Chapter 9
Maria blinked twice, uncertain of what her eyes were seeing. At first she thought that perhaps she was dreaming, but then her eyes wandered around the room to take in her surroundings and she blinked back at him just staring. She watched him silently as the goofy grin on his face expanded and a tear escaped his eye. It was then that she tried to sit up, feeling the desire to brush it from his face, but when she tried to do so her body fell into a fit of uncontrollable coughing and she groaned out loud as the room in front of her began to spin in circles.
She felt a pair of strong, but gentle hands slowly push her back to her pillow. "Whoa Maria," Georg softly said, "Not so fast there, you don't want to do too much. We almost lost you last night."
"How did I get here," she weakly asked.
"You collapsed just before entering the gate to the abbey the night before last. Sister Margaretta found you outside and they were able to get you back into your room."
"I feel like my chest has the weight of an elephant on it. It's very sore."
"You have pneumonia in both lungs. The doctor came to see you yesterday just before lunch."
"Captain?"
"Yes Maria."
"Why are you here? Did they send for you when I turned ill? I'm sorry if they bothered you over me. I'm sure you have way more important matters to attend to then a sick former governess."
"Nonsense Maria, I care about you a great deal and if something happened to you my children would never have forgiven me and I'm not sure I would have forgiven myself either. I came by yesterday morning to see how you were doing and while I was hear the doctor showed up."
She looked at him in astonishment as she took note of his disheveled appearance, tie was gone and the first button undone, his hair was completely out of place, and she noticed his blood shot eyes with deep circles underneath, indicating he had not slept a whole lot. Her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him and she began to cough slightly again. "Captain, how long have you been here?"
He softly flashed her a crookedly sheepish grin, "I...uh...never left Maria. I've been here all night. I couldn't bring myself to leave. I was...I was scared."
"Scared?" She gave him a confused look. She felt her heart skip a beat and wondered if maybe it was possible for him to return the feelings that she had for him. Then she looked away from him sadly, realizing that he was probably just concerned for her because of his children. When he didn't answer her, she continued on, "Captain perhaps you should go home and get some rest. I'm sure your children and the baroness have been missing you."
"Maria," he paused, "about Elsa..." They both looked towards the door when they heard a knock on it. "Come in,'' he answered while sighing in frustration at the interruption.
"Maria," the Reverend Mother exclaimed, "you're awake! You had us very scared for awhile there."
"So I've been told. I am sorry Reverend Mother for all the trouble I've caused. I never should have run up to the mountains the other day." She sputtered out another cough.
"It's all right my child, we are just very grateful that you are healing now. The doctor is waiting outside and wishes to see you again."
"I'll wait outside Maria." The temptation was to great for Georg and he took her hand and leaning over placed a small kiss on her forehead before heading out the door. Maria stared at the door in utter shock. When did he get rid of all the formalities, she thought, no fraulein and now a kiss to my forehead? She felt the heat suddenly race back into her cheeks and she felt the familiar sensation of her face turning red. She tried to cover it up, but she knew that the Captain had probably seen it.
She watched as the doctor examined her with his cold instrument, listening to her heart and lungs. Every now and then he would frown or smile and it felt to Maria as if he was taking forever to finish. She wasn't use to having a man, or a doctor for that matter, touch her in such a way and it made her feel extremely uncomfortable.
The doctor finally finished his exam and then spoke to her, "Well, he said overall I'm very pleased, much improved from yesterday. You still have some fluid in your lungs, but it seems to be a significant lesser amount. That's a good sign that you're on your way to better health. You had a lot of people very worried about you last night. Pneumonia can be very dangerous and there is no known cure for it; yet."
"What do you mean yet," she asked.
"Well there is a drug that has had some success with pneumonia patients, but it's still in the experimental stages and is not widely known or mass produced yet. Perhaps some day it will help cure things like pneumonia and maybe even other diseases, but for now people just have to suffer through them and pray. You're a strong one though and I suppose you had a lot of people petitioning on your behalf to the man upstairs, especially Captain Von Trapp. He must think you're something very special to stay all night with you like that."
She could feel herself blushing again and it made the doctor wonder just what was going on between the two of them. The thought entered his mind that there might be more to their story than just that of employer and employee. As soon as the notion entered his head; though, he shook it off and smiling at her said, "Well I have other patients to see today so I really must be going. I want you to take it easy, you still have some fluid in those lungs, but it should dissipate more as the week goes on and you'll start to feel stronger. Just don't overdo it."
"Yes doctor, thank you."
Georg and the Reverend Mother waited patiently outside of Maria's room. "Captain Von Trapp," began the Reverend Mother, "Have you told Maria yet about your feelings for her?"
"No, not yet," he answered, "I was going to tell her about the Baroness, but then I didn't get the chance before the doctor arrived. To be honest I'm not sure what to tell her and how much to tell her. I really don't want to excite her too much and I'm nervous that she might not return my feelings."
"My son, we all take risks in life. Loving, as I'm sure you know Captain, is a risk and it make's us vulnerable, giving us great joy and sometimes heartbreak, but Maria has a great capacity to love. I know you have experienced that love from her and I think she is worth the risk."
Before he could respond the door swung open and the doctor stepped out into the hallway, "Mother Abbess...Captain Von Trapp, she still has some fluid in her lungs, but I think she's going to be just fine. She still needs plenty of rest and care and I can tell that as the week goes on that it's going to be more and more difficult to keep her from overdoing it so you'll have to keep an eye on her and be persistent that she is to rest as much as possible. We don't want her relapsing."
The Mother Abbess nodded in agreement, "Of course doctor. She can a be a bit hard to contain, but we will do our best."
"Doctor," Georg spoke up, "Would it be safe to move her?"
"Move her?" The doctor glanced at him with a puzzled look on his face.
"Um...yes...well you see, I have a villa outside of Salzburg in Aigen and I was wondering if we perhaps could move her there. She would have around the clock care of course and we could very easily keep her from overdoing herself."
"Well I guess as long as she's bundled up good I don't see the problem with that. The fresh country air actually might be good for her lungs. I would wait a couple of days though and let her regain some more of her strength. She still has pneumonia, she's just on the other side of it now and starting the healing process."
"That would be fine, it will give my staff time prepare for her arrival."
"Very well then, if there is anything else you need just give me a call. I'll come by in a couple of days to check on her before you move her."
"Thank you doctor," replied Georg and the Reverend Mother at the same time. As the doctor headed off down the hallway they both reentered Maria's room. The doctor had propped her up a bit on her pillows in an attempt to help her breathe better.
"Well," the Reverend Mother began, "It looks as if you will need lots of rest. I think we have our work cut out for us in keeping you still."
"I don't think I could get up right now if I wanted to. I feel so weak."
"You had us very worried about you Maria. I wish that you had come to talk with me about what was troubling you instead of running off."
Maria looked down at her hands, "I know Reverend Mother. I am sorry for all the trouble I've caused."
"Maria, we just want you to be well," the Reverend Mother answered. She then looked at the Captain and added, "I think I'll go see if I can find some food for you. You need to eat if you're going to gain back your strength." She left the two of them alone in awkward silence.
The Captain sat next to Maria's bed, not quite sure what to say to her. The tension in the room was unmistakable and it made both of them nervous and afraid to speak. He wanted to tell her everything, but he also wanted her well again and didn't want to add any unnecessary stress to her already frail state of being. He decided some things would have to wait for a later time.
"Maria," the Captain spoke first, "why did you run away after the children came to see you?"
"I don't know, I guess I just needed some time to think and my mountains have always been a source of comfort to me. I feel at home there in the wide open spaces and the fresh mountain air always helps me to clear my head when I'm feeling confused."
He took her hand in his, "Feeling confused?"
Why is he torturing me like this, she thought, He should be at home with his children and the baroness. Surely he knows how his touch affects me by now. She pulled her hand back from his and turned her head away from him for fear he would be able to read the sadness in her eyes and responded, "Please don't ask me, anyways the reason no longer exists and hopefully I will be able to take my vows once I'm feeling better."
He took his hand and gently pulled her chin so she was looking at him again. He could see the hurt and confusion clouding over her blue eyes and wanted nothing more than to erase all of that and ease whatever pain it was that she was feeling.
"Maria," he began slowly, forming his words carefully as he spoke. "I came here yesterday to ask you to comeback with me to the villa. The children miss you terribly and they were very disheartened when they couldn't persuade you to comeback. I had to come and try myself. I really do wish you would reconsider and return with me. Is there anything I can do to convince you?"
His eyes were almost pleading with hers and she looked down in her lap to avoid them, "I'm sorry Captain, but I just can't. You're going to be married again and the children are going to have a new mother. You really don't need me as your governess anymore and I would just be in the way."
"Maria," he softly said, "look at me, please." She turned her head slowly to meet his eyes. He could see the tears in them that she was trying to hide from him. "There isn't going to be any baroness."
Her eyes widened in surprise, "What do you mean there isn't going to be any baroness?"
"Well we called off our engagement you see. I just couldn't picture myself getting married to her and I don't think the children were very happy about it either. In the end we were just two very different people wanting different things out of life. It never would have worked for either one of us."
Maria sat there in stunned silence just staring at him. She wasn't sure how to respond, but she felt a sudden heaviness lifted from her and could hear her heart quicken its beat in response to his words.
His breath caught in his throat as he watched her eyes change from sadness to hopefulness and saw the familiar sparkle return to them. He suddenly became very nervous under her gaze and could feel the palms of his hands sweating. "Um...Maria, as you can see I'll be needing a governess again. Things just weren't the same after you left and the children just moped around the house. They missed you so...I missed you. Please say you'll return to the villa. I don't think the children would forgive me if I came back without you."
She looked at him with a nervous look, "I don't know Captain...I left without saying goodbye. It was wrong of me to do that...and I told them no when they came to see me."
He laughed causing her to look at him questioningly, "Is that all you're worried about? Surely you know they have forgiven you already and it was as much my fault, I'm afraid, that you left. If they should be mad at anyone it should be me for letting you leave to start with. Maria, if they can forgive their old man for years of fatherly neglect than surely they can forgive you. They would not have walked all this way from the villa to see you if they hadn't done so already."
"Well," she began, "I guess if you really need me...I do miss the children. All right Captain, you win," she said with a smile.
"Good, that's my Maria," he said returning her smile.
She couldn't help but notice his words that seemed to linger in the air between them. My Maria, she questioned in her head. Her features suddenly became more serious and her eyes wandered over his as if they were searching for something. The smile faded from his eyes and was replaced with desire. He found himself not able to break the gaze between them and not wanting to. He slowly leaned towards her wanting nothing more than to touch her soft lips with his, but before he reached her the door to the room swung open and he embarrassingly bolted back in his chair. Neither one of them had heard the knock.
Sister Margaretta was standing before them with a tray that had a bowl of soup on it and some plain bread. "The Reverend Mother sent me up to bring this, my dear. She says you need to eat to regain your strength." Sister Margaretta couldn't help but noticed the flushed look on Maria's face. "My dear, are you all right?"
"Um...yes" she began all flustered. Maria had not heard a word she had said. Her head was still spinning in circles and this time it wasn't because she was sick, but rather because she couldn't decide whether she imagined it or not that the Captain had been about to kiss her.
Georg sat there reeling in his head at the interruption. One of these days Maria Rainer you won't escape me so easily, he thought. For now he would have to be content with knowing that she was going to be coming back to his family. He cleared his throat, "I guess I should probably go home for awhile and check on the children and I should probably clean myself up. The doctor said you could be moved in a couple of days after you've regained some of your strength. I'll be back."
"I understand Captain," she replied smiling at him. He was reluctant to leave, but he took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze along with a reassuring smile. Leaning over he whispered in her ear, "next time Maria Rainer." He then placed a gentle kiss to her forehead not caring that Sister Margaretta was still standing there, gathered his things, and winked at her, leaving her to stare after him in awe with goosebumps running up and down her spine.
T.B.C...
