Christy stirred restlessly under the covers, the quilt seemed to weigh a ton and be pinning her to the bed. further adding to her discomfort her side was very sore; she could feel a sharp pain in her side when she drew a breath. She attempted to reduce the pain by taking shallower breaths, but this just made her dizzy.

There was fuzziness to her thoughts, a kind of mental lethargy that was puzzling to her; she had never felt this way before.

Then she suddenly remembered the events of the night, of going out to the schoolhouse to get a book, then all of the events that followed after that. She lay still under the covers staring at the ceiling, letting it all sink in.

She remembered being in her schoolroom and strange hands on her body, heard the sounds of her clothing being ripped off, could hear her pleas and muffled cries... then nothing until she was being shook awake by Neil. It was almost too much her for her to comprehend all at once.

It seemed impossible for this to have happened to her, just twenty four hours ago she was teaching a country school and her life was unchanged, now she would never be the same. This was incredible, this could not be happening to her, there must be a mistake somewhere, ...

She let out a small whimper; swiftly Miss Alice moved to the side of the bed, "Christy, is thee alright?" Christy just looked up at her and grabbed her hand tightly, desperately clinging on to her friend.

Alice stroked her forehead in silence, Christy's pain mirrored in her own eyes.

Then Alice broke the silence and said, "Would thee care for some water?"

When Christy nodded she brought a cup over and assisted her to drink. Then she handed her a small pill, "Here, Neil left this for you."

Christy hesitated as she took the pill, she suddenly connected that Neil had been there, he knew what had happened to her, and it added another depth of shame to her realization of the events.

Somehow she did not want him to have known what had happened to her, that she had been violated then discarded like trash.

Suddenly tears started to flow and she blindly reached out for the comfort of Miss Alice's arms. But strangely enough once enveloped in her friends embrace the only feeling was one of displacement, she felt silly for seeking comfort like a small child,suddenly she felt too old to be there, eons too old.

She pulled back with a sigh,wincing in pain and slid down on her pillow, eyes fixed on the ceiling.

The next time she woke up the sun was setting, it was tinting everything in her room with an orange glow. There were footsteps in her room and low voices. It was Alice and Doctor MacNeil. She turned her head to see them; they were coming closer to the bed, Neil looked down at her with a smile, but it was only his mouth smiling, not his eyes Christy noticed.

"Hello Christy, How are you feeling?"

Christy pulled the covers up higher to her chin, "I'm fine" she whispered averting her eyes.

Alice spoke up softly, "Christy, we need to clean out the wounds, do you understand?"

Christy nodded and let go of the covers as Alice folded them down.

She fought very hard to control herself, feeling naked and exposed, then, as she felt Neil's gentle hands peeling off the bandage a wave of revulsion swept over her. She shivered convulsively, Neil looked up sharply and saw the look of fear and disgust on her face. He was hurt, and even angry for a moment, he knew that Christy's reaction was natural, but it still hurt for her to draw back in disgust from him. It was opposed to everything he had dedicated his life to, his hands were used to heal and bring comfort, but now he was being equated with a rapist. His lips thinned to a hard line and his eyes narrowed.

But his hands were as gentle as ever.

After he finished with the stab wound he turned his attention to another on her chest that was turning dark at the edges and beginning to show signs of festering, it had puzzled Alice earlier and she was concerned that it looked as if it was getting infected.

Alice had not been able to determine what had caused the wound, but Neil who had patched up more drunken brawlers than he cared to imagine, placed it immediately, and he felt a roar of primal rage building up as he saw tooth marks.

He cleaned it as well as he could, and then left the room while Alice helped Christy change clothes.

It had been arranged that Alice was staying with her in the first part of the night, and then Neil was going to check on Christy, and stay with her for the rest of the night, while she was asleep.

Neil knew the logical course of action was too go down stairs and make his bed on the couch, but all he wanted to do was hover outside her door, to be as close as he poss ably could. With a heavy sigh he turned and forced himself to the starcase and the living room for a few fitfull hours.

Neil woke almost instantly at two a.m., as he was heading up the creaking stairs he heard the clock strike the hour.

He stepped into the room and saw Alice almost slumped out of her chair, her blanket in a heap on the floor; he walked up to and placed his hand on her shoulder, she woke up and blinked at him, he leaned down and whispered forvher to go to her room to get some sleep.

After she left he settled into the tiny uncomfortable rocker that was somehow so very much like Christy, petite, dainty, yet strong.

He settled into a fitful doze waking up every few moments to ascertain Christy was still asleep.

Then his doze deepened and he succumbed to a restless sleep, hours later he was jerked out of his sleep by Christy who was thrashing and panting in her bed.

He jumped out of the chair and rushed to her side, "Christy, it's Neil, I'm here, you're safe." He tried to sooth her but she began to thrash so frantically he was alarmed that she would fall out of the bed, she was struggling against him crying "No!...no!...no!..."Tears were coursing down her cheeks as she fought in her dreams against her assailant.

Neil held her on the bed as well as he could all the while trying to calm her down, and get her to come back to reality, finally he stopped restraining her arms and cupped her face with his hands, "Christy, can you hear me? Christy, you need to wake up now, Christy!…" Then her blue eyes met his and a glimmer of recognition dawned in them, "Neil?" she whimpered, he reached down and took her hand, "Shhh", he hushed, "You're safe Christy." She clung desperately to his hand "No, no I'm not, they came back for me, both of them. They came back for me." He noticed a slight edge of hysteria in her voice.

"That will never happen" he reassured her in his most convincing voice, Christy turned to him eagerly, "Did the sheriff get them, are they found?" Neil winced inwardly; He doubted they even knew about the attack at this point.

"They will be caught soon, don't worry Christy, nothing is going to happen to you."

Christy turned away, but not before Neil saw the fear in her eyes.

"They will come back, I will never be safe again, they said so."

Neil stood up suddenly and strode to the corner and got a syringe out of his bag, he filled it with another dose of morphine and administered the dose in a slightly preoccupied manner, he sat beside Christy till she started to fall into a deep sleep, then he bent over her for a brief moment. Then he walked out of the room to get Alice to stay with her for the rest of the night.

He told Alice that he needed to go back to his cabin to get some more supplies, and change clothes. "I am not sure how long it will take, I also should go check on Jeb and see if he is alright as well, so I could be gone for a while, but you are a good nurse , I am sure Christy will be fine with you watching over her." Alice looked at him in puzzlement as he strode out to the stable and got his horse ready, there was a difference in him she had never seen before, his face seemed set and grim in the lantern light as he walked out of the mission.

It was a trying time for all of them she reflected as she went up to Christy's room; she would say a prayer for his guidance.