Previously
Killian fetches Eleanora to assist with Emily's sudden labor, and they rush to the Blackwell manor despite the storm. Eleanora discovers the baby is in a dangerous breech position and sends Killian to find a specialist while she and Owen attempt a risky delivery.
Owen checked Emily’s face, which seemed much more comfortable than before, then turned his gaze toward Eleanora.
A bright smile broke across his face when he saw the child in her arms, but it lasted only an instant. Soon his brow furrowed as he caught sight of Eleanora’s pale complexion.
Emily asked in a hoarse, trembling voice.
In that moment, having cut the umbilical cord, Eleanora hurried to lay the infant down on a flat table. Only then did Owen comprehend the child’s condition.
At the sound of that despairing word from Owen’s mouth, Emily’s face, bloodshot and strained, contorted once more.
Without wasting a single second, Eleanora tilted the baby’s head back slightly to open the airway.
She then inserted her little finger into his mouth and cleared away the viscous amniotic fluid that was blocking his airway.
( ‘Please… breathe!’ )
Eleanora rubbed the child’s back vigorously, but no cry came.
Without hesitation, she pressed her lips over his tiny nose and mouth together.
To avoid harming his delicate lungs, she carefully puffed the air she had gathered in her cheeks into him.
Puff—
Puff—
His still little chest rose artificially and fell with each breath she gave. But the moment she stopped, it sank back into utter stillness.
Eleanora whispered in a faint voice that was nearly swallowed by the roar of the rain.
She immediately pressed her fingers over the location of his heart.
Resuscitating an infant was entirely different from performing CPR on an adult, leaving her more anxious than ever before.
Her two fingers moved incessantly over the baby’s unresponsive chest.
At that moment, Killian and Doctor Shelburne arrived.
Killian was the first to reach the doorway, and there he froze, barely able to breathe as he watched the desperate struggle.
Shelburne asked, gasping for breath.
At the exact same instant, Eleanora felt a faint pulse push back against the tips of her fingers.
The obstructed airway finally cleared, and the baby’s first shrill, weak cry filled the room.
Eleanora released the breath she had been holding all this time. Her trembling eyes checked the baby’s condition.
His pale, cold face flushed pink in mere moments, and strength returned to his limp body.
Wrapping him in a clean cloth, Eleanora picked him up and approached Emily.
Emily burst into tears of pure relief. Owen, embracing her, wept along with her.
Shelburne, who quickly grasped the situation upon entering, patted Eleanora on the shoulder.
Eleanora handed the infant to Owen, then stood for a moment watching the newborn let out lusty cries in the arms of his parents, who were drenched in tears of joy and relief.
Afterward, she quietly slipped out of the room.
She let out a short exhale. But suddenly, her shoulders twitched.
For in the hallway, where the blue light of dawn was beginning to creep in, Killian was standing.
He said in a low voice. Eleanora managed an awkward smile and shook her head.
Her awkward laugh slipped quietly into the silent hallway.
( ‘Good heavens… I feel terribly embarrassed…’ )
Until just a moment ago, she had been so consumed by the emergency that she hadn't had time to think about anything else.
Now, however, the situation was different.
‘Ah… I don’t want to think about anything right now. I just want to go back, take a bath, and lie down to sleep.’
Her entire body was screaming from exhaustion. Simply staying on her feet was a feat in itself.
( ‘And Lord Blackwell must be utterly exhausted as well.’ )
He had spent hours riding back and forth on horseback through the pouring rain, so it was impossible for him not to be drained.
Yet…
At Killian’s sudden suggestion, Eleanora’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him.
Eleanora swallowed back the urge to cry and nodded.
It truly felt awful to be the one at fault.
Even so, she couldn't fathom in the slightest how this man could possibly be afraid of women.
( ‘True, he did look unusually perturbed during the incident with Lady Delamour, but what happened then would unsettle anyone. She had even used drugs.’ )
At that moment, Killian parted his lips and spoke.
Killian’s voice wavered with the faintest tremor.
And in that moment, Eleanora knew instinctively that he wasn't lying.
All the abrasive behavior he had shown toward her, his hasty flight when he encountered Vivian… he had truly done it all because he was afraid.
Eleanora swallowed dryly.
Eleanora was an ordinary person through and through. When someone like her heard such a story, it was only natural to feel pity and sympathy.
And that was certainly not the reaction Killian wanted.
Killian said, looking straight at her.