"Who are you?" She lifted her skirts and scrambled through the snow to catch up.
The man ignored her as he stared at the blanket-covered form. "Aaron?" He looked like he wasn't sure whether what lay beneath was a person or a viper that would spring up and bite him.
She reached the tailgate. "Who are you, sir?"
Still the man didn't answer, but he reached out and lifted an edge of the blanket.
The way he ignored her flared her anger. She grabbed his arm to pull it away, and he finally turned to her.
"I'm Nate Long. What's wrong with my brother?"
She tightened her grip. "You're Nate?" Now that he was closer, he didn't look as old as she'd first thought. The shadows must have added more grooves to his face than really existed.
She released his arm and turned to Aaron. "He's really sick. Has a broken leg and was kicked in the head, I think. He lay unconscious in the snow for a while before I found him. We've been driving for seven days to get him here to you."
Nate lifted the edge of the blanket again, a little higher this time so she could see Aaron's shadowed face too. His eyes were closed, his breathing ragged.
At least hewasbreathing. Her own inhales came faster.
"Brother, can you hear me?" Nate waited only a second before dropping the blanket and turning the direction he'd come from. "I'll get my horse and tell Laura. We have to take him to the doctor."
A weight lifted from her chest as she watched him sprint through the snow. She moved around to where she could lift the blanket to see Aaron's face. She used her thumb to stroke the side of his temple. "We're going to get you help, love. Hang on for me."
Tears stung her eyes, but then Aaron's lashes lifted. His weary gaze met hers, and though he didn't try to speak, she heard his meaning clearly.Thank you. I love you.
As his eyelids drifted closed again, she let the blanket rest and moved around to her seat on the bench. She had to be ready when Aaron's brother came back to lead them to the doctor.
* * *
"Are you sure neither of them is sick?" Aaron studied Doc Micah's familiar frank expression as the doctor rewrapped the splint around Aaron's leg.
"It's remarkable that baby stayed healthy, traveling in the cold and wind for so long. The covered bed you two made for her must have kept in her heat and blocked out the wind.” Doc’s eyes softened. “The Lord had all three of you safe under the shelter of His wing.”
Aaron pushed a long breath out. "You're right about that." He glanced around the room, his old room where he'd spent so many long months. First, smothered by darkness. But then fighting to build up the strength in his leg. Laura had been his nurse, determined to see him recover. He'd been a louse through most of it, but eventually her tenacity had pushed him to try.
Leaving this room had given him the first real hope that he could find a normal life again. And now, being back here, lying in this bed with a splint strapping down one of his legs…
But he wasn't that old Aaron.
This wasn't a life-changing break, only a small fracture to the bone, as Micah called it. And he already had God's promise of strength to keep him from succumbing to the darkness.
Not only that, but he had a precious gift—two precious gifts—lying in the room next door.
He looked back at the doctor. "Is this sickness contagious? Can I pass it to others?"
Doc shook his head. "The pneumonia’s settled in your lungs, but it can't be spread at this point."
Aaron worked himself upright in the bed, then pulled the blanket off and reached for the walking sticks leaning against the chair. This old pair had been his companions for far too long, but he'd be thankful for them once again.
Doc Micah didn't try to stop him as he worked up to his feet, though that didn't surprise him. The doctor had always encouraged him to move around as much as he could during recovery.
It had been Aaron who’d resisted the pain of forcing himself to take action. But no longer. He needed to see his girls.
The door was closed to the room where Ingrid had said Katie was staying. Should he knock?
Of course he should. She wasn't his in full yet. But Lord willing, eventually, he would be able to claim the title of her husband.
Husband. He would have never thought he would be contemplating such. Once, he’d been one of the founding members of the toughest gang of thieves in the Montana territory. Yet now, he was not only contemplating marriage, he wasdeterminedto enter that state.
