Chapter 47
972words
They took him to an inn to recuperate, but that meant they had to put their journey on hold till he got better. Martha knew the inn owner was helping take care of a young man brought there by his men, she had never seen him, but every morning, afternoon, and evening the woman cleaned him and gave him his drugs. Martha spent most days tending to the inn and the regulars there had come to know her and like her. Her pregnancy had progressed during the months and now the inn owner Mrs Higgins and her husband had restricted her to certain jobs due to her condition.
She never asked the older lady about the man but she would hear him cry out at night from his delirious sleep and something felt familiar about him. "Mary please help me put towels in room five, i need to fetch vegetables from the garden", Mrs Beth Higgins asked fetching her basket and apron, she smiled at the old lady and took up the towels.
After closing the room door, she heard trashing coming from the sick man's room, and she wanted to ignore but for some reason she felt she should check on him rather than calling Beth. Slowly she opened the door, the room was a bit dark and there he was on the bed, trashing, she got closer to him and the face that stared at her made her blood run cold. It was Philip, he looked broken, sick, he had lost weight and had a beard.
Pain tugged at her heart, she never knew her running away would affect him, she thought he would be better. He cried out her name in his sleep and quickly she put a damp towel over his head, soothing him he began to relax. When Beth returned she asked if she could take care of the sick guest. The lady looked at her curiously and she explained that Mary explained that she wanted to help her plus it was easier to do than other jobs .
With so much reluctance, Beth agreed. Philips eyes fluttered open, he was in a darkly lit room and the smell of medicine and sweat hit him, he felt sick . He took in the room then noticed the form of a sleeping lady on a chair, this was probably the woman looking after him. Trying to place a foot down, his hands hit the bucket beside the bed and that woke her up. She sat slowly, and he noticed the bump, she was pregnant. "Are you awake Philip", how did she know his name he thought. Slowly as she approached him he saw why, staring him in the face was Mary. She looked at him as she noticed the anger build up in his expression, if she was looking for a warm welcome she was wrong.
"why did you do it Mary". She was taken aback by the question, "Philip you are still too weak, we can talk about that later". He laughed, a dry one that let her know he wasnʼt interested in talking later.
"All i ever did was love you, never did i not understand you, you could have said something, I would have understood, I abandoned my family for you, and what did I get, abandonment from you, Amelia is dead because of us, everything fell apart, do you know what you caused".
His voice rose as he spoke, she tried to hold back tears that threatened to spill "I left for your sake, for our babies sake, we are related Philip what we did was wrong. Imagine our child growing up to know that".
He looked at her, tears ran down as she spoke "we arenʼt related Mary, we never where I was never a Winston".
Shocked, she looked at him, trying to find her speech she could not, pain took over her words and she looked down to see water run down her legs.
"Philip" she said in a calm voice, he looked at her, noticing her expression and her eyes, he knew something was wrong, "get the inn owner" she said, "tell her my water just broke".
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The midwife looked at her, and told her to push, they had sent Philip to a corner of the room after her refused to leave. Sweat dripped down her face and pain rocked her body. She was having twins, two babes, she didnʼt expect it but now she understood why her bump was so big. The inn owner dabbed her forehead and encouraged her, and when she looked at Philip's face she saw that even if he couldnʼt take her pain he would if he could in a heart beat.
Suddenly she didnʼt know if she could stand the pain anymore, her eyes closed and she felt herself slipping, "stay with me Mary" Beth cooed, Mary gestured her hands for Philip to come, he held her and she looked into his eyes "I love you Philip, so much , thank you for loving me". Tears filled his eyes "if anything happens to me take care of them, I am sorry I couldnʼt love you like I should".
He held her hands tight "your not going anywhere Mary, look at me , stay with me, donʼt leave me". Suddenly a new resolve filled her, if she was going to die she would not take her kids with her, she gathered her strength and pushed, the world went black.
