Page 78 of The Lord's Compass
“How do you feel?” she asked.
“Alive.”
“You were shot in the leg.”
“That, I do recall,” he said, managing a small smile.
“It appears that you have not lost your sense of humor.”
“No, that you are stuck with.”
He reached out, finding her hand and interlacing his fingers with hers.
“Will I lose the leg?” he asked.
His father had been a soldier. He was well aware of the likely outcome of a gunshot wound. Usually, it meant the loss of a limb, which often led to death if the initial wound hadn’t caused it already. But he had enough resolve now to live – he had Faith.
“The physician didn’t have much to say,” Faith said. “Just that it took some of your muscle. If it begins to fester, we will call the surgeon.”
A surgeon meant amputation – of that, Eric was well aware.
He nodded. “Very well.” He wrinkled his nose. “What is that foul smell?”
“That,” Faith said, “is a poultice from a healer. And I do believe that it has saved your life. Since we began applying it, you have improved.”
“I have to say I am rather shocked you agreed to it.”
Eric had heard of such things, but Faith was the last person he would ever guess who would believe in them.
“So was I,” Faith said with a shrug. “But I figured nothing could hurt, and here we are.”
He nodded.
“There is so much more to tell you,” Faith said, sitting on the bed beside him and inching closer. “But first…” she took a breath and looked down at her hands. It was one of the first times he had ever seen her so nervous.
“It is just me, Faith,” he said, tugging at her. “Nothing to be scared about.”
She blew out the breath she had been holding and smiled somewhat tremulously.
“Yes, well that is the thing.”
He waited, knowing that she was not one to back down – he just had to be patient.
“I love you,” she finally said, her eyes lifting to meet his, a watery sheen in front of them. “I love you more than I ever wanted to love anyone. You are everything to me, and I was such a fool before. I was worried that you would leave me, worried that I would never be enough for you. But now, I almost lost you, and I never told you how I truly felt. The truth is, I am going to love you whether I want to or not. Whether you betray me or prefer another or even die on me – which you’d better not.”
She let out an odd snort hiccup that almost had him laughing, but he knew that she would think he found her confession humorous so he held it in.
“As I sat here, staring at you, I finally realized that all I could do was tell you how I truly felt, and then you could do with that what you chose. My heart is yours.”
Eric stared at her, drinking in her beauty and the trust she had just given to him – trust that he knew had been so difficult for her to part with.
“Faith,” he said, reaching out and cupping her cheek in his hand. “I’ve loved you since the moment I saw you. I am sorry I ever betrayed you, but you know that I did not do so purposely. I am the luckiest man in the world to receive your love again, and I will not be fool enough to let that go. Sometimes I have a hard time finding my way in the world, but you… well, you are my compass.”
She laughed at that through the tears in her eyes, leaning down toward him and nuzzling her head into his shoulder.
“Does this hurt?”
“No,” he said. “How did Ashford take the news of the lost map?”
