A/N Heads up that there are some mentions of physical injuries (some caused by abuse) in this one (they aren't too graphic, though, because I'm a little squeamish)
...
"Mama! No!" William screamed, emerging from under a table where he had been hiding. He ran over to the base of the stairs, where Elizabeth and James lay in a crumpled heap.
The handful of people in the saloon cautiously approached, shocked by what they had just witnessed, shocked by the sudden appearance of the little boy.
That was the scene that Jack saw when he burst through the doors: two bodies on the ground surrounded by half a dozen men.
"Back away!" somebody shouted. "The constable is here!"
The small crowd parted to let him through. His heart dropped when he saw William kneeling on the floor beside his mother, tears streaming down his face.
"William," Jack spoke quietly, crouching down beside the boy. "What are you doing here?"
"Mr. Mountie!" William launched himself into Jack's arms. "Mama's hurt," he sobbed. "I knew she was going to talk to daddy. I followed her. I was going to protect her, but I got scared."
"Oh, William." He tightened his arms around the little boy. "It'll be okay."
"You need to help mama."
"I will." He wiped the tears from William's cheeks. "I'll help her." He stood up, still holding the boy in his arms. "You." He nodded toward the man standing nearest to him. "Go fetch Nurse Carter. And you," another nod toward the next man, "go to Lee Coulter's house and tell him to come here to pick up William. Everyone else, back up. We don't want to move them until we know more about their injuries."
"She's moving!" William exclaimed. "Mr. Mountie! She's moving!"
Jack quickly lowered him to the floor. "Stay right there." He slowly approached Elizabeth, getting a better look at the scene.
James was wedged beneath her, and a pool of blood was beginning to form beneath his head. A groan slipped through his lips as he tried to move, but Elizabeth was dead weight on top of him. He realized that it wasn't Elizabeth who had moved, it was James's movement shifting her on top of him.
Jack carefully reached out his hand, holding it just above Elizabeth's mouth and nose. He held his breath, waiting, praying. Finally, he felt the warmth of her breath on his fingers as she exhaled. He sighed, relieved, and turned back to the crowd.
"They're alive. Both of them. Did anyone see what happened?"
A few of the men mumbled, their gazes dropping to the ground.
"No one saw anything?" Jack shook his head. "Did you hear anything?"
"I think they were fighting," one man finally admitted. "Heard him say something about getting another drink. Next thing I knew, they were both on the ground there."
"He was kinda dragging her outta that room upstairs," another man offered. "But I didn't see how they fell."
Faith entered then, hurrying over to the patients. "Guess it's lucky I stayed late at the infirmary to finish paperwork this evening."
"Yeah. Lucky," Jack agreed. "Please tell me she'll be okay."
"It's hard to say until we know the extent of her injuries." She gingerly started probing Elizabeth's neck and limbs, searching for any broken bones. "With this type of accident, they really should be examined and treated in a hospital, but I'm worried about aggravating any injuries by moving them."
"Can you stabilize them enough to get them to the hospital?"
"I think she has some broken bones, but I should be able to wrap them enough to make it to Union City. I need to get a closer look at him, too. His injuries look worse. I think he may have cushioned her fall."
Jack enlisted the help of two other men to carefully shift Elizabeth off of James. She groaned as they moved her, clearly feeling pain. As they gently lowered her back to the floor, he noticed the swelling on her cheek, the redness showing the clear imprint of a hand. His blood boiled.
He looked down at the man lying there, who had caused her so much pain, and part of him wished that James Spencer would wake up. That he would be forced to feel the full extent of his injuries, and forced to hear what exactly Jack thought of him.
He took a deep breath, allowing Faith to continue her examination. Moving away, he returned to where he had left William.
"Is mama going to be okay?" he asked, sounding much more like the five-year-old he was.
"I hope so, William." Jack pulled him into a hug. "She's hurt pretty bad, but Nurse Faith is helping her right now, and then we're going to take her to the hospital."
He took a shaky breath. "And my daddy?"
Jack just shrugged. "I don't know."
...
William and Grace walked straight to the jail after exiting the stagecoach.
"Mr. and Mrs. Thatcher," Jack greeted as they came through the door. He stood, inviting them to sit near the desk.
"Constable." William gave him a nod, waiting for Grace to sit before sinking down on the chair beside her. "Where is our daughter? Is she safe? And James. Were you able to arrest him?"
Jack cleared his throat, taking his own seat. "We tried to contact you, but you must've missed the messages. Um," he leaned his elbows on the desk, trying to figure out how best to break the news. "There was an accident the evening after James Spencer arrived in town. From what we've been able to gather, Elizabeth went to speak with him. An altercation occurred, ending with the two of them falling down the staircase in the saloon."
Grace gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
William reached over to gently grip her leg. "Is she…?"
"She's in the hospital in Union City. So is James. You'll have to speak with the doctor there for the complete list of injuries, but all I know is that neither of them has woken up since the incident occurred three days ago."
Grace leaned forward slightly. "Where are the children? Do they know what happened?"
"They've been staying with Mr. and Mrs. Coulter." He shifted uncomfortably. "Emma just knows that her mother was hurt badly and the doctors are helping her, but little William," he sighed, "he was in the saloon when everything happened. I don't know if he actually saw the fall, but he saw the aftermath. The Coulters have said he's been pretty withdrawn."
"Oh, poor dear," Grace put a hand over her heart.
"You said Elizabeth is in Union City?"
"Yes, sir. If you'd like, I can ask if anyone would be willing to give you a ride there."
"That would be much appreciated." William reached across the desk to shake his hand. "Thank you for everything you've done for our daughter and grandchildren."
"I'm just sorry I couldn't do more."
...
Elizabeth blinked slowly, squinting as the light seemed to hurt her eyes—or, eye. Her left eye could barely open with how swollen it was. She shifted, groaning at the stiffness and pain that seemed to have settled into her joints.
"Oh!" A startled voice sounded from nearby. "You're awake."
A face floated above her, light pressure on her wrist, heaviness seeming to weigh her lower body down.
"What…happened…?" she croaked, her voice rough with disuse.
A glass of water was placed in her hand, and she finally realized that she was in a hospital. She took a few sips from the cup.
"Where am I?"
"Union City Hospital. I'll send a doctor in to speak with you."
She leaned her head back into the pillow, trying to remember what had happened. She remembered speaking to James, she remembered him going to get another drink, and then…nothing. Had he beat her? She faintly remembered his hands around her wrists, the sting of his fingers across her cheek.
"Mrs. Spencer." A doctor came into the room, a kind smile on his face. "I'm Dr. Shepherd. It's good to see you awake. You are very lucky, young lady." He picked up a clipboard, flipping through the pages on it. "You took a tumble a few days ago, down a whole flight of stairs, it seems. You have a broken leg, a sprained wrist, and a couple of fractured ribs. You also had a nice gash on your forehead that we stitched up. Like I said, you're very lucky."
She took stock of her limbs, noting that she did, in fact, have a cast encasing her right leg. Her right arm was tied in a sling, resting against her chest. She took a deep breath, and pain shot through her.
"Those ribs might take a while to heal up," Dr. Shepherd explained, setting the clipboard aside. "I'll make sure you get some medicine for the pain, but you need to make sure you take things easy. Don't overdo it, or your recovery will take even longer."
"And James?"
Dr. Shepherd's face was grim. "He hit his head pretty hard on the way down. We aren't sure if he'll wake up. Mrs. Spencer," he cleared his throat, "we noticed you have some other injuries that don't seem to have been caused by the fall."
She sighed, knowing there was no way to hide things anymore. "He hit me." She reached up with her good arm, gently touching her swollen cheek. "And my wrists." She gently turned her forearm, taking in the finger-shaped bruises encasing her wrist. "That was him, too."
"This wasn't the first time." It wasn't a question, just an observation.
She shook her head. "No."
"I'm so very sorry." He put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Is there anything you need?"
"I'd just like to know when I can leave. I need to get back to my children."
"Well," he reached for the clipboard again, "we'll see how you're doing in the morning. If everything goes well overnight, we can release you to go back to Hope Valley, but you'll still need to be monitored regularly."
"Alright." She shifted, trying to get comfortable.
"I'll go get some more pain medication for you. Just try to relax."
...
By the afternoon, William and Grace had arrived in Union City. Lee had offered to drive them, having already planned to visit the city for business. He dropped them off outside of the hospital, promising to return in a couple of hours to pick them up.
They hurried inside, speaking with a few people before finally being brought to Elizabeth's room.
Mother and daughter both began to cry as soon as they saw each other, and even William felt tears filling his eyes.
"Oh, Beth. You're awake!" Grace carefully hugged her. "You poor dear."
"I'm so sorry, Beth. So sorry. This is all my fault."
She shook her head. "No, father. This is no one's fault but James. Please don't feel guilty."
"I should've protected you, Beth."
"He would've found a way," she told him. "He still would've found a way to hurt me."
"The constable said he's here, too."
She nodded. "The doctor said he's hurt worse than I am. They aren't hopeful that he'll wake up, and I can't find it in myself to feel upset about that. Except that I don't know what to tell the children."
"We saw them before we came here," Grace explained. "They know that you and James are both hurt and that you're in the hospital. They were quite upset that they couldn't come with us, but Mr. and Mrs. Coulter are doing a wonderful job caring for them while you recover."
"The doctor told me that I might be able to return to Hope Valley tomorrow and finish recovering there."
"Beth," William took her hand, "your mother and I have discussed it, and we really think it would be best for you and the children to come back to Hamilton with us."
"I appreciate that, but I think we need to stay in Hope Valley. It just…it feels like that's where we belong."
Grace was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Is it because of the constable?"
"No!" she answered, a little too quickly. "No. We've just started to settle in there. We have the house now, and my job, and the children have made some good friends. William is really looking forward to attending school there in the fall."
"Well, just think about it, Beth. The offer is always there."
"Thank you, father, but for now, we'll be staying."
...
Allie tossed a pebble into the pond, watching the ripples spread out from the point of impact. "I heard your mommy and daddy got hurt."
William nodded, tossing in his own pebble. "They're at the big hospital."
"That's where my mom went when she was sick."
"I don't want my mama to die," he admitted quietly. "She got hurt bad."
"Miss Abigail said everyone has been praying. And your grandpa said she might come home soon," Allie tried to reassure him.
William just shrugged. "I thought she died. It was scary."
Allie gasped. "You saw her get hurt?"
He nodded. "They were fighting, and they fell down the stairs. Mama wasn't moving."
"Was it your daddy's fault?"
He tossed another pebble and nodded. "It's all my daddy's fault. He's a bad guy." He sank down to the ground, clinging to the tufts of grass around him. "I hope Mr. Mountie can put him in jail now."
"I bet he will." She joined him on the ground, putting her arm around him. "My Uncle is the best Mountie. He always gets the bad guys."
...
"Jack, I think you'll want to see this." Bill set a small stack of telegrams on the desk. "They all arrived within half an hour of each other."
He read the message on top of the stack, fighting a smile. "I'd like to say I'm saddened by this news, but—"
"Keep reading," Bill instructed, cutting him off. "The others won't make you quite so glad."
His smile dropped as he read the next telegram in the stack. "Well, at least we have more notice this time. We'll make sure they don't get anywhere near her or the children."
"Read the last one." Bill pressed his lips into a line, clearly upset with the final message. "It's from headquarters."
"You've got to be kidding!" Jack exclaimed after reading the words on the page. He jumped up from his desk, beginning to pace. "There's no way."
"You have to, Jack. We can get everything cleared up later, but this order came from the superintendent. You can't defy it without risking your job."
He sighed, running a hand over his face. "Can't you do it? She won't forgive me for this."
"Your name is on the order." Bill shrugged. "You can probably explain it better, too. She might be more understanding than you think."
"I doubt it." He crossed the room, pulling his Stetson off the hook by the door. "I suppose I'd better get this done. Keep an eye on things around here, will you?"
"I'm sorry, Jack. I wish it didn't come to this."
"Yeah, well…" He shrugged. "It's the job. I'll be back this evening."
"Be careful, Jack. And don't worry," he added, "I'll start working on how to get this cleared up."
Just after lunchtime, Jack arrived in Union City and made his way to Elizabeth's hospital room. The happiness he felt at seeing her awake was short-lived, as he remembered why he was there.
"Jack, it's good to see you." Elizabeth sat up when she saw him enter the room. "Although you didn't need to come all this way. The doctor said I can go back to Hope Valley this afternoon."
He had a grim expression on his face as he approached, and her stomach dropped.
"What is it? What's wrong? Are my children okay? My parents?"
"They're fine. Your parents are staying at your house, and they took the children back there."
She breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, then why does it look like you have bad news?"
"I'm here on orders."
"What?"
He let out a harsh breath. "I'm here to arrest you."