"How's Anna this morning?" Bates asked as soon as he entered the servants' hall the next morning –even before he had fully removed his hat and coat. He had fallen into a deep and thankfully dreamless sleep after reading Anna's letter and felt slightly better for it.
"I'm not sure," Mrs. Hughes admitted, leading him into her sitting room where they had a lower chance of being overheard.
"What do you mean?" Bates asked, his heart beating faster at her words. "What's wrong with her?"
"She seems as if she might have a touch of fever," Mrs. Hughes said. "Mrs. Crawley should be over soon, and I'm hoping she'll tell me it's nothing."
"May I go up to see her?" Bates asked, trying to keep the pleading note out of his voice. He knew he had no business being in the maids' quarters, but he couldn't go about his day without having seen Anna, not after this bombshell that Mrs. Hughes had given him.
"I thought you might want to," Mrs. Hughes agreed. "Go on up, I'll cover for you with Mr. Carson –but you'll have to be quick."
Taking the stairs as fast as his cane would allow him, he made his way up to Anna's room, not meeting anyone on his way –except for Baxter, who, to her credit, didn't bat an eyelid at seeing Bates in the female quarters.
Anna barely raised her head when he opened the door. Approaching the bed, he could see that her face, slightly flushed, was scrunched up in pain.
"Anna, what's wrong?" he asked, trying not to panic for fear of agitating her.
"It hurts," she managed to say before grimacing again. Hurriedly, Bates tipped one pill from each of the bottles next to the bed into his palm before handing them to Anna.
"Swallow these," he said, gently helping her to sit up before pouring her a fresh glass of water. It was an effort for her to swallow, he could see that, and he immediately helped her to lie back down. Her skin felt hot under his touch but she shivered as he drew the blanket over her.
"Anna, please don't give up," he begged. "I need you." He had realised the night before that he was nothing –absolutely nothing –without her. "If you die, I will follow." She didn't hear him –she had already dropped into an uneasy sleep –or at least, he hoped it was sleep and not another loss of consciousness.
Lord Grantham was already in his dressing room when Bates entered to dress him, and it took all Bates' concentration to get him into his clothes without any mishaps. When His Lordship went down to breakfast, Bates began to put the room in order and gathered all the garments from the past 2 days which needed laundering. His mind was even further from his work than it had been the day before, but work was piling up which had to be done soon.
On his way to the laundry wing, Bates went down the adjoining staircase to the servants' hall to find Mrs. Hughes.
"She doesn't look at all well," he said, hoping the housekeeper could somehow put his mind at rest –but Mrs. Hughes was just as worried.
"Mrs. Crawley will be by later, let's not worry before she tells us we have due cause to."
"What if it is... beyond Mrs. Crawley's capabilities?"
"Then we'll have to weigh up the risk of summoning Dr. Clarkson," Mrs. Hughes sighed. "As her husband, I think that decision should be yours to make."
"Will you call me when Mrs. Crawley arrives?" Bates asked. "I'll be in the laundry wing all morning."
"I will," Mrs. Hughes promised. "And Mr. Bates, try not to worry yet. Anna's a fighter, you know that."
"Was a fighter," Bates corrected as he limped off. "I think that after that animal Green, she may have lost the will to fight."
Sadly, Mrs. Hughes thought he might be right. Asking Jimmy and Alfred to call her as soon as Mrs. Crawley arrived, she went back to her sitting room to work on that week's grocery orders. As she worked, she realised that she hadn't told Mr. Bates that Lady Mary had been asking about Anna again.
It had been the first thing Lady Mary had asked her as soon as she had entered her bedroom to find her sitting up in bed.
"Anna?" Out of Lady Mary's mouth, it sounded more like a command than a question.
"Running a slight fever," Mrs. Hughes had to admit. "Mrs. Crawley will be by later to see her."
"Can I see her? What can I do to help?"
"It's Mrs. Crawley you'll have to ask," Mrs. Hughes said, knowing it was not her place to tell Lady Mary what she could and could not do. "But keeping Anna's secret is all we can do for now."
"Of course I will," Lady Mary agreed. "God knows Anna's kept secrets of mine."
She ate her breakfast silently, missing the easy chatter she and Anna used to keep up.
"Who was it? The attacker?"
Mrs. Hughes, taken aback, didn't answer for a second.
"I mean," Lady Mary amended, "it wasn't one of our servants, was it?" She couldn't bear the thought that Anna had had to live and work side by side with her assailant.
"No," Mrs. Hughes confirmed, grateful that Lady Mary wasn't insisting on being told Green's identity. "It was not."
"That's a relief," Mary sighed as Mrs. Hughes left the room.
"Mr. Bates?" Jimmy called, sticking his head into the laundry room where Bates was brushing Lord Grantham's tailcoat. "Mrs. Hughes sent me for you."
"Thank you, Jimmy," Bates said, dropping the brush immediately. "Did she say where I could find her?"
"Only that Mrs. Crawley's arrived,"the young footman shrugged.
Not bothering to go back down to the servants' hall, Bates went immediately to the staircase leading up to the maids' quarters, only realising when he was halfway up them that he'd forgotten his jacket in the laundry room –but didn't bother going back for it. It wasn't likely that he'd run into anyone who would take offence at seeing him in his shirtsleeves.
He cautiously pushed open the door of Anna's room, where he found Mrs. Hughes standing beside the door, her face drawn, while Mrs. Crawley examined Anna.
"Please tell me it's not bad news," he said warily as he helped Anna straighten her nightgown and sit up, noting that her skin was still a couple of shades too warm.
"It's certainly not good news, but not necessarily as bad as you're dreading," Mrs. Crawley answered. "The punctures appear to be healing but there may be some infection, which is what these –" she tapped one of the pill bottles –"are for."
"Will they be enough to stop the infection spreading?" Bates asked.
"Let's hope so. So far I'm not worried that we'll need to call Clarkson in though."
"And if you think it's gone beyond what we can do here?"
"Then I will leave the decision in your hands, as Anna's husband. But with the way things stand, I wouldn't call him yet... if Anna starts bleeding again, or if the fever doesn't break, then it might be a different matter though."
Someone tapped on the door and Bates and Mrs. Crawley spun around guiltily as Mrs. Hughes opened it.
"Sorry to disturb you," Baxter said apologetically. "But Mr. Carson's looking for you, Mrs. Hughes –something about the supply cupboard."
"I'm coming," Mrs. Hughes said, as Baxter's eyes went to Anna, flushed and so obviously ill and in pain.
"You can go now," Mrs. Crawley offered. "I'd like a word with Bates, anyway."
Bates looked at Mrs. Crawley cautiously –whatever could she want with him?
"This is a somewhat awkward topic to bring up," she began as Bates moved closer to Anna. "But I feel I should warn you..."
"If this is about –" Bates cleared his throat "marital relations, there's no need to say any more, Mrs. Crawley. I'll wait however long it takes for Anna to be physically and emotionally ready." He smiled encouragingly at Anna, who had opened her eyes and was watching them.
"No, no, it's not that," Mrs. Crawley said. "I know you both may have wanted children, but I should warn you that after this, going through pregnancy and childbirth could be very dangerous for Anna."
"I understand," Bates nodded, and though he was disappointed to have all hopes of a child taken away, he wouldn't deliberately jeopardise Anna's life –not now that he had realised he was nothing without her by his side.
"I mean it," he murmured to Anna once Mrs. Crawley had gone, promising to return the next day if they didn't send word that she was needed before then. "I'm not going to force you into anything... and I'd rather have no children than risk your life." Although he couldn't be certain, he thought he saw a flash of relief in Anna's eyes.
"I shouldn't be wasting your time –you should be working," Anna murmured.
"Lord Grantham's tailcoat can wait until I'm sure your mind is at rest," he shrugged. "Anna, your comfort and safety is the priority here."
"Thank you," she smiled at him.
"I love you," he smiled at her, reaching cautiously towards her, giving her time to indicate whether she was alright with the contact. Carefully, she brought her hands out to meet his and indicated that he could sit on the side of the bed next to her.
"May I hold you?" he asked in a low voice, and she nodded. As his arms curled around her, he realised that she had started crying again.
"Why me?" he thought he heard her choke out.
Sitting there, holding tightly to the wife he had come so close to losing –and might still lose –the tears he hadn't been able to cry the night before all welled up, until it wasn't clear to him who was consoling whom.