Page 181 of Conveniently Wed
She chewed her bottom lip as she eyed the man on the ground and the height of the saddle. There was no way to make this easy. She bent back down to Gideon and stroked his face again. She couldn’t tell if he was awake or if he’d passed out from the pain, but the rise and fall of his chest brought a measure of comfort. “Gideon, do you think you can try to mount the horse? We’ll help you.” It was an absurd request given his condition, but any effort he could give would help.
“Yes…” His voice was a raspy whisper and his eyes remained closed, but he was true to his word. With her and Miriam on either side, they worked together to boost him into the saddle. As soon as he landed in the leather seat, his body slumped over the horn. She kept a hand on his arm lest he keel over.
With very little grace, she managed to climb on behind him. She settled in behind the saddle with an arm on each side of Gideon and the warmth of the horse’s wooly coat beneath her. She fervently hoped this was not the mare’s first experience riding double.
They started down the trail, Gideon’s strong bulk in front of her. Never had she dreamed she would be saving this man’s life in such a way.
26
During the long ride, convulsive shivers wracked Gideon’s body in front of Leah. Her efforts to warm him proved fruitless, for each time her arm touched his side, he would moan and flinch away from her. It seemed the only thing she could do to help was grip his shoulders so he didn’t pitch from the swaying rhythm of the horse.
Finally at the cabin, she rode right up to the porch steps, then slid from her horse, careful not to knock Gideon off. She and Miriam tucked themselves under each of his arms to help him down from the mount and into the house. He made an effort to walk, but was shaking so badly, it was a stumble, at best.
Once they were inside, she looked around for the best place to settle him. He was too weak to sit upright in a chair, and a bed would be too far away from the fire. His violent shivers made warmth the most important need for now. Had frostbite already set in? She’d have to check for that soon.
“Let’s lay him in front of the fire.” She nodded in the direction of the hearth. “We can make a pallet for him and doctor his wounds while he gets warm.”
As soon as they had him on the floor, wrapped in the quilts they’d used in the cave, Miriam scurried to gather more blankets, bandages, and hot water.
Leah knelt by his side. She needed to take off the shredded buckskin so she could assess the damage underneath. But even the thought of removing this man’s shirt felt like she was entering a territory she didn’t belong. Maybe she should ask Miriam to take off the bloody garments and doctor his wounds.
But the memory flashed through Leah’s mind of the girl’s terrified expression when she’d first seen Gideon in the cave. It wasn’t fair for Miri to go through this with Gideon like she had with Abel.
Leah inhaled a deep breath and released it, her nerves easing with the exhaled air. She glanced at his face. His eyes were closed in a grimace, his jaw quivering from the cold that still consumed him.
She reached for the scissors from Miriam’s sewing bag, and fingered the bottom edge of his buckskin tunic. Clenching her jaw, she began to snip, working her way up toward his neck.
As the leather fell away, it revealed a brown flannel shirt with long tears shredding the fabric across the front. She followed the same process to remove this garment, cutting from the bottom up and spreading the two sides apart so they looked like an unbuttoned jacket.
Underneath the flannel layer was the white undershirt she had expected to find. The shreds of material that lay haphazardly across his abdomen were drenched with a viscous layer of crimson that squeezed Leah’s gut in a nauseating grip. When bile rose into her throat, she clenched her eyes shut, gulping in steadying breaths.
Sooner than she wanted to, she forced her eyes open and began to slice through the undershirt, careful to raise it above his skin so she didn’t knick him in the process.
Once this last layer of fabric was laid aside, his chest was exposed, displaying deep claw marks that slashed at various angles across his front and left side. A fresh wave of nausea washed through Leah, but she forced her mind to focus on what she should do next.
Miriam appeared at her side, offering a welcome distraction and a pot of warm water. “I put garlic in the water to help you clean.”
Leah turned away from the gory sight to dampen several cloths in the water. She stole a glance at Miriam’s face, which was as white as the snow outside. Was she about to swoon? The last thing Leah needed was another patient on her hands.
She touched a hand to her friend’s arm. “Go and care for Drifter now. I’ll tend your brother.”
Miriam’s eyes flitted to Leah, then she spun and half-stumbled to where the dog lay near the cook stove in the kitchen.
Leah turned back to her own patient. She wrung some of the water from the cloth in her hands, and began to dab the blood from around the gashes. His chest rose and fell harshly, his rough breathing illuminated by the lack of movement in the rest of his body. Still, it was good to see his lungs were functioning.
When her cloth touched a spot near the bottom of his ribs, Gideon groaned and his entire midsection seemed to clinch. She jerked away. Had she caused further damage by pressing on some compromised organ? His breathing had grown shallow, but then his muscles slowly released from their contraction.
“Gideon?”
His eyes flickered open. There was pain in their murky depths. Still, he met her gaze.
“I’m…all right. Just…hurts.” His voice was raspy and weak, but at least he was awake.
“I need to finish cleaning your wounds.” She hated the quiver in her voice, but couldn’t seem to steady it.
“Go…ahead.”
She worked quickly to clean the thawing blood from his abdomen, side, and cheek. Some of the gashes looked like they should be stitched. But how did one do that? Just use a sewing needle and thread? Wouldn’t that cause him a great deal more pain? Hopefully, wrapping the cuts with bandages would suffice.
