Nick moved behind him and kneeled down, laying the back of his hand against the flushed cheek. Heath shivered from both the cold and the fever.

“Heath..can you hear me, Boy? Jarrod and I are here.” Nick was attempting to assess the condition of his brother, while Jarrod held the lamp close.

“God Jarrod, look at him. How did this happen?” Nick questioned, looking up at his older brother.

“He had to have fallen, to bust up the stall this way.” Jarrod surmised as they looked toward the ladder and loft and saw a piece of Heath’s blue shirt still attached to the rough wood of the ladder.

“What the devil was he doing on the ladder? “ Nick quizzed, shaking his head.

Nick tried to move Heath onto his back, but was met with moans of discomfort.

“Heath, it’s Nick and Jarrod, we know your hurting, but we have to see what is wrong.” Nick continued to lay him flat on the floor as Heath moaned in protest.

Nick spoke softly, telling Jarrod the injuries as he found them. With each new discovery of cuts, bruises, broken bones, Nick consoled Heath. There were so many concerns, especially the ugly wound to Heath’s side. The brother’s decided they needed to leave the jagged piece of weathered wood in place until they could get Heath moved.

Time passed as they finished checking him over and planning the next step. They could really do nothing for him there in the barn. Moving him scared both older brothers, but it had to be done. The autumn night was cold and very damp. Both Jarrod and Nick had removed their coats and laid them over their younger brother, trying to stop his shivering.

“No matter how we move him, he’s going to get soaked. We can get the buggy ready and drive it to the front door and get him inside.” Jarrod spoke as he laid out a plan.

“Jarrod, by the time we get the horses hitched and get him into the buggy...then drive to the house and get him inside..one of us then has to bring the team and buggy back here and get them back into the stalls. I say we carry him and move as quickly as possible to the house. Then we are there together to get him upstairs and cleaned up.” Nick responded, just wanting Heath in a nice warm bed, getting the care he seriously needed.

Jarrod knew that he could debate the night away with Nick, but they had the same goal... Heath. Both Jarrod and Nick were worried, arguing about the method in getting to the house was wasting time.

“All right Nick, lets take a minute and figure out the best way to carry him out of here.” Jarrod encouraged, as he looked around the barn for possible items they might use.

Nick and Jarrod worked in silent union preparing Heath for the journey to the house. Jarrod had taken the two lap blankets he had in the buggy and laid them out on the barn floor. Before working to position Heath on them, it was decided to tend to some of the clean up work before taking him to the house. It would be easier to rid their injured brother of his soiled clothing there on the firm floor, then on his bed. Nick cut away the blood stained, putrid shirt while Jarrod removed Heath’s boots and then his jeans. As more flesh was exposed Heath’s damaged body became more frightening. Still to this point the only response they had from their brother, was his soft moans of pain as he worked to breath.

Carefully they lifted Heath and laid him the blankets. Painstakingly they wrapped him tight in wool covering. Nick made a careful cut into the weave to allow the impaled side wound to be exposed.

Nick and Jarrod stood, pensive about the next task before them. As they spoke of the manner in carrying Heath to the house, Storm went unnoticed as he made his way up inside the blanket along Heath’s leg.

Since it appeared that Heath suffered a dislocated shoulder, along with his broken arm, they decided that he could only be carried one way. The brothers would walk side by side, cradling Heath’s body. Nick would take the upper half, with Heath’s broken arm close to Nick’s body. Jarrod would carry his legs.

Jarrod extinguished the lamps and made sure the only open door was the one they would use to exit. Together, Heath’s brothers knelt down and before lifting him, Nick got the rain poncho on Heath, hoping to protect him somewhat from the storm.

They moved as quickly as possible, the normally short walk seemed long. Making it to the porch, Jarrod maneuvered the door and led the way inside. The house was dark and had a chill in the air. Laying Heath on the foyer floor, the brothers lit a lamp and removed their rain drenched coats.

“Jarrod, why don’t you start a fire, I think we should work on that shoulder before we move him any further.” Nick called out as he knelt down and unwrapped the upper half of his brother.

Jarrod nodded and quickly had a blaze going, he disappeared into the kitchen and put on a large pot of water to boil.

Nick had the shoulder uncovered and looked to see if Jarrod was just about ready to assist him. He heard clatter coming from the kitchen and waited. As Nick looked back down at Heath, he felt a twinge of relief. Looking up at him, though a bit unfocused, was his younger brother’s pale blue eyes.

“Heath, nice of ya to wake up now after me and Jarrod carried ya through the rain! Kinda like a dunking in the trough, don’t ya think?” Nick teased, glad to see his brother’s eyes.

Heath tried to say something, no words came out. He closed his eyes and with right hand tried to rub his left eye.

“No Heath, keep your hand away from that eye. It is swollen shut, there is a good gash above it.” Nick consoled as he caught Heath’s hand and brought it back down inside the blanket. Jarrod is coming and we are going to take care of your left shoulder before we take you upstairs. It’s dislocated, it’s gonna hurt, but you’ll feel better when it’s been done.” Nick assured.

Jarrod came from the kitchen carrying a couple wet and dry towels. He heard Nick talking, noticing that his speech was not the same nervous bantering he had been doing to Heath since they had found him. Jarrod gazed downward, now understanding the gentle tone Nick’s voice had taken. He was not sure Heath was hearing a word Nick was saying, but both Jarrod and Nick seemed to feel that Heath was fighting back. Jarrod laid the towels down and disappeared again, much to Nick’s chagrin.

“Jarrod, where do you keep running off to?” Nick called out in protest.

“Right here Nick!” Jarrod appeared carrying a cup and decanter of whiskey. “ I thought since Heath is awake, before we are work on that shoulder, he might need this to help with the pain.” Jarrod explained as he knelt down behind Heath and lifted his head to rest up onto his legs. Both Nick and Jarrod noticed even with the slight elevation onto Jarrod’s lap, Heath breathed a little better.

Heath could hear them, and through the fog he saw a distorted view of his bothers. He wasn’t sure they were real...maybe it was a dream. He felt something at his lips and heard muddled words. He didn’t comprehend the words, he was tired and the voices seemed further away now. He saw a blur of color, that a few minutes ago seemed like possibly his brother's faces, the vision had scrambled into a haze. He could feel his body shaking, cold...so cold. Once again he felt something pressing against his mouth and tasted something that burned his dry lips and throat.

“Nick, he’s not aware of what we need him to do, we did our best to try to get some alcohol down him” Jarrod soothed.

“I know Jarrod, I just thought when I saw his eye movement, that he was coming around. I hate the thought of more pain for him.” Nick spoke disappointed.

Heath’s brothers tried for what seemed like hours to get the shoulder into place. With the break in Heath’s arm being just above the elbow and the obstacle of the side wound, it seemed they could not get the job done They knew with each attempt the movement was causing Heath great pain. As they made a final effort, it was obvious that Heath’s fever was climbing and he was becoming more restless.

“That’s enough...the Doc will have to do it! He can’t take any more of our manhandling and to be honest...I can’t take any more either.” Nick sighed as he sat back on his heels and with his shirt sleeve wiped the sweat form his forehead.

“I’m in agreement with you, Nick. I believe we should not move him anymore than we have to. He’s bleeding pretty good again from his side, more movement will just create more problems.” Jarrod observed.

“Well...I’ll go drag that trundle mattress from the guest room and bring in down here. We can position it going up the staircase, to help elevate him. He needs to be off this cold stone floor.” Nick decided, standing and walking toward the staircase.

“Good idea Nick, grab pillows and several blankets and toss them down to me.” Jarrod called, as Nick climbed the steps.

He looked more comfortable, at least they prayed so. They wanted to feel like they had done something to help him. Jarrod and Nick had placed Heath on the feather mattress. It was positioned so that it climbed the staircase part way, keeping Heath’s upper body elevated.

The elevation stayed firm, unlike pillows that moved with Heath as the fever caused his body to move about. His older brothers decided to keep Heath enfolded in the blankets they carried him to the house wrapped in. The poncho had allowed the blankets to remain dry, the thick weave seemed extra warm. They also hoped to keep his uncontrolled movements to a minimum.

“It’s about 3:30 a.m., Nick. Now that we have him settled, I’ll go to the bunkhouse and see if there isn’t someone there to send for Howard. We can’t wait for him to come to us this later this morning.” Jarrod declared as he put on his coat.

Jarrod ran though the cold rain toward the bunkhouse. He hoped that one of the men, for any reason might have returned to the ranch for the night. He opened the door and wait for a second as his eyes adjusted to the dark room. His eyes searched the room, not finding what he had longed to see. Closing the door, he made his way to the barn, saddled Jingo and ran back to the house to inform Nick that he was riding for the doctor.

Thunder continued to echo across the valley, followed by bright blue tinged jagged streaks of lighting. The rain persisted creating small rivers of running water. The mud was thick and travel was slowed due to deteriorating conditions of the road.

As Jarrod rode he worried that all their efforts for Heath may only have served as a terrible distraction. Maybe one of them should have ridden for the doctor as soon as they found Heath. Jarrod, who normally felt confident his decisions were well orchestrated, was terribly troubled. Once again Nick’s premonitions were validated, regarding Heath. In their need to help him...had they possibly aided in his demise?