The Heiress (Wattys2018) (Completed)

Ch.4 His saviors

"Where am I?" asks her weakly.

A doctor has checked her condition earlier when she's still unconscious. Bandaged her head like a pretty mummy.

It has been four days. Finally she has woken up. Bern has feared she would never wake up again. He grunts. Sometimes he still forgets he couldn't speak anything.

A mute man.

He grabs a notebook and tears a paper from it. He writes using a pencil.

"How do you feel?" writes him.

"Dizzy. Where am I?" asks her.

"Safe," writes him.

Sophia tries to rise from the bed. Her head is so dizzy and she falls forward. Bern catches her just in time.

He grunts. He wants to scold her but only animal like growling heard from his throat.

(She's too light. Did she eat nothing because of poverty? She saved my life. I will make sure she eat the best food when she's here).

Bern carries her back to the bed. Her eyes are still closed. She strangely felt familiar. Maybe just his imagination. He never paid any attention to female workers before.

*****

Sophia got awakened when she felt someone is touching her forehead. Bern grunts.

He writes, "Okay?"

Sophia nods.

"What's your name? Where do you live? Your family would be worried for you.  I want to contact them."

She is silent. Only holding her head with both hands. She looks in extreme pain.

Bern points to his questions in his notebook. Wondering if his handwriting was too ugly to read. Not the best male hand writing in ton.

Well, he's illiterate until he's ten years old. That's why.

The woman has lied down again. Bern grunts. He takes a bowl of hot soup and feeds her. She mustn't sleep with empty stomach. Bern hates anyone to be starving.

Sophia eats very little at first. Bern grunts. And finally she eats more soup.

Bern puts down the half empty bowl on bedside table.

He writes, "Name?"

"Sophia," replies her.

Bern writes, "Family?"

"I, I don't know...my head hurts..."

Sophia holds her head and she closes her eyes. Bern sighs. He taps on her shoulder as if trying to comfort her. Then he leaves the room.

An old maid follows him out too. She has stayed in the room to help the patient. The rules of society strictly demands no man inside a woman's bedroom. Except they are siblings or spouse.

The old maid asks, "Any command, Your Grace?"

Bern writes, "Look after her well."

"Yes,of course."

*****

Bern is back in his bedroom. He felt irritated. So many questions in his heads. He hates to write to ask questions. He hits the wall in his frustration.

His mind went back to the past.

A little boy half starved, trying to clean the chimney desperately. Boss said he won't be feed if he failed again. The poor boy got stuck in the chimney. He has got too tall, too big to be working in this kind of job.