Chapter 160 – Helping Jack
Wynn watched as Jack struggled to breathe. He felt so helpless, but he knew that Jacobs knew what he was talking about. Wynn just wished that Jack didn't have to go through it. While Jacobs was still in the kitchen, Frank came back.
"Dee will be back in a bit." Frank said. "Faith is apparently out with Mary Graves."
"Okay." Wynn said. "We will talk to her later."
Frank looked around.
"They are in the kitchen." Wynn said. "Jacobs didn't think the kids needed to see him like this."
"I will go help them, unless you need me." Frank said.
"Check with Jacobs." Wynn said. "But I think we are okay."
Jacobs set Cody down and looked around the kitchen. He saw the towels and saw that the kettle was almost ready. He grabbed a bowl. As he was standing at the counter, Frank walked into the kitchen.
"Frank." Jacobs said.
"Yes." Frank said.
"I convinced Abigail to take Becky and Elizabeth over to the saloon." Jacobs said. "They are going to look at the clothes that Mrs Delaney brought. Will you please make sure that they get there and to her room. Then take Cody for a walk or something. He doesn't need to see this. We will need about an hour."
"Okay." Frank said. "Faith is out with Mary Graves. Dee was gathering the items and leaving her a note."
"Okay." Jacobs said. "I know what I am doing. My father was a doctor and my little brother had chronic breathing problems. It may not have been pneumonia, but as Dad used to say – breathing is breathing."
"Okay." Frank said. "Need anything."
"Grab those towels." Jacobs said, nodding toward the table."
Frank grabbed the towels and Jacobs carefully carried the bowl to the table. He set it in front of Jack. He then took the towels from Frank.
"The first thing that I want you to do is keep your head over this bowl for fifteen minutes." Jacobs said. "I am going to drape a towel over your head to hold the steam, it will help."
Jack nodded and leaned over the bowl. Jacobs draped the towel and Jack held it, breathing in the steam. As Jack was doing that, everyone came back into the dinning room. Abigail had a basket of bandages. She set it on the table.
"Elizabeth." Abigail said. "Let's let the guys work."
Elizabeth looked at Abigail, but refused to leave Jack's side. Elizabeth Rose walked over to her niece and took her by the hand.
"Beth le do thoil teacht liom." Elizabeth Rose said. "Gealliam go mbeidh sé ceart go leor. Is féidir linn dul ag féachaint ar na héadaí a thug mé duit." (Beth, please come with me. I promise it will be okay. We can go look at the clothes I brought for you.)
Elizabeth nodded and allowed her aunt to lead her away. Frank and Cody followed the ladies as Abigail pushed Becky. Once they were gone, Jacobs turned to Wynn.
"Can you find a couple of buckets in case he gets sick." Jacobs said.
Wynn nodded and went into the kitchen. He went to the storage room and found what he was looking for. When he returned to the dining room, Dee was back.
"How are we going to do this?" Wynn asked.
"First we are going to move into the back." Jacobs said. "Just in case someone is walking by, they don't need to see what is going on."
Dee took everything into the back and set it on the table. He then watched as Jacobs and his father helped Jack to walk to the kitchen.
"Grab a chair and turn it away from the table." Jacobs said.
Dee did as he said and they were able to get Jack seated. They put the bowl on another chair and let Jack continue to breathe in the steam.
Jacobs grabbed a chair and moved it closer to Jack. Wynn and Dee took a seat until they were needed.
"Jack." Jacobs said. "I am going to let the steam work a little longer. Then I am going to use my hands and make like I am playing the drums on your back. It will loosen up all that stuff. You may feel like coughing and that is fine. If you get sick, it is fine. We will put a bucket by your feet. It will hurt, but there is no other way to do this. I will only use as much force as needed. When we are done with that, we are going to cover your chest in Vicks rub and then wrap you from your armpits to your naval. Do you understand?"
Jack gave him a thumbs up. Wynn just looked at Jacobs.
"My little brother had chronic breathing problems." Jacobs said to the unasked question. "Dad used to have to do this four or five times a day, so he taught me. The steam helps to loosen things up and then the pounding on the back knocks it loose from the lung walls so he can cough it up. It may sound horrible, but the more that he gets out of his lungs the better it will be. This is why I sent the others away. They don't need to see or hear this."
Wynn nodded.
"What do you need us to do?" Dee asked.
"Keep the hot water coming." Jacobs said. "We are going to change that bowl in a bit. He is going to continue to breathe the steam as I pound on his back."
"You just tell us what you need." Wynn said.
They switched the bowl and then Jacobs moved as close to Jack as he could get. They got the bucket at Jack's feet. Jacobs got Jack leaning over in a better position and then closed his eyes for a moment. Jacobs said a quick prayer that this would work and for God to guide his hands.
"You ready?" Jacobs asked.
Jack nodded. Jacobs cupped his hands and started the rhythmic pounding of Jack's back. After a few minutes, Jack started coughing. Jacobs didn't let up until Jack was sick to his stomach. Dee switched the buckets and went to rinse the first one out as Jacobs gave Jack a small break. Thirty minutes of this, Jack got sick twice more and he was spent. Jacobs knew that they had done all that they could. He helped Jack sit back.
"Okay." Jacobs said. "Very good. You got rid of a lot of that stuff in your lungs. Ready for the next part?"
Jack nodded and moved to unbutton his shirt. Jacobs helped him remove it and then pulled Jack's henley over his head. Wynn gasped as he saw that Jack's entire torso was covered with bruises that were mostly yellow at that point. There were still a few spots of a dark purplish color. Normally Wynn had learned to control his reactions, but he was unprepared for the sight before him. Dee also gasped at the sight of Jack. Jack looked over at them and gave them a weak smile.
"Not … so … bad." Jack managed to say.
Jacobs and Dee both knew otherwise when they saw Jack. The first thing that Jacobs did was grab the advanced medical bag and pull out the stethoscope. He listened to Jack's lungs and when Wynn saw the look on his face, he got up. Wynn walked around the table, moved the bowl of water, wiped off the chair and took a seat facing Jack.
"Jack." Wynn said. "How bad is it?"
"Been … worse." Jack gasped.
Jack wouldn't look at either Wynn or Jacobs in the face, but kept his head down. Wynn had learned that Jack wasn't being honest when he couldn't look them in the eye.
"Jackson Alexander." Wynn said in a commanding voice. "I want you to look at me."
Jack slowly raised his gaze to meet Wynn's.
"If this was Elizabeth or one of the children." Wynn said. "Would you wire the doctor?"
Jack slowly nodded.
"Then I want you to tell me the truth." Wynn said. "How bad is it really?"
Jack took a breath and then another.
"Worse than yesterday." Jack said. "Better then …."
Jack started coughing again. As Jack slowly started to regain his breath, he looked between Wynn and Jacobs.
"Is this better than it was when you first woke up?" Wynn asked.
Jack nodded.
"Bruising … wor (coughing)." Jack gasped.
"The bruising is worse." Jacobs said.
Jack nodded and pointed to the three or four purple spots on the front of his chest.
"There are a couple on your back as well." Jacobs said. "I am not worried about them. Sometimes when you are injured badly like this, it takes time for the bruises to surface. I would be worried if they were more red. The fact that they are this color, means that they are healing and the blood that was in the muscles is being pushed out and that is good."
Jack nodded.
"Ready for this next part?" Jacobs asked.
Jack again nodded. Jacobs opened the Vicks and rubbed a generous amount on Jack's back as well as all over his chest. He then had Wynn and Dee help wrap Jack's chest. Jack watched as Jacobs skillfully wrapped his chest, overlapping the bandages. He brought them up and over his shoulders and back round under his arm. As they finished, Jacobs tied the two loose ends, just to the left side of Jack's neck. Wynn helped Jack get his henley back on and then slip on his shirt. Jack was so spent that he couldn't button it, so Wynn did it for him. Jack slumped back into the chair.
Wynn watched Jack while Jacobs and Dee cleaned up everything. When they were done, Jacobs came back over and sat next to Jack.
"I know that you are tired and want to rest." Jacobs said. "But I don't want you to lay flat. It is going to undo what we just did. You need to sleep in a more upright position. We used to place some pillows and blankets behind my brother. It really did help."
Jack pointed to the couch.
"Yes." Jacobs said. "I was thinking that as well, but I still want you more upright."
"I can go grab some pillows and blankets from upstairs." Dee said.
"I think that there is a linen closet in the hallway." Wynn said. "Otherwise I am sure Abigail wouldn't mind grabbing a few from the room that Jack had been in before."
Dee nodded and headed upstairs. Wynn and Jacobs exchanged looks.
"Jack." Jacobs said. "Despite how you feel at the moment, do you think what I did helped?"
Jack nodded his head.
"Good." Jacobs said. "Then as long as you are willing, I think we need to do this a couple times a day. You can do the steam as often as you want, but I think it would be helpful to do this morning and evening. We will continue with the Vicks and rewrap you every evening."
"Okay." Jack managed weakly. "Going … to …."
"I will explain everything to Elizabeth." Jacobs said. "I just didn't think she needed to see it right now."
Jack nodded. Dee came back downstairs just as there was a knock at the back door. He set everything on the couch and went to get it. It was Faith. He stepped back and let her come in.
"I saw the note." Faith said. "I just got back and was going to make a few notes. What happened?"
Jack looked to Jacobs, who nodded.
"Jack had a coughing spell." Jacobs said. "I recognized that rattling sound he was making. So I got some hot water going and had him breathe in some steam to help loosen everything up. Once that was done, I used a cupping motion to pound on Jack's back to further loosen things. He was able to cough a lot of it up. He did get sick a couple of times, but I expected that from the coughing. After I was done and he had a short break, we covered him in Vicks and then I wrapped his chest. I did listen to his lungs and they were wet sounding with a small rattle still."
Faith looked at Jacobs astounded.
"My father was a doctor." Jacobs said. "My baby brother had chronic breathing problems and I learned how to take care of him. Dad taught me what to listen for. I know that pneumonia is different then what my brother had, but as Dad said – breathing is breathing. I was just going to get Jack settled on the couch to rest."
"Don't forget the bruising." Wynn said.
"Yes." Jacobs said. "He still has quite a bit of bruising, but it was all in the healing stages. Most of it was yellowing and starting to fade, but he had a number of dark purple spots. I also saw that with my brother. The coughing causes bleeding in the chest wall and it takes time to surface."
"Jack." Faith said. "Sounds like Jacobs did everything right, but you mind if I take a listen?"
"Go ahead." Jack said weakly.
Faith pulled out her stethoscope and listened to Jack's breathing. She also took his blood pressure and counted out his pulse.
"I agree." Faith said. "There isn't much more that we can do, but you need to rest. Your heart rate is up and I am worried about you. I would feel better if you were in the hospital."
Jack shook his head and looked at Jacobs and Wynn.
"Nurse Carter." Jacobs said.
"Please call me Faith." Faith said.
"Fine." Jacobs said. "There is nothing that the hospital can do that I can't do here. I think that it will be easier to keep Jack here because of other things going on, but I will agree that if he doesn't improve in a day or two, we won't have a choice."
