by Janet
Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV program
"Big Valley" are the creations of Four Star/Republic Pictures and
have been used without permission. No
copyright infringement is intended by the author. The ideas expressed in this story are copyrighted to the author.
“Hi Jay,” Heath said as he walked up to Jarrod outside
near the barn. “Me look for you.”
“What’s wrong?” he asked suddenly worried about what Heath
needed with him. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
“No wrong,” Heath answered smiling. “Me want to play with you.”
“I....” he hesitated trying to come to grips with his
jealousy and his anger toward Heath even though he knew that it wasn’t
completely Heath’s fault. “I’m too busy
right now. Maybe later if I’m free.”
“Me sorry,” Heath said turning to leave.
“Wait,” he replied putting a hand on Heath’s
shoulder. “I didn’t mean it that
way. I just wanted to do something else
first. That’s not exactly true either.
I have to do something before I can play. It’s father’s rules and you must follow them or be punished.”
“What?” Heath asked very curious. “Me help?”
“Well,” he answered studying the small blond-haired boy
standing in front of him. “I guess so.”
Heath followed Jarrod into the barn where he started doing
his afternoon chores. Jarrod really didn’t want Heath around him right now but
he didn’t have the heart to tell him that.
He kept remembering what had happened to the small boy’s mother and that
the two of them shared the same father.
He knew he shouldn’t feel this way but he couldn’t help it. He was angry with that boy and his father
for putting him in this situation in the first place.
“I have to finish my chores before I can play Heath,” he
said as he worked trying to explain his feelings to Heath. “I think you’re too small to help but you
can sit over there on that bale of hay and watch if you want to.”
Heath did as Jarrod said.
He didn’t take his eyes off of Jarrod as he worked. It kind of bothered
Jarrod that Heath kept looking at him.
Why don’t you look somewhere else? He asked himself as he
worked. Why do you have to look at me?
“I’ve had to do chores since I was about your age,” he
said glancing at Heath who was still looking at him. “Father will give you chores to do when he thinks you are
ready. I have mine to do and Nick has
his.”
“Me too,” Heath replied smiling.
“You will,” he told him still wishing that Heath would
just leave him alone. “Probably
something small like spreading hay for the horses or putting grain in the
barrels. That’s what I did at first.”
“Gee Jay,” Heath said still smiling.
“You stay there and I’ll be right back,” he replied
heading toward the loft ladder. “I need
to get something.”
Jarrod began to climb up to the loft to move a bale of hay
toward the edge so he could push it off.
He had noticed that one bale was very close to the edge so he thought it
would be easy to push off. There wasn’t enough to feed the horses left on the
ground so Jarrod decided he could do it without his father’s help although when
his father found out, he might get punished for it. Heath stood up coming to stand at the bottom of the ladder to the
loft to get a better look despite Jarrod’s warning about staying where he
was. At first Jarrod didn’t see him
until the bale started to fall toward his brother.
“Heath!” he screamed as he looked down and saw his
brother. “Look out!”
Jarrod jumped from the ladder to push Heath out of the way
but didn’t make it in time. Both boys
landed in a heap on the barn floor with the bale of hay lying on top of Heath’s
left arm.
“What’s going on in here?” Nick asked as he walked into
the barn. “Oh no! Father!
Mother! Hurry up! Jarrod and Heath are hurt.”
Nick ran to his brother Jarrod to see how bad he was hurt
and didn’t like what he saw.
“Father!” he cried again louder. “Come here! Jarrod’s
hurt!”
Tom came running from where he had been working on the
other side of the barn when he heard Nick’s voice. He stopped and looked at two of his sons. Quickly, he went to them, first lifting the
bale of hay off of Heath’s arm. Then he
pulled Jarrod off of Heath where he had landed. Turning them both over he realized that they were
unconscious. He felt over Heath’s body
realizing that he had sustained a broken arm but when he checked Jarrod he
realized that Jarrod had a large bruise on the left side of his head and there
was a small pool of blood under his head as well. He knew he needed to get Dr. Merrar.
“Nick,” he said as he looked over at his middle son, “I
need you to get Murphy to go for the doctor.
Both Jarrod and Heath are hurt and I need the doctor before I dare move
them.”
“How bad are they?” Nick asked before turning to leave.
“Will they be all right?”
“Heath’s got a broken arm,” he answered looking again at
Nick’s frightened face. “But Jarrod has
some kind of head injury. I don’t know
what happened but I’ve got an idea that Jarrod was doing something he shouldn’t
have been doing. I’ve told that boy not to do things he can’t but he continues
not to listen to me and now he’s been hurt because of it. I don’t know what I’m going to do with him.
And to top it all off he’s nearly gotten Heath killed. I’m going to have a long talk with him when
he comes to.”
“My guess is that he was getting that bale of hay from the
loft,” Nick said looking at the hay bale on the barn floor. “But what was Heath doing? Don’t you fuss at
Jarrod. He’s just trying to be a good
son for you. You pushed him during that
time you were so mean to him. He’s just
trying to show you that he can do whatever needs to be done that’s all. What
does it matter about hurting Heath?
Jarrod doesn’t want anything to do with him and neither do I. We wish things could go back to the way they
were before he came here. All he does
is bother us and wants to follow us around.
Jarrod and I are closer than we’ll ever be with him.”
“I don’t know,” he replied looking down at the two
boys. “Nick, I need that doctor. I’m
not fussing at Jarrod and yes I was very mean to him but that’s all behind me.
I wish you and Jarrod would believe that.
I’ve told both of you that moving bales of hay from the loft is too
heavy for small boys. I just wish
Jarrod had listened to me and maybe this wouldn’t have happened. And I’ll have
you know that Heath is your brother too.
I will not have you treat him in this manner. This is all still a shock to you and Jarrod but Heath is my son
and your brother and he will be treated as such. Is that clear?”
“Yes sir,” Nick told him as he headed out to find Murphy.
But Nick was still angry with his so called younger
brother and he vowed to help Jarrod all he could but forget about Heath until
Jarrod was better. Tom stood up, walked into the house and found his wife
sitting in the sewing room working on a new shirt for Heath.
“Tom,” she said as she looked up, “I thought I would make
Heath a new shirt as a surprise. Several of the shirts he had with him were
worn badly.”
“Victoria,” he replied looking at her with a serious
expression, “I need to tell you something.”
Victoria sensed that something was wrong and stood up.
“What is it?” she asked looking at her husband. “Is it the
boys? Are they all right?”
“Jarrod and Heath are both in the barn,” he answered as he
tried to compose himself. “I don’t know
all of the details but they are both hurt.”
“Hurt!” she cried as she headed out the door. “How?
Why?”
“What I’ve been able to piece together is that Jarrod must
have tried to move a bale of hay from the loft to the barn floor” he said
following her to the barn. “Somehow in
the process, Heath must have gotten in the way and Jarrod tried to either push
him out of the way or save him some other way.
Like I said I’m not sure. By the
time I arrived both of them were on the floor unconscious. You know I’ve told
that boy not to do things that are too heavy for him. I’ve told him to ask me or one of the men for help but for some
reason he doesn’t want to listen to me.”
“Tom,” she replied, “we don’t have time for this. If Jarrod and Heath are injured our first
priority is to help them not scold them.
There will be time enough for that later.”
“I suppose,” he told her shaking his head. “I just wish Jarrod had listened to me and
none of this would have happened.”
When they walked into the barn, Nick was kneeling down
beside of Jarrod trying to talk to him.
He wasn’t paying any attention to Heath at the moment because he was
very worried about his brother.
“Jarrod!” she cried as she reached her son. “Oh honey.
I’m here.”
“Has he said anything?” he asked Nick as he came to a stop
beside the two boys. “Son, I’m sorry about getting angry over what
happened. I’ll wait until Jarrod is
better and remind him that I don’t want him doing something like this again.
All of this with Heath has caused friction between all of us and I want us to
be a family again. You and Jarrod have
to help Heath learn his place here. I
know you can do that if you will just give yourself the opportunity to try.”
“No,” Nick answered looking up with tears in his
eyes. “Is he going to be all right? I
know father. I hope you will be able to
tell him. I don’t have time for Heath now.
Jarrod needs me father and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to help him until he’s better and
then we’ll see.”
“I don’t know son,” he said as he kneeled down beside of
his wife. “What about Heath?”
“What about him?” Nick shot back. “It’s his fault Jarrod is hurt. Why can’t he just leave us alone? Why does
he have to always get in the way and want to follow us? I wish he would just go away and never come
back.”
Tom realized that not only Jarrod was jealous of Heath but
Nick was as well.
“Son,” he said as he looked into Nick’s hazel eyes, “Heath
is important too. He’s a member of this
family. Just because he wasn’t born into it doesn’t mean that we should just
forget about him. He’s my son and your brother. He needs guidance and help to understand what his role here at
the ranch is. I believe that you as
well as Jarrod can help him achieve that. You just have to give him a chance.”
“Not to me he isn’t,” Nick replied with anger. “I never wanted him here. All he ever does is follow me around. I
can’t spend any time with Jarrod anymore because of him. I wish you had never
heard of him. He just reminds mother of
what you did.”
“Nick,” she told him turning to look at him, “we have to
help Heath as well as Jarrod. Heath is
your brother too. I know that you are still upset and angry about the way Heath
became a member of this family but that’s beside the point. He is a member of the family and he is
entitled to love and care as much as Jarrod is. I have accepted him as your
father’s son and I believe you will come to accept it also in time. Right now though both of them need all of us
so we need to stop this arguing for their sakes.”
“Not like Jarrod,” Nick said still angry. “Jarrod and I know what the other one is
thinking and feeling but Heath is different. I don’t even know him. He just showed up here and I’m supposed to
drop everything and call him my brother.
I don’t think so. Jarrod is my
brother not him.”
“Given time,” she replied trying to keep Nick calm, “Heath
will become just as close as Jarrod to you. You must be patient with
Heath. He’s new to having brothers and
he’s not sure what to do. He needs to
be shown how to act. I believe that you
can help him. I really do. Just give it
time sweetheart. That’s all I’m
asking.”
“No!” Nick screamed.
“I don’t want him to. If only father hadn’t gone to Strawberry in the
first place none of this would have happened.”
“Son,” he said holding Nick by his shoulders, “you have to
give Heath a chance. He needs you. Yes
I made a terrible mistake but out of that mistake came a wonderful gift. My son Heath. I love him and I know deep down in your heart you do too. But
this is not the place for this. We must
first get these boys well and then we can settle all of this.”
“Jarrod needs me more,” Nick replied turning to look at
Jarrod. “I want him to get well.”
Tom shook his head and decided to let the discussion end
before Nick became even more upset. As
soon as Jarrod was better, he would sit down with all three of his sons and
work this situation out.
Dr. Merrar walked into the barn before Tom could answer
Nick. Moving aside, Tom, Victoria and
Nick let the doctor examine both boys.
“Heath is going to be fine after I set his arm and give
him something for the pain,” he said glancing up. “He’s just had the wind
knocked out of him.”
“What about Jarrod?” Nick asked very concerned for his
brother. “Is he going to be fine like Heath?”
The doctor noticed the way Nick had said Heath’s name and
realized that Nick was having a difficult time accepting Heath. But right now Jarrod needed them more.
“Jarrod is not as lucky,” he answered. “Jarrod sustained a very serious concussion
from a hard blow to his head. You can
see where his head impacted with the loft ladder right here.”
He pointed to a rung where there was some dried blood.
“What are you saying doc?” Tom asked not liking what he
was hearing. “Isn’t Jarrod going to be all right?”
“I’m saying that Jarrod may never wake up,” he answered
looking at the worried parents. “His
head hit the ladder hard and the blow has damaged the side of his head very
seriously. I don’t know what condition
he will be in if he does indeed wake up.”
“No!” Nick cried.
“I won’t let him die! He has to
live. I can’t be here all alone with
Heath. It’s not fair. Why couldn’t it have been Heath instead of
Jarrod? I need him and I want him to be all right.”
“You don’t mean that Nick,” she said not wanting to
believe what she was hearing. “You’re just very worried about Jarrod and you’re
not thinking straight about how you really feel about Heath. In time everything will work out. You’ll see
that I’m right.”
“Yes I do,” Nick replied still very upset. “I need Jarrod. I love him. He’s always been there for me. I can’t lose him now.”
“Nick,” he told the boy, “Jarrod might get better sooner
if you stay calm and talk to him. He
needs someone to help him. I don’t know
if he will be able to do things for himself when he wakes up.”
“Like what?” Nick asked looking at the doctor. “I’m sorry
for yelling. I didn’t realize that it
would hurt Jarrod. I don’t want to do anything that will hurt him.”
The doctor nodded at Tom and Victoria. He knew what he needed to do to keep Nick
calm so he could help his two brothers whether he wanted to or not. Both Tom and Victoria realized what the
doctor was doing and nodded.
“What I mean is,” he answered trying to calm the irate
boy, “helping Jarrod learn to do things again.
Like reading, writing, dressing, etc.
Do you understand? He may not
remember much about the accident. I
won’t know any of the details until he wakes up.”
“I can do that,” Nick said smiling. “I’ll do anything I can to help Jarrod. I
would like to sit and talk to him. I
have stories I could tell him.”
“Good,” he replied standing up. “The first thing we need to do is get both of the boys into the
house and into bed. Then I can treat
them.”
Tom carried Heath and the doctor carried Jarrod into the
house placing the boys in their own beds.
Tom decided to stay with Heath knowing his wife would want to stay with
Jarrod.
“Keep him quiet and let him rest as much as possible,” he
said looking at Tom after giving Heath some medicine. “In a few days he’ll be up and moving but no rough housing. I want him to remember that arm.”
“All right doc,” Tom replied looking at his newest
son. “Let me know about Jarrod.”
“I will,” he told him as he left Heath’s room.
When the doctor was finished setting Heath's arm, he went
to Jarrod’s room. Tom looked at the small boy in the big bed but his mind was
on his older son and the condition he was in.
“I’ll sew up that cut and then bandage his head,” he said
as he worked on Jarrod. “I’ll have to
inject the medicine into him since I can get no response. I want him to remain
as quiet as possible if he does come to.
His head is going to be hurting for some time after the blow it took.”
“Doctor,” she asked looking at her son, “what are his chances?”
“Right now,” he answered shaking his head, “not good. The head injury has done considerable damage
to Jarrod and I will just have to wait to see if he can come out of it. But
even if he does he will be confined to bed for a while. The headaches will be bad for some time as
well as dizziness from the concussion.
I’m afraid that Jarrod won’t be attending school for at least several
weeks.”
“I understand,” she said looking at her son. “I’ll keep him as quiet as possible.”
Nick sat down beside of Jarrod and held his hand. He was crying as he watched the doctor work
on his older brother.
“You don’t know Jarrod,” Nick said as he continued to hold
Jarrod’s hand. “He’ll be all
right. I know he will.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he replied smiling at Nick. “You remember what I told you to do and
you’ll help Jarrod a whole lot.”
“I will,” Nick told him not taking his eyes off of Jarrod.
The doctor motioned for Victoria to follow him to the
door.
“I’ll be by in a few hours to have another look at that head,”
he said looking at her. “I’m not sure
at all what will happen with Jarrod.
But I didn’t want to hurt Nick. Jarrod could remain like this for the
rest of his life. There is no telling
with a head injury of this type. I
would say that if he does wake up there will some kind of problems with his
memories or speech or something. I just
won’t know until Jarrod wakes up.”
“I appreciate that,” she replied nodding. “Those two are very close and Nick will stay
by Jarrod’s side until he knows Jarrod will be all right. I understand what
you’re saying. And I’m going to pray
that he will somehow come out of this.”
“It might just help,” he told her. “You never know about love and caring. I’ll see you soon.”
The doctor left and Victoria slipped out to check on
Heath.
“Jarrod,” he said as he continued to hold his brother’s
hand, “you just rest and I’ll take good care of you. You won’t have to worry about your chores or your homework
because I’ll make sure I get them for you.
You’re a wonderful brother and I won’t ever forget what you’ve done for
me.”
Tom looked up when he saw his wife enter Heath’s room.
“How is Jarrod?” he asked very worried. “What did the doctor say?”
“He’s not sure that Jarrod will recover,” she answered as
she sat down beside of Heath. “He said
that this head injury could cause him to lay like that for the rest of his
life.”
“Not Jarrod,” he said shaking his head. “I know that he will get better. After all he has a guardian angel.”
“It’s going to take more than just Thomas to help him,”
she replied looking at Tom. “Jarrod
needs a miracle. And Nick won’t leave him at all. I don’t know if I can lose
another son. Losing Thomas was so hard
and now the possibility of losing Jarrod is making me very uneasy. I’m trying to be strong for Nick but it’s
not that easy.”
“I know,” he told her.
“We just have to pray that somehow Jarrod gets that miracle. I don’t think I could bear to lose another
son. That thought has been on my mind since I found him like that. I remember the way Thomas was lying when I
found him and the fact that he never woke up.
I always blamed myself for not finding him sooner and the same can be
said of Jarrod. If only I had known
what he was doing maybe I could have stopped him before....”
“I know,” she said nodding. “Has Heath come to yet?”
“No,” he replied looking down at Heath. “He should be waking up soon and what do I
tell him about Jarrod. I can’t just say
to him that Jarrod might never wake up or could possibly die. He just lost his mother. What is this going to do to him?”
“Papa,” Heath told them as he opened his eyes, “me see Jay
fall. Jay hurt bad.”
“Yes Heath,” she said looking into his blue eyes. “Jarrod was hurt in the fall.”
“Jay save me,” Heath replied smiling through the pain in
his arm. “He jump to push me. He get better. You see.”
“Would you like to see him son?” he asked. “I think it
would do both of you good if you would like to.”
“Yes,” Heath answered.
Tom eased Heath up into his muscular arms carrying him to
Jarrod’s room. When Nick saw him, his
anger flared up again.
“What’s he doing here?” Nick asked very angry. “Jarrod doesn’t need him. He’ll just make
Jarrod sad and hurt more. Get him out of here.”
“I think he does son,” he said as he sat Heath down on the
bed beside of Jarrod. “Heath needs to
talk to Jarrod and I think you need to hear what he has to say.”
“No I don’t,” Nick replied still angry. “What could he say that I would want to
hear?”
“Why don’t you listen and see,” he told his son.
Heath looked down at Jarrod’s bandaged head then spoke to
him. Nick sat there trying to protect Jarrod from Heath but then he realized
that Heath was very worried about Jarrod.
“Jay,” he said very sincere, “me sorry for be in way. Me not stay on hay like you say. Me want see you work. Me sorry.
Please get well.”
“You were told to stay on a bale of hay by Jarrod and you
didn’t,” Nick replied looking at Heath. “Why would you get up after Jarrod told
you not to?”
“Yes,” Heath told him.
“Jay not want me to hurt.”
“Jarrod climbed up the ladder to get the hay and you came
over to see what he was doing,” Nick said trying to piece together what had
happened. “You just wanted to get a better look at what he was doing.”
“Yes,” Heath replied.
“Jay push me. Save me.”
“Jarrod must have jumped off the ladder and pushed Heath
out of the way,” Nick told them. “In
the process he hit his head. That’s the way Jarrod is. He doesn’t like to see anything get
hurt. I feel the same way.”
“Yes,” Heath said nodding. “Hero.”
“I...I...not...hero,” Jarrod replied looking at Nick and
Heath. “I...I...just...didn’t....
want....you.... to...get... hurt.”
“Me arm hurt,” Heath told him showing him his arm. “Me fine.
You be ok.”
“Jarrod,” he said coming to stand behind his sons, “how
are you feeling?”
“My....head....hurts,” Jarrod replied trying to smile at
Heath. “I...sorry...sir....”
“It’s all right,” he told his son. “Next time how about asking for help with
getting a bale of hay out of the loft. If I’m not available one of the men or
Murphy will be happy to get it for you.”
“I...will,” Jarrod said very weak.
“Honey,” she replied sitting down on the other side of the
bed, “you need to rest. You have a very
serious head injury. The doctor doesn’t
want you moving around.”
“I...know,” Jarrod told her. “I...just....want.... Nick....and....Heath.... to...know....
that....I’ll... be...ok.”
“They know you will,” she said smiling.
“I’ll be here when you wake up big brother,” Nick replied
smiling.
“Me too,” Heath told him.
Jarrod closed his tired eyes and went back to sleep.
A week later Jarrod was able to sit up in bed. He still had headaches as well as some
dizziness but the doctor assured them that he would be fine in a few more
weeks.
“Heath,” he said as he looked at his new brother, “I owe
you an apology. I was angry with you
that day in the barn. I never meant for
you or me to get hurt. The thought of
losing you made me realize just how much I really love and care about you. When
I saw that hay bale falling and you were under it, I just did what I had to
do. I’ve already lost one brother and I
didn’t want to lose another one. You
are my brother Heath and I love you very much.
You can take that to the bank.”
“You welcome Jay,” Heath replied smiling. “Me love you.”
“I owe you one too,” Nick told him. “I was also angry with you for causing
Jarrod to be hurt but I was wrong. I
also realized just how important you are to this family. You might not have
been here all your life but you belong here and that’s all that matters. I don’t care what anyone says. You are a Barkley Heath.”
“Thank you,” Heath said smiling. “Papa, you hear?”
“Yes son,” Tom replied smiling. “I think my three sons will be fine now. I thought I might have
to talk to you three about your behavior but I can see that you have worked it
all out between yourselves. I’m very
proud of all of you.”
“Don’t worry about learning what you need to know about
the ranch,” both Jarrod and Nick told him.
“We’ll show you everything you need to know. We’ll always be there if
you need anything.”
“I plan on having you for a partner when we are big,” Nick
said smiling. “After all I have to have
someone to boss around since Jarrod is too big for me to do it to him.”
They all laughed at that.