There was no sound in the room when I opened the door to two-sixteen, and I assumed Bret and Ginny to both be asleep. I was half right. Ginny was sitting in one of the bedside chairs, or should I say slouched in one of the bedside chairs, with her head resting on the blankets that covered my brother. Her beautiful flame-red hair was spread across the bed; Bret's left hand resting on top of that expanse of curls. I smiled at the sight, and then I took a good look at my brother. His black as coal eyes were open; wide open and watching every move I made.
"Bret?" I whispered, and in answer he blinked. I reached down and touched Ginny's shoulder. "Beauty, wake up."
"Mmmm?" she asked, and her eyes opened. "You're back."
"I'm not the only one."
"What?" As she raised her head she realized there was something weighing down her hair, and I reached over and moved Bret's hand. She sat up then and looked at me first, then turned to Bret and gasped. I wasn't imagining things, his eyes were really open. That's when she grabbed his hand and brought his fingers to her lips.
"Mr. Maverick," she murmured.
He tried to respond in kind. "Gin . . . ny."
"Better than the last time," I told him, and he attempted to grin. The very corners of his mouth went up but there was no dimple sighting this night. "You thinkin' about hangin' around for a while this time?"
"Yeah."
Malone reached down and touched his face; his eyes blinked. They closed for a minute, and I was afraid he was gonna slip back into unconsciousness, but he opened them again and his gaze was steady. He stared at me as if he hadn't seen me for months; I was grinning like an idiot, so it wasn't surprising.
"We've missed you." Ginny still had hold of his hand. I didn't expect she was gonna let go of it anytime soon. "It's been over a week."
"Ten days," I corrected, knowing that Bret's first question was usually 'How long was I gone?' "Let's not make it eleven," I added.
"How?" he managed to ask in a very faint, very hoarse voice.
"You don't remember?"
Those black eyes stared at me. I could just hear him saying, 'Would I ask that question if I did?'
"Ben Newton shot you."
"New . . . New . . . Newt . . . "
"Newton. Owns the Memphis Lady riverboat. You were on board the night it happened."
I could swear he sighed. Whether that meant he did or didn't remember, I had no idea. And he certainly wasn't gonna be able to tell me. I was so happy that his eyes were open and he seemed alert that I didn't much care if he was capable of talking right now or not.
"Doc Wheeler will be here later this mornin'. He's the one been takin' care of you. Why don't you try goin' back to sleep for now, so you can be awake when he gets here? I'm sure he'd like to see you with your eyes open."
He must have agreed with me, or at least understood the suggestion, because he looked directly at me and blinked, then closed his eyes. It seemed like mere seconds before he once again fell asleep. Several minutes later Ginny tucked his hand under the blankets and got up from her chair. "Thanks, Bart."
"For what?"
"For waking me up. That's the best thing that's happened in almost two weeks. I'm glad I didn't miss it."
I changed the subject on her. "Did you get much sleep?"
She shook her head. "Just a couple hours. I was worried about him . . . and you. How did it go at the Lady?"
"Pretty good. I think I convinced Newton we were a bunch of crooks . . . He's thinkin' about me workin' for him – and maybe you, too, if Bret dies. I led him to believe that was a possibility."
"It is. It was. Just because he opened his eyes . . ." She shook her head as if to shake those thoughts out of her mind. "So I'm officially a con woman, hmmm? I wonder what Arthur would think about that?"
I almost laughed. Arthur wouldn't care if she pretended to be the King of England if it helped solve a case. And Ginny knew that.
"Why don't you try to get some more sleep? Doc won't be here for a while and I can stay up."
She shook her head again. "You need the rest. You look like you're ready to drop. Go down to two-twenty and sleep in a real bed. I'll come get you as soon as Doc gets here, I swear I will."
She'll never know how tempting that was. But one thing she was right about – I felt like I'd be useless fairly soon if I didn't get some kind of rest. "No, I'll sleep on the floor. If I laid down in bed . . . you'd never get me up. And I wanna be here when Wheeler comes."
I got as close to undressed as I was gonna get with a lady in the room. Coat, waistcoat, shirt, tie, gun belt, and boots; then I burrowed down into the bed we'd made several days ago on the floor and lay my head on a pillow. I'd barely closed my eyes when Ginny was shaking me awake. "Bart, wake up. Doc Wheeler's here."
I was groggy and sluggish, but I pried my eyes open and got to my hands and knees.
"You alright, Mr. Jamison?" It was Doc's voice, and it was me he was asking.
"Bart, Doc, my name's Bart," I croaked out as I struggled to my feet. I grabbed my shirt from the chair it was hung over and put it on, then fought to get it buttoned as I stumbled over to the bed. "Sorry," I muttered.
"No need to apologize. I don't know how you're still on your feet, anyway. You need a long rest somewhere besides the floor." I brushed my hair out of my eyes and stopped just short of where Doc stood, at the side of Bret's bed. "So, he was awake and alert last night, eh?"
"He was," Ginny answered. "And he actually spoke. I heard him."
Doc turned to me. "I'm gonna try to wake him up. You have any objections?"
I shook my head. "None. We told him you would."
"Hear . . . you," the body lying in bed managed to get out as all three of us fixed our gaze on him. Slowly the eyelids opened, and those black eyes looked up at Doc for the first time.
"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Maverick. I've got some things I need to check here. You just lay there and let me do that, alright? I promise it won't hurt."
Ginny and I hovered around the end of the bed, trying to see everything that was going on, while we attempted to stay out of his way. After a few minutes Doc came down our way to talk to us. "Fever's down," he started. "But that's not the best news. His heart . . . his heart is nowhere near as erratic as it was. It still isn't quite right, but it's better than it was yesterday. He'll sleep a lot now, but you can start trying to get some broth and soup down him. Stick to liquids, his stomach's gonna be tender for quite a while. Don't let anything disturb or upset him. He needs to be calm and steady, so his body can heal. It's gonna take a while, but I think I can safely say he's out of the woods."
"Doc," I started, and couldn't finish.
"Doctor Wheeler, can you keep that news to yourself?" Ginny stepped in and asked.
"I can," he told her, and turned back to me. He put his hand on my arm while he told me, "It's alright, son, I understand. But unless an infection sets in, he should make a full recovery."
"Thank you," I whispered. It was all I could say.
"Come on, I want to talk to him." Next thing I knew, we were all gathered around Bret, Ginny and me on one side of the bed, Doc on the other. "Mr. Maverick, you're a lucky young man. As long as you stay in bed and rest, and do what these two people that care so much about you tell you to do, you should be fine – in time. You do too much too soon, and it will take twice as long, if it doesn't kill you. Listen to what they tell you, they're gonna be getting instructions from me. Understand?"
"I . . . do," Bret answered, hesitantly.
"Alright. Mr. Jamison, Bart, I won't be by this evening. I have to go to Manchester township to see a family down there. I'll be here tomorrow morning. If anything happens, Mildred will be spending the night at my office. I would trust her with anything that comes up." He turned back to Bret. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Maverick. Get plenty of rest."
Wheeler reached across the bed and shook my hand, then tipped his hat to Ginny. "Bart, Ginny, I'll see you tomorrow. You two get some sleep. He's gonna be fine." A minute later, Doc was gone. Ginny turned to me and threw her arms around my neck. She kissed me on the cheek, then turned her attention to Bret.
Once again she grabbed his hand and brought his fingers to her lips, then she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "Welcome back, gamblin' man. I love you."