“Eva!” Icy fear filled his veins as he reached the now stationary carriage. Climbing onto the top, he tried to open the door, which refused to move. Stomping his foot through the window, he pushed the glass aside and lowered himself down into the carriage
She lay on her back, one arm thrown across her head, the other flung wide; her legs were twisted beneath her.
“Speak to me, Eva.” He desperately searched her neck for a pulse, it was faint but there was definitely a beat.
“Daniel!”
“Simon, help me!” Daniel heard his friend’s voice drawing near. “It’s Eva. I don’t know how badly she’s hurt.” He couldn’t think. His heart was pounding so loudly, he feared it would burst right from his chest.
“Is she bleeding?” Simon’s face appeared in the hole above Daniel.
“Yes. No.I-I don’t kn-know.”
“Take a deep breath and focus now, Daniel. You need to check her injuries to see how badly she is hurt.”
Daniel latched onto his friend’s voice like a lifeline. Drawing in a deep breath, he began to feel Eva’s body.Straightening her legs, he noted no broken bones. Moving upwards, he could feel no obvious injuries through her clothes. He ran his fingers slowly over her hair, pulling pins free as he went. “Her shoulder appears to be dislocated and there’s a bump above the ear but in this light I can see nothing further.” Gently, Daniel lifted her into his arms.
“It’s better if she sleeps while we lift her out.” Simon’s voice was steady and reassuring and Daniel battled the panic that threatened to consume him.
He lifted her upwards and into Simon’s hands, then climbed out and in seconds he had her back in his arms.
“My carriage is here.” Simon opened the door for Daniel to enter.
“My driver?”
“Here, your Grace,” Elijah said from inside the carriage.
They journeyed in silence. Simon pressed his handkerchief into Elijah’s bloodied shoulder to staunch the flow of blood while Daniel held Eva against his chest and continued praying for her to open her eyes.
Simon ran inside as the carriage stopped outside Daniel’s townhouse. “Fetch a doctor at once, Wernham! The duchess and the duke’s driver are injured.”
Daniel carried Eva inside and up to his room where he laid her on the bed.
“Light!” he roared. The fire was lit in minutes and jugs of steaming water and clothes where carried into the room by silent servants. Branches of candles placed around the bed gave Daniel the light he needed.
“Molly, we must get her out of these clothes to see if she has other injuries.”
“Yes, your Grace.” Ashen faced the maid nodded.
Daniel’s eye remained on Eva’s face as he and the maid eased her clothing from her body. There were bruises starting to form and he knew they would be the color of grapes by the morning. His fingers were unsteady as he brushed hair from her cheek.
“Open your eyes now, Eva.”
“Set her shoulder while she sleeps, Daniel,” Simon said, coming into the room.
Lifting her into his arms, he reached for the shoulder and gently pushed it back into the joint. She didn’t even flinch.
“Do you have any smelling salts?”
Molly nodded at Simon and then hurried from the room.
“I won’t live without her.”
“She is unconscious, not dead, Daniel.” Simon said. “Find that calm you are famous for before she wakes and sees the terror in your eyes.”
“Christ, Simon, she could have been killed!”
“I know, my friend, but she was not and we will be making bloody sure nothing like this happens to either of you again.”
