“Let me see,” Jamie said, stepping close.
“I can wrap it,” she said as Jamie, eyes closed and a frown drawing down his brow, touched Braden’s arm just above the elbow, then below it. “But first, ye would feel better if ye soaked in the loch. The cold would bring down the swelling.”
“And freeze the rest of me, too. Nay, it already feels better.”
“Cold waterwouldhelp,” Jamie said, stepping back with a grimace.
Aftyn narrowed her gaze. Had he done something? He seemed uncomfortable, but he had before Braden arrived, too. She dismissed her observation as pure fancy. “I’ll have some of the lads bring up buckets of cold water. That might serve. Go up to the herbal with Jamie.”
Braden nodded and headed for the upper stairs with Jamie a step ahead, making sure no one jostled his arm.
She ran down the stairs and out into the bailey, hailed several lads still on the practice ground and told them what she needed. They hurried off to do her bidding and she went back inside, stopping first by the kitchen to beg a flask of whisky from Cook, who kept several on hand. Braden would need strong drink to dull the pain as she wrapped his elbow.
In the herbal, she poured a cup nearly full and handed it to Braden. “Ye need to drink as much of this as ye can stomach,” she told him.
“Ye ken I dinna like…”
“I do ken it, but the whisky will help with the pain,” she insisted. And if he passed out, that would be a blessing.
The lads arrived with the cold water she’d requested. She spent the next few minutes directing them where to put the buckets, so she didn’t see what Jamie did, but she heard them speaking in low tones. Aftyn turned around in time to see Braden flex his arm, slowly. Jamie did the same with his. Showing Braden how much to safely move it? When Braden cradled his arm, Jamie did, too.
“Good,” Jamie told him. “Now do as the healer tells ye, and dunk that elbow.” He glanced at the row of buckets on the table top and told Braden, “As the water warms, go to the next, and so on down the line she arranged for ye. By the time ye reach the end, the swelling will be much reduced.”
Warmed inside by Jamie acknowledging her to the laird’s heir as the healer, Aftyn placed a stool by the first bucket. He didn’t know Braden was her half-brother, and she had no intention of telling him. Because of the way the laird treated her, and the fact that she’d kept their relationship secret, Jamie might guess what she was, and that would be the end of any regard he held for her.
Braden did as Jamie instructed, ignoring the cup Aftyn placed in reach of his free hand.
“When ye have done them all,” Aftyn said, “I’ll wrap the elbow.”
“That will help,” Jamie agreed. “Ye ken to do it firmly but no’ tight, then fashion a sling. And ye, lad, will use that sling for the next three days any time ye are no’ abed. No exceptions.”
“Will I be able to use my arm after that?”
“Aye, but ye must let it rest for now, or it can swell again, and that will hurt,” Aftyn directed.
“Thank ye.” He turned to Jamie. “I am grateful ye are here to help my…”
“That’s right,” Aftyn broke in. “Ye are fortunate to have an experienced healer nearby when ye need one.” Jealousy flared at the adoration in her brother’s gaze now directed at Jamie, making her belly clench. Had he forgotten she’d once saved his life? “Thank ye, Jamie,” she added, determined not to let Braden say any more about who they were to each other. “I can finish caring for him. I’m sure ye have much else to do with Niall.”
“I was going to see him when Braden arrived, aye.” Jamie nodded. “I’ll take my leave, then.”
Did Jamie look pale and tired again?
She watched him walk away until he closed the door behind him, then breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want Jamie to think less of her. She’d already felt his contempt. She would be shamed, and could not stand the thought of enduring that again. Perhaps that was why Braden’s adoration of Jamie rankled.
As Braden moved from the first bucket to the next, she shifted the stool for him and asked, “What did he do to yer arm?”
“I dinna ken,” Braden said, “and I dinna care. It didna hurt, and afterward, my arm felt better.”
“Why do ye spar with Archie? Every time ye do, ye wind up injured.”
“All the others avoid him. He’s got the coordination of an arrow-shot duck on his best day. And today wasna one of his best.”
“Yet ye partner with him.”
“’Tis my responsibility as heir.”
“To let yerself be battered and bruised and,” she said then paused, gesturing at the bucket currently occupied by his elbow, “possibly suffer broken bones, too? I should have a word with the arms master.”
