Hope, page 24
part #3 of Brides of the Rio Grande Series
“Stand back over there in that corner. Both of you,” Bobby ordered.
Billy gladly rushed to Hope’s side and pushed her into the far corner. He placed his arm around her shoulders. She was shivering uncontrollably. He pulled her closer under the warmth of his arm and his protection.
Bobby gave him a look of pure hatred. “I despised you growing up and I despise you even more now. You stole my life from me when you stopped Lizzie from leaving John. I loved Lizzie and you killed her and my boy. Now, I’m gonna kill the one person you love. Her.”
Bobby lowered the barrel of his pistol and pointed it at Hope. Billy pushed Hope behind him and in a split second, he felt the burning fire of the bullet as it entered his body. He heard Hope scream and prayed Bobby wouldn’t fire a second shot at Hope.
Billy felt his body falling, and soon the rough hay on the stall floor scratched his cheek. He heard another gunshot fired and heard Hope scream again. He had failed. He had let Hope down. Bobby had his revenge. He had he wanted to spare his best friend the grief of knowing his wife was unfaithful and his son didn’t belong to him. He should never have dreamed of a happy life with Hope. All he had done was pull her into his nightmare and now she was dead.
Blackness covered Billy. He fought it, but he wasn’t strong enough to overcome death’s shroud of darkness. He closed his eyes and prayed for his own soul and that of the woman he loved.
22
Hope heard herself screaming. Bobby had shot Billy and then jumped on the saddled horse and road out of the barn stall. She rushed to Billy’s side. Within seconds, she heard another gunshot, but her mind couldn’t process anything except that Billy had been shot. She turned Billy over and saw the dark red stain growing on his chest.
“Hope, where are you? Are you alright?” Hope decided she was in shock. Or delusional. She was hearing her sister’s voice. But it couldn’t be Charity.
“Hope!” Her red-headed sister rushed inside the stall with her pistol drawn. The minute she saw Hope, she holstered her gun and ran to her and pulled her into her arms. “Hope, goldarn it. You nearly scared the hell right outta me. I thought that bastard had shot you dead.”
Hope pulled out of her arms and dropped on the floor next to Billy’s side, her fingers deftly ripping his shirt off to expose the gaping hole in his chest. “No,” she sobbed, “I’m fine but he shot Billy and it’s bad, Charity. It’s really bad. I gotta get Doc Howard’s medical bag right away. The one with his herbs in it. It’s in the hay behind John’s freight wagon. Go down the aisle and back toward the carriages. Hurry. I have to try and stop this blood or he’s gonna bleed to death.” Hope ripped her petticoat and stuffed it against Billy’s wound the way Doc had showed her. Tears blurred her vision and her mind was confused. She couldn’t think straight. She needed to get a hold of herself if Billy had any chance to survive. And she desperately needed him to survive.
She took a deep breath and it calmed her some.
“Hope, are you alright?” Doc Howard rushed into the stall and he knelt down beside her.
“Yes, I’m fine, but Billy’s been shot. And it doesn’t look good, Doc. Not at all.” Her voice broke and she fought to stay in control. Billy was counting on her and the doc to save him. She wouldn’t let him down.
“Yes, it’s a bad one,” Doc confirmed. “We need to get him into the house and I need to operate quickly to get that bullet out and stop his bleeding. I’ll do the best I can, Hope, but I’m gonna need your help. Do you think you can do it?”
“Of course, Doctor. I’m good at my job.”
Doc Howard smiled at her. “Yes, you are.” He smiled at placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. “We have to act fast.” He stood and stepped to the stall door an called out. “Men, take Billy into the house and put him on Mrs. Randolph’s kitchen table. Hurry, we don’t have much time.”
Four ranch hands entered the stall and picked Billy up and placed him on a makeshift stretcher. Doc Howard ran ahead to make the preparations for the surgery she prayed would save Billy’s life. She walked beside Billy’s limp body careful to keep her wad of petticoats pressed tightly against the bleeding wound.
They rounded the corner of the stalls and there stood John and Sheriff Grayson. At their feet was the body of Billy’s brother. That explained the second gunshot. Tears clouded Hope’s vision until they spilled over and down her cheeks.
“I’m gonna take good care of our Billy, John. I swear it.” She watched the big man’s shoulders shudder with his own grief. Tears glistened on Billy’s best friend’s face. She shot a look to the stoic lawman and saw his sadness too. The crazy, funny, unpredictable Billy had no idea how much he meant to all of them. She just hoped he got the chance to see how many people loved him.
Charity caught up with her and handed off the medical bag. “Here it is, Hope. Good luck.” Hope nodded and left her sister standing in the aisle. She kept walking along side an unconscious Billy, careful to stay close beside him and keep pressure on his seeping wound.
“Hang on, Billy. Everything is going to work out just like it was supposed to and that can’t happen if you leave me now.”
Hope pushed her tears away and stiffened her spine. Doc Howard needed her to be strong so she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted by her emotions.
The men rushed through the Randolph’s house and into the kitchen. Every lamp was lit and the mirror next to the front door was propped up to reflect the morning sunlight on to the patient. Every burner on the stove was glowing red hot heating the pots of water to boil. Stacks of linens were piled high on the table.
The men placed Billy on the kitchen table and Hope went about cutting off his shirt and when she was done, she covered his pants with a sheet to keep the dust and dirt and horse manure from the barn stall floor when he fell after he was shot from contaminating the surgery field.
She stole a quick glance to his face. His eyes were closed and his face was a pale grayish color. Fear punched Hope in the gut. She shook it off and resumed her duties. She had a job to do.
Doc Howard was busy sterilizing his equipment. Hope busied herself cleaning off the wound and surrounding areas with alcohol. She swabbed and cleared the area until she was certain there would be no bacteria or germs to cause an infection.
“Are you ready?” Doc Howard’s question pulled her attention to his face. His quiet confidence gave her hope that she hadn’t lost Billy. At least, not yet.
She nodded. “I’m ready, Doctor Howard.”
He gifted her with an encouraging smile. “We can do this, Hope. You are a talented student and you know what has to be done. Let’s get to it.”
Hope poured the ether onto a clean rag and placed it over Billy’s face. He was unconscious now, but when Doc Howard began to probe for the bullet, the pain could cause Billy to regain consciousness and that wouldn’t be a good situation for Billy.
Hope watched Billy’s chest rise and fall. She placed the stethoscope against his chest and listened for his heartrate to slow. Satisfied he was under, she nodded for Doc Howard to begin.
Doctor Howard placed the blade of his scalpel near the hole where the bullet entered. He cut an inch-wide incision to give him more access to probe for the bullet. Hope dabbed at the new blood flowing from the doctor’s cut. So far, everything was going as planned.
“Hope, I’m going to probe for the bullet and see if there’s been any internal damage. Are you ready?”
She nodded. “I’m ready.”
She watched the doctor’s nimble fingers disappear inside the hole in Billy’s chest. She had to admit she wasn’t as prepared for this side of medicine as she had hoped. A wave of nausea hit her empty stomach, but she pushed it back. Billy and Doc needed her to be strong.
The longer the doctor took, the more frightened Hope was. A few moments into the procedure she heard Billy’s heartbeat slow again “Doctor, his heartbeat is weakening and his breathing is becoming more shallow. Hurry.” She could hear the panic in her own ears.
“Steady, Hope. Just a little bit longer.” The doctor’s eyes met hers. She could tell he was worried too.
She sent up another silent prayer. Please don’t take him. Not now. I couldn’t bear it if—
His heart slowed again and she was having a hard time finding his pulse. “Doctor,” she whispered. “We are going to lose him if you don’t find that bullet soon.” Her emotions tightened her throat and she fought back her tears.
“Almost there. Just one more minute,” Doc said.
“I don’t think we have one more minute,” Hope whispered, afraid to say anymore.
Seconds passed before she heard the words she prayed for. “Got it.” Doc Howard pulled his hand away from the wound, his fingers covered in Billy’s blood and a small cone shaped bullet captured between two fingers.
“Now, let’s get him sewed up. I didn’t detect any vital organs to be affected but I can’t be absolutely certain unless I open him up. He’s lost too much blood for that so we’ll have to let the Good Lord take over from here.”
Hope breathed a sigh of relief. Billy wasn’t out of the woods by a long shot, but he was still alive and where there was life, there was hope.
Something pulled at Billy’s consciousness. It sounded like a baby crying somewhere close by. Blurred faceless images floated in and out of his mind. He knew he should be doing something, but he couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind his thoughts.
“Billy? Open your eyes. Try harder. You have to wake up.” He heard the voice of an angel calling to him. The vision of Bobby shooting him pulled him from his fog. Hope. He shot Hope.
He pulled at his eyelids, willing them to open. Now his mind was racing, but his body refused to respond. So this must be what it feels like to be dead he decided.
“Billy, wake up.” That voice again. It was Hope’s voice. So Bobby had shot her and now they were both dead. He supposed he should be happy to be living out eternity with Hope, but it made him sad to think about her being robbed of her entire life because he hadn’t been able to protect her from his brother.
“Billy, wake up or I’m gonna have to hire another driver to take my freight down to South Fork.” He heard his friend’s John’s voice now. Did Bobby kill him too? Billy’s heart broke. Had Bobby killed everyone he loved?
Tears stung his eyes and he felt one slide down the side of his face. He felt a cool hand smooth across his face and he smelled food. His stomach growled. He didn’t know a person still got to eat food in heaven. That was a pleasant surprise, although he was swearin’ away from whiskey. He’d never drink that stuff again, unless there was some of the good stuff like Hiram Hanover had, then he might—if that sort of thing was allowed in heaven.
Something touched his eyelid and when it opened, his beautiful Hope was staring back at him, worry etched across her perfect face. She looked like an angel.
Billy forced his other eye to open. Sure enough, there sat Hope, right next to him, holding a big steaming bowl of soup. His stomach growled again. He had to admit he was starving.
“Billy, you’re awake.” Hope’s relief was evident on her face.
His friend peered over her shoulder. “It’s about time you woke up. We got work to do.” John’s meaty hand pulled at his and squeezed tight.
“What’s happening? Am I—are we—all dead?” He forced his words through dry, parched lips.
Doc Howard’s face entered into the picture. “No, Billy. I am happy to say we are not dead. You were probably a lot closer to the pearly gates than the rest of us, but I’m thrilled to see you are improving nicely. Thanks to the wonderful care you have been receiving from my amazing medical assistant.”
Billy heard a baby’s cry again. And then another. And another. “Am I hearing things? I think I hear babies.” Billy pushed through his groggy brain and tried to focus on the doctor’s answer.
“You are indeed hearing babies. There are two of them. Mrs. Randolph was kind enough to hold off delivering her twin girls until after I was able to remove that bullet from your chest.”
“Bullet?” Dawning of events came flooding back. “Bobby shot me. That son-of-a-bitch. Where is he ‘cause when I find him, I’m gonna kill him where he stands.” Billy tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest stole his breath away and he was as weak as a newborn kitten.
“You aren’t going anywhere, cowboy, not until that wound heals,” Hope’s sister informed him. “Besides, ain’t no need to get your drawers in a bunch. Sheriff Grayson here already sent that son-of-a-bitch brother of yours straight to hell.”
“Charity?” Billy’s brain was having a hard time keeping up with the people who kept popping into his line of vision.
“Yep, it’s me. And that lowdown, polecat, sidewinder brother of yours is stone dead. Sheriff sent him straight to hell, like I said.”
“Charity, mind your language,” Hope admonished her sister.
Billy looked at Hope and tried to move his hand to touch hers. The best he could muster was to move his fingers. She understood and placed her hand in his.
“I heard a second shot and I thought Bobby had shot you too. I’m so sorry I didn’t protect you, Hope. I don’t blame you for not wanting to marry somebody like me. I’m just glad somehow you survived to live the rest of your life—with someone else.”
“Billy, don’t you see? You did protect me. If you hadn’t jumped in front of me, Bobby would have shot me instead. He wanted to kill me because he blames you for killing Lizzie and he wanted to make you pay.”
Memories of Bobby spewing his hatred at him yesterday came flooding back. “You heard everything? You heard about Lizzie and the baby?” Billy’s head reeled.
“Yes, I heard it all, Billy. I heard how you confronted Lizzie and tried to talk her into staying with John. I know you didn’t try to steal your friend’s wife.”
Billy’s heart punched in his chest and he searched the room for his friend. When he didn’t see him, he lowered his voice and whispered to Hope. “When did John get here?”
“I rode in with Sheriff Grayson and his posse this morning just in time to hear it all, Billy. Every awful word,” John said, stepping forward so Billy could see him over Hope’s shoulder.
Billy met the knowing eyes of his best friend. He needed time to think. How was he gonna make his friend understand why he lied? “You rode from where? I mean the storm dumped lots of snow. Where did ya’ll stay overnight?”
“We stayed at my family’s hunting cabin about five miles back. You know the one.” John said. “The one where Grace and I stayed when we first got married.”
“How’d you know Bobby was here?” Billy pushed for answers so his mind could form a plan of action. John was his very best friend. The brother he never had. If he lost John’s friendship now, well, he didn’t know what he would do, especially now that Hope had decided he wasn’t the one for her.
“It was the only place he could find shelter out here that he could make before nightfall. It wasn’t hard to figure out. We rode in this morning and notified Mr. Randolph we were here, then we came to the barn to rest our horses and check it out. We figured Bobby was either still here or he spent the night and then rode out early this morning. Either way, we had ‘im.”
Billy watched John hesitate before he spoke again. “Billy, I heard it all. How Lizzie had been cheating with Bobby behind my back for months. And that my son may not have even been mine. I know how the accident happened now. You tried to convince Lizzie to stay with me instead of running off with your brother, but what I don’t understand is why didn’t you tell me the truth? You should have told me the truth, Billy. You should have come to me when you first found out about Lizzie and Bobby. I’d have handled it. It was my situation to handle. Not yours.”
Billy’s mind raced. He had to say just the right words to convince his friend he did it to protect him and not just from the knowledge his wife cheated on him. He lied to protect John’s life. “That’s just it, John. Don’t you see? I couldn’t let you confront Bobby. I have no doubt you woulda beat the hell out of him in a fair fight, but Bobby don’t fight fair. Never did. You know that. He’d a shot you on sight and claimed self-defense. I couldn’t let a no-good worthless piece of filth deprive this world of a good man like yourself.”
When John didn’t say anything, Billy tried again. “I swear John, I wanted to tell you lots of times. After Grace came to town. I almost told you that day at the Holy Moses. I felt so bad and I got so drunk, I almost did.” Emotions clogged his throat, but he pushed on. “Even after Abbie Rose was born, but I just couldn’t do it. And after that, I kept tellin’ myself that it didn’t matter anymore. You were happy and knowing would only make things bad again. I was still afraid that Bobby would come back and brag about it like he does. Then you’d wanna go after him. And I was right. He did come back.”
John came to stand by his bedside. The giant of a man leaned down and squeezed his hand. Billy squeezed it back. “I understand why you did it, Billy. I do. And I love you for wanting to protect me. We are the brothers each of us never had. But—I’m a grown man and I can fight my own battles. Don’t ever lie to me again, no matter what the circumstances are. No matter what’s at stake, promise me you won’t ever lie to me again. Do I make myself clear?”
Billy looked up into the eyes of his best friend. “I promise.”
John nodded and then grinned. “You need to hurry up and get well ’cause I hear there’s a wedding to plan.”
“What wedding?” he asked. “Who’s getting married?”
Billy squirmed to try to sit up. Hope sat next to him and helped him raise up a bit so she could stuff another pillow behind his head.
His heart raced as he watched the woman who held his heart in her hands pull out the engagement ring she had given back to him.
Hope sent him a bashful smile. “I—saw you put the ring in your pocket before we left Creede. And, after you fell at the river, I had to cut your pants off so I fished it out of your pocket and I kept it safe in case you decided you wanted to—”
