Nick and Jarrod positioned Heath on his right side in the back of the buckboard. This to alleviate pressure on his wounds and fractured ribs, thus allowing him to breathe easier and to prevent any choking on his vomit.

Audra kneeled down beside Heath, gently wrapping him in warm blankets. She shivered at the grisly sound of his wheezing. Sniffing back her tears, she leaned forward and sussurated to him, “I promised you a dance.” She kissed his crimson cheek.

Nick and Jarrod in the front seat, Victoria mounted in the back with Audra and Heath.

Nick held the horses at a steady trot to make the journey as comfortable as possible to avert from aggravating Heath’s injuries. He and Jarrod often craned their necks back at the still form, sending a prayer in the Heavens above not to come for their brother just yet.

Heath was supined on his bed, bare chest, a linen sheet drawn up to midriff. His head was slightly elevated to facilitate his labored respiration. Victoria had stripped him of all his dirty, drenched clothes and was finishing giving him a sponge bath. Her son’s wounds were no longer sweating blood. However, the distinct grayish discoloration encircling the bullet punctures on his shoulder and back was evidence that an infection had taken hold.

Victoria and Audra hammered away at keeping Heath’s temperature down by applying wet towels over his forehead, neck and underarms. As an extra soothing measure, Victoria dipped two washcloths into a basin of cold water that Nick was constantly providing. She wrung them of the excess liquid and gently wrapped them around Heath’s wrists. She then proceeded to clean the wounds with the hot water that Silas had boiled. The stench exuding from the mutilated limbs worried Victoria that the legs were already gangrenous. They were soiled with crusted blood mixed with dirt and bits of mildewed leaves. The black ischemic flesh was indicative of the absence of continuing blood flow. Heath was ashen and deathly lethargic, not even wincing at the touch of her mother’s fingers gently stroking the wounds clean. She could sense that he was silently wagging war against eternal slumber.

The sun was beaming down on the valley when Jarrod hightailed it into town to notify Dr. Merar of Heath’s condition prior to joining the sheriff in retrieving the Harden brothers’ cadavers. The doctor arrived at the ranch shortly after.

Nick was hunched up in a chair by Heath’s bedside, leaning on his elbows, hands neatly folded over his mouth. Victoria was standing behind her overwrought son, softly massaging his stiff neck. Both had already psyched themselves up for the worse and yet, a glimmer of hope flickered in anticipation of Dr. Merar’s diagnosis.

After having sterilized and dressed Victoria’s gash, Howard began examining his patient. He gently applied his stethoscope against Heath’s chest. He detected a frantic heart, racing to supply much-needed oxygen and blood to his drained body. He then assessed his lungs for any possible puncture. The sibilant gasping due to congestion was a likely sign of an onset of pneumonia hatching, brought on by the prolong exposure to the cold night air while in a state of shock.

Dr. Merar’s brows furrowed bleakly at this grim prospect. He laid his stethoscope on the nightstand and asked Nick to assist him in propping Heath up into a sitting position to thus allow him to peer at the back wound. The swelling was expanding and judging by the entry angle, Howard feared the bullet was lodged somewhere near the spinal cord and removing it might prove hazardous. One slight contact with a nerve and Heath could wind up paralized if he wasn’t already.

Nick and Howard eased the comatose back onto his pillows. He repeatedly snapped his fingers against Heath’s cheek to elicit a response. “Come on Heath, wake up.”

Having failed that, Howard clapped his hands but to no avail. “Open your eyes.”

He leaned to check Heath’s corneal reflexes, raising one eyelid with his thumb. The pupil was fixed and dilated.

“How long has he been out of it?”

“I can’t tell for sure, I was unconscious myself for awhile. I would say close to five hours,” Victoria informed, worried that it might signify a bad omen.

The slight shake of Howard’s head didn’t go unnoticed nor did his grimacing at the feel of Heath’s numerous fractured ribs underneath his probing hands.

“You said he stopped breathing?”

“Yeah, for about a minute or so,” Nick said. “Then I pounded a cough out of him and his breathing resumed.”

Any spitting of blood?” Howard inquired.

“No, not that I noticed. It was a dry cough.”

“It’s safe to say the cracked ribs didn’t puncture a lung.” He continued his probing down to Heath’s abdomen.

“That’s a good sign, isn’t it?” Nick ventured a prognosis.

“Yes. It means there are no internal hemorrhages. He’s a tough boy.”

“They don’t come any sturdier than Brother Heath.”

“But he’s livid and so still,” Victoria remarked.

“That’s due to the extreme blood lost. He’s lapsed into a deep sleep. I doubt he can hear or sense anything.”

“You’re wrong,” Nick strongly disagreed, slipping his hand into his ailing brother’s. “I know he can feel my hand and can hear every single word uttered in this room.”

“The bullets will eventually have to come out, the sooner the better. They are the source of the infection. Bits of dirt and tiny pieces of cloths may have been driven into the wounds adding to the problem. We’ll first need to get his fever down and infuse him a good pint of blood before venturing down that alley. For the latter, I’ll need your assistance, Nick.”

“I’m here, Doc. Anything to save him.”

“What about his legs,” Victoria inquired.

Dr. Merar walked to the end of the bed and lifted the sheet off Heath’s legs.

Nick closed his eyes in disgust at the sight of those festering limbs. He enfolded Heath’s hand in both his hands, clasping it tightly, wishing his baby brother’s suffering could cascade out of his body and into his own.

“What happened to them?”

“They were crushed by a rock.”

“That’s bad.”

“Is that gangrene? Will you need to amputate?” Victoria asked, repressing her emotions.

“No, I don’t think so.”

Victoria heaved a sigh of relief.

“We’ll need to sterilize the area with alcohol so I can better determine the extent of the infection.”

He reached into his medical bag for a square of antiseptic gauze and a flask of alcohol.

“With the gauze, gently rub off the dirt and bits of leaves. Don’t pull anything out. If they won’t come out, leave them be. I’ll take care of them later,” he instructed to Victoria.

“Okay, Doctor.”

“Nick, if you’re ready, we’ll start the procedure.”

“Ready, Doc.” Nick gingerly rested his brother’s limp hand against the mattress and began rolling up his sleeve as Victoria started on cleaning Heath’s legs.

In her room, Audra was prostrated on her right side, knees bent to her chest and arms clasped around her body. She stared blankly out the window in complete torpor. The horrific images of the slaughtering, forever seared on her mind, were incessantly dancing before her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to stifle them, she was unable to dispel their taunt. She kept seeing Tommy’s face as her fatal bullet stole his existence. She had ridden shotgun for her family before but was never faced with the haunting task of having to pull the trigger on anyone. She was mortified.

“You had to shoot Tommy. Nick would probably be dead if you hadn’t been fast on the draw. You saved your brother’s life,” Jarrod’s comforting words kept lurking in the background.

The blood transfusion over, Dr. Merar gathered his instruments and immersed them in a bowl filled with alcohol. He proceeded to swathe Heath’s damaged legs in clean bandages after assessing the depth of the infection, which was extensive but not nearly enough to justify amputation.

The heat radiating from Heath’s feverish body had convected to the damp towels. Victoria replaced them with freshly cold ones.

“I’m hoping he’ll gain a bit of strength with the infusion of new blood and hopefully his fever will subside enough for me to go in for the bullets before infection spreads.”

“What do we do in the meantime?” Nick asked.

“Wait. Nick you keep a vigil. You come fetch me if you notice any change, whether a stir, a moan...anything.”

“Where are you going?” Nick asked, panicked at the thought of the doctor leaving.

“I thought I might trouble your good mother for a cup of coffee.”

“Of course, Howard. And perhaps some breakfast?”

“Much obliged, Victoria.”

“Come downstairs. I’ll have Silas prepare you something.”

“You keep your eyes peeled, Nick.”

“Don’t worry, Doc.”

Dr Merar and Victoria exited the room.

Nick leaned closer to Heath and gently ruffled his hair. “Hey, Kid...you’re going to be alright.” He ran his fingers through his ailing brother’s hair. “Don’t quit on me now.”

Nick sank back into his chair and closed his eyes. He folded his hands and pillowed his head on them, elbows resting on his knees.

Minutes later, Audra made her way into the room, her drawn expression resting upon her brother’s mangled body. She shambled up to the bed.

The noise of her slippers shuffling against the floor prompted Nick to alertness. He swiftly glanced at Heath, fearing the sound came from him.

“Audra!”

“How is he?”

“Not good,” he replied mournfully.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Nick nodded despondently. “The doctor said to wait.”

“Can I sit with you?”

“I’d like that.”

Audra pulled up a chair and placed it beside Nick’s. She sat, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

“I’m scared, Nick,” she sobbed. “What they put him through...”

“Now, now...don’t you worry, Little Sister. He’ll bounce back just fine. He’s a tough kid. Between the doctor’s care, the Old Mighty’s hand and the Barkley stubbornness, he can’t lose.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Hey, I’m always right!” he boasted, adopting his best gruff voice.

Audra fashioned a bleak smile. Nick leaned closer to Heath and patted his head.

“You have to pull your weight too, Little Brother.”

Nick leaned back against the back of his chair and looked at Audra. “ I really appreciate what you did for me out there.”

“What did I do?”

“What did you do? You saved my life!”

“I took one in return.”

“It’s no walk in the park, believe me, and it never gets any easier. In retrospect, though...if you had to do it all over again, would you do it differently?”

Audra paused. She then smiled at Nick and with a stern voice, answered, ” No.”

She tightened her grip around her brother’s shoulders. He reached for her hand and kiss it.

...Continued