The Scot's Angel - Keira Montclair Page 0,14
didn’t mean to…I had no idea. Forgive me, mistress.”
He’d wondered if Claray would hate him for the part he’d played in the accident, but she tugged him closer, her small hands insistent. He hadn’t wished to see Claray’s mother in pain. But now he stood directly in front of her, where he could see the sweat on her brow, the dazed look in her eyes, the way she gripped her husband’s hand so tightly that she could easily draw blood.
“Mistress, my sincerest apologies.”
“Thorn, ’twas not entirely your fault. I was careless, too. Connor has told me many times he would hang the decorations, but I’m stubborn.”
Kyla said, “I knew we should have had someone at the door. We tried to fix the ribbon quickly, and it all went wrong. Hellfire.”
Elizabeth said, “I was headed in that direction, but it all happened too quickly.”
Connor cocked a brow at his sisters. Gracie told the men where to place the cot, and she and Merelda each took a pillow and carefully lifted Sela’s leg while Connor lifted her onto the cot. They stayed with him as best they could, but she still let out a small scream when they bounced her leg a wee bit.
Thorn felt sick. He leaned over and said to Claray, “You are hale? You were not bitten? I was worried about you.”
“I’m fine, Thorn, but I thank you for your consideration.” She stared at her arm and said, “Mayhap I do have a wee bite, but it does not hurt as much as seeing my mother fall.”
Once they had Sela settled near the hearth, Connor moved everyone back and said, “Give Gracie the room she needs to do what she can. I want two more torches over here.”
Someone went off to do his bidding, but Claray found a chair next to the hearth. “I’m going to wait right here.” Again, he felt the pulse to leave. To dig a hole deep enough to swallow him, perhaps, but she looked into his eyes. “Stay with me?”
“Aye, I’ll stand by your side,” Thorn said, and because she wanted him there, no one would be able to drag him away.
The group broke apart slowly, some heading out the door, while others cleaned up.
Jamie disappeared and returned with a small bottle of golden liquid. Connor poured a wee bit amount in a goblet and said, “Drink, Sela. She may have to touch your leg to fix it.”
“I’m not going to lose it, am I?” Sela asked in a soft voice. “Sometimes, if a break is bad enough, the only way to treat it is to amputate the limb. Or will I have such a bad limp that I’ll not be able to walk normally again?”
“Please help her, Aunt Gracie,” Claray shouted, her voice ringing with a panic that made Thorn feel even worse. “Please?”
“If I can’t, Aunt Jennie will help her,” Gracie said, from her position by the cot. “She’ll come as soon as she can, but I’ll do whatever I can to make you comfortable, Sela.”
“My foot feels strange, Gracie,” Sela said before she closed her eyes, and Connor motioned for Gracie to follow them. They didn’t go far, only the other side of the hearth, and Jamie and Merelda both joined them.
“What can you do?” Connor asked in a low, urgent voice. “I know Aunt Jennie would wrap it up with a block of wood to hold it straight. She’ll not be able to walk for a long time, will she?”
Gracie took a deep breath and said, “Nay, probably not for nearly two or three moons.”
“Will she lose her leg?”
Claray grabbed ahold of Thorn’s hand when her father asked that question, biting on her lip so hard she was drawing blood. Thorn reached up to pull her lip away from her teeth, but Claray shoved his hand away.
“Here is what Aunt Jennie has always told me. If ’tis a simple break, we can just move it back together and it will heal on its own. If ’tis not simple, then it could heal a bit crooked. The bone will heal, but…”
“But what?” Connor whispered, rather harshly.
“We don’t want it to sit crooked for long, and we have to watch the color of it. If it sits crooked, ’twill heal crooked, too. So I’ll have to try my best to straighten it and leave the rest for Aunt Jennie’s capable hands. Aunt Jennie told me once about a time she had to break the bone again because it was allowed to heal