One Shot
Summary- a normal trip to the saloon turns tragic.
I was wandering to the Saloon on a grey evening; I was nearly at the door, when suddenly I felt a huge pang hit me.
"Joe!" I heard Pa scream, as everything else turned into a bleak darkness for me.
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Joe was strolling as usual to the Bucket of Blood Saloon to get a drink when all of the sudden, a shot rang out from out of the blue and he fell onto the wood boardwalk unconscious.
"Joe!" Ben saw as his youngest fell to the floor. Blood was coming from the near center of his once brown shirt. Ben rushed to his side, "Joe," he cried wishing for an answer.
In what seemed like hours, the doctor raced over.
"This is a bad one," Dr. Paul Martin proclaimed sadly, "Ben are you alright?"
He hardly heard the question and stood there staring in a melancholy shock.
"Ben?"
"He's in shock, the Doctor said," Take it easy there," he said to the men who were taking Joe to his office.
"It'll be alright," someone tried to reassure the now grievous Ben.
"Oh God!" Ben cried grievously
What would Adam and Hoss do? Ben thought as he waited anxiously in the Dr's front room No!! No!! "He silently grieved.
After what seemed like an entire day, the Dr. came out.
"Ben, I got the bullet out," he had a sad/serious look on his face "It was a tough one but.."
"Is he alright Doctor?" Ben questioned seriously.
"It's hard to say Ben," the doctor held back tears "I'm sorry, it's just..."
Ben silently gestured his hands on the Doctors now shaky arms. Ben walked into the grey room.
"Joseph," He gulped, "Joseph, if you can hear me son," he was getting close to tears, as he slowly walked closer to Joe's unmoving form. He slowly sat himself in the chair beside the bed.
Ben held his son's hand, "Please be alright!" he was begging "God, Please let him be alright!" He put his head by his son's hand.
"We came as soon as we heard," Hoss stated.
"He's not doing too well;" the doctor said "He slipped into a coma last night,"
Adam stood silent; he didn't know what he'd do without Joe around.
"Pa?" Hoss said as he walked into the now bright room, "Pa?" his father lie there sleeping next to Joe's unmoving figure.
"Pa!" Joe was crying in his arms, "Pa!"
"It's alright son," Ben comforted the delirious figure.
"Pa...Pa!" Joe cried in a blazing fever.
"Pa?" Hoss softly jiggled him awake
"What?" Ben asked confused, suddenly he looked at Joe's lucid figure and everything flooded back.
Joe's hand squeezed his.
"Joe," Hoss said," You just try and get better ya hear?" he said with a small smile.
"Pa, you need something to eat," Hoss persuaded. He figured Pa hadn't eaten since last evening.
Ben didn't feel like eating, he was already a shell of the man he once was.
"I'll stay with him for a while," Hoss proclaimed.
Hours past as Hoss sat there, numb with worry. Joe hadn't moved an inch since yesterday.
"Hey's, you know what we can do once we get home little brother?" Hoss asked the ashen, inert figure, "We can ….," he gulped, "You just get better for us so we can plot a scheme or somethin'," he softly encouraged, as his head hit the bed in exhaustion.
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I listened myself breathe, I didn't know how long I'd been out for.
"Hey's, you know what we can do once we get home little brother?" I heard Hoss ask me, "We can ….," I heard him gulp, "You just get better for us so we can plot a scheme or somethin',"
"Yeah," I thought, I wished this incident had never happened, "Hoss?" I wanted to say," If I'm gone than what will you do?" I started thinking. But I tried to think positive thoughts, I didn't need to add to the worry and pain this incident was already causing. I wanted to survive. I needed to survive.
"Just get better for us so we can plot a scheme or somethin'" I heard Hoss' voice echo in my head, I wanted to smile but I was too weak to do anything "Yeah bro" I wanted to say. Pretty soon I could feel my mind, exhausted from just thinking, as I let myself fall asleep, maybe I'd get better yet, I'd hoped.
"Joe, Joe, hang on there buddy, you can make it," I heard Hoss's voice echo as I climbed up a ledge, "Come on, you can do it little buddy,"
"Hoss, I don't think I can, I'm too weak," I cried.
"Come on Little Joe," he encouraged me, "You can do it!"
I reached for his hand, and then suddenly I lost my footing. His hand grabbed onto mine, and I found myself on the top of the ledge with him by my side.
"You just relax, I'll go get help," he said as he rushed away in a hurry.
"Hoss! Hoss! Don't leave me! Hoss!" I cried in desperation, as the dream faded to bleak oblivion.
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Joe's hand squeezed his brother's weakly.
"Hoss! Hoss! Don't leave me! Hoss!" Joe cried in delirium.
"It's alright, I got you little brother," he comforted him, "Doc, is there any chance that he can survive this?" he asked.
"I don't know Hoss, now all it depends on is God and your brother," he tried to reassure him. There was no telling what could happen within a couple of hours, minutes or days.
The next morning, the sun shone brightly in the sky above Virginia City. There was a sad austere in the air, as the town was about to lose one of its most celebrated citizens.
Ben sat there, next to his son, waiting for a miracle. The morning birds chirped away like they had no worries in the world.
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I lied there, too weak to move, as if most of my energy I had before this incident, had left me for good. I squeezed Pa's hand one last time, as I felt all of my strength leave me. I felt a release. I saw this really illuminous light. "Ma?" I thought as I saw her familiar figure.
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Ben held his son's lucid hand, Joe squeezed one last time and then he went limp into his father's hand.
Ben cried in continuous grief, he would never get over it, not in his entire lifetime.
"Joe! Joe!" Ben sobbed.
Hoss entered the room, "What happened, P-?"
"It's over," Ben declared holding back his tears.
"Joe's gotta be alright!" Hoss cried, "Why did Joe have to go? Why?" Hoss wailed in his father's arms.
"Joe, why'd you!" Adam yelped as he found himself in a fit of uncontrollable tears.
There was nothing to say, there was nothing the doctor could've done after getting the bullet out.
"I'm sorry," he cried as tears started streaming down his face.
"You," Hoss sobbed, "You needed to get better so we could go detectivin' again!!"
Everyone was too shocked to say anything. Many townsfolk had wished it never happened.
Ben was a changed man; he would never get over the grief of losing his youngest. He wouldn't be able to tell him to get his feet off the table, or see him and Hoss roughhousing it in the house. He'd never get to see his mischievous smile ever again.
Adam would never hear Joe joke about his "Yankee Granite" head of his. They would never argue anymore over what side they'd be on for the Great War going on back east.
Hoss would never get to help Joe out in a scheme, or help out in his detective plans.
"Joe, why'd you have to go?!" Hoss wailed in Ben's arms. Ben was bawling, he had lost his youngest son.
Adam had to walk out of the room; he walked into the back room of the office and shut the door behind him. Tears rolling down his now auburn cheeks, he slammed the table with his fists, first his mothers, Elizabeth, Inger, and Marie, and now his youngest brother. "Joe," He sobbed as his head hit the wooden table "Joe!" Little Joe would never be there again, "Joe, little brother, why'd you have to…!"
Doctor Paul Martin wiped the tears from his eyes; there was nothing else he could've done for Joe after he had gotten the bullet out.
His eyes were closed; no one would ever get to see his green eyes sparkle with excitement, or hear his infectious laughter again.
Everyone was sad for the next few days, and weeks, eventually for the general citizens of Virginia City, life rolled on and back to normal. But to anyone that knew the Cartwrights, especially the youngest of the bunch, life was all but.