Erica

×36×

Erica had been bedridden for the past few days. Ron had slowly been nursing her back to health in and amongst his busy schedule. He had prohibited her from saying more than a few words daily in order for her voice to heal correctly and smoothly without any more complications.

Erica did not mind this. She was so used to not being able to speak that she often forgot that her voice had returned until Ron would randomly remind her. 

She had learnt a lot from staying with Ron. They were in the Port Town of Canterbre which was ironic as this was where she was supposedly intended to be as per the Countess's wishes for her to attend the finishing school here.

She further learnt that Ron was one of the main physicians located in town as many physicians were employed by ship captains as they passed through. Ron himself had received countless offers but had repeatedly declined. Apparently, he was prone to getting horrifically seasick even on the calmest of waters and as to his words exactly: "What good is a physician who is sick all the time?!"

The Port Town of Canterbre was quite a popular and busy place. Not only because of the highly esteemed finishing school but for the port. It played a vital role in the kingdom's trade, so it was riddled with merchants from all over.

The town was part of the Waisend duchy. A very powerful family which held complete jurisdiction over it. The current Duke of Waisend was the brother to the Duchess of Trencent. He was therefore related to Louis however he was not related to King Aleric.

The main Waisend residence was a massive estate located up against the hill overlooking the Town. It was really beautiful and grand as expected of a Duke. 

Erica had been walking around as Ron had finally allowed for her to stretch her legs. He thought the girl would have gone outside for some fresh air but was surprised when instead she did not leave the building. 

Ron had been treating one of the Waisend knights who had gotten into a training accident and was trying to stop the blood when the girl walked in. Erica temporarily froze when she saw the man's uniform momentarily thinking he was there to take her back to the Countess. 

Her fear was evident to Ron, and he was about to calm her down but was too late as she beat him to it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath reassuring herself that the knight was only there for treatment, there was no way he would know who she was let alone be connected to the Alvore family or why would they send one of the Duke of Waisend's personal knights to retrieve her? It would not make any sense to do that.

"Do... Do you need any help?" Her voice came out a little weak and shaky. Ron could not tell if it was because of the fear or the fact that she was still recovering.

He too had learnt a lot about Erica during her stay. Firstly, she was very nervous and untrusting to anyone she met; she was fortunately beginning to warm up to him a little. She would flinch at any sudden movement and was not particularly fond of him trying to help her with basic things. She had clear signs that she had been through a lot and that it affected her psychologically.

"Yes, I do actually." Ron spoke gently without taking his eyes off the knight's wound, "Can you please pass me my stitching kit, it's that box over there on the counter."

Erica did as she was told. Ron opened the box and pulled out a thick needle. The sharp tip glinted as it caught the light. Erica stumbled back at the sight. Fear overwhelmed her senses. Her breathing came out frantically as she began to hyperventilate, her eyes not leaving the needle.

Ron noticed this but he had to stitch the knight's wound as quickly as possible so he did the only thing he could in that situation. He tried to block the needle from her sight.

"Erica. Hey, listen to me," he spoke gently, "I need you to get my notebook for me in the next room. Can you do that?" He tried to distract her.

Erica knew what he was doing and tried her hardest to regain her composure. It was no easy feat, but it needed to be done. It took all of her strength just to break away and breath. She barely managed to make it out of the room.

The strong metallic smell of blood began to overwhelm her, it did not do so before but now it triggered a sensory overload. She grabbed onto the side of the wall for support before hunching over and vomiting into a nearby bucket. She felt so weak and pathetic at this very moment.

She could believe how weak she had become. She could not even deal with something so small and insignificant without breaking down.

When she returned to the room after cleaning up her mess, the knight was already gone, and Ron was cleaning up too. Erica felt bad for being unable to help. He had done so much for her free of charge, the least that she believed that she could do for him was help. She believed that she needed to earn her keep.

"Ah there you are. Thank you." He smiled and took the book from her. 

Erica wanted to apologise for her reaction earlier, but she did not know where to start. She uncomfortably stood while twiddling her thumbs.

"Nope. Apology not accepted." Ron looked up at her.

Erica felt even worse now. He knew she wanted to apologise but he would not let her. She had disappointed him so much that he could no longer deal with her. Erica believed she could do nothing right.

"There is no need for an apology that's why I'm not accepting unnecessary things." He smiled warmly before looking down at his notebook and checking his schedule.

"But..."

"Nope." He shut the book and quickly stood up, "I have an appointment I need to get to now."

Ron started rummaging around, gathering a few of his things to stuff into a simple leather bag.

"I just wanted... to help you." Erica looked at her feet.

Ron temporarily paused at this and walked up to her.

"And you did." He smiled at her in reassurance.

Erica wanted to object but before she could, Ron spoke again.

"Listen, I know you feel the need to repay me for saving your life and letting you stay here until you are ready to leave, but there is really no need for that. I charge none of my patients anything as my practice is supported by the Waisends so there is no need to exploit someone who is in need of help." He put on his coat and made his way to the door.

"I still want to." Erica frowned.

Ron let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, we will discuss this when I get back. I really need to go now, and you better rest that voice of yours while I'm out."

He gave a hurried wave and left. Erica was relieved that Ron was willing to discuss this further. She was relieved as this may give her the chance to repay him back. She felt like she had been a burden to him this entire time and wanted to try whatever she could to make his life easier. She felt like she owed him that much to say the least.

It was both guilt and fear she carried.

A part of her still believed that all kindness came with a price, and she wanted to repay Ron's kindness before the price became too great.