The Highlander's Woman (The Reckless Rockwoods #3) by Monica Burns Page A

she saw Percy and Julian kneel down, one on either side of her.
    “ Sweet Jesus, look at her face ,” her brother exclaimed in a low voice of horror. “She has burns down her entire left side.”
    Somewhere in the back of her mind, Patience remembered the an dara sealladh . The visions of her burns. The scars. Why hadn’t she known what they meant? She could have saved Caleb. Devin. The salt in the tears running down her cheek intensified her pain, and she choked on her sobs.
    “You’re safe, mo ghràdh . I’m here.” Julian said softly as he stroked her unmarred cheek. “It will be all right.”
    She moaned her protest. It would never be all right. Her gift had failed her. No, she’d failed Caleb and Devin. Nothing would ever be the same again. Despite the pain it caused her to move, she reached out to grasp Percy’s shirt in a tight fist and pulled herself upward. “Percy, please…home…Melton House.”
    “Yes, Patience, we’ll take you home to Melton House.”
    At her brother’s reassurance she fell backward onto the grass again. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment then opened again as Julian brushed his mouth against her unmarred hand. He didn’t say a word, but the anguished hopelessness in his gaze made her sob again before the pain dragged her downward into a dark place where she felt nothing.
     
    § § §
     
    Patience woke with a cry of pain on her lips. A stranger was wrapping her arm with a wet bandage, and the pressure made her want to push the man’s hand away. Tears rolled down her cheek, but the salty droplets didn’t burn. Groggily, she reached up with her free hand to touch her face. A strong hand caught hers in a firm, but gentle grip, to prevent her from touching the bandage covering the side of her cheek.
    “No, Patience. You need to lie still, mo leannan .” Julian’s voice wrapped its way around her in a light caress. He was here. Her fingers moved against his as she licked her lips.
    “How…long?” she asked hoarsely. Her eyelids felt heavy, and she struggled to keep her eyes open.
    “Two weeks, me darlin’ girl. Doctor Branson thought it best that we keep ye sedated for a while.”
    As if from across the moors of Callendar, she heard her aunt’s voice. Her gaze shifted toward the sound, and the soft rustle of silk filled the air as Aunt Matilda bent over her. A smile curved the Scotswoman’s lips, but she could see the concern in her aunt’s gaze.
    “We thought we ha’ lost ye, Patience,” her aunt said as she gently squeezed her shoulder.
    “You’re healing nicely, Lady Patience,” the young doctor said in a quiet voice as he continued to dress her burns. “But you still have a long road to recovery. We’ll need to begin stretching exercises as soon as you are more fully awake. It will be painful, but it’s necessary to avoid contraction of the limbs.”
    Patience eyelids brushed her cheeks as she realized the bandage the doctor had applied must have contained something to ease her pain as her arm no longer felt as if it were consumed in flames. It simply throbbed in a way that made her stomach roil. Images of the blaze at Westbrook Farms filled her head, and she drew in a sharp breath of fear. The air made her chest hurt until she coughed violently as she remembered watching Caleb and Devin plunging to their fiery deaths. Patience released a sob.
    “Vision… didn’t…understand.”
    “ Christ Jesus , Patience.” Julian’s voice was thick with an emotion she couldn’t decipher. “Tis no’ your fault, mo leannan .”
    “You can no’ blame yourself, dearie.” Aunt Matilda’s fingers stroked her unmarred cheek. “The an dara sealladh , is no’ always clear. There was nothing ye could have done.”
    “Caleb,” she breathed her brother’s name. “Devin.”
    “They are in a better place now, my darlin’ lass.” Her aunt’s mouth brushed across her brow.
    Patience’s eyes fluttered shut. Her visions hadn’t been able to help her save Caleb or