Bill and Carson rode quickly ahead of the wagon so that Carson could get the Infirmary ready for what needed to be done for Nathan.
"So," Bill asked Carson, "How bad was it really?
Carson said, "It was a close call. If Elizabeth hadn't found him, Nathan probably wouldn't have made it through the night. He was in shock; he was already cold, and his immune system was severely compromised. Maybe pneumonia, infection, loss of blood - there was a laundry list of ways it could have ended out in that field."
Bill shook his head, "She had a feeling about where he was, that's for sure. It would have taken me a while to think of searching on this road."
Carson nodded. "Let's just be glad she did."
Both knew that Elizabeth had come very close to losing another beloved Mountie, and neither of them wanted to imagine what that would have done to her. It was unthinkable.
Carson looked over at Bill. "Well, I guess this means a new temporary Mountie for a while."
Bill shook his head, frowning. "Oh, he's going to be fine, right? Maybe a few days off. We can handle that."
"Bill, I'm suturing up a wound and putting a cast on a fractured bone. Not to mention that until he gets back to a hundred percent, he'll be a slow healer."
Bill's frown went deeper. "And?"
Carson said, "Nathan won't be able to put any weight on his leg for six weeks, he'll be on crutches. He may be able to ride a horse at eight weeks. He'll have the cast on his leg for three months." Carson raised an eyebrow. "Unless you have him sitting at a desk, it's going to be pretty hard for Nathan to be a Mountie."
Bill shook his head. "Naw, I knew a guy who broke his arm and he was back up on a horse in three days. Cast and all."
Carson said, "An arm isn't weight bearing. A leg is different, and especially when the bone breaks through the skin, like Nathan's injury. He could do permanent damage to his mobility if he comes back too soon." Carson said, "He's out for a while, Bill."
Putting his hands up, Bill said, "Don't look at me. I can't do it. My docket is full as a judge." Bill looked behind them at the wagon getting further away. "Does Nathan know?"
Carson smiled. "Not while he's full of morphine. I'll give him his recovery plan tomorrow."
Right behind them, Jesse rode Sergeant and led Bear alongside. Bear's saddle now needed a new cinch, and though he seemed to be fine, they wanted to have him checked out by the vet at the livery to be sure he hadn't sustained any injuries in the fall.
Finally, at the back of the caravan, Lee drove the wagon slowly with Nathan and Elizabeth.
Right now, Lee was glad he had honed the fine skill of not listening with Rosemary. He couldn't understand anything that Nathan and Elizabeth were saying, and he didn't want to.
Elizabeth had insisted on riding in the back of the wagon with Nathan and no one was going to talk her out of it. Nathan was finally warm and Carson had brought extra blankets, but she still held his hand and checked his forehead every now and then to be sure he wasn't getting feverish.
After the agony of the afternoon and evening, Nathan was just happy to be out of pain. He was still weak and he spoke softly, but the morphine made him feel like talking. He especially felt like talking to Elizabeth.
She had started the ride sitting up, but after bending down repeatedly to hear Nathan, Elizabeth finally just stretched out next to him. It would be nearly a three-hour ride back to Hope Valley at the slow speed of the wagon.
Now that she knew he was safe, Elizabeth could actually enjoy the beautiful night. While she was searching for him, she had wished there was a full moon, but now she was glad to just lie back and see the stars.
Nathan felt no urgency to get to the Infirmary and what he knew was going to be another painful process. He knew that setting a bone was not for the faint of heart, and even morphine would only dull what he would feel.
But for now, the pain was gone, his leg was well-padded and comfortable, he was finally warm, and he had Elizabeth lying right next to him.
The morphine not only took away Nathan's pain – it also loosened his tongue and washed away his need to control what he said. His speech was a little slurred and occasionally confused, but for the most part, Nathan was lucid and clear.
Elizabeth started thinking maybe she should be taking notes.
"In order to stay awake right before you found me, I created a homestead for us," Nathan said drowsily. He described it to her in detail, right down to the number of chickens.
Elizabeth started enjoying this game. "How many windows in the kitchen?" she asked. "I need to be able to see Jack in the backyard."
"As many windows as you want," he said.
"It sounds perfect."
"How long was I out there? Six hours? That's a long time to be on the grass with your nose right up against your own mortality."
Elizabeth nodded, "Carson said if you'd gone into a deep sleep, as cold as you were, you might not have made it."
"I'm warm now," Nathan said, smiling. "You're a very good nurse."
Elizabeth laughed. "Another profession. Teacher. Coal Miner. Writer. Nurse."
"Just don't try to do them all at once," Nathan said. "Though I wouldn't underestimate you." Nathan looked over at her. "You never really answered me about how you found me. It wasn't logical for you to look on this road."
"I know this will sound strange, but Sergeant wouldn't let me look anywhere else," she said softly. "He balked every time I tried to go in another direction. Finally, I just let go of the reins and let him have his head."
Nathan laughed. "Horses are very intuitive, Elizabeth, but that's a stretch even for a horse."
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy..." Elizabeth said.
"Ah, yes. Hamlet," Nathan said. At Elizabeth's mild surprise, he said, "I loved Shakespeare in school." He paused, thinking. "So, now you'll be telling me that Sergeant had help from above?"
She stayed silent for a moment, and then said, "Nathan, I know you said you weren't jealous of Jack, but does it bother you that I talk about him so often? Because I can keep it to myself."
"No, I want you to say what's on your mind, Elizabeth. It doesn't bother me. Honestly, I wish I'd known him."
Elizabeth smiled. "You would have liked each other, I think."
Nathan took her hand and kissed it gently, lingering there for a moment. "We have common ground. We both love you." Nathan breathed deeply. "Well, however you found me, I'm grateful. And if you had help from Jack, I'm grateful to him." Nathan was quiet for a moment, thinking. Then he said, "Toward the end when I felt myself slipping into sleep, you know what I thought about most?" he asked.
"What?" Elizabeth said.
"How ironic it would be for me to finally be truly happy and then fall off a horse and bam! that would be it. There's something not fair about that."
She smiled over at him. "No, that wouldn't be fair."
"And, worse than that, you would be very upset with me, wouldn't you?" he asked.
Elizabeth smiled. "Yes. I would be very upset with you. But most of all, I would miss you."
"That's good," Nathan said drowsily, "A man should be missed."
Nathan pulled the blanket up closer to his neck.
"Are you cold?" Elizabeth said, as she reached over and tucked the blanket all around him.
"Little bit," he said, chuckling, "Maybe you should come closer."
"What happened to being a perfect gentleman?" she said, smiling.
"Aww, I've been a perfect gentleman my whole life and look where it's got me."
Elizabeth laughed, "In the back of a wagon on a blanket with me?"
"Hey," Nathan said. "That's not so bad, is it?"
Elizabeth laughed, tucking the blanket up under his chin and moving closer to him. "No, not so bad."
"Elizabeth," Nathan said, softly, now serious, "If something ever did happen to me, would you do something for me?"
Elizabeth's heart tightened and she said crisply, "Nothing is going to happen to you, Nathan."
"But if it did..."
"Okay," she said, sighing and knowing he wouldn't let go of it until he said it, "If it did."
"Would you take Allie?"
Elizabeth couldn't breathe for a moment, and then she absolutely knew the answer to his question. "Yes, Nathan." And since his heart was so open, morphine or not, she opened hers. "I already love her like a daughter. I would take care of her as my own. That's a promise."
"Thank you," Nathan said. "And, I may be under the influence of a very strong drug right now, and you may think I won't remember any of this. But I'll remember it all."
Elizabeth leaned over. "Then remember this," she said. She kissed him, and lingered there for a moment. This time his lips were warm. "I was so worried about you, Nathan."
He looked at her, "I was worried about me too," he said, frowning. "I won't be able to explain this very well in my condition, so ask me later and I'll do it better. But..." he raised an eyebrow. "...it's a very strange feeling to have only yourself to solve a number of problems with only what's already in your brain."
Elizabeth laughed. "Should I be worried? I understood that perfectly."
Nathan laughed too. "Maybe." He shook his head. "But you know what I mean? No books, no notes, no one around. Just trying to remember what the symptoms of shock are, or the fact that a tourniquet can only be in place for two hours."
"Really?" Elizabeth said. "I would have thought four or five."
Nathan smiled. "That would not be good. Our bodies really need blood and they get upset when we don't let them have it."
Elizabeth laughed again, thinking; How can I be laughing after what we've been through today? How are you making me so happy?
She had to ask him. "What happened, Nathan? Bear is so sure-footed. Did an animal spook him?"
Elizabeth knew that Nathan would normally be embarrassed to say this, but not tonight. "I wasn't looking where I was going. I was looking at you."
"At me?" Elizabeth said.
"I was remembering our race. Actually, I was on this road because I wanted to remember our day." Nathan took her hand in his. "It was a good day, Elizabeth."
She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Yes, it was."
Suddenly Nathan said, "I want to take you home."
Elizabeth frowned and said, "You're going to need to be more specific than that, Nathan. I could take that a number of ways."
"Home. My home. In Airdrie. Our ranch. To meet my mother. And my horse."
"You have a horse other than Bear?"
Nathan frowned. "Out of that entire sentence, you chose to comment on my horse? Yes, I have a Mountie horse and a home horse."
"Oh, I heard the whole sentence," Elizabeth said. "You said you want me to meet your mother and see where you grew up." She smiled. "I would love to, Nathan."
"Good," he said. "We'll make plans."
Elizabeth felt him drifting off, but she had always meant to ask this, and kept forgetting. "Nathan. Why is he called Bear?"
"Because he saved me from one once. And we both lived to tell the tale."
And just like that, Nathan was finished talking. Finally, after only three hours' sleep the night before and what he had endured for most of the day and into the night, Nathan drifted off to sleep.
Carson had told her that if Nathan wanted to sleep, to let him. He needed to mend, and sleep was the best thing for him.
As the wagon rocked over the dirt road, Elizabeth worried about the bump on Nathan's head. She reached around and cupped her palm to keep him from hitting the side of the wagon as it rocked.
Then she just scooted over and bunched up a blanket for a pillow and moved his head onto her lap. Nathan's even breathing let her know that he was sound asleep.
She threaded her fingers through his hair absentmindedly and looked up at the stars.
And Elizabeth knew she was going to be alright. That last story, about Bear and the bear might have finally pushed Elizabeth over the edge.
She couldn't keep these men from doing dangerous things. And what was truly a revelation was that if she wanted to be with a man who didn't do interesting and dangerous things, she would already be with Hickam, or someone like him.
Hickam was a very good man who stayed close to home and never put himself in danger. But she wasn't with Hickam.
She loved the red serge, and the courage and bravery of the Mounties. Unlike her parents, Elizabeth did believe that Mountie was a noble profession.
And the second revelation was that she took plenty of chances too. How many times had she needed to be rescued? If you care about helping people, you sometimes take chances, and sometimes those chances are dangerous.
She looked down at Nathan's peaceful face, barely visible to her now in the dark.
I'm going to stop being afraid. You are my choice, Nathan. And you being in a sometimes dangerous profession comes along with that choice.
She was so grateful that he was warm and safe with her. Elizabeth ran her knuckles softly over Nathan's cheek.
I'm yours, she thought. No matter what.
It was nearly ten o'clock when the wagon pulled into Hope Valley, but the lights were on in Abigail's. At the sound of the wagon, Jesse, Clara, Bill, Fiona, and a handful of others came out and greeted them. Lucas and some others stood at the door to the saloon as he raised his hand in greeting. The Infirmary was blazing with light and Carson and Faith stood at the door.
I love Hope Valley, Elizabeth thought, her heart full. How lucky I am to have landed here.
Elizabeth didn't see Rosemary, but she knew that she was back at her row house with Jack and Allie sound asleep.
Elizabeth didn't even attempt to change her position as the men approached the wagon to carry Nathan into the Infirmary. He was still asleep with his head in her lap and her arm protectively around his shoulder. She needn't have worried about any judgement. Everyone understood.
She stayed with Nathan until he was deeply under another dose of morphine in preparation for the re-setting, suturing and casting. Then she walked up to the row houses.
"Sound asleep," Rosemary whispered to her from her perch on the sofa. She was holding Jack, and Allie was in the small rollaway bed next to her.
"Allie finally gave up about a half hour ago," she said. "She was so worried about Nathan."
The exhaustion was finally hitting Elizabeth. "I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. It could have been very bad, Rosemary."
"I know. Jesse and Clara came up to tell me what happened." She squeezed Elizabeth's hand. "Oh, I'm so glad it turned out this way. And Lee is back, obviously? He's fine?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said. "He drove the wagon." She felt tears coming to her eyes. "I'm so grateful for all of you. What a wonderful place Hope Valley is, Rosemary."
"We all love you and Nathan, Elizabeth." Still holding Jack, she hugged her gently.
"It's mutual," Elizabeth whispered. She indicated a quilt over the back of the sofa. "You can put Jack down on the floor right here if you want. You don't have to keep holding him. He's sound asleep."
Rosemary sighed. "This is heaven, Elizabeth. Holding him. I could hold him all night."
Smiling, Elizabeth said, "I'm going back, Rosemary. I want to make sure Nathan is okay."
"Of course you are," Rosemary said, kissing her on the cheek. "You go care for your Mountie, Elizabeth."
"Thank you." Elizabeth kissed Jack tenderly on the head and hugged Rosemary again. Then she slipped out silently and made her way through the starry night back to the Infirmary.
