A/N: I do hope you'll be indulgent with this... It's my first piece ever, regarding Downton Abbey in genera. And if any of you has any prompt, please, don't hesitate to drop a message, okay?
As always, enjoy~
Reviews are love.
The Perfect Wave
"O'Brien?"
Cora felt the grip on her hand tightening instantly, as her maid gasped at the sound of her raw voice. In an instant, O'Brien was on her feet, her face hovering over Cora's, her free hand softly stroking the woman's forehead, in order to remove the pearly drops of sweat.
"Your fever finally broke, m'lady," the maid whispered, an air of genuine delight softening her usually harsher features. Cora shifted a little in the bed, her vision still hazy, and her throat feeling sore. For the first time, her eyes met O'Brien's, and she was surprised to see them glistening with moisture. Had she been crying over her?
The countess then noticed a ray of sunshine creeping inside her chamber, through the window; it was morning already. She had been ill for three entire days, and she couldn't recall a single moment where O'Brien had not been by her side. If the woman had even slept, or eaten at all during these days, Cora wondered.
"I'm glad to 'ave you back, m'lady," O'Brien suddenly said, looking at her pale and shivering mistress with an air of utter tenderness and pure relief. "I-" she corrected herself hastily; "We all thought we'd lost you."
As gently as she could manage, Sarah reached out a hand to Cora's dark curls, which had grown unkempt and sticky with the fever. She let her fingers run softly through her thick curls, slightly scratching at her scalp, and Cora found the gesture to be incredibly soothing.
She shut her eyes for a moment, a gesture which probably worried her maid, as she felt her hand instantly and nervously squeezing her wrist. O'Brien had always been so attentive, so eager to detect her mistress' hidden fears and desires, Cora realized; it was at this very moment that the depth of her maid's utter and total devotion finally hit her.
"Did you stay?" Cora asked softly, her voice barely more than a breathless whisper.
"Pardon me, m'lady? 'I didn't quite catch that."
"Did you stay with me? When I was delirious?"
"Of course I did, m'lady. They would 'ave 'ad to drag me out of 'ere themselves, in order to take me away from your ladyship."
Cora cocked her head to look at Sarah again, their eyes locking in silence. Despite her exhaustion, she found her mouth stretching into a smile, as treacherous tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. What she had done to deserve such a devoted woman in her life, she would never know.
"I felt it. I felt you, by my side. I couldn't respond of course, but I knew you were there." She paused for a second, before taking hold of her maid's hands in hers, and bringing them softly over her own chest in a delicate gesture that forced the maid to sit by her, on the edge of the bed.
"Can you feel it?"
O'Brien swallowed nervously, a little flustered by the unexpected contact with her mistress skin through the thin fabric of her nightdress.
"Feel what, m'lady?"
"My heart. It's still beating, and that's only thanks to you."
Cora was looking at O'Brien with an air of utter tenderness, her pale, blue eyes glistening with fresh tears. Sarah herself wished her ladyship would release her hands, so that she could wipe away the tears that were slowly dampening her cheeks. Sarah O'Brien never cried, and yet, it felt like nothing could stop the tears from falling, at that very moment.
"I'm not quite sure I saved you at all, m'lady, for all I did was to 'old your 'and. You should be thanking the doctors, not I."
"No, Sarah, you don't understand."
O'Brien gasped when she heard her ladyship's soft, caressing voice utter her Christian name. Her heart suddenly felt warm in her chest; her whole body seemed on fire, every nerve ablaze, every inch of her skin crawling with an emotion she would never be able to reveal.
"It was company that I needed the most; your company. My dear O'Brien, I really couldn't have done it without you. I wish I had enough apt words in my heart to thank you, but know that I am very grateful, for everything you ever did for me."
They were both shamelessly crying now, and Sarah felt her heart constrict, when Cora sat up on the bed with difficulty, only to shuffle closer to her maid, settling against her shoulder, her curls tumbling down freely over Sarah's neck, tickling it.
O'Brien desperately wanted to put her hands around the woman in the bed, to press her frail figure flush against her, to trace soothing patterns against her back; yet she knew too well that she couldn't. Instead, she brought her own hands over her lap.
"Please, m'lady, you don't have to thank me. I 'aven't always been good to your ladyship, though I did try my best."
She suddenly felt Cora's hands gently settling over her own, and watched her lace their fingers together, entranced.
"I should be the one thankin' you," she impulsively said, "for allowing me the chance to spend more time with you. I don't know what I'd 'ave been without you, m'lady."
Feeling her cheeks heating up with her unexpected confession, O'Brien turned her head towards Cora, only to find her face hovering perilously close to her own. She swallowed hard, blinking rapidly.
"And I without you, my darling," Cora added in a voiceless mutter. She raised a hand to cup her maid's cheek, her fingers gently grazing her soft skin, sending unbeknownst thrills up her spine, before putting it back down against her maids'. Her heart was almost painfully thumping against her ribs, and the countess suddenly felt very warm. Maybe the fever was coming back?
Cora did not know whether it was the sudden fear to be ill, or the painful closeness of her maid's lovely features that caused her to do so, but she instantly found herself irrepressibly drawn to the other woman, leaning in slightly, until she could feel Sarah's breath against her cheek.
The embrace of their hands grew tighter, almost urgent, as their gaze locked one more time. It was like time had frozen all at once around them; nothing else existed in that moment but the two women sat on the bed.
"I think…" Cora forced herself to take a breath, feeling almost dizzy with the unexpected strength of the feelings which were suddenly overwhelming her. "I think this illness made me realize something, Sarah."
"What would that be, m'lady?" O'Brien couldn't bring herself to look at her. Her breathing was erratic, and her very blood seemed to boil within her veins. Never would have she believed that she would ever love somebody so entirely.
"I thought this night would be my last, and it made me think- It made me realize what the most important things in life were."
Cora stopped, biting her lip. She hesitated for a moment, but when she met the other woman's deep, blue eyes, she knew exactly what she had to confess, and why it mattered.
"I think… I realized what I've wanted all along, Sarah."
She reached a trembling hand to her maid's chin, tilting it up slightly so that their eyes would meet. The air was almost thick with tension, and deep within her heart, Cora knew now was the time. She couldn't deny it any longer.
"And… That would happen to be you."
Sarah's eyes widened, and it suddenly seemed that her heart was threatening to crush her chest altogether. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't talk, only stand still and silent.
"Call me a lunatic, but I think I love you, Sarah O'Brien."
Cora let out a breath she didn't know she was still holding, her lips stretching into a smile despite herself. She had said it at last, the very words she had painfully kept buried within herself for so long. She knew O'Brien would not understand; how could she have, after all? Yet Cora had never felt more at peace, more whole, now that the truth had finally been spoken.
She closed her eyes, feeling fresh tears drench her cheeks again, but little did she care. She allowed herself to drop unceremoniously against the pillows, pressing her palms against her eyes. She both wanted to cry and laugh, but above all, she needed O'Brien to move, to speak, to react in some way.
Cora gasped when she suddenly heard her maid's low and muffled voice, seemingly shaken by irrepressible sobs. She sat back up, feeling her heart clench with pain. Surely she had not expected the woman to react this way. She never meant to hurt O'Brien; she had merely wanted her to know how deeply she was loved.
"O'Brien, I am so sorry," she said, pressing her hand against her maid's shoulder in a gesture that she hoped comforting. "Little did I want do make you feel sad…"
"'M not sad, m'lady," O'Brien said after a moment, still refusing to raise her head. "I just can't believe you just told me the very words I've been aching to say to you for so many years."
"Y- You have?"
"Always." O'Brien simply answered, daring to look at her mistress for the very first time. Blue eyes met blue eyes, and more tears fell in silence. Their mouth mere inches apart, when Cora finally decided to give in, and closed the distance between them, pressing her soft, pliant lips against Sarah's with as much passion and tenderness as she could muster.
Their lips moved softly, tentatively against each other, as if their very touch was surreal. Their hands found themselves one more time, fingers delicately lacing. Their tongues barely touched as they carefully deepened the kiss, almost worried that they would lose themselves into the rush of raw emotion that this kiss brought crashing upon them. They had both craved for this moment for so long, and yet, if felt even more glorious, more right, than either of them would ever have expected.
Cora felt Sarah smile into the kiss, and she carefully let go of her mistress' hand, only to tangle her soft fingers within Cora's dark, tangled locks. The latter purred into the kiss, slightly nibbling at O'Brien's lower lip, before pulling away a little, so that only their foreheads remained pressed together.
"All these years, I thought I was incapable of love," Sarah suddenly muttered, her breath tickling Cora's cheeks. "It seems I was wrong all along, for I never thought it possible to ever love as much as I love you, m'lady."
The countess gasped at the unexpected confession; she cupped her maid's cheeks between her soft and slender fingers, forcing their eyes to meet one more time, before dropping a butterfly kiss against the other woman's forehead. There was so much left to say, so much she desperately wanted to whisper into Sarah's ear.
But there would be time; she didn't want to rush anything. After all, the rest of their lives belong to them only, and she knew they would make the most of it. Maybe would they even allow themselves be so terribly happy.
There was so much yet to say, but nothing which couldn't wait.
Nevertheless, there was still one more thing she needed to say.
"Call me Cora, love."
A/N: Thank you for having read this!
I love you all.
Wil~