An Inconvenient Illness (OPEN)

[Adina Gillespie]

Pain….. Everything poor Adina felt when she woke up was pain. She felt terribly sore and she had begun to cough. She groaned pitifully and held her head in her hands, it felt as though someone were squeezing her temples in a vice. How ironic! A maid, who was so used to coming to the aid of the needy, now herself had come down with a nasty cold and needed help herself! What was she to do while bed-ridden? She had no understanding of anything else other than her work and doing things for others.

She coughed and struggled to get out of bed; she winced and crumpled to the floor as her legs gave out underneath her weight. She yelped and whimpered as her arms began to tremble. She did not like this! She did not like feeling weak and helpless like this. She coughed again and felt her head pounding painfully. Tears dotted her eyelashes as she staggered to her feet and plucked up her robe from the coat rack in a corner of her room. Just putting it on was a chore in of itself. Her arms were so sore and she winced from the ache in her muscles. She slipped on her shoes, tripped over her own feet, and managed to somehow get out the door to do her work.

Adina's head hurt so much but she forced herself to try and make it down the stairs and into the kitchen. She needed to clean, she needed to work. Her head was pounding but she forced herself to push open the door as she staggered to the counter. She gripped the edge and leaned over to try and stop her head from spinning so much. She could feel her heartbeat pounding in her ears and just groaning from the pain caused it to hurt even more. She reached up pulled down a cup, almost knocked several over as she took up the metal ball again and filled it with the loose tea. Her weak hands spilled the tea and she collapsed upon the floor in a faint.

[billie]

Billie had just gotten back from another run hauling a couple of horses over towards Liverpool. It was strange working in England but he was dealing with it. He still didn't feel ready to go back home to the US yet. Though Ana had gone back.

He was a little exhausted but decided he needed some coffee so he could stay up a little more to check messages and shower before hitting the sack and catching up on some sleep. His thoughts were upon Ana. Wondering what the hell had happened that made her want to return home. She barely gave him an explanation.

Striding into the kitchen as he held the work gloves, his attention immediately went to a figure that lay upon the floor. He rushed over to the red-head and carefully shifted her. Straightening up, he got a wash rag, ran it under cold water and then moved back to her side, knelt down and placed it upon her forehead. Lightly he felt the side of her cheeks, then patted her hand as he took it up. "Come on.... get up," he said softly in that warm, smooth as whiskey deep voice.

[Erik Lenoir]

Erik was planning breakfast for himself and had run out of a few things. He decided he could find some eggs for his breakfast omelette in the kitchen. In fact, he might as well just eat breakfast in the kitchen. He ascended from the lair and took the lift to the main floor, then took the stairs up to the second floor.

Entering the ornate green dining room, he heard voices. He went to the kitchen door and pushed it open. Ana's friend Billie Cristoferson was kneeling next to Adina, whom Billie was helping up. He had a compress at her head. Erik frowned. "Is she all right....Adina...are you all right?" He went to her other side and knelt down next to her. "M. Cristofersen, we should get her to the settee in the dining room."

[Adina Gillespie]

Her eyes fluttered open a moment before closing again, her head was spinning and throbbing with pain. She felt something cold against her forehead and she tried to bat it away, her hand lazily flopping against the thing. She heard someone's voice, Billie Cristofersen's; she tried to gather her senses and focus her eyes on his face. He was a very nice man, she had thought; he had helped her carry Lenoir to his truck to take him back to the manor.

Then her eyes and ears became more alert as she started to regain some bit of her composure. She winced and touched her forehead before giving a small cough. "M. Cristofersen," She groaned softly before noticing Lenoir was also there. Now she really felt embarrassed! She was hardly dressed properly, what with being in only her nightgown and shawl. Her eyes quickly looked away from both men as she began to feel flush, keeping her shawl pulled tightly around herself. She shook her head and tried to get up. "Non, I am fine. Just a little fainting spell. I must get to work; I only needed some tea to liven my spirits is all- oh!" She crumpled to the floor again and panted softly, her hands grabbing her head as the painful headache threatened to split open her skull. She groaned pitifully and sighed. "Perhaps... I should lie down for a moment."

[billie]

Watching Adina for a bit as she seemed to be coming around, then looked up as Lenoir knelt beside the fallen young woman opposite of him. Shifting his gaze back down to the red-head and carefully shook his head, "No. She's not," he said forthright and truthfully. "It's obvious she's sick," and placed his hand over the cool wash rag as she started batting at it.

"Well, hello, Miss Adina," and smiled down at the young woman in his usual awkwardly warm way. He always seemed intimidating but oddly, warmth was also usual.
He didn't try to hinder her as she attempted to get up but helped her to stand. "No. Yer not fine. Yer sick an' should be in bed," and her collapsing only re-enforced what he said.

Bending over, he picked Adina up in his arms, "You're gonna do more than just rest a moment, Miss Adina," turning to Lenoir after picking her up, "Would ya be so kind as to get her some tea?" shifting the weight of the red-head in his arms, "I'm gonna have to take her back to her room." Then looked at Adina, "Yer not doin' a thing today except rest, young lady," and smiled at her. This reminded him of a time when Ana was 16 and very sick. She pushed herself to far just as Adina was doing. There was no way he was going to let her get worse. "If you want me to, I can take you to see the Doctor this afternoon to get you some medicine so you can get better. How does that sound?"

With Adina in his arms, he left the kitchen and strode back to Adina's room to put her back in bed.

[Erik Lenoir]

Adina was obviously quite ill. It looked to him as if she had something that had settled in her lungs from the sound of her coughing and she was sore and painful all over. Probably a fever. M. Cristofersen helped her up but she fell again. Erik caught her before she completely crumpled to the ground and let her down slowly.

Billie picked her up and said he was going to carry her to her suite. He asked Erik to make some tea for her. Erik agreed. That was exactly what she needed. Completely forgetting about his own breakfast, he began to put some herbs together to make a tea to bring the fever down and combat the pain. But still she would need to spend some time in bed. There was no reason for her to push herself to do work which she assigned to herself in any case. The work could be done by others in her absence and if left for a few days, no one would likely notice except Adina herself.

Erik brought the water to a boil and poured it into a china tea pot and over the metal tea ball full of the healing herbs. It smelled delicious. He brought a cup and saucer along and placed them on a small tray. He placed a couple of tea towels over the pot so it would not get cold. He walked carefully through the doors and down the long halls to the dormitories. Opening the door to the women's dormitory area, he found his way to Adina's suite. The door was open and he brought in the tea and set the tray on her dresser.

"I'd advise drinking some of this right away, Adina, while it's hot. It will do you much good."

[Adina Gillespie]

The maid felt so embarrassed at being picked up like a little girl and carried away to her room. She initially winced when Billie lifted her into his arms; every part of her extremities were screaming with pain and she frowned sadly. Her head kept telling her to do her work but her body was in no condition to do anything but rest.

"Merci, M. Cristofersen," She groaned pitifully, resting her head against his chest. He was strong yet gentle in the way he carried her; she closed her eyes and started to fall asleep against him. Her one hand fell limp over Billie's arm and she began to snore softly. She stirred slightly when she heard Erik bringing the tea.

Lenoir really was a gentleman: having her over at his lair for Christmas dinner, braving the cold she she could dance in the snow, and even getting her a lovely necklace that she lovingly kept in a special box upon her dresser. She opened her eyes a bit and smiled at Erik as he set the tray beside her on the dresser. "Merci, Erik," She carefully sat up and reached out to take up the cup of tea and sip it slowly. It was very soothing to her throat and made her smile gently. "It is delicious, Erik. Did you add honey to it? It is very good."

[billie]

It had been quite some time since he carried a young woman to bed. This was a different case from when he did so with his Ex-Wife. Adina somewhat reminded him of her. Somewhat. Fortunately, Adina was not a bitter woman hell bent on causing trouble though.
"My pleasure," he didn't really mean that to sound so in depth he was only trying to say 'you're welcome' in his own way.

Moments after he put Adina back into bed, he turned around while straightening up to see Lenoir enter the room. Stepping back then crossed his arms as he watched the half-masked man with the red-head maid.
However the red-head disturbed him some. Unable to remove his eyes from her, "Best that you do nothing for a few days at least. I can take you to see a Doctor, if ya want which I recommend it," Billie chimed in wondering if the girl will brush this whole thing off or not. He had a feeling she wouldn't do a thing about it except allow others to pamper her. Disturbing really. She needed more than rest, she needed medicine to help her get better. If she had the Flu, then it wasn't something to mess around with. There was a strong sense of concern in his eyes. He had been through this before with others, including Ana. Hoping that Adina would not repeat the mistake that Ana made long ago.

[Adina Gillespie]

The maid frowned. She hated feeling so helpless as Billie carried her to her room. She desperately wanted to get back to work. After all, didn't the saying go, 'Idle hands are the Devil's playthings'? Just the thought of Claude possibly being around made her shudder visibly in her weakened state.

She looked over at Lenoir again and smiled. He was so kind to her and had brought her tea. She finished the cup and set it back down on the tray before looking back at Billie… She could sense something was amiss as she studied his face.

"Are you alright, M. Cristofersen?" She asked, tilting her head a bit as she cleared some mucus draining down her throat before coughing a little. She had the strangest feeling that her presence- or something about herself- bothered Billie. But she had no idea what it was that clearly disturbed him.

[Erik Lenoir]

Erik heard M. Cristofersen speak about medicine for Adina. "No, Monsieur. She will do well on the herbal medicine that I shall make for her. The tea is only a beginning. It will bring down the fever. But I have many other things to fight this illness. I am an expert in herbal medicine. Adina will flourish under my care."

Erik didn't want any modern cures, for he suspected they would not be nearly as good as the old ways. All his life he had relied on herbal cures and he had rarely been ill. He had made a great study of such things from the ancient European traditions to even the native American ways. While he never subscribed to any of the more strange and strenuous ways of curing , he relied heavily on the herbs. He had many in his lair which had been brought with him when he had come to the mansion. He supplemented it with herbs from the kitchen which he understood that, in this modern era, were mostly used as seasonings. There were a few things he did not possess and he wondered if a trip to the village would remedy that. However, Adina should see some improvement in a few hours, and then he would begin a new round of teas and herbs.

"Adina, you must let me know when you feel an improvement. I am sure it will be within a few hours."

[billie]

Billie shifted from the bedside to stand at the foot of the bed while he watched her. The poor girl sounded so horrible. There was no doubt in his mind that she had someone serious. Tilting his head down slightly and rose those thick stark white bushy brows as he gaze back at Adina like a father deeply concerned about a beloved daughter. In a way, Adina would have looked like the daughter he could have had with his ex-Wife. Adina had his eyes and her face was the same shape as the love of his life. "I'm concerned about you, Miss Adina," Billie replied with that casual smooth-as-whiskey deep voice. He crossed his arms over his chest and stood there at the foot of her little bed, glanced about, then looked back at her about to inquire why she remained in such a little place.

Lenoir's apparent overconfidence that he can cure Adina of her illness made Billie quite uneasy. He heard all this talk before which made him believe that despite Lenoir had the best of intentions, his abilities - which Billie did not doubt - might not help Adina if she had he believed the young woman had. Unfortunately all of Lenoir's best medicines might not help her in the slightest. "What do you think she has," now looking at Lenoir with those intense eyes, "Doc," Almost sounding rather sarcastic. But he really wanted to know what Lenoir was thinking. Every minute that Adina was left without proper treatment could push her deeper into sickness and closer to death!

[Adina Gillespie]

She shivered and felt her arms turn clammy, frowning as she realized that this could be a serious illness. Influenza? A cold? Oh gods, please not tuberculosis! That would be the death of her. No, no, no! She was just starting to live again. Now to be taken back to the grave by a tiny little bacteria would be the worst kind of second death-. No. The worst kind of death would be at the hands of Claude. Her tired eyes tried to focus on Billie as he stood at the foot of her bed and voiced his concern for her wellbeing. She smiled and nodded to the older gentleman before looking to Lenoir, who seemed equally concerned for her health. She flushed a little; he was so caring of her and she hoped that she could care for him in return. He had given her a love Christmas gift, braved the snow with her, and even sang for her in the opera house when they had first met.

Her eyes looked to Lenoir and she nodded to him this time. "Merci, Erik. I am sure the herbs will be exactly what I need… I have no understanding of modern medicine, nor-." She paused a moment to cough into her hand; something clearly broke loose in her chest and she panted for breath. "Do I think it would be of as good use as the herbs. I shall drink the tea, Erik, and await the other herbes when you retrieve them." She took up the tea cup again and sipped the warm fluid. It felt soothing and Adina sighed in relief as she set down the cup. "Perhaps I should rest now and collect my strength. I think you gentleman have done more than enough for me and I cannot thank you both enough for all your help."

[Erik Lenoir]

Billie seemed quite skeptical of Erik's skills as a herbalist. "M. Cristofersen, I would have you know that I have immersed myself in the study of herbal cures for many years. Not only that, but what did people do before your new modern medicine was around? In my time, in Victorian days, the so-called modern physicians were bleeding people with leeches, removing parts of their brain to cure mental illness and other horrible cures that did more harm than help. Neither do I subscribe to magical cures. My herbal cures are based on good diagnoses and sound medical treatments, going back many thousands of years."

"Of course the first thing we must ascertain is what is ailing Adina. Because it is difficult to examine a woman because of proprieties, I shall have to recruit one of the ladies to help me, and of course, rely on Adina's answers to my questions."

Turning his attention to Adina, Erik said, "Now you must tell me exactly where it hurts, how it feels when you inhale and exhale and if the herbal teas are having any effect." There were, Erik knew, some things that herbs were unable to cure. If Adina had contracted one of those diseases, and she was willing to have a modern doctor work on her, that of course was her business. But until that time, Erik was her physician.

[billie]

Obviously this Phantom guy thought he had it all figured out and was uber-ego enough to believe he could care for if not cure Adina of her terrible illness. Billie only stood there gazing back at Lenoir with that intense poker face but intimidating glare. Arms still crossed over his chest as he listened to Lenoir. Was that all that Lenoir knew how? Propriety, that was out the window if a person was far too ill.

Turning around arms still crossed for a while longer at least as he strode over to a nearby chair, uncrossed his arms and let them drop to the armrest as he sank down into the chair. "Lemme know what you find out, doc," as usual he stated in his velvety, smooth-as-whiskey deep voice. But in his mind, all while watching Lenoir and Adina like a hawk, he was contemplating and waiting for that opportunity to race Adina to the hospital.

[Erik Lenoir]

Cristofersen still wasn't convinced. Of course Erik didn't need to convince this skeptic. Who did he think he was, in any case? If he had been a physician of modern medicine, Erik would have understood if he would wish to defend his sorry profession. But he was not a physician. So why would he be so adamant?

"Monsieur, there is much more to treating the body for a disease. It is helping the body heal itself with the proper foods. I have many manuals of cures for any disease you can name. I have not lost any patients. Never. " Of course Lenoir had generally only practiced on himself and some people in Persia, many years ago, where he had learned much about being a herbalist. And there were a few people at the manor he had treated. But altogether, his patients were not many. Lenoir would never admit that, though. His cures were sound, but not proven with large numbers, as would be expected in a fellow who rarely came out of his lair and then, only to harass the opera company and managers, not to cure people....