Page 74
Instead, he felt tired. His eyelids were heavy, his body as weak as a kitten.
A tiny stab in his shoulder, like a bee sting, had him slap it with his other hand…only to find a warm arm blocking his palm. He looked up and stopped breathing.
“Don’t you dare move, Aulay,” Jenny said.
Her eyebrows were drawn together, her eyes focused on his shoulder. That was the look of concentration she had when she was healing.
When he looked at his shoulder, there was a thin, transparent object in her hand like a long stick, with black, even lines along its length. She was pushing another stick that went inside the cylinder with her thumb, and a transparent liquid moved down. The whole thing was attached to his shoulder, and that was what stung.
“What the hell are ye doing to me?” he growled.
He meant for it to sound threatening, but his voice was weak.
She removed the object, pressed a white ball of something like cloth against the wee wound, and put a small square of another thin cloth that stuck to his skin on top of it. When he looked at the cylinder, it had a small, thin needle at its edge.
She put a long, thin cap over it and beamed at him, the focused, bossy physician gone. “It’s an antibiotic.”
Before he could ask what was an antibiotic, she leaned down and kissed him, her lips lush and soft and delicious. He’d just raised his weak arms to wrap her in his embrace when she pulled back and pressed the back of her hand against his forehead.
She nodded and rewarded him with another smile that melted his heart. “Much better.”
Questions bumped in his head. What had happened? What was an antibiotic? Why was he alive? But the most important one was… “Why are ye still here, lass? I told ye to leave…”
“I’m here because this is where I belong, silly.” She gently cupped his jaw, and he leaned into her soft palm. “With you.”
His heart pumped against his rib cage. “Keep saying those words, lass, and I’ll get back to life better than with any miraculous treatment.”
She giggled and sat at the edge of his bed and laid her hand on his chest. He covered it with his palm. “I’ll keep saying them every day. But it was the antibiotic that saved your life. Your wound got infected. You were dying. When you told me about the rock on Islay that I could use, I went there right away and traveled to the future. A nice lady helped me to find medicine and return here. The antibiotic did the rest. It killed the bacteria that caused your infection, and your wound is now healing nicely.” She gave him a broad smile. “You’ll live, Aulay. A long and happy life. With me.”
A long and happy life with her…
Everything became very still and quiet. The chirping of birds from behind the slit window stopped, the sound of shuffling feet from somewhere behind the castle door silenced. His breath halted. The only sound that was left was the deafening drumming of his aching, hoping, bursting heart.
He moved his elbows to try to sit upright, but there was not enough strength in his muscles, and he sagged back into the bed.
“God’s blood, I hate feeling weak like this,” he muttered.
“Stay put, MacZeus. I know you’re almighty and powerful, and it’s hard for you to be weak. But your body needs to heal. You lost enough blood to fill the Irish Sea. I’m ordering you to lie back and rest.”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I like it when ye command me like that… I do prefer it in bed, though.”
She licked her lips, and a bonnie blush covered her cheeks. Her eyelashes cast shadows over her skin. “Easy, tiger. I’ll command you in bed all you want. But that’ll have to wait.”
He looked her over. She was in the blue dress he remembered her wearing the day she sneaked onto his ship. She hadn’t changed, hadn’t rested. Dark circles were prominent under her eyes. She looked paler and thinner.
“Did ye eat at all, lass?” he asked.
“Oh yes, of course. Mhairi is sending Laoghaire regularly with food and water. Mhairi can’t walk yet, but both she and Sìomon are doing very well.”
“’Tis good. I’m glad to hear Mhairi and the bairn are well. But Laoghaire?” He frowned. “She was never yer best friend.”
“No, but she was very thankful and impressed with Mhairi and Sìomon. I think she’s a sweet girl, actually, underneath her sharp tongue.”
Aulay let a long sigh out. “Lass. Ye’d be better off in the future. When ye were there, didna ye change yer mind? Dinna ye want, still, to have yer own bairn?”
She chuckled. “The thought crossed my mind—I’m not going to lie. But I love you, Aulay. And I chose you.”
Warmth spilled through his veins. She was in love with him… They stared at each other. Something beautiful blossomed between them, an understanding, a feeling that bound them and connected them in a cocoon of warmth and acceptance.
