Page 32 of A Scottish Lord for Christmas
Everyone held their breath as the doctor carefully looked over Blair, taking her pulse, studying her hands and face, and then listening to her heartbeat.
“She’s certainly worse off than yesterday,” the doctor murmured. Rowena tensed. “But I see someone has known what to do until I could arrive.” McIntosh turned around to look at them. “Who was caring for this child?”
“I was.” Rowena stepped forward, her body shaking with worry.
“You did well to bathe her and feed her ice. It has kept her hydrated.” The doctor’s praise only offered a momentary glow for Rowena before she was back to watching Blair anxiously.
“I will stay and keep watch over her; that’s all that can be done for her now. If the fever breaks by morning, she’ll be all right,” the doctor said.
Kenna placed a hand on the doctor’s arm and then escorted the nurse outside, leaving Quinn and Rowena alone with the doctor.
“I’ll stay with her,” Quinn offered at the same time Rowena settled into a chair near the bed. They looked at each other; then a quiet, deep look passed between them that, for a moment, gave Rowena hope that she hadn’t lost her chance at winning Quinn’s heart.
“I insist you go to bed. You’ve done enough for Blair tonight,” Quinn said, his voice soft but firm. Yet for some reason his tone made her heart pinch sharply in her chest.
“But I want to stay, please!” She rose from the chair and caught his arm. “She’s just as much my child as she is yours.” Where her strength to say that came from after all of her exhaustion, she wasn’t sure but she had to tell him that, had to make him understand.
“You truly believe that?” Quinn’s voice was husky and low, his gray eyes softening to resemble polished moonstones.
“I don’t have to believe it. I know it to be true. She is my child, Quinn. I love her.”I love her the way I love you.“If you stay here with her all night, then so shall I.” She met his gaze squarely, unafraid to defy him.
“I think you should let her stay, my lord,” the doctor said. “She’s taken very good care of the bairn, done as much if not more than I could have when it mattered most. Her fever is already showing signs of breaking.”
Quinn’s throat worked as he swallowed hard, a single tear escaping his eye as he glanced toward the bed.
“Then sit with me.” He took Rowena’s hand and led her to the edge of the bed. He leaned back to rest against the wall and pulled Rowena down beside him where they could be close to Blair.
Neither of them spoke, both watching their daughter, worry and hope warring inside them. They didn’t touch except to hold hands, and Rowena wished with her all heart she could crawl into his lap and hug him tight. But there was a distance between them, a chasm that hadn’t been this vast before.
He isn’t ready yet to love me.Admitting this to herself when she’d only carried hope before now seemed to choke her with a silent despair that robbed her of the last of her strength.
Rowena closed her eyes for a moment, just to rest…
When she woke, it was hours later and dawn was coloring the windowpanes of the room with pale pink light. Blair was sleeping on her side, one thumb tucked firmly in her mouth. The doctor was sitting in a chair by the fire, reading a book. He looked up when she stirred. There was no sign of Quinn, and the spot beside her at the foot of Blair’s bed was cold when she touched it.
“How is she?” Rowena asked weakly.
“Fine. The fever broke at around half past two this morning. Lord Forres wanted to let you sleep since Blair was doing better.”
“Is he…gone?” she asked.
“Yes, once he was assured that Blair was safe and well, he mentioned something about deer stalking and left.”
“Left?” The word came out in a higher pitch as she stared at the doctor in fury. “He left her after she was so ill?”
The doctor closed his book and with a sigh faced Rowena. “He stayed through the worst of it, but I know he was thinking of Lady Forres. I was here when she passed and…well it damned near broke the man. I wouldn’t be angry with him. Give him a few hours to find solace in solitude.”
Rowena’s throat constricted but she managed a nod. Time, he needed time to deal with everything. She’d thought time would be her ally, but now it felt like time had become her foe, keeping her from showing Quinn that he could love again, that he could loveher.
“Er, Lady Forres, if I may be so bold to ask, would you ever consider working at my clinic in the village? You have a talent for healing and I would love to have a hand from time to time dealing with patients. Nothing risky, of course. I’d keep you well away from the dangerous cases, but for simple injuries and maladies, I could use someone like you as a nurse.”
“A nurse?” She’d never given thought to doing anything aside from running a house and having children, but she had to admit the idea held great appeal.
“Yes, I assume you’ll have your duties here but if you ever decide you wish to do something else, too, I’d be damned glad to have you.”
“What about Kenna?” she asked.
The doctor’s handsome face colored. “Er…well, I would but she’s not much for the art of healing. She’s better at bookkeeping and the like. I could never ask her to work for me, not in that capacity…It wouldn’t be proper, not with her being unwed.”
