Chapter 30: Recovery

~It is a well-known fact that if you leave two people alone in a room, sooner or later they will fall in love.~ —Unknown

Jake slowly opened his eyes. His mind was foggy, his head felt heavy, and all he knew was that everything in his body ached. Closing his eyes again, he lay for a few moments, trying to figure out just where he was and what was going on.

When he had regained some strength, he once more lifted his eyelids—and noticed a figure standing not far from him. His blurred vision hindered him from recognizing the person. Reminded him of a woman, but that was impossible. There were no women at the Cora Belle.

She was coming closer to him, and it seemed she was floating over the ground.

He shifted a little, trying to get rid of the pain that seemed to cover every inch of his body. There was a soft light illuminating the room, and it gave the floating female a sort of glow.

“Am I dead?” he mumbled out loud, his voice husky and cracked.

“Not quite; I fear you are stuck on the Circle 4.”

Despite his weakness, Jake grew alert and strove to focus on his surroundings. “I know that accent,” he said. “I’d recognize it anywhere.”

The woman gave a triumphant smile. “I believe you owe me five dollars,” she said softly, though there was excitement in her voice.

“Damn it, I believe I do,” Jake whispered, feeling very weak and stunned at the same time. He looked up at the face that was now close to his. “Dannie, is that really you?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Where am I?”

“I just said, the Circle 4.”

“What am I doing here? And why does my whole body ache? I feel like death itself.”

“You were attacked by cattle rustlers. We were afraid you wouldn’t make it. Due to an infection in your leg, you ran a fever and would often thrash about, mumbling words that were hard to understand. Now you have regained full consciousness and seem to be in your right mind. Only you must lie very still; there is still a long road to recovery.”

“Right, right.” Jake was silent for a few moments as distant memories of past events began coming back to him. “Was I in really bad shape?” he asked, licking his parched lips.

“Terrible shape. Three bullets and two knife wounds. God was very merciful indeed. One bullet just barely missed your heart.”

Jake looked over at his body, all covered in bandages. Even during the war, he had never looked this bad.

“Do you want something to drink?” Dannie asked.

“Got any whiskey?”

Dannie rolled her eyes. “I think water will do for now,” she said, raising Jake’s head a little and lifting a cup to his lips.

“How long have I been out?” Jake asked once Dannie had lowered him back on the pillow.

“Five days. Now, you rest. I’ll just go inform Mr. Martin that you have awakened.”

Dannie tucked the blankets around Jake. He caught her arm to keep her from leaving.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “How come you’re not at the town?”

Dannie wriggled her wrist free from his grasp. “You would have known everything if you hadn’t gone and disappeared for over three hundred and sixty-five days.”

His jaw dropped, and he blinked at her.

“Since you wanted to be such a scoundrel, I’ll just leave you to wonder.” With those words, Dannie whirled around and marched out of the room.

Jake closed his eyes and leaned deeper into the pillow. Once he was in better shape he would get the answer out of that willful woman.

***

“So, Jake, how do you feel today?” Mr. Martin asked. It was three days since Jake had come to his senses, and Mr. Martin had come for his routine checkup.

“Still kinda lousy,” Jake complained. “But I feel better than when I first woke up. I mean, heck, I can at least sit up in bed and take in decent food. Certain parts of me still ache, but I think I’ll be up sooner or later.”

“I’m afraid it is going to be later rather than sooner,” Mr. Martin said with a chuckle. “But I will say, it is a true miracle that you made it at all. From the shape you were in when they brought you to me, I thought for certain that you were a goner. Looking at you now, I believe you might actually make a full recovery.”

“All thanks to you, sir. I don’t think I would have made it if Sam hadn’t brought me here.”

“Don’t go on thanking me.” Mr. Martin shook his head. “I believe you owe most of your recovery to Dannie.”

He nodded toward Dannie, who was sitting quietly in the corner with her needlework. She turned a little red at the compliment and buried her nose in her sewing.

“My little relative wouldn’t leave your side for nothing. She would change your bandages with her own hands and do everything I asked of her. Not to mention, the dear girl prayed night and day that you would pull through. So I think I am right when I say that if you want to thank anyone, it should be Dannie.”

Jake glanced over at the embarrassed Dannie, who was trying very hard to ignore the fact that they were talking about her. Her cheeks were tinted pink, and her hands worked quickly and irregularly. Her skin had tanned a little, thanks to the Arizona sun, and her hair was gathered up in an elegant twist, which suited her a lot better than the hideous bun she used to wear.

She was still dressed in black, however, which didn’t suit her, as far as Jake was concerned. He wished she would lift her head so he could look into her eyes, but she kept her face glued to her work.

“I think I owe Dannie more than I know,” Jake said at last, causing Dannie to go all the deeper red. “Wait a sec!” Jake said with sudden realization. “Did you say relative? RELATIVE? Yer related to her?”

“Ah, you don’t know that story?” Mr. Martin gave another chuckle and glanced over at Dannie. “Dannie here is the daughter of my cousin, Robert Preston.”

Jake’s jaw dropped. “What are the odds,” he managed to sputter out, “that Miss Preston would find her father’s cousin way out here, of all places?”

Mr. Martin could only shrug. He walked over to Dannie and put a hand on her shoulder. “Never tell me you are incapable of nursing again. You should have seen her while I was pulling out the bullets from you, Jake. She behaved like a true professional.”

Jake’s face scrunched up in bewilderment. “You mean she assisted during the operation?”

“Yup, she was there the whole time. You’d never think this was her first time attending an operation. One could have thought it was something she did for a living.”

Jake looked at Dannie in confusion. “I thought you got sick from the sight of blood, like to the point where you were faint and useless.”

“Is that so?” Mr. Martin smiled at Dannie with an unreadable look in his eyes. “Then I guess we ought to be very glad that she conveniently forgot about it when assisting me.”

He patted Dannie’s shoulder and went over to the door. “Consider yourself very lucky, Jake. Not everyone can find such a dedicated nurse when they meet an accident.”

With a wink at Jake, Mr. Martin walked out, leaving Jake and Dannie alone in the room.

“Conveniently forgot?” Jake glanced over at Dannie.

“It was a rush of adrenaline,” Dannie replied, poking her finger in her discomfort. “Trust me, I nearly fainted at one point. You looked positively horrid. Jake,” Dannie set down her sewing and looked at him. “Jake, was it…was it Calhoon who shot you?”

“It wasn’t him personally. Could have been some henchmen of his, could have been someone else. It’s not like there is a shortage of cattle rustlers in the area.”

“But what if it was Calhoon?” Dannie persisted.

Jake shrugged. “Then too bad for him that he didn’t get me this time either.”

“And what are you going to do? If it was him, then he knows where to find you. You must take precautions. Perhaps notify the sheriff, and have him keep an eye on the area.”

“Well, until I get out of this confounded bed, I certainly can’t do anythin’. You have no idea how sick and tired I am of sittin’ and doing nothin’. Have any of the fellas from the Cora Belle even asked ’bout me?”

“Sam Carthwrite came over twice when you were unconscious. I’ve sent one of the hired hands to the Cora Belle with a note saying you have woken up, and the fever is gone. Sam will probably come and see you as soon as he can.”

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Dannie felt her face going hot again.

“No, I’m serious, thank you, for everythin’.”

Just when things were getting awkward and embarrassing, the door squeaked open, and a dog’s head appeared through the crack.