Page 149 of Conveniently Wed
“All right. I’ll put on some willow bark, too.”
The exchange sounded far away, the misery inside her screaming too loudly. She tried reciting Scripture under her breath.
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside still waters. He restoreth my soul.” She wanted to scream, it hurt so bad. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou art with me.”
A cool cloth covered Leah’s forehead and a gentle hand smoothed the hair away from her face. She opened her eyes to Miriam’s smile, but its sweetness seemed dim by the pain.
“Gideon will be back in just a minute, and he’ll get you fixed up.”
So much fog clouded her mind. “Is the doctor on his way?”
“I’m sorry, Leah. There’s not a doctor in Butte or anywhere close. The nearest is in Helena, about five hours away.”
She wanted to curl in a ball and block out the pain. “Is he going to take me in the wagon then?”
Miriam brushed a cool hand over her brow. “The wagon ride would be harder on you than anything, and probably mess your leg up even more. ’Sides, Gideon knows what to do. He always was the best at doctoring people and animals. He’s splinted more broken bones than I could count on both hands.”
The man himself entered the room with two flat boards in one hand and a small leafy branch in the other. He moved around to the foot of the bed near Leah’s injured leg and placed the boards on the floor.
He looked into Leah’s face. “How’re you feelin’?”
She tried to form a smile, but even that brought on pain. “Hurts.”
His expression tightened. “I’ll be honest, it’s gonna hurt a bit more when I start workin’ on it. But then you’ll feel better.” His eyes met hers with an intensity. “Do you think you can make it?”
She could only nod. If she could look into his deep emerald eyes the entire time, she just might be able to do this.
He seemed satisfied with the nod and turned to his sister. “Is the tea ready? She needs some before we start.”
Miriam disappeared from the room, and Gideon tore the long cloth into strips about the length of his arm. He moved down to her feet, and cold air brushed her skin where her skirts had been.
“Here you go. This’ll help with the hurting.” Miriam entered the room with a steaming mug and a spoon. The first spoonful singed her mouth, but not as much as the fire seared her leg. Miriam ladled two more sips of the bitter stuff, then Leah finally shook her head.
“I can drink. Just help me.” If this tea would make the pain go away, she wanted it down as quickly as possible.
When she’d drunk it all, Miriam stepped back and Gideon took over.
Standing by her leg, he looked into Leah’s face again. “I need you to stay as still as possible, all right? Even when it hurts.”
She nodded, biting her lower lip. She would do everything she could to obey. “All right.” Her voice sounded as small as she felt with him standing over her.
Gideon shifted her leg to rest on the cloth bandages, then tucked some of the leaves from the branch against her skin. He wrapped both hands around her calf, and she forced her mind to focus on the feel of his callused hands instead of the burn inside her limb.
And then, with a flick of his wrists, he squeezed and jerked her leg in a single excruciating movement. An explosion ofwhite fury shot through Leah’s body, clearing away every other thought. She moaned and clutched Miriam’s hand.
A gentle hand stroked her hair, and tears streamed down her face. But she was too miserable to care.
The hard press of boards barely registered, but she did her best to focus on what Gideon might be doing as she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain.
He seemed to be tying the boards to her leg now, then he wrapped a bandage around the base of her foot so her ankle made the shape of an “L”. The inside of her leg ached, but the bone itself didn’t scream quite as much now.
He stopped working, and she finally managed to open her eyes. He was studying her face, his expression nearly as pained as her own must be.
“I’m sorry.” He almost whispered the words. She answered with a nod. He hadn’t wanted to inflict so much pain, but he had to so the leg would heal correctly. She understood.
Miriam appeared at Leah’s side with another steamy mug before Leah realized she’d gone.
“Here. Drink one more cup of the tea and we’ll let you sleep.”
