Becoming Jane

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Even though there were celebrations to be had, Little J could not tear herself away from Kitty’s bedside. William couldn’t either. He had not yet held his daughter. He refused to until Kitty awoke.

It had been six hours according to the clock above her grandmother’s fireplace and she was sure that the chloroform would wear off some time soon.

Her family had not retired. They were downstairs toasting the new arrival, as well as Little J’s heroics. Little did they know that once Kitty woke up she would be susceptible to any number of ailments.

When the clock chimed for two o’clock in the morning, Little J checked Kitty’s incision site. It wasn’t inflamed or swollen, nor did it smell so there was no infection yet, but it still would be horrendously painful.

“Where is the baby?” William asked her quietly sometime after three.

“Mama gave her some milk from the cow and she is sleeping in with Will and Amy. She is warm, do not worry,” She decided it was wishful thinking. she reassured him. His blue eyes were sad as they returned to Kitty’s face. He squeezed her hand in his and quietly pleaded with her to wake up, absently playing with the gold band on her left ring finger. The baby was being called ‘baby girl Aubrey’ as William and Kitty never told them their plans for names. If they weren’t careful, ‘baby girl’ was going to stick.

An hour later, Kitty’s eyes finally fluttered open. No sooner had she full awoken, she groaned in pain.

“Kitty,” William gasped. “You’re alright!”

“Kitty,” Little J said in a more reserved tone. “How bad is the pain?” She honestly didn’t know what to do if she was in a lot of pain. The only thing she could think of was laudanum but she couldn’t use it in excess as she had heard stories of people become far too dependent on it – even if they were not in any pain.

Kitty groaned and immediately reached her incision site, something most people do if there is an area of the body that they find painful.

“No!” Little J cried. Kitty might break her own stitches. William immediately caught her arm and held it in his.

“You can’t touch it, sweetheart,” he said comfortingly.

Teardrops escaped her eyes as she squeezed her eyes shut. She was silently screaming. She had to find some laudanum. If her grandmother didn’t have any then she would have to journey out into the snow come daybreak to find the doctor. She quickly left the room and started down the stairs. Many had since gone to bed and there were only a handful of people still awake – her grandmother not included. Only her parents and her brothers were still awake talking quietly. They immediately rose from their seats when Little J emerged.

“She is awake,” she smiled. “But in a lot of pain.”