Author's Note: Once again I am sorry for the long waiting period. I'm not exactly sure where I'm taking this so if you could press the little blue button on the bottom and lone me some of your thoughts it would be extremely helpful, thanks.
Duty & Dignity Chapter 4
"Sir, excuse my urgency but Mr. Hornblower needs to have his bandages changed and seems to be entering delirium, he seems to respond best to you, sir."
"Yes, I will be down shortly, but please do this time administer his medication." lectured Archie to his young lob-lolly boy.
The young sick berth attendant quickly made his exit after being privately humiliated for his lack of care in requesting Archie for Mr. Hornblower and not yet having administered his medication. Though the boy was forgetful in time he would make a good doctor.
Archie made his way over to his sea chest and pulled from it his uniform coat and trousers along with a neck stock, the formalities of the navy making itself present even when he would quickly remove the coat and stock and replace it with a sick berth apron. Tightening his stock, he stared into his shard of a mirror and saw the gray lines appearing in his hair, he was no longer the young innocent boy he had been when he had been forced into the navy. Onboard medical school from his ship's doctor during his sick berth visits had been his ticket out and he became the Atropos' doctor when theirs died in battle.
Near the shard of reflective glass was a photo of his family, his long-dead wife Katherine and their son Edward, now fourteen living with their neighbors, with reimbursement from Archie's pension. The simplicity of the photo was basic, his small family in front of their old house, burned down by fire, fire that swallowed his family's innocence and took away Katherine, charred Edward's emotions, Edward being only four.
Staring into Edwards eyes he saw happiness, maybe mere contentness, but lately he only saw fear. The fear reflected in his own eyes, created by Mr. Hornblower's arrival, by their stunning similarities, and by the fact that Archie knew Edward was not his own son, being two when he and Katherine married.
If only Katherine had told him who the father had been, what had she expected to happen if she told him? Could it really be so horrible as to suppress such crucial information? Every time he asked her she spaced out, only saying that Edward would never know his father, that the father was proper but without love…only following orders and discipline.
While twitching his neck stock into place and sliding on his shoes, his lob-lolly boy returned more urgently.
"Sir, Mr. Hornblower refused the medicine."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Mr. Hornblower would not allow me to administer his medication, he said he would allow us after he talked to you, sir."
"Did he address what subject he thought we needed to talk about?" Archie replied, starting to worry.
"All he said was 'Katherine', sir."