They were all silent as Rory examined his wounds. Geordie couldn’t see the one on his back, but did glance down to see the one on his chest. The stitches made it look bigger than it was, and he was surprised at how far along the healing was. By his guess Rory would be able to remove the stitches in another week or two.
“’Tis doing well. Another week and a half, or more, and I’ll take the stitches out,” Rory announced, applying fresh salve, and then beginning to bandage him back up.
Geordie merely grunted at that and glanced to Aulay. “Did ye find the men’s camp?”
“Aye. I set Simon to the task when we found you and Dwyn.” Mouth tightening, he added, “They had cleared out by the time the men found it though, and they did it quickly. They left food cooking over a small fire and a half-skinned rabbit on a rock nearby. Obviously, one o’ their men caught wind o’ the search and gave the warning.”
Geordie scowled at the news. “How many men? Could he tell?”
“From the food and the compressed grass where people had slept, he guessed there were probably six including the two ye killed,” Aulay told him solemnly. “The men followed their trail to the edge o’ our land, but then turned back.”
“They should have hunted them all down,” Geordie growled. “The bastards who had her told Dwyn all the men were going to have a go at her.”
“She did no’ mention that,” Aulay said with a frown.
“Do ye need to use the garderobe?” Rory asked as he finished binding him up.
Geordie opened his mouth to say no, and then thought better of it. As weak as he was, he wouldn’t be able to manage on his own once his brothers were gone, and big as he was, Dwyn couldn’t get him there, so he muttered, “Aye. Mayhap.”
“Good, then we can have Mavis send someone to change the bed while we take ye there,” Rory said, and dragged the furs and linens the rest of the way off of him, revealing a large folded linen square across his hips. There was another larger one under his arse too, he noticed, and grimaced, knowing what it was for. He’d been on his back for two weeks, unable to use the garderobe. They’d been protecting the bed and beddings. On the bright side, neither linen seemed dirty, he noted as the two men dressed him in a nightshirt that fell to his knees. But then he hadn’t eaten or drank for two weeks, and, for all he knew, they may have changed the cloths just minutes before he woke.
“I’ll go ask Mavis to see to the bed, and tell Dwyn to take her time. There’s no sense her coming up to stand about while the maids work,” Rory said once they had him dressed.
Aulay nodded at that, but said, “Leave the door open,” and then bent to scoop up Geordie.
“Oy,” he complained as his brother started to carry him to the door. “I could walk with a little help.”
Aulay snorted at that. “Ye could no’ even raise yer arms or move yer legs to dress, Geordie. We’d have to pull yer arms over each of our shoulders and drag ye there.”
“’Twould be less humiliating than being carted around like a bairn,” he grumbled with disgust.
“Aye. So yer wife said many times as she was carried to the garderobe and back the last couple weeks,” he said with a smile. “She grew quite impatient with no’ being able to walk. I suspect had Rory no’ said she could start putting weight on both feet again yester eve, she might have done him bodily harm.”
“What?” Geordie asked with surprise. “But she was nearly healed before I was injured. Rory thought another day or two and she’d be able to take off the bandages and walk again.”
“Aye, well, that was before she ruined them in the woods trying to save yer sorry hide.”
“How badly?” he asked with concern.
“Her already healed foot took the worst damage. She somehow lost her slipper and Jetta and Rory think she must have impaled that one on a broken branch on the ground or something. She had a lot of slivers, cuts and a nice-sized hole between her heel and the meat under her toes. Fortunately, it did no’ get infected like yer wound did. Her other foot made out better. The linen wrappings protected them for the most part, though they had unraveled and were hanging from her ankle by the time we got her back to the keep,” he said, and then ordered, “Open the door.”
Geordie glanced around to see that they’d reached the garderobe. He automatically tried to reach for the door handle, but his arm merely flopped down at his side when he took it from his stomach and lap where it was resting. Mouth tightening, he muttered, “Sorry.”
“Nay. I’m sorry. I forgot,” Aulay said quietly, and then turned slightly to catch the door handle with the hand under Geordie’s legs. He tugged it open a bit with that hand, and then shifted quickly to slide his foot between the bottom of the door and the frame, then first dragged and then shoved it open with that foot so that he could quickly carry Geordie in before it swung closed.
By the time Aulay carried him out, Geordie had decided he was going to eat and do whatever else was necessary to regain his strength as quickly as possible. Truly, having to be helped to the garderobe was a humbling experience. He hadn’t even been able to lift his own nightshirt.
“So, Dwyn was stuck abed with me the last two weeks?” he asked, to get both their minds on something else as Aulay carried him out of the small room.
“Aye. But she kept busy, sewing, visiting and constantly spooning broth down yer throat. I think if she could have breathed fer ye while ye healed she would have,” he added with an affectionate smile.
“Ye’ve accepted her as family,” Geordie said with satisfaction. While he’d known his brother liked Dwyn before the marriage, it was obvious he felt affection for her now too. That just seemed to validate his own feelings, which was nice.
“Aye. So have the women,” Aulay assured him. “They’ve spent a lot of time up in yer room with her and her sisters, helping as much as they could with tending ye.”
“The other husband-hunting lasses?” he asked with a frown, finding it a little disturbing to think of having that bunch of young, unmarried women helping tend him.
“Nay, our sister and our brothers’ wives,” Aulay corrected him. “I sent the other lasses away a couple days after ye were injured.”