Lina came once again with her tray, this time with bowls of soup for lunch and more water. Willie was in tow and traded off with Sampson as guard. First she slid the bowl and cup for Gordon into his cell then walked over to the adjoining cell and pushed West's bowl and cup inside.
Here was his chance to work on getting the remedy for Artemus and get them out of here. Jim walked over to the front bars, "Lina?"
Lina's eyes skirted back and forth, "I'm not supposed to talk to you."
"Lina, you know that what Loveless is doing is wrong. Why do you help him?"
"He paid for my passage to the United States, and I do not know where to go or anybody to help me."
"Let me and my partner out of here and we can help you."
"Come on! The boss don't want you flirting with the prisoners," Willie shouted at Lina.
Without another word, Lina took her now empty tray and left the room.
West looked over at his partner still sleeping on the cot and pondered waking him for lunch. The soup would probably be good for him, and better if it was warm with the chill in the air. He walked over to the bars that separated them.
"Artie, time to wake up pal," Jim shook his partner's arm gently.
Artemus woke with a yawn and a grimace. He hand went to his sore throat, "what is it Jim?"
"Lunch time pal. That soup should do you some good, I'm sure it's better hot than cold."
Artemus swung his legs over the side of the cot and coughed for a minute, "thanks Jim." He retrieved the steaming bowl and inhaled the aromatic steam and almost nodded off for a second. He shook his head and dipped the spoon in. "I take it Loveless doesn't trust us with a fork or knife. I can't believe he serves up soup for lunch to help me get better." Artemus grimaced, his voice was raspy and his throat hurt like the very dickens.
Jim smiled at the statement but then turned serious, "I was talking with Lina when she came by."
"Trying to charm our way out," Artemus asked as he swallowed another spoonful of broth.
"Uh yeah, but we didn't get much time before she was told by the guard to get going. I did get out of her that Loveless bought her passage to America. I might be able to convince her to help us though."
Artemus nodded and set the bowl and spoon and cup by the door then returned to his cot. He coughed hoarsely then leaned his head against the bars and closed his eyes. The cool bars felt good but they also made him shiver.
Jim placed the palm of his hand on his partner's forehead. He knew Artie was already running a high fever, and it was sure to get worse.
Artemus angrily pulled away from the bars, "Jim, there's nothing you can do. Now keep your distance, if you get sick too then we have no chance to get out of here."
Even though it was still midday, Artie laid down to take another nap and pulled the single blanket over himself. At least he didn't feel terrible when he was asleep.
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Jim spent the rest of the afternoon either pacing his cell or sitting on his cot and thinking of what precisely Lina could do to help him and Artie escape. With a little more work, he was sure he could get Lina to help spring them. She wasn't in this with Loveless for the money or some other promise; she was only here because she felt she owed a debt to the little doctor. For one, there were always two guards whenever Lina was bringing them food or they were being let out to use the facilities and the guard by the door always had a shotgun in hand and a pistol in the belt. The guard that opened the door for them only had a pistol. If he could wrestle that pistol away without being shot by the other guard, they might have a fighting chance to get out of this place. He would need the guard with the rifle to be inhibited or at the very least distracted until he could get the closer guard taken care of. There was no way he was going to let Artie fight or do any distracting in his condition. If he could just convince Lina to distract the guard by the door, he could set his plan of escape in motion.
While ruminating on how they were going to escape, Jim looked over at his sleeping partner and did a double-take. Artie seemed to be still asleep but he was shaking violently. Jim grabbed the blanket off of his cot and rushed over to his partner's side.
"Artie! Artie, wake up! Come on pal," Jim shook his partner and slapped Artemus' cheeks in an attempt to wake up his partner.
Artemus came to with a groan and continued to shiver violently. "C-cold."
"Here Artie," Jim tried covering his partner with his blanket as best he could despite the bars separating them.
Once again Jim put a hand to Artie's forehead. Artemus' temperature was still rising. They had to get out of here and get Artemus to a hospital fast. Jim grabbed his friend's hand to push it under the blankets but was surprised to find that his friend's wrist was swollen.
Artemus groaned and yanked his hand away from his partner's. Jim's grip on his wrist was painful. Actually, not only was he freezing, but he ached all over. The pain in his wrist seemed to travel to his elbow and resided there. Artie started rubbing his elbow, trying to warm it up enough that the pain would hopefully go away.
"Artie, talk to me buddy, I need to know what's going on." Jim sat on his cot and once again cursed the bars that separated him from his partner.
Artemus winced as he forced himself to speak despite the severe pain in his throat. "James, my boy, you're going to have to go without me. I'm chilled to the bone and I ache all over and," Artie broke off with a sharp intake of breath and gripped his right knee. "My joints hurt awful, one after the other and I'm so… cold… cold."
Jim watched his friend drop back down to the cot and fall into another fitful sleep. Where was Lina with their dinner already? Artemus was going downhill fast and there was no time to lose now.
"Hey! You there," Jim tried to hail the guard by the door. "You'd better get your boss here and quick!"
Willie ignored the prisoner's shouting. There was no way he was going to leave his post and be lured over to the prisoners. He was warned about those two not to mention he didn't want to get that bug that had been injected into the one prisoner, it sure looked nasty!
James West was beyond angry and there was no way he was going to let his pal suffer any longer if he could help it. "My friend here is dying! Do you want to be responsible for his death? Do you know what Loveless will do to you if he finds out that the prisoner died on your watch and you never informed him about the change in the prisoner's condition?"
That seemed to do it. The guard cracked open the door and started screaming for someone to come. Sampson came barreling through the door ready to fire his gun at anything that moved but quickly saw that the prisoners were still locked up.
"What're you doin raising all that ruckus," Sampson angrily asked as he holstered his gun.
"You gotta go get the boss! That one there's dyin and I don't want the blame if he croaks," Willie frantically gestured at Gordon thrashing about on the cot and groaning.
"Hm. He does seem might bad off. Fine, I'll go get the Doctor."
So far so good, Jim thought. Hopefully Loveless will do something to keep Artie alive just to gloat to the two of them. Once Artie… goes… there would be nothing else that Loveless could use against him. This had to work!
In a few minutes, Loveless scurried in with Voltaire and Sampson behind him. "Now what's all the fuss about," he asked turning from Willie to the prisoners.
"That one thar is dyin," Willie pointed at Gordon.
"Very well, I'll take a look." Loveless waddled over to Gordon's cell and took a look at the prisoner through the glass. "Oh my, he does look bad, doesn't he? Very well, Voltaire, put on your gloves and mask, you don't want to catch what Mr. Gordon has, and carry him to my lab. Sampson, get the cell door." Loveless donned his own set of gloves and mask.
"What are you going to do to him, Loveless," Jim asked with an edge to his voice.
Loveless chuckled, "I am going to examine my guinea pig and then do a little more experimenting with him. Oh I assure you, I'm not through with him yet, he is not going to die quite so soon, but he is going to wish for death! Voltaire!" Loveless motioned Voltaire to follow him with the unconscious form of Gordon.
James West watched as his friend was carried out the door. "Forgive me partner. We'll get through this, I promise," he whispered as the outer door closed, leaving just him and Willie.