The Last Kiss

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The clock in the room sounded the time but to Lindsey’s head, it might as well have been a gong being hit right by her ear. Oh, how her head hurt, trying to drowned out the sound she pulled the pillow over her head. It however did not work well enough, it only muffled the sound. Instead the sound just echoed inside her head. ‘Boom’. ‘Boom’. ‘Boom’. It was almost a fate worst than death, at least if she were dead it would be silent and she would not be in such pain.

She remembered how she had felt when she awoke earlier, or at least she thought it was earlier. For all she knew it could have been days ago. She had no way of being sure what day it was. One thing she did know, was she felt as if a team of horses had danced all over her body, only to rest and then do it again.
Moving slowly, her body kept screaming ‘OUCH’, and it didn’t matter how easy she tried either. Pulling the pillow off her head, the light in the room almost blinded her, making her head pound even harder. Oh, right now she could only wish she truly were dead. But she also knew that she must get up and move around, if only in hopes to work some of the pain out of her body. Planting her arms firmly at her sides, she sliding her body up into a sitting position and almost took all the energy she had. She imagined that if this took that much energy she would never be able to swing her legs over to the side of the bed. Much less actually getting up and moving about the room or even going downstairs.

Then she thought, was even upstairs? She remembered talking to Ashton and he had asked the strangest question of her. What was the question he had asked her? She searched her mind for a moment, then it came to her. Oh, yeah, he had asked her what she thought of his home. Looking around the room, she thought, how in the world was she to know, she was just now seeing this room. Which from what she could see of it, it was a very lovely room indeed. The queen herself might have stayed here at some point long ago. It was a room way to good to waste on herself, that much she figured. Why had Ashton brought her here anyhow? She would have to ask him the next time she saw him.

Thinking to herself, she wondered if her legs were strong enough to carry her over to the basin to pour a glass of water. Pushing back the soft silky blankets, she noticed that she wasn’t in her normal nightgown. The one on her body was very elegant especially for it just being a nightgown. Her’s had been a faded dingy almond color but this one, it was gleaming white. It even had lace at the ends, which must have taken some seamstress a great deal of time to make. This was another thing she would ask Ashton about, she joked herself on if she should start writing the questions down before she forgot them.

Lindsey’s thoughts turned back to the task at hand, a drink of water. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she noticed that there were some really fancy slippers waiting for her feet to just slid into them. Doing so, she saw that not only where they fancy but very much comfortable too. Lindsey also saw that there had been a matching dressing robe laid on the chair that was close to the bed. Slipping it over her night gown, she thought, she must really thank Ashton for being so kind to her, even if he was wasting his attentions on her.

Putting the robe on took little effort but actually walking would probably take much more. Testing her legs, she slowly stood up clasping the table in case she had misjudged herself. Making herself steady enough, she took small steps with caution and taking great care that she was able to grab hold of something close. Finally she reached the basin, in truth it hadn’t been that far from the bed but for Lindsey it might have been at the end of the earth. Taking a glass that was left there, she leaned against the table just in case she felt light headed and picked up the pitcher of water. Having poured the water, she glanced to the side of her, judging the distance to the chair and table. Telling herself she could do it, she slowly walked over toward it, being careful not to spill the water. Reaching the chair she sat down with a hefty sigh, mostly a sigh of relief that she was strong enough to make it.

Taking only sips of the water, her stomach started to growl at her. She tried to think of when the last time she had a real meal. Guessing that while unconscious they had forced food down her, but it had probably only been soup and water. That wasn’t enough to feed a bird and certainly not enough to feed her. She felt that her appetite had returned full-force, surely it would be ok for her to eat. With her stomach growling again, she though she would starve to death if she did not eat soon. Glancing around she looked for the bell-pull, taking note at how large the room really was. There it was, back on the other side of the bed, she could hardly see it from where she was sitting.

Forcing herself to get up again, she walked over to the opposite side of the bed. Only this time she seemed to be able to move a little bit faster. Having reached the bed, she tugged on the rope and sat down on the edge of the bed. Sighing again, she figured she needed to eat soon or she would be totally out of energy. As it was, she was cursing herself in her mind for having been such a ninny. Taking the time to walk all the way over to get a glass of water only to have left it sitting on the table by the chair. She would just have to wait for..for...well, whoever it was that would be showing up to answer the bell.

Lindsey realized something just then, she really had no idea what was going on with anything. Something she did know was that she needed to get back to her own house and find out what has been happening there. But just then it struck her, even if she was still in the comfort of the place she had lived, truth was it was no longer hers. He owned the room she was sitting in, he owned the house and even the house she once called hers. Thoughts filled her head and she began to wonder, did that mean he owned her too?

The swirling of the thoughts in her head made her a little bit dizzy, so she laid down again, not wanting to pass out again on the floor. Right in that instance, she wanted to see Ashton, feeling that maybe he would set everything right again. No, there was no maybe about it, she knew for fact that he would make everything better. There was something about odd him that made him able to heal everything, or at least so it would appear to her. Well that wasn’t totally true, he wasn’t able to heal her. Had he? Had she been dead and he healed her back to life again? Was that even possible? Could Ashton be an angel sent down from the heavens to protect her? She thought about it for a moment, he had somewhat saved her in more than one way. Oh, she would have to stop thinking such nonsense it made her headache worsen, if there was any chance of that.

As if its own blessing, a knock sounded at the door. Wrapping the folds of the robe around her small frame and making a tying tight, just before Josie opened the door. Much to Lindsey’s relief she saw her own maid and even better she had brought food with her. Oh, Lindsey thought, right then her servant had been a saint.

“Good afternoon, milady,” Josie said.

“Good afternoon, Josie, smells good, what did you bring? I am half starved.” She teased, well sort of, it had been mostly true.

“The cook had prepared a simple lunch, she thought too much at once might make you sick again, so we have stew,” hoping the lightness of the meal would still be pleasing to her employer.

“Oh, right now anything sounds good, except maybe mutton,” Lindsey said, giving both a small laugh.

They both knew that was one thing that was never to be made served. Matter fact, they could almost swear they had never met anyone that liked the foul food. But right then, Lindsey was so very hungry, she even sniffed the air. Just the aroma of the food made her stomach growl again.

Looking at Lindsey, Josie asked, “do you want to lay back down to eat or would you prefer to sit in one of the chairs?”

Having wasted her strength on the short walk over to the basin and the other chair, Lindsey thought it might be best to relax a little bit more. Besides there was no need in having her maid worried that she might be too weak.

“I will lay back down for a bit, I feel it might be better if I don’t over do it just yet,” she said.

Lindsey pushed the slippers off, then sliding back further on the bed, Josie helped by getting the pillows fluffed and stacked. Lindsey pulled the blankets back over her chilled legs, just having noticed that they were cold. Josie took care of pouring the tea and unfolding the napkin, having it ready to place it on Lindsey’s lap, just as soon as she was comfortable. Once Lindsey was settled in the bed, Josie set the tray across her legs. As soon as Josie had the tray sat down, Lindsey picked up the spoon and began to eat.

Going around the room to make sure that nothing needed cleaned or picked up, Josie noticed the glass on the table. Taking note, she also saw that Lindsey had to take off the slippers that had been on the other side of the room. Lindsey had been up and moving around, which was somewhat good. Then it dawned on Josie, that had been the reason Lindsey wanted to eat in bed. She had already exhausted herself, even if she hadn’t really moved all that far.

Trying to get the food in her mouth chewed down, Lindsey took a drink of tea, forcing it down. She looked at Josie then said, “my word this is good, either that or I am hungrier than I had thought.”

Josie gave a little giggle, then walked over to the bed and sat down next to Lindsey. Taking in the features of Lindsey’s face Josie asked, “how do you feel, milady?”

“Well,” searching for the right words, then said, “I ache all over my body and my head is pounding, but if you look beyond that, I suppose I am fine.”

“Do not worry, my lady, the bruises will heal soon enough and besides I don’t think any bones were broke. The doctor said that you should heal quite well, but was only a matter of time,” Josie explained.

Hoping to get some information about what had happened, Lindsey started to quiz Josie. “So, no broken bones, hm. But very apparent a rather large bump on the back of my head.”

Filled with concern, Josie asked, “oh, yes? Lean over and let me take a look at that.”

Doing as the maid asked, Lindsey leaned her head down and pulled up her hair, exposing the bump. Seeing that it had gone down a great deal since the day after the ‘ordeal’. Matter fact, it was quite possible that in a few more days the bump would be gone fully. That was much a relief to Josie, but she realized that for Lindsey, she hadn’t seen the worst of it.

“Well,” giving it a soft rub, “it does seem a lot better than it had, but I’m sure it still hurts.”

“Yes, it does seem a bit tender still, you would think after two weeks it wouldn’t hurt at all. I’ve never hit my head before when I passed out,” hoping that would jolt the maid into speaking about what did happen.

“Yeah, this time it was far worse than ever before. Lindsey, you told me long ago that we were friends, right?” Hoping that her frankness wouldn’t bother the relationship they had.

“Yes, indeed I did say we are friends. Why would you ask such a thing?” She wondered.

“Well, because I know what you are trying to do,” she stated. Josie saw that Lindsey had a blank look on her face, which meant she knew exactly what she was talking about. “Lord Manning told me about your memory trouble and I gave my word that I would not say anything until after the doctor has given his ok. I know I am your maid, but I agree with Lord Manning. If I was to tell you what happened, it could make you ill again and I just wont do that.”

“Ok, Josie, I give you my word, I will wait for the doctor but you must promise me that once he has cleared me, that you will tell me exactly what happened. Taking care not to leave anything out. Now when is this doctor going to be here, I can’t wait all my life for him,” she teased.

“Very well, my lady. I shall go downstairs and find out when he should be here.”

“Please do hurry,” Lindsey trying to encourage the maid to run.

Taking her leave, Josie shut the door behind her, leaving Lindsey to the rest of her meal. Figuring that she might as well not waste the trip in going downstairs. She would ask about the doctor and also bring a new pitch of water, since Lindsey might want cool water. Even better, since the sheets on the bed hadn’t been changed since she was ill, she would have Lilly help her. Finding Lilly was easy, she was speaking with one of the downstairs maids.

“Lilly, she’s awake and wondering when the doctor will be seeing her, do you know? Also, I thought it would be a good time to change her bed sheets and she needs more cool water.” She spoke in a very relieved tone.

Josie’s words truly got the fully attention from Lilly, saying, “she’s awake?”

“Oh, yes, she’s up and even eating and from what I gather, she was really, really hungry,” giving a soft laugh.

“Good, good, very good,” the cook kept repeating herself. “Well, let’s get busy, our lady needs us.”

Gathering the things they needed, Josie checked with the butler and found out about the time the doctor would arrive. Finding out what she needed to know, she met with Lilly then headed upstairs. Giving the door a light knock, they both entered the room, Lindsey picked up her head. Smiling weakly at both the ladies, she took a sip of her tea.

“Good afternoon, my lady,” Lilly said, glad to that see that she was eating and drinking again on her own.

“Oh, Lilly, I am so glad to see you here too. What did Ashton do bring everyone over here to tend to me?” She asked, not knowing it was the truth.

“Yes, he did but Sam was ordered to take care of the refurnishing of the house while you were ill,” Lilly replied, already having been told about what to say in front of Lindsey.

“Oh, he did and how is Sam doing? Have you talked with him about it at all?” Lindsey wasn’t sure that such a decision should have been left to Sam. Since most people wouldn’t take kindly to being ordered around by a servant.

“Don’t worry, my lady, Lord Manning approves all the fine details,” having a feeling what Lindsey was thinking, Lilly continued. “Its quite odd, they even respect him. That is something I have never seen before in all my days on this earth,”

Josie nodded in agreement.

Pleasing to Lindsey, she said, “that is good, I would hate to know that they have been rude to Sam.”

The two servants both mumbled their agreement, while tending to a few chores. Lindsey had sat the tray to the side of her, so that was removed from the bed. Seeing that the servants also brought sheets in with them, Lindsey slid to the side of the bed. Noticing that Lindsey was attempting to get out of bed, Lilly arranged the slippers so they could just be slipped on. Once again not wanting to make herself sick again, Lindsey took small steps over to the closest chair. They all knew that right now, even thought Lindsey was awake, she was still as weak as a newborn kitten.

Picking up a book that had been left by the bed, Lindsey picked it up and started to read. It was quite apparent that it had been Josie’s, she was the only one that read romantic books like this. Reading the book a bit, the other two women, went to work on changing the covers on the bed. Stripping the bed of the sheets, they saw that had been covered in sweat. Most likely from when Lindsey had ran her fever for those few days. Lifting her head, Lindsey saw the stains on the sheets and knew exactly what they were from. Ug, she thought, this made her want to know what had happened, she could only wish she knew right now.

“Did you ask about the doctor, Josie?” Lindsey quizzed.

“Yes, ma’am, I did but I have a bit of bad news for you, he sent notice that he had an emergency today and wont be able to come until tomorrow.” From the look on Lindsey’s face, Josie was half tempted to tell her what she wanted to know anyhow.

“Oh,” she sighed with annoyance.

Good lord, this was already driving her mad and now she would have to wait another day. Lindsey wasn’t sure if she would be able to stand herself that long. She looked at the other two ladies in the room and thought, they both knew what had occurred. But neither of them, she was sure, would tell her any bit of the details. If there was one thing Lindsey hated the most it would be being left in the dark. This was stupid, she should be able to know about her own condition and how it had happened.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Josie, “ma’am, we need to take these out of here. Is there anything else we can do for you before we go?”

“No!” Lindsey snapped rudely.

“We shall leave you then. Unless you want us to come back, we shall take to our lunch,” Josie asked softly.

“No, I don’t think I shall need anything else right now and if I do I will ring for you,” her voice somewhat harsh.

With Lilly having already grabbed the sheets, Josie picked up the tray and left the room. After shutting the door, Josie shook her head and whispered to Lilly, “I knew she wouldn’t like that news but I had no idea it would put her in such a grumpy mood.”
Lilly nodded in total agreement. Then they both scurried down the stairs.