Page 72 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander
A cup was brought to her lips, and she felt someone behind her helping her up. She sipped the cold water in the cup, and her throat burned as a result. She had trouble swallowing the water, and some of it dripped from the corners of her mouth.
She looked around her. She was scared and didn’t know what was going on. Her body ached, especially her neck, and it hurt to breathe.
The larger face returned to her side, and she felt her hand being taken, even though her body was numb. There was comfort in him holding her hand.
“Elias,” she muttered.
“I’m here,” Elias said.
She coughed to clear her throat, but the pain returned, and she gasped. The woman, Cassandra, brought the cup back to her lips, and Holly drank from it, finding some relief this time.
“Cole,” she whispered. “Why are ye lookin’ so sad? Did ye nae want me to wake up? Are ye glad of the peace and quiet without me around?”
“Nay,” Cole screeched. “I’ve been right here all this time, waitin’ for ye to wake up so I could give ye a hug. Ollie, too. He willnae leave yer lap, nae even for food. Cassandra has to bring it to him, the wee scamp.”
“Aye, he is a scamp,” Holly agreed.
She looked up past Cole and into Elias’s eyes. It all came flooding back to her. She could still see the look in Alice’s eyes as she had pinned her down on the bed to stab her, and then the Laird bursting in and hitting her over the head with a chair. She didn’t remember much after that.
Holly stared into Elias’s eyes and saw the answer—Alice had been taken care of. She couldn’t bring herself to sigh, but she felt relief wash over her.
She was safe, and she could finally be with the Laird.
“How are ye feelin’?” he asked.
“Braw,” Holly said with a smile. “Me body is in pain, but me mind is at rest now that everythin’ has been taken care of.”
Cole still had that worried smile on his face, and Holly wanted to do everything in her power to remove it. She would be fine, even if her voice betrayed that. It would take time for her to recover after she had almost been strangled to death.
“The one thing that would make me feel much better right now is a hug from ye, Cole,” she said.
She still struggled to breathe, but she was breathing, and that was all that mattered.
Cole looked up at Elias, who nodded at him. “If Holly is fine with it, then up ye go. But be gentle, aye?”
Cole nodded and then carefully crept up onto the bed beside Holly. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. Holly wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him. When she had been dying, it was not her life she had worried about, but his. Itwould destroy him if she was taken from him after his parents left him all alone.
She smelled the sweet scent coming from his hair and drank it in. She had only said it would make her feel better to placate him, but it really did help. She breathed him in again and felt his warmth. It was magical, and some of the pain melted away.
Between them, Ollie moved a little but tolerated the boy on the bed with him.
“This is braw,” Holly said, “but I need to talk with the Laird. Do ye want to go and play for a while? I’ll come and see ye soon.”
“Aye, all right,” Cole said.
He leaned in and placed his head on Holly’s shoulder, hugging her a little tighter but not too tight, and then he let go and got up from the bed.
“I’ll go with him,” Cassandra offered. “Make sure to keep sippin’ water, Holly, and I’ll be back later to rub more ointment on yer neck.”
“Thank ye,” Holly said.
The Laird waited until Cassandra and the boy had left the room before he leaned down and kissed Holly on the forehead.
“I thought I had lost ye,” he said.
“It’s goin’ to take ye a lot more than that to get rid of me,” Holly said with a smile.
Elias leaned down again and kissed her on the lips. His kiss brought the same warmth that Cole had brought with his hug, and she really hoped they could be a family together.
