The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy

Chapter 29 - Late on Wednesday Night

Chapter 29 - Late on Wednesday Night

Doc Julien pulled up the remaining parlor chair in front of the sofa and sat down to tend to Sam.

He looked around the room. "Morro, can you spare that table runner along the buffet? I need a towel."

Morro didn't want the expensive cloth to get dirty, but he didn't want to leave the room to find an alternate cloth, so he handed it to Doc Julien, who spread it along the sofa next to Sam.

The doctor then fished through his black bag and took out a pair of scissors. "To reach her back injury, I'll have to cut her dress." He looked at Kai as if to obtain his permission to do so, such as a husband would give permission for a procedure to be done on his wife.

Morro perceived this and was annoyed. Sam was his woman now. "Do it, Julien," he ordered.

Kai nodded, biting his lower lip to stop himself from responding to Morro. Doc gathered up Sam's stray dangling blonde tresses to get them out of the way, pinning them up using one of her hairpins. Then, starting at the collar of her dress at the nape of her neck, he cut the fabric in a line along her spine, slicing through the dress, her corset, and her chemise. The cutting became a little tricky in the injury area, but Doc carefully proceeded and stopped when he reached a point below her waist. He moved aside the fabric to reveal the extent of her injury.

Kai forced himself to not look away from the severe wounds, but it was hard.

"These cuts will need disinfecting," Doc Julien announced. "Morro, can you spare a bottle of liquor?"

Morro handed him the open whiskey bottle.

"How about a glass?" Doc requested.

"Are you gonna disinfect or drink?" Morro asked, exasperated, but he passed a glass to the physician.

Doc poured whiskey into the glass. "The drink is for Sam, before I disinfect." He then turned to Sam. "I know you're in an awkward position to drink anything, my dear, but can you down at least half this glass?"

Sam knew why he was asking her to drink - to dull the pain of the disinfecting process - so she took the glass from him and lifted her head, forcing herself to down the strong whiskey as fast as she could, so she could feel the effect as soon as possible. As she did so, the doctor removed the visible bits of foliage from her skin.

When Doc was satisfied with what he had done, he said, "Kai, I need you to kneel over here and give her your hands," as he motioned to the end of the sofa where her head was.

Then he patted Sam's shoulder as he addressed her. "Reach up and take Kai's hands, Sam. And don't be afraid to scream like mad, 'cause you're not gonna feel good when I pour this alcohol on your back. But you'll heal much faster afterward."

"If she's gonna yell, then come with me to the front door, cowboy," Morro motioned to Kai with his gun. "Tell your friends what the ruckus is gonna be about so they don't try to come inside and see for themselves." Morro moved the parlor chair so the door could be opened.

As Morro hid himself just to the inside of the front door and pointed his gun at Kai, Kai opened the door just wide enough to holler out to his companions that the noise they'd be likely to hear shortly would be from Sam due to Doc doing a procedure on her.

Kai closed the door and went to kneel by the parlor sofa while Morro once again placed the parlor chair under the doorknob.

Kai grasped Sam's hands and gave her a smile of encouragement. Sam gritted her teeth.

"Ready on the count of three?" Doc asked her, holding the whiskey bottle up.

She closed her eyes tightly. "Ready."

"All right. One...two...pour!"

The dark quiet woods reverberated with Sam's loud, intense screams at the burning sensation of the alcohol on her raw skin.

Kai tenderly brushed a loose tendril of blonde hair from Sam's perspiring forehead after Doc Julien had emptied the whiskey bottle on the wounds on her back. She seemed weak and limp now, but Kai thought she certainly had a strong grip on his hands during the disinfection process.

Doc Julien removed the wet table runner from the sofa. "We'll let her wounds air out, and then in about an hour, I'll mix up a salve and apply it to her back and then bandage it up," he announced. "Morro, you got a bedroom in this house? The lady will need a place to maintain her modesty during the bandaging."

"There's two upstairs," Morro answered.

"All right, we'll help her walk upstairs later. Let me take a look at your eye now."

Morro grunted in agreement. "Don't try any funny business while I can't see you, hothead." He wasn't very concerned about Kai escaping, however. He could see, to his annoyance, that the cowboy was focused on Sam right now.

Indeed, Kai was. While the doctor examined Morro's injury, Kai seated himself on the top edge of the sofa's backrest so that he could look down and get a better view of Sam's face and so she could see his face easier from her reclining position. Being within earshot of Morro, they didn't want to converse too much, but the opportunity to simply hold hands was satisfactory enough for them, especially after yesterday when they had thought they'd never have another opportunity ever again.

After Doc Julien had treated Morro's eye and applied a bandage over it, the physician decided that it was time to administer the salve to Sam. At Morro's gunpoint, Kai and the doctor helped Sam walk up the stairs, which was a slow process. After taking her into one bedroom and helping her sit on the edge of the double bed, Kai was then herded into the bedroom across the hall by Morro, who shut the door and jammed a chair under the doorknob. Morro then stood in the doorway of the first bedroom to keep watch over its occupants.

Doc Julien surveyed the room he and Sam were in. A clothes armoire sat along one wall.

"By any chance you got any clothing in that armoire, Morro? Suitable for ladies?"

Morro chuckled. "As a matter of fact, there are a few things in there. Items I've kept on hand as gifts for my various, shall we say, lady friends."

Painted ladies, Doc thought as he rolled his eyes.

Doc opened the armoire. There were a few dresses hanging from the rod and other items in the drawer. Doc pulled out a chemise.

"You can sleep in this after you're bandaged up," he told Sam.

Doc then set about to mix the salve for Sam's back. Minutes later, it was ready to be applied.

"All right, this bedroom is now a doctor's office," Doc Julien announced. "And we don't need an audience."

And he shut the bedroom door in Morro's face.