Chapter 5

Victoria and Jarrod were with Nick when the doctor came later that afternoon. He examined Nick in the library. Nick still couldn't get his eyes open, so he didn't see Dr. Merar smile when he said, "They're coming along. The swelling is going down, and the blood from the bruises is moving down on the face. You ought to have some nice yellow eye sockets to see when you look in the mirror tomorrow, Nick."

"So you think he'll be able to get his eyes open by tomorrow?" Victoria asked.

"I think so," Dr. Merar said. "They'll still be a bit swollen, but that will improve too as the day goes on."

"When can I get back to work?" Nick asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that too quickly," Dr. Merar said. "Give it two more days, at least. The swelling is still enough to restrict the range of your vision at first even when you can get those eyes open. Things will improve pretty quickly, but don't try doing too much or you might fall or hurt yourself in some other way."

"I swear, I'm never gonna get into another fight," Nick said. "Not in a bar, not in the street, not out on the range – "

"Nick, don't go making promises you know you're not gonna keep," Jarrod said.

"I swear I'm gonna try," Nick said.

"Did you know the sheriff released the man who hit you?" Dr. Merar asked.

"No," Nick said, nearly growling.

Even Jarrod looked unhappy. "That was fast."

"According to Sheriff Madden, the man named McCutcheon – the man who owns the place where the fellow who hit you works – paid the fine and the Golden Eagle for the damage to the place," Dr. Merar said.

"What about damages to ME?" Nick blurted.

"Nick, you and I can talk about that," Jarrod said. "We don't need to keep the doctor tied up here. I'm sure he has other places to go."

"Indeed I do," Dr. Merar said. "Nick, I'll check on you again tomorrow just to be sure you're still making progress, but I won't be surprised if those eyes are both open by then."

The doctor packed up, bid Nick goodbye, and Jarrod walked him to the front door. As he did, Victoria stayed with Nick.

And Nick grumbled. "I know you're still here, Mother. I can smell your perfume."

Victoria put her hand on Nick's shoulder and squeezed. "Nick, how many men have you given big black eyes to over the years? Has any of them after come after you for damages, even if you laid them up for a while?"

Nick sighed. "No," he admitted.

"A bar fight is a bar fight," Victoria said. "The bar owner gets paid to put his place back together and everyone else bears their own costs – "

Nick started to interrupt.

But Victoria thought she knew what he was going to say and kept right on. "Regardless of who actually threw the first punch."

"Mother, I haven't been able to work," Nick said.

"And there have been other times you haven't been able to work for a day or two after a fight," Victoria said.

Nick grumbled again. "Let me talk to Jarrod."

"I heard the tail end of that," Jarrod said, coming back into the library. "Nick, I suggest you let it go. One of the reasons cowhands don't pay damages to the men they slug in saloons is because cowhands don't have any money. You wouldn't get a cent out of this Emerson fella, and he'd probably let out for parts unknown if you tried. Just let yourself heal and be grateful you're gonna be able to see that beautifully colored face in the mirror, probably by tomorrow."

Nick's grumble turned to more of a groan.

Victoria said, "I'm going to go get Silas started on dinner."

"What time is it?" Nick asked.

"Nearly four," Jarrod said as Victoria went out. "Audra should be coming in soon, and Heath will be right behind her. You can talk to him and he'll tell you that everything today was fine."

"Yeah," Nick said.

He still sounded almost depressed. "Nick – you're gonna be okay. By tomorrow afternoon, you'll be able to see something, and the day after you'll probably be able to see pretty well. Be grateful your eyes haven't been damaged. Be grateful you know they haven't been damaged."

"Aw, I'm sorry," Nick said. "This is all just frustrating, and I know I don't need to be telling you that."

"You want to get unfrustrated?" Jarrod said. "Let's play a game of pool."

"Pool?! I can't see to play pool!"

"As I recall, you and Heath had me trying to take a few shots when I couldn't see."

"As I recall, it was well after dinner and we were all three of us half soused at the time," Nick said.

"As I recall," Jarrod said one more time, "the whole thing was silly enough to take my mind off my problems at the time. It's the sort of thing that got me through being blind, Nick."

Nick sighed. "And you had more to worry about than I have now. All right, Big Brother. Rack 'em up."

Heath came in not ten minutes later and stopped dead. Nick was lining up a shot that was clearly going to miss by a lot. Heath was surprised he was trying this at all and would have said so, but Jarrod raised a finger to his lips to warn him to be quiet. Nick took the shot, hitting the cue ball with surprising accuracy – but he didn't hear any click he'd have heard if it hit another ball.

"Are you sure you lined me up right?" Nick asked.

"Did you line me up right when we were playing and I couldn't see?" Jarrod asked.

Nick grumbled. "Yeah, all right, I get it. Payback time."

"I'm surprised you even hit the cue ball," Heath said.

Nick straightened. "You're back. I thought I smelled cattle. How'd everything go today?"

"Just fine," Heath said. "How'd it go with the doctor?"

"I'm clearing up," Nick said, "but he doesn't want me out working for a couple days."

"We can do without you for that long," Heath said. "I need to go clean up. Maybe after dinner I'll play you a game of pool myself."

"I'll be practicing," Nick said.

Heath went out – Nick could hear his footsteps. Jarrod noticed that Nick was actually listening to that. "Tell you what, Nick," Jarrod said. "This time I'll line you up right so you actually have a shot at sinking a ball, okay?"

"Promise?" Nick asked.

"Promise," Jarrod said.

XXXXXXX

Nick spent another dinner figuring out how to eat his food, and another night sleeping with a commode next to the bed. He was annoyed, but somehow not as annoyed as he had been the night before. Maybe he couldn't get even one eye open yet, but they both did feel a little less swollen, and he spent less time thinking about his predicament before he fell asleep.

But in the morning, they were both still swollen shut. Disappointed and getting more angry about it, he managed to dress himself. He felt his beard and thought maybe he should let someone shave him, but then he thought maybe he could do it by holding one eye open and being very careful. Then he decided not to try that. He wasn't going to let anyone else shave him either. He could wait one more day to see if he could see.

He did manage to get himself down the stairs by holding onto the bannister and feeling with his foot. He had no idea Jarrod was watching him until they got to the bottom and Jarrod said, "Not bad."

Jarrod's voice made Nick jump.

Jarrod thought he should have remembered how hearing Audra's voice when he didn't know she was there made him jump. "I'm sorry," Jarrod said with a little bit of a laugh. "I forgot how startling it can be when you think you're alone and you're not. Can you get either eye open yet?"

"Not yet," Nick said. "Walk me to the dining room, will you?"

Jarrod took his arm. "Try not to be discouraged. Your eyes are more yellow and green than purple this morning."

Nick gave a scornful chuckle. "You sure you don't want to have a photograph of me taken today? Get it color tinted?"

"I wouldn't do that to you, Nick," Jarrod said, sincerely. "You're not gonna want to remember how you look, once you do get a look at yourself."

"I just better get at least a little crack of light today, or I'm gonna go crazy just sitting around."

"I know, Nick. I went crazy and I'm the calm brother. I'm glad you've been holding up as well as you have."

Suddenly Nick stopped.

"What?" Jarrod asked.

Nick made a small motion with his finger pointing into the air in front of him. "I got a crack of light. Just a little bit, but it's light. One of my eyes is starting to open."

"Well, there you go," Jarrod said. "But don't rush it. Let it happen on its own and it'll stay open."

"I'll do my best, but boy – I want more."

Jarrod said, "Yeah. I know."