AFTERMATH
Just a brief interlude a few days after a robbery with with possibly dire consequences (and a poor attempt at a picture).
Hannibal Heyes dipped a clean bandanna into the bowl of fresh, cool well water, wrung it out, and placed it on his partner's forehead. Then he gently moved Kid's left arm and pulled down the blankets to reveal the blood stained bandage just below Kid's right collarbone. Heyes carefully removed the bandage and winced at the sight of the still bleeding wound.
Kid lay motionless on the bed, his eyes partially open but glazed, his breathing slow and shallow. He had no reaction to the cold, wet cloth Heyes used to wipe the fresh blood from Kid's skin.
"Heyes? I brung more bandages," Preacher said through the screen door of the leader's cabin.
"Come on in, Preacher," Heyes replied.
Preacher walked in to Kid's room and dropped the bandages on the foot of the bed. Then he walked around to stand beside Heyes and inspect the wound.
"I don't know why the bleeding won't stop," Heyes said, feeling both worried and frustrated. "Nothing's working, Preacher."
"Maybe we ought to open it up again and pack some bandages right into it. That'll put pressure on the spot that's bleeding. It might help, Heyes."
Heyes had no idea if Preacher was offering sound advice and he certainly didn't want to cause any additional harm to his partner.
"Kyle should be here with the doctor any minute. Let's wait a while longer."
Preacher nodded. "He got a fever?"
Heyes shook his head. "No, in fact he feels cold."
Preacher shook his head. "That's as bad as a fever, Heyes."
"I know."
"Going on three days. He ain't got much more blood to spare."
"I know," Heyes said curtly.
"He drinking anything?"
Heyes shook his head.
"Making any sounds?"
"No."
"Heyes... Don't wait too long."
Heyes sighed as he pressed a clean bandage against Kid's wound.
"Get me another blanket, Preacher."
Preacher grabbed a blanket from a stack on a nearby chair and spread it out over Kid after Heyes had pulled the covers up to Kid's chin. With one hand, Heyes brushed the damp curls away from Kid's forehead and saw Kid's eyes ever so slightly clear and move toward his partner before again glazing and showing no sign of recognition.
Heyes slowly pulled himself to his feet and ran a splayed hand through his own hair. He turned and looked at Preacher, his face filled with fear and desperation. Then he stepped back from the bed and walked out of the room. Heyes paused in the doorway and leaned heavily against the frame, his own sleepless exhaustion taking a toll.
Preacher walked over to Heyes and took Heyes' arm in one hand while placing his other other arm across Heyes' back.
"Come on, Heyes. You need to sit down and rest. I'll fix you some coffee."
Heyes was grateful for the support as Preacher led him across the room to a chair near the fireplace. Heyes slumped into the chair and let his head droop back against the back of the chair. He closed his eyes briefly but forced them open again and gazed at the open bedroom door, afraid to give in to sleep.
"What's keeping Kyle and the doctor?"
Preacher had moved to the kitchen area where he began preparing a pot of coffee.
"They'll be here, Heyes. Kyle knows how important it is."
"Yeah," Heyes sighed heavily. "But in the mean time, Kid might die."
Preacher brought Heyes a cup of coffee. "You want something to eat, Heyes?"
Heyes shook his head.
"Then I'm gonna go sit with Kid. You ought to go lie down and get some sleep. You'll be no good to him if you collapse from exhaustion. I'll wake you if anything changes or when Kyle gets back with the doctor."
Reluctantly, Heyes nodded and sipped at his coffee.
"You wake me if there's any change, Preacher."
"I will, Heyes. I promise." Preacher pulled a chair up next to Kid's bed and sat down. Kid's eyes were now closed and Preacher gently pulled down the blankets enough to see the bandage was again bloody. Preacher knew the wound needed to be opened and packed, but it wasn't his call to make and Heyes was obviously reluctant to do something so intrusive until the doctor had a chance to examine the wound. So Preacher settled for changing the bandage and cleaning the blood from Kid's skin. Kid didn't so much as moan.
Nearly two hours later Preacher heard the sound of horses arriving in the compound and he got up and went to Heyes' room to wake him.
"Heyes, the doctor's here."
Heyes jumped out of bed and met Kyle and the doctor at the screen door.
"When did this happen?" Dr. Hartford asked as he walked into the cabin and Heyes led him into Kid's room.
"Three days ago," Heyes replied.
"And you're just now calling for me?"
"We dug the bullet out," Preacher explained. "But the bleeding won't stop."
"You likely nicked an artery."
Dr. Hartford filled the chair beside Kid's bed and began a quick examination.
"He's so pale he's obviously lost a great deal of blood," the doctor said and gently lifted each eye lid to examine Kid's eyes.
"We've been changing the bandages every couple of hours," Heyes told him.
"Breathing is very shallow," Dr. Hartford said as he removed the bandages and examined the wound. "Has he been drinking anything?"
"A few sips here and there. Not much. He ain't really been awake."
"Very likely in some degree of shock. I'm going to have to reopen it, but with as much blood as he has lost, and as shallow as his breathing is, I can't sedate him. Ether would very likely stop him from breathing."
"You want us to hold him down?" Kyle asked.
"It may not be necessary in his condition, but I want you all nearby in case you're needed."
Dr. Hartford stood up and placed his medical bag at the foot of the bed and began extracting the tools he would be using.
"I want these boiled in water for twenty minutes," he said as he handed Heyes several instruments. "I need a clean sheet torn in wide strips, at least four wide strips.".
Heyes took the items to the kitchen and began scrounging for a pot large enough to hold all the doctor's equipment.
"Kyle, there's a clean sheet in the closet in my room," Heyes told him and Kyle hurried into the other room.
"There are a lot of factors involved in how successful this will be," Dr. Hartford told Heyes. "How severely the artery is damaged and this man's general health are the two most important ones... The condition he is in is … not promising."
Heyes looked at the doctor with great concern, both for Kid and for the doctor.
"We won't hold you responsible if The Kid... We know you'll do the best you can," Heyes told him.
"The wound doesn't appear to be terribly deep, which is encouraging. Has he been feverish at all?"
"No," Heyes replied. "More cold actually."
"I see, a symptom of Hypovolemic shock. It's brought on by excessive blood loss. The first step toward recovery is stopping the source of the blood loss."
"Heyes," Preacher said. "I think Kid's awake. Eyes are open again."
Heyes returned to Kid's room and sat down in the chair beside Kid's bed.
"Dr. Hartford's here, Kid. He'll get you fixed up," Heyes said and reached down and took Kid's hand in his own.
Kid's eyes were glazed but Heyes was certain he felt Kid's fingers tighten ever so slightly in his hand. "We'll get you through this, Kid." Heyes told him.
"Once I get the wound tended, he will need near constant fluids to build the volume back up. When that's done, you should start seeing some improvement. At least a full glass of water or broth every hour, more if he'll tolerate it."
"Kid," Heyes said trying to make eye contact with blue eyes that simply could not focus, "Doc says he can't knock you out, so this is gonna hurt, but it's also gonna start letting you heal up. You gotta lie as still as you can. Preacher and me and Kyle are gonna be right her with you."
Kid's eyes closed, but again Heyes was certain he felt a slight tightening of Kid's fingers around his hand.
"Well, we might as well get started," Dr. Hartford said after the boiling of the instruments was completed. I need the dresser moved over here and the top of it cleared for my instruments."
Heyes got up and took the chair into the other room while Kyle and Preacher quickly moved the dresser against the wall next to the bed.
When Heyes returned, he and the doctor gently lifted Kid's torso and Preacher slid several pillow behind Kid's back before Heyes and the doctor laid Kid back down, this time on his back, giving the doctor good access to the wound."
"Who put these stitches in?" Dr. Hartford asked as he began cutting the stitches loose.
"That was me," Preacher replied.
Dr. Hartford nodded. "You do a good job of stitching."
The flow of draining blood instantly increased when the stitching holding the edges of the wound together was removed and Dr. Hartford worked diligently to clean the blood so as to have a clearer view of the wound.
"If he's gonna start squirming, it'll be now," Dr. Hartford told the others who moved into position along the sides and end of the bed to hold Kid's limbs if necessary.
Dr. Hartford then slipped small forceps into the wound and began to spread the edges apart. Kid sucked in raspy whiffs of air, but was too weak to physically protest. Heyes held tight to Kid's hand to reassure Kid as best he could.
"I see it," Dr. Hartford announced and with one hand holding the forceps apart, he reached for the packing gauze.
"You take hold of these," DR. Hartford told Heyes, referring to the forceps. "Hold em steady and don't let that wound close together."
Heyes nodded and took the forceps in his free hand. Dr. Hartford then began inching the packing into the would, tight against the nicked artery.
"I think he just passed out," Heyes frantically told the doctor. "Eyes are closed and he went limp."
"Best thing that cold happen to him right now," the doctor replied. "He ain't feeling it now."
What seemed like an eternity to Heyes was really no more than a minute or two before Dr. Hartford announced he was ready to stitch the wound back up and told Heyes to slowly remove the forceps.
"Only putting enough stitches in to hold the edges in place so they'll keep the packing tight. We'll be removing the packing sometime tomorrow. I'll know then if this worked or not."
"What happens if it don't work?" Heyes asked.
Dr. Hartford placed the last of the stitches and knotted off his thread. "There ain't any more options, son," the doctor said with a sigh.
Dr. Hartford straightened himself and began gathering his instruments. "Need to boil all these again."
Preacher took the instruments into the other room to set them to boiling.
"We'll give him an hour of two to sleep, then we start getting the fluids into him."
"You staying the night, Doc?" Heyes asked and Dr. Hartford nodded. "Can't risk being too far away right now."
"You can have my room," Heyes said. "I'll be staying here with Kid. Kyle, you and Preacher want to fix us up something for supper, and put on a pot of coffee, too."
"Sure," Heyes," Kyle replied.
"And one of you take the horses to the barn," Heyes added.
Preacher returned with the chair he had earlier removed and he and Heyes moved the dresser back and set the chair down beside Kid's bed. Heyes then slipped into the chair and again picked up Kid's hand.
"I'm gonna go wash up," Dr. Hartford said. "Any changes, you let me know."
Heyes nodded absently, his full attention focused on his partner.
By late afternoon Heyes had drifted into an exhausted sleep in the chair, unaware that Kid's eyes were once again open.
"Heyes," Kid uttered in a wispy, breathy sound void of any vocal strength.
Kid tried a second time, but still was unable to make a loud enough sound to wake his partner. Slowly, deliberately, pulling all his strength into the one small movement, Kid gently squeezed Heyes' hand.
This simple gesture woke Heyes instantly and he sat up straight and with great concern, looked at Kid's face. The corners of Heyes' mouth turned up when he saw, exhausted, weak, but focused eyes looking back at him.
"Doc!" Heyes shouted. "He's awake!"
Heyes maintained eye contact and uttered a great sigh of relief.
"How you feeling, Kid?"
Kid's breathing remained shallow and he hadn't the strength to reply, but he was able to give his head a single slight nod.
"Doc says you gotta drink a lot. Can you drink some water, Kid?"
The doctor hurried into the room, carrying a full glass of water which Heyes quickly took from the doctor's hand. Dr. Hartford helped raise Kid's head and Heyes held the rim of the glass to Kid's lips.
"Go easy with that," Dr. Hartford warned. "Start with just little sips."
Heyes nodded and tilted the glass till the water reached the rim. "Go on Kid, drink a bit."
Kid's weary eyes remained focused on his partner and he took a very small sip of the water and swallowed without coughing or choking. Heyes smiled triumphantly.
"Drink some more," Heyes encouraged his partner.
Over the course of twenty minutes, Kid was able to drink about a quarter of the glass before exhaustion again overcame him and he closed his eyes and fell back asleep. Dr. Hartford eased Kid's head back down on the pillows.
"Now the work begins," Dr. Hartford said. "Need somebody awake and watching every minute. Anytime he's awake, he needs to drink something. We'll stick with water tonight, but start him on some broth in the morning."
"We'll help, Heyes," Kyle said.
Heyes nodded. "We'll do two hour intervals."
Dr. Hartford lowered the covers to examine the cover dressing on Kid's chest. He smiled when he saw the bandage had no sign of drainage.
"So far, everything looks pretty encouraging," he told Heyes. "If you fellas had let this wound go another day, the outcome would likely have been a bit different.
"Doc, thank you," Heyes replied.
"It's still gonna be another week before he's strong enough to be getting out of bed. He might try to argue that point with you, but don't go giving in to him. He'd likely pass out the minute he stood up. You understand?"
"Yes Sir, we understand," Heyes replied. "Kid can be a might stubborn at times, but we'll hog tie him to the bed if we need to."
Dr. Hartford laughed. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that, son."
They all took turns watching Kid throughout the night and giving him water each time he was awake. In the morning, Dr. Hartford again checked the bandage and was still pleased with what he saw."
"I'm going to go back to town and make a few visits to some other patients. I'll be back this afternoon to take that packing out and see if I need to put new packing in. If the outer bandage stays clean like this, the artery is probably been able to close up and if that's the case, you should start seeing some improvement every day."
Heyes walked the doctor to the door.
"You don't know how much I appreciate all you've done," Heyes told him.
Dr. Hartford stopped at the screen door and looked at Heyes.
"You know Heyes, the town is grateful for all your gang does for it, but there is one way to keep something like this from ever happening again."
"How's that?"
"Get out of this line of business. No real good ever comes from it, you know."
Heyes smiled. "I'll give that some thought, Doc."