"Aye lad," the old steward said. "Ye will be happy to be knowing the Captain is awake. Still a bit worn and worse fer wear he be, but awake and talkin none the less."
Symms stepped aside to allow Reiley to enter then followed in after him.
Sterling, propped up amongst thread bare pillows, the best the inn had to offer, was forced to turn most of his head to see the gentleman who entered his room.
"Go to his other side, " the steward whispered to Reiley. "So's he can see ye better."
"Symms?" Sterling asks, wishing to know the identity of the stranger.
He looked and sounded exhausted, and yet the high colour of the fever he had been fighting at the beginning of the last evening seemed to have tempered. Still...
"This be Doctor Reiley, Dr. Easterly's assistant," the steward explained. "The young gentleman I were telling ye about."
Sterling's eyes narrowed as he studied the man Symms had just presented to him. "Dr. Easterly's assistant?" Sterling asked.
"Do ye know him sir?" Symms asked as he began to arrange the table for the morning meal.
Sterling continued to stare hard at Reiley. Where had he seen this man before? Finally he shook his head, remembering the steward's question.
"Nay, I have not had the pleasure of making Dr. Easterly's acquaintance." For a moment, the concerned look vanished from the captain's features and his expression seemed to brighten. "Now I remember ye! You were here... with Mr. Hazzards when... after he had been able to retrieve Mistress McKinney's letter. So then," he said, the drawn look returning to reclaim him. He lifted his bandaged arm. "I have thee to thank for this?"