“What the hell happened?” Elias shouted. There were gasps and cries that rang out as everyone swarmed him from a nearby drawing room.
“She fell. Luna threw her.” Graham couldn’t let go of Diana evenas Elias reached for her. “We need a physician. Now.”
“Give her to me,” Elias demanded.
“No.” Graham’s arms tightened around her. “I’ve got her.”
Graham climbed the stairs, hugging Diana to him. He entered their shared chamber and pulled back the bedding to lay her down, resting her head on the pillows.
Mary entered the room and gasped. “What has happened, my lord?”
Graham fought the tears that were welled up in his eyes. “She took off riding on her own. I went after her and got there too late. She had a fall. Mitchell sent for the doctor. Help me get her changed out of her habit before the doctor arrives.”
Mary and Graham removed Diana’s habit and dressed her in a night rail. He pulled the covers up over her to keep her warm. He checked her pulse again and was relieved to find that it was still strong. Even in sleep, she was still breathtakingly beautiful, and it made every part of him ache with how much he longed for her to wake.
He laid his hand on her chest to feel the inhale and exhale of her breath to keep himself from losing his mind.
“Elias is enraged,” his mother said, entering the chamber. “The only thing keeping him from coming up here is fear that fighting with you will worsen her condition. How is her breathing?”
Graham looked up at his mother. He couldn’t speak and he could no longer hold back the tears. His legs gave out from underneath him, his knees hitting the floor. He folded his arms to prop himself on the side of her bed and released all of the pain from how he feared losing her.
Augusta rushed to her son’s side. “Dearest, you must be strong for her. I know you are blaming yourself, but you didn’t cause her to fall. Right now, the only thing that matters is taking care of Diana.”
Graham raised his head and clasped his fingers around Diana’s hand, wiping his eyes with his other hand. His mother brushed his hairfrom his face, like she did when he was a boy. Augusta walked to the other side of the bed and sat beside Diana, holding her other hand.
Mitchell appeared a few moments later and had the doctor with him.
The man entered the room and began assessing Diana and then immediately looked to Graham. “Please explain to me what has occurred in as much detail as possible.”
Graham discussed the fall and detailed her positioning during the incident. He answered all the doctor’s questions, not releasing his wife’s hand for a single moment.
“I need to examine her now. Everyone must wait downstairs so I can concentrate and listen to her breathing and heart rate.”
“I’m staying. I’m her husband.” Graham stood to face the man.
“That is precisely why you need to wait downstairs, my lord. I need to focus, and you will demand immediate answers. I promise I will come to you directly after I have examined her. Her maid can stay with me for the examination.”
Augusta crossed to the other side of the room and took her son’s arm. “Let’s go, son. Allow the doctor to work.”
Graham let his mother lead him out of the room. They made their way to the drawing room where everyone waited. Matt leaned against the windowsill, watching outside the window. Augusta took a seat on the settee, rapping her fingers on the arm.
“The doctor is with her now. He will inform us as soon as he can,” Graham said, not making eye contact with any of them.
He took to pacing the room, back and forth. No one spoke, only waited.
The tension in the room was palpable. It felt like hours before the doctor finally joined them. Lydia looped her arm through Elias’s, attempting to keep him calm. Everyone surrounded the doctor, remaining quiet to hear everything that he had to say.
Graham held his breath. Afraid to hear the words. Diana had to beall right. It was the only truth he would accept.
Because he couldn’t live without her.
