Elizabeth walked in and leaned against the door smiling like a small child, only before it was interrupted by another coughing spell. Abigail walked into the room when she heard the young teacher enter, "You okay Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth nodded and said, "Yes, but I did promise Jack to drink some tea and get some rest."
Abigail said, "I'll start some. Maybe it'll help you get rid of that cough."
Elizabeth agreed and sat down at the table as Abigail began to make the tea for the two of them. When the pot started whistling, Abigail poured the tea and handed Elizabeth a steaming mug, "Be careful, I'm sure it's hot."
"I would certainly hope so," Elizabeth chuckled and coughed once more before taking a sip of tea, "Abigail can I ask you something?"
"Of course, you can ask me anything," said Abigail, "What's on your mind?"
Elizabeth coughed a couple of times before she spoke, "How did you..." she trailed off, "How did you know you loved your husband?"
Abigail thought about Elizabeth's question for a few moments before she answered, "I don't know. It's hard to describe. When I first saw my Noah, my palms were sweaty, my heart was racing, I didn't know what to say…" she smiled memories flooding her, "But all I can say is you just know it when it's love."
Elizabeth smiled and nodded, "When I first met Jack, he was so annoying, thinking I was a spoiled little rich girl. And he was probably right," she chuckled, "but as we got to know each other, I don't know what happened it just…"
Abigail grabbed Elizabeth's hand causing the teacher to look up at the older woman, "Well there are just certain questions you have to ask yourself. Do you feel better when Jack's around? Would you want to spend the rest of your life with Jack? Would you want to marry him eventually? And have babies? Would you want to grow old and die with him in your life?"
Elizabeth bit her lip as she absorbed Abigail's questions. She hadn't really thought about it that way before Abigail had asked her. I mean, certainly she wasn't thinking of marrying Jack at this point in her life. But when she established herself more as well as father along their courtship, would she consider it? She cared about Jack more than anything in Coal Valley, or at the very least as much as her students and she cared about them a lot. She could easily see Jack as husband material and she also believed he would make a good father to his future kids with whomever he married. And she wanted to be that one. Elizabeth sighed and said, "Yes, to all of your questions. I care about him more than anyone else other than my parents and sister."
Abigail shrugged and said, "Sounds like it's love to me."
Elizabeth smiled and took the last sip of her tea, "Thanks for the tea Abigail. It did make me feel better."
"Anytime," said Abigail.
Elizabeth stood and said, "I think I might go to bed and just write or something before I go to sleep. Jack told me to rest and I won't rest if I'm not in bed."
"Okay, see you in the morning Elizabeth," said Abigail as Elizabeth went into her bedroom. She changed into her night gown and lit the lamp next to her bed. She picked up a pad of paper and a quail pen and thought about what to write before she started her letter.
Dear Julie,
Well it turns out you were right. The Mountie was the one for me. Jack and I are officially in a courtship and I could not have found a better person for me. I do not know how it happened honestly; I fell in love with him slowly and then all at once. I guess I started seriously considering it after your visit to Coal Valley. Okay, I guess I was also a little jealous of Rosemary, his former fiancée. Okay, I was very jealous of Rosemary. I wish she would just leave town to be honest. But I can tell, this courtship with Jack will work out in the end. I hope everything is fine with you, Mom, and Dad back in Toronto. I miss you all and hope you guys come to visit soon. I would love for Mom and Dad to meet Jack and to see your reaction. You got your fairytale ending from me. Love you bunches Julie.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth put the pad of paper down and put the pen back in the ink. She looked out the window wondering what Jack was doing at that very moment before her coughing and fatigue got the best of her and she drifted off to sleep.
A couple hours later, Elizabeth woke up to another coughing spell, so bad to the point she was unable to breath. She attempted to get out of bed a couple of times to reach Abigail but was unable to do so because she was so winded. She finally resorted to shouting as loud as she could, "ABIGAIL!" she croaked.
In a few short moments, Abigail was in Elizabeth's room and a look of worry immediately overtook her face. She rushed over to Elizabeth's bedside and felt Elizabeth's forehead, "Elizabeth, you're burning up!"
"Chest. Burns. Cant. Breath…" Elizabeth stuttered in between coughing.
"I'll call the doctor," said Abigail rushing to the phone. She called the doctor and then brought in a basin so Elizabeth could get rid of the mucus, "It's okay," she said rubbing Elizabeth's back.
"Abigail, what about the children, there's no one else to teach them," said Elizabeth and then coughed some more.
"Elizabeth, I'm sure the town can find someone to take over. If you're contagious, you certainly don't want to make the children sick," said Abigail. Suddenly there was a knock at the door, "The doctor must be here," said Abigail. She left the room to go let him into the house. Elizabeth sad back in bed and wished Jack was with her as she continued to cough, feeling like her lungs were going to be coughed up any minute. Abigail and an older man walked into her room.
"Ms. Thatcher?" he asked as he approached her. Elizabeth tried to answer but resorted to nodding before coughing some more, "I'm Dr. James. I'm going to ask you a few questions. Just do your best to answer them okay?"
"Okay," she croaked softly.
"When did the coughing start?" he asked.
"This morning," Elizabeth answered.
"Around lunchtime," confirmed Abigail, "We tried tea but it didn't seem to help."
"Okay, any chest pain when coughing?"
"Yes, it feels like my lungs are on fire," said Elizabeth and then coughed again, producing more mucus.
"And there seems to be mucus production," said Dr. James. He took Elizabeth's temperature to find out that she had a102 degree fever. He took out his stethoscope and listened to her lungs.
Suddenly out of the blue Elizabeth said, "I want Jack."