Chapter Sixty-Eight
It had been a very busy Monday at School, and a rather disappointing one for Elizabeth.
The Children were in the Holiday Spirit and their minds were firmly planted on Christmas instead of their Studies.
Finally, Elizabeth had tweaked her Lessons to have a Holiday Slant, which seemed to at least hold her Students' attention for a bit.
When the Doors opened to the Schoolhouse, it took Nathan one look to assess the situation.
"Darling, come here!" Nathan knew Elizabeth needed a hug, and a kiss, and just overall pampering.
And as Allie was out front playing with Opal, they decided to take full advantage of their time together. He started by rubbing her shoulders and then turned her around so he could reach her back.
"My goodness, you're one huge knot. Was it really that bad?"
"Yes, but please don't stop…oh, you're good at this!" she moaned. "Whatever you're doing, don't stop!"
As he was massaging her back, he bent down to kiss the back of her neck tenderly, which sent an electrical shiver down her, making her forget her need for a massage and desiring only one thing: to kiss him and to kiss him now.
Her soft lips found his warm lips and they completely forgot where they even were, drinking each other in after a whole workday apart, which had been even harder, given the weekend they had just experienced together. He put his arms around her and pulled her in close, while at the same time she threw her arms around his neck.
And suddenly Allie was by their side as they hadn't even heard her come in!
"Ewww!" she exclaimed. "Are you two always going to be kissing like this?"
"Pretty much!" smiled a radiant Elizabeth.
"You better believe we are!" confirmed her Dad in a voice that left no doubt.
"I guess Little Jack and I are just going to have to get used to it!" she was trying to sound aghast, but she couldn't help that her smile shone through.
Secretly, she loved it when she caught her Dad and Mrs. Thornton kissing.
Now, that they knew she knew and understood, they didn't even try to hide it anymore. And she loved that, almost like she and Jack were the only two in the world in on their little secret!
"But, how do you even breathe?" she asked very seriously and very inquisitively.
"Allie, you will find out for yourself when you're thirty-five and meet the love of your life!" said Nathan, in his most authoritarian Dad voice.
"Dad! That's not even funny!"
"Don't despair, Allie, I'll work on talking your Dad down to at least thirty!" smiled Mrs. Thornton, conspiratorially.
With that, Allie laughed and they all three ended up laughing together!
They stopped by to see Little Jack and pick up the Salad Laura had made for her to take to Adeline's after they had their Wedding Session with Sophie and Lucas.
Rosemary heard them saying goodbye to Little Jack and rushed out and down her porch steps with her casserole for Adeline, so they could all walk together.
The plan was, that Elizabeth, Rosemary, and Felicity were all taking a dish to Adeline's, and Allie was going to stay with Felicity at the Café to get a snack while the Wedding Planning Session was going on in the Saloon.
It was actually just a Check-in-session to make sure everything was coming along as planned.
And as much as Nathan hated it, Rosemary and Elizabeth had insisted he come to rein Lucas in if need be.
Felicity was waiting just outside the Café's doorway for Allie.
"Hello, all! Have a good Session. We'll be fine here!" and she waved to everyone at the door as they passed, and she gathered Allie in with her to a table by the Window, where they could watch for them when they were finished.
As the three entered the Saloon, they were surprised and slightly happy at how busy the Saloon was.
"Surely Lucas will be too busy to leave all this," muttered Rosemary.
But, she was wrong…
Sophie and Lucas both came together to greet their guests, with warm hugs and kisses.
Nathan finally gave in and returned Sophie's hug, feeling as though he wanted her to know he was being supportive of her, and besides Sophie was here to stay!
Sophie and Lucas led everyone back to his apartments.
This time, to Rosemary's delight, Lucas had their table and chairs ready.
"I've gone through the lists you gave me Lucas, and I have a couple of concerns right off the bat," said Rosemary, getting right down to the meat of things in her inimitable manner.
Which was the reason everyone knew if you wanted something done in Hope Valley, put Rosemary in charge!
"The first thing I noticed is there are no appetizers before the meal. And that can be a problem as people are going to be streaming in from the Church to the Reception here at all different times. We can't expect them to stand around doing nothing for an hour before getting their meal."
"Oh, Rosemary, we hadn't thought about that! Lucas, Sweetie, can you do something?"
"Consider it done. I'll see that Gustav has at least four different appetizers to circulate as the guests arrive for the Reception. And I'll see that there are Servers. But won't we need drinks, as well?"
"Yes, but simply serve wine. Give them a choice of white or red and let that be it. Lucas, if Sophie doesn't have a preference, I'm leaving the pre-Appetizers and pre-Drinks to you!" announced the Wedding Planner.
"Done!" and Lucas himself wrote it down, on his list!
Either Nathan had finally gotten through to him, or Sophie had worked her magic, or it was a combination of the two, but Lucas was on his very best behavior for this evening.
Nathan noticed the Bride and Groom were even holding hands, and not jumping on each word that came from their mouth.
So progress was being made…
All in all, a major improvement!
"The second thing, I'm concerned about Sophie, is your gown and Elizabeth's. Taleisha is ready to finish them. But we still don't have the lace trim you wanted. Sophie, do you mind to look at these and see if there are any you like just to keep on hand as a back-up?"
"This one, this is lovely! I'd actually be more than fine with that if the other doesn't come in!"
"Perfect; that dilemma is now solved! It never hurts to have a back-up, especially one as pretty as this!" agreed Rosemary.
"The third thing, Sophie, is your bouquet. Is it okay to have the florist to choose from the Roses you've already chosen, or would you prefer something else? I personally think the white Gardenias Lucas wanted would be a beautiful touch, perhaps with just a few baby pink Roses, worked in around them."
Sophie looked at Elizabeth, "I love that idea Sophie, but it's really up to you! It's the Bride's choice!"
But Sophie looked like she was going to tear up, "Believe it or not, as rough and tough as my Dad is, he always bought Mama Gardenias for their anniversary. He can't be here, and of course, Mama's gone, but maybe it would help to have Mama's Gardenias with me. Maybe that would give me a piece of each of them here!"
"I think that's a perfectly lovely way to have a piece of them here, Sophie," and Elizabeth reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Then that's settled. And do you want a smaller version of the same for Elizabeth?" asked Rosemary.
Sophie brightened and smiled at Elizabeth, "I think that will be perfect!"
"Sophie, are you going to have someone to walk you down the aisle?" Rosemary asked the question, but Elizabeth had been wondering about that, too.
But both were unsure as to what Sophie would want.
"Elizabeth, I haven't even thought about it. I guess I'll just have to walk down the aisle alone."
"No, only if you want to. I spoke to Bill about it and he said he would be proud to walk you down the aisle, if you would want him to, that is!"
"He said that? Oh, I would love that so very much! Please tell him, yes, and I'll be sure to thank him personally!"
The Bride was now wearing a real, beatific smile on her face. She wasn't going to be alone at her Wedding at all! And that was a wonderful thing to know!
It switched that tiny piece of dread over a Wedding without any of her Family, into pure happiness over a Wedding surrounded by new Friends, and Sophie was truly grateful!
Lucas reached and kissed her, reassuring her that everything was going to be wonderful.
And Nathan smiled at how far Lucas had already come from their first Session.
"Lucas, your Best Man said you would take care of the Honeymoon. May we check that off the list?" asked Rosemary.
"Yes, you may! Sophie and I have discussed it and I'm taking her back to San Francisco on the Train, so we can have a Reception there for her Friends and distant Family. We'll spend a couple of weeks there, touring the sights before we head back!"
"That actually sounds lovely, Lucas. How wonderful, Sophie, to get to include your Friends with a Reception! It's almost like having two Weddings!"
The Bride and Groom looked at each other and both blushed.
Making Rosemary quickly realize what she had said, because indeed there had already been a Wedding, making the Hope Valley Wedding actually the second one, and the Reception in San Francisco, the third of sorts!
Either way, Rosemary was giving her full stamp of approval!
"Nathan, could you possibly meet me tomorrow for lunch, so we can go over the Bachelor Party plans?" asked Lucas, and very respectfully, I might add.
'I can do that, Lucas. Aaron's planning to do Rounds tomorrow, so let's say around noon here at the Saloon?"
"Perfect, and thank you, Nathan!"
"So, I leave the Bachelor Party in your capable hands, Gentlemen!" declared Rosemary. "As for the Bachelorette Party, Sophie, tell us what you'd like…"
"I'll be happy with anything! I just appreciate you two coming up with something. Just so everyone has a fun time, I'll be happy!"
"Well, we can promise you that!" said Rosemary. "We're actually planning to have one like our last one, only this time without the men crashing it. In fact, we have a completely separate location planned!" announced Rosemary.
"Well that puts us in our place, doesn't it, Nathan?" asked Lucas.
"Yes, indeed it does," he answered smiling at Elizabeth.
Thanks to Rosemary La Veaux Coulter, Hope Valley was having a Christmas Eve Wedding!
Elizabeth, Rosemary, Felicity, and Allie all stood outside Adeline's door, all three adults with dishes of food!
"Just come on in! So, sorry, I can't move…" came the loud reply, and everyone was immediately concerned.
The Ladies looked at each other, puzzled, while Allie decided to take action and check on her new Auntie, "Sounds like she needs help!"
And Allie immediately went into fix-it mode, "Uncle Bill, what's wrong? You need to help her!"
The Women finally saw what the problem was and ran to try to scoot the piano off of Adeline's dress that had pinned her firmly to the floor, where Bill had inadvertently dropped it! All of them, except Rosemary, who knew Carson would kill her if she even thought about lifting anything over 5 pounds!
"Thank goodness, you're not hurt!" exclaimed Elizabeth.
"You're not hurt, are you?" asked Rosemary frantically.
"No, but I think Bill is…I couldn't get my dress loose to help him! Was trying to tear it. Even thought I was just going to have to undress! Thank Heavens, you all came!"
"Bill, what can we do?" screamed Elizabeth, as she saw his blood everywhere!
"It's not as bad as it looks. The piano just grazed my arm as it went down. Maybe you'd better go get Carson…"
"I'll do it, Uncle Bill! We'll be right back!"
Adeline was getting clean towels, "So sorry, Love, I don't have any bandages. But these are clean, they'll just have to do! Good Heavens, I don't even have any alcohol to clean it with…and Bill, I hate to tell, you, but this is much more than a graze!"
"I'm fine AJ! I'm perfectly fine. Don't fuss!"
"You shush, William Spencer Avery! I'll fuss if I want to!"
And she sat down on the floor behind him so he could lean back on her, caressing him as best she could without touching his arm.
"Thank goodness, it's not my shooting arm!"
"Honestly, Men! Is that all you ever think of?"
Felicity was trying to pick up the mess around the piano when she noticed there was quite a bit of broken glass, some still in large pieces.
"Be careful where you step, there's quite a bit of broken glass here!"
"Oh, great! My Mother's Crystal Bowl! I can't believe you didn't take that off first! Whyever would you move a piano without taking that off first? And tell me again why would one single Man try to move a piano in the first place? I begged you not to do that..." by this time Adeline was starting to cry.
"Sorry, Darlin!" but even Bill scrunched up his face at the face Adeline made with that remark!
"I think I've got to sit down," Rosemary had just caught sight of all the blood.
Elizabeth rushed to her, afraid she was going to faint, because she had certainly seen that before, and now, like Carson, she knew to be prepared.
"Oh, why didn't we let Nathan come with us? Whatever possessed us to tell him to go home?"
And Elizabeth threw her hands to her head, after having safely seated Rosemary in a comfortable chair.
"This is just a nightmare…" added Adeline in a grim tone.
"It's going to be alright, Sweetheart. I'm going to be fine! Why I've been through a lot worse than this!"
"You hush, and you won't be saying that after I get through with you, that's for sure!" she threatened.
Poor Bill, he was already in the doghouse!
And to think, the new Couple's bliss had gone uninterrupted for only less than forty-eight hours before a catastrophe!
Being with Bill, that probably should have been somewhat expected!
There was never a dull moment around that Man!
True to her word, Allie came running in with Carson.
"Everybody stay calm. Just need to assess the situation…" announced the Doctor.
"Be careful of the glass, Carson," warned Elizabeth.
But sadly it was too late!
"Ouchhhhhhh! How'd that go through my shoe?" as he limped on one foot to his patient.
"Help me cut off that sleeve…" and AJ took the scissors to do the job, although at this point, perhaps Bill should have been worried that an accidental or intentional stabbing could be a distinct possibility, especially with the scissors in his Sweetheart's hands!
"Elizabeth, you're going to have to pull my boot off with my sock! Careful!" and Carson let out a shriek of pain.
The Doctor himself looked like he might pass out!
And, Elizabeth practically did pass out because there was more blood, but this time it was coming from Carson's foot, and it was gushing!
"Grab a towel on the table, Allie!"
"Wrap it tight, owwwww!" instructed Carson, now both Physician and Patient.
The old Latin and Biblical adage 'Medice, cura re ipsum,' or 'Physician, Heal Thyself,' would definitely apply here. (19*)
At least now Carson could position himself better to see the real patient, but Rosemary had inadvertently glanced over as Elizabeth wrapped Carson's foot, and saw the blood, and she had fainted dead away.
"Elizabeth, do whatever you have to do to get her awake. Here use these smelling salts!" instructed Carson.
"They're not working, what do I do?"
"Slap her…"
"What?"
"Slap her, slap her hard, and do it now. I don't want the baby affected. Quick!" and the whole while Carson was assessing Bill's arm.
Elizabeth did what the Doctor had said to do and everyone heard the loud clap that resulted, but Rosemary was still out.
"Try the salts again. Get them as close to her nose as possible and open her mouth if you can."
Elizabeth did as she was told, "She's responding; she's waking up!"
"Good, now has anyone ever seen stitches being sewn before?"
"I have," Felicity said.
"Good, you're my new assistant! Elizabeth, you've got to get Rosemary out of here. Call Lee to come get her in his car. She needs to lie down and rest until tomorrow. Tell him, she is not to get up for anything. You hear me?"
"Got it!" answered Elizabeth.
"Phone, in the corner," motioned Rosemary.
"Allie, can you be on standby to be my runner? I may need you to get more supplies," directed Carson.
"Shouldn't we just get the men and move Bill to the Infirmary?" asked Elizabeth.
"Not till I get him stitched up. He's lost too much blood and he'll lose a whole lot more if we move him," all of which he whispered to Elizabeth so Rosemary wouldn't hear.
"Allie, you know that locked cabinet in the front area of my office? Here's the key. I want you to grab a box there and just pile everything from the bottom shelf into it. Lock the cabinet back, then bring the box here to me. Can you do that? I need it quick!"
"Yes, Sir! On my way!"
"Is there any drinking alcohol in the house?" asked Carson.
"No, sorry!" answered Adeline. "I'm just moving in. There's not much of anything!"
"Felicity, you go into the Kitchen and get a large wooden spoon!"
"Yes, Carson," and Felicity flew into the Kitchen opening every drawer she thought could possibly have a spoon...
She returned with the only thing she thought might work...
"Is this okay, it's the best I could do."
"Its metal, that's actually better!"
Bill was getting woozy from the loss of blood.
Poor Adeline was a mixture of fury and worry.
"I distinctly told that man not to try to move that piano without help, but no HE could do it alone, with my Mother's crystal bowl on top! I didn't see it till I turned around and it was flying off the piano…and that's when Bill dropped it and I got pinned under it trying to run to help the crazy Man!" by this time Adeline was soothing Bill and sobbing at the same time! "This is just awful, just awful!"
Finally, Lee arrived with Nathan in tow.
Allie came through with the supplies at about the same time.
"Oh, Nathan, thank God, you're here…" cried Elizabeth.
She straightened up enough to tell Lee Carson's instructions, "Rosemary is to go to bed immediately and not get up for any reason till Carson sees her tomorrow. She's alright but she fainted, and he says she has to rest!"
"Got it," and Lee lifted Rosemary up and carried her to his car.
"Nathan, boy, am I glad to see you. You're going to doctor my foot, while I doctor Bill's arm. Allie just brought all the stuff you're going to need. You know what to do…"
Nathan knelt down, removed the towel to see what he was dealing with.
"Elizabeth, can you get me a pan of water?"
He then sorted through the supplies Allie had brought, rinsed his hands in antiseptic, and began his job of doctoring the Doctor's injured foot. As a Mountie, he had enough first aid training, that he could more than do the job, but boy, this was a gigantic piece of glass, that had gone in at a deep angle, and it had made quite the gash in the sole of Carson's foot!
But, Nathan remained calm and proceeded with his job at hand.
Carson, however, was having difficulty getting Bill in a position where he could stabilize his arm; he had finally gotten the bleeding stopped, but Bill was starting to flail a bit, and Carson was afraid somebody was going to have to hold his arm and keep it from moving.
Elizabeth and Felicity weren't strong enough. He was just going to have to wait for Nathan to finish his foot first, then Nathan would have to hold Bill's arm down.
Once his foot was clear of glass, he'd be able to position himself more correctly, in order to do a much better job of stitching. And there were going to be quite a few stitches given the length of the gash…
"Oh, it's going to be a long night," moaned Carson.
"Carson, there's no way around it, this is going to hurt! Are you ready?"
Nathan glanced at Carson's face to check his color, which was pale by now because he also had lost quite a bit of blood. Nothing like Bill, but still a significant amount.
"Bear down! One, two, three…" and Nathan pulled the glass straight out, without causing any more bleeding except the expected oozing at the site of injury. He quickly rinsed Carson's foot, first with the water to clean the dried blood off, then he sterilized everything with alcohol, and quickly set to wrapping the bandage.
He could tell that Carson's color was gradually coming back, and he was wincing much less.
Once the foot was wrapped properly, the pressure of the bandage he was applying would lessen the pain and sensitivity in the area, allowing Carson to concentrate on his more tedious task at hand.
But, Nathan could clearly see, the Doctor was going to be on crutches for a few days.
"Okay, I think we're done here. You okay?" asked Nathan.
"Yes, thanks! Much better. If you could just help scoot me closer to Bill and maybe help me twist my leg closer…yeah, that's it! Okay, much better. Now, Nathan, you're going to have to take Felicity's place, and whatever you do, don't let Bill's arm move. There are going to be a lot of stitches. I'd feel better if I could numb it. I do have a little morphine, it's just not enough. I'm just going to gamble and hope he over responds…"
"Whatever you've got is better than nothing. Maybe I can hold his arm down with my left hand and help you pull through with my right, so it'll go faster…"
"Great idea, if you think you can hold him, let's do it that way. I'll enter, you pull through and I'll thread the next needle, then tie off yours. We'll keep doing that till we get it all done…"
"You need to drink something before you start this. Your color's not so good, and I don't want you passing out on me, Carson. Not once we start. Elizabeth, can you find Carson something to drink, preferably strong coffee or tea! This won't be enough caffeine to affect your bleed, but you're waning on me and it might be enough to make you alert again," assessed Nathan.
Carson nodded, knowing he was right.
"Felicity can you wet a towel for Carson's face?" asked Nathan.
"Of course."
Carson leaned back against the piano to get his breath and relax a minute.
Nathan was concerned because Carson's face was very nearly colorless, and Nathan knew Carson had lost more blood than he probably realized.
Felicity was back with the wet towel, running it all over Carson's face.
"That's good Felicity. Does he feel hot or cold?"
"A little clammy…"
"That's what I was afraid of," and then Nathan turned to check on Bill.
"Adeline, hang in, Bill's doing fine…Felicity, will you have Elizabeth add lots of sugar to that drink and we need it as quickly as you all can get it!"
"Almost ready, Nathan!" called Elizabeth from the kitchen, as she was pouring the coffee into a huge mug.
Elizabeth was still stirring the sugar into the coffee as Nathan took it, "Here, Carson, sip this! Get down as much as you can…we've got to have you alert and hopefully non-volume depleted!"
After two large mugs of the sweetened Coffee, Carson was looking more like himself. His color was returning, and he seemed stronger.
"Are you ready to start, Carson?"
The Doctor took a deep breath, "I think I am. But it would be so much better if we were at the table. The lighting isn't so good here and I'm already starting to cramp on this floor."
"Let's move him. Both of us together can. You just give him support and I'll do the lifting. But first I'll have to find a sturdy chair he won't fall out of…"
Nathan lifted the biggest chair in the Living Area to the Kitchen, then he and Carson, carefully lifted Bill into the chair, with Nathan doing most of the lifting and Carson guiding in his weakened state! Nathan prepped his arm, and Carson prepared as many sutures as he could while at the same time, trying to keep them as sterile as possible.
"This is so much better. We're good to go!" and the two men scooted in as close to Bill's arm as they could, while Adeline held Bill's good arm and hand. At times she would start to softly cry, but she always managed to get it back under control quickly.
Carson had already given Bill what little morphine he had, so they had to be as quickly as possible. Carson began each stitch with Nathan pulling them through and holding the suture till Carson could tie it off.
The men repeated this process a total of 32 times, and thankfully Bill was sleeping like a Baby.
When they were finished, they carried him to Adeline's bed. She was just so relieved he had made it through okay, to this point.
"I'll take good care of him, I promise!"
"And I'll come by first thing, in the morning to check on him. He's going to be fine. We just have to be sure infection doesn't set it!" said Carson. "I'll bring some meds, too! For now, if he wakes, give him one of these tablets. You can repeat twice."
"No infection. I will see to it!" and Carson was very well assured he was leaving the Judge in good care. "And one tablet on waking can repeat twice!" Adeline repeated.
"Here, Carson, lean on my shoulder, and I'll get you back to the infirmary!"
Elizabeth, Felicity, and Allie put all the food they had brought away so Bill and Adeline could have it tomorrow when they would hopefully feel more like eating. They also remembered to find Rosemary's dish and place it in the icebox with theirs.
Then the Ladies started thoroughly cleaning both the Living Area and Kitchen.
It took them quite a while to scrub the dried blood, but they finally got almost all of it up, leaving just a slight discoloration on the rug that could be shampooed out later.
Before the Ladies left they made Adeline eat a bit, "You have to, or you're not going to be able to take care of Bill. Adeline, do you need one of us to stay with you?"
"Absolutely not! You've done more than enough just helping us out of this mess! I don't know what would have happened had you not come. Thank you for that!"
And she hugged each of them.
When she got to Allie, she knelt, and said, "So, this is my beautiful new Niece Bill was telling me about. He sure wasn't wrong! Thank you, Allie for getting the Doctor and then the supplies as well as helping with the cleaning here! When all this is over and your Uncle's all recovered, you and I are going to have a whole lot of fun together!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" and Allie reached to hug her with a huge smile on her face.
And Adeline, for the first time since their arrival, smiled, and it was back at her new niece…
"It's not the Welcome we were aiming for Adeline, but we are so very glad you're here with us!" said Elizabeth, as Felicity nodded in agreement with an understanding smile on her face.
What a crazy night, but thankfully, through the near comedy and near tragedy, all was well in Hope Valley…
(19*) King James Bible, Luke 4:23, Public Domain