Page 70 of Stay with Me

She was too faint to resist, letting him lead her to a grassy spot in the shade of an oak where she lowered herself and reclined against the trunk.

He hovered above her, his expression stern but his eyes radiating with worry. “What ails you?”

Had she eaten something that had given her food poisoning? Or had she caught an illness? After all, her body wasn’t used to the food and diseases of the era. Was it possible her body in the present was dying, causing her body in 1382 to deteriorate?

“Speak to me, my lady.” Ralph’s tone took on an urgency. “Have you need of a physician?”

“I don’t know.” Without modern medicine and technology, what could a physician in the Middle Ages do to help her?

Ralph straightened and rubbed at the back of his neck. “Do you think you might be in the family way?”

She shook her head. Her arrangement with Nicholas was nobody else’s business, but she couldn’t let Ralph think she was pregnant. “It’s a little too soon for that.” It was the best answer she could come up with under the circumstances.

“We should head back and have Father Fritz examine you.”

“If I rest for a few minutes, I’ll be fine.” At least, she hoped so. Because at the moment, she couldn’t imagine having the energy or stamina to stand and climb back on the horse.

Ralph peered around as though to determine if they were safe. So far on their journey, they hadn’t seen anyone else. The ability to go for miles without sight of another human was another difference between modern Kent and this one, where urban sprawl hadn’t taken over the countryside.

As another wave of nausea started to rise, she laid her head back and closed her eyes. Drawing in deep breaths, she tried to calm her racing pulse and quell the queasiness. But as before, the pressure built until she vomited again.

She was sick off and on and lost track of the time, finally dozing in her misery. She wasn’t sure how long she slept, but voices roused her.

“Sorry. Her organs are failing.” It was an unfamiliar male voice. Had someone new joined Ralph? Maybe he’d gone after a physician after all? “With both renal and heart failure, I don’t think she’ll make it much longer.”

Renal and heart failure? That couldn’t be right. She tried to pry her eyes open, but her lids were heavy, her body lethargic, and her mouth dry. It had to be food poisoning. She’d had it afew years ago after eating fried chicken takeout and had been miserable for several hours.

A deep sigh came from above her along with a squeeze to her hand.

Suddenly she was conscious of a whirring and beeping, like the sounds of hospital equipment. She inhaled only to find that plastic covered her mouth and nose. Elastic straps pressed against her cheeks and wrapped around her head. From the soft bellow of the air flow, she guessed she was on a ventilator.

Her heart picked up its pace. Had she returned to the present?

“Isn’t there anything we can do for her?” came a question from above her, from a voice that sounded terribly like Dawson’s.

“We’ve done all we can, and the MRI, CT, bloodwork, and all the other tests we’ve run aren’t showing any underlying causes.” The medical terms were most definitely modern, which meant Isaac—or somebody—had located her body in the closet under the stairs at Reider Castle and had taken her to the hospital.

She quickly calculated the passage of time. If she was doing the math right, then she’d been unconscious in the present for eight days.

With all the energy she could muster, she attempted to push herself up. But she was too exhausted... or perhaps she was still in a coma and could hear what was going on around her but was unable to communicate back. She’d heard that sometimes happened to comatose people—they were conscious of voices and other sensory details.

“C’mon, Baxter. We have to do something more.” The voice was hard with anger—an anger she recognized well. Dawson. He was at her bedside. Was he the one holding her hand?

“I’ve done all I can.” The doctor gentled his tone. “In fact, I’ve already done more than I’m allowed.”

Baxter was another one of Dawson’s war buddies and had been instrumental in trying to help Dawson since the accident. He’d relocated to Canterbury to be close to Dawson and Acey.

“I’m sorry, Dawson,” Baxter said again. “If only we’d found her sooner.”

So she’d been in the closet awhile, possibly several days if her organs were failing.

“I can’t lose her too.” Dawson’s whisper came out anguished.

At his heartfelt declaration, Sybil’s pulse seemed to stop beating. Yet according to the steady, unperturbed beeping of the vital signs monitor, nothing had changed in the rhythm.

Dawson couldn’t be sad she was in a coma, could he? After everything he’d said to her about wishing she was the one who’d disappeared...

“You should get some rest. Maybe a shower.” This voice came from across the room and belonged to Acey. “I’ll drive you home.”

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