Nathan brushed past Beth and leaned over J.D., placing a large hand on the young man’s chest. The kid continued to heave in gulps of air, but the healer knew he was much too weak to keep it up much longer. J.D. reached toward Nathan’s arm, his eyes wild with a terror the healer couldn’t quite figure out. Of course not being able to breathe was pretty damn scary and Nathan’s heart definitely went out to the young man.

"It’s ok, son, we’re gonna take good care of ya." Nathan soothed, hoping his words would be enough to get J.D. settled for the moment. He wiped away the beads of sweat along the kid’s forehead, alarmed at the heat radiating from his body.

Buck knelt on the other side of the bed, his face filled with anxiety as he cupped the top of J.D.’s head in his palm. "You had us traipsing all over the countryside lookin’ for you, boy, and here you were in a nice warm bed all along."

J.D. let his head loll to the side to look into the big gunslinger’s face and tried to speak, but gasped instead.

"Shhh, don’t talk, son. Wait ‘til you can put up a decent fight with ole Buck." Buck smiled weakly at JD, his eyes lifting and quickly meeting Nathan’s with a thousand unspoken questions.

"Nathan?" Buck’s worry echoed in his voice, but Jackson didn’t know anymore than he did at this point.

"Mrs. Weaver, how long’s he been like this?" Nathan turned to the woman who still stood silently in the doorway.

"Since this morning, that’s why I came to get you. I thought he was all right last night, after I gave him that stuff you gave me. He hadn’t hardly coughed at all."

Nathan listened to her words as he slipped his other hand beneath the youth’s back. J.D. moaned and the black man could feel the congestion in his chest and the vibrating rattle between his shoulder blades.

"Coughing was makin’ him better. His lungs are all clogged up, that’s why he can’t breathe good." Nathan motioned for Buck to help him raise J.D. off the mattress, then he made a small mound with the pillows. He was just about to ask Beth for more when she handed him a thick, rolled up blanket.

"Thank you." Nathan stuffed it behind J.D. and helped Buck ease him back. "I’ll need some boiling water, in a steam kettle if you got one, and a thin blanket.

Beth nodded and turned to leave. "I’m sorry I didn’t tell you last night." Beth whispered softly without turning back to face them. "I thought he’d be all right, I thought I knew what I was doing."

"We’ll talk about it later, ma’am." Buck answered without looking up from J.D., his words uncharacteristically sharp. Jackson didn’t blame him.

Beth hung her head. "His left leg’s bruised badly too. Might want to be careful if you move him."

"I will." Nathan watched her leave, a hint of regret forming for his curtness. Still, she had a lot of explaining to do before he could absolve her.

Nathan let out a relieved sigh as he noticed J.D.’s breathing had improved a little. Probably due in part to the elevated position, but more likely it was Buck’s presence as he hovered over the boy, uttering a soft string of lax threats into his ear. Nathan grinned at the sight of the tough gunslinger, his eyes wet with empathy as he huddled over J.D. Wilmington’s long fingers entwined in the boy’s damp and dirty hair, muttering a string of litanies that dealt with being skinned alive and tied to his bed until he was forty. Only Buck could make that kind of talk sound downright comforting.

Nathan wanted to get a good look at what injury J.D. had sustained to his hands, but pulled aside the sheet to check his leg first. Beth had stripped the boy down to his long johns, the left side of which she had cut open to expose the injured limb. Nathan ran his hands gently along the deep bruises, causing J.D. to flinch at his touch.

"It’s ok, son." Nathan said softly.

"It ain’t broke, is it?" Buck watched the healer carefully as he continued the exam.

Nathan shook his head. "Looks like he landed on it pretty hard, but I don’t feel nothin’ busted." He replaced the sheet and began to unwrap the bandages covering the boy’s left hand. J.D. shifted and tried to pull free of Nathan’s grip.

"Hang on, kid, Nathan just needs to check you out." Buck tenderly patted J.D.’s shoulder as Jackson unraveled the soft cloth, stopping as he reached the stained layers adhered to the boy’s skin.

Nathan retrieved the basin and the pitcher from the nightstand, soaking the gauze with fresh water. J.D. grunted and tried to jerk away, but Nathan held him tight and peeled the bandages free.

"No, don’t!" J.D.’s eyes flew open and stared wildly at his tormentor, then he began to struggle weakly.

"J.D., just calm down, son." Buck placed one hand on J.D.’s chest, gently pinning him to the bed, his other hand continuously smoothing the boy’s hair in an attempt to comfort him enough to get through the ordeal. J.D. quieted, but Nathan figured he no longer had the strength to keep fighting.

Jackson felt a wave of nausea and anger rise up as he exposed J.D.’s bloody fingertips and bruised palms. The youth groaned loudly as the air hit raw skin and Nathan cursed under his breath.

"What the hell?" Buck’s brow furrowed in repulsion and concern.

Nathan shook his head, unsure exactly what would have caused such injuries. He could tell Beth had kept the wounds clean and properly dressed and while they looked extremely painful, no infection had set in. Thank goodness for small miracles.

"J.D., can you tell me what happened?" Nathan asked softly.

J.D. pushed his head back into the mountain of pillows, his eyes shut tight against the pain as he fought to pull in enough breath to speak. "Fell…in…old…well."

Nathan furrowed his brow and looked at Buck. "A well?"

"Had to…climb out." J.D. spit the words out between gasps and opened his eyes to see if they understood.

"Aw, hell." Buck whispered, not hiding the pain and frustration in his voice.

"How long were you in there, son?" Nathan knew J.D. was weakening, but he was pretty sure he now knew what had caused the congestion in the kid’s lungs.

"All night…the…night…it rained." J.D. let out a weak sigh and closed his eyes. His ribs straining against milky skin as his chest heaved with the effort of breathing.

"Just rest, kid." Buck continued to smooth the boy’s sweat matted hair as J.D. slipped into a restless sleep. "Nathan’s got a few tricks up his sleeve and he’ll have you up and around in no time."

Nathan wished he had the faith in himself that Buck seemed to have. At least now it was probably a safe bet that J.D.'s problems stemmed from breathing in a ton of dust and heaven knows what kind of debris from a rotted well. Getting hot and cold, then rained on certainly didn’t help matters.

Nathan felt someone watching them and turned to see Beth standing in the doorway, her hands heavy with the supplies he’d requested. She dropped her eyes when he looked at her, stepping closer to hand him the blanket and the kettle. He knew she had done everything she could to help J.D., yet the question of why she felt it necessary to keep him hidden tugged at the back of Nathan’s mind. Right now, though, it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except that J.D. was alive and the healer was determined to keep him that way.

"Thank you, ma’am. Could you get us some fresh water and some clean bandages?" Nathan nodded toward J.D.’s hand that had been left uncovered and Beth smiled sadly before she disappeared out the door

Nathan quickly deposited a small packet of herbs into the boiling water and pressed his thumb on the release valve, nodding his approval as a hiss of steam rose from the spout. He unfolded the blanket, handing half of it to Buck and stretching the cloth over J.D.’s head like a tent.

"Whatta you doin’?" Nathan ignored the question as he placed the steam kettle under the blanket, making sure the hot iron or the steam didn’t touch exposed flesh; either his or J.D.’s.

"J.D.?" Nathan roused the young man from his uneasy sleep. "We’re gonna sit you up some more and I want you to breathe real deep, try to get as much of the steam in your lungs as you can, ok?"

Buck helped J.D. sit upright, keeping a supportive hand on the boy’s bare back. J.D. didn’t say a word, but Nathan could hear the labored wheezes as he tried to do as he was told.

"Thatta boy, it’ll get easier, just keep tryin’." Nathan looked at Buck. "Pat him hard, between the shoulder blades."

Buck seemed reluctant then gently pounded on the kid’s back.

"Harder. You’re tryin’ to break up the stuff in his lungs, not burp him."

Nathan shook his head in approval as Buck got in one solid hit, but the gunslinger stopped when J.D. lurched forward and coughed. "I’m hurtin’ him, Nathan!"

"No, you’re helping him, trust me." Nathan could still read the reluctance in the gunslinger’s eyes and he motioned for Buck to take the kettle and the blanket. "Here, you hold this, I’ll do it."

Buck let out a sigh of relief as the two men switched positions and Nathan began to beat hard on the kid’s back. He could tell Buck was getting more agitated with each resounding blow, but J.D.’s coughing fits were music to the black man’s ears.

J.D. curled forward, his arms wrapping around his chest, each cough ending in a half-scream as he stiffened and drew in tighter.

"I know it hurts, but you’re doin’ good, J.D.” Nathan tried to assure him, his heart breaking as he watched the tears of pain and effort stream from J.D.’s eyes. He wished there was another solution, but if there was he didn’t know about it.

"Uhhhhhhhh!" J.D. threw himself toward the side of the bed, his body heaving. Nathan was amazed at Buck’s lightning reflexes as he threw off the blanket and snatched the basin from the nightstand all in one fluid motion. Nathan grabbed the hot kettle from Buck’s hands as J.D. continued to vomit until he finally collapsed, his head hanging limply off the edge of the mattress.

Buck grabbed a clean rag and wetted it with water from the pitcher and tenderly cleaned off J.D.’s face. He lifted the kid’s weakened body gently and positioned him on his side, pulling the covers over his shoulders. Nathan hated seeing J.D. so spent, so lifeless, but he also knew this was the only way for him to recover.

"He’s doing good, Buck." Nathan smiled in relief and lay his hand on J.D.’s back. Already the boy’s breaths came easier, the gasps had been replaced with a steadier rhythm that gave Nathan hope that he would indeed get better.

---

PART 10

Edmund sat absently in the wooden rocker, watching as Beth again rushed through to gather more supplies for that colored doctor. She was ignoring him. Always did when she was too mad or too upset to yell at him. He could tell by the look on her face that she knew what he’d done. That boy had done told them everything just as he’d figured and now all he could do was wait and accept the consequences.

"Beth." Tears welled in his eyes as he said his wife’s beautiful name. She paused, then continued to pump water into the pitcher. "I didn’t mean for this to happen."

"As soon as J.D. is well enough to go home with his friends, I’ll be going back east to live with mamma."

Her voice barely broke above a whisper, but Edmund could feel the cold stare aimed at his back. He’d lost her. No amount of begging or explaining would ever erase the damage he’d done, not only to himself, but to Beth as well. In his attempt to even things out, he’d lost it all.

Beth passed by him and out the door, carrying the water and a handful of cloth strips, without looking back. Ed angrily wiped the tear off his cheek as he pulled aside the curtain to watch her leave. The cabin that had symbolized the bond between father and son now mocked him; reminded him of just how much had been taken from him. The walls that once held only love and promise now kept those dreams locked tightly inside.

Trapped and dead as the son he’d buried.

Edmund’s eyes filled again as he watched Beth disappear inside and he realized there was only one way to stop the suffering that ate away at his heart. He had run out of choices.