Chapter 11

Authors note*

Hang in there readers! i think one more chapter and this story will be wrapped up! please keep reading and letting me know what you guys and gals think of my story! ENJOY!

revised some things!

BETAS SADDLE TRAMP AND NAKOOSAY

Before a word came out of my mouth, Jess moaned. I put my hand on his forehead and while he was still too warm for my liking, his fever seemed to have gone down. Mort looked on concerned but his worry abated when I told him that Jess's fever was down.

"At least he isn't delirious anymore." I said adjusting the blankets on my best friend while wondering how long it took for the Doc to eat their supper.

"Want me to get the Doc?" Mort asked.

"No Mort. Jess is a bit better; not worse."

Mort cleared his throat and said "Well, thank Heaven for that. But Slim before Jess here reminded us that he was still alive and kicking, you, were going to tell me what's been bugging you?"

I looked up and locked eyes with Mort, regretting that I had brought my problems to Mort's attention. Because now it all just felt silly and selfish of me to take Mort's attention away from Jess and put it on me. I mean I wasn't the one lying on a cot after having a bullet removed from my belly. Mort looked straight back into my eyes and sighed heavily. He got up from his chair before taking it and placing right in front of me.

He sat down again, resting a hand firmly upon my shoulder and his face only a couple inches from mine.

"Don't you go putting your troubles second to Jess's Slim. I won't put up with that. Jess will be fine, and you can't do anything to help him right now. When Jess wakes up, he is going to need his caring friend. Not a friend who is troubled. Now tell me son what's going on in that head of yours. Huh? What's got Mr. Sherman tied up in knots on the inside?"

I grinned when Mort called me Mr. Sherman. The only time he called me Mr. Sherman was when he wanted to cheer me up. It always brought a chuckle to my lips and this time was no different. Mort calling me Mr. Sherman should have brought up sad memories of my dad. But Mort had a way of saying it that it was half loving and half joking, and it never once made me sad or made me miss my dad more.

It was akin to Mort joshing around with me while complimenting about how good of a person I had become, just like my father. So, I told Mort. I told him how much the war and losing my parents had messed me up on the inside. I told him that I felt so different that I couldn't be called my birthname because I wasn't who I was before. But I didn't know who Slim was and I was at a loss for what to do.

Mort sat patiently through it all and his hand never left my shoulder. His hand functioned as an anchor as I swam through the river of insecurities that roared within me. Mort never spoke a word while I talked. He just kept his eyes locked on mine and would squeeze my shoulder when I was starting to get visibly upset.

I finished talking and dropped my eyes to the floor, waiting for Mort to say something. The outer door squeaked, and the Doc strolled in and stopped short when he saw me and Mort.

"eh-hem" the Doc cleared his throat as Mort leaned back in his chair but kept his hand upon my shoulder.

Mort just looked up at the Doc and smiling said "We were in the middle of talking. But since you haven't checked up on Jess, in what a couple of hours, maybe you should check on him, or is your sign outside wrong and you are not a doctor?"

The Doc looked mighty mad for a second before a he chuckled dryly and shook his head at Mort.

The Doc rambled, saying that the steak he had eaten was tougher than a buffalo's hide.

I interrupted and told him that Jess had a fever but that it had broken but not before he had become delirious for a little bit before passing out again. The Doc mumbled under his breath then checked Jess over. Mort had finally let go of my shoulder and he stood by the head of the cot as the Doc checked Jess's wound. The Doc finished up, tucking the blankets back under Jess's armpits. He then took the cloth, dipping it in the little water remaining in the bowl by the bed.

It was the same bowl I had used and the Doc gently dabbed Jess's face letting the coolness of the water help keep the rest of the fever down. He finished then stood up and looked Mort's and my worried faces and exhaled loudly.

"Your friend is lucky that the bullet didn't hit any vital organs. It passed them all by, but it did do damage. Nothing that rest and time won't heal though. He will be in pain but that's what happens when you get shot. He should be very thankful that the bullet hit him more over to the side then in the middle. A bullet to the middle of the stomach would have been fatal."

Mort sat back down in the chair in front of me and I glanced at him before looking back at the Doc and asking "When will he wake up? He'll want to know when he can come home."

The Doc laughed dryly again and leaned lightly on the wall behind him before saying "The impetuous young man who is your friend will have to wait a couple of days before travel. While I was eating my supper, I overheard that your friend stopped the robbery. I also heard jokes about how he is not a good patient and is impatient to get out of bed. For him I would say at the least 4 days. Otherwise he could tear the stitches."

"Now just because he gets to leave in 4 days doesn't mean that he will be magically healed. It will take weeks for his stomach to heal. So he needs absolutely no physical labor and as much rest as you can force upon him."

Mort and I laughed at the last part cause we both knew how Jess loved staying in bed all day. The Doc said that he had to go to the telegraph/ mail office to see if the medicine he had ordered came in. The Doc left, leaving me alone again with Mort and a still unconscious Jess. Mort's face was gentle, and his voice kind as he asked, "Why didn't you come to me boy?"

"I thought that I could figure it out myself Mort, but I can't and its grinding me to the bone. I just... I don't know who I am anymore Mort. If I'm not my birth name and I don't know how to be Slim, then who am I?"

Mort's hand was back on my shoulder and his eyes stared into my soul as he spoke "I know who you are Slim. Do you want me to tell you who you are?"

My eyes were slightly damp as the answer that I had searched for was right at my fingertips and I said "Please tell me Mort. Because I don't want to be like this anymore. To be without a true name."

TBC