A Lady of Secrets: London Harriers Book 3 by Marguerite Lewis

Author:Marguerite Lewis [Lewis, Marguerite]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Stitches

It was late afternoon when Wade reached his rented room. His cold cot, a rough excuse for a bed, begged him to crawl inside. To rest his eyes. But he did not have the time.

When he walked into the boarding house several notes begging for a doctor were instantly thrust into his hands. It had been a long walk back from the inn, as The Raven flew away with Lady Sexton and her carriage before Wade had finished seeing his patients there.

Once more his feet ached from the walk, and his arms felt as if they had been filled with lead instead of muscle and bone. Still, he climbed the stairs to his room to refill some needed tonics in his physician’s bag.

He knelt on the floor with his large box of medicines and sorted through the vials. Twice he thought he had forgotten willow bark, only to discover that he had already packed it into his bag. When at last he had everything he needed or thought he needed, he stood.

Joints cracked. The bag was much heavier now. Wade paused a moment to rub his eyes and jumped when a light knock sounded on his door.

Mrs. Fig, the little woman who ran the place stood on the other side.

“Forgive me, doctor, I know you’re a busy man.”

“Please, do not worry over me, I’m fine,” he offered her a smile. “How can I help?”

Her husband was in bed with a fever. All day he had been in and out of sleep, and hot to the touch. She apologized again and again for asking Wade to help her, but her eyes were filled with worry. And looked on the edge of tears.

Unable to say no, Wade followed her down the hall and slipped into the man’s room.

The fever was light but present. After listening to the man’s lungs and feeling the strong beat of his heart, Wade assured Mrs. Fig There was nothing to worry over. In a day or two, it was likely to pass. Until then, she needed to wet his brow with cold water every so often. Then he recommended a diet of strong tea, and lemon if she could find it before passing over some of his white willow bark.

A few minutes later, he was out the door and headed for the first patient. Three streets down, a man had cut himself across the hand. He was a joiner who could not afford to lose a day of work. Wade bandaged him as well as he could and gave strict instructions for the hand to rest. The look shared between the man and his frustrated wife told Wade he would not listen.

“Your family may suffer if you cannot swing a hammer for a week,” Wade said. “But they’ll suffer a great deal more if you go back to work now and ruin your hand completely. Or worse, gain an infection and die.”

He knew the words were blunt, but it seemed the man needed to hear it.

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