Where There's Life, There's Hope

When he had first woken and realized he was alone in the bed, he looked around to try and find her then relaxed again when he saw her curled in the chair with his book. He started to say something but then she was standing and on her way to him. He caught the sight of her as the sunlight passed through her seemingly paper thin shift, causing his entire body to heat in a way no other had caused him to do. 

Hope chuckled as she pressed her hands on his stomach, shaking her head. "God, no. It was much more comfortable to just share the bed with you. You snore, by the way."

He was so shocked by her authoritative spirit that he remained silent and again did as he was told…as if he had been given a choice! When she blew out the lamps and crawled into the bed, he grinned but remained silent except to tell her good night, then closed his own eyes and allowed sleep to take him away as well.

Hope had been up with the first rays of dawn. She had found a book laying in the room and, rather than wake her sleeping master, had settled down with it in the chair he had occupied the night before. She looked up from the book when he stirred and smiled. "Well, you at least lived through the night. Let's take a look at that wound of yours."

Her lip trembled as he spoke, trying her hardest to be strong and not cry. When Aiden finished, Hope wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. She had had her doubts about this marriage when her father first announced it, but now she couldn't imagine her life without her husband.

He waited with Hope until Clara brought the items back then did as he was told…for once. She proved to be very adept in knowing what to do and how to fix it, causing him a very minimal amount of pain; after all, he was at her mercy and she could have chosen to have been rough and could have hurt him pretty badly.

Hope listened quietly as he explained what had happened. He owed her no explanation, so she readily listened to his tale. It was interesting to see this side of him. No, he was no hero, she knew this all too well, but what he had done was no less impressive to her.

He placed his hand over the wound then stood and opened the door. He called for Clara, one of the younger maids and had her to step inside the room. He motioned to Hope with a nod of his head; “Hope, tell her what you need and she’ll get it.” He thin looked straight at the girl and frowned; “And DO NOT breathe a word of this to Mrs. McKreedy. Do you understand?”

"I need clean water and linens I can use for bandages. Silk thread and a curved needle. And quickly!" Hope moved from the bed, much steadier with the rest and nourishment she had received all day. She prayed the maid could locate everything quickly. She lit all of the lamps in the room, trying to make it as bright as possible. "Sir. I need you to lay on the bed on your uninjured side. I will apply pressure until she comes back."

He knew that if he got Mrs. McKreedy to tend to his wounds, he would have to listen to her constant chattering about him ‘running off’ and getting himself hurt, like he had done it on purpose and that was the last thing he wanted so he gave in and went closer to Hope.

Hope pulled the ruined shirt away a sucked air in through her teeth. It was deep, and she would likely need to do some stitches inside as well as stitching the skin together. "It's missed your organs, but I think it has nicked a major blood vessel. I'm going to need a curved needle and some silk thread to patch this properly, plenty of clean linen to keep my view clear and fresh water to clean it. And you're going to want to drink something strong, because this will likely feel a lot worse before it's better."

Role play blogs aren’t just about clique’s and it shouldn’t be about who you’ve known the longest either. Well it should be but also- there are a lot of shy cinnamon rolls out there waiting for you. But they don’t know that you can vibe with them right off the bat if they’d only send in a meme or a starter or something!

“I can’t wait either.” He stated softly, still rubbing her belly and looking at it, missing for the moment that she was becoming melancholy but when he looked up at her, his smile fell.

She leaned into his hand on her cheek, a tear escaping and rolling down her skin. "I'm not ill. I'm just sad. I was thinking about our first little one. The one I lost. I'm so happy to be pregnant with this little joy, but I wish I had been able to welcome our first into the world."

He had taken a sip of his coffee and closed his eyes when she woke and called to him. He smiled and looked at her as he moved to join her in the bed.

Hope smiled as he kissed her belly, her hand moving to play with his hair as Aiden lay his head down. She felt the soft flutter of the baby move and smiled. "She's happy to hear you. She always moves when she hears your voice, as if she's trying to get closer to you. I can't wait for you to feel it."

He jumped when she spoke, not really expecting her there but then again he had basically ordered her to stay there until he told her otherwise.

Hope sighed. "I wouldn't have to move if you came closer. I know Mrs. McKreedy has taken care of your wounds in the past, but I also know that I'm a skilled healer. And my needlework is impressive. Please, sir. I have spent most of today sleeping when I wasn't awakened by one of the maids with sustenance. I have regained some of my strength already."

Even though he needed to be at the bar, Aiden had made arrangements to stay with Hope for an undetermined amount of time and take care of her. Besides, Shaun could handle the operations of the bar just as well as Aiden could, that was why Shaun had been hired in the first place!

The older woman sighed and nodded. “I’ll try but I cannot make any guarantees. When the master makes up his mind about something, it’s very rarely changed until he’s ready to change it himself.”

Hope had drifted off to sleep easily, waking briefly each time a maid brought up a bowl of broth for her. She slept restfully, her nightmares at bay for the time being.

Aiden should have slept when Hops did but he couldn’t. His mind simply refused to turn off an allow him the downtime he needed to recuperate so he spent the next few hours lying there, cat napping for no more then five or ten minutes at a time while Hope rested.