Chapter Fourteen – Recap
Doctor Prescott closed the door behind them and motioned for Bobby to take a seat on the gurney.
"Undo your shirt, Mr. Ewing, and lie down," he instructed.
Bobby nodded and did as he was told, his face looking ashen all of a sudden.
Dr. Prescott pressed his lips together in a gesture of dislike as he took in the soaked bandage sneaking around his patient's torso.
"If that was stitched, Mr. Ewing, I don't think it is any longer," he said seriously. "I have to get some help with that," he added and left to find a nurse.
Bobby sighed and glanced down his side, he remembered quite clearly that Harvey's friend had cautioned him when it came to do something strenuous. He felt the adrenaline quickly leaving his body and his strength with it. Literally he was exhausted but his mind couldn't stop milling about Pam, the letters, black envelopes, the cowboy in Las Vegas or J.R's constant ability to drag the family into some kind of scandal, and the lies, the deception and the constant distrust. Sometimes he wished he could just leave and start over fresh somewhere, change his name. His reverie was broken as the doctor returned.
"Well then, Mr. Ewing, this is Rose, one of our nurses, she took care of your wife when she arrived yesterday," he explained as he gently lifted the bandage and cut it lose.
The wound was angry red and the jagged edges from where the stitches had been were raw. Prescott didn't like what he saw but there was nothing he could do about what had already happened. He gently started to clean it but held off as Bobby gasped.
"I am giving you a local anesthetic now, it will start to work fairly soon," the doctor assured. This wound is quite deep, would you care to tell me what it happened?" he wondered.
"I got into a bar fight," he answered cryptically.
"Well, it must have been some brawling," Prescott said.
"I intervened in something, or at least I thought I did, but maybe it was meant for me," he replied thoughtfully.
"You are thinking about what Mrs. Ewing said before," the doctor asked, not liking what the oil magnate suggested.
Bobby gave him a curt nod.
"Now, do you feel this?" the doctor asked, prodding Bobby's torso gently.
"No, not a thing," he admitted.
"Good, I'll redo the stitches," he said as Bobby closed his eyes.
Then, after what felt like just a minute, he felt something cold on his skin and slowly opened his eyes to slits.
"Mr. Ewing, are you with us?" Dr. Prescott asked as he took a moment to look at his handiwork.
"Yes," came the faint reply.
He glanced amusedly at his nurse, who undoubtedly took a moment to let her eyes roam over the patient's good looking torso. "Thank you Rose, that's all for now," he said.
"Of course, doctor," she said excusing herself.
"It's fairly deep, you're lucky it didn't rupture your spleen. However, considering the amount of blood you have lost and the shock the body has sustained, I'd like to admit you overnight," the physician said.
"No, I can't, I have to go home, there are certain things I need to take care about," Bobby protested but his tired voice almost betrayed him.
"Listen to me and listen carefully now; what you need to do, Mr. Ewing, is to rest and give your body time to recuperate," Dr. Prescott reasoned.
When he received no reply he continued. "Look I don't pretend to know what's going on behind closed doors; so to speak. I imagine it's a lot. But I'm a doctor and my only concern is for my patients' wellbeing and your injury is not something to take lightly. To be frank with you, Mr. Ewing, you are lucky it isn't worse. Like I said before, it could easily have ruptured your spleen. I want to follow up on it and I want you to be still, at least for the next twelve hours," the doctor said.
Bobby had a disgruntled look on his face but he didn't argue because deep down he knew the doctor was right.
"So, how about I release you tomorrow morning after my rounds and give you an update on your wife's condition?" the physician offered. "You can go and visit her and then be on your way," he added as a suggestion.
"Tell me, Doctor Prescott, do you always care for your patients this way?" Bobby asked as a faint smile of appreciation spread on his lips.
The doctor appeared to be contemplating it for a while before returning the smile. "It's my duty, Mr. Ewing," he replied enigmatically.
"You don't strike me as a man working all his years on the same hospital," Bobby pressed lightly.
"No, I had my own practice once, sometimes I miss it and sometimes I don't," he said half-heartedly and rose from the chair he had been sitting on.
"Enough talking, you should rest. Good night, Mr. Ewing," he said and reached for the door.
"Good night, Doctor," Bobby replied thoughtfully.
As the doctor left another nurse came through the door, carrying scrubs.
"Hello, Mr. Ewing, do you need assistance with the clothes?" she asked softly.
"No, thank you," he answered quickly.
"Okay, I'll come back in a few minutes," she replied, looking almost a bit disappointed.
There was a soft knock on the door causing Bobby to tear his eyes from the small bundle of clothes lying next to him and look up at his visitors, Ray and Donna.
"Bobby," Donna said, her voice tinged with concern. Her eyes were drawn to the blood soaked bandages lying next to a bin. She forced herself to look at her brother-in-law, he looked fairly good, all things considered, and a fresh bandage now covered his torso.
"I am fine, Donna," he said trying to assure her, but the voice was strained and barely more than a whisper.
Donna smiled at him; she couldn't recall when she had seen him so miserable, if she had at all. She walked up to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Come on, I'll help you change your clothes," she offered lightly.
"Bobby, what happened? Why didn't you say anything? You shouldn't have tried to break up the fight in your condition," Ray said, raising his voice.
Bobby glanced up at him tiredly where he sat on the bed as Donna gently began to button the shirt. "As I told you before, Ray, I received a black envelope…" he began.
"You never told me what it said," Ray said folding his arms over his chest.
"You'd better take care of yourself, Mr. Ewing, and pray that your family does too," he answered, reciting the words in an eerie voice, one that made Donna's skin crawl.
"Then I, I don't know, I tried not to think about it. As J.R says, nut heads are obviously drawn to our family in order to get themselves some money," he said bitterly.
"There you go," Donna said, having finished dressing him.
"Thanks," he replied warmly.
"Anyway, I met up with an old high school friend of mine, Harold Mars," Bobby explained further.
Ray chuckled. "Harvey, he was quite a guy. Don't tell me he is in the oil business?" he added disbelievingly.
"Why?" Donna asked lightly, smitten by Ray's warmth and slightly teasing voice.
Bobby made a face. "Too much muscle, too little brain," he offered.
Ray turned to a chuckling Donna. "I remember those two, they were hopeless, you should have seen them," he said, unable to hide his amusement.
"After a couple of rounds of Poker, in which Harvey lost all his money, he talked me into going out to celebrate and at the same time drown his sorrows. We headed over to a bar in the neighborhood. When we walked up to the barmaid a drunken cowboy started arguing with her, and you know how Harvey is," Bobby said, fidgeting with the hospital bracelet on his wrist.
"He mocked Harvey and the fight was a given. I saw the cowboy pull a knife on him so I tried to intervene but someone grabbed me from behind and…it happened so fast, I saw Harvey go down, uninjured, and then…" he trailed off as he thought back at the event.
"He seemed so familiar, and yet I can't place him," Bobby mumbled.
"The cowboy?" Ray asked.
Bobby nodded, deep in thought. "Say hello to Mrs. Ewing for me," he said. "I have a sick feeling it was me he was after all along," he added sourly, looking at Ray who looked angrier for every minute that past.
"He tried to kill you, Bobby," Ray spoke up in a serious manner.
"First you and then Pam, Bobby, we have to tell the police," Donna pleaded.
The two brothers locked eyes with each other knowingly.
"I'm afraid it's not that easy, Donna," Bobby said exasperated.
She frowned, looking from Bobby to Ray and then back again, both looking defeated, "Why?" she demanded.
"It's…complicated," Ray tried.
"Complicated?" Donna couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Your brother is injured, and his wife was nearly killed! It's quite straight forward to me!" she argued.
Bobby lay down on the bed and rubbed his tired eyes. "I'm still here you know," he said huffily.
Seeing how tired he was, Donna, reached for a blanket and gently spread it over him. "Go to sleep now, Bobby, I'll make sure someone comes by tomorrow morning with a set of fresh clothes," she said.
She glanced at Ray in a disapproving manner, by the look on her face their discussion was far from over.
"Take care now, little brother," Ray said.
However, Bobby, had already fallen asleep, exhausted from the last days event.
OOOOO
/14/29