When Calls the Dream

Torn Away

IF IT WASN'T ENOUGH for Lee to have a brush with death, and for Elizabeth and the children to get stuck in a cabin in the mountain woods a week ago, the prisoner transfer had to go wrong.

"Yes, her novel is going to be published." Lucas and I are talking about Elizabeth and her story about a young widow on the frontier. "I'm excited for her, naturally."

"I wish I enjoyed writing and books more." I lean against the saloon doorframe. I just finished work for the day.

"Starting is half the battle."

"It's Nathan! I think he's been shot!" A man shouts. Despite my knowing Nathan is alive and unharmed, those words threaten to destroy me as a gaggle of citizens rush toward the prison transfer carriage. This is the episode where Elizabeth hugs Nathan. Lucas will have to watch. I will have to watch.
Elizabeth is in the distance near the store, a shadow brewing, feet pumping to see what is occurring. I shove forward, abandoning Lucas in a snap to offer my services to Dr. Carson, but my heart stops when I manage to break the crowd. The man is hardly conscious as blood soaks every last inch of the shredded cloth around his leg and torso. Sweat and scarlet droplets coat his forehead, and bile rolls up my throat at the butchered flesh. A palm slaps onto my mouth, containing a startled yelp.

"He's losing a lot of blood. We need to get him to the infirmary right now to stop the bleeding." Carson's hurried, but calm tone ushers Bill and other men to help transfer the wounded Mountie with care. I scour the ground with my boots, forcing myself into the infirmary. "Nate..." My voice chokes and caves in on itself, as if the reality only struck me down in this moment. "Nathan..." I whimper in desperate need, but Lee drags me gently away from Dr. Carson, so he can work with no distraction. My hand reaches for Nathan sprawled on the bloodied table, but he is too far away.
"Please, no!"
"Nyrah," Lee says, holding me back by the shoulders. "trust me. The Constable is in capable hands." The Constable...I only called Nate that name when I was angry, and I had been calling him that since he told me he read my journal. It is such a cold term. The pain of his decision pales in comparison to the threat of losing him for the rest of my life. Elizabeth is behind me, distraught, but not as distraught as I feel she should be, considering Nate cares for her. Bill shoos Elizabeth and I out of the room, and we both wait outside. I am to now bear the burden of a helpless onlooker as I try to peek through tight curtains. Allie is sprinting full speed down the road, tears staining her cheeks already.

"Where is uncle Nathan? Let me see him!" Allie tries to barrel inside, but Elizabeth and I grip her flailing body. "Please!" She screams, "You don't understand! He needs me!" The wails shuddering from the girl shatters a chip of my heart one broken piece at a time. "Uncle Nathan!" With a stomp of her foot, eyes brimming with fear and loss, Allie wilts in defeat, and sags into my embrace. Her sobs quake into my stomach, and I hold her tight, not willing to let go as I allow her to grieve. Melting into the bench, and Elizabeth wiping the tears from her eyes, I cling tighter to Allie for my own benefit. My esophagus aches.

It is two hours later, when everything is numb and cold, an exhausted child leaning against my shoulder, when a deafening click sounds. Other citizens are gathered outside, waiting with bated breath. Fiona and Molly helped Carson, and they stand in the threshold with solumn faces. Molly has taken over for Faith while she is at medical school. Not as a nurse, exactly, but as someone who organizes Dr. Carson's schedule and keeps tally on medical supplies. I'm half-surprised she volunteered.

"I finally managed to stop the bleeding and removed both bullets. It is too hard to tell if he will make it." Allie falls frozen, head erect, my arm wrapped around her shoulders. "I think he will need more care than I can give him."