nampara garage ch 26 snippet
Ross barely had time to scan the headline before he noticed his wife’s eyelids fluttering closed. The magazine slipped from her fingers and the tautness of her body suddenly went limp against him. “Demelza!” he shouted, capturing her in his arms before she hit the ground. He gasped; a wrenching pain made its way across his shoulder from their odd position, and took his breath for an instant.
“Ross!” Verity’s voice was harsh in his ears.
“I’m alright,” he gritted out, rising to his feet. He shifted Demelza into his arms. She was in a dead faint. “Verity, put the kettle on---”
“---What can I do?” Or have I already done enough?” He turned to find Caroline, white faced and tearful, behind him. “Or have I already done enough?”
He’d all but forgotten about her when Demelza fainted. “Can you manage a fire?” he asked, beginning his walk towards the farmhouse, following Verity’s sprinting feet. “We’ll need one in the parlour.” Caroline nodded and raced ahead, leaving him cradling his wife. It was all because of their impulsive decision to elope that they’d had their photo splashed across the glossy cover of Cornwall Today. You mean your impulsive decision, he corrected himself, taking the steps two at a time. He swung Demelza carefully through the door, across the kitchen to the squashy couch across from the fireplace. Caroline was applying herself admirably to the blackened old hearth, and managed to get the kindling alight with impressive speed. “Thank you.”
The leggy blonde glanced over her shoulder in their direction. “Is she okay?”
Verity bustled in with a cool washcloth, handing it silently to Ross. “Tea will be ready in a jiffy.”
“Bring the brandy, too,” Ross called after her before looking at Caroline. “She will be.” He pressed the cloth against Demelza’s forehead, murmuring nonsense words into her ear. “‘Tis alright, darling, wake up, now.”
A few seconds passed before the russet lashes blinked open, revealing troubled, wary eyes the colour of sapphires. “What happened?” she asked reedily, only to answer her own question in a thrice. “I fainted?”
He nodded, exhaling the breath he’d been holding. “You certainly did, darling,” he said more lightly than he felt.
She rubbed her fingers across her brow. “I’ve only ever fainted once before in my life and I didn’t like it much then.” He grinned then, a bit of her fire returning. “Where is that magazine?”
“I’ve got it,” Caroline said softly, walking over from the fire to sit Indian-style next to the couch, the magazine in her lap. “I’m so sorry I sprang this on you so suddenly, sweetheart.”
Demelza shook her head, scooching up into a half-sitting, half-reclining position and touched her friend’s shoulder. “I’d rather to hear it coming from you than anyone else, Caro. Hand it over.” Warily, Caroline obliged, but before his wife could open it she frowned up at him. “What happened to you?”
Ross hadn’t realized he was rubbing the back of his neck with his hand while gingerly moving his shoulder, “Oh, this?” He stopped moving, swallowing a yelp. “Just a little wrench, nothing more.” He lifted Demelza’s legs and sat on the couch, allowing them to rest across his lap. “Shall we read it together?” At her nod, he slid closer and tilted his head near hers to read.
