One Glance

Chapter 24

"An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind." Mahatma Gandhi

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Chapter Twenty – Four

Luke awoke with a start when he heard Jamie scream, "PAPA!" at the top of his lungs. Luke leapt out of the hospital bed that Doctor Whitney had permitted him to use and tore across the hallway in the direction of his son's distress.

Isabella's room, even after Luke had told Jamie not to disturb his mother.

Luke burst into the room and allowed his eyes to focus on the scene before him. Jamie was standing by Isabella, clutching his toy train and crying hysterically. Isabella was unconscious on the floor.

"Isabella!" cried Luke as he rushed to her side. He lifted her slight body into his arms effortlessly and carried her back to the bed. Immediately, he started panicking. Was she still ill? Had there been some sort of relapse regarding Doctor Whitney's original surgery?

Smelling salts. He needed smelling salts. Hopefully she had just fainted. The rational side of him believed that fact. Jamie had surprised her, after all.

"Calm down, Jamie," hushed Luke as he began sifting through the cupboards and drawers in Isabella's room. Fate was on his side when he spied a vinaigrette amongst the potion bottles in one of the drawers.

Luke pulled the small jar from the decorative vinaigrette and removed the small stopped. The pong of vinegar and perfume immediately hit him. He held his breath as he placed the little jar under Isabella's nose.

Isabella's brown eyes snapped open and her nose crinkled. Luke returned the smelling salts to their vinaigrette and discarded it on the side table. He then turned up Isabella's oil lamp.

"Are you alright?" he asked anxiously.

Isabella pinched the bridge of her nose. "I just had the most peculiar dream. I ... I had a child ..."

Luke spied Jamie whimpering across the room, still holding on to his train. He could only be honest with her. He hoped the initial shock was over. "Isabella ... that was not a dream."

Isabella's hand dropped from her face and she stared at him. She then moved her frightened eyes to Jamie. Isabella believed Luke, that was clear, but it was incredibly overwhelming for her.

"I have forgotten my son," she whispered to myself. Isabella's eyes snapped back to Luke. "You made me forget my son," she snapped, her voice laced with anger.

Luke sighed. What could he say? She was right. "Nevertheless, he exists," he said patiently. "I did not want you to find out this way, but Jamie did not listen to me." He frowned. "Perhaps you are better at discipline than I."

"Jamie," repeated Isabella. She looked over at her son, and Luke could have sworn that he saw her face soften. "Your name is Jamie?"

Jamie, still clutching his train, nervously nodded. He dared not look at Luke. It was obvious, no matter how young he was, that Jamie had been naughty.

"Go to bed, Jamie," instructed Luke. "You can visit with Mama tomorrow." Jamie obeyed this time, and quickly trotted from the room.

Isabella folded her hands on her lap and exhaled sadly. "I am a wife. I am a mother. I have a husband and a son. I have people who love me and yet I feel nothing for them."

Her words truly stung Luke. Isabella, in this moment, did not love him. How he had treated her during his recovery at Cassidy House. Isabella had only wanted to tend to him, because she loved him, and he had ignored her in favour of Mary.