Dawn heard Cree kick her cottage door open and she hoped he hadn’t broken it. She was beginning to favor the cottage. After all it was where their babe was conceived.
The babe.
She had to tell Cree about their babe.
She was gently deposited on her bed and her only thought was to tell Cree that he would be a father come summer. Though the worried look in his eyes when he glanced at her wound made her think that perhaps it was too late to save her and the babe.
Dawn shook her head. She couldn’t die; she’d fight for herself and her child. Besides Cree would never let her go. She belonged to him; he’d never permit it. She stretched her hand out to him, needing to let him know.
Cree grabbed hold of it. “Elsa will be here any moment and all will—”
She shook her head and pressed his hand to her stomach while she raised her other hand and pointed to herself and then to him and then pressed his hand against her stomach.
Cree already wore a scowl and it deepened, and she worried that he didn’t understand her, and then his eyes turned wide, as if it had finally dawned on him.
“You carry our babe?”
She nodded and fought to stay conscious, but the darkness was closing in fast around her. She heard him shout her name but it was as if she was falling down a deep dark tunnel, further and further away from his pleas for her to stay with him, until darkness completely engulfed her.
Chapter Twenty-one
“Do something, she carries my babe,” Cree shouted when Elsa entered the room. He hunched down beside the bed, his hand still resting on her stomach and his other hand stroking her forehead. “I cannot lose her.” He shook his head and repeated. “I cannot lose her.” He turned a threatening eye on Elsa. “They will be hell to pay if she dies.”
“Threatening me will not help her or your child,” Elsa said calmly. “Now please step aside and let me see to her wound.”
Cree reluctantly did as she asked knowing that Elsa was the only one capable of saving her. And knowing that if it was possible the healer would do everything she could to make sure that Dawn lived.
After only a couple of seconds of examining the wound, Elsa said, “You need to help me get these blood-soaked garments off her.”
Cree did not hesitate. He went to work with Elsa removing Dawn’s garments, though it wasn’t easy, the bloody areas refusing to let go. Once they were done Elsa had him slip a clean cloth underneath her wounded side, and then she set to cleaning the area.
Cree remained close by watching the healer and waiting for word that the woman he loved would live. He did not know what he would do without Dawn. She had become his life and he did not want to think of a day without her. She brought a smile to his face and made him laugh and he hadn’t done both in a very long time. And besides he simply could not sleep without her in bed beside him.
He pressed his hand to his chest the way she did when she would tell him she loved him. Damn, damn, damn if his heart didn’t belong to her, every pounding beat of it and his soul was lost to her as well for there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her. This beautiful woman with no voice was his whole life and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Elsa cleaned the injured area well and when she dropped the cloth in the second bucket of clean water, she looked up at Cree and smiled. “It doesn’t even need a stitch. The weapon caught no vital area. It was more of a nick more than anything, though the preponderance of blood made it appear much worse. Some wounds bleed more than others, though I cannot say why.”
“Then why did she slip into darkness?” Cree asked relieved, though still concerned.
Elsa shook her head. “I cannot say, though carrying a babe can tire a woman and with all Dawn has been through, this last incident just may have been too much for her. And so she slipped into a much needed rest.”
“The babe is well?” Again he asked with concern, not wanting Dawn to wake and find that she had lost their babe. She knew him well and knew that as soon as he learned of their child that he would protect them both, and he would not disappoint her.
“Dawn is strong and kept your babe safe. Both mother and child do well as far as I can tell,” Elsa assured him.
“You will tend her daily,” Cree ordered.
Elsa smiled. “If that is your wish, my lord, though I do not think that Dawn will agree with you. She has done well since she first realized that she carried your babe and I have no doubt she will continue to do so.”