“What?!” she shrieked.
Her heart had skipped a beat. She got no further answer, even when she pounded again on the wall. Fear coursed through her the like she’d never felt before. She bounded off her bed and ran toward the door with no thought of anything except getting to him. She’d break his door down if she had to—but that wasn’t necessary. It opened to her touch, slammed open actually, because she hadn’t paused in her race to get there.
She found him where she expected, by the wall where he’d been pounding. He was on his knees there, bent over, his head nearly touching the floor, and so still. Not a movement could she detect in the candlelight that flickered about the room, not a breath, and her own breath was held as she slid to her knees beside him.
“Lachlan?”
She grasped his head, heard his moan, and felt such incredible relief, she would have cried if it wasn’t temporary. But it didn’t last. He wasn’t dead yet, but she still didn’t know what was wrong with him, and her panic shot right back up there.
“Where do you hurt? Tell me! Are you bleeding? Have you been shot or—”
“You came?”
“Of course I came. You said you were dying. Now tell me,howare you dying?”
“Poison.”
“Oh, God, I don’t know what to do for that,” she cried. “How did it happen? How long ago? I’ll send for a doctor immediately—”
“Nay, dinna leave me.”
One hand came out from under him, where his arms had been wrapped across his belly. It reached blindly for her, encountered her ankle, and squeezed tight around it. His condition hadn’t affected his strength yet. His grip was like steel, making her wince.
“You have to let me go for a minute, Lachlan, just long enough to find someone who can go for a doctor.”
“A doctor canna help me, lass.”
Her fear made her snap, “Don’t say that! You’re not going to die, do you hear me? There must be something that can be done for you, and a doctor would know what.”
“A bed is all I’m needing, Kimber, and a gentle hand tae see me through the worst of it. D’you think you could find a wee bit of compassion tae help me?”
“I’mtryingto help you,” she began, but then said more gently, “All right, come, I’ll help you to your bed first. Sit up for me, so we can get you to your feet.”
She tried lifting his shoulders, but without his cooperation, they wouldn’t budge at all. There was just no way she was going to be able to move him without some assistance on his part.
And then his torso rose on its own, with his other hand pushing, then bracing against the floor to keep him upright. Facing him now, seeing him completely, she realized he was still fully clothed, had apparently only just come to his room when he’d started pounding for her. He was also a mess, his hair bedraggled, dirt and straw clinging to him as if he’d taken a tumble in a stable but forgot to dust himself off. But what gave her pause was the alcohol fumes, so strong that he could have been doused in the stuff.
She had forgotten that Megan had told her he’d gone off to get drunk, and she demanded now, “Have you been drinkingallday?”
“Nay, I slept—I dinna remember where.”
“And went right back to drinking some more?”
He smiled lopsidedly. “Och, I had a powerful thirst as I recall.”
Kimberly sat back on her heels. He didn’t look like a man who was dying. He merely looked sotted, smelled it, and come to think of it, sounded it too.
“How did you get poisoned, Lachlan? And do you know it for a fact, that you are?”
“Poisoned?”
Her eyes narrowed on him. “You said you’d been poisoned, remember?”
“Och, aye, the drink’ll do that tae you. I’ve never felt this rotten—”
“You wretch! You scare me half to death, telling me you were dying, when all you are is foxed?”
She leaped up, furious, but she forgot he still had hold of her ankle. She didn’t even manage a full turn toward the door before her balance was lost and she fell backward, landing on her behind. She was able to catch herself on her elbows before she ended up completely prone.
