Page 77 of The Lord's Compass
She had no idea how she would continue on if he didn’t.
“My lady?”
She looked up to find a maid had taken Lord Ashford’s place in the doorway.
“I do not need anything,” she said, waving the girl away.
“Before I go,” the maid said, looking from one side to the other, “I have a suggestion for you.”
She stepped into the room, holding out a bowl. Even from this distance, its foul smell had Faith leaning back away from it.
“My mother is a healer, and I have learned much from her. I would suggest putting this on the wound. My mother swears that it will stop bleeding and prevent festering.”
Faith eyed her skeptically. She wasn’t much for witchcraft and such treatments, but at this point, she wasn’t sure what other choice she had after the physician had left without any suggestion.
“Have you ever seen it work?” Faith asked.
“I have never seen it make anything worse, if that helps,” the maid said with a small smile, placing the bowl beside the bed. If that smell didn’t wake Eric, Faith wondered if anything ever would.
“Give it a try,” the maid said. “If you need more, ask for me. My name is Jane.”
Faith nodded her thanks, staring at Eric. She would do anything to make him well again.
Anything at all.
CHAPTER26
Eric could sense light behind his eyes, but it took him a few tries before he could open them and see the room around him. His mouth was dry and there was a dull ache in his lower right leg – but he was alive.
He turned his head from one side to the other, trying to ascertain exactly where he was.
“Eric?”
He smelled her before he saw her, and then she was practically flying across the bed toward him, her body covering his.
“Faith?”
He lifted his arms, pleased to find that they still worked fine at least, before he wrapped them around her.
“Oof,” he said as he took in her weight, and she was quickly pushing up and away from him.
“I am so sorry. I should not have done that. I am just so happy to see you awake and speaking and?—”
He had so much to say, but each time he tried for more words, his voice cracked.
“Drink?” he managed, and she quickly went to his bedside and lifted water to his lips.
He lay his head back afterward, confused and needing to know what had happened. All that they had been through came rushing back to him, and he took a deep breath of relief that Faith was with him, however that had come about.
“You are not hurt?” he asked, scanning her body with his eyes.
“No, I am completely fine.”
“They didn’t do anything to you?”
“Nothing. Those men are not a threat anymore.”
“Thank God,” he said, closing his eyes for a moment in relief.
