“Where’s the patient?” Doc Danes demanded when he reached the three men.
“Inside,”Teaspoon said.
Doc Danes tried to move toward the door, but Teaspoon stopped him with a hand on his chest. “Nothing you find out goes past this waystation, do you understand me?”
“We can talk about your little peculiarities when it comes to your riders later Teaspoon, I’ve got a patient to see.” Doc Danes replied, bristling at his tone.
“Not one word, Doc, about Lou leaves this waystation, or my boys and I will make your life really unpleasant.” Teaspoon said again.
“Fine! Now let me see my patient!”
Teaspoon moved aside and the doctor entered the bunkhouse, with the stationmaster, Kid, and Jimmy on his heels. As Doc Danes began to examine Lou, several pairs of anxious eyes looked on. When he began to unbutton Lou’s blouse, Rachel came to her senses.
“All right, everyone out of here. Let the Doc examine Lou without all your prying eyes watching him.”
There were no protests as the Teaspoon, Jesse, and the riders left the bunkhouse and settled into different positions on it.
“Lou’s not…not going to die, is she, Teaspoon?” Jesse asked his blue eyes filled with unshed tears.
“It’s too soon to start thinking that way Jesse.” Teaspoon said softly.
Silence settled over the porch as the riders, Jesse, and Teaspoon waited for word from the doctor on Lou’s condition.
Inside the bunkhouse, Doc Banes worked quickly to staunch the flow of blood that was steadily streaming from Lou’s groin. Rachel worked alongside the doctor, heating water, sterilizing cloth, and handing him his instruments, all the while her heart breaking for the young woman all of them loved. When finally he had managed to staunch the blood, and they had Lou cleaned up, the doctor went to the door.
At the sound of the door opening, eight pairs of eyes turned toward it. Doc Danes walked over to Teaspoon. “That young lady is very lucky to be alive…anymore blood lost and we would have been burying her.”
The blood drained from Kid’s face.
“Blood? What blood?” he exclaimed. “Lou didn’t have any open wounds, so where did the blood come from?”
The others started to fire questions at the doctor as well, but Teaspoon held up his hand to halt them. “The doc can’t tell us what he means with all of you yammering.”
“I believe that Lou has suffered a miscarriage. Guessing from the amount of blood she’s lost, the fever, ashen face…I believe that it has been a slow process over the last three or four days, and culminated finally in her losing it today.” Doc Danes explained.
Kid felt his chest constrict violently as he listened to the doctor’s explanation of why Lou was so sick. A baby. Lou had been pregnant with his baby and she hadn’t told him. How could she not have told him? He stumbled off of the porch, his head swimming with the realization that he fathered and lost a child he hadn’t known anything about.
“Is she going to be okay?” Noah asked.
“I believe so. She’s going to need time and a lot of rest to get through this. Losing a child is never an easy thing to get over, but she’s young and she has people who love her. I gave Rachel some medication to dole out to her for the pain, but it needs to be given sparingly.” Doc Danes said as he started down the porch steps toward where Cody had tied his horse.
Teaspoon caught him by the arm. “Doc…”
“Don’t worry, Teaspoon…I’m not going to say anything.” Doc Danes assured him.
Teaspoon smiled wryly. “Thanks, Doc…I just…is she going to be able to…?”
“There appears to be no reason that I can see that she won’t be able to have another baby when the time is right.” Doc Danes said.
“Good…that’s good.” Teaspoon said, releasing his hold on the doctor’s arm.
Teaspoon watched the doctor mount up and ride out of the waystation, before moving toward the door. All the boys followed him into the bunkhouse, except for Jimmy. Jimmy felt sick to his stomach, knowing that he his own actions had contributed to Lou losing her baby. He had been so concerned with trying to out do Kid for Lou’s heart that he hadn’t been there when she needed him. He knew that it was because of his recent revelation to her of his true feelings, that it had made her feel awkward about talking to him. Always before she had shared secrets with him that she couldn’t tell Kid or didn’t think anyone else would understand. But this time she hadn’t and it had been because of the way he had been acting. Lou had needed him and he had let her down, and he would never forgive himself for that. Never.
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