Page 60 of Healing Hazel

Hazel rested back into the pillow. The short conversation had exhausted her.

“Our adventure was not as romantic as books would have us believe, was it?” Camila said, returning the chart to the foot of the bed. “They never mention the cold or the fear.” She pulled the sheet up, smoothing it.

“Or the smell of the privy,” Hazel said. Her eyes were starting to close.

Camila laughed again. “Rest now. I’ll tell Dr. Jackson you’ve woken. He has been very worried.”

Hazel didn’t hear her leave.

***

The next time she woke, Nella sat in the chair beside her bed, knitting.

“Nella.” Hazel’s voice was a croak. She cleared her throat.

Nella dropped her needles and leaned forward, grabbing Hazel’s hand. “Oh, my dear, you’re awake at last.”

“I saw Camila earlier,” Hazel said. “Was I dreaming?”

“No, it was really she.” Nella smiled. “Everyone is returned, safe and sound. Now we just need you to regain your health, and it will all be just as it was.”

Hazel glanced around, for the first time realizing she was in a patient bed, but she could not tell which ward. Curtains had been drawn around her bed as a protection to the other patients against contracting her disease. “Has anyone else become ill?” Hazel pointed to her throat to indicate her fear that she may have spread the illness with her coughing.

Nella shook her head. “No one.” She picked up her needles and untangled the yarn, counting the stitches before she could continue. “You certainly had us worried, my dear. Such a fever, and the coughing...” She shook her head. “Poor Dr. Jackson. I’ve never seen a man in such a state. He went days without sleeping, until Claude finally ordered him to bed and gave him a dose of chloral hydrate to make certain he slept.”

It took a moment for Hazel to realize Claude was Dr. Laurent. “Days?” She felt her cheeks color at Nella’s words. She was sorry to have upset Jim so, but the depth of his concern made her insides feel warm and soft. “How long have I been ill?” She coughed, holding her chest and turning on her side as she did.

“You returned to the hospital four days ago,” Nella said. She gave Hazel a handkerchief and helped her lie back. “Here, let me get you some water, dear.”

“Thank you.”

“The coughing is good,” Nella said. “Should clear out your lungs and get you back to full health.” She put a bit more optimism into her voice than was necessary, and Hazel could tell her friend was still worried.

She took a sip of the water and closed her eyes. It felt impossible to even imagine returning to how she was before. Everything ached, even breathing was difficult, and she was more tired than she’d ever been in her life—even after sleeping for four days. She vaguely wondered how much morphine she’d been given.

“Hazel, dear,” Nella said, “there is something I hoped to talk to you about.”

“Mmm?” Hazel tried to blink her eyes open, wanting to listen to her friend, but the warmth of sleep felt too comfortable, the darkness too inviting, so she stopped fighting and let it envelop her.

***

When Hazel woke again, the ward was quiet. She lay for a moment with her eyes closed, hearing only the usual hospital noises and knowing without looking that Jim was with her. Her heart rate picked up speed. She cracked one eye open. Night had fallen. A candle lamp sat on the table beside her, and in the chair where she’d last seen Nella sat Jim. His elbow rested on the table, and he held his forehead in his hand. He was fast asleep.

Hazel watched him for a moment, the candlelight moving over the planes of his face, making shadows around his eyes and highlights in his curls. She wondered how long he’d been there.

A cough pushed its way into her throat. Not wanting to wake him, she tried to hold it back, but it was no use. She rolled onto her side, facing away from him, and held herself tightly as the fit of coughing overtook her.

Jim was there in an instant, sitting on the bed beside her, his hand on her shoulder.

When the spell finished, she wheezed, pressing against the pain in her lungs. Her eyes were wet with tears.

“Hazel.” He squeezed her shoulder.

The sound of her name thrilled her in spite of the circumstance.

“I’m sorry.” She breathed in quick gulps.

“Sorry for coughing?” Jim said, a hint of a tease in his voice. He handed her a handkerchief. “Hardly something worthy of an apology.” He helped her lay back onto the pillow and poured a cup of water.

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