Page 46 of The Thief
Olive blushed and curtsied low, murmuring, “Please excuse me, My Lord. I did not see you there.”
He put on his best charming smile and said, his voice sweet, “It’s all right, Olive. I haven’t hurt you, have I?”
She shook her head furiously.
“Good. Thank you for all your help today. Eloise let me know on the way up how you attended to Lady Scarlett and made sure she was comfortable.”
“It was my pleasure, My Lord,” she murmured, glancing back at Scarlett once more and scurrying down the hall.
Scarlett smiled and chided him, “You scared away my maid. Shall I be cross with you?”
With a mischievous smile, he replied, “No, for I have a secret to tell you.”
Her face turned serious.
“A secret?” she asked.
Alastair’s smile disappeared and he nodded to Bard, the older man shutting and locking the hallway door and the connecting doors to the sitting room.
Scarlett felt a momentary panic well up and she looked at Alastair, her eyes full of fear.
“I am not here to hurt you; I would never do that. We just need to make sure no one knows what we are going to do.”
The fear dissipated when she asked, “What is going on?”
Alastair sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled the needle that he had been holding out of his jacket.
“This is the antidote for a poison called Tapoxon. It has not always been a poison, but since you do not have the disease it was made for, it is slowly killing you. I am going to give you this shot and it should start helping.”
She looked at Alastair, and then to Bard who nodded reassuringly. If anyone knew that Alastair was telling the truth, it was Bard.
“The Tapoxon was stolen from Elfyre Memorial Hospital a week before you came here. It was stolen with a group of medicines but that was the only one not recovered by the hospital. The thief used a fake identity to gain access to the hospital and stole it. The thief is still out there, but this antidote is going to help you fight him off.”
Scarlett listened and processed everything, trying to understand.
Alastair waited for her to process the information and then, after a few moments, she stated, “This will help me to get better but the thief is still out there somewhere.”
“What will happen if he gives me a large dose?”
“The antidote will fight it off. We have two vials of the antidote, so we should be able to keep giving it to you so that you will get better.”
He grasped her hand in his and whispered, “I promise that you will be all right.”
Scarlett sighed and squeezed his hand.
“I trust you,” she whispered.
With a smile, he pulled up the arm of her dress, tapping the vein to make it appear. Scarlett looked away and Alastair removed his hand from hers to give her the injection.
Close enough to the bed, Bard was surprised when Scarlett reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing gently. He didn’t let go; instead, he held tighter to her hand, letting her squeeze his hand through her discomfort.
When Alastair was finished, he placed a small towel over the injection site and handed the needle to Bard to dispose.
“The antidote should take effect quickly and will make you sleepy.”
Scarlett nodded and then smiled.
“Thank you both for taking such wonderful care of me. I would not get better care anywhere else.”
