Chapter Ten
Scarlett lay in bed, her mouth dry and her head pounding.
Two weeks ago, she had fallen ill and had not been getting any better. She had not gotten any worse; which was something both she and Alastair were thankful for. She sighed and rolled over with a groan, trying to ignore the pain in her body.
It felt like her stomach would not stop cramping and with it, she had trouble eating anything because it just was stormed back up.
Alastair had figured out that she had been poisoned relatively quickly and had sought out the book that had been displaced in his sitting room. When he had arrived there, the book was gone along with the clue. To his dismay. he had been unable to recall what medicine had been on the paper.
He had sent messages to all the heads of the hospitals to see if anyone had any of their inventory missing, and if they did, what was missing. Alastair had also sent Ronald with a message to Everett, letting him know of the situation.
He swore the staff to secrecy in order to make sure that Art did not hear of it and warned Everett not to let anyone know. If Art were to find out, their whole plan would be compromised. Ronald assured Alastair before he left that he would make sure that Everett did not tell anyone about Scarlett’s illness.
Scarlett coughed and leaned over, reaching for some water. She glanced over and noticed that the glass was empty, but there was a pitcher there if she needed a refill. She knew she wouldn’t be able to lift the pitcher and so she fell back against the bed in frustration.
Melody, who had been in the sitting room off Scarlett’s bedroom, heard the movement coming from the bedroom and wandered in to check on her.
Relief flooded her face and she smiled at Scarlett, coming over to the bed.
When Scarlett pointed to the water, Melody filled the cup and helped her to sit before handing her the glass. She drank slowly and almost sighed as her throat felt the cold water coat it.
“Where is Alastair?” she asked, her voice hoarse.
Melody smiled at her with a subtle look.
“He is right next door in his room. He has moved up to his sitting room so that he can get all his work done and keep an eye on you as well.”
Scarlett blushed and looked away, then back to her.
“That is very nice of him,” she said, looking into her sitting room.
The two rooms were connected by the sitting rooms and they each had the bedroom on the other side. Double doors led into each sitting room with one connecting door between both rooms. Enabling outside access, one door connected the sitting room to the bedroom and another connected each bedroom to the hallway. With all the issues, they had been locking the doors to the hallway.
A knock on the sitting room door made Melody stand up; Scarlett adjusted her position on the bed so that she sat up straight. She smiled brightly when Bard walked into the room with a tray of food, her stomach growling in response.
He chuckled when he heard her stomach, and came to set the tray down on her lap.
“It is a very light meal, My Lady, as to not overdo it on your stomach. Lord Alastair made sure personally to oversee your meal and make sure that it was as nutritional as possible.”
“Thank you, Bard. I hope you will extend my thanks to Lord Alastair as well.”
Bard opened his mouth to reply but was halted when another voice carried into the room.
“Your thanks are appreciated,” Alastair said, coming into the bedroom to the sitting room door.
“Oh, My Lord. What brings you up here?” she asked, looking at him.
Auster smiled in appreciation as his eyes rolled over her as she sat in the bed with the tray in her lap. Even though her skin was pale and her eyes had terrible dark circles underneath them, she still looked lovely to him.
“I came up here to see how my patient is doing,” he replied, taking up residence in the chair that Scarlett finally noticed was beside her bed.
“I see,” she said, looking back down at her breakfast.
“Well, I was just about to eat. Would you like to join me?”
He nodded and that was when she noticed he held a book under his arm.
“What book is that?” she asked between bites of bread and jam.
“It is a book of poems by Sean Biddick called ‘The Poet’s Guide to Disappointing Love.’”
She arched a brow at him and said, “What an interesting title for a book of poems.”
He chuckled. “It is indeed. I have not heard of an odder title but it has some wonderful poems in it.”
He looked down at the book and then back at her.
“Would you like me to read a few to you?”
She nodded, noticing Bard and Melody quietly leave the room.
“I’d like that very much.”
His smile brightened as he started to read his favorite poem from the book.
Hours passed as they talked and read, their topics ranging from the poetry, to the poet himself, to the weather outside and beyond. Scarlett had never had such good company when she was sick and she had a feeling she could get used to it. Even though she was still sick, she was feeling much better than she had been for the last two weeks of vomiting, high fevers, and constant stomach pain. The improvement she felt was amazing and having Alastair there was a wonderful distraction.
Later that afternoon, she asked for a bath and Alastair brought Bard and Melody who had both left the room not long after Alastair had joined them.
When Melody arrived, Alastair marked the spot where they had stopped in the book with a small slip of paper and put it down on her nightstand, getting up to go.
“Thank you for the lovely reading this afternoon. It was very enjoyable,” she said, smiling as he bowed and clicked his heels.
“It was as enjoyable for me as well. Much better than paperwork.”
He winked at her and she giggled.
“You’re welcome to come avoid paperwork at any time.”
“I look forward to it.”
With one last smile, he left the room, heading to the connecting door to his sitting room on the other side. A few minutes later, they arrived with the tub and the water. Scarlett had been quite disappointed to find that there was not a bathing chamber in this room as there had been in her other room. She had definitely preferred the privacy that the chamber afforded as opposed to the tub being in the middle of the room.
Sighing, she let Melody help her disrobe and slid very slowly into the hot water, the warmth seeping into her aching muscles. She always felt so drained when she was sick, but a nice hot bath always brought her back to life. Melody left her alone to take her bath but let her know that she was in the sitting room if she needed her.
Scarlett appreciated everyone looking after her, but it bothered her that she even needed it in the first place. She felt like a fragile child who couldn’t go anywhere without an escort because she might hurt herself. It wasn’t herself they were worried about and that also had her worried.
She shifted in the total costs, sloshing water over the side and Melody called out, “My Lady, are you all right?”
Scarlett smiled and replied, “I am. Nothing to worry about.”
She heard Melody chuckle and resumed her thoughts.
She was absolutely sure that everyone in the castle thought she was a weak soul and she didn’t blame them, as her behavior had not proved otherwise. Scarlett honestly had a reason not to be very strong and the grief over potentially losing a loved one had consumed her very being. Thinking Catriona was dead had been a hard pill to swallow, but she had accepted that as a possibility and had started to grieve. It had been over four months since she disappeared and with no sign of her, and with no sign of the people who were holding her, it got easier to accept that she might actually be gone.
The thought made her gasp at the physical pain in her chest.
Luckily, Melody didn’t hear her and Scarlett squeezed back the tears that came to her eyes at the terrifying thought. She took a couple of deep breaths, calming herself down. Scarlett shook her head. Her head told her to just accept it, but her heart told her not to lose hope.
She was just going to refuse to really think Catriona was dead.
She called out for Melody to help her out of the bath; before getting out, she washed her hair and her body, needing Melody’s help for her hair more than anything else.
Fully washed, she finally got out, wrapping up in the towel and heading to the bed.
“Would you like me to brush your hair and braid it?” Melody asked.
She almost chuckled at the dreamy look on Scarlett’s face. Melody knew very well that Scarlett would very much enjoy her hair getting brushed and then braided. With a giggle, Scarlett walked over to the vanity and sat down, sighing with pleasure.
Scarlett sat quietly until Melody asked her, “How are you feeling after your bath?”
“I am wonderful, and even more so now that you are brushing my hair. Thank you so much for taking care of me.”
“It is entirely my pleasure,” Melody replied. “It’s not really work when you are taking care of your friends.”
Scarlett smiled in the mirror and looked at her friend.
Tears filled her eyes when she whispered, “Thank you for being here with me. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
Melody looked away for a moment and Scarlett saw her pull out one of the monogrammed hankies they had gotten her for her to wipe her eyes.
Scarlett turned in the stool and grabbed Melody’s arm.
“Truly.”
Melody smiled through her tears and hugged her friend, sniffling a couple times and then letting go of Scarlett’s hand to blow her nose and wipe her eyes.
“Let’s finish your hair so we can get you back in bed.”
Scarlett smiled and turned back to face the mirror, content for a moment to let her do something that was normal in her life.
Half an hour later, Scarlett was brushed and braided and back in bed, laying on her side facing the windows where Melody had opened the curtains.
The stars were so beautiful and bright and she couldn’t help but be enamored by them. Her father, Graham Kensington, had hired a star keeper for a few weeks when Scarlett was a young girl and he had taught her all about the stars, piquing her curiosity.
She sighed and shut her eyes, remembering Bryce telling her all about the stars. He had been her first love, and that had only been because he had spent so much time with her and she was only five.
With a smile, she finally drifted off to sleep.
Hours later, when it was pitch black out, Scarlett woke up, her stomach cramping. She cried out and stumbled over to the bucket that had been left for her and retched into it. Her stomach was on fire and her throat burned along with it. She retched again as her tears flowed freely.
Alastair ran into the room and slid to the floor next to her, helping her stay up as she emptied her stomach. When she had finally emptied what was left in her stomach, she leaned back against him, resting her head on his chest.
“I don’t understand. I thought I was getting better,” she whispered in a cracked and hoarse voice.
“We have been giving you the recommended dose of the formula that we created and it was working. We might have been giving you too much. I will have to look but I do not think it is the medicine.”
Scarlett sighed weakly.
Alastair slipped his arms underneath her and lifted her, taking her back to bed. He tucked the blanket tightly around her and then lay down next to her on top of the covers. She rested her head against his shoulder and nodded off, too weak to resist falling asleep.
Alastair sat there and held Scarlett for upwards of twenty minutes, holding her until he could be sure that she was asleep. He rang for Bard and waited for him to come to the room, calling out for him to get some water for Scarlett.
A few minutes later, Scarlett looked at Alastair in the chair and sighed, finally falling asleep.