Page 33 of The Best of Madeline Grant

“Hush, listen to Aunt Brenna for a moment.”

Aunt Brenna and Aunt Jennie peered at the wound on the right side of Alex’s belly.

“Based on the book that Aedan gave me, I think this is his liver,” Jennie said, “and that looks to be where most of the damage is. ‘Twas a clean stab. It did not go through the entire organ to his back.”

Aunt Brenna nodded. “I wonder if he would have enough left to serve him if we were to cut out the small portion that is shredded. ‘Tis a verra large organ, and he would still have most of it. Quade never suffered any lasting effects from the organ I once removed from him. Granted, it was small in comparison, but based on what I’ve learned, the liver does not have an inner cavity the way the heart or the stomach does. Mayhap he can survive with most of it left intact. The rest of it appears to be healthy.”

“I think ‘tis our only chance,” Aunt Jennie said softly. “Otherwise, he will continue to bleed from all those tears. I think we cut here—” she made a motion across the organ, “—and sew him up to stem the bleeding. His outside wound is clean, so we’ll stitch him up. Hopefully, he’ll awaken before the fever sets in. We must try to get enough fluids in him.”

“I think we must do this as quickly as possible. I do not like how slow his vessels are beating.”

“Aye, ‘tis Mama’s most basic healing rule. Keep fluids in the body and keep it clean.”

Jamie had heard many of the elders talk of his grandmama and her sire. They’d been amazing healers. All had admired her sire, but when his mother had grown of age, they’d worked together and done some wonderful things for the clan. It had been his grandmama that had pushed them to be clean about their wounds. Though he had no idea why, he had to agree that the cleaner a wound was, the less chance of fever.

“This is good timing. I just cleaned all of my surgical tools, so we do not have to take the time to do that. This time the water had come to a boil before I dropped the tools in. Surprised mehow much easier they cleaned in the hot water. I hardly had to touch them. I’ll wash my hands and get my tools.”

Aunt Brenna looked up at them as Aunt Jennie went for her instruments. “I’m hopeful, Maddie. The bowel was not pierced, so that is the good news. I think we can repair his liver. Jamie, ‘tis a good thing you brought him here. Caralyn does not do much surgery. Why not take your mother down to the hall? This may take a while, and if Alex wakes up, which I doubt, we will put him to sleep again.”

His mother shook her head, but Jamie said, “Mama, ‘twill not do him any good if you drop to the floor in here. Why not go into the hall and get something to eat? You’ll need your strength to help him heal.”

His mother nodded, her beautiful smile back. “Of course, you’re right, Jamie. Brenna, if aught…”

“I know. I’ll send for you. You look like you could use some rest, too. This could take several hours. There are many stitches for us to place.”

Kyla

Book 9

Chapter Eleven

Simon de la Porte and Glenn of Buchan have Kyla, and Maddie gives Alex an instruction he’s never heard before.

Alex Grant sat in his solar, mulling over all he’d just heard. His eldest sons and acting lairds were there, along with Quade and Logan Ramsay, and the group that had returned with the news—his youngest son, Connor, and Roddy and Braden.

Logan had just returned from a journey intended to uncover new information about the mercenaries and Buchan’s plot—a mission that had proved unsuccessful. The man had started pacing the room the moment he'd entered it, and he now turned to the younger men and barked, “What the hell were you thinking, taking Kyla straight to the enemy? I could order lashings for all five of you. And Finlay? I’ll kill him with my bare hands. You’ve given the enemy just what they wanted, something to use against us.”

“Admonishments will get us nowhere at this point,” Alex said. “They used the innocence and inexperience of our young people against us. Now, we must do what’s necessary to right the situation. The bastard has my daughter, and we need to settle on a strategy to get her back. Jake, make a call to arms. Three hundred men will march with me on the morrow. Get them ready. Get their mounts ready. Jamie, find messengers and send them to Menzie land and Drummond land. I would ask for one hundred guards from each of them. Micheil has likely brought Gavin and Gregor back to Drummond land with him, but we can send another messenger to Edinburgh to be sure. And someoneshould be sent to Cameron land telling them we’re coming and bringing our women for safety. Aedan’s to keep his guards at home to protect his land and the abbey. Dusk outside Buchan land on the morrow.”

“Send a messenger to Torrian,” Quade added. “Tell him to ready two hundred.”

Jake and Jamie left the room to carry out their instructions.

Logan continued to pace. He stopped for a moment and said, “Alex, are you sure you’re ready to sit on a mount for that long? It will take nearly a day to get there.”

“Aye, ‘tis perfect. We’ll attack at night while half of them are in their cups,” Alex said.

Connor said, “I doubt they’ll be in their cups. We saw no evidence of such.”

Logan sat down and said, “Connor, Roddy, Braden. Tell us every detail of what you know.”

The door opened and the Grant’s brothers came in quietly and sat.

“De La Porte and his mercenaries had just arrived,” Connor said. “We saw no more than two hundred men.”

A knock sounded at the door. Brodie said, “I’ll go.”

Alex nodded. His brother opened the door to find Maddie standing there.