Chapter Thirty- Three
Anna took the older children upstairs giving John the chance to hold Elizabeth and rest his knee on the ottoman. "Your old man is hurting, Elizabeth," John confessed to the tiny girl. She cooed at him and kicked her legs back and forth. John smiled and shifted her, so she was lying on her back her feet to his stomach. He took her little feet and moved her legs up and down, back and forth in slow, repetitive motions. Dr. Cooke had said it would help her develop those muscles, John was determined that his little one would be as strong and confident as possible. He and Anna had committed themselves to that. Part of that was probably why Margaret Mary bought into Johnny's tales, they had to spend more time with Elizabeth to do the exercises Dr. Cooke laid out, and with Johnny on his lessons. She probably did feel left out. John made a mental note to plan a special outing with just Margaret Mary, perhaps a trip to the book shop was in order.
"What are you brooding about, Mr. Bates?" Anna asked as she took her place beside him on the settee.
John sighed, "Do you think we're good parents?"
"Oh no! Johnny's gotten to you too! Of course we are good parents, anyone that sees our children says how wonderful they are," Anna assured him. "Johnny learned a lesson today, that words can hurt people, and he has to mind them."
"I just hate it when I have to spank them," John sighed. "I always remember, and I am so frightened that I'll underestimate my own strength, and it will hurt more than it's supposed to do."
"You would never hurt one of them intentionally, John," Anna replied. "And the more you do it, the more we follow through when we have to punish them, the less often we'll need to do. They know how much you love them. Johnny even sent you extra kisses tonight."
Anna stood up, "It's time for her feed, then we'll get her to bed and you as well. You've had your leg down way too long today. Your foot is ice cold." Anna had gently touched John's toes.
"I'll go in now, we can feed her in our bed," John moved to rise off the settee. The movement sent a sharp pain shooting through his leg. He hissed before he could suppress it, thankful Anna had already gone to the kitchen.
Elizabeth went down easily that night allowing Anna and John some extra time to cuddle. They read to each other and shared gentle kisses and soft caresses, then fell asleep in each other's arms.
A few hours later, John woke. "Anna," John gently shook his wife's shoulder. "Anna, please wake up, love."
Anna stirred, she felt John's hand on her shoulder and heard his voice, but it didn't sound right.
"John?" Anna rolled over and squinted as her eyes adjusted. The lamp was lit on John's side of the bed. In the dim light, she could make out his face. It was pale and soaked in sweat. His hair was soaked through and sticking to his forehead. "John, what's the matter? Is it your leg?"
"Something's wrong, Anna," John replied, the pain even affecting the sound of his voice. "The pain is…Can you get me some laudanum? I didn't want to wake you, I…"
Anna was out of bed before John even finished. "Of course I will." She hurried off to get the bottle of medicine Dr. Clarkson gave in case John did have pain from his injury. Anna was back quickly with the medicine, a glass of water, and a basin with a flannel in it.
John chose to take his medicine without a mixer given his troubles with whiskey. The liquid that Anna dropped on his tongue was extremely bitter, but he needed something for the horrible pain.
Anna took the flannel and gently started to wash him down. "Why didn't you wake me sooner? How long have you been suffering this way?"
"I don't know," John replied. John had a very reliable internal clock, so his inability to tell time spoke volumes.
"At first light we'll call Dr. Clarkson and have him come out to see you," Anna soothed. "Until then, I'm here, my love. I am with you, and we'll make it through. You are strong enough. You'll make it through this, John."
The medication dulled the pain enough for John to breath and cool himself down, but not for him to sleep. When the sun came up, Anna gave John a kiss and went to head off the little ones so they wouldn't run into the bedroom and jostle John's bad leg.
When Johnny appeared downstairs first, Anna knelt and told him, "Daddy's broken leg is hurting him very much. Mummy has to send for the doctor, I need you to help Mummy and play with your sisters quietly after breakfast. Alright?"
Johnny nodded, "I can do it, Mummy! And I won't say any nasty things, even in Billy Rayburn said them to me."
"That would be a very good idea," Anna praised. "Go wake up your sister, I'll have your breakfast in a minute. Do not go into the bedroom unless you ask Mummy first."
Anna made quick work of breakfast so she could ring the doctor and hurry back to her husband's side, "How is your knee feeling? I have called Dr. Clarkson who will come as soon as he can."
"It is still throbbing badly if I am being quite honest, but are the children quite alright?" He winced, unable to hold back.
In slow motion, Anna sat down on the bed careful not to jostle it and upset John's leg. "Johnny promised to play quietly with his sisters so you can rest. I will check on them soon, but for now they are fine, so I can focus on you. What would you like me to do that will help you feel better until the doctor comes?"
John slowly lifted his hand so it found hers, "Just stay with me, at least for a little while? Count with me?"
"Always my darling, now rest and I will be here," she stroked his hair until his eyes fell closed. "Just listen to my voice. One, two, three…"
John eventually dozed into an exhausted sleep. Anna watched his face tighten as a signal of the pain coming from his knee. The strokes through his hair or across his cheek didn't seem to help any but knowing she was there eased his anxiety.
Anna soothed him with the soft sound of her voice, counting steadily, while she caressed his face and held his hand.
It took well into the hundreds of thousands before the doctor came. Johnny saw him coming up the walk and called out to Anna, "Mummy, Dr. Clarkson!"
Anna let out a breath as John moaned, "Thank God."
"I'll be right back, my love." Anna kissed John's hands and hurried to bring the older man into the bedroom.
"It's been bothering him the last couple days, but during the night he woke me and asked for laudanum for the first time in a long time. Even with two doses, it's not enough. I don't know what's happening."
Dr. Clarkson entered the bedroom and started asking John some questions. "It feels so tight. Like it's cutting my leg," John explained. "And my leg burns and throbs. Like the infection but the pain is more constant, not a sharp stab like last time."
Dr. Clarkson began by looking at John's foot. He frowned immediately and covered him up again. "Mrs. Bates, please pack a bag for Mr. Bates. We must get him to hospital immediately. The cast must come off and be replaced. His leg is swollen inside, and it is stopping the circulation to his foot."
Anna stifled a gasp, "What does that mean? Is the infection back?"
"I won't know until we get the cast off, but if so, it's not too advanced, he's not running a fever. Not to worry, Mr. Bates. We'll sort you out. I'll telephone for an ambulance."
Robert and Tom arrived at the house just as John was being loaded into the ambulance. They had a meeting scheduled for the day to go over the events planned for the estate over the next month and the holidays. Robert rushed over to Anna when he saw John being loaded in the back of the unit.
"What's happened?" Robert asked, panic evident on his face. "Is Bates alright?"
"I don't know, m'lord," Anna replied. "He woke during the night in pain, he asked for medication, which he never does. Dr. Clarkson says that Mr. Bates must go to hospital to have his plaster removed."
"Who's staying with the children?" Robert asked.
"I called Mr. Carson, he's inside with them now. Mrs. Hughes will come when her work allows, surely."
"Tom," Robert looked back at his son-in-law. "Go back to the house, fetch Mrs. Hughes. I'll go to the hospital with Bates and Anna. Is there room in your car, Dr. Clarkson?"
Robert slid into the back seat of the doctor's car and Anna sat in the front seat of the ambulance next to the driver. John was silent the entire drive, not making a sound though she knew how much distress he was in by how much he was perspiring and how pale he looked. As soon as she was able, Anna took John's hand in hers and held on tight trying to give him all the strength she had in her heart.
When Dr. Clarkson cut the plaster off, it was not a pretty site. John's entire leg was inflamed from his foot nearly all the way to his hip. The lower portion of his leg was as Dr. Clarkson described, "dusky", an unhealthy pallor that indicated impaired circulation.
When the doctor mentioned this, John's hand clamped down around Anna's. Only she could read the fear in his expression, and she voiced the question on both their minds. "What does that mean?"
"It means that there is a chance that Mr. Bates' lower leg has been without sufficient blood flow to sustain its life. We may have gotten to it in time. We will get him to x-ray straight away and see if that tells us what's happening inside, but all the symptoms indicate a diagnosis of hemarthrosis."
The confused look on the couple's face made the doctor correct himself. "Bleeding in the joint. Mr. Bates. Do you want some stronger pain medication while we are getting you back and forth to x-ray?"
John shook his head; he wanted to be lucid for this. He had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he didn't want his senses dulled, not by any stretch.
"Let us know if you change your mind," Dr. Clarkson instructed. "A nurse will be in shortly to bring you for the films."
When they were alone, Anna looked at her husband's ashen face, "John, what is wrong? You should have taken the medicine!"
"No," John said firmly.
"But," Anna began but John cut her off.
"No! I didn't like the look on his face, and I don't like that he said the bottom part of my leg didn't get enough oxygen or such like." John turned his upper body and gripped Anna's hand. "Promise me something, Anna, and remind his lordship that he promised me too."
"Promise you what, my darling?" Anna asked, holding John's wide eyes with her own. She hoped she was sending him a feeling of security and calm, but she doubted it.
"Don't let them take the leg," John whispered. "Please don't let them do it. Anything but that, I'll take anything, any pain there is, but please."
Anna lifted John's hand and kissed it tenderly. "Oh, John, we're not there yet, love. I know that. We aren't there yet, and we might never be."
"Promise me," John implored her again.
"I promise, John, but please don't work yourself up, hmmm? Let's see what the doctors say."
The report was not encouraging. The x-ray didn't give Dr. Clarkson any additional information about John's condition. "Well, you have to do something," Robert pressed, advocating for his friend.
"We can do a procedure called an arthrocentesis," Dr. Clarkson suggested. "We would insert a syringe into Mr. Bates' knee and drain the fluid from the joint. If there is bleeding, we might be able to gauge how much. If it's minor, it's likely we won't have to intervene again, and we can replaster the leg in a few days. If it's severe, we may have to explore further and find the source of the bleeding inside the leg."
"Will it help Mr. Bates feel better, Dr. Clarkson?" Anna asked. John had finally given in and taken an injection of morphine for his pain. He was sleeping now from the soporific effects of the medication.
"Either way, at least temporarily, yes it will," Dr. Clarkson replied. "He's already sedated. I can find a nurse and start the procedure now while he is still sleeping, but I'll need your permission Mrs. Bates."
Anna nodded quickly, "Mr. Bates has given me his consent to agree to any procedures short of…the worst-case scenario and I'd prefer it if Mr. Bates was sleeping."
"I'll have a nurse come and get him when we are ready. If the morphine is lifting, we'll add some chloroform to make sure he's comfortable."
"Thank you, Dr. Clarkson," Robert said for Anna before the older man walked away. "How are you doing, Anna? John wouldn't be happy with me if I didn't take good care of you while he couldn't."
Anna smiled, "I'm alright, m'lord. I just need Mr. Bates to be out of pain and on the mend again. We have so much to do both at the inn and at home. If Mr. Bates isn't earning, then…"
"Don't worry about money," Robert soothed. "That can always be worked out between us at a later time. Don't even think about money right now."
Anna looked down at her hands, her wedding ring glinting in the harsh, hospital lighting. John was too proud to accept anything as generous as what his lordship was offering, but now she had the cart before the horse.
Dr. Clarkson sent the nurses for John about an hour later. He was still heavily sedated from the effects of the morphine. Anna took his hand as he was carried by the transporter to the surgical theater. "I love you, Mr. Bates," she whispered. "I'll be waiting for you here when it's through."
John moaned lightly at the sound of her voice, "Anna…" It was like a prayer.
"I'm here, John," she whispered, dropping his surname that she meticulously used in front of others. 'Always."
John didn't answer, he'd already gone back under the pull of a drug induced sleep.
A/N: So, things aren't too rosy for the Bates, but their extended family is jumping in to provide help and support, thicker than blood and all that. Let me know how you're enjoying the story with a review or PM. Also, check out my new story, Intervention, a modern AU triumph through tragedy story. My genre...Thanks for reading.