Cennanion and Alphwen agreed to stroll through the third floor corridors, keeping an eye on the walkers while Gilvegil and Barahir went with the runners. Derek wanted to run but was afraid to leave Alex’s side in case he awoke, but Glorfindel assured him that it would be fine for him to leave his friend for a time, so he and Jud headed to the second floor and joined the tribe of homo cursens, as Daeron jokingly called them.

Thus, for about an hour or so before supper was called, there was the sound of pounding feet as people ran the course, or animated talking among the walkers as they strolled briskly along the hall, some of them, the Elves were pleased to hear, practicing their Sindarin on one another to much amusement of both students and Elves.

With the students thus occupied, some of the Elves allowed themselves to rest, taking turns to lie down and slipping onto the Paths of Dreams. Elrohir was one such. He, more than Elladan, had been expending much of his energy in healing and it was finally taking its toll. When he nearly tripped over nothing like a clumsy Mortal, Glorfindel ordered him to go lie down for a while.

“You’re not going to do us any good stumbling about like that,” he admonished the younger Elf and Elrohir reluctantly agreed.

Sometime later Glorfindel chanced upon the ellon’s sleeping form, and was mildly amused to see him and Serindë wrapped in each other’s arms under a couple of blankets, both of them fast asleep. Vorondur came along and gave Glorfindel a knowing smile.

“My wife and I have been keeping an eye on them, to ensure that there is nothing improper in their behavior.”

“They’re a bit old to be chaperoned, don’t you think?” Glorfindel commented with a smile of his own.

“Well, we wouldn’t want to give the children any ideas of their own, now would we?” Vorondur retorted with a chuckle. “Can you imagine the nightmare of Mortal pairings? I certainly don’t want to explain to a parent why their daughter is now expecting a child.”

Glorfindel gave a convincing shudder as the two moved away from the sleeping couple. “So, will they have a proper Noldorin wedding or do it Sindarin-style as Amroth and Nimrodel did?”

“My wife wants all the bells and whistles,” Vorondur said with a roll of his eyes. “I don’t care how they do it, just so long as they do. I think with Amroth and Nimrodel expecting there will be an incentive to make their union official.”

“I think a proper wedding would be something that our Mortal friends would enjoy,” Glorfindel said. “Perhaps we can convince them to hold a wedding in the spring even if they consummate their bond privately before that.”

“It would certainly make the ellith happy,” Vorondur admitted. “He still hasn’t come to me yet, so I’ll have to wait to suggest it to them until he does.”

“What’s stopping him?” Glorfindel asked. “It’s obvious that they are meant for one another.”

Vorondur gave him a wide grin. “In many ways, young Elrohir outranks me, but I’m still Serindë’s father. Even the bravest of warriors will hesitate before confronting the father of his beloved.”

Glorfindel snorted, shaking his head. “I imagine Elrohir would sooner face a contingent of orcs without a weapon than have to face you and possibly suffer rejection for his suit.”

“Exactly,” Vorondur replied. “So, until he mans up, as the Mortals like to say, I have to pretend nothing is going on and wait for him to speak.” He paused, giving Glorfindel a wicked smile. “It’s a good thing I’m a patient soul, but Ercassë is ready to scream, wondering what’s stopping, and I quote, ‘that orc-brained son of Elrond from asking our permission to wed our daughter’.”

Glorfindel chuckled. “I remember when Elrond finally got up the nerve to ask Celeborn for Celebrían’s hand in marriage. Celeborn merely smiled, calling him ‘son’, but Galadriel threw up her hands and exclaimed to all and sundry, ‘Finally! The ellon grew a backbone!’ Poor Elrond was mortified and Celebrían was furious. It was a while before calm returned to Lórien after that.”

“The Lady Galadriel was always a formidable elleth,” Vorondur said with a nod. “I gave Celeborn credit for putting up with her.”

“I think they call it love, but with those two, I was never sure. Well, I guess I’ll go see how the kitchen help is doing.”

“And I will check in on the sick ones and tell Elladan to go rest. He’s expended almost as much energy in healing as his brother.”

Glorfindel nodded in agreement and the two separated.

****

By the time supper was being served, even Glorfindel was beginning to feel the fatigue of maintaining a cheerful manner before the students. Daeron had been on the phone with a number of people during the day, getting a status report on conditions outside the building and letting the authorities know how they were faring. He finally sought out Glorfindel who was sitting on a stool in the corner of the kitchen with his head in his hands, his eyes half-closed.

“I’m sorry to disturb your rest,” Daeron said quietly, pulling up another stool.

Glorfindel shook his head, straightening. “What news do you have?” he asked around a yawn.

"They don’t anticipate us getting power back before the weekend," Daeron said. "There’s talk about having local families take in the students who come from outside this area, but it will be at least another day before they can get the streets plowed. The sheriff’s department is maintaining a curfew. No one is to be outdoors except for extreme emergencies after six o’clock and that goes for the college."

 “Well, none of our students have any need to leave, but we had better let them know that anyone attempting to leave the building will be dismissed from the Academy. They’ve been very cooperative so far, but this is only Thursday and we don’t know for how much longer we’ll have to put up with these conditions.”

“Agreed. Frankly, I’d like to put them all into hibernation and only wake them when we have power back, but that’s not really an option. Conan suggested we give them a concert tonight, perhaps encourage some of the musically inclined students to provide entertainment, even have people design improv skits.”

“That certainly is an idea. I will make an announcement when we’re serving supper. I think we’re planning to serve one more meal after that before the students get themselves ready for bed. Why don’t we tell them that they can prepare skits and songs and the like between supper and the final meal and we’ll have them take turns entertaining each other while they’re eating, then perhaps, once the dishes are cleaned and the kitchen put away, we Elves can offer our own entertainment.” He gave Daeron a sly look. “Maybe end the evening with a lullaby or three?”

Daeron smiled and nodded. “I think that would work.”

So, while supper was being served, Glorfindel made the announcement and there was much enthusiasm for the idea. Not all the students wished to participate but there were enough to warrant the concert. Several students asked permission to return to their rooms for musical instruments, including pennywhistles, and they were given a classroom down the hall in which to practice. Others banded together and worked out skits, giggling over their lines.

Just before supper, Elrohir, now rested, woke Alex up and encouraged him to eat some soft-boiled eggs on toast and applesauce while Derek and the other students ate their hot meatball sandwiches and chips. Alex was in no mood to want to participate in the upcoming concert, content to sit and speak quietly to Barahir, who agreed to keep the young Man company while Derek joined Jud and a few others who were interested in performing an improv skit.

“How are you holding up?” Barahir asked, adjusting the blanket around Alex’s shoulders.

“Better,” Alex replied. “God! I don’t think I’ve ever been so sick in my life. What’s the status here? Any word from Farrell?”

“According to Glorfindel, Farrell is trapped in Wiseman, but he’s fine. The Goldmine Inn has its own generators.”

“Not that I care, but I want to keep tabs on him at all times.”

“Understandable.”

“Speaking of the Goldmine Inn, whatever happened to Mrs. Becker? Did she finally leave Alaska?”

“No, unfortunately. She was supposed to leave on the weekend, I understand, but Shane called to let us know that both she and her mother were down with the Norovirus.”

“That’s tough,” Alex said sympathetically.

 “More than you think,” Barahir said with a grin. “Mrs. Becker is with Shane at her apartment. The two of them are trapped with one another.”

“Ouch! That is bad. Let’s hope they both survive the experience.”

“Amen to that,” Barahir exclaimed. “Well, it’s my turn to help serve. Will you be alright by yourself?”

“Sure. I’ll give a holler if I need to.”

“You want anything to drink?”

“Actually, tea really sounds good to me right now.”

“I’ll go bring you some,” Barahir said as he stood and a few minutes later he was returning with some hot tea mixed with lemon and honey, leaving Alex happily sipping it as he went back to his station.

****

The evening entertainment was a success all around. Even those students who were sick were allowed to join the rest so they could enjoy the entertainment, as well, all of them huddled in a corner, sipping on broth or herbal tea. As students ate their cheese pizzas (Alex had some beef broth and crackers), various groups took turns to sing or play music or do a skit. There was much laughter and the mood was bright and relaxed. Derek and Jud and their group did a hilarious skit lampooning the popular Robin Hood-styled movies. Alex laughed so hard that his stomach hurt and he had to hold on to himself. Once the dishes were put away and people were settling down into their sleeping bags, with the sick students returned to their own beds, Daeron, Alphwen and Cennanion, along with Serindë and Elrohir, walked amongst them, singing lullabies in Sindarin.

The other Elves looked on and then all of them sang a final song together, a song to Varda in Quenya which Glorfindel had taught them once. Their ethereal voices blended beautifully and the Mortals all fell asleep with smiles on their faces. Even the sick ones, lying in the lounges, could hear the Elves singing and all of them felt their pains easing as they, too, drifted off to sleep.

****

Homo cursens: (Latin) Running Man.