Page 46 of A Promise Through Time

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I do need ye, lass. I dinnae ken what to do for her.”

“Ashley gave me some medicine to give her. It might help.”

“Should we wake her?”

“No. We’ll wait. She seems comfortable there with you.”

He shifted Elena on his chest.

“Do you want me to take her?” she asked.

“I would like to sit up,” he replied.

Tina adjusted the pillows so he could sit up a bit. Despite the movement, Elena didn’t stir. “My brother has little ones and they get sick all the time, so don’t worry. She’ll be alright.”

“Do ye believe so? I lost more than one brother and sister to the fever when I was a bairn.”

“I hadn’t thought about that,” Tina frowned. “We don’t know what she’s sick with. Hopefully it’s nothing serious.”

“What will we do if it is?” She could hear the panic in his voice and knew he needed reassurance. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

“Ashley said there’s a doctor coming to help Helene and Sara give birth. Hopefully he’ll be here soon. If not, we can depend on Edna to help us.”

“The witch?”

“That’s the one.”

Donal didn’t know much about witches. The only thing he’d ever heard about them was that they were bad. Tina sat next to him on the bed and placed Elena beside him. “Don’t look so worried,” she said as she rubbed her fingers across his forehead. “Relax.”

He took her hands in his. “Thank ye, Tina.”

“Of course, you’re both important to me.”

He liked the sound of that. He was important to someone. He was important to her. He was happy to have a partner in Tina. Someone he knew would be there for him and for Elena. He’d always resented his parents because they had been too busy with all this brothers and sisters to notice him. In the short time he’d had a child of his own, he had seen how much work it took to care for a child, never mind eight children. They must have gone through so much worry. Where would their next meal come from, what would happen if they were sick? It had been so hard for them and he hadn’t realized it.

He had been so wrapped up in his own little world that he hadn’t seen the sacrifices they’d made for their children. When they’d fostered him out, he thought it was because they didn’t want him anymore, but now he understood it was to make sure he was well cared for and that some day he’d have a better life than the one they’d had. That’s what he wanted to do for Elena. He wanted her life to be a good one with much promise of brighter days to come.

“I’m going to go down to the kitchen. Maybe Mary has some chicken broth for Elena. I’ll bring something for you, too,” she said.

How his luck had changed. From nothing going right in his life to having everything good he could possibly imagine right here in this room with him.

“I’ll be right back,” Tina said.

“We’ll be here waiting for ye.”

***

Mary wasn’t in the kitchen when Tina entered, the only one there was Bethia. “Where is everyone?” Tina asked.

Bethia seemed quite unsure of herself, but managed to answer, “The great hall.”

“Where else would they be?” Tina smiled. She hoped to put Bethia at ease. She wasn’t sure why the young woman seemed so tentative around her. “I was wondering if I could get some broth for Elena. She’s not feeling well.”

“Aye. Mary made some today.” The girl kept her head down as she worked and Tina remembered Mary saying she was shy.

“And can you put together some food for Donal?”

Bethia gave her a sideways glance before nodding her head. “His luck’s nae been good of late.”