Alex looked over the edge of the cliff. Below was the river she had heard earlier. She knew as she considered the distance to the bottom that her chance of survival was slim. She took a deep breath as she set her mind to do what she must; she knew she had no choice. After taking one last look at the earl of Alicante running toward her, she closed her eyes and counted to three—and got scared. She opened her eyes as she heard him approaching quickly.
Monte frantically ran for her with his arms outstretched to grab her. Without thinking, she casually stepped out of his reach. To her surprise, with his arms still extended before him, he kept going, right over the edge of the cliff. Alex’s mouth hung open as she peered over the edge. She watched as his body fell into the water and proceeded to float downstream.
“Oh my!” Her knees buckled as she brought a trembling hand to cover her mouth. “I just killed a man.” Her head swam as the reality of what had just happened dawned on her.
Alex heard what sounded like thunder in her ears. She looked behind her shoulder and saw a multitude of men in uniforms. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried her hardest not to give in to the darkness overtaking her mind. “I’m going to prison.” She collapsed into a heap right there in front of the king’s army, and Drake came quickly through the middle of them.
In the distance, she could hear him. He was calling for her. Then, without warning, he was gone.
The house buzzed with excitement as everyone from the servants to the dog paced the floors, impatiently waiting for the duke to bring home his future duchess. Food of every sort imaginable was being cooked, and fresh bouquets were being set throughout the house.
“I want all fresh bedding on her bed and a tub pulled into her room.” Victoria had full run of the house when need be. Her son, who’d been a bachelor for so long, needed a woman’s assistance now and then and welcomed his mother’s help. She understood he wouldn’t want to deal with the petty details when he brought Alexandria home. She knew he would want nothing more than to stay by her side every moment and take care of her.
“Let’s open the windows in her room and allow the fresh air in, but build a fire in the fireplace so it doesn’t get too cool in there.” She continued to issue duties until she heard the horses approaching the doors of the mansion. She ran to the door in time to see Drake take Alexandria’s limp body from a young soldier. “Is she okay?”
“She’s alive,” he said soberly as he walked past her and up to the room designated for Alex. He laid her softly on the bed. The room crowded with family and servants as he spoke softly to her, trying to get her to wake.
Jocelyn ran to the side of the bed and fell to her knees. “Is she okay, Drake?” she asked, her eyes flooded with tears.
“She’s alive, Jocelyn. We need to thank God for that.”
“Oh,” she said softly as quiet tears ran down her face. “Look how thin she is.” Jocelyn could feel her heart tighten as she looked at her beloved sister. She was thin and pale and bore dark bruises on her face and arms. Jocelyn had never seen anything so sad before.
Drake looked over Alex’s thin, abused body and wanted to scream. He was angry inside. He would never be able to understand how anyone could treat another human being like that. He cleared his throat. “I have already called for the doctor, Jocelyn, so we should know more soon.” He spoke as gently as he was able; his raging heart was torn apart at seeing Alex in such a condition. He knew he could not allow his emotions to be seen. He would deal with the anger later, when he was alone with God. For now, he would focus on those suffering around him. He reached out and gave Jocelyn a tender hug. “She’s going to be okay, honey.” He wiped away the tears that were flowing freely down her pretty face. “She’s home now. That’s what counts.”
Jocelyn nodded and smiled weakly at Drake. He was right. God had graciously brought Alex back to them. She said a quick prayer of thanks as she brushed the hair off of Alex’s face.
“Mother,” Drake said boldly, “I need you and Jocelyn to get Alex some clean clothing and give her a quick bath. Throw her dirty clothes in the fire.” He ushered everyone out of the room with one gesture of his hand. “I never want to see them again.” His voice caught in his throat.
Jocelyn and Victoria watched him walk away with hot tears blurring their vision.
He walked from the room without looking back. He had to find a place to cry his broken heart out, a place where he could find the strength he needed to help her through this. He needed to go to God.
A half hour later, word came to Drake that Jocelyn and Victoria were finished, and he was welcomed back.
Travis was standing outside Alex’s room, leaning against the wall, wiping his tears away.
“Hey, Travis, have you been in yet?”
Travis nodded.
“She doesn’t look too good, does she?”
Travis shook his head. His voice was locked in his restricting chest. He couldn’t even look at Drake. He didn’t want to see the pain in his brother’s eyes.
Drake knew his brother had never been sorrier. He knew Travis was earnestly grieving over causing Alex pain and suffering. A scripture came to his mind, one about how a godly sorrow would bring repentance. He patted his brother’s slumped shoulder. “I’m going in to see her.”
Travis just nodded.
Drake entered the room quietly. Alex was still unconscious, and Jocelyn was the only one in her room.
“She never even stirred when we bathed her, Drake.” She was trying her best not to panic.
“Listen, why don’t you go down and have the kitchen bring up some broth? Maybe she will be awake by the time you return.”
“Okay.” Jocelyn walked away, looking defeated, but Drake refused to be. God was going to bring them through this.
He sat for another half hour, bathing her brow with a cool cloth, before the doctor made his entrance. “I will need to examine her alone, Lord Braxton. Please send in a female to assist me.”
Drake hesitated before resigning to the doctor’s wishes. He thoughtfully caressed Alex’s thin hands, vowing in his heart to never allow her to fall victim to another man’s cruel intentions as long as he was alive. He brushed the stray tears from his face as he left the bedside of his heart, his love.
Dr. Hales exited the room, wiping his hands on his handkerchief. Drake and the others held their breath as they waited for the doctor’s assessment.
“Well, Lord Braxton, I have good news, and I have bad news.” The doctor looked around the room, not sure if he should share so openly.
Drake knew the direction of his thoughts and nodded for him to continue. Everyone there was family, and they all loved Alex and were concerned for her. They’d been with him through the whole search and rescue; they needed to be with him now.
The doctor did one last brief scan of the room quickly, looking each person in the eye. “She will live,” he said boldly. The breaths that had been held throughout the room could be heard as they escaped the anxious hearts.
“Though she has been through extreme abuse.” His voice was softer as he began explaining the trauma the poor girl had gone through. “She has four broken bones, two of which are old fractures. Her left arm and her left ankle have been broken for weeks and were not bandaged properly. From what I can tell, they are not healed, thankfully, so we do not need to rebreak them, but they do need to be set. That is going to be very painful for her.” He took a deep breath before continuing his evaluation. “She has two broken ribs that I bandaged up already, and as you can all see for yourself, she has many bruises that should be watched for a while.” He looked around the room until his gaze met directly with Drake’s. “She has severe malnutrition. It may be difficult for her to keep anything down, depending on when the last time she ate was. My suggestion is to try little bits at a time until her body adjusts to food again.” He reached out and held Drake’s arm. “I’m going to need someone to hold her down while I set those breaks.” His eyes were tender with compassion. “If you cannot help me, I understand. But I will need a strong man to assist me. Can you suggest someone?”
Drake considered what the doctor had said. It would hurt him greatly to see Alex in terrible pain, but he wanted to be the one. “I’ll do it,” he said.
“Okay then.” The doctor’s respect for the duke of Valencia doubled in that second. “Let’s get busy.”
The next few minutes were spent preparing the room with the supplies that were needed.
“Drake, do you think you will need my help?” Travis would do anything he could.
“What do you think, Doctor? Do you think we could use an extra hand?”
“Sure couldn’t hurt.” He was busy ripping material to wrap around the smooth wooden braces that would be used to keep her bones straight.
Travis came closer after quietly shutting the door behind him.
“Lord Braxton, climb on top of her, and put your weight gently down on her hips. I want you to hold her right arm at the wrist and her left arm at the shoulder. We will set her arm first.”
Drake did as instructed. He felt as if he were going to crush her frail body as he climbed on top of her. He held her down gently.
“I realize you don’t want to hurt her, Lord Braxton, but she will hurt herself more if you don’t hold her firmly. When I set this, she will get more powerful than you can imagine. Be ready.” He looked to Travis. “I need you to hold her legs down at the knees. Be careful of her left ankle. Hold her tight.” He looked at the men holding the frail girl to the bed. “Are you ready?”
They both nodded and held on, neither knowing exactly what to expect. The doctor put his foot in her armpit and gave her arm a quick tug. Alex yelled as her body convulsed in pain.
She opened her eyes, expecting to see Monte over her, beating her. Instead, she saw Drake’s beautiful face through a haze and drifted back into the darkness.
The doctor examined her arm. “That was effective.” He wiped the sweat from his brow. He quickly braced her arm, asking the men to stay where they were. “Okay, one more and we’re done.”
Neither Drake nor Travis could wait.
“Hold her firmly.”
They obeyed as he grabbed her foot and yanked as fast and hard as he could. Again, Alex screamed and twisted her entire body. This time, she never opened her eyes.
“Okay, boys,” the older man said as he finished wrapping her foot. “Looks like all we can do now is wait.” He dug into his bag and pulled out a bottle of powder. “This will help with the pain when she wakes. You might want to wait to give it to her until she can keep some liquids down.”
The doctor gathered all his instruments and finished handing out instructions for her care. “I will be back tomorrow to check on her.”
Drake rose and shook the doctor’s hand firmly. “Thank you so much, Dr. Hales.”
“You are welcome. If you need anything at all, Lord Braxton, please do not hesitate to send for me.” He picked up his black leather bag and disappeared out of the large oak door.
“I’ll go tell the family she is okay. I’ll come check on her later,” Travis said. He needed air. He felt sorry for Drake and for Alex.
Drake was sitting close to Alex’s still body, caressing her hand in his. He never looked up when he spoke. “Okay, Travis, thanks.”