The Richest Heart

Chapter 50

The frantic knock echoed loudly through the house, stirring a middle aged couple from their sleep. The man yawned drowsily as he crawled out of bed, trying to wake up his mind enough to hurry. Dr. Gardner was used to being woken up. There were few nights when he was left in real peace.

"I'm getting old," he muttered to his wife, pulling on his clothes as quickly as he could. Years of hard work and odd schedules had made him feel very worn out. But, that was just the way his job was.

In a moment, he was fully dressed and was hurrying down the stairs to the main room. He opened the door as quickly as he could, expecting to hear a hasty explanation of someone's desperate need. But instead, the man outside walked in without a word, completely distracted by the whimpering boy in his arms.

The doctor hurried to light a few candles, and the flickering flames cast some light on the faces of his night visitors. Shawn had laid the boy down on the sofa in the living room, and at a glance, the doctor could see that there had been a dreadful accident. Around the boy's brow, the ragged bandages were crimson with blood.

"Goodness me," the doctor murmured to himself. Then, hurrying forward, he sat down beside his patient and took the boy's hand in his own. "Tell me what caused all of this," he urged, taking out a pocket watch and counting the faint heartbeats that were keeping Julian alive.

"A horse threw him into a well," Shawn answered. "He's broken his arm and he has a concussion. And, Sir," the man said in grave concern, "he's lost a lot of blood." The fact that Shawn whispered his answer didn't seem odd to the doctor; with the injured boy there, it only seemed right to be quiet.

Dr. Gardener looked into Julian's eyes, hiding whatever worries he had behind a steady and comforting smile.

"Julian, Lad," he began, touching the boy's cold face to draw his attention. "Can you tell me where you were when you got hurt?" In a mumbling voice, the boy tried to answer, but he found it impossible to keep his thoughts straight. He felt so tired, so confused.

A second later, Mrs. Gardener came down stairs, blinking sleepily and trying to focus her eyes on the people in her living room. As she recognized their faces, she felt shocked. She had heard all of the rumors that had circled around town about Shawn, and she had learned the truth about Julian's thefts from Mr. Harvard's own mouth. Seeing them together threw her mind for a loop.

But she didn't have long to muse about it. Her husband was rummaging through his big bag of supplies in a rushed way and as the floor boards squeaked beneath her feet, Shawn looked up at her.

"Boil some water and bring some clean rags," he ordered. "And please, hurry!" Without a pause, she went to obey. It took a painfully long time for the lady to start a fire in her kitchen stove and get the kettle on. As soon as the water was hot, she poured some into a dish, and when the rest of the water began to boil, the doctor threw a few tools into the kettle in order to clean them.

Shawn took the bowl of water from the woman's hands and a few cloths that she had gathered. He kept himself as busy as the doctor was and he seemed to understand everything that he needed to do. His haste couldn't have been called panic. Each time the doctor glanced at the man, he had to marvel at Shawn's good attitude. He washed the blood away from the boy's face and kept the patient calm as Dr. Gardener was in the kitchen. Meanwhile, his wife looked out at the child in her living room with pity.

"Oh, poor Mrs. Gray must be beside herself," she said very quietly. "Does she know?" The doctor lifted the kettle off of the stove at last and shook his head.