Summer 1918

"He hasn't woken up yet?" Lavinia asked, her voice breaking. Her poor, poor darling Matthew.

"Well, actually he woke for approximately two minutes during the night, but we aren't sure he was fully aware during that time." Sybil explained, not meeting her eyes. How could she, when she knew that upon waking briefly, Matthew had begged relentlessly for Mary before he had slipped back into his drug induced sleep. "But he should wake up in a few hours. Go get settled in at the abbey, please, Lavinia. I promise to telephone as soon as he's awake." The tearful girl nodded, and walked out the door, her head hanging down as soft sobs broke from her lips. Sybil turned, and resumed her work, always keeping one eye trained on her cousin. Several hours later, she heard a soft groan from his bed, and she rushed to his side, and gripped his hand tightly in her own.

"Mary...So sorry. Love; Mary." His voice was strained and soft. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, startlingly blue, and they scanned Sybil's face, for a moment seeing somebody different. "Sybil?"

"Matthew! Oh, thank goodness! We've been so terribly worried!" Sybil sighed. "how do you feel?"

"Oh, fair to middling, I suppose, for someone who's been hit by a shell." He said, and a short laugh bubbled through Sybil's lips. "William. Where's…"

"He's resting at Downton, with Daisy and his father." Sybil said simply. Matthew nodded and leaned his head back against the pillow. "Water?" Sybil asked, and he smiled gratefully. "Lavinia was here to see you earlier, and we expect your mother any time now."

"Lavinia was here? Did she see me; looking like this?" Matthew asked, mortified.

"Only from a distance." Sybil assured him, and he nodded, then frowned deeply. "What?"

"The funny thing is, I can't seem to feel my legs- do you know what that might be?" Matthew asked, and Sybil gnawed on her lip. "Oh dear, is it serious?"

"We won't know until the doctor has examined you while you're awake." Sybil said. "In fact, I'll go fetch Clarkson now, he wanted to see you as soon as you woke." She tried to rise, but he kept hold of her hand with a surprising amount of force for someone who had been so terribly wounded.

"Sybil." He pleaded.

"Oh, Cousin Matthew. You've taken a hit to your back; but that really is all I know." Sybil lied smoothly. She would not be the one to tell him what the doctor feared. She would not. "Now I really must go get Clarkson. We must get you feeling better." She squeezed his hand once more, and then was gone. Matthew stared at the ceiling, clean and white. He was so certain upon waking that he had seen her, had seen Mary. But that was impossible, he hadn't seen or spoken to her in nearly four years, at least not in his waking moments, she was in New York for christs sake. But he had seen her so vividly, her hair wild and undone, wrapped in a blue dressing gown just as she had been that night when he had come to the abbey late to speak to Robert- but of course he was only imagining her now. She would be twenty six now? Or was it twenty seven? Either way, he knew without a doubt that she would still be shockingly beautiful, that she would still be just as clever, just as infuriating. How often he thought of her, even now. He knew it was wrong, he had Lavinia, he had told Mary to forget everything about them. But he couldn't forget, not once since he had laid eyes on her in 1912 had he been able to forget about her.

"Captain Crawley, it's good to see you awake." Clarkson said. "Now, we're going to have to do a rather in depth examination, if you're up to it."

"Let's get it over with." Matthew nodded, and Clarkson closed the curtains around him.

"Sybil- oh thank goodness Sybil! I've come straight from the train- how is my boy- where is my boy?" Isobel asked as she ran through the front door of the hospital.

"Oh, Isobel, I'm so glad you're here! He's being examined now by Doctor Clarkson behind the curtain." Sybil explained.

"And do we know what's wrong with him? The telegram from your mother was rather cryptic." Isobel asked.

"Isobel, I'm afraid I don't know exactly what is wrong with him, all we've heard is probable spinal damage." Sybil said, and Isobel's face went ashy. "And upon waking, he complained that he couldn't feel his legs."

"Is he…"

"Paralyzed? We're not sure. That's what Dr. Clarkson is checking for now. We're hoping that it's only bruising." Sybil explained.

"When can I see him?"

"Oh, I don't know cousin Isobel-"

"In just a few minutes Isobel, I think we should discuss something. You too, Nurse Crawley." Doctor Clarkson said, appearing behind them suddenly. "Let's go to my office." The two women followed him, and were seated in the chairs in his office. "Now, I've examined Captain Crawley. I'm afraid that he took quite a blow to his spine on the battlefield, and it appears that he has lost all sense of motion below his waist."

"Oh!" Isobel gasped, and reached for Sybil's hand. "He cannot walk? He's immobile?"

"I'm afraid so." Clarkson said. Isobel felt her heart constrict.

"But he will recover, at least, as well as can be expected?" Sybil asked.

"There's no reason I can imagine that he won't have a full and normal life." Clarkson nodded.

"I promised I would call Lavinia as soon as he woke up, but I was rather caught up. I should telephone now." Sybil said, and suddenly Clarkson coughed embarrassedly. "Yes doctor?"

"I'm afraid I forgot to mention one thing." Clarkson said, going a bit red faced.

"What?" Isobel asked. She wiped her eyes, and was determined to look brave and strong. She would be brave and strong. For Matthew.

"With the nature of Captain Crawley's injury, I'm afraid he has lost complete functionality below his waist." Clarkson said.

"Yes, you've already said that." Sybil said, squinting.

"Yes, I did. But, to put it...er, bluntly, with the nature of his injury, It would be quite impossible for him to- er- father any children." He explained. Isobel gasped, and her hands flew over her mouth.

"Are you quite certain?" Sybil asked, blushing.

"Quite." Clarkson said. "At least as certain as I can be." At this Isobel broke into quiet, defeated sobs. Her poor, poor boy. He had always wanted to be a father, since he was a young man, he had wanted a family of his own; and now the possibility had been cruelly ripped from him. She would never have any beautiful grandbabies, no continuation of her darling Reginald's family name. Her family would forever be just her, and her son.

"I'm sorry Isobel." Sybil said tenderly and wrapped her arms around her distant cousin's shoulders. "So sorry."

"Hello? One of the nurses said you would be in here- what's all this?" Robert asked, walking in. Clarkson beckoned him forward, and quietly recounted the situation. Robert's face remained hard and stoic.

"Well this throws the succession to hell." Robert grumbled and ran his hand along his neck. Almost instantly Isobel stopped sobbing, and rose from her chair.

"My son is lying out there, horribly injured, having had the opportunity for a family ripped from him so young, and all you can think of is the bloody succession?!" Isobel hissed. Her hands were shaking, and her eyes were wild. "My son is going to be absolutely crushed by this, he's going to consider his life over, and you're worried about the succession?!" Sybil bit her lip, and stared at her shoes. So they were in need of an heir, Perhaps Matthew's heir.

"Doctor Clarkson, I think I should go to Lavinia and explain this in person. May I?" Sybil asked suddenly, already untying her apron. "I'll be back as soon as I possibly can." She pulled her cap off, and left before she heard his answer, her thoughts were too muddled. She had sworn to Mary she would never tell a soul, but now...She had to consult with Granny, and immediately.

AN: So, Don't get used to so many chapters a day, because after today, they'll be coming a bit more sporadically. My goal is one a week! But I wanted to post a few chapters as a treat for those of you who start reading right away! Thanks for reading!