A Bride For Us

Pain

Lily threw her head back and laughed.

She was kneeling in the garden, holding up what appeared to be a wild flower for the examination of Milly and Leonard who worked alongside her. Every time Raymond looked at Lily, he was stunned anew at her continued presence on the farm. He honestly hadn't thought her capable of spending another night on the farm, since the night he addressed her with such cruelty. That was two weeks ago. Still, against his better judgment, she had chosen to remain. She was sure to keep her distance and hadn't offered any more invitations to meals, but she sent him -daily without fail- meals in the barn.

He watched Leonard and Milly join in on the joke as all three knelt there laughing. Lily's bonnet fell off of her head, exposing her golden locks to the breeze and causing it to be blown about behind her. The sun rays caused her hair to sparkle and her face shone with the brilliance of the sun as she laughed.

Something in Raymond wanted to capture that moment in a painting but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he readjusted the log that sat on his shoulders as he resumed his walk towards the pile of woods he had been gathering for the hearth in all the rooms. As he neared his pile of wood, Lily's laughter drifted to him once more, pulling his attention back to her. She was on her feet now, being chased by the two children.

Raymond didn't realize he had tripped on something, until he was stumbling forward and landing on his face.

A loud growl escaped his lips as he tried to rise, pain shooting up his arm muscles with alarming speed. His vision swirled before him, darkness clouding his view. His mouth filled with a vile taste and his head pounded with a headache.

It seemed like only a split second and someone was by his side. She was touching his head like a sick child and was speaking softly to him, ordering him to stay still as he tried to struggle to his feet but fell back once more.

“I'm fine.” He hissed, jerking his hand away from her grip. He didn't need her help, he bit down on his lower lip to restrain himself from cursing in frustration. He tried to raise his right hand to his head to still the headache, but a pained growl escaped his lips instead.

Turning to the side to examine his hand, he must have cursed or cried, he couldn't remember, for the last thing he saw was darkness.

!!!

Pain.

His head swarmed with pain, infecting his entire body until there was no part of him that was free of its venom.

Pain coursed through every vein, every muscle, every joint, every bone! His vision cleared enough for him to examine his environment; he was in his room. He was laid with his back to the mattress and his hands lying limp beside him. Particularly, his right hand exploded with the most pain.

As Raymond turned to examine it once more, he prayed with all his heart, that he wouldn't find it in the state he had found it. That everything he knew very well had occurred only a few minutes ago, had been nothing but a dream. In fact, he prayed that the last two years was nothing but a terrible dream and by some stroke of luck, Rachel would walk in through those doors with a steaming cup of coffee in her hands and a smile on her face.

He cursed, loudly. He didn't need a doctor to tell him what any man with eyes could clearly see; his right shoulder was dislocated. Dislocated! Furious, Raymond clenched his teeth.

He heard the door opening, before feeling something cool settle on his forehead. He turned then, finding Lily on her knees by the bedside.

She was close, only inches away from his face. Her lips...

It was the first time he had gotten this close to them, it was the first time in many months he had longed for a kiss.

He shrugged her off, irritated by his wandering mind even as the sudden movement made him feel dizzy once more. Blood filled his mouth and he pushed himself to a sitting position to keep from choking on his own blood. He must have clamped down on his tongue when he tripped. The weight of the log must have been responsible for his dislocated shoulder and his falling on his face was certainly responsible for his headache.

“I brought you some soup.” Lily sounded strained, tired even. His gaze darted to her and he found his suspicion to be true. “If you would rest your shoulder for a while until I can ride into town and find a doctor...”

He shook his head, lacking the patience and money to spend on a doctor. “I'm alright. It's nothing and next time, I'll be certain to watch the path before me. ”

He tried to rise, but Lily put a stilling hand on his forearm. “You'll only succeed in causing further damage if you put that shoulder to work.”

“For goodness sake, woman!” He hissed, anger pumping him with enough energy to rise to his trembling feet. “I'm no little boy and I refuse to be treated as one.”

He fully expected her to argue but he reached the door and made his way out, without hearing another word proceed out of her lips.

The oil lamp did nothing to keep Raymond warm as the rain poured heavily outside that evening. The floor beneath his battered body felt like a bed of nails, his makeshift pillow made of hay added to his headache, and his arm was beginning to throb with pain.

By the time it was half way through the night, Raymond was shivering with a fever and the pain in his shoulder had tripled in intensity.

He tried to rise, but his body seemed adamant to remain glued to the hard floor. A part of him feared he was dying, his pride and stubbornness was finally killing him. He would die a painful and miserable death and would leave his children in the care of a complete stranger who would eventually be saddled with the responsibility of being their legal guardian.

Would Lily care for his children if he dies? He thought he knew the answer to that question. She cared for them in his lifetime, surely she'd do the same if he was to pass away.

If he died, he would get to see Rachel again. It had been so long since he saw her, he thought, shivering. He needed to see her, to hold her in his arms...

Would she be pleased to see him? Certainly she would disapprove of his decision of death over the life of their six children. She would be disappointed. He couldn't die, he thought, at least not like this.

His fingers trembled as he reached forward and took hold of the lamp. He was extremely cold. Perhaps if he lit the hay on fire, it would help with the annoying shiver that caused his teeth to clench and his body to tremble. His mind reeled with pain and cold and his vision produced images he was certain had everything to do with his fever.

Picking a piece of hay from the floor, he lighted it with the lamp and, mustering as much energy as he could, he threw the burning hay into a larger pile, causing a huge fire to erupt and begin to consume every hay in its wake.

By the time Raymond realized the foolishness of his mistake, the angry flames were already roaring towards him.

Copyright © 2017 Lily Orevba All rights reserved.