Read Hope Springs for Free Online

tiny nod.
    “Keep talking,” he said to Biddy. “I’ll see if I can’t find Da.”
    He came around the foot of the bed and paused long enough to press a light kiss to Katie’s temple. Her heart both jumped and warmed at the brief contact.
    “Stay with Biddy,” he whispered. “She’ll need you.” He left the room in a hurry.
    “Of course.” Katie crossed to the side of the bed where Tavish had stood. She pressed her hand to Ian’s forehead.
    “He’s a touch feverish,” she said quietly.
    Biddy held Ian’s hand in one of hers. She nodded, brow creased. “If only his da would hurry with the powders. I’m not sure what to do otherwise.”
    Katie didn’t either, but clearly Biddy needed someone to at least appear confident. “We’ll do what we’ve done all along. Wet cloths to cool him off. Water so he doesn’t grow thirsty.” That had seen him through the past two days. “Perhaps he’ll be able to eat more now that he’s a bit more awake.”
    Biddy nodded, a glimmer of optimism behind her pallor.
    Ian’s eyes scrunched tighter, and he whimpered.
    “I wish I could do more for him.” Biddy touched his face, absolute heartbreak in her eyes. “Are you thirsty, dearest? Hungry?”
    He didn’t answer but simply lay there with the same look of misery on his face. They’d worried so much when he wasn’t waking up. But was this any better? Ian was more awake but in too much pain to rest. And if he couldn’t rest, how could he possibly heal?
    “Do you sing, Biddy? Or hum or anything?”
    “A little.” The question clearly confused her.
    “Music soothes the soul,” Katie explained. “We’ve nothing else to give him for the pain. We can at least give him that.”
    Biddy nodded but still looked terribly uncertain. After a moment she began to hum quietly, the notes broken a bit. Katie didn’t immediately recognize the tune, but Ian stilled—that was all that truly mattered.
    Pain still etched his features, but bits of his agony melted into something like contemplation. Was he aware enough to be pondering on things?
    Katie dipped the rag that had been on his forehead in the bowl of cool water. She wrung it out and, taking advantage of Ian’s calm, laid it over his brow. Her eyes met Biddy’s, an unspoken recognition passing between them. The quiet tune was weaving its magic. Katie knew she should recognize the melody, though she couldn’t quite pull it from her memory.
    Biddy held her husband’s hand in her own, pressing them both to her cheek as she hummed. Katie had heard many talented musicians in her lifetime. Biddy’s unpolished, heartfelt tune topped every one of them, not for ability, but for sheer depth of feeling.
    Ian moved a bit. ’Twasn’t the jerking, desperate flailing of earlier. He simply turned slightly toward Biddy, as if listening more closely.
    In the next instant Katie realized what the tune was Biddy hummed: “I Am Asleep and Don’t Awaken Me.” She smiled at Biddy’s choice. They’d tried all of the past two days to awaken Ian from his pained slumber and there Biddy was humming a tune about not waking a person.
    Biddy stroked Ian’s hair above the cooling cloth. The weight in her expression had eased.
    Ian’s mouth opened, though no words emerged. Was he trying to speak?
    Again he moved his lips. Biddy grew instantly silent, her gaze riveted to her husband.
    Words shaking and broken, Ian whispered, “Don’t stop.”
    Biddy took an audible, gasping breath. “Dearest?”
    He winced. His breaths seemed labored. “I liked . . . the song.”
    “Recognized it, did you?” The hope written on her face was heartbreaking.
    Ian nodded a tiny bit.
    Please open your eyes. She needs to see you there.
    “And do you know me, love?” Tears hovered in Biddy’s eyes.
    Ian took a shaking breath. “Biddy,” he whispered.
    Relief surged through Katie. Ian was speaking. He had recognized a song almost before Katie did. He knew the sound of his wife’s voice. Surely these