A Bad Storm!
By bonanzagal and No1butjoe
A/N: This is another RPG bonanzagal and I did.
Disclaimer - We don't own Bonanza or any related characters.
Summary - When Joe loses his memory, it's up to Adam to take care of him. Will Joe ever remember his family? And how much will this effect Adam?
Adam leaned back in the saddle a little, allowing Sport to take full control of their destination home. Upon reaching the yard, he dismounted and guided the horse into the barn, where he started to remove his saddle and settled him in for the night. With a heavy sigh, Adam headed inside, placing his coat on the rack and his hat beside it as he unbuckled his gun belt.
Joe heard Adam come in and bounded down the stairs. "Hey Adam! You're back! Harvey went to the outhouse, but he probably heard you comin, so I guess he'll just go on back to the bunkhouse."
Adam nodded, physically exhausted from working all day. "Is Hop Sing cooking dinner?"
Joe shook his head, "Nuh uh, he's not back from bringing in the supplies yet. He said he got a reeeeeally late start, and left us a casserole in the oven. You just gotta heat it up."
Adam nodded in understanding and headed for the kitchen. Without a word, he began heating the casserole before heading back out into the main room and up the stairs. "I'm just gonna go get changed. I'll be right back down."
Joe nodded, "Okay." Just than a crack of thunder reverberated through the room, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Guess you're lucky you got home when you did! That was a doozy!"
Adam nodded from where he had stopped on the landing and now continued upstairs to his room where he took his time changing into more comfortable clothes.
Joe turned to go sit on the settee, when he heard a loud banging noise in the wind. Sounded like Adam forgot to shut the barn door. Joe looked towards the stairs and back at the front door. Adam sure looked tired when he came in, but he wasn't sure he'd appreciate Joe running out and getting soaked either. Joe weighed the pros and cons in his head, finally deciding it could be FUN to run out there, AND he'd be helping Adam. How could he argue with that? Grinning he pulled on his boots and coat, then went out into the night, carefully shutting the front door behind him.
Adam finished changing and walked back downstairs, fully expecting to see Joe down there, waiting for dinner to finish heating up. Finding no trace of his younger brother, Adam frowned but continued on to the kitchen where the casserole was waiting to be put on the table. That done, Adam looked around again. "Joe? Dinner's ready."
The cold wind whipped the sheets of freezing rain, directly at Joe, quickly soaking him to the bone. Okay, maybe this would have been more fun in a summer storm. Oh well, he was already out here, he may as well hurry and get it done. He trudged over to the barn, the cold droplets stinging his eyes as he grabbed a hold of the heavy door. The wind seemed to work against him, but soon he had it about halfway closed. He began hearing a muffled whinnying coming from the depths of the barn, almost lost to the howling of the wind, but it was there and getting louder and more frantic by the second. Joe sighed, as he entered the sanctuary of the barn, this was turning out more than he had bargained for. He shivered and started walking to the back, finally coming to the stall of a powerful and skittish stallion, wild eyed and pounding the floor with his front hooves. Joe tried what he had seen Hoss do many times before, he stroked the animals frothy shoulders, and murmured soothingly to it. "It's okay Poseidon, it's just a little rain, it won't hurt you. Isn't it kinda i-iron...er funny for a horse named after a sea god to be scared of water?" For a minute, it seemed to be working... that is until a lightening flash lit up the barn, followed by the loudest thunder clap yet. Sharp hooves sliced through the air, and a small body crumpled to the floor.
Adam was just heading upstairs to look for Joe when he heard the noise rising above the wind, rain, and thunder. Frowning, he descended the stairs and put his jacket back on. The rain beat down on him mercilessly as he made his way to the barn, the door swinging wildly. With great effort, he grabbed it and closed it behind him as he entered, his eyes looking all around. "Joe? Joe, are you in here?" No answer came and he was just about to turn to head back out, when a small noise caught his attention. Going a little further back, he saw Poseidon standing in his stall, snorting and beating the dirt. Just as Adam was about to go calm the animal, he spotted Joe lying almost flush against the bottom of the stall door, blood trickling from a head wound. "Joe!" Adam dropped to his little brother's side, feeling his forehead and determining there wasn't a fever. He inspected the cut closely, using his handkerchief to clean the blood away as best he could. Thunder continued clapping in the distance and the horses stomped their hooves as Adam gently lifted Joe into his arms. Laying him on a bail of hay, Adam continued with what he was doing and cleaned the cut until the blood was gone. Finished, he tore a piece of his shirt and wrapped it around Joe's head to stem anymore bleeding. Sighing in relief, Adam leaned back a little, worried that Joe hadn't waken up yet. "Joe? Joe, wake up. Come on, Little Buddy."
Joe's eyes stayed closed tight, but his lips opened slightly and a few words passed, spoken so softly as to be barely audible. "Door...Poseidon *mumble* *mumble* storm." Then fell back into silence.
Adam's worry grew and he looked anxiously towards the door, wishing more than anything it wasn't storming. He didn't want to take Joe out in the storm, but he had no choice seeing as it was much warmer and comfortable. Making a decision, Adam quickly shed his jacket and slid Joe into it, his small body being swallowed up by the large coat. Hefting a horse blanket from one of the empty stalls, he carefully wrapped Joe inside, making sure he was secure and little rain would touch him. That done, Adam lifted Joe into his arms again and set out for the house. The rain was ice cold and it bit at Adam as he forced his way to the house. He held Joe close to him, shielding his face from the wind and rain. Finally, they arrived at the house and Adam hurried inside. Setting Joe on the settee, he closed the front door before hurrying back to him. Adam unwrapped his brother from the blanket and his jacket as well as the small one he had been wearing outside, making Adam wonder what had possibly possessed him to go out in the first place. Dashing that question from his mind, Adam grabbed warm blankets from the guest room and threw them over Joe. Doing everything in his power to keep Joe warm and comfortable, Adam finally seated himself in the armchair, his gaze never wavering from his younger brother's face as he waited anxiously for Joe to wake up.
After a while a small grown escaped Joe's lips, his brows furrowing together. Finally he opened his eyes, and found he had a little difficulty focusing his vision, right then. But there was definitely someone there, someone sitting there looking at him. He licked his lips and tested his voice. "Wa..water?" He managed to croak out of his dry throat.
As soon as he heard Joe's plea, Adam was on his feet and heading for the kitchen. He rushed back moments later with a glass of water and gently tipped it to Joe's lips.
Joe drank greedily, quickly draining the glass. He pushed it away, and blinked several times, taking a quick evaluation of his body. "My head hurts. Really hurts." He stated matter of factly. He lifted one of his sore leaden arms to his head, surprised to find fabric there. He ran his fingers gently over the bandage, wincing and taking in a sharp hiss of breath, as his fingers lightly made contact with the wound. Tears sprung to his eyes, and he turned to the man sitting beside him. "What happened? Where am I? Why does it feel like someone beat me up, than hit me in the head with a hammer?" His eyes started to go a little fearful, what if this man HAD done that? But then why would he give him water?
Adam frowned at Joe's behavior. "We're home, Joe. You were knocked on the head pretty hard. I'm guessing one of the horses spooked you and you fell." Adam wasn't liking this. Joe had yet to call him by name.
Joe frowned, the name sounded vaguely familiar, like something out of a dream, but it didn't feel like it belonged to him. Joe...hmm. He lifted his head slightly, and the world began to swim, he waited for it to steady before he looked around. Again, vaguely familiar, but not *his*. "Who's home? Yours?"
Adam stood and sat on the coffee table next to the settee. He looked directly into Joe's eyes, searching for something. Finally, he spoke. "You don't know who I am, do you?"
Joe thought hard, trying to access his memories, any memory, especially one concerning this man. The effort only leaving him exhausted, and with a headache feeling like an axe had been taken to his skull. His frown deepened, he was sorry, truly sorry, and was frustrated that he couldn't dredge up anything. He somehow had a feeling, an intuition that his next words were going to hurt this man. "No, I'm sorry, should I?"
Adam was about to say "Yes, you should. I'm your brother", but the memory of a similar situation back in Boston prevented him from saying it. The doctors who treated the man who had lost his memory came back to him. If he told Joe everything, there was a chance that his little brother would never remember who he was. A small, sad smile crossed Adam's face. "No, I guess not. My name's Adam. I found you out in the barn not too long ago. You were hurt so I brought you in here." Adam waited, wanting more than anything for Joe to suddenly smile and laugh, saying this was all a joke, but as time passed, Adam realized that it was no joke.