After a moment her mind began to work again. Other servants had been drawn to the disturbance, so she ordered a maid to bring hot water to the patient. Sara herself went upstairs to the linen closet for clean sheets.
The groom had left after Ross had been put to bed. When Sara entered the sickroom, Mikahl was scowling over the blood-soaked bandage. "He's bleeding again. Can you bear to help me put a dressing on? If not, leave and send one of the servants in. I can't afford to be worried about you, too."
"I can bear it," Sara said tersely. She had remembered to bring her sewing scissors and now used them to rip a sheet into strips. When her husband lifted Ross to turn him over, she put another folded sheet beneath her cousin to absorb the blood during the messy job of changing the bandage.
"We were riding on the trail that runs across the top of the Downs," Mikahl explained as he removed the crude, earlier binding. "There was just one shot. The hunter must have run away when he realized his mistake."
"A poacher," Sara said, averting her eyes as her husband uncovered the oozing wound in Ross's shoulder.
"Very likely." He covered the bullet hole with a thickly folded pad of linen, then tied it in place with one of the long strips Sara provided. "Both horses bolted, but I was able to catch Ross's again. The head groom met us partway back. He realized something was wrong when my horse came home with a graze wound on its neck."
"Dear God," she whispered. "If the bullet had struck you rather than Siva, you and Ross might both have died there."
"But we didn't." Having covered the entry wound in Ross's back, Mikahl began winding linen strips around chest and shoulder to hold both pads securely in place. "Though I hate to think of what might have happened if I couldn't have caught Ross's horse."
The maid had delivered a basin and pitcher of hot water. When Mikahl was done, Sara began gently sponging the blood from her cousin's bare chest and arm. Beneath his golden hair, his face was like grayed marble. It was agonizing to see a man so vital lying as still as death.
Her husband put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sara," he said, his voice full of helpless frustration. "I wish I had been the one hit."
''I couldn't bear that, either,'' she said unsteadily. "Accidents happen. Don't blame yourself."
For a moment his fingers tightened on her shoulder. Then his hand fell away. "If I'm not careful, you'll be as bloodstained as I am. I have to go out and take care of something now. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Disregarding his words and his stained clothing, Sara stood and turned into his arms, needing his strength. "Please," she said softly, "hold me for a moment before you go."
He complied, embracing her with fierce protectiveness. "Will you be all right?"
Sara felt the tautness in his body and understood his horror at having Ross struck down right in front of his eyes. "I'll manage," she said. "There isn't really much to do now but wait for the doctor."
Then her husband left, presumably to change his clothing and perhaps see to his horse. Sara sat down beside Ross and resumed the task of cleaning him. It wasn't much or even necessary, but it was the only way she knew to express her anguished love.
The surgeon arrived just before dinnertime. After tending Ross's wound, he told Sara that her cousin was very fortunate to have someone available to stop the bleeding so quickly, or he would have died. As it was, Lord Ross had a broken shoulder, but no major internal injuries, and should recover if serious inflammation didn't set in. He gave her laudanum for the pain and left, promising to return the next day.
"Thank God," Mikahl said, his voice intense. Back from his errands, he had been sitting with Sara in the sickroom.
"Amen," Sara added, weak with relief.
"Are you going to inform his parents?"
Sara thought a moment, then shook her head. "I don't think so. Ross won't like it if I upset them unnecessarily. Unless you think I should?"
Mikahl shook his head. "They are your family, and you know them best. Now come." He pulled her to her feet. "Ring for someone else to stay with him. You are going to change into a gown that isn't bloodstained. Then I'm going to take you downstairs and stand over you while you eat. I don't want you becoming ill, too."
"That won't be necessary. Now that the doctor has seen Ross, I can tear myself away for half an hour. But I'll be back to stay with him for the rest of the night." Her glance at her husband held a hint of challenge.
"I'd be surprised if you didn't." Mikahl's face tightened as he looked at Ross's still unconscious form. "But Sara, I don't think I can bear to stay all night with you."