Chapter 28
Cameron heard Sunny’s gasp and whirled around. He turned in time to see Derrick pull someone off her. She then stood there, pressed against the wall, taking deep breaths.
The familiarity of the sight slammed into him like a dozen fists.
The déjà vu was so vivid, it was hard to separate it from reality.
He could feel himself hopelessly outnumbered, killing men in front of him with a sword, secretly terrified that he would be slain and leave Sunny unprotected.
Without warning, he saw another image laid over her.
It was Sunny still, but she was wearing a homespun dress with a bloodstained bodice.
He looked at her in absolute shock. By the saints, she had been there.
Blackness clouded his vision suddenly. The next thing he knew, he was on his knees with Sunny’s arms around him.
“Derrick, help me,” she said urgently.
Cameron would have found himself on his face if it hadn’t been for Derrick catching him before he fell. The pain in his head was absolutely blinding.
“Cameron, stiff upper lip until I at least pile the refuse up against the wall, aye?” Derrick said quietly. “Sunshine, what do they have of his?”
“Just money.”
“I’ll find it,” Derrick said. “And I’ll hurry.”
Cameron could only lean his head on Sunny’s shoulder and try not to puke on her before he could manage to get himself to a loo. He closed his eyes and wondered if it would be best to ignore the vision or let it wash over him fully and hope he survived it.
He hadn’t come close to a decision before he felt Derrick’s hands under his arms.
“Up you go, mate.”
He was hauled to his feet, then Derrick and Sunny each took a side of him and walked him out of the alleyway and onto the street.
He knew that they had gotten into a cab with him, that Sunny had crisply informed the concierge at the George V that he had a migraine, not an excess of wine, and that they had somehow gotten him up to the suite and over to the loo before turning him loose.
“Do you want a doctor?” Derrick asked.
Cameron shook his head sharply, but that only made the room spin wildly.
“He’ll be fine after he throws up and I work on his feet for a while,” Sunny promised.
Cameron couldn’t imagine that, but he wasn’t going to argue. He shooed them out, then shut the door.
By the time he could think again, he realized he was not alone. Sunny was sitting on the edge of the sink, holding a cup of water and watching him. He took it, rinsed his mouth out, then flushed the toilet.
“I can’t even blame you for this,” he said hoarsely. “Unfortunately. ” He leaned over with his hands on his thighs. “I thought I was finished with this sort of business.”
“I think it’s temporary,” she ventured, “but I don’t know as much about head wounds as I’d like. Jamie could probably tell you more than I, given that he’s spent so much time reading up on the subject. I think he did it in your honor, actually.”
“The saints preserve me,” Cameron said weakly.
She laughed softly. “Oh, just wait until he gets started sharing the little gems he’s uncovered. You’ll be eyeing the exits, believe me. For now, though, don’t worry. A little reflexology on your feet will take away the pain.”
“Thank you,” he said with feeling. He managed to straighten and focus on her. “How long have you been there?”
“Not very long,” she said. She pushed away from the counter. “I’ll go get your jammies.”
“I have jammies?” he asked.
"MacLeod dress plaid,” she said with an innocent smile.
“You vile wench,” he managed.
She laughed. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
He didn’t think he was going to. He shut the toilet, then turned and sat down on the lid. Several minutes later he heard rather than saw Sunny kneel in front of him. Then again, he was too busy closing his eyes to really notice anything. He felt her hands on his shirt, unbuttoning it.
“Damnation,” he rasped. “I’m too ill to enjoy this.”
“Well, don’t get your hopes up,” she said, a smile in her voice. “You can take off the rest of your stuff by yourself.”
He felt her slide his shirt down his arms and allowed it because he couldn’t do anything else. He had to rest his face against his hands for quite a while before he thought he could sit up straight. He felt Sunny’s hands, cool, against his bare shoulders.
“Can you do the rest?” she asked.
“Lass, if you take off any more of my clothes, I’ll be in trouble, ” he rasped. He caught her as she got to her feet. “But you’ll come lie down next to me tonight, won’t you? Just to comfort me in my time of need?” He managed to look at her blearily. “Florence Nightingale would have.”
“Derrick could be our bolster.”
“Like hell he could,” Cameron said promptly. He winced. “Is he still here?”
“Yes, pacing just inside the door. Want him?”
He put his arms around her and rested his head against her belly. “Have you told him anything?”
“Heavens, no,” she said, sounding horrified. “I told him you get migraines from too much stress, but nothing else. Do you want him to think something else?”
Cameron managed to take a deep breath. “Not yet, though I daresay he knows more than he’ll let on. He’s Alistair’s late valet’s grandson, you know. What he likely wouldn’t tell you is that he’s my cousin as well.”
“You have an interesting family tree.”
He grunted. “Don’t I, though.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, the only thing that seems to concern him now is how green you looked.” She pulled away from him. “Why don’t you change and go lie down. I’ll get Derrick something to eat.”
“Ask him if anything is amiss, if you will.”
“I will. Can you see to the rest of your clothes?”
“Are you offering to help me?”
She ruffled his hair affectionately. “If you’re able to tease, then you’re better. I’ll leave you to it.”
“I wasn’t teasing,” he called after her, but she was gone and the door was shutting.
He managed to get himself into pajama trousers and across the fifteen paces to Sunny’s bed. He stretched out and closed his eyes, intending to rest for just a moment.
He hadn’t realized he had slept until he felt hands on his feet. He opened his eyes and found Sunny sitting on the end of the bed with his feet in her lap. He groaned before he could stop himself.
“Sorry to wake you,” she said. “You’ve been asleep for half an hour, but you were moaning. I thought it was best to do something about it before you woke up with a worse headache than you had already.”
He would have responded, but she had begun in earnest to try to rearrange the bones in his feet.
“What are you doing?” he rasped.
“Taking the pain in your head away and working on your upset tummy as well. Close your eyes and relax.”
He wanted to protest, but he found that he was having a hard time doing anything but melting into a pool of something that might have been himself at some point in the past.
She was miraculous. Lovely, saucy, and with the hands of a footballer. When he finally realized she had finished and that not only the pain in his head was gone but so was the nausea, he just couldn’t muster up any energy for words.
“Pleasant dreams, my love,” she whispered.
He realized she was whispering that in his ear.
“Gaah,” was all he could manage.
She laughed and walked away. “Sleep well,” she called.
He supposed he just might.
He woke, looked at the clock, and saw it was midnight. He rolled from the bed and felt better than he had in years. He walked out of the bedchamber and found Sunny and Derrick sitting on opposite ends of the couch, chatting amicably. Sunny looked up when she heard him and smiled.
No disgust over his scars. No shudders over the marks of his past. Nothing but acceptance and a smile that had him walking over to pull her up off the couch and into his arms. He hugged her briefly, then sat down with her next to him. He looked at Derrick.
“You had a decent meal out of this, at least,” he said pointedly.
Derrick only smiled. “I almost didn’t after I listened to you sicking up your supper earlier. Only my excessively strong stomach allowed me to soldier on bravely and decimate what our lovely lady saw fit to order for me.”
“My lovely lady,” Cameron reminded him.
“The term was used in a particularly old-fashioned, vassal-ish sort of way, of course,” Derrick said, straight-faced. He put his hands on his knees. “Now that you seem to be out of all danger of dying, I think I’ll be on my way. Thank you for supper, Sunshine, and the pleasant conversation.”
Cameron looked at him. “Go sleep in the other bedroom, Derrick, and make a decent night of it for a change. I think we’re safe enough all holed up in here together.”
Derrick hesitated, then shrugged. “As you will.” He rose, stretched, then walked away. “Thank you for the bed, my lord. Nighty-night, Sunshine.”
Cameron watched him go, then rested his head against the back of the couch and put his arms around Sunny. She leaned back against him and put her hands over his.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Much better.”
“Want anything to eat?”
He winced. “I don’t think so quite yet.”
She reached up behind her and smoothed her hand over his hair briefly. “Tell me what you saw.”
“I saw you standing against a wall with blood down the front of your dress.” He paused and took a deep breath. “Care to give me the details?”
She hesitated, then sighed. “You won’t enjoy them, but I will.
You and I had been sitting in the little healer’s hut when you decided that perhaps I would be better off in the keep.
We walked out of my hut and into a battle.
It was you against probably a dozen men.
At least I think that’s how many there were.
I was too terrified to get an accurate count. ”
“Did no one come to aid me?”
She was silent for a moment or two. “No, no one.”
He somehow wasn’t at all surprised. “What happened to you during all this?”