Wilhelm fixed his eyes on Frau Geruscha. “Pray for her. Now.”
She knelt by the bed and Wilhelm fell to his knees beside her and made the sign of the cross. Frau Geruscha placed her hands on Rose, one on her shoulder, the other on her head. Wilhelm laid his hands on her lower leg.
Her quiet voice began, “Merciful God, heal your child, Rose. Make her well. Take away her fever and her pain. In the name of Jesus.”
Wilhelm stared at Rose’s face. Frau Geruscha stood. He took her place, kneeling beside Rose, and touched her forehead. Just as hot as before. A shard of disappointment pierced his chest. He lifted her hand. It was ice cold and he rubbed it with both hands, trying to restore the warmth. “Rose? Rose, can you hear me?”
Rose’s eyelids flickered open and her feverish eyes focused on Wilhelm’s face.
“Get well,” he whispered.
Rose swallowed and a little smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I love you.” And she closed her eyes again.
Wilhelm stared, his breath caught in his chest.
“I need you to go now, Lord Hamlin.” Frau Geruscha touched his shoulder.
Still dazed by Rose’s statement, Wilhelm stood. He laid Rose’s hand gently by her side on the bed and looked at Frau Geruscha. “Let me stay. I can help. Let me do something.”
Frau Geruscha shook her head. “You shouldn’t be here. Do you want to get sick too?”
He couldn’t keep his eyes off Rose. Her chestnut hair splayed around her head, her cheeks glowed red with fever, and her black lashes feathered against her skin.
She loves me.
Frau Geruscha tried pushing him toward the door, but he didn’t budge. “Here.” She bent over to pick up a water bucket. “Take this. Find a servant boy to get me some water from the well. I need cold water to bathe her, to get the fever down. Then get someone to guard my door. I don’t want anyone coming in this room and spreading this sickness.”
He stood staring at her. How could she be so calm?
“Pray. That’s what she needs from you.”
Wilhelm grabbed the bucket and strode out the door. He quickly filled it and brought it back. He watched as Frau Geruscha dipped a cloth into the icy cold water and wiped Rose’s face.
“Please go now.” Frau Geruscha didn’t look at him.
He turned and stumbled back outside, slumping against the closed door. He was glad for the darkness of night and the freezing rain which kept everyone else inside. He was cold and wet, but somehow he barely felt it. He kept remembering Rose snuggled against his chest, the feel of her body in his arms. He closed his eyes as he recalled the way she had looked at him, the way she said “I love you.”
Oh, he knew she was sick and delirious or she wouldn’t have said it, but he also knew it was true. There had always been something between them. They understood each other. She needed him. She loved him.
O God. I can’t bear to lose her. Please let her live.
But if she did live, he would lose her anyway, when he married his betrothed.
Wilhelm clutched his chest, at the pain inside his heart. He turned his feet toward the chapel. I can’t lose her, God. There has to be a way.
Rose slipped in and out of the darkness. Sometimes she fought to open her eyes and understand what was happening. Other times she simply prayed for relief from the pain and feverish discomfort.
She was finally able to open her eyes enough to see the faint light of morning peeking in the window on the other side of the room. She blinked, trying to remember how she had gotten back to Frau Geruscha’s chamber after falling asleep in the old cottage in the forest.
A knock sounded at the door, reverberating in her head. She closed her eyes again, hearing Frau Geruscha’s soft footsteps scurrying across the floor. Then voices. One of them sounded like Lord Hamlin. She wanted to concentrate, to comprehend what they were saying, but she felt her hold on consciousness slipping away. The darkness closed her off from the world again.
“Is she better?” Wilhelm tried to look around Frau Geruscha into the room, and he caught a glimpse of Rose, lying where he had laid her the night before.
Frau Geruscha stood in the doorway and shook her head. “No.”
Wilhelm’s arms went weak at the anxious look on her face and the bags under her bloodshot eyes. He forced the air back into his lungs. “She’s not worse, is she?”
“The same. Please keep praying.”
“Isn’t there anything else I can do?”
“Thank you, but no. I’ll send for you if she gets worse.” Tears welled up in her eyes and she closed the door.
“God, save her.” He pressed his fist against the door. “Don’t let her die.”
Rose awoke and opened her eyes. Now the sun shone much brighter through the window. She tried to swallow, but her throat was dry. “Frau Geruscha,” she rasped.
In a moment her mistress was by her side. “What is it, child?”
“May I have some water?”