Chapter 4

Oh, My Aching Head!

The footmen and Jimmy helped carry Curtis to his bedchamber as Muriel, Mama, Amina, and Rosa all hovered. Mama was already weeping as Amina put her arms around her and patted her. Muriel looked at Jimmy. "Go to Dr. Haynie's townhouse and bring him here. Tell him Curtis was hit hard and has been unconscious for approximately one hour."

"Yes, my lady. Right away." With that, he was gone.

"We need to get some of his clothes off of him. I was unable to see if he had a wound on his head. There was no blood on the floor when they lifted him at the theatre." Muriel wanted to, at the very least, get his topcoat, waistcoat, and cravat off of him.

"Lady Muriel, allow me to assist." Mr. Sanders did not wait for an answer. He went to the other side of the bed and began to remove his cravat. "We will have to lift him a bit to get his topcoat and waistcoat off. You hold his head and I will put one hand on his back. We will get these off of him.

"I'm very concerned. He has been unconscious much too long. I hope Dr. Haynie is home. I'm unsure what to do if he is not." She felt of his head. He had no visible bump. She had no idea what else to do.

"My baby–my baby." Mama was sobbing. After Muriel and Mr. Sanders had gotten Curtis's coats off, Mama suddenly hung on to him. Muriel patted her gently.

"Mama, come and sit. Curtis is not going anywhere. He is going to be fine. Dr. Haynie needs to see him. He will know what to do." Mama continued to sob over Curtis. "Please Mama. Come sit." She looked over at Amina who was standing back. Amina nodded; understanding.

"Come, Marie. Come over here and sit down with me. We will sit until Dr. Haynie comes." She took Marie's hand and led her to the couch that was against the sidewall. "There, now. This is better." She sat down with her and put her arm around Marie, trying to calm her.

Time always seemed to crawl when things like this happened. It felt like hours before Muriel heard the front door open and footfalls on the staircase. "My lady, the doctor." Jimmy was speaking to Muriel while looking at the bed. Curtis had not moved.

"Muriel, what has happened?" Dr. Haynie was a big man; tall, large, with thinning reddish hair and a heavily marked face, likely from chicken pox. He had a kindly, loving disposition, and a glorious hardy laugh. He was always affectionate with the McDonnell family.

"Oh, Dr. Haynie." She turned and laid her head on his large chest as his wrapped his bulky arms around her. He was still holding her as she looked up at him and began to explain what had happened .

"And he has never regained consciousness?"

"No...he has said nothing, nor moved, nor cried out. Nothing."

"Alright, you calm down, Muriel, and let me exam him." He walked over and began looking after Curtis. Everyone else in the room, save Mama, was completely quiet. The doctor asked Curtis to open his eyes with no response. He got down close to his face and shouted for him to open his eyes. He pinched him and received no response. He took a knuckle and rubbed hard on his chest. Curtis did react. They prayed he would be alright. It took about twenty minutes for Dr. Haynie to do a thorough examination. He walked over to the couch where all the ladies and Mr. Sanders were congregated. "His pupils are normal, breathing normal, he has some reaction to pain. He has not responded to commands and he has failed to move at all. He has a hematoma on the right side of his head. I would think by tomorrow, he should have some serious bruising along that side of his body. The major concern is him not waking. I think the smartest thing to do is to continue to talk to him. Not cry." He looked at Mama. "I'm sorry Marie, if he can hear you, crying won't help at all. Perhaps Muriel, Amina, and Rosa can sit with him. Take turns. Even Mr. Sanders, if he is so inclined. I will come first thing on the morrow and exam him again. Besides talking to him, you might want to pray. There is not much more I can do tonight. I'm sorry, ladies." He held his arms out, and they all stood and walked over to him to get a huge hug. He stepped back and repeated that he would see them on the morrow. Mr. Sanders walked him downstairs. Muriel heard some conversation downstairs between the two men, then Mr. Sanders called for Jimmy and the doctor left.

"Mama, you should go lay down. I will come to get you the minute Curtis does anything. Amina, you want to go with her. Maybe have some tea?" Muriel gave her no choice.

"Come Marie, we can put on our bed clothes and I will read to you. I think that sounds very good. Perhaps we can stay in your room and sleep together tonight. Would you like that?" Amina had a wonderful soul.

"Yes, I suppose you are right. I would like it if you stayed with me the night." Marie took Amina's hand and they stood. "Muriel, if anything changes, Amina and I will be in my bedchamber. " She walked over to Curtis and kissed his forehead. She squeezed Muriel's hand and left the room with Amina.

"Would you like to lie down here on this couch and I will read to Curtis for a while. We can take turns." Rosa loved to read. "You sit for a minute while I go down and find a book. What are his favorites? My mind is a bit muddled at the moment." They both pondered a moment. "I know–he loves Shakespeare. Let me go get one of the Shakespearian plays."

"Wait, Rosa. See if we have Coriolanus. That could be just the thing to stir him."

"Grand idea, Muriel." And she left for the library. Muriel stood and walked over to Curtis. "Curtis, you must awake. We are all so worried. You must wake and take care of this crazy family of women. Maybe, if you awake, we could go and seek out John Kemble. You could meet him and speak with him. We could go to the theatre again. We would purchase box seats. Would that not be wonderful! So, wake up brother. I'm at a loss. What could I say to wake you?"

Rosa returned with a book. "The library has a volume of Shakespeare. There are three plays, one being Coriolanus. With three plays, we can be reading for quite some time. Muriel, did you enjoy the play tonight?"

"Well, to be honest, that is my least favorite of Shakespeare's plays. Curtis was so anxious to see John Kemble, he did not care about the play as much as he wanted to see the actor. And I have to concur, he was very good. I rather enjoy Sheridan's plays, comedies, perhaps even a few dramas. For the most part, comedies are my choice."

"My choices as well. So, I will begin, brother Curtis. You hear me? Otherwise, I would not read this at all." She looked back at Muriel and smiled. "Sorry Curtis." She cleared her throat. "Ahem. ‘Aufidius, though I can't make true wars, I'll frame convenient peace'." As Rosa read on, Muriel laid on the couch and Curtis continued to do nothing.

The morning came with darkness in the room. And darkness in the hearts of the women in the McDonnell house. Curtis had done nothing throughout the night. Rosa had read the entire play of Coriolanus, and had started on Caesar, before Muriel woke up and took over. "Rosa, why did you not wake me? It must have been my turn hours ago. Give me the book and you lay down." Rosa did not argue. She immediately laid down on the couch.

"Muriel, you have the couch nice and warm. I will fall right to sleep."

"As you should." Muriel was unsure how long she had read to Curtis. It was difficult to tell with the drapes tightly closed. She yawned and continued. She wondered when Dr. Haynie would return, worried what he might say as Curtis had done nothing since he lost consciousness last night. It might have been twelve hours since he was hit yet it was still too long. She dozed in and out, found her place in the play, and resumed, very likely she read the same lines from Marc Antony several times. It was then that she heard the front door, male voices, and footfalls on the stairs.

"Good morning, Muriel. How is our patient this morning?" It was dear Dr. Haynie. She rubbed her eyes and stood.

"He is no different at all. We have been reading to him all night without any response. What should we do?"

"Well, darling girl, first, you need to find me some light. It is impossible to examine him with only your lamp. Could you open the curtains, not all the way; enough for me to be able to see him? Thank you, Muriel." He pulled the bedclothes back, took a pin out of his waistcoat and stuck the bottom of Curtis' foot. There was slight movement in that leg. "That is better than last night." He pulled his shirt up and with his knuckle, he drove it into Curtis's chest. He heard a groan. "That is much better than it was last night. He slapped his face, not hard; enough that Curtis slightly moved his head. "He is in there. He must come around within the next twelve hours or we may have an issue. We won't worry about that now. Is your mother still asleep?"

"Yes, doctor, I believe she must be or she would have been in here by now."

"Well, let her sleep. She must not worry about this--not yet. And you need to keep her calm. Curtis shan't be helped by her continued weeping. It is most stressful – for everyone; am I right, little one." It was not a question.

"Yes, sir. Quite stressful, indeed." Dr. Haynie had known the family for a long time. He could see how Lord McDonnell's death had put such a burden on Muriel. She had been worried about her mother and now Curtis. She was taking on too much; trying to keep the estate afloat, and get the money straight with the solicitor.

"At some point soon, we are going to have to talk about how to care for him. He can go without eating for some time. He will need water soon. He is reacting. We need him to wake. I'm going to see some other patients. Go home, see my lovely wife, eat, and I should be able to return before noon. We need to continue to watch him closely. Alright?"

"Alright, Dr. Haynie." She looked up at him. "I know he is in there. I think I hear him. It is only that he is not ready to wake. "

"I'm sure, Muriel." He hugged her.

"Thank you so much for coming. Is there anything else I can do besides reading to him?"

"Talk to him. Perhaps you and Rosa, when she wakes, can both talk to him about the things you all used to do when you were young. Anything that might reach him. I know you will continue to do the best you can. Now, save your worrying." He gave her another one of his bear hugs and gave her that great, endearing smile. "You remember to take care of yourself, little one." He released her from his grip and walked out the door. She sat back down by Curtis and reached out and took his hand in hers.

"Brother, I'm so tired. I need to sleep. I can't until you wake up, so would you please wake up? I promise I will take you to the theatre again. We can go ride through Rotten Row. The cool temperatures are perfect for a nice ride. We love riding together. What did you say?" She waited. "Alright, I will pay for you to go to Angelo's, or even Jackson's. I know you would love that. You could get some of your Eton friends to come home with you and box a few rounds with them for fun." She waited again. "Well, of course, Jimmy would take you. He would probably want to go in with you and box a few rounds himself. He is a good man. He is worried about you. I think he would probably take you anywhere you wanted to go, even without Mama's permission." She sat and looked at him. "Yes, it is getting cooler now. We could go to feed the swans like we did when we were tykes. You know the Thames smells too bad to go during the summer. Phew! So, now would be perfect. Oh, do you remember when Papa took us fishing?" She laughed. "Yes, exactly. I cried because I was afraid to hurt the worms." She laughed again. "You called me a sissy, then you were scared to hook your worm. You said the worms felt too icky." She looked at Curtis and squeezed his hand. She noticed that he began to lick his lips. "Curtis! Are you waking up? Are you thirsty?" She quickly walked over to the bowl and pitcher and dampened a washing cloth. She took it back to the bedside and dampened his lips.

"M-m-m." Oh, wonderful. He made a sound. She knew he had been talking to her.

"Are you waking up? Curtis?"

"Shhhh." What was that supposed to mean? Perhaps he had tired of their conversation. He was making noise though. He responded – out loud. Did he not?

"Curtis? Can you look at me?" Please Curtis. You must wake." He turned his head toward her voice.

"Shhh." What?

"Curtis? Am I talking too loud? Am I bothering you?"

He was barely audible. "I'm trying to sleep, Sister. I'm tired. Quit talking to me."

"Curtis! Wake up, open your eyes, and tell me to be quiet. Please."

"Hm?" He was a bit more loud. "What?"

"Open your eyes, Curtis. Right this minute." She thought if she sounded upset with him, perhaps he would respond in kind. She noticed little slits from his eyelids.

"Open your eyes, Curtis. Papa wants you to get up. You need to wake up. You will be in trouble if you don't listen to Papa. You had better hurry and get up."

"Oh, no." He very so slightly opened his eyes. He seemed to be looking at the ceiling.

"Curtis?"

He turned his head. "Papa is here?" He attempted to raise up. Attempt failing, he dropped back down. "Curtis! You are awake –you are awake. Oh, Curtis. Please tell me you are alright?"

He was slow to answer. "My head hurts. Did someone hit me?" He lay there, staring at the ceiling. "What did you say about Papa? He passed? Right? "

"Yes, Curtis. Papa is gone now. No one hit you. It was an accident backstage."

"Sister, what the hell happened? We were going back stage to meet John Kemble and I wake up in my bed." He looked down to see his shirt was on. Lifted the bedclothes and saw his dress pants were still on. "Why am I still in my dress pants?" He sounded groggy but – fortunately coherent.

"It is a long story. I'm so relieved to see you awake." She smiled. "Curtis, do you remember anything about last night?"

"I remember going to the theatre. John Kemble was amazing. We were going to backstage to try to meet him. That is the last thing I remember until right now. So, what did happen?"

She tried to remember what the doctor asked Mama when she swooned. "Do you know what day it is?"

"Sister, please."

"I mean it. What day is it?"

"Yesterday was Friday. Have I been here one day? That would make it Saturday. Did I pass?"

"Yes, silly. I only wanted to make sure you were here. I need to have Mr. Sanders send a footman to Dr. Haynie."

"Was he here? What the deuce! Who else was here?"

"Let me think. Hmm, the neighbors came by. Margaret and Helen were here. Mama invited her Bosom Bows –"

"Alright, alright. I'm curious about Mama. How is she? Seeing how she reacted to my coming home so unexpectedly, I would suspect she did not take this well. And you still have not explained exactly what happened."

Muriel stood up and bent down to hand-kiss Curtis on the cheek. "I love you brother. You stay in this bed and rest. I'm going to use the bellpull." She looked over to see Rosa sleeping soundly with a soft purr of a snore. What would she do without her sister? She went back and sat down by Curtis. He had his eyes closed. Muriel was finally a little more at ease. Mr. Sanders entered.

"How is he, Lady Muriel?"

Curtis still had his eyes closed. "I think I'm alive? Am I not?"

"Oh, my lord, you had the whole house concerned." He walked over to the bed. Curtis was so still with his eyes closed. "Lord Curtis?"

"Yes, Mr. Sanders, I'm here. My loving sister here tells me I must rest. It seems to me, although I'm not sure, I have been doing nothing but resting. She seems to want to keep from telling me what happened. I may have to get up and push her around like I did when I was little."

"No, my lord. Please, do as Lady Muriel asks. My lady, what may I do for you?"

"Mr. Sanders, have a footman go and tell Dr. Haynie that Lord Curtis is awake. I won't allow Lord Curtis to get up until Dr. Haynie comes to exam him. I don't think the footman needs to wait for a response."

"I will take care of that for you. My lady, would you like tea? Scones?"

"I would. It would make Curtis hungry and so it is best not to eat in front of him. And Rosa, dear girl, is still sleeping. She read to Curtis for most of the night, so I would like to break my fast with her. Thank you, Mr. Sanders."

"I will send the footman now."

Curtis closed his eyes again. Muriel looked over to see Rosa moving – waking. Muriel walked over to her and touched her gently, "Rosa, Curtis woke. I'm so relieved." Rosa reached up and took Muriel's hand.

"I'm so glad. It was a difficult night; well worth it to see you awake." She looked over and saw Curtis's eyes closed. "Is he sleeping?"

"I'm awake Rosa girl, come kiss me on the check." Rosa and Muriel shook their heads. Typical Curtis .

Rosa walked over, grabbed his hand, and kissed his forehead. "I said cheek, Rosa – now you must kiss me again."

Rosa laughed. "I see you are back to your stripling behavior."