The Heart Remembers (9 page)

Dr. Fraser thanked him and left the building from a side door.

“Are you ready, darling?” Tharyn asked her husband.

“Yes. Administer the anesthetic.”

While Tharyn was picking up the bottle of chloroform from
the cart, Dr. Dane leaned over Michael, who was almost asleep already. “You’re going to be all right. Just relax now, and this will soon be over.”

Michael closed his eyes, opened them again, and said, “Thank you, Doctor.”

Tharyn poured chloroform into a soft cloth and placed it over Michael’s nose and mouth. “Don’t fight the anesthetic, Mr. Chandler. Like Doctor said, just relax. Breathe deeply for me, will you?”

Michael closed his eyes again and nodded.

A few minutes later, when Michael was almost under, Tharyn said to Dane, “I’m going to make a quick check just to see if anyone else has come into the office.”

“Okay.”

When Tharyn entered the office, she saw that Shirley and Barry were the only ones there. Barry was seated in the waiting area, staring at the floor. Shirley was standing at the large window, looking out onto the street, while wringing her hands into tight knots.

Tharyn stepped up and placed her hands on Shirley’s shoulders with a gentle squeeze. “Dr. Dane is young, but he has plenty of experience, Mrs. Chandler. He’ll do a good job on your husband. You and Barry did the right thing getting him here as quickly as possible. There’s coffee over there on the stove. You and Barry feel free to help yourselves to it.”

Stepping back from Shirley, Tharyn looked at the young man as he raised his line of sight and placed it on her. “Barry, take care of your mother, won’t you?”

Barry nodded and gave his mother a slight smile. “Yes, ma’am. I sure will.”

Barry left his chair, moved up to his mother, and put his arm around her shoulders.

“The surgery may take longer than you might expect, but with
the Lord’s help, everything will be all right,” Tharyn said.

“I’m sure it will,” said Shirley.

“I need to ask a favor of you,” Tharyn said softly.

Shirley nodded. “Of course.”

“There are no appointments scheduled at this time, but if anyone comes in wanting to see the doctor, please tell them that we won’t be available until about two hours from now. But if there’s some kind of emergency, please come and knock on the back room door and let us know.”

Barry nodded. “I’ll do it, ma’am.”

Tharyn thanked them, then hurried to the back room door and disappeared.

SIX
 

a
lmost two hours had passed since Tharyn Logan had gone to the back room to assist her husband with the surgery on Michael Chandler.

Shirley and her son were pacing around the waiting area, and glancing out the large window that faced the street each time they passed it. Shirley looked up at the clock on the wall above Tharyn’s desk, then stopped at the window. She noted the breeze that had picked up in the last few minutes, and watched as the breeze scattered the colorful leaves that had fallen to the ground from the trees on Main Street, making a pattern on the broad street like a patchwork quilt.

Barry stepped up beside her and took hold of her hand. She looked at him, then put her gaze back outside the window. “It’s my favorite time of the year.”

Barry grinned. “I know, Mama.”

She sighed, then said, “All too soon a white blanket of snow will cover this scene.”

“Yes, Mama, but wintertime is easier at the ranch, and this season, it will give Papa some time to recuperate before the hard work of spring and summer begin.”

Shirley nodded. “You’re right about that, son.”

At that moment, they heard footsteps in the back room, then the door opened, and Dr. Dane Logan appeared. They started toward him, and he hastened his pace. As they drew up to face each other, Dr. Dane said, “Michael came through the surgery just fine.”

Barry put an arm around his mother as she said, “Wonderful! Thank you, Dr. Logan.”

Dr. Dane sat them down and explained the details of the damage and what he had to do to repair it. When he was sure that mother and son clearly understood, he said, “It’ll be at least a couple of months before Michael can begin doing any work on the ranch. Even then, he’ll have to go at it slowly until spring. And he mustn’t do any lifting at all until I say so.”

“Did you explain this to him?” queried Shirley.

“No, but I will. He’s still under the chloroform right now.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“Did anyone come in while we were doing the surgery?”

“There were three women and one man, but none was an emergency. Each time Barry and I explained what was going on in the back room, they said they would come back tomorrow.”

“Good. Thank you for helping us in that way.”

“Glad to.”

They noticed Tharyn come out of the back room and head toward them as Dr. Dane said, “I want to keep Michael here at the office overnight. I’ll spend the night with him, and sleep on a cot close by. If he’s doing all right by morning, you can take him home.”

Tharyn drew up. “Michael’s resting peacefully under the anesthetic.”

Shirley smiled at her, then worry lines furrowed her brow as she said to the doctor, “Barry has chores to do at home, including cows to milk. But I don’t think I can go home and leave my husband. I’ll be glad to stay and look after him through the night.”

Dr. Dane met her worried gaze. “I appreciate the offer, Mrs. Chandler, but it would be best if I stay close to Michael tonight, just in case there should be a problem. Please trust me in this. It’s important that you go on home with Barry, get some food in your system, and have a good night’s rest. Michael is going to need a great deal of care when you get him home. Right now you need to lay some extra strength in store for the task ahead of you.”

Shirley looked at her son, then back at the doctor. “Well, I—I—”

“I promise I’ll be right here with him all night. He’ll sleep for a few more hours, and when he does start to come out of it, he’s going to experience quite a bit of pain. I’ll administer whatever is needed to alleviate the pain, and he will no doubt go right back to sleep again.”

Worry still was evident in Shirley’s eyes. Dr. Dane patted her arm. “I promise I’ll take real good care of him. Really, you need to go home and get some rest yourself.”

Shirley bit her lower lip and nodded. “I understand, Doctor. You’re right. Barry and I will go on home and prepare the house for Michael.”

Dr. Dane smiled. “Good. I need to emphasize to you as I will to him—it’s important that he get plenty of rest. And he’s to do absolutely no lifting until I say so. I’ll keep an eye on him by coming often to check on him.”

“I’ll see that Michael obeys your orders, Dr. Logan. He is one energetic man, and will want to help Barry with the work around the ranch. But maybe between you, Barry, and myself, he’ll listen to reason.”

“I’m sure you and Barry will have the proper influence on him, ma’am, and at least for the first couple of weeks, I’ll be there every day to check on him.”

The doctor’s calming voice relieved Shirley’s apprehensions about her husband. “All right, Doctor. Barry and I will head for
home as soon as we go in and look at Michael. It
is
all right if we just slip in and take a look at him, isn’t it?”

“Certainly. Tharyn and I will take you in. Ah … one other thing.”

“Yes, Doctor?”

“You need to do something about that bull. He could have killed Michael.”

Barry grinned. “We’re needing some more beef to salt away for winter, Dr. Logan. I’ll take care of the bull.”

Dr. Dane nodded. “Let’s take you in to see Michael.”

The four of them made their way to the back room, and into a corner where Michael Chandler lay on a single bed under the influence of the chloroform.

Mother and son moved up to the bed and gazed down at Michael’s pale face while doctor and nurse looked on. Shirley took his inert hand in her own, and brought it up to her cheek. The patient did not move. Shirley kissed the hand and laid it back on the bed, gently caressing it. Leaning down, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead and whispered, “Sleep well, my love. Barry and I will see you tomorrow.”

Tears dimmed Shirley’s eyes as she turned away from the bed.

Tharyn put an arm around her and said, “He will have the best of care, Mrs. Chandler. Of that, I can guarantee you. We’ll see to his every need.”

This small gesture of kindness was enough to start the tears rolling down Shirley’s cheeks. She quickly covered her eyes with her hands.

Tharyn squeezed her tight. “It’s all right to cry, Mrs. Chandler. You’ve been through a tremendous ordeal today. Let the tears heal your distress. God gives us tears sometimes to relieve the stress we’re feeling.”

Shirley took a handkerchief from the cuff of one of her sleeves and mopped at the tears. “Thank you, dear, for understanding.”

“We’re here to help in any way we can,” Tharyn replied softly.

Shirley saw that Barry was looking down at his father, with a hand on his arm. “Well, son. Let’s go home.”

The Logans followed Shirley and her son to the office, and when Barry opened the door, Shirley said, “Dr. and Mrs. Logan, I want to thank both of you for the way you have taken care of my husband, and are continuing to take care of him. It means more than I could ever tell you.”

Dr. Dane smiled. “That’s what we’re here for, ma’am.”

When Barry and his mother pulled away in the wagon, Dane closed the door and turned to Tharyn. She smiled and said, “Well, honey, I’ll go home, cook supper, and bring some to you.”

He took her in his arms, kissed her tenderly, and said, “Thank you, sweetheart. I am sort of feeling a little hungry.”

“So tell me. How did the peace treaty signing go?”

“Couldn’t have been better. Chief Tando was fully cooperative. He was definitely ready to make peace.”

“I’m so glad. And it is a blessing to me to know that it wouldn’t have happened if my husband hadn’t saved Latawga’s life and taken him back to the village.”

Dane shook his head. “Give the glory to the Lord, honey. I’ve already had plenty of glory showered on me for the deed.”

Tharyn reached up, tweaked his nose, and giggled. “You needn’t be afraid of a little praise.”

He laughed. “By the time we got the treaty signed, I’d been given more than a
little
praise. I just did what any doctor would have done.”

The next morning, Marshal Jake Merrell and his deputy, Len Kurtz, were sitting at their desks when they looked up to see Dr. Robert Fraser coming through the door.

Fraser entered, holding his medical bag, and said, “Good morning, Marshal … Len.”

“Good morning, Doc,” chorused the lawmen.

Merrell frowned. “Doc, you don’t look like you feel well.”

“Just some trouble with my back,” Fraser said as he approached the marshal’s desk. “How’s the swelling around Earl’s eye?”

“It’s almost gone. You want to see him?”

“Best that I do. I’ll check on him, then go back home.”

At the same time Dr. Robert Fraser was checking on Earl Dubose at the jail, Tharyn Logan was at her desk at the doctor’s office. She smiled when she saw a wagon pull up to the hitch rail out front. It was Shirley Chandler and her son.

When Shirley and Barry entered the office, Tharyn greeted them and said, “You’ll be glad to know that Michael had a good night, and no complications have set in. Doctor is with him right now.”

“So we’ll be able to take him home. Right, ma’am?” said Barry.

“Mm-hmm,” replied Tharyn as she rose to her feet. “Take a seat in the waiting area. I’ll go tell Doctor you’re here.”

When Tharyn entered the curtained section where Dr. Dane had Michael stretched out on the examining table, she said, “Shirley and Barry are here.”

A thin smile curved Michael’s lips.

Dr. Dane nodded. “I’m almost finished, honey. Would you bring them in here, please, so I can talk to them?”

“Be right back.”

Less than two minutes later, Michael’s eyes brightened when he saw his wife and son step up to the table.

Barry smiled. “Good morning, Papa.”

Shirley bent down and kissed his cheek. “Mrs. Logan told us you had a good night, without any complications.”

“That’s right.”

“So, how are you feeling?”

“Well, I’m experiencing some pain in my chest, but Dr. Logan said this is normal. He expected it.”

“I did,” said the doctor. “I just gave him some powders to help relieve the pain. I’m sending some of the same powders home with you, Shirley. You’ll need to mix them periodically with water and administer it to Michael as per my written instructions. It will keep the pain from getting too bad.”

“All right.”

Dr. Dane glanced at Tharyn, then looked back at Shirley. “I wish we had a clinic here so there would be several beds to care for patients on a long-term basis, and the medical staff to go with it. I’m hoping that someday we can do just that.”

Shirley smiled. “Well, I hope so, too, Doctor.”

Dr. Dane looked down at Michael, then ran his gaze between mother and son. “As I told you yesterday, for the next couple of weeks, I’ll come to your home every day and check on him.”