Chapter 65

Someone was washing her face but it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Their breath was terrible. She opened her eyes and stared into the big brown eyes of Sargent. He licked her nose and settled down beside her.

The room was bathed in a warm glow of lamplight. A soft breeze blew across the bed from the open balcony window. She turned her head and moaned as a thousand stars exploded behind her eyes. 

“Miss!” A woman leaned over her.

“My head,” she said, clutching her head.

“Lie still, Miss. I’ll get Madam.” She turned away and Sam heard the door close behind her.

Moving again was not on her list of things to do. She frowned and tried to remember where she was and how she got here. The room was so dim she couldn’t make out anything but the ceiling and although it was familiar, she couldn’t connect it with anything. 

The sound of the door opening again interrupted her and another woman’s face moved into her line of sight. “Samantha?”

“Yes.” Recognition followed almost immediately. “Aunt Isabelle!” She tried to rise but again the pain in head held her down. “What’s wrong with me? My head hurts so bad.”

Isabelle patted her shoulder. “Just lie still. You’ve been badly hurt. Lucius says a concussion and you were fortunate it wasn’t worse. You needed an unbelievable number of stitches.”

Sam squinted, concentrating on the words. Stitches. In her head. “I don’t understand. Why did I need stitches?”

“We’ll talk when you’re better. You’ve been unconscious for a week, Samantha. You need to rest.” She straightened the bedding. “There are a couple of gentlemen that have paced a trail in my parlor rug waiting until you woke. It’s fortunate that Lucius stayed for dinner tonight. He can look in on you before he leaves.”

“Who is Lucius?”

“He's what passes for a doctor in the Outland.” She stood up. “Now, I’m going down to tell them and to get you something to eat. I have a nice vegetable soup simmering for just this moment. Lie still and Mary will be here if you need something.”

Sam glanced past her aunt’s figure and saw the young woman wringing her apron, a timid smile on her face. Her aunt left the room and Sam closed her eyes. Her head pounded and she suddenly felt slightly sick. She must have dozed off because when she opened them again, a stranger was seated next to her, holding her wrist in his hand and studying a pocket watch in his other.

“Who are you?”

He lay her hand down and looked at her with dark brown eyes that crinkled at the corners. He had a thick head of salt and pepper hair and a neatly trimmed mustache and beard to match. “I’m Lucius Brand. Folks in these parts call me Doctor Brand, Doc, or just Lucius.” The eyes twinkled. “And some have a few other names for me that are not fit for your ears.”

“My head hurts.”

He nodded. “I’m not surprised. You took quite a beating. Much more and you’d have a cracked skull. You have well over 50 stitches beneath that lovely hair. I apologize for having to deprive you of a large swatch of it but it was necessary to stitch you up.”

“I feel sick when I move.”

“I suggest you just stay very still and try to sleep. You have a severe concussion. The kind of medical attention you need isn’t available here, in fact, it isn’t available on this God-forsaken island at all. I’ve done the best I could but . . .” He sighed. “I can’t promise you anything except I’ve done the best I could with what I had at hand. If it weren’t for that confounded smuggling ring, there would have been even less of that. Fortunately, the best the island has to offer in the way of medical supplies is provided by them. Even have some very good pain medications I’m going to give you now.”

“Will I die?” Sam’s heart had begun to race at his words and she trembled.

He took her hand and squeezed it. “I don’t think so, Samantha. I think you’ll be all right. But I won’t lie to you. Your injury is a dangerous one. I don’t know how you avoided being killed. A few more blows and we wouldn’t be discussing it.” He stood up. “I’ll be back tomorrow to check on you. Stay in this bed. If you feel like food, keep it light. Don’t eat if you don’t want to but drink plenty of clear liquids.”

He turned. “Isabelle, you’ll keep someone here to watch her?”

“Yes, of course.”

Her aunt approached the bed and she patted Sam’s hand. “Mary will do days and her sister, Eliza has kindly agreed to come in and stay at night with her. And of course, the rest of us will take turns so Mary can take a break.”

“I have a question.”

They both looked down at her.

“What happened to me? How did this happen?”

Isabelle and the doctor exchanged looks that Sam felt were heavy with something she was ignorant of. 

Lucius waved a hand. “There’s plenty of time for that later. Get better. You can hash out all that then.” He turned to her aunt. “See me out, Isabelle. I need to give you further instructions.”

The next week passed in a mindless blur that Sam couldn’t sort out. Every day was much the same. She slept a  lot and when she was awake, her head hurt so much they had to keep the room dark. The pain did lessen over time and she found she could stand a little light in the mornings and evenings. By the end of the week, she was allowed to sit up. They even allowed Sargent back into the room a bit each day. The doctor came by every other day now to see her and he seemed pleased with her progress. 

“I must say you are doing quite well, Samantha. The wound is healing nicely and we can take those stitches out this weekend. Your vision is fine. The dizziness has cleared up and so have the headaches. If this continues you should be up and about in another week.”

Sam straightened her back in anticipation. “Really? I can go home?”

He held up both hands. “Now, now. Take it easy. You can’t go on a day long ride through the Outland just yet. You can get up and move around the house and even the grounds if you like. You’re going to find that a big enough challenge.”

Her heart sank and she dropped back onto the pillows. “I want to go home. They could send a boat for me. My brother could come get me.” A thought occurred to her and she frowned up at the doctor. “Why hasn’t he come to see me?”

He shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you that. You are able to have visitors now but you should ask Isabelle if he’s been. That first week we kept everyone out.”
She had no recollection of that week. In fact, her memory of weeks prior was sketchy. She wrinkled her brow and struggled to remember something of how she got here and what had happened to her. The throbbing in her head started again. 

“I’m going to let everyone know you’re doing well. I’ll be back in a few days. I see no reason to come so often unless you feel you need to see me. Just have them send for me.” He patted her hand and smiled. “I’m very glad you’re better.”

“Thank you, for all your help, Doctor Brand.”

He left her with a feeling of relief but more questions than answers.