The Secret of Moonacre - SECRECY

Chapter 31

Robin had been sleeping for the last few hours not so peacefully. He had woken up with bad dreams or shivering badly almost every half hour. I had made him countless numbers of hot drinks and hadn't stopped running up and down the stairs. I just wanted Loveday back and soon enough she was. I had run back down the stairs for what it felt like the hundredth time that day as soon as I heard the door open.

"Loveday! I think there's something wrong with Robin. He's so cold and keeps shivering" I called from the break in the stairs.

She rushed up to me and I took her to my room where Robin was violently shaking.

"Robin, calm down. Just breath in and out" Loveday soothed. She felt his pulse and her forehead creased "Oh no. Oh no oh no"

"Loveday what is it?!" I demanded worried.

"His pulse has slowed down. His body temperature has dropped dramatically" She explained.

It was exactly what I thought. Hypothermia. "It's hypothermia isn't it?" I asked.

Loveday nodded her head "I think so. We should get the doctor to check before we jump to any conclusions"

"But we don't have much time Loveday!" My head dropped to my hands.

"Maria, you must not panic. Go to the window, whistle and call the dove to send a message to the doctor in the village and he shall be here soon" Loveday instructed.

I rushed to the window and did what she said. The dove appeared and I wrote a note to the doctor telling him to be at the castle as soon as he can and underlined the word emergency. I clipped it into the doves neck and it flew towards the village.

I rushed back to the bed. "What can I do?" I asked Loveday frantically.

"Just keep him warm" Loveday instructed.

I pulled the sheets and blankets right over him and held his finger tips to keep them warm but he didn't move much. He looked very lathargic.

Loveday swiftly left the room "I'll be back in a moment"

I continued to look at Robin "Please make it through this Robin. Please" A muffled sob escaped my mouth.

He spoke with his eyes still closed "Maria, if I don't make it through this..."

"Don't say that please. You will..." I held his hand tighter.

"If I don't, please forget me, move on. I'm not worth holding on to" He said.

"Robin, you are worth everything to me. It would be near impossible to ever forget you" I disagreed. "But you are not going to bail on me now. You leave me and I will have nothing left"

He seemed to smile slightly. I let go of his hand and walked to the window and opened it as wide as it would go. I leant out and pointed my hand towards the sun. I opened my fingers up and it rapidly became warmer outside and I made a warm wind breeze through the window towards Robin.

A few minutes later Loveday came back into the room accompanied by the doctor who was a short man with a grey beard.

"Afternoon Maria" He greeted going straight to Robin. He checked his temperature and pulse and shook his head making my heart race "How long has he been like this?" He asked.

"Since last night. That's when I noticed his temperature had changed" I explained, sitting on the bed next to Robin's head.

"I see" The doctor rubbed his head. "If this is hypothermia it is the strangest case I have ever seen. I have not known it to accumulate after a few hours. Loveday explained to me it may have been because he dived into some cold water?"