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Chapter 21

Once Griff was settled on the bed, Doc listed the things he planned to use. "I'll need more blankets, towels, hot water and bandages."

Ben guided Billy out of the room to allow the doctor to carry on with his examination and quickly collected what was needed. Along the way, Jamie accosted his father.

"How is he, Pa?"

"We don't know yet. The doc is working on him now. How's Joe?"

"Asleep on the couch," said Jamie. "Hop Sing is making some broth for when he wakes up."

Ben pulled Jamie into an embrace, running his hand through the boy's hair. He had come so close to losing him and Joe. Releasing his son, he looked him in the eye and said, "Jamie, I want you to stay with your brother. He needs you, son."

"I will, Pa," Jamie vowed.

"I'll join you in a minute. I just need to see off Roy and Clem, and get Billy settled to stay the night," Ben explained. "He's in the upstairs guest room."

"Stay the night?" Jamie gaped. "Stay the night?! Pa, how can you even think about letting him stay here? They shot Joe, they beat all of us, they mighta killed Griff!" Jamie's voice broke at his last statement. He could feel the tears forming and pushing behind his eyes, but he tried valiantly to blink the sensation away. "Don't you realize what they did? What they might have done?" Jamie crossed his arms in front of his chest. "How do we know he won't try something tonight?"

Ben clenched his jaw, fully understanding Jamie's hesitation. He could only imagine the emotions Jamie had experienced because of Gabe. He continued making his way down the stairs and Jamie walked by his side. "He's unarmed and has given me his word. Billy's a broken young man, son. He's not a danger to anyone anymore. It's only until we bury his brother. Then he'll be off to the jailhouse to confess."

"I hope they hang him and Gabe," Jamie said evenly.

The statement was a shock to Ben's ears, but instead of judging Jamie, he kept his face neutral, inviting his son to continue.

"They deserve to die for what they done. I don't care if Billy decided to help you during the robbery. It don't change what they did to Joe, to Griff."

Ben remained quiet, sensing that Jamie had not finished his thought. After a moment, his patience was rewarded and Jamie uttered what he felt, even if it distrubed him more than he cared to admit.

"And to me." Having said his peace, Jamie felt there was nothing more that he could say to change his father's mind or to make him understand.

At a loss for words to comfort Jamie and and to take away the anger inside of the boy, Ben watched him make his way over to Joe and decided to let it be for now.

Paul Martin gave his patient one last look before placing his instruments back into his bag. He took comfort in the fact that he was able to deliver the Cartwrights some more good news: the knife had not harmed any of Griff's vital organs. While he did lose quite a bit of blood, the wound itself was much less serious than it appeared. In fact, he was more concerned about the aggravated burn to the back of the young man's hand. The last time he had checked the wound on his previous visit, it was healing nicely and now, it was in worse condition with signs of infection. He hoped Griff was strong enough to fight it, and that there was no permanent nerve damage.

A knock on the door was followed by Ben's reappearance.

"Well, I've done all I can for Joe and Griff. Is there anything I can do for you or Jamie?" Doc Martin enquired, seeing the bruises on his friend's face and recalling Jamie's own shiners.

"Oh, I'm alright, Paul. But I'd appreciate it if you could take a look at Jamie," said Ben.

"Of course."

"Thank you," Ben smiled. "So how is Griff?"

"Well, both he and Joe are extremely lucky. No damage to his organs and arteries, although he lost a lot of blood. He also has a concussion and apart from a couple of cracked ribs nothing else appears to be broken. He has a long road to recovery as does Joe, but if we can keep that hand free of infection, he should be alright. I'll be back tomorrow to check on everyone. Now, where is young Jamie?"

"Downstairs," Ben said, leading the way after one last look at Griff.

The blood had been washed away from his body, his stomach wrapped, and his hand bandaged so carefully that it looked like he wore one large, white mitten. Seeing him so still caused an unnatural chill within Ben. For as long as he had known Griff, Ben could see that he had a lot of pent-up energy, so he was always moving, twitching, shifting. Although Ben knew deep rest was the best thing for Griff, he anxiously anticipated Griff waking up and moving around once again.

Under Ben's watchful eye, Doctor Martin inspected Jamie's bruises, cuts, and the large bump on his head. Ben was still quite curious to know what exactly had transpired in his absence, but with the situation at hand, he had not been able to make finding out a priority. Now, looking at Jamie and seeing that the teen was nearly at his breaking point, Ben decided to turn his attention to his youngest son, who perhaps had done some growing up over the last two days.

"That should just about do it," Paul announced, tying off a bandage around Jamie's head. "How does that feel, Jamie? Is it too tight?"

"It's fine," answered Jamie, patting the cloth with his hand. "Thanks, Doc."

"Now, I'm sure you've got one splitting headache," the older man sympathized. "But it should subside in a few days. I know this'll be tough to hear, but I strongly suggest you don't sleep for at least another twelve hours, just to be sure. You don't show signs of a concussion, but sometimes head wounds are tricky."

"Okay," Jamie said in between yawns.

Ben placed both his hands on Jamie's shoulders, half-shaking him awake and half offering him comforting physical contact. "We can handle that," he agreed.

"Then, that'll be all for tonight. So many patients! You'll be receiving quite the bill when I tally all this up," the doctor joked. He extended his hand to shake Ben's. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this, Ben. You and your family."

"Never boring in the Cartwright house," Hop Sing remarked as he passed by the two men and ascended the stairs. He had volunteered to sit up with Griff so Ben and Jamie could watch Joe.

"We can't thank you enough for coming out here and patching everyone up," Ben expressed genuinely, opening the front door for his friend as he exited. Once Paul was gone, Ben turned his attention back to Jamie, who sat in a chair pulled closed to the couch where Joe slept.

He explained Griff's prognosis and Jamie barely eked out a verbal response. Just at that moment, Joe stirred and listened carefully so he, too, would be informed on his friend's condition. Even that conversation wore him out and he slipped back to sleep.

"Big day for you both," Ben remarked, pulling a second chair next to Jamie, hoping to get his youngest son talking. "I already told you what happened with Billy. Now I wonder if you can fill me in on what happened here today JAmie."

"Pa, I don't wanna talk about it," Jamie responded with an edge of defiance that surprised his father.

"Son, sometimes it helps to talk," Ben gently prompted.

"I'll tell ya what happened: Gabe made them fight it out," Billy cut in. He had descended the stairs and overheard the conversation.

While Ben wanted to know more, Jamie wished Billy kept his mouth shut.

"Fight?" Ben asked in astonishment. "What do you mean? And how do you know?"

"I know my cousin. It's what he woulda done. I'm willing to bet he gave em a choice. Either they fought or he woulda beat Jamie something awful. Your convict …" Billy theorized but the teen in front of him interrupted.

"Don't call him that! He's not a convict!" Jamie retorted but didn't deny Billy's accurate assumption.

Ben placed a hand on Jamie's shoulder but kept his eye on Billy. "Why would your cousin make them do it?"

Billy shrugged. "Because it makes him feel powerful, I guess. He did the same to me and Cole some years ago. I mighta been younger than Jamie here. Only thing is, unlike your conv-, err, I mean… uh, cowhand," Billy corrected, "Cole didn't hold back on his punches. He was drunk but Gabe was sober and couldn't care less. Butch walked in on us and put an end to it. Knocked out Gabe's teeth and almost broke Cole's arm. They never did it again after that. Least not to me. Anyway, Griff don't look like the type to beat on kids."

Ben pursed his lips, his brow furrowed as he listened to Billy speak so calmly about what may have transpired and comparing it to the violence that he was also subjected to as a boy. "Billy, why did you stay in the gang?"

"Where else could I go? Mister, I was already wanted for stealing a horse. I been stealing since I can remember. I cracked my first safe at twelve, hit a deputy when I was fourteen. How far you think I was gonna get before the law caught up with me?" Billy scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall. "I was stuck, for better or worse."

Ben was at a loss for words. It was small wonder that the boy looked older than he first took him for. He had grown up faster than most kids his age and been brought up in a life of crime and violence. After an awkward silence, Ben turned to Jamie and looked him in the eye. "Is that the way it happened, son?"

"Go ahead! Tell him that's how it was. I was right wasn't I?" Billy pressed.

Jamie's face reddened and he started to rise to his feet, his hands balled into fists but his father held him in place. "Shut your mouth! You don't know how it was! You weren't here!"

"Jamie!" Ben said sharply. He looked into Jamie's eyes and saw the anger burning in their depths. Deciding it was not the right time to discuss the subject any further, Ben squeezed Jamie's shoulder and allowed the matter to drop. For now. "We'll talk about this later." He then shifted his attention back to Billy. "Why don't you get some rest? We best start out early and tend to Butch."

Billy nodded, stepped away from the wall and headed back upstairs leaving the father and his two sons to their thoughts.

Ben pulled up another chair and sat beside Jamie, who deliberately averted his gaze. As frustrated as he was, Jamie knew Ben would not leave him alone after Paul recommended Jamie not be allowed to sleep with his head wound.

Images of Griff and Jamie exchanging blows appeared in Ben's mind and he felt ill to his stomach thinking about the cruelty behind Gabe's motives.