“Then we will stay right outside the infirmary and you can call us when you need us. We don’t have to stand right near and watch, do we?”
Belle smiled. “No, you can keep your weak little tummies out of the room.”
They just smiled, finished off their meal, and Belle helped her aunt with the cleanup, then went to change her clothes and scrub her hands clean. She slipped on the thin cotton coat she wore over her gown and headed to the infirmary. Hearing someone speaking softly, she hurried into the room and saw Geordie talking to Robbie. Belle cursed softly when she saw that the young man was awake. When her aunt came in she breathed a sigh of relief, for the woman had a true skill with keeping a patient calm and easing the pain, even putting them to sleep. Some people called it witchcraft, but she knew it was just the woman’s voice. It was as if she mesmerized the patient a bit.
“Robbie? You are going to need to be calm and still now,” she said as her aunt gently rubbed his forehead. “I have to put the bones back together and stitch up the break in your skin to help hold them in place. I will try to work as quickly as I can. I am just going to give you a little morphine. Needle or spoon?”
“Spoon,” Robbie said quickly, and Belle saw her aunt nod slightly.
She suspected her aunt, who had her hand over his heart, had felt an alarmed reaction to the mention of the wordneedle, so she poured a spoonful of morphine and, gently raising Robbie’s head, gave it to him, silently praying she was giving him enough to help. The face he made as he swallowed it made her smile. Now she just had to give it some time to work. As she waited, she gathered the things she would need and tried to keep them out of Robbie’s sight.
“I think it is hitting him,” Geordie said.
Belle looked at Robbie, who was heavy-eyed, his lids close to closing but he fought the need. Her aunt kept softly stroking his head and singing softly, so she fetched the hot water she needed to clean the wound. She carefully removed the cloth on his leg, ignoring Geordie’s soft gasp as he finally saw the wound. She then gently washed his leg all around the wound until he appeared to fall asleep. Her aunt’s nod when Belle looked at her let her know that he was actually asleep.
Next, she very gently washed the wound itself. Robbie flinched now and then in his sleep, even cried out in pain. She took a deep breath and applied a salve she hoped would hold off any infection. He cried out once more, but he must have slipped deeper into unconsciousness afterward because he did no more than moan occasionally after that.
Taking a deep breath, she prepared to set the bones. With the help of Geordie and her cousins, who held the leg as steady as they could, she worked as quickly as she dared to set the bones. She gritted her teeth, and with her helpers holding the sticks in place around the bones near the break, she stitched his skin back together. It was a relief to get to the point where she could just wrap the injury as tight as she was able. Finally, with Geordie’s help, she placed stabilizing boards on each side of his leg and wrapped them on.
Stepping back, she asked her aunt, “How do you think he took it?”
“Very little agitation. The only time I sensed any was when you put the bones back together, but that was the most painful thing you had to do. Oh, and a bit when you mentioned a needle. I think he may be one of those who reacts strongly to morphine, so you should probably keep a close eye on him until he wakes.”
“I’ll do that, but now I need to go wash up,” Belle said.
“I’ll stay and watch him for a while,” said Geordie, moving to take Mary’s seat when she got up. “Thank ye. All of ye.” He looked at Mary and said, “That is a verra impressive and useful skill ye have.”
“Thank you. Women having a babe think so too.” She smiled when he laughed, and then walked away.
Belle also made sure to thank her relatives before she went to clean up, change her clothes and put them in a bucket of soapy cold water to soak, then dressed and went to get a drink. With a tall glass of cold lemonade, she sat in the kitchen and sipped it. After a moment she said a quiet prayer that she had done everything right and he would be better. She was just realizing that the major reason she wished for that was that she did not want to disappoint Geordie when the man himself strolled into the kitchen. He stopped by her chair, bent down and kissed her.
A little breathless from the kiss, she asked, “What was that for?”
“For fixing him.”
“I can’t promise I have fixed him. He probably won’t get up and start dancing when it has healed.”
“A good thing, as the lad cannae dance to save his life.” He grinned when she laughed. “Nay, ye fixed what he did this time, and I think ye have fixed at least some of what he suffered from. I could see the bones were wrong before, could even feel that they didnae sit under his skin right, but ye put them together nicely this time. I have hope that at least some of the pain he suffered will be gone.”
“So do I. It did look straighter, more as it should look, and it could well be that the odd fit of the bones could have been a source of his pain.”
“It was. Now I have to go and think out what I should say to my family.”
“You are going to tell your family all about this?”
“Aye, or I will be thoroughly thrashed when I get home,” he said as he walked off.
Belle sighed, then finished her drink and went into the infirmary to sit by Robbie’s bedside. She was just getting comfortable when her cousins dashed into the room and told her Bennet was coming. Then she heard the banging on the door and her cousins slipped into the washroom. Sighing in exasperation over the man disturbing her now, Belle got up and went to the door. She opened it and stepped out on the porch after grabbing her gun, not wanting one of his bellowing arguments inside her house.
“What is it now, Bennet?” She frowned at him standing there, flanked by four of his men.
“What have you planted near my fence? My cows are getting sick.”
“I have planted nothing there. Never have. Waste of time as they’d just eat it. You’ve obviously ignored some nasty weed and let it grow up there.”
“You probably planted it so it would be easier to steal my cow.”
“What?! Why on earth would I take one of your cows? I have two milk cows and goats. You put your cow in there so you could cause trouble for me.”
