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Samh 12.05.1344
Juliabella had been ordered to feed the unknown patient today. He had been awake now for two weeks and the doctor said it was time to get some real food in him. Glancing down at the tray, she wondered how what she was carrying classified as “real food.” The patient had refused all food for two days in a row, and apparently some study had said hand feeding patients that had developed attitudes like this encouraged them to eat.
At first, she had protested, but then the doctor told her if she did not want to work, she could leave. He added if that was her choice, she would no longer be welcomed back as a volunteer. Internally, she wanted to argue but stifled her feelings and agreed to do it.
If it had been any other patient, she probably would not have balked at the task. The unknown patient had an unsettling effect on her. He stared at her through the bandages as if he could see her soul. He also had continued his flirty, teasing manner.
“Well, sir, it seems you aren’t eating,” she said as cheerfully as she could when she entered the room.
“When they bring me some food, I will eat.”
“I’ve brought you food.”
“Did they send you because they thought I would bow to your womanly charms?”
“Actually, they sent me to force it down your throat.” She bit her lip after the words came out of her mouth. Although the statement was not far from the truth, she certainly should have never put it that way to a patient!
She stood there, trying hard to read the expression on his face with all the bandages covering it. After a few moments, he said, “The doctors are very smart. You have presented me with quite the dilemma. As a soldier, the thought of someone feeding me is revolting. I can do it myself. The soldier says I could certainly overpower you if you tried to force anything down my throat. But as a man, the thought of you feeding me is quite appealing.”
“Look, sir—” she began, exasperated and slightly unhinged at his forwardness.
“Call me Talre.”
“Talre? Have you remembered who you are?”
“Maybe. You were saying?”
It took Juliabella a moment to remember what she had been saying. This man was completely distracting her. Finally, she asked, “Are you going to let me feed you or should I report to the doctor that you refused?”
“If I refused being fed by an angel, I think the doctor would have me moved to the mental health ward.”
Juliabella went to set the tray down and noticed the rolling stool for the room was missing.
“I’ll be back, I need to find a stool.”
“If you leave, I will drag myself out of this bed and throw the food on the floor.”
“Do you expect me to stand the whole time!?”
“Of course not, you can sit on the bed next to me.”
“That is highly inappropriate.”
“I promise I will only bite the food. I can behave. Knight’s honor.” He raised two fingers, making the sign of the knight’s oath.
Juliabella locked eyes with him and tried to see into his soul. If he truly was a knight, that would explain why someone had risked their own lives to save him and put the liquidaid patch on him. Based on how he was found, that person probably had died doing it. She also suspected the doctors must have come to the same conclusion, which is why they had made him a priority patient. They were expecting a contribution to the hospital once he remembered who he was so they could direct the inquiry to the right family.
“Are you really a knight?’ she stared deeply into his eyes.
“I am,” he said, staring unflinchingly back at her.
She was still unhappy about the situation, but she moved the tray over to his bed and sat next to him on it. She could feel the warmth of his side through the blankets.
He closed his eyes with the first bite, as if he were savoring it.
“Your hand must have improved the taste,” he finally said.
“You said you would behave.”
“I’m sorry, mon ange, I was just trying to give you a complement. I did not know that was misbehaving.”
As she continued feeding him, some got stuck in the mahogany-colored beard that had been growing since he arrived. She grabbed a napkin and started to wipe it. In doing so, her fingers brushed his lips. She felt his lips tense as if he were about to kiss her hand, but then he swallowed loudly and turned his head.
“You do not need to do that,” he said, opening his eyes. “I may be a knight, but I am also a man. I believe you are the one who said touching was not allowed. I think it would be best if we stick to that rule.”
She thought about pointing out the fact they were already technically touching since he had insisted that she sit on the bed. Instead, she kept quiet. She had felt it too—an incredible urge that wanted him to kiss her hand—but she had also quickly suppressed it.
When he finished the last of the assigned meal, she stood to leave.
“Thank you, mon ange, you have sustained me—until tomorrow.”
The next day, Juliabella made sure that a stool was in Talre’s room before she went in to feed him.
“I see you mean to outfox me today. If you sit next to me on the bed again, I will feed myself.”
Juliabella thought about this. Sitting next to him had been inappropriate, but it had not felt nearly as inappropriate as feeding him had. The image of how he had savored the first bite came into her head and raised her heart rate.
“Please, ma chérie, did I break my vow yesterday?”
Pushing the stool away from the bed, she sat next to him as she had before. He smiled.
“I am going to get fired as a volunteer if someone walks in here.”
“You will not be fired,” he said, looking her directly in the eyes. She could feel the power in the statement. He was definitely a knight in the military. He was not just a common soldier, but someone with power, probably a Duke or an Earl. But who? She believed he must have remembered, but he was not telling anyone.
As if reading her mind, he said, “When I tell them, I will be transferred. I am not ready to go home, yet.”
“Why? Surely, you would rather be surrounded by family—your wife?”
“I don’t have any family,” suddenly, his look turned sly, “and I am not married. Are you proposing?”
“Certainly not! We just met. I was just making conversation.”
“Hmm.”
Juliabella got the feeling he did not believe her. She decided asking anything else about him would only get her in deeper trouble. So, she decided to talk about herself. “I was married. I just assumed anyone your age would have been.”
“My parents were not forward-thinking enough to arrange for one before their untimely deaths. I had told them at a young age I would only marry for love, and I think they had not yet figured out how to overcome this obstinance.”
“Well, I would say you were a very lucky man, but you obviously have not found love yet—so perhaps you were very foolish.”
“You would not be the first to accuse me of that. Were you lucky?”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Did your parents arrange a marriage to a man you loved?”
Juliabella looked down at her hands. “Eloscar was a good man. He did not abuse me.”
“Was?”
“My husband has not been as fortunate as you were. He died in the first invasion.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. It must be difficult trying to go it alone.”
“I am not alone. I have my parents and my daughters. I also gained Eloscar’s property. At first it was difficult learning everything, but he left good managers in place to help me.”
“You manage an estate and a family, and yet, you still have time to volunteer?”
“I volunteer to keep Eloscar’s memory alive.”
Talre stared at her pensively for a few moments before taking the last bite of his food and handing the utensils back to her. She was not sure if the mention of her daughters or her husband dulled his flirtatious nature, but she was glad for it.
Standing, she said, “I think you fed yourself marvelously. I will report that to the doctor.”
“Oh, mon ange, please do not! I like the pretty ladies coming to sit on my bed a few times a day.”
Juliabella felt a small tinge of something she refused to admit was jealousy. “Don’t you have your own estate to get back to and manage? With all these thieves stealing our resources, we need to keep production moving.”
“I thank you for your concern about my business, but I, too, have competent managers. I am a knight. During times of war, my place is on the battlefield—not at home safe behind my castle walls.”
“I don’t think you should be heading out to the battlefield after all that has already happened to you.”
“I am not the type of man to let others fight wars for me.” With that, he dismissed her by rolling away from her and facing the wall.
When Juliabella left, she initially planned to tell the doctor that the patient was regaining his memory and could feed himself. However, now that she knew he planned to return to the battlefield, she was not anxious to get him back to it. Over the next month, she continued taking him his dinner and sitting beside him as he ate. She found herself wondering who he was but did not dare to ask any more questions.
Then, suddenly he was gone. The morning the bandages were removed, he had been recognized and transferred to the right infirmary.
Juliabella was soon surprised to find that she missed their daily chats. It was many months that she continued to wonder who he had been. She felt it would have been inappropriate to ask after his transfer, and no one volunteered that information.
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