CHAPTER 96
The procedure was hard to watch, not necessarily because of the blood or the exposed tissues.
No, it was not the gore that disturbed her.
It was Mr. Wilson’s face. It twisted in pain.
It contorted in ways she had never seen nor thought possible.
He clenched, he moaned, he hissed, and more, and all the while he genuinely was trying his best not to move his torso.
In that, he was doing an admirable job, even if occasionally his entire body jerked with tension.
At times, she was sure he would break her wrist, that he could just crush it under the weight of his agony.
She hushed him, hummed to him what little melodies she knew.
At times, she traced her fingers lightly against his other arm, hoping it felt as wonderful and distracting as when Kallias had done it to her in the hopes she could give him something—anything—else to focus on.
Time seemed to stretch on as slowly as it had when she waited for Kallias to resurface, as if this day was meant to last a year, but finally, dreadfully slowly, it was all over.
Mr. Wilson heaved for breath on the table. He was drenched in sweat, his skin looked pale, and his back was arched under the tension of his agony, as if he could still feel the ghost of the doctor’s tools, as if they still scraped and clawed at him.
Slowly, with some cooing words from her, he started to relax and dropped to the bed in exhaustion, and then eventually, eventually, his breathing calmed too.
Eyes closed, he seemed awake but not quite present, and the doctor gestured for her to step into the other room. She slowly extracted her hand from his ironclad grip before stepping to the other room and shutting the door.
“Yes, doctor?”
“You did well in there, Miss Wains.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“In fact, you were quite a help. And you didn’t look faint at all. If the lighthouse does not work out, I do beseech you to come here.” There was a twinkle in his eye that suggested he was mostly joking.
“Thank you, sir. Is that all you wanted to say?”
“Hardly. Do you know his next of kin?”
Her heart leapt, and as she opened her mouth, he put up a hand to stop her. “Not like that, Miss Wains. As long as infection does not take hold, I do not think we have to worry for his life.”
“Then…?”
“He will need support.”
“I can support him.” The words came out of her mouth without thought.
He raised his eyebrow. “But you cannot leave the lighthouse.”
“True. How much support will he need?”
“These first days? Quite a bit. Someone to help with food and water and to assist him with walking. He’ll be very weak, and don’t think I didn’t catch how you were helping him to get here.”
“I can do it,” she said again. “There is a couch in the parlor of the lighthouse. He can sleep there.”
The man shook his head. “That is highly improper, Miss Wains.”
“As a nurse and a patient?”
“As a man and a woman.”
“But—”
The old man put up another hand to stop her.
“My dear, I realize how your pure heart would never accept such a thing, but think of what happened with Mr. Runington. One night at your place and the very night you saved him at that, and the whole town is turned upside down with talks of your marriage. Now I hear you had never even agreed?”
“No, I had no intention of marrying Mr. Runington.”
The man nodded. “Well then, I will do my best to clear up that rumor, shall I? But let’s not start another. If you know of no kin, I can help him here until the bed is needed.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“And Mr. Runington, he was already dead?”
Why did the question feel like a test?
“He was.”
With the corner of his lip puckering, the doctor nodded. “I had not realized Mr. Wilson was such a good shot, but perhaps a man is capable of anything when it comes to love.”
Love? Another test perhaps? Was the old doctor the biggest gossip of them all?
“Mr. Wilson is a good friend, doctor.”
“Did I say otherwise?”
He sounded so ridiculously innocent that she actually laughed.
But then the man sobered. “Just know, Miss Wains, Mr. Runington’s father will likely come to collect the body, and having met the man once, I will warn you: you will think the son a saint by comparison.”