Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115248 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
He caught the wince in her eyes that she tried to hide, making him anxious to have a look. He turned her so that her wounded side faced the hearth, the flames casting sufficient light on her. He noticed right away a tear in her garment below her right breast, to her side, and he pressed his fingers lightly against it. She winced and pulled away, but not before he thought he felt something there.
Then he looked at his fingers. There was blood on them.
“I need to see to your side. There’s blood there,” he said.
“I will not expose myself to you,” she said, the thought unnerving that she should even be partially naked in front of him.
“You don’t have to,” he said. “I can cut the cloth around the wound to expose it enough for me to tend it.”
Her shoulders slumped in relief. “That would work.”
“It would be easier if you laid down on the bed,” he said and was glad she didn’t object when he led her there. “I’ll see to your face and leg after seeing to your side.”
“I am grateful for your help and will make sure James knows how honorably you treated me,” she said.
“For a half-brother he worries much about you and your sisters,” Tarass said as he went to the hearth to get the bucket of snow that was now warm water and place it at the side of the bed.
“My sisters and I are lucky that he is a good and honorable half-brother who continues to keep his word to our father to look after us and see us kept safe.”
Tarass moved one of the chairs to the side of the bed, sat, then took his knife and cut a piece of cloth from the blanket and draped it over the side of the bucket.
“I’m going to cut away at your garment now,” he said.
“All right,” she said, her stomach growing unsettled, not only with worry for her wound, but with having Tarass touch her in too much of a familiar way. It wasn’t right, but there was no alternative. Of course, her blindness made it all the more difficult since she couldn’t see how he looked upon her. She was completely dependent on him not only to tend her but to be truthful to her.
Tarass was as gentle as he could be and thankfully Snow didn’t wince once, but he did when he finally exposed her wound.
“You grow silent and your hands grow still. What’s wrong?” she asked, unable to keep the worry from her voice.
He didn’t hesitate to tell her the truth. “A stick has managed to embed itself in your side. How long the stick and how deep it goes, I don’t know.”
“The only way to find out is to remove it,” she said, trying to be practical like her sister Willow, but fearful nonetheless.
“True enough,” Tarass agreed, but he had seen men with similar wounds and once the object was removed some bled to death.
“How deep it is, is what matters,” Snow said. “So let’s be done with it and, Tarass,” —she paused briefly— “if anything should happen to me, please let my family know I love them.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you… you’re too obstinate,” he said, the thought that she would die sending a sudden anger through him.
“Then we have something in common,” she said and was surprised when he laughed.
Thaw seemed to understand what was happening and jumped up on the bed to curl against her other side and stare at Tarass.
“He’s watching you, isn’t he?” Snow asked.
“Like a hawk ready to attack his prey,” Tarass said, the pup’s eyes intent on him.
Snow caressed the pup. “It’s all right, Thaw. Tarass helps me.”
Thaw looked at her and whimpered.
“All is well, worry not,” she assured him softly.
He turned his attention back to Tarass to keep watch.
“I’m not going to lie to you, this is going to hurt,” Tarass said.
“Then be done with it quickly,” she advised, her one hand gripping the blanket beneath her.
He carefully used his knife to probe at the top of the embedded stick and he wanted to curse seeing Snow cringe in pain, but not saying a word.
It took a couple of more pokes and prods, and winces and a grasp or two from Snow, with the knife to get the stick high enough for him to grab it and pull it out.
Tarass smiled as he announced, “It’s a little one.”
“It didn’t break off in there, did it?” Snow asked anxiously, and Thaw whined.
“Not that I can see,” he said, taking a closer look at the wound that thankfully bled little. “I’ll clean it and wrap it. As soon as you possibly can, have Willow look at it.”
“My thought as well,” she said, relieved.
After he got the wound cleaned and tore a strip of cloth from the blanket, he helped her to sit up, Thaw sticking close to her.