“Aye,me laird, she’s in good hands.”
8
Folding his arms over his chest, Theodore leaned against the door frame of the infirmary. He watched in silence as the healer looked over the injured girl.
“And how long have yehad the injury?” Edith asked as she examined Madison’s leg with the utmost care.
Theodore pursedhis lips and instinctively tightened his fist with each whimper and flinch Madison made. What was it about the girl that pricked him so? It wasn’t like she was the first he’d rescued. In fact, he’d seen quite a few young girls over the years in various states of decay. But perhaps, he’d never come across a girl who had been so poorly treated.
“Only a few days,”Madison answered as Theo noticed her attention shifting to him every so often. With each stolen glimpse, Theo found his heart quickening. It was a strange sensation, the flood of heat that coursed through him. He pulledin a long deep breath to steady his nerves as Edith shimmied what was left of Madison’s dress.
“I’msurprised ye managed to put any weight on it at all. I ken ye may nae ken it now, but this was a blessin’,” Edith said as she hobbled to the black pot over the fire. Theo didn’t question what Edith was brewing. He’d learned long ago to just let the woman work. She was skilled in the ways of healing that he’d never seen nor would see again.
Madison’s gazebore into him, causing his body to tingle. He wished more than anything for the power to read minds. He wanted to know what was going through Madison’s mind. She had a crease between her eyebrows that Theodore couldn’t tell if she was in distress, tired, or fed up with the whole situation.
“Well,I’m sure when I figure out what that hidin’ blessin’ is, I’ll be sure to tell ye,” Madison clapped back. Edith stood still. The room shifted and there was no doubt in Theo’s mind Madison had said something she shouldn’t have.
“Ye can losethe sarcasm here, lass. Ye might think it’s maskin’ yer pain, but all it does is put a spotlight on yer problems. Now I understand ye’ve been through a lot. None of us here are denyin’ that. But in order for me to help ye, we’ve got to work on what’s goin’ on inside here,” Edith said as she pressed her hand to Madison’s chest.
Silence fellover the room as Edith continued to work over Madison’s leg. After a careful examination, Edith glanced over her shoulder. Her direct gaze was the relief he had hoped for.
“As from whatI can tell, ye’re goin' to need to stay off it for a few months. I’d suggest ye wait out the season,” Edith said.
“Nay,”Madison answered adamantly. “That cannae happen. I cannae wait any longer. I’ve got to go.”
“And where precisely might that be?”Theodore asked as he pushed off the door frame and moved to the foot of the bed. “What family do ye have that I might call on them?”
Madison’s attentionshifted from Theodore to Edith as if she were hunting for the right response. Theodore shifted his weight and watched Madison. There was a delicacy to her, an innocence that made him wish the world wasn’t so cruel. But the fact that Madison hesitated to divulge any information irked him more than it should have.
How couldshe keep something like that private when all he was trying to do was help her? As much as he wanted to understand what she went through, he could see she wasn’t in the right mind to do so. At least not now. He would have to be tender and patient. Above all, patient. It wasn’t like she was going to release her secrets to a stranger. Then again… Theo glanced at Edith. The woman had a way of loosening lips without any violence.
“What say ye healer?”Theo asked as he rolled his shoulders back. The corner of Edith’s lips twitched as she picked up on his subtle clue to take the lead in the situation. If there was one thing he loved most about Edith was her ability to read him. Of course, she’d been around since he was a child and practicallyraised him. But being able to convey his orders to her without saying a word was a godsend.
“Perhaps it would bebest if the laird step out and let the girl have a moment of peace,” Edith suggested, much to Theodore’s irritation. He didn’t want to leave the room, if anything, he wanted to hear more about Madison’s journey and how she managed to survive for so long. He’d never seen anything like it before. It was obvious that even the other girls that participated in the hunt had endured only one event. By the looks of Madison’s weary eyes and woeful demeanor, it was clear she’d been through more than one.
“Nae to mentionthe lass needs to bathe. I daenae think she’ll be able to go anywhere, if that’s what concerns ye,” Edith said over her shoulder as Theodore contemplated leaving the room. There were other things he could be attending to, but he found it difficult to move. It was as if his fate had now been bound to hers in some mysterious way that he had to figure out.
“I’ll seeif anyone is in the kitchen. Perhaps ye’d like somethin’ more to eat? Lord kens ye could use all ye can get,” Theo said and started for the doorway. He stepped out into the hall and stopped just outside of the door. His heart pounded against his rib cage. Every nerve in his body tingled as he leaned in to listen.
“So, where are ye from?”Edith asked, her tone was always so soothing to Theodore’s ear. But it was that tenderness that he was certain would disarm Madison.
“North.”
“Ye kenwe are here to help ye, daenae ye?”
Theodore foundhis body tingling as he hung on every word. Why he wanted to know so much about the girl drove him mad. It wasn’t like he could do anything about the feelings that were brewing within him.
No matterhow desirable Madison looked to him, it wasn’t like she wanted anything to do with him. And why would she? He knew what he was, a stone-cold killer. He could plow through a field of soldiers without batting an eye or missing any sleep. Yet, why then did this girl trouble him so?
“I’ve been told somethin’similar only to have me leg broken.”
“And who did this to ye?”
Theodore foundhis hand balling into a tight fist as every nerve in his body was set on fire. He found himself far too eager to inflict damage to the whomever injured her so.
“Lewis,”Madison answered, much to Theodore’s disappointment.
“And do ye ken his fate?”Edith asked. Theodore’s ears burned as he hoped to hear the answer. But the silence was like the tip of a blade pressing on his chest.
