The Epidemic
Part ll
Chapter 8
Dr. Wright was closely examining Jeremy with a very worried look on her face. When she was silent for a long time, Jason asked "Allyn…?"
"Oh," she said, coming out of her racing thoughts. "I hope you two have been healthy these past two weeks?"
"Well, yes," said Jason, "but we came back to a ghost town, not a bustling camp, seeing Jeremy try to anchor a flume connection that was impossibly high and heavy."
Allyn replied, "Yes, I can tell he was hit pretty hard. There are multiple contusions and a severe concussion."
"Why did you ask about our health?" Asked Josh.
"Well, I don't know if you heard the news about the horrible influenza epidemic in San Francisco. It has been spreading like wildfire all up and down the west coast. Many people have died."
"How did it reach Seattle?" Asked Josh.
"Clancey's ship, of course. At least he raised a black flag to warn us."
"Didn't he stay isolated on that ship?"
"Yes, well, I went to tend to the entire crew myself, but while I was asleep on the deck one night, Clancey snuck past me to get a bottle of whisky, spreading his germs just enough to infect the rest of the town."
"We should have guessed," said Josh.
"Has anyone here died from this illness?" Jason queried.
"Well….um… yes. We lost the elderly Simmons couple, and The Rivers' newborn baby."
"Oh - well, that's the very old and the very young. Surely Jeremy —"
"Jason, right now, Jeremy is sicker than all three of those people put together." Her grim face told it all.
"Well, what can we do?" Asked Josh.
Allyn thought a moment and then told them, "I want you to get out that big excuse of a bathtub you have and fill it with the coldest water you can find - get it from Puget Sound if you have to. Also, get two blocks of ice from Lottie's - one large and one small. We've got to get this raging fever down before he starts having convulsions."
Both brothers looked silently at each other with alarm. Then they ran the errands.
Lottie returned with the Bolt brothers when they brought the ice over from the saloon.
"I knew it," she stated. "He's been trying to do everything for everybody for the last several days. He would never admit to feeling bad, either."
Allyn instructed "put the large block of ice in the tub, and the small block of ice in the wash basin. Fill the wash basin enough to cover the ice, then leave several cloths soaking in the cold water."
As the bathtub was getting filled, Jason asked "You don't want us to drown him in it, do you?"
"No," Allyn answered. "But we have to dunk him a few times, to get the entire body cooled down."
When the tub was filled enough, the brothers were ready for a likely grim task.
"OK, now, boys, lower Jeremy into the water, and when he gasps, I'll quickly hold his nose and you dunk his head underneath, then bring him back up quickly."
Jason and Joshua looked at each other fearfully, but they did as they were told.
Sure enough, when Jeremy's torso hit the frigid water, he gasped. Dr. Wright quickly held his nose shut, and they dunked him underwater for a second.
"OK, we're going to do this again, but hold him under for 2 more seconds."
Jeremy was still gasping and spitting when they lowered him in for a second time. Another gasp, a nose pinch, and more seconds underwater before bringing him back up. Jeremy was really coughing and sputtering now.
"One more time, boys," said Dr. Wright, but Josh interjected, "Isn't there a chance we'll kill him?"
"We'll kill him if we don't do this one more time. Go!"
After the third dunking, Jeremy just gasped and fainted in their arms.
Allyn quickly took his pulse. "He's still with us, even though his pulse is very weak. Let's get him into some dry clothes and put him back in his bed."
Lottie had already changed the bed linens when Jeremy was brought back to bed, still unconscious, but all dried off and wearing new long johns.
Dr. Wright took some vitals and listened to his heart, lungs, and breathing. Then she grew silent.
When she didn't speak up for quite a long time, Jason asked, "Well, doctor, what is the prognosis?"
"Jason," she said softly. "Remember those 3 people I mentioned who lost their lives from this epidemic?"
"Yes," they all said in unison.
"Well…. To be honest….Jeremy might join them tonight. I'm not sure he'll make it till morning, despite what we've accomplished."
Everyone in the room grew solemn, trying to let that information sink in.
"I've done all I can do tonight. I'll come back in the morning to see…." then she tried to hide her tears as she ran out the door.
Chapter 9
The brides were fussing over Aaron three days later, when he finally bellowed, "Ladies! Ladies! I feel quite fine this morning!"
Biddie interjected, "Well, Mr. Stempel, nobody has gotten well quite this fast. We should at least take your temperature." Aaron sighed in resignation.
Lottie was passing by his porch on the way to the saloon and looked in on the crowd. "How is he doing?" She asked.
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Biddie. "He thinks he's well enough to get up right now and do all sorts of things."
"Well, I'm not surprised. He's so ornery, even the germs don't want to be around him for too long."
Aaron caught wind of that remark, and stared at Lottie, dumbfounded. Lottie just turned and went out the door - after winking at the patient.
Back at the Bolt cabin, Josh woke groggily from a light sleep. "Jason, did you get any rest? You're in the same place that you were standing last night."
"No, I couldn't rest, let alone sleep. I'm glad you're rested, though. Maybe you can—"
Just then there was a rap at the door. Jason let the doctor in, but he didn't say anything.
"Is Jeremy…?" She went swiftly to him, checking his pulse and breathing.
Allyn sighed with relief. "Well, you Bolts certainly have the 'Tiger by the Tail' regarding staying alive at all costs. Did you take turns watching him overnight?"
Jason replied, "I knew I couldn't sleep, so I just kept watch and let Josh rest, the little that he could."
Dr. Wright glowered at the men. That's all we need around here, she thought to herself. Even more people getting sick. Fatigue is the first symptom.
"Did anything happen overnight? A coughing fit, shivering, anything like that?" She asked.
"Not really," Jason opined. "He was as still as a log. That's why I went over to him every so often, to see if he was still breathing."
Josh chimed in "We would have come to get you if anything had changed, Doctor."
"I'm sure you would have," Allyn replied gently.
She felt Jeremy's forehead. Still a raging fever. She was thinking that they might have to dunk him again today. As it was, she instructed the brothers to take turns putting a very cold cloth from then iced water in the basin on his forehead and leaving it there to warm up before changing to a new cloth.
"If he stays stable, we can hope for another night. Now, please excuse me while I tend to the rest of the town." With that said, she left.
Aaron insisted on getting up and out of his cabin, so, when the doting brides left, he made his way, more or less steadily, across town to the Bolt cabin. He wanted a word with Jeremy.
When he knocked on the cabin door, Jason said "Come in!"
As soon as he entered, he said "Why, Jason - you're back! Ahh.. Just in time to take care of baby brother, I see."
Jason glowered, "Don't get me started, Aaron…"
"Well, I suppose what goes around comes around…"
"Back off, Aaron!" Jason was yelling at this point.
"But all I-"
"He's dying, Aaron," Joshua said quietly.
Aaron stopped in his tracks and pondered that awful news for a bit.
"When did he become ill?" He asked in a soft voice.
"Three days ago. A flume section he was trying to connect fell on him, and he hasn't woken up since."
"Oh," said Aaron, feeling remorse for his two previous remarks. All the men were quiet for some time.
Aaron finally broke the silence, saying, "Well, I, uh, I suppose you two boys feel a need to check out your camp today, even though there are probably no loggers up there."
Both Bolts turned and looked at Stempel, inquisitively.
Aaron continued, "I, er, could watch him while you check out the camp."
Both Jason & Josh looked at each other, took a deep breath, then Jason said, "Why, Aaron Stempel, that's just about the nicest thing you've ever offered to do for this family."
"Yes, well, you better get going before my brain gets any clearer and I change my mind…"
Jason & Joshua both smiled at him, then scooted out of the cabin to check out the logging camp.
What they found at the camp was truly a ghost town. It seemed like men just stopped in their tracks and couldn't finish what they were doing before someone had to drag them off.
Other projects besides the flume were only half-finished, also.
"Jason, we're not going to have enough manpower to reach Stempel's deadline."
"Josh, Stempel doesn't have a deadline anymore," Jason explained. "You don't think his camp looks any different than ours, do you?"
Josh had a "DUH" moment before they continued making the rounds. After a while, Jason suggested, "Let's take a break and head to Lottie's, shall we?"
"Sounds good to me," Josh replied, and off they went for some food and drink - mainly drink.
Chapter 10
Stempel placed another cold compress on Jeremy's forehead.
"Look, Jeremy, I might as well thank you while you're still out cold, because I usually don't do that sort of thing in front of anyone. Nobody has ever done anything for me like what you did the other night, either."
Jeremy just lay there. Aaron spoke louder to him, "Look, Jeremy, you have got to get well! You've got your girl waiting for you! You've got your brothers and your job waiting for you!"
No movement. Stemple sighed, then returned to get a fresh compress. He looked down at the still body until frustration overtook him. He lifted Jeremy by the shoulders and started shaking him:
"Jeremy, your family needs you! Your girl needs you! The whole town needs you!" he yelled.
Quietly, he added, "Even I need you, Bolt."
He placed Jeremy back down on his pillow, and the young Bolt's arm slid off the side of the bed, hanging limp. Aaron gently put his arm back in the bed. He went back to the cold water to wring out the cloth and apply another one.
Jeremy's eyes suddenly fluttered open, then closed. Then they opened again, and he could barely make out the image of Aaron Stempel dipping some kind of cloth in water.
"A..a... ?" He asked weakly. Realizing that Stempel had not heard him, he took as deep a breath as he could and said loudly "Aaron?" He thought he was screaming, but was sure it was just a mumble.
Just then, Aaron looked up and saw Jeremy looking at him. Stempel ran to him and exclaimed, "Jeremy, you're awake !" All Jeremy could say weakly was "wa..wa..water?"
"Of course!" Aron exclaimed, and brought him the ladle filled with fresh water.
He lifted Jeremy's head, and Jeremy took several gulps of the refreshing liquid.
"Easy, now, you don't want to choke."
Jeremy eased up on the gulping, but still sipped the water until it was finished.
"Do you want more?" Stempel asked.
Jeremy moved his head slightly to signal "no."
He asked, "Aaron, wh-what are you doing here?"
Aaron was silent for a minute. Then he said, "Just returning a favor from a few days ago." Jeremy looked at him quizzically for a while, then grinned when he realized what Aaron meant by that phrase. "I'm g-g-glad," he whispered.
"Me, too. Well, if you'll excuse me, Jeremy, I have to go ring the town bell! Don't go anywhere now, understand?"
"Uh… no problem," Jeremy muttered. Then he fell asleep again.
Aaron raced to Lottie's and rang the large town bell long and hard. People started gathering from all corners. Jason & Joshua rushed over from camp.
"What is it?" Jason barked.
"Well, you told me to ring the town bell if Jeremy's condition changed, so I—"
Jason didn't bother to hear the rest; he just raced to the cabin with Josh.
Throwing open the cabin door, Jason looked at Jeremy - motionless.
"Oh, dear God," he wailed. "I knew we shouldn't have gone up to the camp!"
Both brothers went to Jeremy's side. Stempel entered the cabin as well.
"Aaron, why didn't you come up to camp to tell us privately? I can't believe you, sometimes!"
Aaron yelled something back at Jason, and they went at it back and forth, until all of them heard a small voice saying,
"Wh-what's all the yelling about?"
With that said, the men instantly stopped and just looked at each other. A broad smile spread over both brothers' faces.
Jason immediately said to Jeremy, "Well, we're yelling about YOU! We've been quite worried about you, brother!"
Josh added, "Yes, we thought there might not be three Bolt brothers much longer. You sure fooled us, though." Smiles were given all around.
Aaron just rolled his eyes and left the cabin.
Chapter 11
The days turned into weeks, and Jeremy gradually grew stronger. Candy had fully recovered by now, and was constant in her caring for Jeremy, bringing him and all the Bolt brothers soup, good meals, and pies.
'You better watch out, Miss Pruitt," Jason told Candy. "You'll be feeding Jeremy so well that he'll break the bed with all that extra weight you're putting on him!"
"A body needs nourishment to heal," Candy pragmatically replied. "Besides, when you're sick, you burn a lot of extra calories while you're getting better."
"I'm not sure those calories were meant to be so full of pies," Josh kidded.
Jeremy just smiled and kept eating…
The town of Seattle gradually returned to life, with no additional fatalities. The women made schedules and menus to deliver good meals to the workers at both the Bolt and Stempel camps.
There were even a few love stories resulting from the charitable visits. Best of all, Spring was almost upon them, adding to the atmosphere of hopefulness and rebirth.
One late afternoon, Jason & Josh came home to find Candy guiding Jeremy around on his feet. "Whoa, brother, you better not start doing a jig too soon," said Jason.
"I'm feeling pretty good now, and.." just then Jeremy got dizzy and almost fell. Thank goodness two strong pairs of arms were there to guide him back to the bed.
"Well, I guess I'm not that normal yet." Jeremy sounded a little discouraged.
"You will be, soon enough. Just don't push yourself." Jason sounded so fatherly sometimes.
Over the next few days, Jeremy became more and more pensive. While sitting up in bed one afternoon, with Candy sitting next to him, working on some knitting, Jeremy asked, "Jason…?"
"Yes, Jeremy?"
Was there ever a t-t-time that you thought I might be … dying?"
Everyone grew silent. You could hear a pin drop.
Jason finally broke the silence. "Well, Jeremy, you could say that yes, we thought you were dying at one point."
Candy's eyes grew wide and misty, but Jason continued, "Why do you ask, brother?"
Jeremy took a quick look at Candy, and then proceeded to tell all of them,
"Well, I think I was maybe dying, too…"
"What do you mean?" queried Jason.
"Well, I saw Mama & Da standing right here, not even 3 feet from this bed. They were smiling at me. I had the f-f-feeling they wanted me to go with them.
"But then, I heard s-s-someone yelling at me, yelling my name, yelling other things, so I got distracted. Then, when I looked back, Mama and Da were f-f-farther away, but beckoning me to go with them. I tried to, but then the voice started yelling at me again. I… I couldn't shake it… It distracted me so m-m-much that when I looked for them again, they were too f-f-far away. They were still smiling, but they just waved goodbye before d-d-disappearing out of sight. Then, I… just…woke up after that."
Everyone was astounded at this revelation. Candy was trying not to cry, but silent tears were trickling down her cheek. Jason spoke very quietly: "Jeremy, did you ever figure out who was yelling at you?"
"That's just the thing, Jason, It sounded like — Aaron Stempel! And when I opened my eyes, he was at the f-f-foot of the bed, rinsing out some cloths or something."
Both older Bolt brothers looked at each other in a very meaningful way.
Jason finally spoke: "Well, if a voice like Aaron Stempel's prevented you from leaving us, I'm glad it did."
Jeremy just sighed, nodded, and fell asleep.
Chapter 12
Gradually, loggers and mill workers returned to their respective job sites, taking it easy for a few days before working up to full steam at their assigned tasks. Big Swede looked the happiest to be back at work.
"Why, Swede, you're actually whistling today!" Jason noticed.
"Ya, I'm very glad to have my strength back."
"You don't miss Miss Essie's attention and home-cooked meals?"
"I can get that any time, Jason. Being able to enjoy those meals and get some fresh air makes a big difference."
Jason smiled at him and patted him on the back. "Go see if you and two others can complete that flume section that Jeremy couldn't. It's definitely a job for several men and a ladder."
"Ya, I can do that," said Swede, collecting two men before heading up to the flume area.
"That reminds me," Jason said to nobody in particular. "I need to go see Stempel."
Jason walked up to Aaron Stempel's office, a place of many a contentious meeting, and knocked loudly on the door. "Stempel! I need to have a few words with you!"
Aaron let him in and asked wearily, "What is it now, Bolt?"
Jason walked right up to Aaron, took his shoulders in both hands, and said,
"I don't know what you did for Jeremy back at the cabin, and I don't care how you did it. All I want to do is thank you for bringing him back to us!"
"Whaaa..?" Asked Aaron. "what did I do?"
"You did what you do best, Stempel - you yelled at him! Not only that, you yelled at him enough that you woke him up!"
"Oh, I…"
"So, Aaron, all I want to say to you is… THANK YOU."
Jason turned on his heels and exited the cabin.
Aaron was left alone, pondering all the "thank-you's" going around these days…
The End
