Fiona bit back a sigh. She’d hoped to put off making some of the more difficult explanations. “That’s part of the long story I have to tell you about my adventures since Allan took you away. Let’s go back to the house, and I’ll give you the whole tale.”
Chapter 34
Diarmid stirred from a restless, dream-muddled sleep and opened his eyes on a lamplit room and a lovely woman sitting beside his bed. He shifted to reach out to her, and the shaft of pain through his shoulder proved a sharp reminder of the day’s dramatic events.
“Diarmid, how are you feeling?” Fiona asked softly.
“Like my head is full of cushion stuffing.”
“That’s the laudanum.” She smiled. “Once he’d dug Allan’s bullet out of you, the doctor said he wanted you to sleep.”
Mercifully he’d fainted during the worst of the extraction, although he remembered gripping Fiona’s hand so tightly he suspected he must have hurt her. Now his shoulder felt like it was on fire.
“Ye didn’t have to stay to watch that.”
“Yes, I did,” she said steadily. “Can I help you to sit up?”
The tight bandaging restricted movement. “Aye, please.”
“It might be painful.”
It was.
By the time he was propped against the pillows, he was grinding his teeth and fighting to clear his vision. Still he felt better sitting upright. He hated lying flat and helpless. While he sipped the glass of water Fiona gave him, he waited for the throbbing agony to subside.
“Where’s Christina?” he asked, as the drugged fog receded from his mind. “Shouldnae ye be with her?”
“She’s asleep down the corridor. There’s a maid with her, so if she asks for me, I’ll know straightaway.”
“Dinna ye want to be there?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then?”
“But I also want to be with you, and I can’t be in two places at once. I sat with her until she dozed off. Unless she has a bad dream, she’ll sleep now. The poor wee poppet is tired out.” He heard such tenderness in her voice when she spoke of her daughter. “I’m just so happy to have her under the same roof. I can hardly believe it.”
“Aye. You’re reunited at last. Your quest has succeeded.”
“Thanks to you.”
He didn’t want to deal with that right now. “Did ye tell her about me?”
“Yes, I did. I tried to keep things simple, but even then, I’m not sure she took it in. She’s still trying to grapple with Allan being gone. She’s never known a minute without his evil influence.”
Poor wee poppet indeed. “She’ll need time to come to terms with her new life.”
“She’s young. God willing, she’ll heal with kindness, patience, and love.”
“Aye, with kindness, patience, and love.” The last word in that prescription echoed through his mind. He was achingly conscious that his wife hadn’t kissed him, hadn’t even tried to hold his hand.
“Does your arm hurt?”
Like the devil. “No.”
“Liar.”
He didn’t argue.