He watched her quietly for so long that she began to think he was having a change of heart.
“Ye werenae lonely. Ye had me to keep ye company.” He had the audacity to sound confused.
Oh, she had forgotten that he had no sentimental bone in his body. As her teacher, he had been nothing less than a strict taskmaster, leaving no space for affection and subtle encouragement. He had drilled her like a soldier with no empathy.
A part of his sternness was derived from the fact that he believed women had far too inferior brains to comprehend the wide field that was medicine. Surely, her inferior mind could not comprehend the intricacies of the human body. Also, he had certainly not felt comfortable sharing the monopoly he had over medical knowledge in their area with anyone.
She was sure that if Jonathan had not personally instructed him to take her under his wing after hearing about her fascination with medicine, he would never have taught her.
She knew this right from the beginning, but she had eventually proved her worth in both her enthusiasm to learn and the speed with which she assimilated topics. But even then, she still had to endure his harsh words and even harsher treatment. Nothing she ever did was correct.
It took even longer for him to allow her to treat patients independently. While she understood his need to be careful, since her field dealt with human life, he was in no way gentle about it. Over time, she had found herself adjusting to the nerve-wracking experience of working under him, convincing herself that she only needed to endure his odious behavior if she hoped to become a healer. That mindset had helped keep her calm even in the face of his worst criticism.
Things had gone on that way until he suddenly decided to leave without notice, leaving her with so many sick people who needed her care.
The previous night, she had attended to many patients. She had been attending to a woman who was having a difficult labor when John had brought in a young boy who had fallen from a loft in the stables and broken his arm.
At that moment, her well-read mind had already come up with solutions for both situations, but the only problem was that she had never done those procedures herself. Ayaan hadonly allowed her to watch a couple of times, and even as she contemplated performing the maneuver, her mind was already conjuring scenarios of how things could go very wrong.
She could either let panic take over and allow the woman’s condition to worsen and possibly kill her and her unborn child, or do her best with the knowledge she had and hope for the best.
Pushing aside her fear, she had packed her herbs and the surgical instruments that Jonathan had bought for her one time. They were brand-new and polished, gleaming under the low light. She hoped everything went well, so she would not have to use them.
When her bags were packed, she left, arriving at the home of the struggling pregnant woman. She found the woman’s husband pacing frantically outside the small cottage, further highlighting the heartbreak that would ensue if the woman died. In that moment, she contemplated sending for another healer. Unfortunately, the closest one lived a three-day ride away. The woman would surely be dead by then.
For the sake of the woman and her unborn child, Talia had to be braver than she had ever been.
“Miss Collins,” the husband said, rushing to take her bag when he saw her.
“How is she?” Talia asked, stepping into the small hot room where the woman lay on her back, her stomach looking evenbigger now on her tired body, her face glistening with tears and sweat, her breath coming in big huffs.
She was growing weak, and from Talia’s previous examination, it seemed the child lay in a sideways position, so there was only one thing to do. Something a little bit mad.
Talia had seen it done for mares in Jonathan’s stables, and she had thought it possible to replicate on a human. When she had suggested it to Ayaan, he had brushed her aside, insisting it was barbaric and only suited for animals.
Fortunately, she was now the healer in charge, and she did not have any other choice but to do that, or else the woman would die with her child.
She was going to maneuver the baby while it was still in its mother’s womb so that it could be born.
Through tears, curses, prayers, and a great deal of intuition and skill, she managed to turn the child in his mother’s womb.
His first cry of outrage brought so much joy and relief to her. She had never been so grateful to hear a baby cry as she had been that day. After cleaning him up and handing him to the happy new parents, she left, heading towards the home of the boy who had broken his arm.
Apparently, he had gotten the not-so-bright idea to climb a tree close to the house and had eventually slipped, falling andbreaking his arm. She only extricated that information from him after applying some pressure. Apparently, he had no desire for his parents to learn that he had fallen while trying to sneak into the bedroom of their neighbor’s daughter, whom he claimed to be in love with.
Between tears, frustration, sweat, and fierce concentration, she set the bones and restricted them with a makeshift sling, warning him to be careful with his arm until it healed. But even before she left, she could tell that he would not listen.
Most young men did not. Not because of maliciousness or recklessness, but because they needed to work and earn money. They simply did not have the time to wait in bed while they waited for a limb to heal. But that night, as she fell into bed with mind-numbing fatigue, she felt fulfilled and proud.
That one day was the beginning of many hard days that had made her into the brave healer she was. In the midst of all this, she had barely had a chance to spare a thought for Ayaan until he had shown up at McGhee Castle.
In the midst of all that chaos and his subtle cruelty, how was she supposed to suspect that he had softer feelings for her? Because he had never treated her like a man in love. Even Darragh, when he had been actively fighting attraction to her, had treated her better.
“But ye left, Ayaan,” she said, affecting sadness. “I didnae ken what to do when ye left me alone. I was verrra grateful when I finally had the chance to leave.”
Men like Ayaan loved to have their giant egos stroked, and she hoped that his arrogance would work in her favor this time and she would be able to defuse the situation.
“I didnae want to,” he spat, his anger flaring hotter. “I left because Jonathan refused to give me yer hand.”
