Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Madeline wasn’t sure if it was the morning light beaming in through the lace curtains or something else that woke her, but as soon as she opened her eyes, she found herself lying next to Diana, her head on the same pillow, listening to her sister moan.
Instantly wide awake, Madeline sat up. “Diana, I’m here. Everything’s going to be all right. Can you speak?”
She continued to coax her sister to consciousness, and when those big blue eyes fluttered open to stare at the bed’s canopy above them, Madeline shouted with glee and hugged Diana. “Thank you, thank you!”
“Where am I?” Diana asked groggily, both confusion and irritation evident in her voice. “I don’t feel well.”
Madeline reached for the basin on the bedside table, and Diana retched into it. She continued to moan with confusion and discomfort.
“My leg…it hurts so much! And my head…what happened?” She tried to sit up, but pain forced her back down. Suddenly she screamed, a shrill, piercing shriek full of agony and fury. “What happened to me!”
Madeline stroked her sister’s forehead. “You were hurt. There was a storm. The barn collapsed on you, but we got you out. You’re safe now.”
“Safe!” She slapped Madeline’s hands away. “You call this safe? My leg! Get off the bed! Every time you move it hurts!”
Madeline quickly slid off, as gently as possible. “I’ll send for the doctor again.”
“Again? He was already here? Why am I in so much pain if he’s already been here? What kind of doctor is he? Some kind of quack? Ow!”
“He was very good. Your leg was broken in four places, and he set all the bones last night while you were unconscious.”
Diana writhed on the bed, moaning and groaning, so Madeline seized the opportunity to dash out of the room to fetch help. She met Hilary in the hall.
Still in her nightdress and running from her room, she pulled a shawl around her shoulders. “Miss Oxley, is her ladyship awake?”
“Yes, you must ask Mr. Coates to fetch the doctor again. Lady Thurston is in terrible pain and I don’t know how to help her.”
Looking flustered, Hilary nodded. Madeline quickly returned to Diana’s room.
“Why aren’t you doing anything?” Diana shouted hysterically. She began to sob and cry and Madeline ran to the bedside to hold her hand.
Just then, Adam skidded into the doorway, his white shirt untucked and open at the collar. He froze with a look of concern.
Diana turned her head on the pillow. When she saw him, she cried out. “Adam! I’ve been hurt! My leg is broken!”
Madeline saw the guilt and misery in his eyes. “I know. I’m going to fetch the doctor. He’ll be able to help you.”
Adam hastened from the doorway, his footsteps pounding briskly down the stairs.
Clenching her teeth against the pain, Diana squeezed Madeline’s hand. “How could this have happened?”
“It was the storm. It came up very suddenly.”
“Storm? I don’t remember a storm.”
“It was raining. That’s why you went into the barn.”
Diana shook her head, refusing to believe what Madeline was telling her. “No, I don’t remember that. I would never have gone out in the rain.”
Madeline gazed helplessly at Diana, trying to jog her sister’s memory, even though a barn collapsing on her was not something she would likely want to remember. “You went riding alone.”
“Alone? Why would I do that?”
A shadow of alarm moved over Madeline. She spoke slowly, cautiously. “Don’t you remember what happened yesterday?”
Diana’s expression hardened as she concentrated. After a moment or two, she began to tremble. She shook her head.
“I…I’m not sure. I know I had biscuits and apple butter for breakfast.” She squeezed Madeline’s hand tighter. “I can’t remember anything after that.” Her face contorted with a sob. “Madeline, what’s happening to me? I can’t remember! I can’t remember!”