Introspective Vigil
Nathan
sighed as he wiped the fevered brow of his patient.
It had been
a week since Chris had walked into his room to find him collapsed on the floor,
and he had still not regained consciousness.
In all this time, they had only been able to get small amounts of broth
and water into the unresponsive man. The
pneumonia was sapping his strength and ravaging his body.
Nathan
sighed again as he re-wet the cloth, wrung it out, and resumed bathing the ill
man’s face. After all they had been through, Nathan couldn’t imagine losing any of his six
friends this way. If one of them died in
a shootout, well, he was prepared for that, it was the way of the West. But to die from an
infection after having stopped to help a broken down wagon in the rain?
Chris
wasn’t dealing with it much better. He
blamed himself, because he had been scheduled to take the patrol that day, but
had traded with the man that now lying in Nathan’s infirmary. It had been Chris’ birthday, and they had
wanted Chris to be able to enjoy the day.
The others
weren’t taking it much better. They went
about their jobs and continued to protect the town, but you could see that
their hearts weren’t in it. Their hearts
were too busy worrying about the man in the bed in Nathan’s rooms. Their brother in all but
blood.
Setting
aside the cloth, Nathan watched the man currently occupying the chair beside
the bed. It still amazed him how fast friendship
had grown between the two men, they were so different
it wasn’t even funny. Hell, they all
were different. If Nathan had to use one
word to describe each of them, Chris was hard; Buck, cheerful; JD, innocent;
Josiah, devout; Vin, quiet; Ezra, conniving; and
himself? Well, he wasn’t exactly sure
what to say for himself. But despite all
their differences, they had become seven brothers. To lose one now would be devastating.
“Come on,”
he muttered, starting his ministrations again.
“Don’t give up now. We still need
you here.” Nathan broke off as he
thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over, he saw the tiniest movement in
his hand. He cast his eyes back to his
patient’s face just in time to see his eyes flutter open.
“Welcome
back.” The Seven were still together.
