Page 112 of Waking Roslyn

The shouting moved away from me and then was gone altogether. Had that truly been John? Was he here with me? Why? How? What had happened? I couldn’t remember going to bed last night. The last thing I remembered was planning to leave with John, because I thought it was dangerous to stay. Someone had sent a note, warning me. We’d been preparing to go, and there had been flowers, which I had loved. I’d smelled them…

My heart started pounding and as I fought to open my eyes, my breathing intensified. Someone had poisoned me. A dust on roses. My body weakening. My vision going black.

Complete and utter terror.

I had to wake up. I had to find out where I was. I just wanted to know I was safe.

Then his voice was back, and a warm, gentle hand wrapped around my own. The fingertips were rough and calloused. John’s hand.

Open your eyes, Rose! I commanded myself. Open them!

I wanted to see John and have him tell me it was going to be all right.

I tried again and again to make my eyes open, but the heaviness that weighed down my entire body kept them from lifting. Still, the steady pressure of his hand on mine allowed my heart rate and breathing to slow, and when he caressed my face, it seemed to warm me all the way through.

As his voice became clearer, it calmed me further.

“You’re going to be all right,” he said in a whisper as his fingers curled over my ear and down my neck. “You’re safe. You can come back to us now. You can wake up.”

The bed beneath me shifted, and then I felt his warm lips as they pressed against my forehead.

The safety, warmth and love that seeped into my skin seemed to lighten the weight, and I tried again to move my hand and managed to squeeze his fingers. Just a little.

A commotion rose up again, and I thought I heard my parents’ voices, asking if I was awake. They sounded distraught and terrified.

I had moved my fingers. Surely, I could open my eyes. So I tried again and managed to flutter them open. It was only for a moment and they quickly closed again. But I kept trying, and after several heavy blinks, the world came into focus.

What a beautiful sight.

My gaze cleared and I saw John’s worried face hovering above my own, along with those of my mother and father.

Mother’s smile turned to tears and she started sobbing. “She’s alive. She’s awake.” Then she opened her eyes and looked at me with overwhelming love. “You’re all right now, Rosie. Everything is going to be fine.”

Was it though? I wanted to believe in their reassurances, but I still couldn’t move.

“My lady.” A man appeared above me, crowding John out of my line of sight. “I am Dr. Harwick. Can you speak?”

I tried, but my tongue and lips wouldn’t work right and all that came out were tiny hums that sounded like I was choking. I closed my eyes, frustrated.

“Good,” the doctor said, surprising me. “That’s good. It will take time for the effects to wear off completely, but that is a good start.”

It didn’t feel like a good start.

He put his hand on mine. “Can you move your fingers?”

“She was able to do it earlier,” John said from somewhere.

“Good. Let’s see if you can do it now.”

It felt like trying to move a boulder, but eventually my finger moved.

The doctor grinned down at me. “See? You’re coming out of it already. Now, I don’t want you to try to do anything else right now. I don’t want you to wear yourself out. As I said, it will take time. We’ll just be patient.”

My mother crowded close, stroking my hair and kissing my head. “You hear that, darling? It’s going to be just fine.”

The doctor took charge and gave out instructions. Everyone left the room aside from my mother, her own maid, and Everly. They maneuvered me slowly and carefully into a fresh nightgown and managed to get new linens on the bed.

After that, the doctor and my mother worked together to spoon small amounts of broth into my mouth. It was a little difficult, and the broth sometimes dribbled down my chin, but my mother seemed so thrilled that I figured perhaps I wasn’t doing so badly. Also, I was decidedly famished and the warm broth tasted lovely.