Chapter Three
Afternoon turned to evening, evening turned to night and night turned to day and still the small assembly of people waited and watched as Johnny struggled to take each breath.
The world beyond the four walls still went on as usual. Cipriano took the reins and oversaw the day to day duties required to keep a ranch the size of Lancer in order. He did it willingly for the Patron and his sons. Johnny and Scott had returned to their birthright, and with them they brought friendship and laughter, and above all a love for the land. Lancer was truly a home now. Not just for the ones who resided in the hacienda…but for the entire ranch.
And as families do, the entire ranch stood in quiet vigil, waiting for word that Johnny Lancer would return once again to them.
Sam's dire diagnosis hadn't prepared Scott for the mind numbing grief he felt as he watched Johnny succumb to the pneumonia that had stalked him for so many days.
His complicity in Johnny's illness, not forcing him to stay in bed, allowing him to go outside, weighed heavy on his shoulders. He promised himself if…no, when, Johnny fought and won this latest battle, he would never allow his stubborn brother to have his way again when his health was at risk.
Everyone was at the point of exhaustion as they constantly tended to his every need. Medications and sponge baths, mustered plasters and steam tents. Everything Sam could think of to fight the infection that wouldn't release its hold.
Teresa and Sam administered the medication every two hours, coaxing him awake enough so he wouldn't choke on the liquid, hoping the Aconite and Belladonna would lessen the fever and the Bryonia and Phosphorus would break though the congestion in his chest. Pillows were stuffed behind his back so he laid half sitting up. It seemed to help a little, but the sound of his breaths rattling in his chest unnerved everyone.
For three days they labored to break the pneumonia's deadly hold on Johnny's lungs.
On the fourth morning Sam awoke to see Johnny staring at him, droopy eyed and pale, but with a hint of a smile touching his lips.
"You…always sleep…like that?" Johnny asked, his voice little more than a croak.
Sam smiled, lifting his head off the mattress. He had meant to only rest for a moment on the chair that was pushed up close to Johnny's bed. "It's about time you decided to wake up."
"Like them?"
Sam looked behind him and chuckled at the collection of gangly arms and legs as each family member had given way to exhaustion. Teresa had cleared the top of the bureau and curled up like a kitten.
Scott had fashioned a bed from blankets and pillows and stretched out on the floor. Jelly had simply slid down the wall and slept where he landed. Murdoch sat on the rocker beneath the window, his long legs stretched out before him like long tree limbs.
"I pride myself in a little more decorum," Sam whispered as he straightened up. "How do you feel?"
"Chest hurts." As if to punctuate the reply, a deep painful cough erupted from his chest. "If I was a horse," he continued when he could get his breath back, "I'd say I was rode hard and put up wet."
"Hey," Scott's voice drifted up from the floor, "is that my brother I hear complaining?"
"It shore is." Another voice came from across the room. "And I ain't heard prettier words in a month of Sundays," Jelly called.
"Can't a man get any sleep around here?" Murdoch grumbled, a wide smile plastered across his face, "the rooster hasn't even crowed yet."
"Johnny?" Teresa uncurled herself from the top of the bureau. "Oh Johnny. Don't you ever scare us like that," she admonished through a rainstorm of tears.
Johnny found himself surrounded by worried, but happy faces.
"All right now." Sam slipped his stethoscope around his neck and motioned toward the door. "I need to examine my patient. I want everyone out, except you Scott, I could use your assistance. Teresa if you could heat up some broth for Johnny here, and Murdoch, if you and Jelly could bring the tub back up, I think Johnny will feel much better after a warm bath." He emphasized the word warm and got a thankful smile from Johnny.
Sam waited until the room was clear of everyone but Scott and turned back to Johnny. "Now, young man, tell me how you really feel," Sam ordered.
"Awful." Johnny conceded, "I hurt everywhere."
Sam nodded, listening to Johnny's lungs. "Well, you're probably going to feel that way for some time, Johnny. You had a serious bout with pneumonia, and it will take time to rebuild your strength. Your fever has broken, but it's not unusual for it to return so I want you to stay in this bed, understood?"
"Ain't going no where, Sam." Johnny sighed.
"That's how you feel right now. But in a couple of days when you feel a bit stronger, that's when you are going to have to bite the bullet and stay put."
"I think Jelly already has the rope ready to hog tie him to the bed." Scott laughed.
"If that's what it takes to make this boy mind, you have my blessing."
Johnny glared at them both, before a bout of coughing caught him again and he lay back exhausted, panting for breath.
"I'm afraid that cough will be with you for a time, Johnny. It is a good thing. I know, I know, doesn't feel like it, hurts like hell, but it's going to get rid of the congestion in your lungs. Scott help me turn him over."
"Sam I can…" Johnny started to protest.
"No you can't. Now you relax and let us do the work." Scott removed the pile of pillows under Johnny's head and gently helped Sam roll Johnny onto his stomach.
Sam listened to his lungs again, checked the infected pox on his leg and nodded.
"I still hear a lot of congestion in your lungs Johnny. I know it hurts, but you are going to have to cough as often as you can. I'm going to have Maria brew up some herbal tea and I want you to drink it as often as you can. It will help to break up the congestion. I am also adding Antimonium-tartaricum. I know, it's a mouthful, but if you feel like you can't get your breath again it should help. Scott, let's roll him back over."
Once settled, with the mound of pillows back in place and the blankets pulled up tight over Johnny's chest, Sam sat down in the rocking chair. "Scott, if you could have Maria make up a bed for me, I'd like to get a few hours sleep before I head back into town. I do have other patients, you know." This was directed at Johnny, and it elicited the desired grin from his patient.
"Meanwhile, you try to get some sleep young man. Rest is the best thing you can do. And to make sure you get that rest." Sam held up a small brown bottle and Johnny cringed.
"I don't need that stuff," Johnny protested. "I'll go to sleep right away. I promise."
"Johnny, you need the rest, you also need to cough. This laudanum will take the bite off the pain of coughing and allow it to be more productive. Now open up."
Johnny did as he was told to the surprise of both Sam and Scott.
"Well that was easy." Sam turned and winked surreptitiously at Scott, "too easy," he whispered. "I'll check on you before I leave."
Johnny nodded as his heavy eyelids slid closed and he drifted into a deep healing sleep.
Sam stopped by Johnny's room before he left, as promised. He found Johnny fast asleep, and his family quietly watching him.
"I guess I don't have to remind you that he should not be left alone."
There was a chorus of yes's.
"His temperature is slightly elevated. I expected that. But keep a close eye on it, if it starts running high come get me. The most important thing is that his cough is productive. If it isn't, I'll have to increase his medication. Oh, and let him take a warm bath when he wakes up. He can soak for awhile if he wants. The warm water may help to break up the congestion too. But don't let him take a chill. Any questions?"
He waited, but there were no questions, just weary smiles as they watched Johnny sleep.
"I'm sorry, Murdoch. I let you and Johnny down this time. I should have known. I should have started him on a regiment of medications for pneumonia. If I had only thought it through. It was so obvious…the low grade fever, the weight loss...his body was fighting the infection."
"Sam, if there is blame to be had, then Johnny himself deserves a large share. The boy never considers the consequences of his actions when it comes to his health. I think that he didn't really care for so many years, because no one else cared."
Sam nodded. "Sad but true. It still doesn't excuse my part in all this. Well, there will be time for more discussions later, right now I want you all to get some rest too. You will do Johnny no good if you are sick yourselves. That goes for you too Scott. I suggest you draw up a plan where each person spends no more than two hours at a time watching him. Tired people make mistakes. He is out of the worst danger now…but he is still not out of the woods.
"We understand, Sam." Murdoch wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder, "And thank you. I was afraid I was going to lose my son again there for awhile. We've been together for such a short time, I couldn't bear it again."
"None of us could, sir," Scott said. "And don't you worry about my brother following orders this time."
Sam chuckled. "I have a feeling that boy isn't going to be able to twitch a finger without someone watching. But remember, while he needs watching, he also needs his space. Now, come get me if he needs anything. I'll stop by in a couple of days to see how he's doing. "
Johnny heard the sounds of water splashing and he immediately thought of the bath Sam had promised him.
He opened his eyes, still heavy from the laudanum, and saw Scott and Jelly busy filling the larger of the two tubs they kept in the bathhouse with steaming water. A tiny smile tweaked his lips. He was going to get a proper bath this time.
He pushed back the blanket that covered him to the neck, and tried to sit up, startled by how weak he felt.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" Scott glanced up, looking at Johnny through a haze of steam.
"I can't wait to get into that tub. You know how long it's been since…"
"It will be a hell of a lot longer if you don't stay put until we're ready for you."
"Seems ta me that Teresa's been fretting over her flower garden of late. We could just bail this water outa that window there and she'd be as happy as a flea on a dog."
Johnny glowered at them both, but settled back into the pillows. He would do nothing to jeopardize that soak in the tub.
He had to admit, even to himself, that he felt too weak to do more than lift his head off the pillows. His chest still felt heavy and he was conscious of every breath he drew, each inhalation threatening to trigger another fit of coughing.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
"Hey, boy, do you plan to sleep the day away or do you want that bath?"
Johnny snapped his eyes open, realizing he had dozed off. Scott and Jelly stood over him, silly grins plastered on their faces.
He nodded and Scott was pulling off his nightshirt.
"Now you listen to me Johnny, we are going to do this my way, understand?"
Johnny felt his temper flare, he never took ultimatums well, then he saw the tub again and quietly acquiesced.
Scott took Johnny's silence as a yes and carefully helped him sit up and swing his legs over the edge of the bed.
The simple maneuver left Johnny dizzy and panting. He sat very still, Scott's strong arms holding him steady. Waiting as the world righted itself.
With a nod of his head, Scott and Jelly carefully drew him to his feet and slowly walked him toward the tub.
"We gotta put some meat on them bones, boy," Jelly teased. "I swear we could see right through ya if we stood ya in front of the window, just like some a Teresa's fancy writin' paper."
"Funny, Jelly." Johnny hissed. They were standing in front of the tub now, and he didn't have the strength to lift his leg over the top.
Before Johnny could object Scott and Jelly lifted him off the floor and settled him into the tub.
Johnny could barely suppress a moan of pleasure as he felt the warm water rising up over his legs and across his stomach, caressing his chest like the warm fingers of a beautiful woman, tugging at the fine ringlets of dark hair, spilling over his shoulders until it reached his chin.
He laid his head back, letting the hot water creep through his hair, the water filling his ears, muffling the sound until the only thing he could hear was the beat of his own heart
He sighed deeply, welcoming the touch of the soft flannel towel as Scott carefully washed him down. The warm water lapping at his chin.
"Any chance of ditching this beard?" Johnny asked languidly.
"Not yet," Scott answered with a grin, "unless you want your face to look like the road into Morro Coyo in the dead of summer. You got a hot date or something?"
"You can never tell when a beautiful woman just might …" He began to cough, deep, painful spasms that left him gasping for air. Scott supported his back, eyeing Jelly with concern.
The old man nodded and returned with the bottle of laudanum.
"No…" Johnny rasped.
"You promised you'd do it my way, remember?"
Johnny glared at him, accepting the vile liquid before another spasm caught him. He felt Scott's strong arms holding his head above water. And they waited.
Slowly the cough subsided, but it left him feeling incredibly weak. He closed his eyes and wondered if he would ever feel like his old self again.
"Better now?" Scott asked.
Johnny nodded.
"Time to get out."
Johnny shook his head. "Just a few more minutes, Scott."
Scott motioned Jelly to give him the time.
"Hey brother, do you know what tomorrow is?" Scott asked.
Johnny had settled deeper into the water, his eyes still closed. "No."
"February 14th."
"So?"
"February 14th is Valentine's Day."
One eye popped open and Johnny looked up at Scott. "Teresa's beau?"
Scott nodded.
"You know who he is yet?"
Scott shook his head.
"You gonna ask her?"
Scott shook his head again.
"Why?"
Scott grinned. "One brother out for the count is enough. Now, let's get you back in bed before you take a chill and Sam is all over me again."
"Again?"
"We'll talk about it later."
It took Scott and Jelly several minutes to lift Johnny out of the tub and put him back in bed. The combination of the warm water relaxing him and the coughing depleting what little strength he had, leaving him exhausted. He was asleep before Scott slipped a fresh nightshirt over his head and settled him against the mound of pillows.
"Sleep tight, Johnny." Scott whispered and sat in the rocker, picking up the book he had been trying to read since Johnny fell ill. He looked out the window at the world waiting for Johnny's return. Nothing seemed the same when Johnny wasn't a part of it.
February 14th dawned crisp and cool. Johnny was allowed to sit for a few minutes before the window, the sun light warming his face. He was looking more like Johnny Lancer now. Most of the red marks had disappeared. Sam cautioned that he still needed to be watched, and bed rest was still vital to his recovery.
Scott had arrived earlier in the morning, scowling. Seemed that Teresa was nearly dancing through the house, humming to herself. There was a flush of excitement to her face.
She had asked that Murdoch and Jelly join them at noon.
"You think she's gonna tell us who her Valentine's for?" Johnny asked.
Scott nodded. "I'm not sure how I feel about it. I mean, what if he IS someone we disapprove of?"
"I've been thinking about that. She's almost a grown woman now. And we trust her on everything else, why not picking out the right man?"
"What would you say if she picked Johnny Madrid…not Lancer but Madrid. I've heard stories that there were many fine young ladies that would have followed him anywhere."
Johnny looked up at Scott and said earnestly, "I would have shot him."
Scott stared at Johnny, not sure what to say until he saw the twinkle in his brother's eyes.
"Yeah? And maybe I would have lent you my gun."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome. Now, let's get you back in bed."
"Come on Scott."
"Sam said ten minutes at the most. Let's go."
Scott gently pulled Johnny to his feet and guided him back to his bed.
"What time is it?" Johnny asked after he was settled in. Scott noticed Johnny's pallor return, the simple exercise of walking from the chair was still too much for him, but he would never admit it.
"Almost time."
They heard footsteps in the hallway and recognized Murdoch's heavy step. He arrived with Jelly in tow, a quizzical look on his face.
"I don't know either," Scott said before the question could be posed.
"How are you feeling, son?" Murdoch asked moving over to Johnny's bed.
"Better. You know about this Valentine business?"
"Everyone knows, but no one knows who it is."
The door opened and Teresa stepped in. She wore a smile large enough to light up the entire room.
"How are you feeling, Johnny?"
"I'm fine. You look happy."
"I am."
"Do you have something to tell us?" Murdoch asked, hesitation in his voice.
She nodded.
"Well…?" Jelly groused. "You gonna tell us who this new feller is, or are we gonna have ta play more of them fancy games ya like so much?"
"No games."
Slowly she pulled an envelope from her pocket.
Johnny could see it was made from one of the pieces of colored paper she was working on at the table.
"This is for you, Johnny."
Johnny looked up at Scott who simply shrugged, just as confused as Johnny.
Johnny accepted it with a trembling hand. "Quidera…?"
"Open it," she urged.
Johnny carefully pulled back the flap on the envelope and withdrew a red card. He stared at it… On the front were small cutouts of everything Johnny loved. Horses, the moon, a slice of chocolate cake…the Lancer hacienda.
"Open it and read it," Teresa urged again.
Johnny cleared his throat… "It's in Spanish."
Teresa nodded. "But before you read it…"she pulled three more envelopes from her pocket and handed one to each of the men staring at her in loving confusion.
Scott looked at his; small cutouts of books and a pair of plaid pants and Lancer adorned the front. Jelly had Dewdrop and Lancer. Murdoch's had profiles of two men, Johnny and Scott, and Lancer.
Teresa smiled. "They each say the same thing. To the most important man in my life."
"Teresa…?" Johnny looked up at her and she nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Today is the day that we tell that person who means so much to us how we really feel. Well, I guess I must be about the richest woman in the world because I love four very special men."
Scott looked at the card then at Johnny, lowering his head and beginning to chuckle. "We thought…"
"I know what you thought.' Teresa giggled.
"You did?" Johnny gave her a wary look.
"Of course. Why else would I leave that magazine on the bench with the page folded back? You two were so funny. Benita and Maria played their parts perfectly."
"They knew?"
"Just about every woman on the ranch did. I never thought you would think that I had a secret beau, then when Johnny tried to drag the information out of me, even as sick as he was, I knew I had you."
Murdoch slipped the card into his shirt pocket. "I will treasure this always," he promised.
"Same here." Jelly said, excusing himself from the room. He never felt comfortable about showing his feelings.
Scott kissed her lightly on the cheek. "You really had us going."
Johnny motioned for her to come sit on the bed next to him.
He repeated the words on the card to her, kissing her gently on the cheek...
"Con mi cariño a ti siempre" (My love to you always)
Happy Valentine's Day.
Teresa.
THE END