Cora got back in bed, last night after Violet passed, Dr. Clarkson had explained, what the treatment would be. It contained a diet of raw liver; she was horrified by the idea.
The evening had drained her from all her energy and to top it off she had spent a lot of time in the bathroom during the night. Her intestines were not agreeing with her.
Robert had fallen asleep like a baby. The moment his head hit the pillow he was gone. Cora was glad he slept this well, he needed his rest. There was so much he needed to arrange, although Mary would do a big part, which was one of Violet’s wishes.
She rolled on her side, hoping to get some more sleep. But then she felt Robert getting closer. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. She winched, her back was hurting, but she did not want to discourage Robert. She felt his nose in her neck, he did not say a word, clearly, he was searching for some comfort. She let him, he had just lost his mother, her discomfort was not important now. She would try to sleep some more in the afternoon.
Robert felt Cora winch when he pulled her close, but he needed her comfort. He needed her smell in his nose, he warm body against his. He knew he was selfish right now, but he did not care. He wishes they could stay here the rest of the day. Ignoring the rest of the world.
“Robert?” Cora’s voice was soft.
“Hmmm”
Cora turned around and faced him. “Are you alright?” Softly she touched his cheek.
Robert felt a lump in his throat and could not answer.
Cora saw his lip tremble and pulled him close. Her hands rubbing his back. “It is alright to cry. I am here for you darling. I am here.”
Suddenly Robert pulled back. “It should not be this way. I should take care of you, you are ill.”
Cora put her hand on his arm, playing with the hairs. “I am ill for weeks now, don’t you worry. We know what is wrong and that I will be better soon.”
“You barely slept last night, and now I am here being weak.”
“Robert you are not weak, because you are showing emotions. It is perfectly all right. I am your wife and know how much you loved your mother.”
Robert sighed, he felt ashamed he let Cora alone with Dr. Clarkson last night. He should have been there, instead he drank away his feelings. He did that a lot, he chuckled, the only time that was not possible was with his ulcer.
Cora raised her eyebrows. “What is funny?”
“I was thinking about that time I needed to stop drinking when I had that ulcer.”
Now Cora also chuckled. “How drunk you were on Christmas eve.”
“The fear of losing our darling Sybbie was too much for me, and I hadn’t touched a glass in weeks.” He sighed; he remembered the feeling like yesterday. Tom was going to take his darling girl away.
Cora kissed the tip of Robert’s nose. “Tom came back with her, and he had grown into a different man, he needed that trip.” She felt some rumbling in her abdomen and knew she needed to run to the bathroom.
Robert watched Cora rush to the bathroom, moaning ‘not again.’ he felt sorry for her. Her gut gave her some problems the last couple of days, He was scared to see her body’s reaction on the raw liver. He got nauseous just thinking of it.
He got up and decided to get dressed, Baxter would come soon with Cora’s breakfast. He was going to make sure she could take a slow day. The bathroom door opened, and Cora appeared, looking white as the sheets. He rushed over to her. “Cora?” He asked while wrapping his arm around her waist.
Cora gave Robert a faint smile. “I am alright. I just need some more rest.”
“I will ask Baxter to bring you something for your stomach.”
“I am not sick, darling. It is not my stomach.”
Robert stuttered. “I know, but….” he felt silent, he did not like talking about it.
Cora patted his hand. “I know what you mean. Thank you.”
Baxter entered the room with a breakfast tray. “I will bring the liver up soon.” She said, pulling a face.
Cora chuckled. “Is it that bad?” She looked at Robert. “I will sit down on the settee for my breakfast.”
Robert helped her down and stepped back, Baxter would take over from here.
+++
Midday Cora finally found the energy to go downstairs. Baxter had brought her activated charcoal and it had helped. She was able to be away from the bathroom longer than 5 minutes.
“Grandmamma!”
Cora almost got run over by George, Sybbie and Marigold.
“Be careful with Grandmamma.” Mary exclaimed
Cora saw Caroline looking at her shyly. She reached out her hand and guided Caroline towards the sofa.
“Is granny Violet with Mama?” Sybbie asked.
Cora quickly glanced at Robert. “Yes, darling. Yes, she is with your Mama”
“You aren’t going to leave us soon, right?” Sybbie asked with big eyes.
Cora touched her cheek, unable to speak.
Robert sat down next to Sybbie. “Grandmamma will be all better soon. It will take some time, but she is staying with us for a long, long time.
Cora smiled at Robert. She heard his relief in these words. She felt the same relief herself. She was going to see the children grow up and she would be around when the new addition to the family would be born. Sybbie would become a big sister, in a couple of months.
“I remember, when your Mama was younger, she asked Mrs. Patmore to teach her how to cook. She made a cake for me.”
“She did?” Sybbie asked in surprise.
Cora smiled; she remembered that day like yesterday. She was working on some embroidery when Carson came in to tell her Sybil was spending her days in the kitchen. He took her down and the moment she saw Sybil’s smiling and proud face, she knew Sybil would make it in this world. “It was the best cake I ever had.”
Thomas entered the library.
“Dinner, everyone.” Cora said while getting up.
Robert gave her his arm when he saw she was unstable. “You never told me about that cake.”
“I am sure, you would not have appreciated it, Sybil was walking on all your nerves those days.”
“I am afraid you are right. But I am happy you knew about the cake, did Sybil ever found out you knew?”
Cora lowered her eyes. “I never told her.”
Everybody had left the library when Baxter entered with a plate.
Robert pulled a face. “Why does that smell so bad?”
“Because it also tastes bad.” Cora said while taking the plate from Baxter. She waited for her to leave the room before she turned towards Robert.
“I don’t understand how you can eat this,” he said.
Cora smiled. “You would eat it too, if that meant you could stay longer with me.”
Robert took the plate and put it down. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips. He felt Cora relax in his arms, and he kissed her again. “You are so much stronger than I am.”
Cora moved her hand to his cheek. “You are the one making me strong. Without you I would be lost.”
“I am so thankful, I married you. Although the reason was not the right one. I got a winning ticket. You truly are a woman of real substance, and I am lucky, I can still call you, my wife.”
Cora had the biggest smile on her face. “You don’t know how much I love you.” She pressed her lips against his.
A big thanks for everybody who left reviews. I really enjoyed writing this story. I cannot wait to start a next one.
Verhalen van Traan 