Mary Crawley sat in her favourite place at the edge of the sofa in the abbey's dining room. The lights were soft and gave the room a cozy feeling against the dark and cold evening. It was just the family –thank goodness – as she had no mood to entertain guests and Edith had the good sense to keep away in the nursery with the children which left her in the company of her most favourite member of her dynasty. Granny.

"So Granny, what is this I hear about cousin Isobel going up north to get out doctor back?" asked the brunette as she sipped her brandy, the crystals in her shining with the light coming from a lamp on the small table near the sofa.

The dowager pursed her lips as she set her glass on Carson's tray and looked at her granddaughter with a wry expression "What has Cora told you so far?"

"Only that he left rather suddenly and Cousin Isobel went after him to Scotland. It's rather odd – I always thought of them as a pair and so did Matthew but I thought things were rather fraught after the whole mess with Lord Merton."

"Oh they were!" exclaimed the older woman looking around to make sure nobody was listening in. "I do believe that is part of the reason our good doctor decided to leave but here is what is on my mind…She went to Edinburgh and found him. From what I could read things went rather well. But the last letter I got from her said they will be coming home any time soon."

"Hm" Mary looked at the floor and furrowed her brow before a mischievous smile took over her features "Maybe they're on their honeymoon…"

Violet almost spat out her drink and glared at the younger Crawley when she was sure all the liquid she had in her mouth was swallowed "Mary, vulgarity is no substitute for wit. Besides, she would have said so if they got married. No…it's like something went wrong just before they were heading here."

"Well, I did receive an invitation – or rather, George did."

Violet saw the wheels turning in Mary's mind and copied her wry smile "Really?!" she said in a fake surprised tone "Where?"

"Lady Sarah Craig has a son not much younger that George and she invited us over. She is rather worried that he never gets any interaction with children his age since the McVeighs moved, her castle is of course up north but it would not hurt George to get a glimpse of Edinburgh while we're on our way and Anna looks like she needs to get away from it all and Mama could come along too."

"Indeed" declared the Matriarch

Isobel looked at her man who was sleeping. His eyes tired with lines around them, he has been sleeping for hours a day and yet the hospital atmosphere was not doing wonders for him. He couldn't seem to accept that he was now a patient rather than a doctor. Running her index finger tip along his cheek, she noticed with pleasure that colour was returning to his face. She could not bear to see it contorted with pain from the healing cuts in his back, seeing the fair skin of his muscled back bandages along the lines of the incision made her wince in pain and wish to high heaven she could take a little from him. Not that he ever fussed. No, he was a soldier as well a doctor who had been to war – he had probably seen worse. Her only hint at the pain he was in were the grimaces when he thought she was not looking and the hissing when the cuts were cleaned in order to prevent infection.

In this hell her Richard was in, there was also some silver lining. The amount of time they spent together as she virtually took over and left the nurse to carry on other duties in the hospital much to Douglas's relief. All the jokes and funny stories she heard from Tim and May about the Clarkson boys and their mishaps – often in cahoots with none other than Douglas himself.

She got to know more about his past and his awkward yet brilliant sense of humour shined through when he let his guard down. Sometimes they found themselves looking at each other shyly after kissing good morning – they could still barely believe they were finally a couple. She let him hold her as she read to him, his new hobby, as she discovered was sliding the specs off her nose her pressing his lips to hers. She had to control herself when giving him a bed bath but the most erotic thing for her was watching him shave with a sharp long blade as he used to do in the army. There was something about this man's silent authority and regimented behaviour which contrasted with his gentleness and kindness making her crazy about him. Falling asleep at the hotel always had her looking forward to seeing and spending the day with him the next day. Isobel Crawley was officially head over heels.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Douglas making his way into the room. There was a charm about the doctor as he dealt with his patient and his family. Like Richard, he did not see his patients as charts but as people and this reflected in their recovery.

"How is he?" The tall man asked as Isobel handed him her notes and took her place by door.

"Quite well I think, but he won't let on his pain. You know how he is but the cuts are healing well."

"What about his appetite?" inquired the physician as he read the data on the chart. The blood pressure seemed to be all right and breathing was becoming less painful.

"Still not eating as he should be. Yesterday he got sick when we tried adding an extra piece of toast, I am getting a bit worried about it." said Isobel with a sigh.

"Let's not get worried until we have to. At least he's eating something; I'm willing to bet you would give him the 'treatment' should he try to starve himself." Finished the doctor with a chuckle as he watched the nurse placing the chart gently at the end of the bed gently so as not to wake Richard after he had finished reading and adding to the notes.

AN: Thanks so much who reviewed the last chapter! It's so thrilling to see that people are still reading and I love discussing ideas with you in PMs! So what do you think about this chapter? What will the visit to Scotland bring? Will this affect Richard's recovery?