"Mama?" she heard a small voice whisper, "Mama, please wake up." It was followed by the lightest kiss on her cheek, followed by a whispered "Love you".
"Jack, is everything okay?" another voice whispered.
"Yes, I just want my mama to wake up." The little voice answered with a sniff.
Hearing this, Allie stood up from walked to the other side of the bed, where Jack was sitting. He was holding Elizabeth's hand, softly stroking her arm. "Dr. Carter said your mama is going to be okay, she just needs some rest."
"But Allie," Jack said, "What if she doesn't wake up, like your mama didn't wake up. What if she goes away like my daddy did? What will happen to me? Will I be sent away from you, and Mountie Nathan, and Uncle Bill, and Auntie Rosemary and Uncle Lee and Goldie?"
Allie sat down next to Jack and pulled him into her arms, not quite sure what to say. Thankfully, Dr. Carter had overheard the conversation and made her way towards them. "Allie's, right Jack. Your mom is going to be just fine, I promise." she said, trying to reassure both of them after seeing the worry and fear in Allie's eyes as well. Sitting down in a chair near the bed, Faith reached out to invite Jack onto her lap, but he refused, wanting to stay by his mom's side, holding her hand instead.
A few minutes later, he sat up straight, looking at the hand that he'd been clutching and then up to his mom's face.
"Mama?" he asked quietly, before looking at Allie and saying, "Allie, she squeezed my hand, mama squeezed my hand." He let got of her hand and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hello Honey Bear," Elizabeth managed to say as she opened her eyes and found herself looking at the most beautiful site she'd ever seen, her son staring at her with so much joy in his eyes.
"You're awake, you're awake!" he began shouting, "Allie, mama's awake!" Not knowing what to do, he looked around at the others before leaning down and placing a kiss on her cheek. Then he jumped down and ran to the other side of the bed. Using the chair, he climbed up on the bed and gently kissed the bandage on her other cheek. He jumped back down and ran back to Allie, pulling on her hand, "Come on Allie, let's go tell Mountie Nathan, he was so sad when he left, this will make him happy again." Allie let herself be pulled by the excited little boy out the door and towards the Mountie office. Seeing Nathan walking towards them, he dropped Allie's hand and took off towards him. "Mountie Nathan, Mountie Nathan. Mama's awake, just like Allie said she'd be!"
Nathan could feel the sob welling up in his chest and took a deep breath before bending down and picking the little boy up. Having heard his godson's cry's Bill hurried out to join them. Seeing the excitement on Jack's face, and the tears forming in Nathan's eyes, he knew this was good news.
"Uncle Bill, Mama's awake. Mama's awake!"
Knowing Nathan would need a second to compose himself, Bill took the boy from Nathan's arms, set him down and said, "Then we'd better go see her"
The relief Nathan felt at hearing that Elizabeth was awake made him a little unsteady on his feet, making him grateful to Bill for taking Jack. Allie, having seen him waver a little bit, put her arm around him, and together they went to the infirmary.
Jack and Bill had gotten to her first, the little boy not wanting to waste any time, and could be heard saying "See Uncle Bill, see?" as Nathan and Allie walked through the door.
Nathan had always thought Elizabeth was beautiful, from the moment she'd walked into the jail and introduced herself to him. He didn't remember much about that interaction, other than his heart had stopped at the sight of her, and then fell to his stomach when she said her name. There was a conversation between the two of them, or rather Elizabeth did most of the talking since he was dumbfounded at the sight before him. He'd never be able to repeat anything that was said, but the smile she gave him before walking away, was one he'd never let himself forget. Then the more he'd gotten to know her, the more beautiful she became to him. It wasn't the physical attributes that increased her beauty to him. It was how devoted to each one of her students she was, and how she'd do just about anything for them. How she'd encouraged Allie to trust others, and make friends. How much she loved her friends and was always wanting to help them. Those and a million other things made up the beauty that he saw each time he looked at her. The moment he walked through the door of the infirmary and saw her sitting up, with a tired smile on her face, Jack in her arms and Allie right beside her, he knew he'd never seen, nor would he ever see, anything more beautiful in his entire life. The realty of everything that had happened came crashing down on him, and once again his knees began to buckle. He reached out for the desk to steady himself but managed to knock the book that had been sitting there to the ground instead, causing everyone to look over at him.
Recognizing the look in the man's eyes, Bill stood up and reached for Jack, saying, "Well Jack-a-roo, I think it's time we get you to bed, so your mom can rest."
"No, Uncle Bill, I want to stay here." Jack whined back.
Faith spoke up, saying, "You know, Jack, the more rest your mom gets, the sooner she can go home with you."
Looking at the doctor, and remembering how she said his mom would wake up and she did, he decided she was telling the truth and not just trying to make him go to bed. Turning to his mom, he gave her one more kiss on the cheek and whispered "Love you" before getting down and walking towards Bill. "Let's go, Uncle Bill, mama needs sleep so she can come home tomorrow." he said.
Leaning down towards Elizabeth, Bill gave her a kiss on the cheek and whispered something to her before looking her in the eye. Satisfied when she shook her head no, Bill turned to Allie, "Well young lady, would you like to stay here or can I escort you home?"
"Can I stay here?" she asked, "I don't really want to go home right now." Allie confessed.
"Well, it's not like I was going to make you stay all by yourself, now. How about you come to Elizabeth's, and we have a sleepover?" Bill asked
Allie looked to her dad for permission, who nodded, before taking Bill's other hand and together the three of them walked out into the night.
Faith decided that she needed some air and excused herself as well.
Clearing his throat, he made his way to the bed and sat down beside it. "How are you feeling, Elizabeth, truthfully?" he asked.
"I am okay, I guess. My cheek feels like it's on fire, and I don't know if I have ever felt this kind of pain in my head, but honestly, I think I'm alright. Faith says there isn't anything seriously wrong, just some bumps and bruises. Is Rosemary okay? I can't seem to get anyone to tell me."
"She is okay and is home with Lee and Goldie. A few cuts and a bump on her head, but she is fine. Told me to make sure you believed me when I told you." Nathan informed her with a smile that Elizabeth noticed didn't make it to his eyes.
"Nathan, what's wrong?" she finally asked after a few moments of silence.
Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he asked, "Elizabeth, are you really okay? Did he do anything else to you?"
Knowing what he was actually asking, she reached for his hand, saying, "No, other than getting a few slaps across the cheek and then hitting my head, nothing else happened."
"Are you sure?"
Elizabeth nodded, saying, "Faith will tell you the same thing."
Nathan visibly relaxed at that point and looked down at their intertwined hands and realized how well they fit together. Almost as though they had been designed exclusively for each other. Lifting their hands to his lips, he placed a gentle kiss on her knuckle and returned their hands to the bed, expecting Elizabeth to let go. Instead, she held on tighter and closed her eyes.
"You must be exhausted, Lizbeth. I'll leave you now to get some rest."
Slowly opening her eyes, she looked at him, not wanting him to go but knowing he probably had work to do. "I know you'll have a lot of work to do, but maybe, can you stay for a few more minutes?" she asked timidly.
"I'll stay as long as you'd like me too, Lizbeth. There is nowhere else I need to be."
"But don't you have Mountie business to take care of after all that?" Elizabeth asked.
"Nope, I gave my statement and helped process the prisoners, but the other Mounties are taking care of everything else, including transporting everyone to Capital City as we speak." Nathan informed her.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Elizabeth looked into those deep blue eyes and found herself getting lost in them. In the past the feeling had unsettled her with how intense it felt, but this time was different, this time it felt like the only place where she was truly safe. She felt her eyes begin to droop, followed by a strong set of arms helping her lay back down on the bed. She felt Nathan begin to pull his hand away but held on tight. "Stay," she whispered before falling asleep.
"Always"
"Elizabeth, would you like to talk?" Faith was asking as she put a fresh dressing on her patient's cheek.
Elizabeth startled out of her thoughts, looked around for a second before remembering where she was and why she was there. "Can you tell me what happened?" she asked, "I get the feeling Bill and Nathan are holding back, but I need to know everything."
"Those two men love you, Elizabeth, in their own ways of course," she clarified with a wink, "And they want to protect you as much as they can."
"Jack would do the same thing. He'd only tell me what he thought I wanted to hear, but the truth is, I think that is worse than not knowing anything at all. At least with the truth, your mind can't go wandering off on its own making up horrible stories. I understand why he did it, but it still doesn't make it okay."
"That's very true. One of our greatest failings as human beings is trying to protect others by just not talking, or by not telling the whole truth. Granted, we probably wouldn't have as many great novels to read if that wasn't the case." Faith said with a chuckle.
"I don't know every detail, but here is what I do know. A man named Casimir Shaw, who is a gangster from America, was behind the problems with the getting bids for the resort. He found out Jeanette had a history with Lucas and used her to try and get close to the Governor. Once Lucas canceled the Resort, Shaw became angry with Lucas and came to Hope Valley to talk with him directly. Bill and Nathan were out looking for him when he came to town and took over the saloon. As soon as they got back and found out about you and Rosemary, they were able to go in and arrest everyone, except Shaw, who was upstairs. Mike tackled him from the top of the stairs, which allowed Nathan to arrest him by then Lucas had found you unconscious in one of the rooms and brought you down to Nathan, who brought you here."
"And Rosemary?" Elizabeth asked
"Rosemary really is okay, just a bruised cheek and a bit of a headache from when she hit her head. She says she tried to help you when Shaw took you upstairs, but one of his men backhanded her, causing her to fall backwards from her chair and by the time she was upright again, you and Shaw had disappeared. This time, his men tied her to the chair and put a gag over her mouth. Thankfully, Nathan and Bill saw her through the windows of the saloon and were able to get her out. She is very worried about you, but we convinced her to stay home and be with Goldie and that you'd visit her as soon as you could."
"I am so glad that you are okay, especially considering things could have been much worse," Faith paused before continuing. "Are you ready to talk about what happened to you?"
"Honestly, Faith, my head is beginning to ache again, can we talk about that later?" Elizabeth asked.
Looking her friend in the eyes and seeing the pain and fear in them, she reached over and gave Elizabeth a quick hug before saying, "Of course, but Elizabeth, you will need to talk about this to someone, and I am here if you'd like that to be me."
Elizabeth nodded and then leaned back, closing her eyes.