With shaking fingers, Alaric felt for the pulse at her neck. It was weak and fluttered like the wings of a butterfly but she lived still.
Rionna stood after setting a bandage to the wound and wiped the back of her arm wearily over her forehead. “I need to clean her, Alaric. The linens need to be stripped. She should have a clean gown and I must wash the dirt from her body.”
“I’ll do it,” Alaric said quietly. “I’ll not leave her. ’Tis my duty to tend her. I’ll not leave her alone.”
The woman he almost married stared back at him, grief raw and aching in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Alaric. I did not know you loved her or that she loved you.”
“Go now and rest,” Alaric said gently. “I will see to Keeley.”
After Rionna left, Ewan went to wash his hands in the basin and stood there for a long moment, his hands braced on the sides.
“I’ve done all I can, Alaric. ’Tis in God’s hands now.”
“Aye, I know it.”
“I’ll leave you. I have much to do.”
Alaric nodded. “Thank you for saving her.”
Ewan offered a small glimmer of a smile. “Your faith in my abilities is humbling. If the lass lives ’twill be because of her own stubbornness.”
As Ewan was departing the chamber, Maddie hurried in. Alaric was grateful for her help. Together they stripped the bedding and Keeley’s bloodied clothing. Alaric wiped her down with wet cloths until chill bumps dotted her flesh.
“ ’Tis better if you leave her unclothed,” Maddie advised. “ ’Tis a large wound on her back and we’ll need to check it often. Lay her on her side and we’ll prop pillows behind her so she doesn’t roll to her back.”
Alaric did as Maddie suggested and when he was satisfied that she was as comfortable as he could make her, he stretched out beside her and gathered her in his arms.
He closed his eyes and pressed his lips to her soft forehead. “I love you,” he whispered.
CHAPTER 37
For three days Alaric never left Keeley’s side. She never regained consciousness no matter how much Alaric tried to rouse her. He begged, bullied, coerced. He promised her the moon. All to no avail. He worried that she wasn’t taking in any sustenance, and after so much blood loss she surely needed every bit she could get.
And then the fever set in. Her flesh was dry and hot, so very hot. She twisted restlessly in her sleep and demons seemed to plague her without mercy. Alaric held and soothed her. He bathed her and at one point sat in a tub of water, holding her in an attempt to cool the raging fever.
A week after it all began, Alaric was losing hope. She grew weaker by the day and she lay so still, it was as if she’d already passed on but her body had refused to shut down.
On the seventh day, Ewan and Caelen came for him. Alaric’s rage was a sight to behold. It took the combined efforts of his brothers as well as Gannon and Cormac to force him from Keeley’s chamber.
Rionna and Maddie took Alaric’s place as the men ushered Alaric outside the keep.
“Where do you take me?” Alaric snarled as he fought against their hold.
His brothers said naught but carried him to the loch and tossed him in.
The water was a shock. He sunk below the surface, all the air leaving his lungs in a rush of bubbles. How easy it would be to just breathe in and join Keeley. It killed him to think of her alone and afraid in some dark place, dead but not dead.
As the cold settled in, the instinct to live kicked in and he fought his way to the surface. He came above and gasped a deep mouthful of air.
“Glad you decided to stay with us,” Ewan snapped from the shore.
Alaric treaded water for a moment and glared at his brothers. “What the hell was that for?”
“You’re wasting away for nothing. You haven’t left Keeley’s chamber in a week. You won’t eat. You haven’t bathed. You haven’t even changed clothing. If the injury doesn’t kill her, ’tis likely your smell will,” Caelen snarled.
Alaric swam to the shore and trudged out, shaking the water from his long hair. He bared his teeth just a moment before he leveled Caelen with a tackle.
The two men hit the ground with a thump and Caelen grunted as the breath was knocked from his chest. He recovered quickly and rolled, thrusting his arm over Alaric’s neck.
Alaric slammed his fist into Caelen’s jaw and Caelen reeled back. Before Alaric could jump to his feet, Ewan hit him hard, driving his shoulder into his belly.
“God’s teeth, are you all trying to kill me?” Alaric demanded as Ewan pinned him to the ground.
“Just trying to knock some sense into your thick head,” Ewan growled. “Are you ready to listen?”