Chapter 40
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Kid held Lou's right hand between his, and kept pressing his lips against her knuckles every few seconds. The fever had come down notably with the medicine Dr. Sullivan had prescribed. However, she now had a slight cough, but even so, her eyes remained tightly closed in a deep slumber. Kid prayed with all his heart that since they knew what was wrong with her, she could be nursed back to health.
It was so strange to see her so still and quiet. Kid missed her smile, her laugher, her voice, her kisses, all of her. If when they had been separated, he had felt her physical absence too strongly, now things were twice as bad. The powerlessness and frustration were too much, and he could hardly refrain from shouting at the top of his lungs, but he just sat there, watching her with his very sad eyes, which had cried in the last days more than in his whole life.
In these moments of silence and solitude with Lou, Kid silently wondered if Lou could now be better, why Dr. Hill hadn't found out what was really wrong with her. The Seneca physician had been so confident and certain about Lou's grave condition that Kid had never questioned his diagnosis. His initial refusal to believe Lou was so sick had been just a way to disguise his pain and desperation, but he had never thought for real there was another explanation to Lou's condition. Kid cursed the doctor for not seeing the reality, and he painfully realized that if he had stayed in Seneca, Lou would have met her death eventually. Now there was a hope, and he wanted to believe she could eventually heal.
"Lou, you're gonna be fine. We need to have faith like Teaspoon says," he whispered, bringing her hand to his lips and planting another kiss on her knuckles.
Lou coughed as if she was replying to his words, and Kid managed to smile weakly. Once again his thoughts wandered off, and he kept analyzing everything he had learned today, but the more he thought about it, the more confused and clueless he got.
In the silence of the bedroom Kid suddenly heard the roar of voices coming from downstairs. His friends were in the house, and Kid wondered what was happening. Thinking that Dr. Sullivan might be back with more information, Kid decided to find out. Placing a kiss on Lou's forehead, he whispered, "Won't be long, honey."
As Kid made his way down the stairs, the loud voices boomed in the house in a cacophony. His steps quickened as his curiosity perked up. He wanted to know what had caused this din, and then he would put an end to it. Lou needed her rest, and he wouldn't have this ruckus that might disturb her. As he reached the end of the staircase, he got a brief glimpse of Theresa when a powerful punch landed on his face, making him fall on his backside.
Disoriented, Kid rubbed his sore jaw, and lifting his eyes, he saw Jimmy grab Albert by the collar and pin him against a wall. The loud voices continued between Jimmy and Albert, and as the Southerner took the hand Buck offered him and rose to his feet, he thought Jimmy looked as if he was ready to kill Albert.
"You bastard!" Albert snarled, pushing his way free from Jimmy, and pointing a threatening finger in Kid's direction. "What the hell are you trying to do? Kill Louise?"
"Albert Please, calm down," Theresa tried to mediate, but her husband was way too furious to hear her.
Kid took a few steps closer to the red-faced man, and with a very calm voice he said, "First of all, keep your voice down. My wife's resting upstairs, and the least she needs is to be disturbed. And secondly, you're talking about my wife, and I have her interests and welfare at heart. Never forget that."
His words managed to soothe Albert, but the accountant still kept glaring at the Southerner angrily. "Kid," Theresa stepped in, "we told you how we felt about you taking Lou away. Don't you realize that all this travelling might have caused her more strain than she can endure? How could you go against our wishes and warnings on purpose?"
"With all my respect, Tessie, I don't give a damn what you or the whole world think," Kid said between gritted teeth. "My wife calls the shots here, not me, you, or your husband, and she wanted to come home."
"Kid, she's too sick to know what she wants!" Theresa cried out. "Does she really know where she is now? I doubt she can tell the difference."
"I do believe she'll feel better now that she's at home," Kid insisted stubbornly.
"Oh for goodness' sake!" Theresa exclaimed, almost in tears and frustrated by her brother-in-law's stubborn attitude.
"Please Tessie," Rachel broke in, coming closer to the girl and passing an arm around her tense shoulders. "Just drop it, please. Lou's already here, and it makes no sense to argue about something that can't be changed."
"I've been so worried," the younger woman admitted in a small voice.
"I know, honey," Rachel added. "But think that Lou's now with all her family and we can all help her."
"I didn't want to worry you, Theresa," Kid said honestly. "But I don't regret bringing Lou here."
Theresa stared at him, not sure whether she wanted to kick him or cry against his chest. Since Lou had fallen sick, Theresa's life had turned into a mess. She was too sensitive to everything happening around her, and all she wanted was to cry all the time. Not even did Albert manage to calm her down, but the opposite. His presence and usual attitude made her irritated. "How's my sister, Kid?" she finally asked.
"The same," the Southerner muttered, consciously not voicing the fact that Lou had caught a fever and been left with a cough.
"I want to see her," Theresa demanded in a serious voice.
"You know the way. This was also your home… and it still is," Kid replied.
Theresa nodded, and shifting her eyes to her husband she said, "Let's go, Albert."
The man sent Kid a cold look before he walked to the stairs with his wife. Rachel followed the married couple, wanting to check on Lou herself. As the men in the room heard their steps resounding upstairs, Jimmy said, "That fella Theresa married is an idiot."
Kid stretched his lips into a thin line in an ambiguous way. He did not know what to think of Albert, but he was sure that if he wasn't Theresa's husband, Kid wouldn't have any kind of relationship with him.
"Ain't you gonna tell Theresa what Dr. Sullivan said?" Buck asked.
Kid shook his head. "Not yet. Teaspoon told us to keep quiet about this, and I think he has a point there. Besides, I don't want to upset Theresa more than she already is. Hopefully, we might give her some good news soon."
His friends nodded in understanding. The front door slammed open, and Teaspoon strode in. "Kid, Dr. Sullivan wants to see us," he announced without preambles. "I thought we better talk in his office."
"He already knows?" Kid asked in a trembling voice.
"I imagine so," the marshal replied. He noticed Kid's countenance pale, dreading what the doctor might tell them. Teaspoon realized that there was a possibility that Dr. Sullivan might not have good news for them, and if Kid got as upset as he had first seen him today, he would need more moral back-up. "Jimmy, please come with us."
"We'll stay and keep an eye on your brother-in-law," Cody said, sinking down on the sofa. "We don't want another one of his uproars around here."
"Thank you, boys," said Teaspoon. Even though his former riders were now grown men, and had stopped being boys a long time ago, he still called them in the same way as when they were teenagers working for him. Nobody would dare to correct the marshal. It was refreshing in a way, and whenever they were all together, it was like going back to old times, and everything from that time made sense even today.
Kid inhaled deeply, feeling his body tremble from head to foot. What if the doctor told him that there was nothing unusual in the tea and he couldn't help Lou? Or worse, what if there was no hope for her and Dr. Sullivan confirmed that he would lose Lou eventually? That would mean going through the same agony once again, and he did not know if his spirit could endure it again. As the terrible thoughts entered his mind, Kid sighed and shook his head. He could not let his fears drag him down, and he should mind Teaspoon and be more positive.
Teaspoon opened the door to the doctor's house. Mrs. Sullivan received them in the foyer, and told them that her husband was waiting in his office. The three men walked into the room the woman pointed out at them. Dr. Sullivan was sitting at a rickety, old desk. The place was in semi-darkness; on the wall behind him there was a very small window through which the day's last weak sunrays filtered, and apart from that, a single lamp burned on top of one of the cabinets.
Dr. Sullivan beckoned the men to sit down, and when they were finally seated, Teaspoon asked, "What can you tell us, George?"
The physician pulled a desk drawer open, and for a few seconds he rummaged inside. Kid was so nervous that he kept fidgeting in his chair, and wringing his hands over and over again. Jimmy threw him a meaningful look, and the Southerner tried to keep still and get a grip of himself.
Dr. Sullivan straightened up in his chair, and to everybody's puzzlement, he placed a white flower on the wooden surface of the table. "This is what's killing your wife," the physician blurted out.
"Wh… what?"
The doctor picked up the flower, and pulled the pistils off. Holding them between his fingers, he said, "The tin you handed me hours ago was full of these, hidden among the other herbs. Even small and apparently harmless, this is the most poisonous part if given the right dose, and when dried, it is almost flavorless. No wonder your wife never noticed any difference in her tea."
Kid stared at the dried pistils in bewilderment. That minuscule wisp was killing Lou… that damn tiny thing. It was almost unbelievable. After the life she had led, fighting to survive for years, and coming out victorious and strong, now this almost invisible nothing could clearly defeat her. "Is… is my wife gonna get well?" Kid asked the question that mattered to him the most.
Without answering his question, Dr. Sullivan rose to his feet, and opened a cabinet from which he took two small bottles. Returning to the desk, he sat back down, and placed the two bottles on the desk. Kid studied their labels. One was castor oil, and the other one had one of those long names he would be unable to pronounce.
"Hopefully the poison has not caused irreparable damage, and we can cleanse your wife's organs," Dr. Sullivan explained while scribbling down some notes on a piece of paper. "I expect she responds to the treatment. She's young, and that plays to our advantage. I'm writing here step by step what you should do. I'll drop by every day to check on her."
For a few minutes the doctor explained his written instructions in detail, and answered the men's questions. Kid thanked the physician, and then the three men shook hands with him before going out.
Once outside Teaspoon turned to Kid, who held the two bottles of medicine in his hands as if he were holding a holy treasure. "Son, do you think that… Jack has really a part in this plot to kill Lou?"
"I… I don't know, but I guess it's the most logical assumption," Kid replied. "If it ain't him, then who?"
Teaspoon kept thoughtful, walking behind the two younger men. "One moment," the marshal called, and as his two former riders turned their attention to him, he added, "I think we need to find out the truth, and somebody should ride out to Seneca, and…"
"Don't count on me, Teaspoon," Kid interrupted the man's speech. "I ain't leaving Lou until I know she's out of danger."
Teaspoon nodded in agreement, and his eyes shifted to Jimmy pointedly. "Shall I arrest the fella, Teaspoon?" Jimmy asked.
"No. Take Cody with you, and try to find out if he's behind all this. Right now we have nothin' real against him."
"We'll leave right away," Hickok replied.
"Thanks, Jimmy," Kid said honestly. "You know how much Lou and I appreciate what…"
"Please Kid, you know we're family! There's no need for all that stuff. Don't make me embarrassed with all this soft talking. Just wish me luck… or rather wish luck to whoever is trying to hurt Lou because he's gonna need it when I find him."
Kid nodded, understanding his friend's feelings completely, and like Jimmy requested, he simply said, "Good luck, Jimmy."