“Aye,” Cailean said, walking over to the bed and looking down at the figure lying in it. “Any change?”
“None,” Sister Beatrice said. She glanced at Rose, her welcome a little cooler than Maggie’s had been. “I’ve been saying prayers for him.”
Maggie snorted. “And a lot of good that has done him! Ye can cease yer prattling now, sister; we have a MacFinnan spellweaver to fix things.”
Maggie gestured for Rose to approach. Rose walked over to stand next to the bed. Maggie and Beatrice hovered on the other side, watching her. One with excitement, one with suspicion.
Rose pushed their presence out of her mind and concentrated on her patient. A man was lying on his back, unconscious. He was big-boned and must have once been hale and vigorous, but now he looked as though he was being eaten alive. His skin was so sallow that it looked like melted wax draped over his skull and his breathing rattled alarmingly.
“Can I have a chair?”
Cailean brought over a stool and Rose lowered herself into it.
“What’s his name?”
“Drew,” Cailean replied. “Drew MacRae, castellan of Dun Mallach.”
Rose pulled back the sheet. Taking Drew’s hand in hers, she gently spoke. “Drew? My name is Rose and I’m here to help you. Can you hear me?”
There was no response. She looked at Maggie and Beatrice. “How long has he been unconscious?”
“On and off for days now,” Maggie replied. “Sometimes he wakes up but when he does, he doesnae make any sense. Ranting and raving about evil spirits and the like.”
“What treatments have you tried?”
“Everything,” answered Sister Beatrice. “Willow bark to bring down his fever. Garlic and echinacea to fight infection. A hundred other things besides. You name it, we’ve tried it. But nothing seems to work. If Drew’s sickness follows the same path as the rest, he’ll soon start having seizures, and then there will be naught anyone can do.”
Rose nodded. “I’ll need some things before I get started. Maggie,Beatrice, could you bring me some warm honey? And perhaps an infusion of comfrey? Cailean, I’ll need fresh bandages and boiling water.”
The three of them left and Rose breathed out slowly after they’d gone. The truth was, she didn’t need any of the things she’d listed but she didn’t need them hanging around watching either. What she needed was peace and space and a chance to figure out what was wrong with Drew MacRae.
She placed her hand on the man’s forehead. It was hot to the touch and as dry as a bone. Not a good sign. She placed her hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat. It was weak and stuttering.
Damn. She didn’t have much time.
Closing her eyes, she slowed her breathing, taking deep, long breaths through her nose, letting them out through her mouth. Slowly, she began to slip into that meditative, almost trance-like state she did when accessing her power. Inch by slow inch, she became aware of the thrum of her power inside her, running through her body like lines of golden thread. She tapped into one of these threads and sent a tendril of it spiraling into Drew’s body. She felt the heat in him immediately, burning through his tissues, scouring him from the inside. He was filled with infection and if that infection reached his brain and the seizures started, she knew there would be nothing she could do for him.
The first thing to do was to break his fever and draw the heat out of him so his immune system could start its work. She opened her eyes and looked around. A bowl of water sat on the floor by Drew’s bed with several flannels next to it. Dipping her finger in, Rose found the water to be ice cold. Perfect.
She lifted the bowl into her lap, keeping her right hand submerged in the water. She placed her left palm on the hot skin above Drew’s chest. Letting her eyes slide closed, she accessed her power once more, mentally weaving a spell designed to drain the heat from Drew’s body.She felt a tingle in the palm of her left hand, the one pressed to Drew’s chest, and her skin began to heat. Focusing her will, she drew the heat out of Drew’s body, moving it up her arm, across her shoulders, then down her right arm, using her own body as a conduit. Finally, the heat was expelled through the fingers of her right hand and out into the bowl of cold water.
The door opened behind her and she heard a gasp, but she didn’t allow her concentration to waver. Bit by slow bit, the heat in Drew’s body began to lessen and the temperature of the water to increase. It was no longer cold now but tepid, like a bath left to cool for too long. But, she didn’t stop. Slowly, carefully, she drew the heat, away from his organs, out of his muscles, cleared it from his blood.
Only when the water was so hot it was in danger of scalding her skin did she stop. She removed her hands, broke her contact with Drew’s body, and brought her awareness back into her own. Exhaustion swept through her and she slumped forward, the bowl tumbling from her lap to shatter on the flagstone floor. Scalding water splashed across the stone, sending up a gout of steam.
She began to topple off the stool but strong hands caught her before she could hit the floor and she found herself looking into Cailean’s dark eyes.
“Easy, lass,” he rumbled.
“It’s all right,” she said, her voice hoarse. “I’m okay.”
“Nay, ye are not. Ye can barely hold yer head up.”
All right, so she wasn’t exactly okay, but it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to. She took several deep breaths then waved a hand. “Don’t worry. This is normal. It will pass in a minute.”
Cailean said nothing but neither did he release her. Her vision swam and she had to admit to herself that his hands on her shoulders were the only thing keeping upright.
After a moment, her vision steadied enough for her to be able to raise her head. Maggie and Beatrice were standing by the door holdingthe supplies she’d sent them to fetch, staring at her with awestruck expressions.
