The Frenchman (Lafayette Love Story)

I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do

I awoke the night before the wedding to the sound of the front door creaking open, a sensation that chilled me to the bone. I sat up in bed, listening to the shuffling of boots and small sounds of the chatter of men, causing me to rise from my bed, lighting a candle and creeping out of the room, sticking to the wall. I leaned over the banister of the stairs, seeing that it was in fact, a group of men. I leaned the candle a tad over the banister again, trying to get light close enough to see faces.

"Someone's awake," one of them whispered.

"Mary," said a familiar voice. Realization hit me as if it was a huge boulder, and I dropped the candle, nearly on my foot. I made sure that the flame had gone out before I ran down the stairs, into the group of men, and then into Marquis' arms. I clung to him tightly, holding fistfuls of the back of his jacket as he picked me up and spun me around, grunting slightly as he set me down.

"Sorry, my shoulder," he explained, placing his hands on my cheeks. "I missed you, my sweet Mary," he said, placing his lips gently on mine. I smiled into the kiss, smiling up at him when he pulled back.

"How are you?" I asked, motioning to his shoulder. "I missed you as well, my love, quite dearly."

"It's not terribly bad, just a slight pain," he answered, turning as my father approached us.

"I told him to have you check on the healing process, with your training in nursing," he said, enveloping me in his arms. "Glad to see you dressed up to greet us," he teased, looking down at my nightgown, my hair most likely going in all directions.

"Nice to see you as well, father," I answered, laughing. "Mom still traveling?"

"Afraid so," he answered. "There will be more pleasantries tomorrow, I must talk with Mr. Schuyler at once," he said, pressing a kiss to my head. "I need you to check on Mr. Lafayette's shoulder for me, and Mr. Laurens has a pretty nasty  gash on his leg, caught the business end of a bayonette, I'm afraid," he said, kissing my head before turning and walking to Mr. Schuyler's study, leaving me with Lafayette, Laurens, Alexander, and Hercules.

"My men!" I cheered, hugging each of the other men in turn, before motioning them into one of the sitting rooms, lighting a few candles to illuminate the room.

"How's my girl, Mary?" Alexander asked as I closed the door behind us, pulling out my medical kit and laying it out on one of the tables.

"Marquis, if you could," I began, noticing how awkward it would be to ask the follow question in front of the other men. "If you could, um, take off your shirt, your jacket, so I could see the wound," I stuttered out, the other men playfully wolf whistling as they sat on one of the couches. "Eliza's fine, Alexander, worried about the wedding, but excited, nonetheless."

By the time I had turned to face Lafayette, who was sitting shirtless on the table top, I was trying to control my blush and to not stare at his marvelously toned body.

"Can you lie back for me?" I asked, watching as he lied down on the table, trying to steal quick little looks as I tied my hair back in a braid. I took a step closer, looking at the wound. "Your medic lacks proper training, it's healed, but not as much as it should be. Could be a small infection, nothing too worrying at all," I said, leaning over his body and grabbing a pair of tweezers, as well as some disinfectant, and wrappings.

"Wait, wait, why tweezers?" He asked, his voice slightly nervous.

"There's still a small piece of the bullet in there," I explained. "It's still surface level, won't hurt that much, my love," I explained, taking one of his hands in mine, our interlocked fingers resting on his sternum. I gave his hand a small squeeze before grabbing the bullet fragment, yanking it out as quickly and gently as I could, earning a small hiss from Lafayette. I took some of the disinfectant in my hands and massaged in onto the scar and the surrounding area, feeling his toned shoulder beneath my fingers. "Alright, go ahead and sit up, so that I can wrap it."