Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
There was a cure for mercury poisoning, thank God, although it wasn’t one hundred percent effective. And considering how long it had been since she was poisoned, the doctor was sure to explain carefully to Hudson that his wife’s chances of recovering were not guaranteed.
“Do whatever you must,” Hudson had told him, refusing to concede that there might be a chance that his wife would not recover. He would not let himself think such a thing.
As had been the case for the previous week, Hudson sat by the head of his wife’s bed as he watched the doctor administer the antidote; iodide salts, mixed with water, to be drunk three times a day.
That first night had been the worst of it, as Florentia had been so disorientated and weakened that they had needed to force the salty liquid down her throat.
The next morning, when the second dose was required, his wife was not looking any better, and again it had been a painful task to see her drink the entire glass of liquid.
“How long?” Hudson asked the doctor. “How long until it begins to work?”
“That depends on the patient,” the doctor responded. “The stronger her constitution, her will to live, the greater the strength with which her body will fight back the poison. I only wish we were able to begin treatment earlier.”
Hudson did not move the entire day.
Holding his wife’s hand, sitting as close to her as he could, Hudson started the day in silence, but soon found himself filling it with idle chatter as if she was awake and could hear what was being said.
“... I think we will have to have several children,” he said with a soft smile as he gazed upon her sleeping face.
“One will not be enough. I can speak personally to the importance of the sibling relationship, but do not tell Elias I told you so. Yes...” He squeezed her hand.
“At least two, possibly three. A family is what we will have. One that I know you will drown in love because that is just your way.”
It was strange for him to think that when he first married Florentia, he had wanted little to do with her.
That he had seen their marriage as a business transaction and had been glad for it.
What need did he have of marriage, and why lie to himself and pretend he might fall in love?
That had never been Hudson’s way. How things have changed. For the better, any way I look at it.
And to think back to their first evening together, when she had told him of her wish to have children.
How angry he had gotten at her. How confused he had been that she would want to have a child with him.
So filled with self-loathing was Hudson back then that he hadn’t been able to imagine a world in which anyone might want such a thing. Now, it was all he wished for.
“We will have a family together,” he said again and again as that day stretched on. “Do not dare die on me...” He laughed to himself. “I do not think I could forgive myself if you did.”
There was one small problem, however, even if Hudson would not recognize it. The doctor had warned that the poison his wife had ingested, how potent it was, might make the act of falling pregnant that much more difficult. Even impossible.
“Are you telling me that we will not be able to have children?” Hudson had asked darkly.
“I am saying that you need to be prepared for the worst,” the doctor responded.
“The worst...” He laughed bitterly and then turned on the doctor, refusing to give in to such pessimism. “The worst was this past week.”
“I am just saying—”
“Get out,” he snarled. “Now.”
Hudson refused to accept the doctor’s words. He refused to consider them. His wife would get better. When she did, they would have the family she always wished for. Nothing would stop that. Nothing!
And so, he set himself to watching her and waiting and praying.
Slowly, Hudson began to see a change take over his sleeping wife.
At first, he thought it was his imagination, so desperate was he for her to get better.
He believed that he was imagining the change in her skin tone, the way her palm felt less clammy, or how much softer her breathing became.
He held back his excitement, not willing to put himself in a situation where he might hurt as he had been doing this past week.
Only then, as the sun began to set on that first day, did Florentia stir.
“Florentia...” He sat up and shuffled in close, his heart beginning to race. “Florentia?”
She shifted on the bed as if trying to get comfortable. She groaned and then cleared her throat. Her grip on his hand tightened, which nearly had Hudson crying out in happiness. And then, ever so slowly, Florentia opened her eyes.
“Florentia!” he gasped and fell to his knees beside her. “You’re...you’re awake.”
“It would seem that way,” she said weakly, her voice barely a whisper.
“I did not think...” He was sobbing and he did not care. “I was not certain you would...”
“Water,” she said with a hoarse voice. “If it is not too much trouble.”
Beside the bed was a glass of water, already mixed with the iodide salts. He stood over her, helping her to drink it down to the last drop.
“Gah,” she grimaced. “That water is ghastly.”
“It is mixed with iodide salts,” Hudson explained. “I imagine it is not the freshest water you have ever drunk.”
Her nose curled. “Why on earth would you do such a thing? Are you trying to kill me?”
He laughed, sniffed and wiping at his nose which was thick with mucus. “The opposite, in fact,” She looked at him with confusion and Hudson was quick to explain what had happened between himself and Caroline.
Naturally, Florentia was more than a little surprised.
“Caroline?” she gasped, still in a pitifully weakened state. “She...she tried to kill me?”
“She tried to sterilize you against having children,” he corrected, not that it made things any better.
“She went too far, however. And I doubt the courts will see things differently.” His expression darkened.
“I have had her arrested, of course, and I do not expect her to escape justice any time soon.”
Still, Florentia looked as if she could not believe it. “But why? She and I...I mean, I know we were not close, but I thought she liked you.”
“It is not your fault.” He was sitting by her head, still holding her hands, wanting nothing more than to smother her in kisses as if those might bring her back from the brink.
“She is not of sound mind, and she blames my father for much of her woes. By extension, that blame has fallen on my shoulders. This is my fault, Florentia. I am the one who—”
“Don’t do that,” she spoke through him. “By the sounds of it, I have you to thank for saving my life.”
“Which would not have happened if—”
“Again, do not do that.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Is this how we are to spend the rest of our lives? Arguing over whose fault it is that I was almost killed? Truly, it sounds miserable. Perhaps I should not have drunk the antidote.”
He shook his head, glad that his wife’s sardonic sense of humor had remained intact. “Let us blame Caroline and leave it at that.” He brought her hands to his lips and kissed them. “You are alive. You look as if you are getting better. For now, that is all that matters.”
“And you are here.” She looked up at him, and despite how frail she was, how sickly, he could see the love in her eyes, certain that it matched the same he looked down upon her with. “That is what matters.”
“I am here,” he agreed. “And I will never leave your side again. That, I promise you.”
“You better not, or I might not be so forgiving next time,” she said with a soft laugh, her voice still hoarse, her energy still low. Yet the changes were starting to take hold, and even in these last few minutes, Hudson could see her improving vastly.
He sat with her for the rest of the night, ensuring that she took another dose of the antidote before she went back to sleep.
By that point, Florentia was so clearly improving in health that he did not worry for once that she might not wake up.
And once she was sleeping, he stayed by her side, watching her dream, a smile on her lips that mirrored his own.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was feeling a sense of peace.
However, just because Florentia was awake did not mean she improved immediately. She spent another week in bed, with small steps taken each day toward reaching her full strength.
And Hudson was sure to keep his word, not leaving her once.
Was it so strange to say that this week spent by his wife’s bedside was perhaps the happiest time of his life thus far?
Now that they had admitted their feelings for each other, and now that Florentia was so clearly marching toward good health, he felt relaxed around her in ways he never had before, comfortable and content beyond his wildest imaginings, and above all of that, he was happy.
That was perhaps the biggest revelation.
That something as simple as sitting with his wife and talking could bring him such unbridled joy.
To speak of so many things, and somehow to speak of nothing at the same time, would see hours pass as if they were minutes.
When it came time to sleep, he would feel a pang in his stomach because he did not want to say goodbye.
Is this what Elias has been speaking about all this time? I really should have listened sooner.
There was one small hiccup that arrived toward the end of the week.
Funny that it happened at the same hour when Florentia was finally working up the strength to climb from bed for the first time.
For five days now it had been nothing but laughter and joy, but with this final hurdle to clear, a most sensitive topic arose, one which Hudson had been careful to avoid.
In hindsight, seeing who it was that he had married, knowing how they now felt for one another, he realized how foolish he had been.