Chapter 212 – Catching Doug Up
"You can come in, Jacobs." Elizabeth said.
"Thank you." Jacobs said, coming in. "I wanted to make sure you were comfortable before I came in."
"Thank you for that." Elizabeth said.
"How have things been this afternoon?" Faith asked.
"Jack has moaned in pain a few times." Elizabeth said. "Once he sort of opened his eyes, tried to move and promptly passed out again. I went downstairs for a bit and when I came back up, his face was pinched in pain and he was breathing differently. I was able to get him to relax, but he never really came around."
"Okay." Faith said. "Given all he has been through I kind of expected him to be out. Just so you know, I wired one of the doctors in Union City. It was agreed we did the right thing. They suggested we keep Jack on morphine tonight and tomorrow to help him through the worst of the pain. We will need to check him more often if that is the case. As long as you are comfortable with Jack here and people checking his breathing every hour, I will keep him here. Otherwise, I will move him to the infirmary."
"If we can keep him here." Elizabeth said. "I would be more comfortable. I don't think I could handle being apart from Jack right now."
"Then we will keep him here as long as possible." Faith said. "Jeremiah, Dee and Joe have agreed to take turns being up overnight tonight and tomorrow."
"I am sure if we ask." Jacobs said. "Bill and Jack's other friend, Douglas Burke, who just arrived would take a shift as well."
"Let's try to limit the people in the house." Elizabeth said. "Or at least coming up here. It isn't that I don't trust the others, but right now the fewer people who see Jack like this the better. I am sure that he won't want everyone to see him like this."
"If that is what you want." Faith said.
"Elizabeth." Jacobs said. "I know that you don't know Doug Burke, but from what I have learned he is close to Jack. Joe McGinty, Doug Burke and Jack Thornton are like brothers. They have been close since the academy. Please consider letting Doug at least see Jack. He came all this way to see him."
Faith could tell that Elizabeth was getting upset.
"Jeremiah." Faith said. "Can you go get me some hot water and clean bandages from the supplies I brought? While you do that, I will check Elizabeth."
Jacobs stopped as he immediately realized what Faith was doing. He didn't realize that Elizabeth was getting upset until he looked at her when Faith spoke. He felt bad that he had upset Elizabeth, but he also understood the bond that the three men shared.
"Of course." Jacobs said.
Jacobs headed back downstairs.
Wynn, Dee and Doug headed over the sitting area. First thing Wynn did was introduce everyone.
"Dad, we can leave." Andrew said.
"No." Wynn said. "I am not going to talk about anything that you don't know."
Andrew nodded, but decided to move his paperwork over to the table. David followed suit. They were trying to be respectful of Wynn having to explain to the young Constable about his friend.
"Doug." Wynn said. "This afternoon, Jack had a major setback and has been unconscious. Nurse Carter with the help of Sergeant Jacobs removed a foreign body from Jack's hip. They thought they had cleaned it well, but an abscess quickly developed as Jack was resting.
They were able to clean it out. They gave him morphine, but despite the medication, he passed out from the intense pain. He has been out since. We are watching him for any additional infection, but Nurse Carter doesn't want to give Jack too much morphine because he is recovering from pneumonia and she is worried about his breathing. It is going to be a fine line balancing Jack's pain and his breathing."
Doug took a moment to absorb what he had been told.
"Okay." Doug said. "I have several questions. The first one being why are there armed guards outside?"
"There was a direct threat made on Jack's life." Wynn said. "Because of other situations, I ordered a large presence here to protect everyone."
"The escaped prisoner?" Doug said.
"Yes." Wynn said. "We are also dealing with fallout of the Pacific Northwest investigation. They used to run this town and I am here dealing with ongoing issues."
"I remember Jack and Joe writing to me about them." Doug said. "I have also heard a bit about that huge mess."
It was at that moment that Jacobs came downstairs.
"What do you need?" Elizabeth Rose asked.
"Hot water and some of the supplies Faith brought." Jacobs said. "She is making sure that Elizabeth and the baby are okay before we check on Jack."
"Baby?" Doug said.
"Yes." Dee said. "Jack and Beth learned about two weeks ago that they were expecting. You must not have gotten the letter that Jack wrote. I know I posted a letter to you on Monday for him."
"No." Doug said. "I left on the Thursday morning train. It was probably in the mailbags that were unloaded off the train."
"Probably." Wynn said.
After Jacobs left, Faith looked at Elizabeth.
"No matter what." Faith said. "This is still your house. If you don't want extra people here, that is your right. I would however suggest that you at least meet this friend of Jack's. He came all the way up from Lethbridge to spend some time with Jack."
"I will think about it." Elizabeth said. "Today was stressful enough."
"I understand that." Faith said. "From what the young man said, he will be here for a week or so."
Elizabeth nodded.
"Now." Faith said. "Other than the stress, how are you doing?"
"No bad." Elizabeth said.
"Can I check your blood pressure and listen to your stomach?" Faith asked.
Elizabeth nodded. Faith carefully took Elizabeth's blood pressure and then she listened to Elizabeth's stomach. As she moved the bell of the stethoscope around, she heard the faint heartbeat of the baby. Elizabeth looked down and saw it was where her and Jack had heard it.
"It is hard to hear." Faith said. "But the heartbeat is nice and strong. As you get bigger, it will be easier to hear the heartbeat."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said.
"Do you want to listen?" Faith asked.
"I was earlier." Elizabeth said. "Jack found it yesterday afternoon. To reassure myself this afternoon, I listened to the heartbeat. I even put the earpieces in Jack's ears and held the bell to my stomach to remind him what he had to get well for."
"Knowing that you heard the heartbeat." Faith said. "This definitely puts you much closer to the sixteen weeks, I had initially thought you were just past twelve. I can say with pretty good confidence that you most likely got pregnant right away after the wedding."
Elizabeth blushed.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about." Faith said. "It is a normal thing for a husband and wife to be together like that. A baby is a natural and expected consequence of that action. Just know that after you have this baby, it might be easier for you to get pregnant again. I am not saying that is the case, but you need to be aware of that if you want to space the children out a bit."
"Oh." Elizabeth said.
"I don't want you to worry about anything right now." Faith said. "We can talk more about that later, closer to the time."
"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "If you are okay, I am going to just slip my clothes back on. I will open the wardrobe door, so don't worry if Jacobs comes back."
"If that is what you want." Faith said. "Go ahead. I am going to lay out the few instruments that I will need to examine Jack."
"This is a lot to take in." Doug said.
"Just slow down." Dee said. "I have full confidence in Nurse Carter and Sergeant Jacobs."
"Why isn't the doctor here?" Doug asked.
"We don't have a regular doctor." Dee said. "There is a traveling doctor that comes through and he was here for a few days last week. He won't be back for about six weeks. Faith has been in contact with the hospital in Union City. As far as I know that is the closest hospital right now."
Doug looked at Dee wide-eyed.
"That is almost a full day's ride away." Doug said.
"We know." Wynn said. "This town is lucky to have Faith. She came to see a patient when it was needed and stayed to set up the infirmary. The town made her an offer to be the full-time nurse, after the landslides and flash floods. Mayor Stanton quickly realized that it would have been much worse had Nurse Carter not been here."
"I guess I have gotten so used to having a doctor close by." Doug said. "I mean you know that I grew up in Union City and then after the academy, I was assigned to Lethbridge and have stayed there."
Wynn nodded.
"Things are a little different out here." Wynn said. "Though, I do have confidence that they will have a doctor sooner rather than later. We deal with what we have now. Sergeant Jacobs' father was a doctor and he is quite knowledgeable about medical things. That is why I have entrusted him with Jack's care alongside Nurse Carter."
"Changing subjects." Dee said. "Where are you staying? Where did you drop your rucksack?"
"I dropped my rucksack at the jail with Joe." Doug said. "I figured I would figure out sleeping later. I saw the saloon hotel."
"I think it is full." Wynn said. "We are staying there. Some of the Mounties and all the cadets are staying in tents behind the jail. There are additional men staying in tents over beyond the church. They are here working through the week I believe."
"They are set to leave Friday morning." Dee said. "Granted, Mr Coulter has mentioned that he was willing to extend a temporary contract to about fifteen of them."
"Is he moving them out to the mill?" Wynn asked.
"Yes." Dee said. "He said he would have them move their tents out near the mill. His crew is currently putting up a large bunk house and when the other men leave, they will start working on the houses across the field. He said that the next group of men set to arrive will be here May first and the last group of men will be here by May twentieth."
"Keep me posted if Bill thinks he is going to need someone more then McGinty while Jack heals." Wynn said.
"I will." Dee said.
"Sir." Doug said. "If you are going to post someone else here while Jack is healing, I want to offer my name."
"I will consider it." Wynn said. "I had also thought about assigning a new graduate here at the end of May. With Jack and former Inspector Bill Avery here, they will learn a lot."
"Understood." Doug said.
"Is there something you want to say?" Wynn asked. "I ask because of the tone of your voice when I mentioned the new graduate."
Doug looked at the floor and dug his toe into the floorboard.
"Hey." Dee said. "I can't promise that Dad won't get mad at what you have to say. But I can guarantee he will get mad if you hide something from him. He may be a Deputy Commissioner, but you can ask Jack and Joe, we have been pretty laid back while being here."
"I am just not sure if it is my place to say anything." Doug said.
Doug hung his head and refused to look at Wynn. Wynn looked at Dee, who nodded. Dee stood up and stepped in front of Doug.
"Come talk to me." Dee said. "Then you won't be telling the DC."
Doug nodded, stood up and went over to the table with Dee. Andrew and David went back to the sitting area. Dee spun a chair around and sat leaning on the back. Doug did the same. Elizabeth Rose set a cup of coffee next to each and a plate of cookies on the table between them. Doug wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Dee, but he knew that he needed to talk to someone. He had hoped to talk to Jack. He debated talking to Joe, but as he sat there, he realized that it might just be easier to do it this way.
