Chapter 119
The sound of wagon wheels echoed through the quiet evening.
Someone standing near the entrance to the medical centre looked toward the road.
"They're coming..."
The whisper spread like wildfire.
"They're back."
Within moments, everyone stopped what they were doing.
Doctors.
Nurses.
Recovered miners.
Families.
Even the children fell silent.
Aurora looked up from the patient she had just finished treating.
Her heart began pounding.
She hurried toward the entrance.
Behind her, Emily, Anne, Eleanor, Philip, and dozens of nurses followed.
No one spoke.
No one dared.
The wagons rolled slowly into the courtyard.
Far too slowly.
Aurora searched every face.
Every stretcher.
Every wagon.
Then...
The soldiers climbed down.
Instead of unloading supplies, they formed two lines.
Facing one another.
Silent.
Each man's expression was heavy with exhaustion.
With respect.
Aurora frowned.
"What are they doing...?"
No one answered.
Then...
A stretcher appeared.
One soldier carefully lifted it.
Another reached forward.
The stretcher was passed from one pair of hands to the next.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Almost reverently.
Until it reached the entrance of the medical centre.
Aurora's breath caught.
Turner.
He lay motionless upon the stretcher.
His face was pale beneath the dirt.
His clothes were stained with dried blood.
For one terrible heartbeat...
The world stopped.
"No..."
The word escaped her before she realised she had spoken.
Tears filled her eyes instantly.
Duke Owen hurried to her side.
He gently placed both hands on her shoulders.
"Honey..."
His voice was thick with emotion.
"We found him."
Aurora looked at him with trembling eyes.
"He... he's alive?"
Owen nodded.
"He is."
The relief hit her so suddenly that her knees almost gave way.
Fresh tears rolled freely down her cheeks.
Owen gently brushed one away.
"Don't cry."
He smiled softly despite his own exhaustion.
"You still have work to do."
"You need to save him."
Aurora closed her eyes for only a moment.
Taking one shaky breath.
Then another.
When she opened them again...
The frightened young woman disappeared.
In her place stood Lady Aurora Ambrose.
The physician.
Her voice became calm.
Steady.
"Take him to Operating Room Three."
She immediately turned.
"Nurse Evelyn."
"Nurse Clara."
"Nurse Sophia."
"With me."
The nurses responded without hesitation.
"Yes, Lady Aurora."
As the stretcher disappeared inside, every person in the courtyard remained exactly where they stood.
Nobody left.
Nobody wanted to.
Inside the operating room...
Aurora worked without pause.
"Scissors."
A nurse immediately placed them into her hand.
She carefully cut away Turner's torn shirt.
Bruises covered much of his chest.
Several wounds had already been roughly bandaged.
The deeper injuries worried her far more.
She gently pressed against his abdomen.
Turner's body gave a slight involuntary reaction.
Aurora frowned.
"...Internal bleeding."
The room immediately grew tense.
She looked toward the nurses.
"We have no time."
"Prepare the instruments."
Hot water.
Fresh cloth.
Needles.
Thread.
Everything was placed before her.
Aurora carefully made a small incision.
Her hands remained astonishingly steady despite the fear threatening to consume her.
One nurse quietly wiped away the blood.
Another handed her fresh instruments before she even asked.
Hours passed.
Nobody spoke unless absolutely necessary.
Outside...
The night grew darker.
Candles were lit throughout the courtyard.
Nobody had gone home.
Recovered miners sat beside injured friends.
Families knelt together in prayer.
Soldiers stood silently with heads bowed.
Even those who had never spoken to Turner prayed for him.
Because every one of them knew...
Captain Turner had nearly given his life to save theirs.
Eleanor stood beside Philip.
Her hands were clasped tightly together.
Queen Amelia arrived not long afterward.
She had been preparing to retire when Lucian burst into the palace.
"The rescue party returned."
"They found Turner."
Within minutes...
Lucian, Theo, Queen Amelia, and the former King had all ridden through the night to Emberforge.
When they arrived...
They stopped in silence.
Hundreds of candles illuminated the courtyard.
The air itself seemed filled with prayer.
Nobody spoke loudly.
Nobody laughed.
Everyone simply waited.
Lucian quietly walked to stand beside Duke Owen.
Neither man said a word.
Words could not ease this kind of fear.
Hours continued to pass.
Midnight came...
Then slipped quietly into the early hours of morning.
Finally...
The operating room door opened.
Aurora stepped outside.
She looked utterly exhausted.
Blood stained the sleeves of her gown.
Dark circles shadowed her eyes.
For a moment...
She simply stood there.
Every conversation stopped.
Every candle seemed to burn a little brighter.
Hundreds of eyes looked only at her.
Aurora swallowed hard.
She looked at the crowd before her.
The miners.
Their families.
The soldiers.
The nurses.
The dukes.
The royal family.
Her own parents.
She smiled.
A small...
Tired...
Hopeful smile.
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
"Thank you..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, "...all of you."
She took a slow breath, "Captain Turner lost a great deal of blood."
The crowd collectively held its breath.
"He suffered internal bleeding..." Aurora's voice caught.
For a moment she couldn't continue.
Emily quietly reached her side.
Aurora smiled gratefully before looking back at everyone.
"We managed to stop the bleeding."
Another long pause.
Then...
"He's stable."
For one heartbeat...
Nobody moved.
Then relief swept through the courtyard.
Some cried openly.
Others fell to their knees in gratitude.
Several miners embraced one another.
Quiet sobs echoed through the night.
Aurora lifted a hand gently, "But..."
Silence returned instantly.
"We're not out of danger yet."
Her eyes drifted briefly toward the closed operating room door.
"Now......we wait for him to wake up."
She smiled through fresh tears.
"So please......keep praying."
No one needed to be asked twice.
Throughout the remainder of the night...
The candles continued to burn.
And not a single one was extinguished.
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