DISCLAIMER: I do not own nor do I profit in any way from the characters of THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN. They belong to Trilogy, MGM, Mirisch, CBS and now TNN. However I would like to state that I do not wish my original characters borrowed without my knowledge or consent. If you are not certain a character is canon or mine, I will be happy to let you know. Just ask or look at my list of original characters.
References are made to the episode "Sins of the Past".
This does have some questionable language, but I wouldn't rate it more than PG13.
Nathan turned a sharp eye on JD as Buck and Ezra tried to pull JD back from the window. Nathan wasn't happy with the audience, but JD had seen something that the others had obviously missed even with their careful watch. "C'mon, Chris. Might as well go back inside so's everyone can hear," Nathan shook his head ruefully. He might have known that the others were not going to be left out. They wanted to know just as badly as he and Chris what was wrong with Vin. But before he could question JD further, they heard Vin. He was yelling at the top of his lungs while Mary Travis ran in to help Josiah and Nettie hold Vin down.
"Stop! You're killin' all of them. You said you were just gonna talk! Stop it! They're just old men and women! They ain't no harm to nobody!" Vin kept yelling over and over, trying to get away from the hands that held him down. Eyes wide open, he managed to clip Mary Travis on the chin. That didn't make her let go. Nathan had to admire her spunk; that had to hurt. Chris moved in to take Mary's place and Buck took over for an exhausted Nettie. Vin's eyes didn't see anyone he knew. They could all tell that. The hatred in his eyes was almost too much as he fought the 3 men.
"I'll kill you; I'll kill all you murderin' bastards! Ah God, please stop!" Then just as quickly as he had started, Vin stopped. The struggle had gone completely out of him. Nathan had been opening the box that Josiah had been so careful of earlier. In it were a syringe and a bottle. Nathan didn't bother to pick them up. Vin was still mumbling, but he was no longer in the throes of a violent delusion. He was whimpering now as Nathan strode quickly to the bed. "Sss'hot. It hurts, make it stop, Ma. Please?"
Chris had pulled Mary to the side to get them both out of Nathan's way, but close enough to hear. Nettie was leaning on Ezra's arm.
"You all right?" Chris asked Mary looking at her chin. She shook her head and nodded to Vin.
"You have any idea what he was talking about?'
"Not really, but it sounds like he has some of his own demons to deal with. You sure you're all right?"
"I'll be fine, bruised but fine. It looks worse than it feels. I expect Vin will feel worse if he finds out he hit me."
"Nettie?" Chris asked glancing at the older woman who was hanging on to Ezra's arm as hard as she could. If it hurt the gambler, he made nothing of it. Nettie needed him, and he wasn't going anywhere.
She looked like she was about to burst into tears. "I'm fine, son." She paused and seemed to gather strength from Ezra. Straightening her shoulders, she looked Chris in the eye. "And you?"
Chris tried to smile and reassure her, but he was beginning to get that feeling, the same feeling of foreboding that he'd had the closer he and Buck had come to the ranch where he'd left Sarah and Adam. He didn't want to feel that again ever, but Vin wasn't making it any easier. He was getting worse, and no one, especially Nathan knew why. His hold on Mary tightened, and she reached over and put her hand on his. Just her touch made him feel a little better, but then he'd looked at Vin again, and the comfort disappeared.
"He in pain, Nathan?" Buck asked that question as he smoothed the covers that Vin had shoved everywhere during his fit.
"Don't know if he's in pain or if it's the fever talkin. I need to talk to JD, but I don't want to leave Vin in case he does this again. We got to cool him off. If we don't, and this fever gets any higher, it'll kill him. He can't stand another outburst like that. Too much stress on the heart."
"What do you want us to do, Nathan?" Buck couldn't sit still and let Vin suffer like that. What he'd heard had disturbed Buck to no end. Vin had sounded just like Chris had when he had seen the burned house and rushed into the smoldering debris only to find the bodies of the 2 people he'd loved the most in the world. He knew what this was doing to Chris.
Vin wasn't Sarah or Adam, but for some reason, Chris had responded to Vin's friendship in a way that had diverted Larabee from the collision course he'd had with death. Vin was good at reading people and accepting them for what they were. He didn't pry. If he decided you were worth the effort, he'd give you his friendship and his loyalty. Buck had never even been jealous that Vin had done for Chris what Buck, who'd been Chris's closest friend for years, hadn't been able to. Vin's friendship was restoring Chris to his old self. It was as simple as that, and Buck was grateful to see Chris responding to people again. He was letting them in, while he was letting go of the past and the pain. Buck didn't know why Vin could read Chris so easily when he couldn't; he was just damned glad Chris was emerging from the cold, heartless shell that he'd been since the death of his wife and child.
If Vin died, Buck didn't even want to contemplate Chris's reaction. It was going to get ugly, and Buck hated ugly. So, he was willing to do anything to help Vin. Besides, he liked Vin. He and JD were like his little brothers. It was to Buck that Vin asked any question about Chris, and Buck told Vin whatever he wanted to know, safe in the knowledge that that information would never be spoken aloud to anyone, especially to Chris. It made Buck feel good that he knew things that could help both of his friends. It was also a comfort to know that when Buck couldn't watch Chris's back, Vin was there to do it. So the few times Buck and Vin actually disagreed on something, they always managed to see it through to the end with a better understanding of the other.
Buck had especially been tickled when Vin had fussed at JD for nearly getting himself killed to help Vin, not once, but twice. Hell, he didn't know Vin could talk that much, or be that angry. Vin seldom got impatient with JD, but this time, so close after JD had stood in front of that fake marshal to save him, Vin had had enough. Buck had no sooner told Vin that it was JD who had shot the bastard that nearly killed him than Vin lit into JD. If he hadn't agreed with every word, Buck would have laughed at the two of them.
Instead of quietly thanking JD like he had the last time, Vin tore into the astonished kid. He'd reamed him up one wall and down the other, but instead of fussing back, JD had listened to Vin and then quite seriously told the tracker he hadn't done anything Vin wouldn't have. It was a mature JD who agreed that Vin had a point, but that he should also pay attention to his own advice. That's when Buck had lost it; even Chris had ducked his head to smile at that. Vin had shot a glare in his direction that told Buck he'd get him for laughing at him. Buck guessed Vin had gotten even for right now Buck Wilmington wasn't laughing.
The home and family he had in Four Corners had become too precious to Buck to lose. Vin wasn't going to die if he had anything to say about it! He wouldn't allow Chris to grieve like that again, and Vin Tanner had better get well! He had to, or Buck was going to kill him!
"Buck, Buck, you listening?"
"Uh, yeah Nathan. What?"
"I need you and Josiah to sit here with Vin and sponge him down. I mean sponge him down good. We need to get that fever down some while I talk to JD. I don't want him left alone for one second. Call on Ezra if you need him. Vin can't move around like that again. He needs what little strength he has to fight this. You know where JD's at?"
"He took Casey outside when all the yellin' started. She was mighty upset, and JD took her out to calm her down. Said she didn't need to watch Vin suffer and the 2 of them couldn't help anyway. These bedcovers are gonna get real wet if me and Josiah have to keep spongin' Vin down. Wouldn't it be easier to set Vin in a tub of water?"
"Naw, I don't want to chance any infection developing in that there wound in his mid-section. Til I know what's goin' on, I want to play it careful. Miss Nettie,..?"
"I got extra beddin'. We can change it when he's cooled down. Mary, why don't you come help me fix some dinner. These boys ain't eaten since morning, and they look like they could use somethin'," Mary nodded in agreement and went with Nettie. Chris followed Nathan as he went in search of JD and Casey. Somehow, JD held the key to what was wrong with Vin. Nathan just knew it, and for the first time that day, Chris felt a small ray of hope. He'd take any amount because it was more than he'd felt since Vin had fallen off his horse that morning.
JD had taken Casey into the grove of trees nestled in front of Nettie's to the right of the road. She'd been crying, but was making a brave attempt to stop. JD looked worried, and Casey knew he didn't need her crying all over him like she was. She knew how much JD admired, no idolized the other six men. He was always going on about Chris was the fastest with a gun, Vin could shoot anything from any distance, Buck this, Ezra that, Josiah and Nathan, and on and on. If Casey hadn't idolized all six just as much, she'd be jealous as hell of them. Instead, they all treated her like their baby sister and JD like a younger brother. She really liked JD, and she knew what it was like to lose your ma. But Casey had Aunt Nettie, and she'd known her pa. JD hadn't known his, and these six men were JD's family now. They were the pa he'd never had and the big brothers he'd always wanted.
JD thought he knew what Casey was trying to do. She was trying to make him stop worrying about Vin by carrying on just like a scared girl would do. He knew she was strong like her Aunt Nettie. He also knew she cared about the others as much as he did. He'd found himself a home here. Sure, he was younger than any of them, but once they had let him join them, he was one of them. That made JD feel prouder than a peacock. JD would like to be like any of them, like all of them. He wanted to be as fast with a gun as Chris, as good a tracker as Vin, as good a friend as Buck, as good at cards as Ezra, as compassionate as Nathan, and even as spiritual as Josiah. There was something about each one he admired, and he was proud of what they stood for. People in trouble knew that the seven would help them.
These were men of honor and he would follow anyone of them to Hell and back, because he knew if anyone could get them to Hell and back alive and safe, it was his six friends, his family. His ma would be proud to know he had chosen such men for his friends, but that didn't make JD feel any better right now.
Nathan sure looked mad when JD had said he was wrong, that Vin had too been favoring his back where the bullet had entered. JD hadn't meant to run out into the street, but from where he and Ezra had been shooting, he had seen Vin shoot the man who had Ezra in his sights. He'd also seen the man climb up behind Vin. JD had never felt so scared, but bullets flying or not, he'd had to get that man before he'd shot Vin. He'd missed the first time, so he'd had to run out into the street. He had stopped and taken his time aiming like Vin had taught him. 'Aim for the biggest part,' that is what Vin had said. 'Don't try for a head shot. You want your man down, not your shot wide.'
Vin should have been proud of him, but he nearly bit JD's head off when Buck had told him. Well, come to think about it, Vin was proud of him, else he wouldn't have lit into him like Buck always did. JD realized that for Vin to ream JD out like he had, Vin had to have been scared for JD. That meant Vin didn't want anything to happen to JD because he liked him. Sometimes JD envied that tight friendship Vin and Chris had.
It was a quiet, steady friendship based on mutual trust and respect, not that volatile and crazy friendship JD and Buck had. Buck treated him like a little kid most days, so did the others most of the time. But when JD had let Vin go on and on, JD hadn't got mad and protested. He just looked Vin in the eye and agreed with him that what he had done might have been considered stupid. Then he had just as quietly, to Vin's consternation, pointed out that he had put himself in the line of fire to save his friends, just like Vin had. Even Chris Larabee had smiled. He even winked at JD from beside Vin. It was the first time that JD felt that Chris thought of him with respect and not as some dumb ass kid trying to play at being a hero. He was proud of his new found maturity, and he was going to use it to help them all. He just didn't know how, yet.
"JD! Casey!" Both jumped at the sound so engrossed in their mutual worry that they hadn't heard Nathan and Chris approach. So much for mutual respect JD thought. It appeared that Chris was just as pissed at him as Nathan was. He really needed to practice keeping his mouth shut more often. Now he knew why Vin didn't talk all that much; it kept him out of a lot of trouble. JD braced himself as he felt Casey puff up beside him. He sure did love her spunk, but Nathan and Chris could eat spunk when they wanted to!
"Yes sir?" He wasn't going to let on that he was just a little scared of them right now. They looked like two wolves who had just found dinner, and their dinner had a name, JD Dunne.
"JD, what was that you were tellin' Nathan about Vin favorin' his back?" Trust Chris to jump right to the heart of the matter. JD didn't know why they were so mad at him. They were all so much smarter than him. Why hadn't they noticed the way Vin was extra careful of the left side of his back?
"I didn't mean no disrespect to Nathan," JD answered Chris, but turned to the worried healer as Nathan put his hand on Chris's shoulder.
"No one said anything about disrespect, JD. We just need to know what you meant when you said that Vin had too been favoring his back. Have you seen somethin' or has Vin said somethin' we missed?" JD finally realized that Nathan wasn't mad, he was desperate. Chris was too, and that scared JD. If they were feeling that desperate, it didn't mean anything good for Vin.
"Well, the other dayÖ"
"Nathan, Chris, come quick!" It was Nettie. They all took off for the house at a dead run. Vin must be having another fit. JD had seen Nathan move fast, but the big man was through the door with Chris on his heels before JD could draw a breath. Ezra stopped his headlong plunge into the room. He stood in the doorway with the others while Chris and Nathan made their way next to the man on the bed, who just seemed so small next to the four towering men. Vin wasn't thrashing around, and JD almost died of fright right there. Vin wasn't dead was he?
"He's awake, and he seems lucid." Thank God! JD might not understand everything Ezra said, but he could tell by the tone of voice that the news was good. Just then, he heard a soft growl come from the bed.
"Where the hell am I? What're ya'll standin' around starin' at?"
"You," was the answer Chris gave Vin. "You wanna tell us why you needed to scare the life outta all of us?"
"What? I jes wanted," he was interrupted by a fit of coughing. Nathan helped Vin sip water from the glass. He was looking at the tracker's eyes and trying to help cool the fever by having Vin drink the water. He motioned everyone out but Chris and Josiah, just in case the fever induced delirium returned, which it could at any moment.
"I need to know if you hurt anywhere, Vin. You got a bad fever, but I don't know what's causin' it. You ain't said anything hurt, butÖ" Nathan stopped at the look in Vin's eyes. He knew he wouldn't get anything out of the tracker right now. The coughing fit had only sapped what little strength Vin had. His eyes were getting that glazed look that he had seen in others with really high fevers. Vin's respite from the fever had only been a brief one. It was climbing again. Chris could feel the heat emanating off of Vin's damp body. He put his hand out to help Nathan ease Vin back onto the bed and inadvertently touched Vin's wound.
"Hurts, make it stop, pleez make it ssstop?" was the response that spilled out of Vin's mouth as unconsciousness claimed him once again. Buck and Josiah moved up to take their places sponging Vin down, but Chris waved them off.
"I'll do it. You two go take a rest. Ezra, can you spell Josiah for a while?"
"Most assuredly, Mr. Larabee. Most assuredly." Chris wondered if Ezra would be this formal when he met St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. 'Course Ezra would probably con the poor saint into a card game and beat him out of his job.' Chris just winked at JD and Casey. "Nathan, why don't you take JD into the other room and talk to him about Vin. Josiah, you and Buck look like you could use a drink. Why don't you two go with them and see if JD can help us?"
Josiah understood Chris. Nathan needed to focus on finding out what was wrong with Vin, and JD seemed the only one with a clue right now. It was obvious that Vin was not going to shed any light on the subject. It was up to Nathan now, and Chris wanted someone with him to keep him focused on the problem instead of beating himself up over what he might have missed. Josiah could do that as well as Chris. He was often amazed at the uncanny way that Chris Larabee could size up a man in an instant. He had the uncanny habit of being able to see right into you and figure out what made you tick. That was why he was so close to Vin. They were just alike in that regard. They could both nail you with a look that seemed to blast right past your biggest defenses and see right into your soul.
If they both weren't such honorable men, they could wreak a lot of havoc on the world. As it was, they directed those uncanny abilities into protecting people from the truly wicked and evil men. That's one of the reasons Josiah had joined this motley group. Chris Larabee was a natural born leader, and Vin his perfect second-in-command. They were so alike, yet so different. Chris had a volatile temper, and Vin had an easy-going way that seldom let anger get the best of him. But both had a phenomenal amount of self-control. Larabee knew he had a temper, and he kept tight control over it. Vin had a temper, but it was one that seldom surfaced unless in extreme circumstances. Both men, however, knew their own strengths and weaknesses. They knew how effective their unleashed tempers could be when facing great odds, or how anger could make them lose control and lead to someone getting killed.
It gave them the advantage over their enemies because they gave no quarter. If you threatened those they were loyal to, those they cared about, neither Vin nor Chris would grant any mercy. You hurt the weak and defenseless at your own peril, and Josiah was drawn to that. They both reminded him of himself when he was their ages, different stages of growth forged from hard-learned lessons. Although Chris had shut himself off from others right after the death of his wife and child, he had learned to care and to trust again. Vin, well Josiah suspected Vin had his share of demons, and it was those same demons that kept him on the fringe. That both men had recognized the need in the other to trust someone and had acted upon it had been the start of a great partnership. Josiah didn't want to see that partnership die. He wanted to see this group survive and grow into the next stage, the family they were becoming.
Josiah didn't know how much he appreciated the family he had found here until he nearly lost it when the government had sent that heavy handed marshal to take over their jobs. He had missed his friends even before they had broken up, and when Chris and Vin had come looking for him with Nathan, he had been ready to ride down any road those two had chosen. Chris had expected everyone to follow him, and Vin just understood Josiah's Old Testament justice. At least there was never a dull moment with these two leading them, not even now. Vin had to get better. Josiah hadn't seen any crows, and Vin was the heart of this group like Larabee was the brains. Josiah trusted in God and the spirits of all faiths to help his friend. He wouldn't consider any other possibility.
Josiah followed Nathan into the other room to talk to JD. Poor kid, eyes wide open, JD straightened his shoulders. Somehow the information he knew about Vin was the key to Vin's possible recovery. JD would do anything to help Vin, even if it was a tad suicidal sometimes. Josiah smiled and acknowledged JD's determination, and JD puffed up in return. Odd sometimes how just a look or a word could change JD's mood in a heartbeat. It used to be JD would jump at a word from any of them, a little irritation showing he expected a scolding or something similar. But JD was growing up. Sure he got a little too enthusiastic sometimes, but they all knew they were going to like the man JD was maturing into.
JD just wished he knew what Nathan wanted from him. He knew nothing about healing. He had been on the healing end from Nathan and trusted the man implicitly, but what JD knew about the art of healing could fit into a box, a very small box. Knowing Nathan wasn't mad at him didn't help matters any. He knew that Nathan thought he had valuable information on Vin, he just didn't know what it was except it had to do with the way JD had noticed Vin favoring his back. What that had to do with how sick Vin was made absolutely no sense to JD.
"You want to tell me what you meant about Vin?" Nathan didn't raise his voice but kept it low and soft. He wanted JD to talk, to tell him everything he had seen.
"I don't know nothing, Nathan, except Vin's been kinda favorin his left back. I just thought it hurt more there cause it was where the bullet went it."
"Anyone else notice what he's talkin' about?"
"Now Nathan," Buck was ready to defend JD instantly. "If JD says he saw Vin favor his backÖ"
"I ain't callin' him a liar, Buck. I just need to know as much as I can. Vin can't tell me anything right now, and he don't look like he can handle that fever too much longer. I gotta find out what's causin' it before he's too weak to fight it. You understand JD? I got to know everything before I can find out what's wrong. Fever that high for too long can stop Vin's heart, can even affect his mind. Tell me everything you saw and heard."
JD thought for a moment; then spoke carefully, as if he were picturing every scene in his mind as he spoke, "Well, the other morning I was in the church helpin' Josiah cause of the rain. Vin was sittin' on the pew and leaned over to hand me the hammer. When he got back up, he brushed the arm of the pew with his back, right where he'd been shot. He jerked away and I saw this look on his face, like the look on Buck's face when he got that saber slice at the Seminole village. I asked him if he was all right and he said it was ok, but he was kinda breathless and he was tryin' to put his hand back there," JD had to pause to breathe. "I asked him again and you know him, he said he was fine. I told him you were in the back room, but he said he didn't need me botherin' you every time he did somethin' stupid like hittin his back. He's been kinda grouchy the last few days, so I left him alone like he said to."
Nathan was frowning. He hadn't even noticed Vin favoring his wound, and he mentally tried to juggle this information in with all he knew and remembered about infections. "Did he do it again anytime?"
"You mean bang into somethin'?"
"No, I mean favor his back."
"Well, yeah, last night he wouldn't lean on his left side at the poker table. You know how he leans more on the left side sometimes when he's sittin' and standin'? He was leaning more on his right side and he was fidgetin' some."
"Come to think about it, kid, you're right," Buck interrupted. "Vin was kinda movin' around a lot. He usually sits so still sometimes you forget he's there, but last night he was movin' around as much as a kid on the front pew Sunday mornin' instead of fishin' like he wanted to! No disrespect, meant, Josiah."
"None taken, Brother Buck."
"This all mean somethin', Nathan?"
"Maybe, maybe not. I got to take another look at where that bullet went in. Vin hasn't complained to me of any pain, and there's no reason why the entry wound would hurt more than the exit wound even if Vin hit it. He's got a lot of bandages on it, and that should have kept it from any damage from hittin' it on the pew. Sides, if there was an infection, even an abscess Vin would be hurtin' real bad in that spot. It would be real tender an' real red. You could see the infection formin'. It just doesn't add up."
"I knew a man once who'd been shot and the abscess formed inside where you couldn't see it," Nettie Wells broke into the conversation. "The doctor finally opened him up, but the abscess had already broke open and got all that poison into the blood stream. Man didn't last long after that." Nettie was looking into the room where Chris and Ezra were working at a constant pace, trying to lower Vin's fever by sponging him down. "What'd you think Nathan?"
"I've been checkin' him for it Nettie, but the area where the abscess is formin' would also be hard, kinda like a rock under the skin. I got to check it out. I just don't know at this point cause I ain't seen all the right signs, but this makes more sense than if Vin had picked up some disease I ain't never heard of."
"How can you find out for certain, Nathan?" Mary Travis was looking him in the eye. She didn't want to lose Chris Larabee to grief again. Not only did she consider Vin a friend; she knew just how close he was to Chris and to her son Billy. She no more wanted to face losing the tracker than anyone else did.
"I have to go in there and poke around on him, see if I can find anything that might indicate an abscess formed under the skin. I want to be sure cause if I cut him open in the wrong spot, just cut him open period, I could do more harm than good." With that, Nathan turned to go back into room. "Josiah, Buck, I may need you two. Let's go. Miss Nettie, Miz Travis, I need some pots with boilin' water. I need several instruments and some of those bandages I have placed right in the boilin' water. Can you do that for me?" The women turned to do as Nathan had asked without wasting time on words. For the first time since Vin had arrived on her doorstep looking like death warmed over, Nettie was feeling hopeful. She was not going to lose this man she loved like a son.
Chris looked up from pressing a cool wet cloth right under the back of Vin's neck. "Well?" How could anyone but Chris make a question sound more like a command?
"JD tell you anything useful?" Ezra was getting as bad as Chris.
"Not sure, yet, but maybe. I need to look at his back before I can tell for sure. Ezra let me over there on his left. Chris, can you help me hold him so's I can look at it?"
"Sure thing, but what are we lookin' for? You said the wound closed up clean."
"That's what it looked like, and when Vin said he didn't hurt, I figured he was alright. Now, JD says Vin's been favoring that spot for a few days, and Buck remembered him favorin' it too. There may be an abscess in there that we can't see Chris."
"But if you can't see it, can you fix it, Nathan?"
"Maybe Ezra, but at least we will know what we are dealin' with. You ready, Chris? Ya'll need to stand by just in case Vin acts up again."
With that, Nathan and Chris sat Vin up to where he was leaning his forehead on Chris's shoulder, and the gunfighter was holding Vin with his arms wrapped around Vin's upper torso. The heat poured off of Vin, making Chris sweat. Nathan didn't waste time unwrapping this bandage; he just cut it quickly off the tracker. He exposed the entry wound to the light of the lamp that Ezra was holding close to Vin in order to give Nathan the best possible view. Ezra caught Chris's eye, and both men acknowledged their hope that Nathan had finally discovered what ailed their friend. Chris felt Buck's hand on his own shoulder, and looked to see JD standing right beside Buck while Josiah stood to the left of Ezra.
No one was leaving, and Nathan didn't even bother to ask. He just bent over and started gently feeling the area around the wound. Vin began to stir, moaning a little.
"Sstop, hhurtss," came the muffled voice, so slight that Nathan barely heard it. Chris had, and he felt Vin's reaction to the pain. It must have hurt a lot if it brought the tracker to semi-consciousness. Chris began praying that it was something Nathan knew how to deal with. Hadn't he just told Ezra he could fix an abscess? Maybe, to Chris Larabee at this moment, meant a definite yes.
Nathan looked at Chris as he gently moved his hand over the wound again, then before Vin could respond quickly moved his hand to the same spot on the right side. "I'll be damned!"
Chris thought those were the most encouraging words he had heard in a while as he caught Nathan's eye. "Put your hand here," Nathan commanded. "Gently now, don't hurt him. Just press very gently where I place your hand." Buck moved his hand from Chris's shoulder to help balance Vin as Chris let Nathan guide his hand to the spot on the right. It felt smooth and muscled, but nothing unusual, just very hot from the fever. Chris started to ask Nathan what he was looking for when Nathan moved his hand to the wound on the left.
It felt like a rock just under the wounded area, maybe 3 inches long, something no one had noticed under the thick bandages. It was also hotter than the rest of Vin if that were possible. Nathan was grinning now as Chris began to realize that once again, JD had more than likely saved Vin Tanner's life.
"It's an abscess all right. Been formin' there just a little under the spot where the bullet entered. Feel it? Not close enough to show real red until it got this bad. If Vin had complained about pain he'd been feelin' over the last couple of days, I might have found it sooner. Damn fool! Too stubborn to admit he hurts!" Nathan knew what was wrong now, and most importantly, he knew what to do about it.
The helplessness he'd been feeling since Ezra came riding in for him with the news was replaced by determination. Instead of beating himself up over something he thought he'd done wrong, Nathan was dealing with something he knew quite a bit about. He'd seen abscesses during the war that had been opened and drained. Once drained of the infection before it could enter the blood stream and if kept clean, an abscess could be survived.
It was even more treatable now with the discovery that carbolic acid poured into the wound would kill all the germs causing the infection. Nathan had just read about its use by that English doctor, Lister, for that very purpose in his new medical book. He'd promised Maude Standish that he would never tell who had given him the book and his precious syringe and supply of morphine. That had been her condition for giving them to him. He had never been more surprised when she stopped by his clinic before she left Four Corners a month ago. He suspected that not even Maude was willing to admit she was actually proud of her son. He knew she would be absolutely astonished that she would be instrumental in saving Vin Tanner's life, but her gesture to Nathan had been just that, a life saver.
"Josiah, we need to clean off Nettie's table with some soap and water and cover it with some of those clean sheets I brought with me. Can you and Buck do that while Chris and Ezra help me get Vin ready for this?"
"What can I do?" The elation coursing through the room made JD determined not to be left out.
"You, Doctor Dunne, can help set up the sterile instruments. That water ought to be boilin' good by now, and by the time we get the table set up and Vin ready, they'll 'ave been boilin' long enough." Nathan watched as JD practically flew out to check on Nettie and Mary and tell them the news.
Continued in Part Three
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