The Earl of Brass (The Ingenious Mechanical Devices Book 1) Read Free Page A

with us,” reprimanded the corpulent doctor.
    “I am still master of this house, and I have every right to be ill tempered !” He pointed at each of them with his left hand. “All of you, out !”
    They both separately turned to protest, but the fire in his eyes and the authority he exuded even in his deteriorated state deterred them. As the barrister stormed out with a slam of the bedroom door, Patrick watched the strength seeped from Eilian’s body as he gradually sunk into the pillows. The butler hesitated at the door. The doctors he had brought to care for his boss were leaving while he was still on the verge of death, and worse yet his master had been the one to dismiss them. Lord Sorrell held his head in his hand and fought back the tears collecting behind his eyes.
    “Sir,” Patrick began uncomfortably, “do you want me to escort them out or would you like them out of the room temporarily?”
    “Show them out. Tell them they will be paid later.”
    Patrick nodded and disappeared into the hall.
    Eilian raised his left arm and stared at his wrapped, swollen hand. Every muscle ached as he reached up and touched his face. The skin was puffy near a few cuts that were stitched closed, but it was wholly unburned. As he inched toward his chin, the sting of healing blisters became more pronounced. What state was he in? His neck and jaw were bandaged as was his chest and torso on the right side. He reached below the sheets and ran his hand over the gauze around his thigh. He tapped his big toes against each other. Both feet are here, so both of my legs are intact .
    “Hello,” he said to himself, testing his speech. “How are you? The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”
    Apart from being slightly weak, he could pronounce every syllable even with the tight wrappings encumbering his jaw. He then promptly ran his tongue over his teeth. Thank goodness they are all there . Despite hating that he would eventually inherit a title, he didn’t want to look like a common beggar or be forced to wear dentures. As he reached up to touch his teeth, his heart sank. His fingers would never reach. The nub hung suspended in midair. Eilian knew his hand and forearm were missing, but he could feel his fingers clenching and relaxing. Did his body not realize it was gone?
    “Sir, are you all right?” Patrick asked from the threshold as he watched Lord Sorrell stare longingly at his missing limb.
    “I can still feel it.” His eyes were rapidly filling with tears. “Why did they do this, Pat? Was there no other way?”
    Patrick weightlessly sat on the edge of Eilian’s bed. “I knew this would be very hard on you, and I wanted to be the one to tell you. Despite the tactlessness of the men you sent away, they are some of the best surgeons and doctors in England.”
    “So even the best were powerless to save it?”
    He nodded. “When I heard about the airship crash, I got to the hospital as fast as I could. The doctor unwrapped your arm to ask me what you would want done. It was blackened below the elbow and burnt to the bone. You could,” he paused and swallowed hard, “see it when they lifted up the skin. That’s why I hired the other doctors in London and had you brought back here for treatment. They decided that removing it was the best option, the only option.”
    His eyes grew wide. “But what about…”
    The butler raised his hand, and Eilian fell silent. “If you were allowed to keep it, you would have gotten gangrene and died. You don’t seem to grasp the gravity of your condition. You may care most about your arm, but there are other injuries that are much more pressing.”
    Eilian’s chest tightened as Patrick continued, “You have severe burns from your neck to your thigh on your right side, you were in a coma for five days for seemingly no reason, and you have dozens of cuts and bruises. Who knows if you have any infections or if you will be able to move or walk normally again?”
    Tears flooded