The Serving Girl // Book 2 in the Rosie Grey series

Chapter Twelve

"I seem to struggle to keep up with my paperwork so if you could go through it and find anything that needs to be signed or posted that would be great. There should also be an inventory list in there somewhere which could do with checking. We got a lot of supplies in the other day and I need to make sure we have enough to last for a few weeks. Just go through and tally it up, I'll have a look later and see if I missed anything," Doctor Ealing said, shedding his jacket and throwing it over the door frame.

"Yes, Sir," I replied.

"You should be able to do all of that one-handed and if not, Robert is here to assist."

"Aren't I supposed to help you?" Robert asked, raising an eyebrow and draping himself over the sofa in a rather dramatic fashion.

"You are supposed to be learning whilst you are here, and paperwork is part of the learning process, so you'll just have to deal with it."

"Paperwork is my worst enemy."

"Hm, mine as well. Rosie, I'd like to put that sling on your arm now. It'll keep it stable and give the bruising and swelling some time to go down. That'll make it easier to re-examine the breaks and find out if you'll need to wear the sling for longer. Alright?"

"Whatever you think is best, Sir."

"Excellent, if you would come here."

I crossed the room and stood next to the sofa that Robert was draped over, he had dramatically pressed the back of his hand to his forehead when Doctor Ealing mentioned paperwork and now looked as though he was in an old Renaissance painting. Doctor Ealing shook his head towards his son and pulled a strip of fabric from his cupboard and a safety pin. Putting the safety pin between his teeth, I lightly grabbed my right arm and lifted it, so it lay across my mid-section. He then took the strip of fabric unfolded it. Once unfolded, he placed my arm into it as though it were a parcel and took the two ends of the fabric before tying it behind my neck.

He tied the two ends together and removed the safety pin from his mouth, taking the pieces of fabric that hung loosely around my elbow. He twisted the bit of fabric and put in the pin in place, quickly checking the knot at the back was secure and that it wasn't going to come undone any time soon. Robert had removed his hand from his forehead but remained sprawled across the sofa as Doctor Ealing took a step back to make sure the sling was hanging in its right place. It felt odd to have my arm strapped up and little movement eligible from the elbow down. The most I could do was wiggle my fingers against the material.

"There. Keep that on at all times or you could risk doing more damage to your shoulder. Also, try not to sleep on your right side or move around too much or it will take longer to heal, we want the swelling and bruising down as soon as possible," Doctor Ealing said.

"I don't move around in my sleep anyway, seven years of sharing a bed and you learn to sleep like a log," I said, smiling slightly.

"Alright. I need to pay a visit to Mr Charles about his cough, so I'll leave you both here to deal with the paperwork. I'll be back shortly. Robert, don't forget to help."

"I can't, I'm stuck," Robert groaned, sinking himself deeper into the sofa cushions.

"Come on," I said. Stepping forward, I grabbed Robert's hand and pulled him out of the cushions, surprised at how easy it was. Robert groaned but made no attempt to sit back down.

"Behave, Robert."

Robert pulled another face as Doctor Ealing grabbed the jacket he had taken off earlier and slipped it back on. He grabbed his medical bag from beside the door, put on his hat and left Robert and me to the mountain of paperwork on the desk that was threatening to spill onto the floor. With Robert's hand still in my own, I pulled him across the room to the desk and released him, my left arm dropping by my side whilst my right arm just felt useless. Robert glanced at the stack of paper and sighed loudly, clearly not ready to spend his time sorting out paper.