Chapter 9
“So I just go in?” I asked Lochlan later that afternoon.
“Right,” Lochlan told me softly, nodding at the small hospital across the road.
The sun was beginning to set behind it so the fiery reds and oranges of twilight silhouetted the structure against the sky.
“Your job is to feign an injury and go in for treatment and get them to let you stay the night.”
“That’s it? Don’t I have a secret mission or anything?”
“Nope. Pretend to be really sick. I’ll be with you the whole time.” He slapped my shoulder. “So don’t worry. Now let’s see how good of an actor you are.”
Once no one was coming from either side of the road, I stumbled out of the forest and into the open, hugged my arms around my middle, and staggered up to the door, groaning. Lochlan kept to my side, an expression of deepest concern on his face.
Before I even got through the entryway, the scent of strong soap hit my nostrils so forcefully it stung. But even with how powerful it was, it couldn’t quite hide that strange odor of sickness that no amount of cleaning could ever scrub away.
A motherly-looking matron in a starched white apron approached me with a kind expression and a ledger in her hands. “How can we help you?”
“It’s my stomach,” I groaned. “I think I ate some bad shellfish or else I’m real sick.” I let out an agonized moan and made tears fill my eyes. “It hurts so bad and I keep fainting.”
“Please help my cousin,” Lochlan told the woman, gingerly patting my back and wincing as I dry heaved. “He’s been throwing up a lot. I tried to help him the best I could, but we can’t get the vomiting to stop.”
“Oh, you poor dear. Can you keep walking? What’s your name?”
“Gil,” I squeaked. I plodded down the hallway, letting groans and whimpers escape every few steps.
“Well, follow me, Gil. We’ll have you triaged in no time. Your cousin can come along, too. That was very kind of you to bring him.”
From somewhere within the hospital, a bell rang, and a man ran past with a stack of linens with another man following, trying to hurry without spilling the basin of hot water he carried. Tendrils of steam curled up from the basin, floating up before they disappeared in the rather chilly hallway.
“Here we are,” the matron said kindly, guiding me into an examination room and helping me climb onto the raised seat.
She perched herself on a stool next to me.
Behind her, bottles lined the counters, filled with all sorts of liquids and pastes, and a long table near the back of the room held sharp instruments laid out in rows. “Now, tell me what’s wrong.”
“I feel real sick,” I told her simply, making sure to let my head bob as if I were becoming light-headed and weak. “I think my oysters had gone a little bad, but I ate them anyway and now…” I let my voice die and took several deep breaths as if I were fighting down nausea.
How long would I need to continue the act after being admitted?
The matron patted my hand. “Not to worry. Let me get a few things to look at you.” She got up and bustled to the back of the room. The moment she turned away, I shoved a finger down my throat and forced myself to vomit so it splattered on the floor.
“I’m so sorry,” I choked out when she turned back. “It’s all a mess and I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t.”
“Don’t worry about it. It happens every day here,” she said with a smile. “Let’s get you in a room and I’ll have someone come clean this up. It’s already getting late and we’re going to get you all settled and keep an eye on you tonight. Do you need help walking?”
“No, I think I can do it myself,” I croaked as I shakily got to my feet and stepped around the mess, following the matron.
“Can you give him a room with a view of the trees? He gets more sick when he can’t see the outside,” Lochlan put in helpfully. “I’d like to stay with him if that’s allowed.”
“Of course you may stay, and I’ll see what I can do about a room,” the matron said, bustling down the hall. “Follow me.” She scribbled on her papers as she went, muttering to herself. “Male, five feet tall, roughly one hundred pounds…”
“Good move with throwing up,” Lochlan whispered. “That was brilliant.”
“And gross,” I told him. “You better get me some mint leaves to chew. It tasted awful.”
“Here we are,” the matron said brightly, opening another door. “We don’t have many patients right now, so for the time being you have it to yourself.” She waggled a finger at Lochlan in a good-natured way. “Now don’t you go sleeping in the other bed. I need that in case we have more patients.”
Lochlan crossed his heart and held up his hand. “I promise,” he said, looking entirely too earnest. “I’d never take something away from someone who’s ill.”
The matron nodded and jotted a few things down in the notepad on the table. She had me describe symptoms and a brief medical history, then finally put down her pen. “Very good. Oh, and how old are you, Gil?” She picked the pen back up.
“Thirteen, almost fourteen,” I told her with yet another groan. “I’m awful sorry about the mess. I really am.”
“Don’t you fret,” she said with a smile. “And here we are. You can see all the way down the road from your bed, and the sunrise looks beautiful in the morning. But if you want to sleep in, that’s fine too. Get some rest and we’ll have a doctor come to look at you soon.”
My stomach lurched unpleasantly. I could not have any doctor do an examination.
There was no way I’d risk compromising my identity over a feigned stomachache, even if Lochlan wanted me to pretend.
I might be able to fool Peter and Lochlan and Roderick, but a doctor would be able to tell that I was no thirteen-year-old boy, and the idea of a doctor making that discovery in front of Lochlan was enough to make heat rise to my cheeks and ears.
The matron plumped the pillows and handed me a basin. “Just in case your last meal comes back to visit again,” she said with a kind smile. “I’ll see you soon, all right?”
I nodded and hugged the basin close to my chest. “Okay.”
Lochlan sat down on the stool next to my bed as the matron closed the door. “Well done,” he murmured. “Now you just need to keep pretending to be sick and enjoy the show.”
Enjoy the show?
“What do you mean?”
Lochlan grinned wickedly. “If I told you, that would spoil the surprise.”
“I can’t stay too long,” I told him, glancing uneasily at the door where murmured voices still floated in from the hall. “I don’t like doctors.”
Lochlan gave me a look that was much too calculating. “Why’s that?”
I swallowed. “No reason. I just don’t. So if he comes in, I may pretend to be asleep and you have to get rid of him, okay?” I narrowed my eyes. “You owe me after I threw up. I still haven’t gotten any mint leaves.” Oh shoals, I had terrible breath. Would Lochlan notice?
“I promise,” Lochlan said.
When the doctor did come in, I feigned sleep and heard Lochlan whisper that I needed my rest and that I was starting to feel better but he didn’t want to wake me and thankfully, the doctor didn’t insist on waking me up.
Once the doctor left, Lochlan started to doze on the stool, nodding off and leaning against the wall, but true to his word, he didn’t once lie down on the other bed.
Midnight fell. The doctor hadn’t come back and the matron peeked her head in a few times to check on me, but other than that, nothing at all happened.
When Lochlan had said “enjoy the show,” I’d assumed that something would occur that I could see from my window.
He must have meant watching the stars come out.
This was the most boring assignment in the entire world.
I found myself drifting off then jerking back awake, wondering how long I was supposed to continue my supposed illness.
I could understand them not wanting to give a new team member all the details of their plan, but I felt like I was flying blind and I didn’t have any information.
How was I supposed to help them when I was constantly kept in the dark?
An hour after dawn, Lochlan woke up and rubbed his eyes, then immediately jumped to his feet and ran to the window in a panic.
“Did I miss it?” he said, looking up and down the road outside the window.
“Miss what? You haven’t told me anything. And how long are we supposed to be here?” I hissed. “I’m not staying to let doctors poke and prod me, and I overheard him saying he’d check on me in the morning.”
“Relax, everything’s fine.” Lochlan looked at the sun’s position in the sky. “It’ll start any second now.”
“What will start?”
“The reason we wanted you here and the reason I came to keep you company at a hospital. Originally they wanted me to try to get a position here so I was already well placed, but they weren’t looking for any new healers.
Now watch.” He pointed out the window to where a small caravan was coming down the road, consisting of only a few wagons and a single carriage, all being pulled by some rather tired-looking horses.
As I watched, more than a dozen masked men burst from the woods.
They shot arrows, met sword against sword with the guards, and began raiding the wagons.
One of the masked men, who looked suspiciously like Roderick, pulled someone from the carriage, kneed him in the stomach, then threw him to the ground.
Shouts came as the guards fought back, finally breaking through and driving them back into the woods. Two of the masked robbers fled with a single wooden crate, leaving the caravan behind.
“And now the good part,” Lochlan murmured, rubbing his hands together.
I watched intently as the guards carried some of the injured caravan members to the hospital, calling for help. Soon, the building was filled with panicked cries of new patients, coupled with the hurried conversations of healers as they rushed past each other in the hallways.