Page 40 of Adoringly, Edward
Moments later, Barnaby and Edward’s personal servant, Cedric, dropped beside her. Cedric lifted Edward at the waist, propping his arms in the air as if to expand his lung capacity. Edward’s head drooped to the side, each of his limbs limp.
“He’s never been unconscious for one of these,” Cedric grunted, sharing a worried look with Barnaby. But then he turned his attention toward her. “He needs a doctor. Is there one at the palace?”
“Yes!” she gasped, launching to her feet as terror for Edward nipped at her heels. “Get him inside one of the infirmary rooms. I’ll fetch the physician.”
She sprinted away, ignoring the alarmed looks she received from servants and other members of the court. Each footstep pounded a frantic rhythm across carpeted hallways and stone corridors until she burst into the infirmary.
Doctor Clark startled upright from his desk, a paper stuck to his face as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. He swiped the paper away and stood, his attention honing in on her. “Lady Vivienne.”
He dipped into a bow.
“Do you have available rooms?” she gasped. “Lord Beaumont has collapsed.”
The man’s eyes hardened like a doctor with years upon years of experience dealing with patients. He gestured for her to follow him into a room with a small window lighting up a bed within a tight space and a table next to it. He grabbed several medical items and set them atop the table just as Cedric and Barnaby entered the room carrying unconscious Edward.
Her hand flew to her mouth as they laid him on the cot, still struggling to breathe. She clutched her hands to her chest as she stood in the corner, watching as the doctor barked out orders to the nurses. He spouted terms such as scalpel, thoracic drainage, and medications.
The doctor spoke to Barnaby, likely because he was a titled man who seemed to have his head on the straightest in that room. “If he doesn’t respond to this medication, I will have to perform emergency surgery.”
With help from the other men, they lifted Edward into a sitting position and forced a vial of liquid down his throat. Edward coughed and spluttered, wheezed and choked. Most of the medication splattered over his shirt, but whatever hedidconsume seemed to help calm his frantic lungs enough for them to try again with a second vial.
Thankfully, he responded to the medication, his breathing easing and his body slumping exhaustedly against the stack of pillows on the cot.
Vivienne cupped her face inside steepled fingers, thankful that Edward was recovering from the frightening ordeal.
“What happened?” she asked in a small voice, never once taking her attention off the man she loved.
“I believe one of his lungs collapsed,” Doctor Clark answered. “Though, I can’t figure out for the life of me why.” He lifted his head and addressed Barnaby. “I know nothing of this patient. Tell me more of his medical history.”
But Cedric answered, telling him of his severe heart condition and the symptoms associated with it. She found it difficult to hear just how much Edward had struggled with this for so many years, especially in the past year alone.
“Has he tried any remedies for his condition?” the doctor asked.
“Many. There is only one that has seemed to help, but I don’t believe it works anymore other than to help him sleep.”
“Where can I acquire a sample?”
Cedric reached into his breast pocket and produced a vial filled with translucent yellow liquid, handing it to the doctor. The man carefully inspected its contents, even pouring a small portion onto a piece of glass to view it closer. When he smelled it, his eyes hardened once again, He sniffed the contents several times, only managing to draw out the tension in the room when he said nothing for the longest time.
“What do you smell, Your Lordship?” Doctor Clark held out the vial.
Barnaby took it from him and swirled the liquid before bringing it to his nose. “It smells…acidic. A little bitter. And perhaps a hint of garlic.”
Doctor Clark nodded. “Garlic is used in many herbal remedies. But I also caught the faint whiff of almond.” Vivienne didn’t know how the man’s eyes could have possibly hardened any further, but somehow, he managed it as he crossed the room and closed the door between them and the nurses waiting outside.
“Doctor?” she asked. Unable to stay away from Edward for any longer, she pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the bed and rested her hand over his wrist.
“From how it sounds, Lord Beaumont’s illness has worsened in the past year alone, while it has remained somewhat consistent in the years prior.” He held up the vial again and frowned. “Arsenic poisoning produces many of the same effects as his heart condition. I reckon it would be easy to hide the symptoms behind his other symptoms.”
Her jaw hung agape as she stared at the doctor, not believing her ears. “You believe he’s been poisoned?”
“That is my guess, yes. A slow poisoning to make it unnoticeable.”
She closed her eyes, a hand over her mouth. “Who would do such a thing?”
When she opened her eyes again, she found the two other men turning their heads in Cedric’s direction.
The servant held up his hands in a show of peace. “I would never.”
