He clinched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. He would not let that happen to Bliss. She was an innocent in all this. He would make sure she was anxious to take her leave as soon as she was well enough to do so. Then he would return to live out his days alone until death saw fit to take him.
Rannick stepped away from the door after slipping on his shirt. The rain had stopped, though the gray skies warned of more. He made his way to the lean-to, a few short steps from the cottage, where he stored the firewood and gathered an armful. He would see to the fire then go hunt food for them. Rest and food would help build her strength and make for a quick healing and a quick departure.
He entered the cottage, relieved to see she slept. He added logs to the dwindling fire, hunching done to poke at the logs with a good-sized stick so the flames could lick at the new logs and set them ablaze.
“Does it still rain?”
He shut his eyes a moment against her soft, sleepy voice and the unexpected memory of how much he had enjoyed having her rest comfortably in his arms last night. He had known loneliness throughout the years, but never had he realized the pain of that loneliness until he had felt the deep pleasure of her warm naked body snug in his arms.
It tore at his heart, and his heart had felt nothing in years, and he intended to keep it that way. It was the only way he could survive and keep others safe from him.
“The rain has stopped, but the skies are gray,” he said, without glancing her way as he stood. “I go hunt food for us. Sleep, heal, and be on your way.” He gave her no chance to respond. He grabbed his bow and quiver, stocked well with arrows, and hurried out the door.
Once again Bliss stared at the closed door. This time, however, she was too tired to care. She closed her eyes and let sleep once again take hold.
Bliss woke, not sure if it had been minutes or hours that she had slept, but with one worried thought.
Fever.
She felt the uncomfortable warmth that preceded a fever and needed to see to it before it worsened. There was a brew she could make that would help, but she was not foolish enough to think she had the strength to do that. A cool wet cloth would help for now, then when Rannick returned, she could explain to him how to fix the brew.
Her hand struggled with the blanket as she tried to toss it off her. She was weaker than she thought. Had the fever taken stronger hold than she had realized? She had to at least get a cool cloth to her head. She could not lie abed and let the fever worsen.
Her struggle to sit up was more of a battle and by the time she got herself to sit on the edge of the bed, she was exhausted. She spied the bucket of water barely two steps away and hoped Rannick had placed a fresh one there. It took a couple of tries before she finally got on her feet, though it was with an unsteady sway. With caution, she stepped forward and her sway worsened. She stumbled to the table, grabbing the edge.
“Foolish,” she admonished herself as she would have done to someone in her condition for even attempting to get out of bed. Her side felt on fire, or was it the fever that caused the stinging heat? Her head was too fuzzy to be sure of anything.
She had to get back to bed or she would collapse where she was and lie there until Rannick returned. A few steps were all it would take to get to the bed. She could stumble to it and hopefully collapse on it.
A few calming breaths, a moment to regain her strength, and she turned to head back to the bed. The pain tore through her side and she had no time to react. She went down in a faint.
Rannick had the two rabbits cleaned, speared, and ready for the hearth. A light rain had started on his way back to the cottage and with the skies darkening it was sure to grow worse. Once in the cottage, he intended to focus on cooking the meat and seeing to cleaning his weapons, anything that would keep him from engaging with Bliss.
He entered the cottage, keeping his eyes on the hearth and shrugged off his cloak before crouching down to adjust the spear on the spit he had fashioned in the hearth. The quiet suddenly struck him and his eyes shifted to the bed and seeing it empty, his eyes hurried around the room as he rushed to his feet, only to stop when he spotted Bliss on the floor by the side of the table.