Reverie (Hollow Hearts Book 1) (19 page)

Hetty closed her eyes and winced from the pain. Despite the ice covering her burn, it still throbbed and ached tremendously. She’d woken up here in Doc Winters office; the last thing she remembered was the children being taken from her arms. Tyler and Tommy—she prayed they were okay.

She tried to sit up but the pain shot through her in waves, nearly making her sick. She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. The kitchen at the orphanage was gone. She was sure of it. There was so much damage, so much they’d have to repair to get the place running smoothly again. There’d be walls and floors to scrub, all the linens would probably need to be rewashed to remove the harsh smell of the smoke. The house would need to be aired out, but they’d have to be careful and keep the children from getting sick. Opening the windows in the dead of winter wasn’t an ideal solution, but they’d need to do something. She imagined Catherine fuming—not at the loss of the kitchen, but at the work not being completed.

Hetty heard the door open and someone step into the room. She tried to turn to see who it was, but her arm kept her movements restricted. When she caught that natural earthy scent that turned her stomach in a very different way she knew it was Isaac.

“Hetty...” he whispered.

“Isaac.” His name was all she could think to say.

Isaac rushed to her side and sat in the small chair next to the bed. It could barely hold his muscular frame, but he needed to be close to her. He gently took the hand of her uninjured arm in his and placed a small kiss on her fingers. “Are you okay? I came as soon as I heard.”

She opened her eyes and gazed up at him. He looked so worried, the skin between his brows pinched in anguish. She hadn’t seen him look so troubled since Elizabeth had collapsed in the barn. Even with the worry on his face he looked so handsome. “I’ll be fine. It’s just a little burn,” she said, but she couldn’t keep from wincing slightly at the pain.

“Shhh...Just lie still. I don’t want you to injure yourself further.” Isaac moved his hand across her brow and noticed the sweat glistening. He rose from his chair and looked around until he spotted a towel. He dipped it in a nearby basin of cool water and gently wiped her forehead. He watched her eyes close, and a small moan escaped her lips.

“That feels nice,” she whispered.

Isaac watched a small smile creep across her pink lips. Most likely she wasn’t used to someone taking care of her. And in this moment that was all he wanted in the world. He wanted to fetch her water and ice, change her bandage, feed her soup, and fluff her pillows. He wanted to take care of her...forever. “How’s your arm?” he asked.

She opened her eyes and looked over at the ice slowly melting on her arm. “It’s sore. I should probably take this ice off. I was out of it for a while, but I’m pretty sure I heard someone say I shouldn’t leave it on very long.” She reached over to remove the bag, but Isaac stopped her.

“Here. Let me help.” He removed the ice and set it aside. Turning back to Hetty he looked at the burn on her arm. It was bigger than he expected and showed several different shades of red and pink. He could see blisters forming on her skin already and prayed it wasn’t getting infected. He knew her recovery would be long and fairly painful. “I wonder what Doc Winters was planning to do. Did he say?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure he has others he needs to tend to.”

“Why don’t I go see if I can find him? Surely he can give you something to help. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

“I’ll be fine, Isaac,” she said as she closed her eyes. “I’ll just rest a bit...”

When Isaac returned to the orphanage it seemed everything was in much better order. The fire was out, only a few pieces still smoldering. He imagined tomorrow the men would begin repairing and rebuilding the destroyed kitchen. No children were in the yard, which reassured Isaac his mother and the other women had taken them to the church. He didn’t see Doc Winters anywhere so he headed to the church to check there.

When he entered through the chapel doors, he saw makeshift beds set up and the children resting or playing comfortably. Elizabeth was in the corner with several other women, putting out food for their evening meal. Destroyed kitchen or not, the children needed to eat.

“Where’d all this food come from?” Isaac asked.

“Oh, Isaac, good! You’re here! We’ve got the children settled and other than being a bit frightened they seem to be in good spirits. Most of this came from Mrs. Martin,” she said, gesturing toward the table.

“Joshua’s mother?”

“Yes. I’m so grateful. We were worried how we’d feed the children tonight, but clearly the Lord provided through Mrs. Martin.”

“That’s great, mother. Listen, I’m looking for Doc. Hetty is awake and I think he needs to come look at her burn.”

“Is she okay?” Elizabeth asked.

“I think so, but she’s going to be sore for a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a good bit of scarring once she’s healed,” Isaac said, reaching for a cookie and popping it in his mouth.

“Well, Doc Winters should be around here somewhere. He may be in the back with Reverend Andrews. They’re trying to figure out some business about where the children will stay until the orphanage can be cleaned. The kitchen repair will take a while, but once everything is cleaned and the smoke clears out they should be okay to return.”

“Thanks, mother.” Isaac turned and headed to the back of the sanctuary where Reverend Andrews had a small office. He knocked on the door and was told to enter. He saw both men sitting by the desk bent over a pile of papers.

“Doc, I don’t mean to interrupt, but Hetty is awake.”

“Thank you, son,” he said before turning to Reverend Andrews. “I need to see about this. Will you be okay for a few minutes?”

“Take your time, Doc. Make sure the girl is okay.”

Isaac and Doc Winters left the church and made the short walk to his office. The sun was setting, which meant most work for the day would need to halt until morning. The men couldn’t work after dark—it wouldn’t be safe or very productive. Isaac sensed the doctor was tired. It had been a long day for everyone and there was still so much work to be done. When they entered the office they found Hetty resting. Her eyes were closed and, for the moment at least, she didn’t appear to be in any pain.

Doc Winters moved a stool close to her arm so he could examine the wound. It still looked pretty bad to Isaac, but his medical training was nonexistent.

“Well, it isn’t great, but it’s not nearly as bad as it looked when they first brought her in,” he said as Hetty began to stir.

“Hetty, I think you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be in pain for a while until it starts to heal. That’s a pretty nasty second-degree burn you got. I’m going to apply some salve to the burn. It has a good bit of aloe in it so it should help you feel better. Plus, I’ll send you home with some morphine for your pain.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” she whispered.

“I want you to take it easy for a while. This isn’t going to heal overnight so you’re going to need to be careful. No hot water, be sure to change the bandages, and you can apply this salve a few times a day.”

Isaac interrupted the doctor. “Doc, she can’t go back to the orphanage tonight. I’d like to take her back to the ranch so we can look after her.”

Hetty’s eyes widened. She couldn’t go home with Isaac. She needed to stay here in town—there was so much work that needed to be done to clean up after the fire. And the party? Hetty had nearly forgotten that Catherine had put her in charge of all the preparations. Being at the ranch would put her way behind on her work.

“Isaac, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I really need to be here to help.”

“Hetty, listen. You’re injured. You can’t use that arm for at least a couple days, if not longer. You need to rest. Besides, you can’t sleep at the orphanage until they get things cleaned out and they won’t even begin that until tomorrow at the earliest.” He hoped his plea would get through to her.

“I have a place to stay here in town. And I promise I’ll take it easy. But I don’t think staying at the ranch is a good idea.”

“Where are you planning to stay?” Isaac asked, curiously.

“At my home,” she said matter-of-factly. 

Isaac’s brow crinkled.
Her home? Wasn’t she living at the orphanage as part of her job?
Hetty could see he didn’t quite understand what she was referring to.

They must not know about Mrs. Calhoun
, she thought. She’d only received word of her death a few days ago, but when Mr. Daniels gave her permission to access the small house in town that Mrs. Calhoun left her, she’d moved right in. It was a small house, not really big enough for more than two people. The living area and kitchen occupied one large space and there was a small bedroom off to the side. The house hadn’t been used in years, but it came with a few basic pieces of furniture. There was a bed and small dresser, a couple chairs, a small table where she could enjoy her meals, an old stove, and a beautiful oak cabinet to store her pantry items. The fireplace would easily heat the small space. From what Hetty could tell between the piles of snow there would be enough space outside for a small vegetable garden. She hadn’t had time to do anything, including give the place a thorough cleaning, but it was hers and she appreciated every moment she could spend there.

Hetty didn’t want Isaac to worry about her well-being, so she told him about Mrs. Calhoun’s death and her generosity toward Hetty. She didn’t mention that the grand home where Mrs. Calhoun lived was also hers, but she assured him she would be perfectly comfortable in the small home. It didn’t seem to ease his worry.

“Would you be willing to make a compromise?” he asked her. “Would you be willing to let my mother stay with you at least tonight so I know you’re cared for if you need anything?” Isaac would have offered to stay himself, but he knew she’d immediately refuse because it wasn’t really proper—though he ached to be the one there for her.

Hetty thought about it for a moment. It might be wise to have someone with her tonight, especially once the pain medicine took effect. “I suppose that would be okay, if you don’t think she’ll mind.” Hetty knew Elizabeth might still be angry with her about leaving her job at the ranch, but the truth was she missed her friend and it would be nice to visit for the evening.

“I’ll take care of everything,” Isaac said.

And he did. He left to speak to his mother who agreed that not only was it wise to have someone stay with Hetty, but it would be good for them to be available first thing tomorrow to begin assessing the damage and what needed to be done. They decided Lottie would stay with her grandmother at Hetty’s house and Isaac and Elias would return to the ranch for the night. They’d get up early, finish the chores, and head right back to town to give a hand where it was needed. Elizabeth made sure the children sleeping at the church were taken care of before she packed up a hearty helping of stew and a large chunk of bread to take with her to Hetty’s house. At least she’d have a warm meal ready for her.