If it wasn't enough for Lee to have a brush with death, and for Elizabeth and the children to get stuck in a cabin in the mountain woods a week ago, the prisoner transfer had to go wrong.
"Yes, her novel is going to be published." Lucas and I are talking about Elizabeth and her story about a young widow on the frontier. "I'm excited for her, naturally."
"I wish I enjoyed writing and books more." I lean against the saloon doorframe. I just finished work for the day.
"Starting is half the battle."
"It's Nathan! I think he's been shot!" A man shouts. Despite my knowing Nathan is alive and unharmed, those words threaten to destroy me as a gaggle of citizens rush toward the prison transfer carriage. This is the episode where Elizabeth hugs Nathan. Lucas will have to watch. I will have to watch.
Elizabeth is in the distance near the store, a shadow brewing, feet pumping to see what is occurring. I shove forward, abandoning Lucas in a snap to offer my services to Dr. Carson, but my heart stops when I manage to break the crowd. The man is hardly conscious as blood soaks every last inch of the shredded cloth around his leg and torso. Sweat and scarlet droplets coat his forehead, and bile rolls up my throat at the butchered flesh. A palm slaps onto my mouth, containing a startled yelp.
"He's losing a lot of blood. We need to get him to the infirmary right now to stop the bleeding." Carson's hurried, but calm tone ushers Bill and other men to help transfer the wounded Mountie with care. I scour the ground with my boots, forcing myself into the infirmary. "Nate..." My voice chokes and caves in on itself, as if the reality only struck me down in this moment. "Nathan..." I whimper in desperate need, but Lee drags me gently away from Dr. Carson, so he can work with no distraction. My hand reaches for Nathan sprawled on the bloodied table, but he is too far away.
"Please, no!"
"Nyrah," Lee says, holding me back by the shoulders. "trust me. The Constable is in capable hands." The Constable...I only called Nate that name when I was angry, and I had been calling him that since he told me he read my journal. It is such a cold term. The pain of his decision pales in comparison to the threat of losing him for the rest of my life. Elizabeth is behind me, distraught, but not as distraught as I feel she should be, considering Nate cares for her. Bill shoos Elizabeth and I out of the room, and we both wait outside. I am to now bear the burden of a helpless onlooker as I try to peek through tight curtains. Allie is sprinting full speed down the road, tears staining her cheeks already.
"Where is uncle Nathan? Let me see him!" Allie tries to barrel inside, but Elizabeth and I grip her flailing body. "Please!" She screams, "You don't understand! He needs me!" The wails shuddering from the girl shatters a chip of my heart one broken piece at a time. "Uncle Nathan!" With a stomp of her foot, eyes brimming with fear and loss, Allie wilts in defeat, and sags into my embrace. Her sobs quake into my stomach, and I hold her tight, not willing to let go as I allow her to grieve. Melting into the bench, and Elizabeth wiping the tears from her eyes, I cling tighter to Allie for my own benefit. My esophagus aches.
It is two hours later, when everything is numb and cold, an exhausted child leaning against my shoulder, when a deafening click sounds. Other citizens are gathered outside, waiting with bated breath. Fiona and Molly helped Carson, and they stand in the threshold with solumn faces. Molly has taken over for Faith while she is at medical school. Not as a nurse, exactly, but as someone who organizes Dr. Carson's schedule and keeps tally on medical supplies. I'm half-surprised she volunteered.
"I finally managed to stop the bleeding and removed both bullets. It is too hard to tell if he will make it." Allie falls frozen, head erect, my arm wrapped around her shoulders. "I think he will need more care than I can give him."
Elizabeth gulps, "You think he needs to go to a hospital?"
"I do." He states. "His wound is deep, and there is a higher risk of infection. They would be able to care for him as long as he needs to recover, and have more tools than I do if another surgery is needed. With a gunshot in the abdominal region, more complications could ensue. He needs someone to be able to act quickly in case it should get worse."
"I'm going with him," Allie says. "I won't leave him." She crosses her arms while Bill leaves to phone Benson Hills General Hospital. I can tell that is his plan, for Florence follows quickly after him because she manages the switchboard. Carson places a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Your uncle is strong," he begins, "Before he went to sleep, he said your name. I think he will always fight for you."
Men and women are upset. Some border on protests and mobs. The protector of the town is potentially dying. Nathan is loved and respected here, and it is natural to feel lost and wonder what is to be done now. I shove all of the grit aside. All that matters, is that Nate lives. If not for me, then for Allie and Elizabeth. Carson glances at me now, his features pinched in a grimace. "He said your name, too."
Elizabeth is with Rosemary and Lee, and this is when the crying comes. I don't answer, heaving lungs attacking my body."Give me a moment," I say, lower lip quivering, leaving Allie behind as I weave through the crowd to get to the school teacher.
"Elizabeth." I tie my fingers like ribbon when she turns to see my red eyes. "Would it be alright if Allie were to miss a few days of school? I want to take her to the hospital for a few days...it would devastate her to remain here."
"Are you sure it is such a good idea to take her right into the thick of it?" Lee asks.
I nod, "She needs to be there, and honestly, I believe it is the best medicine for her right now."
"Do you think Nathan would want his niece to do this?" Elizabeth inquires.
"Nathan is all Allie has beside her grandfather, and while there is still breath in his body, I'm not giving up on him." I unravel my fingers. "I cannot imagine anything better than to wake up seeing someone you love." Elizabeth casts her eyes to the ground emotion in her voice. "I agree," she nods.
Allie and I pack our suitcases, and are out the door when a hospital carriage sets off, I huff in frustration before Henry Gowen offers to drive us to Benson Hills in his blue car. Crazy and impatient drivers are different in this time period and country than in Central Iowa. Perhaps it is the lack of stricter rules on the road. Sure, there is structure in how they drive, but it is a wilder version of what I'm used to. Twinkling dressshops, ravishing restaurants, and waxy hotels blur and smear painfully. Streetlamps flicker and gentlemen escort ladies through the park. "Look, I will fix you up with a good hotel in town. It should be only a few blocks from the hospital. You can rest your heads there for as long as you need. Don't worry about the bill." The soft features of Henry Gowen twist, uncomfortable with the silence after he mentioned the hotel. I know Henry's company is not doing well, so how can he afford to offer to pay for our accommodations? He is going bankrupt.
I shake my head. "Henry, I was fully prepared to-"
"I know, but this is my way of helping Nathan out." We pull up to an elegant building with a painted brick structure, gold awnings over every window and the name "Prism Hotel" painted on glass doors. Polished bronze handles, wheelbarrows with marigolds, and iron benches indicate this as being more grand than I expected.
"Are you certain about this Henry? This place looks expensive." The hotel is out of place in this neighborhood. Squishy clotheslines drip from people's laundry between neighboring shutters. Grimy puddles ripple from mice cleaning their whiskers and tails. A pearl in a slimy clam.
"I told you already. Don't worry about the price." He leads the two of us inside, and I am anxious to see Nate again. Stunning rugs and oak banisters don't phase me as I wish I had been able to hold Nathan's head on my lap to comfort him when he had been in pain before. Dr. Shepard gave him something for that. I can't remember if he said it was morphine or something else.
"Room for two." Henry explains the situation to the bald man behind the desk. I wasted time. I pushed Nathan away, and if things get worse, it will be too late to apologize. A motion near my elbow and a few sniffles knocks some sense back into me. Allie clamps onto her suitcase, releasing some built-up tension from today. "Miss Sutton? Do you think uncle Nathan will be ok?"
"I'm...not certain about what the outcome will be, but I know that he loves you. Never forget that." A young boy approaches to deliver our bags upstairs, and I stare at Mr. Gowen, my respect for him grown. I leave a swift kiss on his cheek, "Thank you for your kindness, Henry, but are you certain you can afford this? I know business has been terrible."
"I can pay. Good evening, Miss Sutton." Henry tips his hat.
I wave down at Mr. Gowen outside from our room, and when we have settled, our clothes packed in a bureau, I wrap a blanket over Allie's shoulders. "I'll be right back. I need to make a call downstairs. Don't open the door to strangers."
"I won't." her hair splays across the pillow like peacock feathers. She calls out as I am about to walk out the door, "Miss Sutton?"
"What is it, Allie?" I ask, as tenderly as possible.
"Thank you."
Downstairs is quiet, and the rug way stinks of cigar smoke. The teller at the desk directs me to the phone. A feathery fern waterfalls down from a hanging pot beside a beaded armchair, and a newspaper masks the owner of the fingers holding it up. The phone is out in the open much like the one in Yost's store. All eight ears in the lobby will eavesdrop on my conversation, but that does not stay my hand from the phone. I have never used an old fashioned piece such as this before, so the earpiece is awkward against my ear.
The lady at the switchboard connects me with the hospital. "Hello, my name is Miss Sutton. I was wondering if Nathan Grant is capable of receiving visitors this evening. His niece would love to be there for him."
A muffle shifts on the line, documents, I deduce. "I'm sorry," Nurse Zia, as meek as a lamb, says, "He won't be fit to see anyone until tomorrow, and even then the patient may not even be awake. Are you his niece?"
"No, I am temporarily caring for the girl."
"Well, I can make no promises, but why don't you call us back tomorrow? We'll have more information then."
"That will be fine." I swallow hard. "Goodnight." Flashbacks of the various dreams I have experienced plague me. He died almost every time. A cry throbs in my throat, but I swallow it down once more. I cannot scrub the blood from my mind or the tranquility of knowing it was not Nathan bleeding to death, then the sheer horror of discovering that I know less than I boast about. Two gaping chasms. One in his stomach. The other in his thigh. The newspaper beside me crackles. A sickness crashes into me when I catch a glimpse of sandy waves and spectacles, only to gasp when it is not Jude Wesley.
"It is rude to stare," he says.
"I apologize, sir," I blurt out, skirt swishing behind as I race upstairs, a palm masking my lips. I all but slam the door, knees trembling. It requires strength not to slide against the doorframe and wring up onto the unswept floor.
Collecting my skirts and my sanity, I flick through dollars in my purse, counting how much I have. "Allie, what do you say to eating some dinner at a restaurant? It is too late to eat at the hotel."
"I'm not really hungry, but if you want to eat something, that's fine."
"I'm not hungry either." I toss the purse into my carpet bag and shuffle out a nightgown. "How about we just get some rest? You've had a long day, and so have I."
"But, uncle Nathan..." she reminds me.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot visit him tonight. The hospital has rules. I will call them again tomorrow."
"First thing?"
"Yes," I start to unravel the braid between my shoulder blades over my collarbone, "first thing in the morning."
Our night dresses are thin, providing a cool release of the day's heat. I lock the door and sit on the edge of our bed, now brushing through my hair before
tugging at the rats in Allie's dark locks. She has been quiet, and I don't blame her. I recall the first day I met her as she swung around a string of fish with her uncle. So much has occurred since the beginning. A pull tethers my heart to these special people. To Allie. To Nate. I mourn the fact that I have lost something I never had. Once we get back to Hope Valley, where everything is normal again, Elizabeth will go back to her confused love triangle, and so will Nathan. I had interest in both Lucas and Nathan for a time, but now all I know is the devastation when the story changed on me. Nothing can be expected to be the same anymore. I want to wake up to Nathan's smile. I wish to hear his laugh when I'm acting like an idiot. I even miss his cross attitude when something jumps outside of his slow and steady pace through life. Anything that makes up Nathan Grant, I cherish steadfastly.
And I will forever.
I know that this chapter is about Nyrah and Nathan, but I also got to reminiscing. This is a memorial. As much as I appreciate that Elizabeth found love again in the series, my heart still aches at the passing of Jack. I cried remembering him again, and the devastating moment when Elizabeth realized what happened. Jack's death has been the most painful of any character death I have experienced. That scene destroyed me, and I would love to see some comments about your favorite quality about Jack.
Mine, was his loyalty. He stood by his own and loved with his entire being, and was quick to protect anyone in need. He was a great Mountie, and a good man.