CHAPTER 26
“Ido not want to hear excuses,” Marcus said. “What I want is to know what has happened to my wife. And how you mean to fix it.”
“It is as I have said, Your Grace, there is little that I can do for her,” the doctor explained with extreme care. “She is stable now, and it is likely that the worst has passed her. All that can be done is that she be made comfortable.”
“So, there is nothing you can do.”
“There is nothing anybody can do,” the doctor confirmed. “A foreign substance was introduced to her body, but it is impossible to say what it was exactly.”
“For you.”
“No…” The doctor clicked his tongue with annoyance but appeared careful not to rise to anger. “It was ingested, is myguess, and without seeing the substance myself, all I can do is guess.”
“Then guess.”
“My best guess is that she was given a sleep agent of some kind. But the amount was of a dangerous quantity, which caused her body to shut down. Whether this was the intention or not…”
“Are you saying that she did this to herself!”
“What I am saying is that I cannot say if someone meant to put her to sleep, or to…” He hesitated and Marcus glared a warning at him. “That the amount given to your wife, based on her response, might very well have proved deadly. Truly, it is a miracle that she survived at all.”
Marcus had known pain in his life. He had known fear. He had felt helpless. He had felt useless. He had suffered trauma the likes of which most would not wish upon their worst enemy, and that which had resoundingly affected him beyond repair.
However, nothing that had happened in his life so far came close to how he felt right now.Nothing.
He was sat by the head of his wife’s bed. He held her hand with both of his. He looked at her with such intensity that one might think he was trying to will her back to consciousness. And not once, not for even a second, did he consider moving.
As for Lucy? She lay sound asleep. To look at her, it would appear that she was simply dozing, a peaceful sleep brought after a long day and nothing more. But it was worse than that. As the doctor just confirmed, she had almost died, and for a few desperate hours there, Marcus thought that she had done.
And they were, without a doubt, the worst hours of my life.
On the other side of the bed, the doctor whom Marcus had called for finished his work. It looked like nothing that might help her, simply the taking of her temperature, the moistening of her brow, and a few other tests that looked like busy work, rather than anything of substance.
Oh, how Marcus wanted to unleash his fury upon the doctor. Not because he thought the man was at fault, but because he had to yell at somebody!
I would yell at myself, was it possible. This might not be my fault but it feels as if it is. If we had not fought… if we had been spending the day together… I doubt this would have happened.
“She will survive,” Marcus said, more to himself than to the doctor. “She must.”
“I think she will,” the doctor agreed as he took a step back from the bed. “As I said, the worst is behind her. Now, all one can do is wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“Until she wakes up,” he said with a deep sigh. “As for when that might be, I cannot say. Tomorrow? Next week?”
“That long…” Marcus’ stomach turned with guilt and fear.
“Keep her comfortable,” the doctor confirmed. “If she rises to a fever, send for me. Other than that, do what you can to keep her hydrated, feed her soups and milk. And pray, Your Grace. Pray.”
It was just three hours ago when Marcus had heard the scream.
He was in his office, doing his best to avoid having to leave in case he ran into his wife, only to find himself sprinting from its confines the moment that awful sound ripped through the office space.
Lady Amelia was with Lucy at the time… and the image of seeing his wife on the floor still sent a shudder through his body. He had thought that she was dead, that her life… his world…again, it was the worst moment of my life.
Marcus held his wife’s hand. He looked at her without blinking. And he did as the doctor said, he prayed for her recovery.
I was wrong about everything. My feelings. This marriage. Not trusting Lucy, as I knew I should have done. If she ever wakes up, even if she never forgives me, I need for her to know how sorry I am.
