Canvas & Keys

10. Great Scot!

Chapter 10

Great Scot!

It wasn't hay that I smelled when I woke up, but lavender scented soap. I was lying on my stomach on a mattress, pillow under my head and cool cloth resting on my forehead. Soft material was tapped to my back, my shirt lifted up to the back of my neck. I could move, but even the slightest bit pulled at my skin.

Had the deeper cuts been stitched up?

Someone was humming beside me as they gently pulled the tape off my back from where it was holding the gauze onto my skin. Swallowing once and licking my parched lips, I slowly opened my eyes to the small room I was in, decorated with wooden furniture and antiques, and the dark-haired woman knelt beside the bed.

"Well, I'll be," she sighed when her blue eyes met mine. A slight smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as she removed the slightly bloodied gauze from my back. "Look who's finally awake. I didn't think you ever would."

I swallowed again, but my dry mouth wasn't doing much. "How long have I been out?"

The woman leaned back on her knees, pulling a tube from what looked like a medical bag, and started rubbing it on my back. "Six days and it's the eve of the seventh."

I groaned, closing my eyes. Not because I was in pain, but it had been six days since I passed out in the barn. Almost seven.

A whole week. Gone.

Who knew what had happened in those days, too.

The Brotherhood and the Knights could have found out where we were and now probably thought I was dead.

Vince and the Order probably knew I wasn't, but wanted me to be.

And Beau and Flannery...they probably were.

No, I couldn't think about that. If I did, I'd start bawling like a baby.

So I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and looked at the woman again just as she started telling me what had been going on.

"You've had a ragin' fever that took forever to break. You were in and out of consciousness, but you were never awake for more than a few moments. We've been takin' care of you as best we can under the circumstances. I thought we'd have to take you to the hospital in Perth, but my husband said no. Not because it's a good ways away, but because they'd be askin' questions we didn't know the answers to." She gave me a look between suspicion and pity when she paused, putting a fresh bandage on my back. "And I'm sure you wouldn't've wanted to wake up and have them questionin' you either."

I shook my head slowly, making the cool cloth fall onto the pillow. "No...so thank you for not taking me. And thank you for taking care of me."

"You're very welcome, sweetheart. Now, do you wanna try sittin' up? Those lashes on the backs of your legs are pretty much healed, though I've still got them wrapped up. They weren't as bad as the ones on your back."

I nodded as she fixed my shirt before she stood beside the bed. On shaky arms, I tried to push myself up, but she grabbed hold to steady me. For not moving in almost a week, my whole body was stiff.

Propping me up on my side against the pillows, she then pulled the IV from the crease of my elbow, taking the bag half full of clear liquid down from the makeshift stand created by a hook on the bedpost. After making sure I wouldn't fall over, she leaned down and grabbed her bag, placed all her supplies back inside, and closed it.