The doctor snorted at the woman's question and waved her concern away. "Of course they are," he he told her. "The only time I've ever seen the boy calm down quicker than twenty minutes or more is when one of them is with him. He's not dangerous....not unless you threaten him." He shrugged slightly. "He's terrified of you, you know. You could stand to be a bit nicer to him. More sympathetic." He raised an eyebrow slightly at the woman before finishing writing in his notebook and studying her for a moment. "He's a good lad. He's done a lot of good for this place," he reminded her. He'd helped build the army up to what it was now....the strongest around. All because he'd stood up to the queen when no one else would. "Your daughter picked a good friend, and your maid picked a good husband and father. Go watch him interact with the horses or the two of them. You'll quickly find he has a good heart, even if it has been broken too many times to fully patch up again."

The woman nodded slowly. She was a bit concerned that their child would see this at some point. That he'd think that his father was normal when he got older, even if he never hurt the two of them. But she nodded softly to him anyway. If her being a bit nicer helped at all, then that was fine. She could try. But the boy had to make an effort too. Really, she'd do pretty much anything the doctor said, so if he wanted her to try a bit harder then she would. But for now, she had work to do. "Alright," she sighed lightly. "I'll make a conscious effort to be a bit nicer," the older woman eventually sighed before shaking her head. "I'll see you later," she hummed lightly before scampering off to her office, probably to start whatever work she had left. Not that it was much now... Anya had taken over most of her jobs.

.

Mari slept for... a while. But you can imagine her shock when she opened her eyes to see her fiance on the floor, pretty much covered in blood. He'd been bandaged up, and cleaned up a tiny bit, but his blood was still everywhere. She just stared at him for a moment, feeling her heart strain. She couldn't help him. She didn't even wake up. It wasn't until she choked on the lump in her throat that she tried to talk. "What..." she was till clearly tired, but she didn't know what to do... could she help? She found herself trying to get out of bed, and despite the awful pain, making her feel like she was going to throw up, she eventually was on her knees next to him. It was completely stupid of her, and she knew that, but all the same, she didn't to leave him sitting there. He'd done this to himself... and she hadn't even been able to try and stop him. All she could do was stare at him before wrapping her arms rightly around him... she was hurting, and she knew he said she should rest so that when he needed him she'd be able to do it... but now he needed her, and she was barely able to walk two steps to him, and it just... broke her.

The doctor hummed lightly and nodded in response to the queen's comments. He grunted in a way that pretty much meant 'good' and then waved slightly when she turned to leave. He went on to his own jobs, which were more now that he had a few patients in.

Sage had stayed asleep for quite a while....though when he felt Mari's arms around him he opened his eye and yelled slightly. "what are you doing," he squeaked. "You're supposed to be in bed!" What if she hurt herself? She could, very easily, especially since she's forced herself up and over here. And how was he supposed to get her back there? He leaned into her anyway, though, grateful to her for coming over, but incredibly worried she'd hurt herself by doing so.

The doctor heard the talking and huffed out a breath when he saw the pair on the floor. "In bed. Now," he instructed the pair. "Together seems like the best option," he informed them, scooping the girl up gently and settling her on the bed, letting sage crawl onto the other half and cuddle up before leaving.

Mari just held him... she was hurting like hell, but all the same, she felt awful she couldn't do anything to help. She should be able to. It was stupid to be out of bed, she knew that, but she was just so... useless. She just shook her head when he spoke, feeling her heart thump in a way that wasn't particularly nice when he pretty much shouted at her. She held him tighter, though, just hiding in his shoulder. Why did he do this to himself? Why did he hurt himself? She couldn't stop it, she'd tried. She knew it wouldn't change any time soon... that she couldn't do anything about it. She knew he'd had it rough, and that she couldn't take any of his pain away, but she just wanted him to stop hurting himself. She pretty much had to be ripped away from him when she was scooped up, though latched back onto him when he was in bed. It wasn't comfortable on her side, but she didn't want to take a single finger off him in fear that she'd lose him. "Why do you hurt yourself like this," she whispered, her voice wobbling. She hurt, but that was only a part of the reason for the lump in her throat.

Sage slid into the girl's arms and curled up against her when she latches onto him again, closing his eyes wearily, a sort of sigh escaping his mouth. The shook his head and shrugged in response to the girls question, shrugging slightly. "I don't know....I guess I just see things, I freak out, and I....I dunno, I guess I kind of feel like I deserve it sometimes," he admitted softly, burying closer into the girl, a slight shudder running through his spine. He knew it was bad ....he knew he should stop....but he couldn't seem to do that. He couldn't figure out how. It was happening less and less now, but when it did come, it came hard, and he was completely out of his depth. Especially when there was no one to help him.

Mari let him cuddle in closer, even if the slight pressure of his torso against her stomach hurt. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before sighing and wrapping her hands around him. She was dizzy now... probably because of the movement she'd made to get up... the pain was awful and she really had thought she'd throw up. "You don't deserve it," she told him quietly, not on the brink of tears... maybe it was because he'd hurt himself, or because she couldn't get to him, or maybe it was because she really was just so, so useless. She hated feeling like this, and the pain was also probably on the list of reasons she felt so bad. "I just don't know how to help you like this," she told him as she drew in a sharp breath as tears threatened her. "I can't help you like this," she then finished with a soft whimper.

Sage kept his eyes closed at the girl's comment about him not deserving it. He didn't really believe her, no matter how much he wanted to. There's just always be that thought in the back of his mind that believed everything everyone had said about him while he was in the slums. Everything his father had said he was, or would be. He knew it wasn't reasonable, but when you hear that for so long, you start to believe it, even if you know it's a lie. He looked up at the girl when she said she couldn't help him and shook his head. "You help just being here," he whispered. "Just knowing I have someone helps. More than you know," he told her, pressing a light kiss to her cheek before settling back down, resting his nose lightly in the crook of her neck. "You help. You really do."

Mari shook her head, closing her eyes after a few moments. "I want to help more," she whispered to him quietly. "I want this to stop. I don't want you to do... this... to you," she told him quietly. "I don't know what I can say to make you stop," she whimpered after a few moments. "You said I'd be there to help you - and I wasn't- I'm not-" She didn't know where she was going, but she was just getting worked up now. She was tired, and in pain, and so clearly emotional about everything. After a few moments, she felt a warm patch on her side, and when she went to feel it, it was hot and sticky with blood. She must have torn what had healed when she got up. She groaned and rolled onto her back, just holding her hand on her side as she tried to stop the blood that was seeping through her shirt.

Sage sighed slightly and shook his head. "you help so much already," he assured the girl. "I promise, you do help. A lot." Though he didn't know what else to say when she started to get upset. He just shook his head and then yelped when he noticed the blood on her dress. The doctor came in at the noise and patched her up, but sage couldn't stop the ringing in his ears. He'd caused that. He'd caused her to reopen the wound, which undoubtedly hurt like hell, and definitely wasn't good for her. Could he do anything right? Because it certainly seemed like he caused the girl to cry pretty often. Would she have a happy life with him? Or would she constantly be worrying? He felt so, so guilty about it all.

When the doctor came in to patch her up, the girl couldn't help her yelp as we messed around with the wound... god, it hurt so bad. She couldn't do anything about it, either. She just nodded when he tried to assure her she was helping. Why couldn't she just believe him? It wasn't difficult. She sighed softly, and thanked the older man, but just stayed on her back, her head tilted back, as she tried to take in a deeper breath, though it hitched a good few times as pain hit her. She watched the man walk off, but stayed where she was. She didn't trust that she was always a help to him, like at all. She didn't trust him... and that was such a strange feeling. She loved him, so, so much, so why couldn't she trust him with this? She didn't have a clue.