“And that is of no mind to me,” the doctor muttered.
“However, as I am paying for your services, I will stay. Has she been given something to numb the pain?”
Looking at the maid lying in bed trembling, Warwick thought not. She was crying, white-faced, and her good hand clenched the bedcovers.
“It will be all right, Penny.” Warwick gave her an assuring smile. “You will not set that bone unless she has been administered something to dull her pain, Doctor.”
The man huffed out a breath.
“Then leave, and I will secure the services of another,” Warwick said.
The doctor’s mouth pulled into a hard line, and then he went to his medical bag. Opening it, he pulled out a small bottle and spoon. Returning to the bed, he poured some laudanum and lowered it to Penny.
“Get her some water, Archie,” Warwick said after she’d taken it.
The doctor took out a leather strap and made Penny bite down on it.
“A few more minutes, if you please. She is not feeling the effects yet,” Warwick said.
Only when her eyelids began to droop did Warwick nod to the doctor.
“Someone hold her while I set the bones.”
Archie was now the color of his morning porridge.
“Take her legs, Archie. I’ll hold her shoulders,” Warwick said.
Warwick braced his hand on her. “All will go well, Penny, and you’ll feel better in no time.”
The doctor worked the bones in the arm back into alignment. Penny shrieked around the leather strap, and then she slumped down onto the bed.
“Forearm bones are easier to set,” the doctor said.
He then wrapped the arm in a bandage. Producing two pieces of wood, he then splinted it.
“She will need to wear a sling and take the laudanum often for pain.”
He then repacked his bag, took the money Warwick gave him, and left.
“My guess is his patients don’t expect him to have a bedside manner,” Archie muttered.
“Sit with her and call me if she needs my assistance. We cannot depart today as planned. Both women need rest,” Warwick said before leaving the room. “I will ensure you are brought food.”
Archie nodded.
“I am three doors along. Knock if you need me.”
Warwick went downstairs to check on Bids, who seemed happy drinking ale now that the horses were settled. Heading back up the stairs, Warwick stopped briefly outside the door. Was she bathing? He didn’t want to enter if she was. He also didn’t need to imagine all that soft pale skin wet.
Tapping, he opened the door slightly. “Are you well, Samantha?”
She made no sound.
“Samantha?”
When she did not reply he stepped inside and around the screen, worried over her condition. Her eyes were closed, and her naked body was still half submerged in the water. The breath lodged in his throat. Her hair hung over the back in a waterfall of tangled blonde curls. Her breasts— no, Warwick looked at her face as he dropped down beside her.
“Samantha.”
