Death of a Travelling Salesman
"Clear the room. Jean?"
"I'll wait in the corridor."
Jean knew she was no good standing there with the doctor and nurse trying to concentrate. And honestly, seeing Danny lying there in shock from a snake bite was more than she could handle. She hurried out with Lawson to wait.
Lucien came out a moment later. "We've administered the antivenin. Mattie is cleaning and dressing the bite wound now. We're going to be taking his vitals and seeing how he fairs. It'll take a little while for the venom to be counteracted."
He turned to go back in, but Jean stopped him. "Lucien, he's my nephew. I practically raised him with my boys. Please tell me, do you think you got it right? Did you give him the right medicine?" Her voice was barely over a whisper. Jean knew that she would have burst into tears if she tried to speak any louder.
"We won't know for a little while," Lucien replied. "But I'll tell you as soon as I know anything." He placed a gentle hand on her arm and gave her a comforting squeeze before going back into the exam room.
Jean was left in the corridor, pacing back and forth, sitting beside Lawson with her face in her hands, getting up to nervously pace some more.
How was she going to tell her sister? She'd promised that she would keep Danny safe and take good care of him, insisting that Ballarat was the perfect place for a young constable to be stationed. Nothing much ever happened on Ballarat.
Rationally, Jean knew this wasn't at all her fault. How could she have stopped Danny getting bitten by a snake? But she couldn't help but feel like she'd failed her nephew. Just like she had failed Christopher, sending him off to die in battle. Just like she had failed Christopher Jr., neglecting him as a child so much that he'd run off to the Army to find his own glory. Just like she had failed Jack, not being strong enough to set him on a good path before he'd gotten himself arrested and run off to do who knew what else. And now Danny, too.
Lucien returned. "He's going to be alright."
"Oh thank god," Jean sighed in relief.
"But perhaps he should stay with us till he's feeling better," Lucien suggested. He placed his hand on Jean's arm again.
"Of course," she agreed, trying to ignore the way her stomach fluttered at the feel of his touch, chocking it up to her nerves over Danny and nothing more.
Lucien went to speak to Mattie and Jean turned away. Danny would be alright. Lucien saved him. This time she hadn't failed.
