well, you know Father.” Freddie swallowed and cleared his throat. I wasn’t here, but Corville told me Winstead tried to apologize. He came to see you the day after it happened. “-and then, well, I don’t know what Father said to him. Father tried to have him arrested, but you weren’t dead yet-”

“His shoulder was injured, but he’ll be fine. “No, no, not dead gone,” Freddie quickly said. It figured their butler would be the one to let Freddie know his brother had nearly died. “You’ve been unconscious for three days,” Freddie answered, correctly interpreting the question. Which meant that it was going to take quite a bit longer than a few months to heal. It’s going to take several months to heal.”įreddie was lying. The femur is the largest bone in the human body. “You’re going to be stuck here for quite some time, I’m afraid. The doctor set it, but he said the bone was splintered.” Freddie cleared his throat. “I should get him.” Said without conviction.Ī minute or so went by, and Freddie said, “Here, have a bit more water. It was the closest he could manage to a nod. Hugh had quickly discovered that one’s interest in beetles did not increase with the number of beetles located. Hugh had tagged along after him a few times, but he’d been bored out of his skull. When they were children, Freddie had practically lived outside, digging in the dirt, collecting his specimens. Freddie’s memory was almost as good as Hugh’s, and his tastes had always run toward the biological sciences.

“Sometimes men feel pain even after they lose a limb,” Freddie said in a nervous rush. “It’s still there, you know,” Freddie said, motioning toward the foot of the bed. It did, but Hugh had the strange sensation that it hadn’t hurt quite so much until Freddie asked about it. I don’t want to give you too much at once.” Every drop had just soaked into his parched tongue.įreddie gave him a few more spoonfuls, then said, “Let’s wait a bit. Carefully, he put a spoon to Hugh’s lips, dribbling the liquid into his mouth. “Let me get you some water,” Freddie said.

The sum of all his kisses