~SYBBIE~
After much persuasion and a few batted eyelashes, Donk relented and they were off to the local fair. Dinner had been a familial affair since it featured the addition of Aunt Edith and Uncle Bertie, having arrived that morning, and her parents, who had decided to visit for the weekend. The nights were growing cooler as October approached. Sybbie, who had been glued to the colorful tents and scent of sweets and pastries as they drove through the village toward Downton, had formulated a plan with her cousins the minute she stepped into the nursery. With George, Caroline, and Marigold in tow, they escaped the nursery once Nanny had stepped out to procure more baby formula for Peter. Knowing they only needed to convince Donk and the rest would follow, the quartet let themselves into the drawing room. Within minutes, Donk was wrapped around her finger, coats were fetched, and Sybbie was skipping down the gravel path. Feeling proud of herself, she doubled back to take her Granny's hand.
"We had a fair nearly every month when I was your age." Granny spoke as they walked.
"I'd love to visit an American fair." Sybbie beamed, and the rest of the walk was filled with chatter of Granny's childhood.
Once they entered town, Sybbie watched George pull Donk toward the high striker. Her father had spotted Mrs. Hughes and Mr. Carson and strolled over with Lucy to converse with them. Aunt Mary, who had entered the Downton pigs into the local show, lead the way to the animals as Aunt Edith, Uncle Bertie, and her other cousins weaved through the crowd.
Sybbie stuck to her Granny's side, as she often did on outings. She knew she asked a million questions, but Granny never seemed to mind. Donk typically joined which made a charming trio; Sybbie had noted that ever since they all returned from France earlier in the summer, Granny was rarely found without Donk. Though, George had managed to hold their grandfather's attention at present.
With Granny's position at the hospital, she was never spared a moment alone when they were in town. It seemed as though every resident of the village wanted to speak with her, even if it was a simple hello and an inquiry of health. Sybbie, who relished in new faces and speaking to strangers, adored the way the village adored her Granny. Sybbie had taken to accompanying her on trips to the hospital whenever her parents brought her to Downton. Everyone appeared to have a kind word ready for Granny and this evening did not disappoint.
No sooner had the others separated from them, a woman pushing a pram approached Granny. Sybbie thought her the picture of loveliness, with red hair and a green coat that made her long for Christmas to come as soon as possible. As Granny peeked into the blankets swaddling the child, she ushered Sybbie forward to have a look at the baby, too. It was so small and she wondered if her baby brother or sister would be the same size. She couldn't recall cousin Peter ever being that tiny. Maybe boys are different, she mused.
"She's just beautiful. And so much hair." She heard Granny coo, bringing her back from her imagination. Sybbie reached in to feel the baby's wisps of blond hair and hoped her new sibling would be this calm.
"Your Ladyship, are you quite well?" Sybbie spun to find her Granny white as a sheet.
"Granny?" Sybbie inquired, knowing immediately that she looked out of sorts. Feeling as though she needed to help, she tugged on her Granny's arm that had been rubbing at the neckline of her blouse.
"Sybbie, fetch your grandfather." Not expecting Granny's voice to be so ragged, Sybbie stepped back.
"Granny, are you alright?" Maybe she can't breathe, Sybbie thought. She, herself, sometimes had trouble breathing whenever she had a bad cold or had run too fast up a hill. Granny now exhibited the same symptoms. But Granny was in pain, too. That much was clear.
"Sybbie, hurry!" Sybbie opened her mouth to call "Donk!" Even before she could look away. Vaguely aware of her Granny, leaning back against the stone wall, Sybbie ran blindly into the crowd searching for her grandfather's height. She located him across the square and nearly lost a shoe as her legs carried her faster than she thought they could.
"Donk! Come quickly!" Sybbie reached him and tugged his coat sleeve, not caring one bit that she was being improper and interrupting an adult conversation.
"Sybbie?"
"You have to come," She tried a different tactic and grabbed his wrist with both hands, suddenly feeling strong and protective, "It's Granny!"
Sybbie watched comprehension flood his face and then survey the direction she was insisting upon. When asked about it later, she was certain she had witnessed her grandfather's heart stop.
"What's happened?" She knew Donk had seen Granny, for his voice caught somewhere in his throat and Sybbie wondered if he was as scarred as she was in that moment.
She didn't have long to wonder however, for Donk races toward Granny, pushing through fairgoers. It was all Sybbie could do to keep up.
~ROBERT~
"Sybbie?" He feels his open coat slipping from his shoulder and shifts his attention away from the young tenant farmer. Red splotches are swimming across her face and she barely has the breath to speak.
"You have to come," she's pleading and…are those tears? Sybbie clutches his wrist, continuing, "lt's Granny!"
Granny. Oh God, it's Cora. Heart sinking into his stomach, Robert looks just above his granddaughter's face, through the throng of people, and nearly shouts. Panic coursing through his body is the only thing keeping his heart beating.
Managing a "what's happened" to no one in particular, he bolts toward the sidewalk, coat billowing behind him. As she moves more clearly into his vision, he tracks Cora's form as it sinks to the ground. If probed about it later, he could have sworn his eyes were working overtime. He marks her every move, the palm pressed to her chest just below her collarbone, the perspiration building on her brow, and her barely parted lips fighting against her labored breathing. It's as if his mind is operating at hyper speed, but his muscles have decelerated into slow motion.
"Cora? What's wrong? What hurts?" He is finally upon her, kneeling clumsily and clutching her shoulders. He feels her body protesting at the lack of oxygen. Almost seizing from the effort. When she doesn't respond, his heart bottoms out somewhere near his toes.
"Darling, tell me what hurts," He breathes, as though his steady breath will be enough air for the both of them.
"My chest. I can't breathe." With the hand that isn't flattened against her sternum, she grips his arm, just as Sybbie had done moments before.
He wasn't aware that the child had fled to find her father, and Tom's hand on his shoulder hardly registers. Robert turns, hoping he was successfully keeping the same tears he had seen in Sybbie's eyes from his own.
"Sybbie, go with Lucy." He hears Tom shield his granddaughter from Cora's suffering.
"The hospital's just there, I'll fetch Dr. Clarkson." With Tom hurrying away, Robert nods vaguely, oblivious to the queue of villagers observing this frightful scene.
"It's alright, my love," Robert hears his own voice, desperately wanting to believe it himself. He clenches his teeth when he sees the tears snake down her pale cheeks.
"Robert…" He knows she is dizzy and leans in as she grimaces with the effort of his name. My God, it's a heart attack.
"No, no. Look at me, Cora," he tries to counter her closed eyes as she battles for breath, "I love you and you are going to be just fine." Shrouded in woe, he fails to quell even his own fear.
It is as if time slows to an alarming pace, contrary to Robert's desire for Tom to arrive with Clarkson. But she's looking at him, now. Truly looking, trying to memorize his face between gasps. He starts to tremble with the realization that Cora is saying goodbye, tracing his features to keep in her memory. Eyes widening, Robert places his hand over hers against her chest, feeling her. Just feeling her alive in front of him. No, no, no, no, no.
"Papa!" Ediths voice penetrates, quickly followed by Mary's.
"What's happening? Mama!"
"They're taking too long, she can't breathe." His voice rising above the muttering of the bystanders. Where the hell is Tom!?
Before he realizes what he is doing, Robert rises, lifting Cora's forearms in the process. The rest of her body follows suit, but he senses her strain as she begins to cough. He is prepared to carry her to the hospital himself, when Tom reappears. Dr. Clarkson, jogging close behind, immediately presses two finger to her neck, searching for a pulse. Unsure of what Tom has reported, Robert allows the words to spill forth.
"She can't breathe and her chest hurts. It happened all of a sudden. She was perfectly fine ten minutes ago." He figures Dr. Clarkson is only half listening as he diligently counts Cora's pulse.
"We need to get her to hospital. Now." Taking that as a cue, Robert curves an arm around Cora's waist in preparation to lift her.
"No, let me. I'll be faster." Robert cannot argue with Tom's declaration, for he has no time to consider it at all. Unknowingly holding his own breath, he slips his hand to the back of her neck as Cora is hoisted into Tom's arms.
~CORA~
Of course he's here. Cora's first thought after waking anchored her to her surroundings. Whatever had happened, whatever was to be, he was with her. Though, she knew his company was nonnegotiable.
"There you are." He spoke into the quiet. She took stock of her sensations, the first being her hand held firmly in his. Though a close second was the lack of pain she felt. It had come so sharply, with such force, that it seemed ridiculous that it could be completely gone. Next…pillows, blankets, sheets. She was lying down in what she recognized to be the private wing of the hospital. Alert to her surroundings, she settled her focus back to Robert who was perched on the edge of a wooden chair on her right.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her, the relief in his voice told her he already knew she was a great deal better than when he had kneeled next to her on the sidewalk.
"Fine. Really." She meant it, not only trying to reassure him of her state. It was just absurd. Where had the pain gone? Surely she had suffered a…the symptoms were all there.
"Good." He was molding her hand between his own.
"What happened? Was it a heart attack?" She couldn't believe it to be anything else, the pain was too severe. And she had been convinced she would suffocate, her lungs ready to collapse.
"No, thank God." She felt her eyebrows lift, confusion holding them high as he continued. "According to Dr. Clarkson, it was a flare up of your anemia symptoms. He says it's a sign you'll need the higher dose of your injection. But we suspected that."
"So…I'll…" She starred at him, her tension easing with each breath. Each blessedly, effortless breath.
"Be completely fine, yes. But you did give me quite the scare. And Sybbie." Her own voice filled her ears as she relived her nervous instructions to her granddaughter.
"Poor Sybbie." Afraid she had scarred the child, she vowed to make it up to her the moment she was on her feet.
"She'll be alright. She's told everyone that she now wants to be a nurse, so something good has come of this." Robert chuckled at his own comment and Cora watched his almost giddy countenance as he did so.
Now it was his words that flooded into her awareness. I love you and you are going to be just fine. The truth of his words, that had seemed so false at the time he spoke them, was paramount in the present. Her heart clung to them. She was certainly going to be fine. And he loved her. She had tried to speak, to phonate some semblance of a goodbye, just in case the worst had occurred. But none of that was needed now. She let his eyes, calm and sincere, wash over her and suddenly she felt unnecessary guilt for being the source of his fear.
"I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this." She squeezed his fingers that had become intertwined in her's.
"I won't hear an apology from you." He was adamant. "I'd much rather this than the alternative."
Sighing, she moved on from the subject that would undoubtedly summon her tears, "When can I go home?"
"They want to keep you overnight since it's already late. They'll give you the injection in the morning when it arrives from London." Cora nodded, falling silent again.
"The pigs won." Robert offered and she adored him for it. This lively topic was a balm for her frayed emotions.
"I'm sure Mary was pleased…"
As the evening hours ticked onward and Cora had been thoroughly examined and deemed out of danger, she found her ability to keep her eyes open waning. Robert had left to phone the Abbey whilst the nurse made Cora comfortable for the night. Yet, she did not expect sleep to enter the equation for very long. Cora had never been one to rest well away from home.
She heard the door click and Robert reentered the room. She smiled as his face mimicked her own. She wondered if he felt the invisible magnet willing him to her, but did not have to question for long. Her smile widened as he stepped closer to her bed and bent to place a kiss on her forehead. But it wasn't enough. Not after the day's ordeal. Not after she thought she was saying goodbye. Before he could straighten up, she lifted both hands to his cheeks. She felt him respond immediately and his lips caressed her own.
"And now it's time for you to go home and rest." Cora spoke as he settled onto the bedside chair.
"Do you actually think I'd leave you?" Robert leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"I'm only staying as a precaution and by the time you get here in the morning, I'll be ready to leave." She had prepared for this argument, and was hoping he would see the pragmatism. She was met with the shaking of his head. Pragmatism be damned.
"No."
Well, that's that. Cora knew all too well he would not budge. Gladly accepting his company for the night, and knowing he couldn't possibly refuse her next request, she offered an alternative plan. One that she knew would ensure slumber for each.
"Then lie down with me."
Her wish was met with a laugh, a tender sound that revealed his desire to do just that.
"There's no room," He countered, gesturing to the relatively narrow mattress.
"Sure there is. If I just–" she used her elbows for leverage, but was halted from any further motion by his voice.
"Cora. It's fine, I'm fine." He leaned back in the unforgiving chair as if to show her he was perfectly content with his sleeping arrangements. Or lack there of.
"I'm not. I won't sleep knowing you're five feet away in an uncomfortable chair." She couldn't prevent the exasperation creeping into her speech.
"You slept in much worse after my surgery." It was meant to be a joke, but her exhaustion kept her from humor.
"That was different," she internalized the quell of emotion at having their roles reversed, "We know I'll be alright."
Her words broke the fetter of propriety wound around his person and she watched his features unravel.
"What if the night nurse comes in?" But he was already standing, calculating how best to join her while not jostling her about.
"Then she'll see two people who've had an exhausting day asleep in the same bed. Would that really be so scandalous?" Mining his eyes for a full surrender, she struck gold and made a bit of space.
"I won't hurt you?" His hesitation would have been endearing if she hadn't wanted his arms around her so desperately.
"Please Robert." It was a whisper, so full of exhalation that it was hard to believe she had been breathless hours before.
They managed to fit rather splendidly and their position soothed Cora to no end. Robert reclined on his back, both arms encircling her body. Her hair, that had long been unfurled, cascaded across his chest. No time had passed before Cora gave into sleep, breathing gently in sync with her husband.
Thankfully, breathing.
