Page 56 of Snowed in With My Small Town Billionaire

“What happened?” Sawyer asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“He’s been throwing up. He wouldn’t let me wake you up the first time, but I had to now,” Emilia said.

Sawyer took his temperature and was alarmed to see that it was still at a hundred and two.

Oliver, who was normally up at this time, walked over. “We still have some acetaminophen left. Not a lot though. We also have some ibuprofen, but again, not much.”

Sawyer carefully unwrapped the ace bandage that held the splint on. His heart stopped when he saw that Zaid’s toes were starting to turn purple. He sucked in a deep breath and exchanged glances with Oliver.

“Is the splint too tight?” Oliver asked.

“No, I’ve been checking that,” Sawyer said. “Can you gently massage his foot, as long as it doesn’t cause too much pain?”

Millie and Tessie rushed in.

“What can we do?” Millie asked.

“Do you have any ginger?” Sawyer asked.

“Yes, I have some ginger roots in the cellar,” Tessie said. “I like to grow as much of our food and herbs as I can. Millie and I do a lot of canning, drying, and whatnot in the summer.”

“Excellent. Can you grate about two inches of ginger root into some hot water, and let it steep for about ten minutes and then add a tablespoon of honey. Let’s give that to him every four hours or so,” Sawyer said. “If you have enough, let’s grate a little bit of ginger and mix it with warm water to make a paste. We’ll put that on a clean cloth and put that on his foot, below the toes. We’ll leave it on for ten minutes at a time, every hour or so. It may help with circulation.”

“What else?” Tessie asked anxiously, writing her hands together.

“How much honey do you have?”

“I have a large jar I haven’t opened yet.”

“Good. Give him a tablespoon every hour. Make a water solution of one liter of water, mixed with six teaspoons of sugar, and a half teaspoon of salt,” Sawyer said. “Emilia, will you make sure that he sips the mixture throughout the day? Heshouldn’t drink it all at once. Just sip it. That will help keep him dehydrated.”

“He’ll need to keep his leg elevated,” Oliver said. “What do you think about adding another pillow to his pile?”

“That’s a good idea,” Sawyer said. “Millie, do you have any oatmeal?”

“I do.”

“If you could make him some and mix some of the honey in that, it will help with electrolytes and will be easier for him to digest,” Sawyer said. “We’ll alternate the ibuprofen with acetaminophen every three hours. Cool compresses will help, too.”

“You’re going to have to cut off my leg, aren’t you,” Zaid asked.

“If things don’t improve and help doesn’t come soon, we will,” Sawyer answered honestly.

“Maybe you could use an axe. Sharpen it like the old executioners used to do in the old days. That way, the leg will come off in one sharp blow. Just don’t miss, like they sometimes did. It took the executioner three blows to kill Mary Queen of Scots,” Zaid said.

Emilia gasped. “Knock it off. Think positive. Quit being so blood macabre.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Sawyer said. “Emilia, keep me updated on how he’s doing. I’ll check back in an hour or so.”

She nodded. Millie and Tessie headed off to the kitchen to make the concoctions Sawyer ordered.

“How do you know all that stuff,” Lucas asked.

He had heard Emilia come get Sawyer and followed him into the parlor in case he could help.

“I read books,” Sawyer laughed. “I like the idea of using natural remedies if possible. It makes sense not to use a lot of pharmaceuticals if they aren’t necessary.”

Sawyer headed into the library. Darren and Lucas followed.

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