Chapter 28: Damages

Odd and out-of-the-way for behaviour of a lady or not, it had taken Claire less than two hours to work through, examine and offer a remedy for the complaints the soldiers presented with, most stemming from scurvy, other forms of malnutrition and the realities of the harsh weather. Now that it was reasonably acceptable for the newly arrived healer to move on to the prisoners, she could still feel the incredulous and weary eyes of Jack's second in command on her, whatever his name was, as she descended to the cells one of the English soldiers, seemingly sympathetic to the cause for a change, directed her to, where the chieftain who had been flogged the day before was kept in solitary, as a continuation of his punishments.

Naturally, Claire couldn't care less what anyone thought and how her actions reflected on her supposed husband. Jack was nobody to her after this, though she would have to play along for a bit to establish a position here at Ardsmuir that was favourable for the escape. Right now however, she was too angry and concerned for Jamie to completely abide by her guise, something she knew in her right mind she would have to smooth out later, fit in, be less outwardly caring of the prisoners.

The cold at the lower levels was pronounced and she could see groups of men huddled together behind bars, though their murmurs were lively enough and she even got a whistle as she walked by, her being the only woman those would've seen for months. Claire didn't mind the reception right now either, focussed on getting to her destination, a lot smaller cell than she was used to seeing, with room barely just enough for a woven mat and a bucket for urinating.

With her mind set on reaching Jamie as soon as possible, only the peripheries of her consciousness registered the animal hides under and over him, clearly a luxury amongst the captives. And yet as much as she had been rushing all the way there, the sight of the features of the man she loved, the tangled red curls and unmistakable nose made her halt, heart beating erratically between joy and worry. She had thought she had lost him forever, but the occasion wasn't a joyous one at the moment. Jamie never stirred at her arrival either and that could not be a good sign, nor his trembling under the covers or his flushed face in the gripping cold.

"Jamie.." Claire dropped to her knees beside him, reaching out to his cheek, half out of want, half to check his temperature, drawing his messy hair gently out the way to touch. Her palm stayed there for a while on its own accord, her mangled soul soothed somewhat and reaching out for its other half. She had achieved this, she was finally with Jamie. Claire drew a long, shaky breath and somehow, her whole self seemed to relax and become focussed on the task once more. No, his fever wasn't high and there weren't telltale smells of infected wounds. She could only smell the dried blood, but she would have to check to know for sure. The brunette was just about to finally move her hand when Jamie's moved towards hers, down her forearm to her fingers, clutching at them tightly.

"Sassenach...?" He breathed disbelievingly, reluctant to open his eyes for wanting the apparition to be true.

"Yes, yes Jamie, it's me," she surged forward to bring her lips to his, soothing, desperate, reassuring, her instant tears making way to his grime covered face, cleaning some of the dirt off inadvertently in the process.

"I wasn't sure if he was taunting me, that you would really come," Jamie's arm moved to encircle her, but he didn't find that enough and manoeuvred himself to sit and hold her tight against him despite the injuries.

Claire took care not to touch his back, but clang to his arms and buried her face into his neck, finding strength in him, knowing he was well and strong already, despite circumstances. "I need to see you, I need to see your back," she pulled away purposefully at last.

Jamie was nothing but smiles when she looked at him. "Aye, that's my lass. Dinna fash yersel, I've had worse."

"Already scarred tissue will take longer to heal," Claire pulled out from his arms and peeked behind tentatively. The hides fell off him as he rose and she expected she would see the gashes.

The Highlander shook his head, "that scoundrel must be getting old or he really is ill," he narrowed his eyes with the speculation, "because beyond the first two lashes, I've hardly felt it, a tell ye. Strangest thing, that he didnae seem keen either. That's regular punishment though, fae what a did. And what is it ye have oar him fe such privilege of being let in her'!"

Claire pursed her lips and let the question lie, she would surely not get into explaining her relationship with Jack now, or preferably ever, so she busied herself with turning round so she can scoot up to get behind him. She was surprised to find that clean looking thin linen covered the wounds, soaked in a salve that going by the smell was unmistakably her very own plantain/calendula/beeswax mix Jack had always had with him. "Who treated this?" Tripping on her own words, they stumbled out her mouth, quiet and bewildered, even though there was only one place that the ointment could come from.

"A dinnae ken Sassenach, it's no like a was aware of mysel at the time."

"Hm," Claire gave her assessment of that, "I will see what needs stitching at any case," she started to peel away the material, glad to find it was soaked sufficiently for it to be greasy enough not to stick too much. Expertly applied, no doubt, a skill that she suspected nobody would have around these parts. Jack however, she could trust at any time to bandage and take care of Denys' various cuts and bruises the boy so often ended up with, probably taking after his biological father. And here too, the gashes have clearly been washed, dressed and protected. She didn't understand it. Did Jack try to lessen the consequences of his actions? Why flog Jamie if he's going to give him the best possible care afterwards? "There are a few cuts here that would heal a lot better if I stitched them," she gave her final assessment of the wounds.

"Claire, right at this moment, a would no mind ye doing anything tae me," Jamie disregarded her poking, looking to the side the whole time to gaze at as much of her as he was able to see with her ministrations behind him, her bouncy hair and those sensitive ears he so liked to nibble and tease.

"Alright, let me give it a little wash first," she reached for the small bowl she arrived with and let the cloth taken out from the disinfecting salty water drip onto his shoulders.

Jamie shivered, but didn't give any other indication that he was uncomfortable apart from his body's natural response. Not that he would ever complain much, this time however he was additionally too taken by her presence to care for anything else, "a have imagined you, dreamt you, so many times, when waking aggravated, knowing you would be with Frank and then had tae calm mysel down, it was me who sent ye there after all. The bairn. Did he survive?"

"She. Brianna. Named after your father." She concentrated on her work, intentionally blanking out from her mind that it was Jack who named her, really.

"How is she?" Jamie sounded very eager and animated, not at all bothered it was a girl.

"Stay still, I can't stitch this way." No matter how much she wanted to give into the joy of the moment completely, Claire remained somewhat reserved, given the huge revelations she still had to get off her chest at some point.

"Is she like you? Does she look like me at all? Is she safe, bonnie, witty? She cannae be anything but clever if she takes after ye!"

Claire had to bite her lip and redirect her wondering mind again as Jamie's suggestion of Brianna being clever called forth the invocation of Jack showing the little girl the constellations while sitting out on the steps at the back of the estate house in Sussex one evening and her eagerness to learn about telling the month from what you could see up at the sky. But she couldn't tell Jamie about that and neither could she tell about how cleverly and caringly Brianna cared for her little sister. So she just said, "she is clever. Learning about plants. Her hair is brown, but it has a reddish tint. Her complexion, the way she moves, her mouth curves, she reminds me of you every day. But you shall see for yourself soon."

"Ye didnae bring her here did ye!" Jamie barely gave enough time for Claire to get the needle away and not stab him with it again when he turned.

"Where was I supposed to leave her," Claire protested.

"Where is she now then." Suspicion formed in his mind. There was no village nearby, that was the point to the location of the fortress, no human help or settlement close. Claire didn't give much away, she barely blinked in the direction of the ceiling, but that was enough for him to know. "You left her with HIM." Jamie felt a chill that had nothing to do with ambient temperature. "As assurance you would not spring me right now? Bartering wi' our bairn?" His feelings balanced between rage, confusion and anticipation so much that none of them could overpower the other and thus he remained at a loss for a moment.

Claire shook her head, "you need to trust me Jamie. Trust me. I will tell you everything soon, but until then, don't believe anything you hear," she added, knowing that the only reason Jamie hadn't heard of the Captain's wife arriving with their children was because he was in solitary confinement.

"I trust you," the Scot answered without question, taking her hands in his. Their foreheads neared each other naturally as they tried to trim the distance years apart created between them and then Jamie hugged her close and tight, as if making up for all the lost time. "Sassenach, ye daftie! Why did ye come!" It was a poetic question, not needing any reply. Of course it wouldn't have been Claire if she didn't come, once she found out about him. "a said tae Jack tae tell ye, a willnae leave ma men. It would no be fair, ye see." But he held her, all the same.

"Will cross that bridge when we come to it. Your back first, I'm still to put the ointment on it and a fresh strip of linen."

Jamie let go slowly, inch by inch, his vision swallowing her instead of his arms as he moved back. "Claire, Claire, you're here," he cupped the side of her face and pulled her in for a kiss.

It took her a moment to respond, forget her worries to melt into the kiss, desperation turning into the the wish that everything could go back to the way it was, that no time has passed. "Jamie, I love you, I will never leave you, don't ask me that, not again," she found herself readily in the spirit of how they've left things years before.

"I will have tae," Jamie sobered, though with a lingering smile still on his lips as he relished the reality of her presence. "But we'll cross that bridge when we come tae it," he echoed her previous suggestion.

Claire, always a woman of action, reached for the ointment to treat her linen with. "We don't have much time, I can't spend that long down here. Tomorrow, Jack will summon you and I will arrange for Brianna to be there with us. You can meet your daughter," she promised.

Jamie got hold of her hand again by his shoulder, further delaying her in applying the bandage. He kissed her knuckles and held her in his grip, "a thank ye for that Sassenach, but after that, ye need tae promise me, ye don't mess with Jack. Ye might think ye have him, but he's too much of a sneaky bastart tae be trusted, whatever the matter! A wild goose never laid tame eggs." He turned again so he could look her in the eyes, "promise me, Claire!"

"You're not entitled to that demand," she retorted rather crossly, part of her glad that she had an out like that without having to explain herself, and another part of her angry with herself for letting that questionable relationship develop, "not after tossing me into his tending yourself!" She left the medicated bandage with him. Surely he can put it on himself.

Tbc