One Glance

Chapter 28

"You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear." Oscar Wilde

---   

Chapter Twenty – Eight

There she sat, a man at her feet, professing his everlasting faithfulness to her. She felt such pride in this man, a man she barely knew for all intents and purposes. The love would come, she was sure of it.

She prayed to God that she would feel like herself again for him. Whoever that was, she hoped that the feeling of Isabella would return.

But for herself, as well. She wanted her memories. She wanted to feel as though her decisions were being made because she was being true to herself.

And for Jamie. Jamie knew his mother, and Jamie loved his mother. Jamie deserved his mother, and she so wanted to be that woman for him.

Luke helped her to pack her few belongings. She really did not have much in the hospital with her. It made her wonder about her possessions in her home. Would she recognise them?

Jamie tried to be helpful as well. He picked up every object he found and put it with her things, even if they did not belong to her. He thought it a funny little game. He would place something on the bed, and she and Luke would remove it and put it in its correct place.

As irritating as it was becoming, she enjoyed the little family dynamic. Mother, father and baby, all together.

She really did not have any fine travelling clothing to wear. She had been living in hospital nightgowns for months. Whatever dress she had been brought to the hospital in had disappeared. She wondered if one of the nurses now had it hanging in their wardrobe.

"Annaliese will lend you something," Luke assured her.

She had sisters to borrow from. What a fine thing.

"In the meantime," Luke said, before abruptly leaving the room.

She frowned. Jamie did not seem to notice as he tossed clean washcloths onto the pile. She immediately refolded them ready to be put away.

Luke returned a few moments later carrying a large, brown overcoat. Luke placed his arms around her and helped her into the thick coat.

It was such a comforting feeling, to be enveloped in not only Luke's arms, but his clothing as well. She enjoyed the scent. It was very masculine. She could smell hints of musk and pine, as well as the faint scent of smoke from resting near the fire.

The coat was enormous on her, but it hid the fact that she was wearing only a nightgown.

She did not have shoes or stockings either. Those seemed to have gone walkabout as well. Luke offered her his only pair of boots, but she refused. Jamie's shoes would have fit her better than Luke's, and it would have been easier for him to carry her to the carriage than the other way around.

Within half an hour, the room that had been her home for however many months was empty of her things.

A carriage had been sent for to collect them, and was waiting for them outside the hospital.

She made sure to thank Doctor Whitney before she left. The man had drilled into her brain to save her life. No matter the repercussions, she would not have been alive today were it not for him.

"How can I ever thank you, Doctor Whitney?" she asked.

Doctor Whitney simply smiled and said, "By living, Mrs Cassidy. I take joy in knowing I had a hand in that."