Love Never Fails
Author's Note: Ok, so David keeps getting in the picure, but don't worry, Neil's still hanging in there! Christy had a lot of catching up to do and some air to clear up first.
Disclaimer:This is a fan fiction work. I by no means own the rights to Christy the novel, TV series, or movies. I have just borrowed the characters. These characters belong to the Marshall-LeSourd family. This story is for entertainment purposes only and I do not seek any profit. This is strictly for personal enjoyment only.
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Chapter 2
Greeting me the following morning was the most brilliant array of Smokey Mountain sunshine that I had ever recalled seeing. Miss Alice's description of these wondrous mountains had been amongst the many things that lured me to Cutter Gap in the first place. In the cool of the evenings and the quiet mornings that I have spent here since first arriving, the Great Smokey's peaceful beauty has comforted me despite all the flips and turns my heart has so easily made. Much to my delight, enough of my strength had returned, making sitting up a newfound luxury once more. Breathing a deep sigh in I smiled wide, happy to be alive, happy to be here, happy to be in love.
"Well, a good mornin' to ye to Miss Huddleston." Dr. McNeil entered, grinning from ear to ear with a sparkle in his eye that matched the sunlight I was so enjoying. "Judging from that smile of yours and the fact that you seem to be sitting up in fine form I would say you are on your way to a fine recovery!"
"Doctor McNeil, I'm feeling so much better this morning. Why, I bet you I could almost fly out of bed right now if I only had a bit of encouragement from a certain doctor of mine."
"Aye, I don't doubt that lass, but you won't be getting any encouragement from me. You may feel ten times better than you have in quite a while, but don't let your feelings carry you away. Physically, your body is still too weak to try anything too ambitious just yet."
"Neil, how long was I sick?" I asked, needing to know. My school children needed me, and I needed them. Many of them had lost loved ones of their own to the epidemic, some, had even lost their own lives. For but a moment my spirits were dampened by the thought of Fairlight – oh how I missed her! If only she were here to talk to, she would understand, and she would have just the right words of wisdom I needed.
"Nearly four weeks Christy. David and Alice said that one minute they were talking with you and the next you had collapsed on the floor. For days afterwards you were in and out with delirium, your fever was so high. By the third week you had become so weak that your body just started shutting down and you went into a coma. At that point there was nothing any of us could do. There was nothing I could do…I-Christy, please just promise me you will follow my orders to a tea. You are not out of the woods jest yet."
"I promise I'll do my best Doctor, you have my word." I smiled my biggest smile as sweetly as I possibly could, hoping to earn his trust and perhaps even a bit of leniency from his normal stubborn set ways. My feet were practically itching to get up and out of bed as soon as reasonably possible. There was something in me that told me Dr. McNeil might not be quite as reasonable with me as he would with his other patients.
"Neil, about last night, there's something I need to ask you..."
We were interrupted just then as my door swung wide, revealing an uncharacteristically chipper Miss Alice and Ida. David was close behind, but he was quiet, almost too quiet. David, I had almost forgotten about David in the rush of feelings I was finally allowing my heart to process in regards to Dr. McNeil's bedside prayer and confessions. David and I needed to talk, and sooner than later.
"Christy, your looking every bit as lovely as the day I first saw you doing cartwheels in front of the mission house. It's so good to see thee sitting up and smiling once again." With that, Miss Alice was at my side, embracing me in one of the largest hugs I had ever received from her. Wiping away strands of my hair from my face she beamed at me. "Thee is like a daughter to me Christy, I was sick with worry that I would lose you like I lost Margaret. God has blessed me with such great joy since thee has arrived here. Do you remember this?" Miss Alice held up the vibrant orange leaf that she had once given me, shortly after I first arrived in Cutter Gap. In Miss Alice's wisdom, she had told me to hold on to joy, for there would be times when I would need to be reminded of the reasons I came here. Such a small token of trust between friends had come to symbolize so much more to us. In return, I had given the tiny leaf back to Miss Alice shortly after she had shared with me about her daughter Margaret, about her rebellion and sadly, about her death.
"Remember Joy," I had told Miss Alice, as I handed her the very leaf she had given me and I had clung to in some of my darkest days in Cutter Gap.
"Yes, Miss Alice, I do. Oh I do!" My eyes were now dripping heavy, wet tears. Miss Alice reached up to wipe the tears from my eyes.
"I was holding onto joy, hoping above all hope that God would answer our prayers and bring thee's beautiful, smiling face back to us. I believe God must have been filled to overflowing with joy when He reckoned it fitting to do just that." We embraced once more, no more words were needed. Miss Alice had become a mother to me in such a short amount of time and I was equally just as grateful that we would have endless amounts of days to build upon that friendship we had come to hold so dear.
"I expected that you might be a bit hungry, Miss Christy, so I brought you up some of the finest chicken broth this side of Cutter Gap that I could manage. Granted, there's not much to it, Dr.'s orders, but it might do you some good." It was Miss Ida, David's sister. Ida was probably one of the greatest cooks this side of Tennessee, let a lone Cutter Gap, and she was right, I was starving.
"Miss Ida, that's the best idea anyone has had all morning. I'd love some!"
"Now Christy, you know the routine. Just liquids for the next week, and if your fever stays away, then we can begin re-introducing solids to you. Don't make me have to caution you to take a little at a time lass." Neil, all doctor once again, chimed in.
"Like I said Dr., you have my word. I swear on Creed Allen's coon's life, I won't dare cross you." Dr. McNeil laughed a deep hearty laugh that I had not heard since shortly before the epidemic began. All it accomplished in me was the desire to pull him close and enjoy the moment with him, but there was still so much left to be resolved among us, it would have to wait. I gazed to the corner of the room and spied David, quiet and brooding, in the corner. Our eyes met, and he looked down, almost ashamed.
"Might you all give me just a bit? I'd like to speak to David for a while, that is, if it were alright with you David?" Immediately I glimpsed Neil's shoulders and jaw tense, and David simply looked taken aback.
"Uhm, yes, I suppose so Christy, I'd like that, very much." Was that relief I saw in David's face as he replied, almost hesitantly? As Miss Alice and Ida made their respective ways out the door, I caught Neil before he exited.
"Neil, please try and understand. Nearly dying made me realize many things, but most importantly, it made me realize how much I needed to be honest with myself, and with others. I need to talk to you too; will you wait so that we can speak later as well?" Something in Neil's face didn't register – he had become guarded once again, nearly impossible to read, emotionless.
"That would be fine Christy, just send David for me when you are through." With that, he turned and exited the room as any doctor would, quiet and respectfully – almost too quietly for my comfort. With Neil gone, the exuberance I had felt earlier in the morning also deflated. Lord, give me strength! David's eyes were pinned to me, and I could almost feel them weighing me down with the sense of responsibility I felt I owed to him, to myself, and to Neil. There were so many times I thought David were the one. David was young, I was young, and in so many ways I had felt that was what love must look like, feel like. David's small advantages with me had not made matters any easier. His kisses had only served to further confuse my feelings from what was truly in my heart, but now I knew.
"David, we really need to talk. I'm so sorry."