The Last, Long Night (#5 in the Bregdan Chronicles Historical Fiction Romance Series) (64 page)

His voice trailed off as she took one of his hands gently and then laid her other hand on his face, frowning a little when she realized the fever was still burning in his body.  “Shh…  You’re going to be okay now.”

“How…?”

“The Union has captured Richmond,” she explained.   “You were shot at the Battle of Fort Stedman.  Simon got you off the field and back to a hospital, but you’ve been terribly sick with an infection.  Captain Jones had you brought along with some of your men into Richmond this morning to get medical care.   I found you.”  She stroked his cheek.  “Your Captain saved your life.”

Moses closed his eyes for a long moment.

Carrie thought he had drifted back off, but he forced them back open.  “What…?

Carrie understood the frustration that he couldn’t speak.  “Shh…”  She laid a finger to his lips.  “You’ll get all your questions answered soon.  You’re going to be okay.  They had missed a shell fragment in your wound.”

Moses frowned and tried to raise a hand to his chest.

Carrie held it down.  “We got it out,” she assured him.  “Now we just have to fight down the infection.”  She made her voice stern.  “You’re still very sick, Moses.  For once in your life you’re going to do exactly what I tell you to do.”

Moses smiled fleetingly.

“If I were you I would just do what she says.”

Moses eyes flew to the doorway.  “Matthew?” he whispered faintly, more disbelief showing on his face.

Now it was Carrie’s turn to stare at Moses.  “You know each other?”  She swung back to look at Matthew.

Matthew smiled easily.  “We met on the battlefield last summer.”

Carrie’s eyes glistened with tears as she thought about all the events she had missed in her friend’s lives over the last four years.  She felt Moses’ hand  squeeze hers, and she looked down at eyes warm with understanding. 

“Time…” he murmured.

“You’re right,” she forced herself to say lightly.  “We’re all going to have time to catch up.  But right now you just need to get some rest.  Either May or myself will be with you all the time.  I just want you to focus on getting well,” she said firmly. 

He closed his eyes in relief and then they flew back open.  “Rose…”

Carrie ached to tell him what he was asking but she knew she couldn’t.  “I know she’s in the Contraband Camp, but it’s almost impossible to get communication out of the city right now.  I promise we’ll let her know as soon as we can.”

Moses nodded once and then his face went slack, his breathing shallow. 

Matthew frowned and moved to stand next to the bed.  “Is he going to get well?” he asked, his eyes demanding the truth.

Carrie met his eyes squarely.  “I don’t know.  It’s a miracle he woke up, but his fever is still high.”  She paused and thought of the high fever, sustained too long, that had killed her mother.  “We’ll keep working to bring his fever down, and keep putting on poultices to drain the infection.  Only time will tell if he’s strong enough to make it.”  She took a deep breath, praying her next words were true.  “I believe he is. He has so much to live for.”

Matthew stared back at her, his face full of admiration.  “It’s no mistake Moses’ found his way to you,” he said quietly.  “I don’t believe God is going to let him die now.”

Carrie just looked at him.  “I hope you’re right, but I’ve seen way too much in this war that doesn’t make any sense.  I do know, however, that the darkness will always end.  This war is going to end and all of us are going to have a chance to rebuild our lives.  That’s what I hang on to every single day.”

She heard the clatter of boots on the steps and looked up as Jeremy walked in the room. 

He stared down at Moses, whose massive body dwarfed the bed he was in.  “Carrie…what?”

Carrie smiled and rose to take his arm to lead him from the room.  “I’ll explain downstairs,” she said.  “Moses needs his rest.”

“Moses?”  Jeremy spun around to stare at him.

Carrie gripped his arm tighter.  “Downstairs,” she repeated.  “The most important thing for him now is sleep.”

Jeremy nodded and then noticed Matthew.  “I saw you downtown fighting the fires.”

Carrie smiled and tucked a hand in each of their arms.  “I suspect we won’t get a lot of sleep tonight, either.”  She smiled when she saw the plate of cornbread and biscuits May had placed beside the fireplace in the parlor.  “We have a lot of talking to do.”

Chapter Thirty-Four
 

Carrie woke to singing birds and a soft breeze the next morning.  She stretched and yawned.  She was still tired, but the few hours of sleep, after hours of talking, had refreshed her – or perhaps it was just having Matthew and Moses here that had breathed new life into her. 

She hurried over to the window and sank down to her knees, watching the golden orb of the sun slowly rise through the mist and the smoke that had not yet dissipated. Yesterday it had been as if she was walking through a haze; today she could feel the joy of having Moses alive in the next room.  Matthew, knowing Peter would be concerned, had returned to his lodging after the long hours of talking.  She hoped he was still sleeping.

There was a light tap on her door.  “Come in,” she called.

May stuck her head in the door.  “Moses be asking for you,” she said, excitement shining in her eyes.

“His fever?”

“His fever be almost all the way down,” May said with quiet satisfaction.  “Those wet wraps you put on him must have done the trick.  He even ate a little bit of my soup.”

Carrie smiled with delight.  “I’ll be right there.”  She quickly dressed and slipped into the room, her delight increasing when he turned clear eyes on her.

“Carrie!”  Moses cried.  “I didn’t dream all this after all.”

Carrie laughed and grabbed his hands, thrilled to find them cool to the touch.  She laid a hand on his forehead, relieved beyond words to find almost all the fever was gone.  “It’s a miracle you’re alive,” she murmured.

Moses squeezed her hands.  “You saved my life,” he said gratefully.

Carrie shook her head firmly.  “Captain Jones and Dr. Wild saved your life,” she corrected. 

Moses continued to gaze at her.  “Miles just left.  He was downtown yesterday.  He told me how you saw the wagons and came over to help, shaming the other doctors and nurses into helping.”

Carrie just shrugged.  “The important thing is that you’re going to get better,” she said happily and then let her voice grow stern.  “Just in case you get any ideas of getting out of bed, I want to show you something.”  She pulled the blanket back and gently peeled back the bandage that lay loosely on his chest.

Moses’ eyes widened and he looked a little sick as he stared down at the gaping wound.

Carrie nodded grimly.  “It’s going to take weeks for that wound to heal.  If you decide to be stupid, the infection could come back.  The next time it could kill you.”

Moses continued to stare at the wound and then looked up at her.  “I hear you,” he said.  “I’ll do whatever you tell me.”

Carrie nodded in satisfaction.  “It’s so nice when men know how to listen,” she said primly, smiling when Moses snorted a laugh.  She was glad he was feeling so much better, but she knew exactly how much the fever had weakened him.  It was going to take his body a long time to heal.  She was glad the garden was beginning to produce.  It was going to take a lot of good food to make him strong again.

“You are not to leave this bed except to go to the restroom for at least two weeks,” she said firmly.  She saw his eyes widen in protest before he nodded meekly. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So she’s already pushing you around, is she?”  Jeremy entered the room, a cheerful smile on his face.  “You have to be careful; she can be extremely bossy.”

“You’re telling me,” Moses agreed, eyeing Jeremy with curiosity.

“Pooh,” Carrie scoffed.  “If men weren’t so obstinate and hard-headed I wouldn’t have to treat you this way.”

Jeremy laughed and held out his hand to Moses.  “My name is Jeremy.  I couldn’t wait any longer to meet my twin sister’s husband.”

Carrie grinned as the words sunk into Moses’ head.  His eyes were first puzzled, and then grew wide with astonishment.  “A lot has happened in the last few years,” she teased. 

Moses was still staring at Jeremy.  He nodded slowly.  “I see it,” he murmured. “I didn’t think I would be able to see Rose in a white man, but I do.”

“Yes, I hear she is as beautiful as I am handsome,” Jeremy said modestly, throwing his head back in a joyful laugh.

Suddenly Moses and Carrie both joined in the laughter – years of pain and loss beginning to fade away.

Moses suddenly grew serious.  “Robert?  How is he?”

Carrie grew serious with him.  “I don’t know.  There’s been no word since Lee left Richmond.  I haven’t seen or heard from him in over a month.”

“But he recovered fully?”

Carrie looked at him with confusion.  “Recovered from what?”

“He was badly wounded when I found him,” Moses answered, and then understood her confusion.  “Matthew didn’t tell you?”

Carrie’s confusion was growing.  “Didn’t tell me what?”

“I was the one who found Robert on the battlefield two years ago and took him to the black family.”

“You’re the one who saved Robert?”  Carrie whispered, sinking down in a chair..  “And Granite?”  She could barely breathe as she stared at Moses.  “And after what you knew Robert did to his slaves?”

“I did it for you, Carrie,” Moses said tenderly.

Carrie rushed over to kiss his face.  “You saved more than his life, Moses!  What you did made him into a new man.”  She settled down to tell him the story.

Abby held her face up to drink in the glorious sun, holding the rail tightly to steady herself against the rolling waves as she enjoyed the feel of the wind whipping her body.  What a wonderful day to be traveling via boat.

“You seem to be enjoying this.”

Abby opened her eyes when an amused voice sounded beside her.  “I most certainly am,” she said cheerfully as she looked into warm brown eyes under dark hair streaked with gray.  She continued her casual inspection that approved of the impeccably tailored suit.  “And who might you be?”

“Dr. Lucas Strikener,” came the immediate response as he bowed slightly.  His voice had a warmth that matched his eyes.  “And who may I have the pleasure of speaking with?”

“Abigail Livingston,” Abby responded cordially.  “What takes you to Fort Monroe, Dr. Strikener?”

“Richmond, actually,” he replied. 

Abby eyed him more closely, her curiosity piqued.  “And what is in Richmond?”

“The hospitals that will soon need to care for Union soldiers too ill to transport north.  My job is to inspect them and make sure they meet our standards.”

“I see,” Abby murmured.  “I imagine that will include Chimborazo?”

Dr. Strikener’s eyes widened with surprise.  “You know about Chimborazo?”

“I have a young friend who has been serving there as a doctor,” she replied.  “I’m on my way to Richmond myself now that is under Union occupation.”

“What is his name?”

“
Her
name is Carrie Cromwell; actually, Carrie Borden now.  She has married since the beginning of the war.”  Abby enjoyed the way the doctor’s eyes widened with surprise.

“A woman doctor?”  His next words were even more incredulous.  “In the
South
?

“Well, she’s not official, but she has been serving as a doctor; in fact, she has been responsible for the introduction of herbal medicines since our embargoes have so successfully blocked medicine from Richmond.”

Dr. Strikener eyed her more closely.  “I thought there was no communication with Richmond,” he said thoughtfully.

“It helps to know the right people,” Abby said casually and then laughed heartily.  “I suppose I should admit I have an agenda for this conversation.”

The amused glint came back into the doctor’s eyes.  “And what might that be?”

“Carrie Borden is like a daughter to me.  I have kept up with her in much too small a way through a journalist who escaped Libby Prison.”  She quickly explained how Carrie and Robert had helped Matthew; enjoying the way Dr. Strikener’s eyes widened as she told the story of two Rebels helping a Yankee journalist.  “I have already made connections with Dorethea Dix and Dr. Blackwell,” her smile growing broader as his eyes narrowed with intensity.  “I told you I had an agenda,” she teased.

“One you seem quite determined to achieve.”

“Oh, yes.  Carrie was to come live with me and start college in Philadelphia just before the war broke out and separated us.  I’m quite determined she get her chance now.  I imagine the more contacts and connections I have with the field of medicine, the more I will be able to help her.”