“I know, but he begged the Lord not to take him,” Savannah whispers.
“What did you do?” Eli asks from the doorway.
Savannah looks at him, “I held his hand and gave him comfort. I gave him the promise he needed to hear.”
Eli is unashamed of the tears rolling down his face when he walks forward and leans down to take her hand gently in his own. She says, “He wasn’t scared, Eli. You’d have been proud of the courage he showed in the face of death.”
Doc bows his head in a prayer of healing for this family, and his wife steps to him, slipping her hand in his.
“Dayton?” Savannah closes her eyes and waits till she feels his hand on her brow.
“I’m right here, Angel,” he whispers.
“Will you take me home now?” she pleads.
“Soon,” he says and watches them all filter from the room.
Chapter 28
The setting sun casts the room in a golden light. Savannah blanches and turns away from it, praying for the darkness that will soon bring relief. She refused the next dose of morphine when they offered it. “What if he escapes and comes back for me? What if he has a friend?” she asks Kristin. The pain is deep and throbbing, causing her head to pound with her every movement.
Kristin and Felicia helped her change out of her ruined gown and into a white cotton chemise and robe. They helped wash the blood off her body, carefully tending her scratched hands. Her hip is purple from slamming into the metal rail of the track. They braided her long hair over one shoulder to keep the hair from the contusion on her head. Luckily it wasn’t deep enough to need stitches.
“Thank you,” she mumbles as they slip from the room to let her rest.
Savannah is afraid to sleep, nightmares plague her with the morphine, and she’s desperately trying to figure out what Dayton is doing here. Why did Glenn send him? Kristin clears her throat and walks inside with Lucas.
“Mama said you need me to keep you awake,” Lucas calls out.
Kristin blushes and Savannah laughs before holding her head tightly with her hands. “Oh.”
Lucas climbs up onto the bed and offers Savannah his blue silky blanket. “Here Miss Vanna, this makes me feel better.”
“Lucas!” She smiles and pulls him close with her free arm to keep him from falling. “Thank you, but I don’t want to get anything on it.”
“You mean, like blood?” Lucas asks glancing at her closely. “The bad man made me bleed too, but Mr. Eli said he won’t hurt us anymore.”
“I’m so sorry that you were hurt, Lucas.” Guilt beats at her, and she’s desperate to silence the voices in her head, blaming her for not talking to Eli before leaving.
“That’s okay, Mama says you need me to give you your medicine,” he grins at her. “I’m bigger now, and medicine makes you feel better. You got to try it. I just hold my breath, like this,” Lucas holds his breath, and Savannah smothers a laugh as she glances at Kristin.
Kristin nods but at least has the good grace to look guilty. “Lucas is right,” she says, “You need to take your medicine. Doc said it will take the edge of the pain off and you’ll heal quicker if you rest.”
“Is the patient being stubborn again?” Dayton asks from the door.
Savannah’s heart beats stronger when she glances at him.
“I’m taking care of Miss Vanna, so her hurts will go away.” Lucas holds the teaspoon of medicine to Savannah’s mouth with Kristin’s help and watches her closely to see that she swallows all of it. “Don’t spit!” he shouts causing Savannah to giggle and hide her face.
“I promise, I won’t spit it,” Savannah says after she swallows the medicine.
Dayton grins and walks into the room. He’s changed into a clean suit, freshly bathed and fed. Savannah stares at him closely, taking in the beard and the condition of his body, but it’s his eyes that draw her.
“I’m a great doctor,” Lucas announces causing everyone to laugh as he bounds from the room.
“Thank you, Kristin,” Dayton says.
Kristin nods and leaves the room to give them some privacy.
“I think you’re all ganging up on me.” Savannah lays her head back on the bed and prays for the pounding to cease. Every bone in her body hurts, her head is throbbing, and it’s only when she’s perfectly still that it stops. Until they wake her again.
“You look better,” Dayton says walking in to draw a chair near the bed.
Savannah glares at him and covers her face with Lucas’s blanket. “I would feel better if you’d let me sleep. Everything hurts,” she whispers.
“Not yet, Savannah,” he tugs the blanket away with a gentle chuckle.
Her stomach burns from the heat of the morphine and she keeps her eyes closed to avoid looking at him. It doesn’t seem fair that he looks so handsome. “I like the beard, Dayton,” she murmurs sleepily.
Dayton stares at her resting with her eyes closed. She’s beautiful with the thick rope of her dark red hair over her shoulder, peach lips and freckles sprinkled over her body.
“Thirty-two,” he says softly.
“Hmm?” she murmurs as the medicine starts to wash away the pain.
He stands and leans over her, staring down at her face. “Thirty-two,” he touches her face with his fingertips.
“What?” Savannah’s eyes fly open wide, and she stares up at him in surprise. His black eyes are full of an emotion that she must be imagining. Surely, it’s the medication.
His fingers trail over her nose and cheeks, down the side of her
