The cyclops turned to her, and for a moment Alaine was horrified by the strange hollowness of his eyes. Such a wave of disappointment that Jefferson had experienced could not entirely be hidden, not even by the masters of deception, and the Apothecary was more able than most to tune in to such chords of the mind and the soul. Jefferson was sick - She had always known him to be. But his was not a wound of the flesh, but of the man within, something no bandage or poultice could ease. Again, it tore at her heart, as perhaps it always would, that he was unable to be given the relief he sought by her hand.
She knew, almost at once after seeing his expression, that something horrible had happened. There was a dead weight to the Soul man's voice that had not been there before, and it chilled her were the cold rain and icy ocean could not. "I can't do that," Her voice sounded sterner now, and again she reached for him, and this time elegant ivory fingers would find purchase on the sodden white material that covered his shoulder, if Jefferson would allow it. "You know I can't. Come with me now, Jefferson. Let me help you," It was a request she had made of him once before - Then, he had been a prideful creature, in spite of his self-loathing, and her help had been discarded.
The Celtic woman crouched to her knees, beside him in the shallows. The icy water chilled her instantly, and Jefferson was not emanating as much warmth as a wolf his size should have. "Please," This time her voice was a mere whisper above the pelting rain. "Please, let me help you."
In the mist of rain and the strange fear building within her, the Apothecary had not noticed his missing limb; But now, as her emerald eyes grazed him, she did. A sharp inhalation sucked air through her clenched teeth, pupils dilating in momentary horror. Jefferson Soul had been ravaged by fate since she had last known him. A strange determination fueled her, warming the woman deep in her stomach, as ivy eyes moved again to meet the man's solitary orb. She would stay with him in the rain until he relented, even if it chilled her to the bone.