Page 44 of Highland Prince of Darkness

“I hope ye’re right,” May whispered.

The healer nodded and left the room for the moment. May was thankful that the old man had done so, as she needed to ask Bruce something that she didn’t want anyone else to hear.

“Do ye ken why he left so early?” She didn’t mean for her voice to sound as small as it did.

Bruce looked at her for a moment with narrowed eyes before shrugging his shoulders.

“All he said to me was that he wanted to get some fresh air, there was nothing too strange about his behavior. Ye must ken that he likes to be outside, he likes to be doin’ something and moving around a lot. I suppose he just woke up early and ken that he couldnae lie around and do nothin’ for a few hours.”

May knew that it made sense, as much as she wished that he would have stayed with her. But that wasn’t the man that Iain was anymore, he wasn’t as tender as she remembered. Even last night, there had been something primal about his movements with her, he was hungry for it, and it didn’t feel as loving as she had once experienced with him. But May had liked it. As much as she wanted to deny it, she had enjoyed the way that he was with her.

She sunk down into the chair by Iain’s bedside and took his hand in hers. His hand was limp, it scared her for a moment that perhaps she was carrying dead weight, but the heat and sweat that radiated from him said otherwise.

May tried to not look over at the bloodied rags that had been used by the physician to stop the bleeding, but it was difficult when there was a large bandage that now covered his shoulder.

“Ye dinnae need to stay with him, ye should go out and try to enjoy the day,” Bruce suggested. But May shook her head, she couldn’t think of anything worse than trying to get on with her day without Iain by her side.

“Nay, I will stay with him until he wakes up. I dinnae want him to be alone while he’s like this,” May spoke in a hushed mutter.

“I’m sure that the physician will take great care of him, but I ken that there’s nay better cure than a woman’s affections at yer bedside,” Bruce chuckled and shook his head.

May ignored his comments. She wasn’t in the mood to jest about such things when Iain was lying so ill in front of them.

“I’ll leave ye then,” Bruce spoke in a quieter voice while bowing his head.

May managed a weak smile as she watched him leave the room, before quickly turning her head back to her husband who lay restless in bed. Her smile quickly waned as May realized just how much she really did care about Iain and how much she was counting on him waking up.

She didn’t dare to look beneath the bandages that covered his shoulder, but there was already some fresh speckles of blood appearing against the white material. May didn’t know much about medicine and treating wounds, but she knew enough to understand that she was going to have to make sure that he didn’t get any infections.

May knew that the physician would tend to Iain’s wounds better than she ever could, but she tried to muster up all of the knowledge that she had just in case it may be helpful at a later date.

* * *

Time was starting to blur as May sat by Iain’s side. She watched out of the window from her chair as the sun moved across the sky while dodging the clouds. It only reminded her of the day that they were missing and all of the engagements that they were supposed to partake in during the wake of their wedding day.

Her eyes were growing heavy as the evening started to descend, the sky outside grew dark, and the temperature dropped significantly. May never let go of his hand as she watched for any sign that he was improving or getting worse, but his condition never changed.

“Ye’re still in here?” Bruce asked in astonishment as he stood in the doorway, “I thought that the healer might have been exaggerating when he said that ye had been here all day. Have ye moved at all?”

May didn’t want to answer his question; she didn’t want to lie to her father-in-law, but she also didn’t want to have to admit to the fact that she hadn’t moved since that morning.

“I will send someone to fetch ye some supper from the kitchens,” Bruce said, as he turned to leave.

“Nay, I’m nae hungry,” May shook her head.

Her voice was a lot more hoarse as she realized that it was the first time speaking since she had first found out about Iain that morning. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was incredibly dry.

Bruce was looking at her with concern. It laced his features and was clear to anyone who could see his expression. However, May wasn’t in the right frame of mind to be looking after herself, all she wanted was to make sure that Iain was going to be all right.

“He wouldn’t want ye to suffer like this, ye ken?” Bruce said with a sigh, “He would want ye to be taking care of yerself.”

“Aye,” May nodded, but she wasn’t sure that she believed Bruce’s words. May still didn’t fully understand what his need had been to leave so early that morning and it filled her with a lot of anxiety to think that he really didn’t care about her. Iain wouldn’t care if she was suffering while watching over him, and that was a bitter truth to accept. She didn’t feel like eating or sleeping; her appetite had disappeared as she stared down at her pale husband, and her eyes were open by the will of fear. May was scared that if she were to sleep, she would miss something that would alert her to Iain’s condition worsening.

“I ken that ye’re nae goin’ to listen to me, but I dinnae want him to wake up and think that I didn’t at least try to help ye,” Bruce spoke with a light chuckle and shook his head, “I can see that ye’re good to him. He told me of how things were between ye two once, and I dinnae think that it has disappeared between ye.”

May nodded at his words and bit her lip. It hurt to think of Iain reminiscing over the times when he had loved her without question and she had too. May tried not to focus on the guilt that was spreading through her and instead turned her attention back to Iain.

He hadn’t worsened, but he also hadn’t improved, and she wasn’t going anywhere. That was her final decision.