She shook her head. “No,” she rasped. “He … he tried, but he didn’t.”
Jacob let out a breath. “Let’s get you back to the fort. There’s a good doctor there. I just want to make sure you’re all right.”
“What about him?”
“That’ll hold ’til I can get the captain. He’ll know what to do.”
By the time they reached the doctor’s door, dawn had begun to break over the hills. Jacob’s head swam. His breath was shallow and quick. He raised his hand to knock and gasped in pain. The sound pulled Kate out of her daze, and she looked up at him with concern. “You’re hurt,” she said, touching his temple with featherlight fingertips.
“I’ve been worse.” He shrugged, catching her hand before she got his blood all over. It was her turn to cry out in pain. His anger flared. “What did he do to you?”
She shook her head, cradling her hand gingerly. It was covered in blood, the knuckles split and swollen. “It was the other way around, at least with this.”
Jacob saw the officer’s mangled nose in his mind’s eye and grinned savagely. “Well done, Kate McGrath.”
The corner of her mouth twitched in a momentary smile. Then her eyes went blank again. “It hurts.”
The door burst open, causing them both to start. A portly man with white hair askew and sleep in his eyes scowled at Jacob over spectacles perched precariously on his bulbous nose. But when he saw Kate’s tear-streaked face, his gaze softened, and he bustled them into his front-room clinic, escorting her to a chair, lighting a lamp, stoking the fire, and putting water on to boil. He plunked himself down on a stool in front of her and gazed at her intently. “Now,fräulein, you tell Dr. Müller what happened.”
Kate swallowed, looking down. “There was a man—” She stopped, her chin quivering.
“A man who tried to hurt you,ja?” Dr. Müller asked softly. She nodded, biting her lip. “Did he accomplish what he was after?” She shook her head, and he sighed in relief. “Let us have a look then.” The doctor tsked,lifting her chin gently, bringing the lamp closer to examine her neck.
Bile rose in Jacob’s throat at the bruises already forming around her throat. “Kate, maybe I should—”
She grabbed his hand, eyes pleading. “No, don’t go. Please, Jacob. Stay with me.”
He squeezed her hand. “All right then. I’ll stay.”
“No lasting damage, I think, but your voice, it will be sore for a bit,” Dr. Müller clucked, turning her cheek to the light and inspecting a mottled scrape. “I will put some salve on that.” He peered over his spectacles. “Is that from …?”
“His beard.”
Jacob’s jaw clenched.
“Now, your hand,bitte.” He gently stretched out her fingers. She stiffened, wincing. “Can you move them on your own,leibste? It will hurt, but please try.” She flexed her hand slowly, cords standing out on her neck with the effort, but she didn’t cry out. All her fingers moved except one. Dr. Müller nodded, gathering supplies. “A broken knuckle, as I thought. How did it happen?”
“I hit him in the nose.”
The doctor’s eyes twinkled. “I would bet a silver dollar his nose is in worse shape than your hand,” he said with a chuckle and started binding her hand.
“Kate, I gotta go,” Jacob said. Her grip tightened on his hand. “I gotta tell the captain about what happened. Make sure that brute gets locked up. And I’m sure your family is worried sick about you.” She nodded, eyes downcast, slowly releasing her grip.
By the time he had informed the captain, sent a sleepy-eyed messenger boy to the train to make sure the McGraths knew Kate was safe, and made it back to Dr. Müller’s clinic, dawn had fully broken. Jacob’s breath came in ragged gasps as he clutched his side, every beat of his heart sending waves of pain through his head. With the doctor’s help, he eased himself onto the examining table, each movement sending pain knifinginto his ribs. He stifled a groan. His head felt like it was going to explode. Kate slept on the chaise by the fire, her hair glinting in the firelight and falling in waves of copper to the floor, her beautiful blue dress torn and dirty. His heart ached at the sight.
“How is she, Doc?” Jacob asked in a tight whisper.
Dr. Müller clucked his tongue and answered softly. “She is strong. And not just for breaking his nose!” He tapped a pudgy hand to his chest. “Her heart, her soul. She will be all right.”
Jacob heaved a sigh and winced.
“Now, let us see to you, young man. It is the left side,ja?” His hands worked deftly as he helped Jacob remove his shirt and then examined his side, checking each rib, listening to his lungs. “Two cracked ribs. Not broken. Lungs,schön.Head”—he paused, peering into Jacob’s eyes—“your head is not so good. You will need to rest.” He wiped off the blood that caked the side of Jacob’s face, then mixed a poultice for his ribs and bound his chest tightly. “No riding for at least a week. Keep this bound tight until it stops hurting to breathe.”
“Sorry, Doc, my job requires ridin’, so I’ll be ridin’ tomorrow when we leave this place.” Jacob eased himself off the table in increments. He tried to stand up straight, but the room spun, and he clutched the edge of the table for support. Dr. Müller peered at him in growing amusement. “Well, maybe I’ll find somewhere to lay up for a while. Guess I’ll have to ride like the blazes to catch up.” He reached for his shirt.
“You can stay in our wagon ’til you can ride again,” Kate said softly behind him. She reached out, helping him shrug into his shirt, her gentle hands as soft as a summer rain even with the bulky bandage. “It’s the least I could do, for savin’ me from … for savin’ me.”
Her eyes glowed like amber in the firelight, and all he wanted to do was ease the haunted pain he saw in their depths. Jacob clasped her good hand. “Thank you, Kate.”
