Nora felt Bo stirring in the bed beside her, and she awakened quickly.
“Red?…” she heard Bo whisper in a raspy voice.
She stood and leaned over him still gripping his hand. “Yes...it’s me sweetheart…” She gave him a gentle kiss.
He swallowed hard and tried to glance around. This was made difficult by his aching body and swollen left eye.
“Lie still, honey. I’m right here. Do you need anything?” Nora asked.
He blinked and tried to focus on her face. “Water…” he managed to croak.
“I’ll get you some.” She brought a glass and helped him take some sips through a straw. When he had had enough, she put the glass on the table. Then she wiped his brow with a damp cloth and kissed him again, first on the forehead...then gently on the mouth.
He looked at her through his one good eye. “You’re the prettiest nurse I’ve ever seen,” he murmured.
She laughed. “Well, you don’t see very well through one eye, do you? I’m a mess.”
He grinned slightly. Then all of a sudden his eyes widened as much as they could in his condition. “LILLI!” he choked.
Nora calmed his panic, “Shhh...she’s fine. Lilli’s fine. She’s sleeping.” She stroked his hair back gently. “She’s fine...thanks to her Daddy…” Tears welled up in Nora’s eyes. “You’re my hero, you know that?”
He shook his head slowly.
“Well...you are,” she continued.
“Is she hurt?” Bo asked.
“She has some scrapes and bruises...and I removed a few splinters...but that’s all.”
“No broken bones?” Bo asked.
“No...not one. Fortunately she was caught before she could hit the ground,” Nora began to explain. “Chet Palmer caught her as she flew across the fence.”
Bo thought about this for a moment. “Chet Palmer? Hmmm...you mean he was actually at the right place at the right time for a change?” Bo mumbled before he grimaced in pain.
Nora chided him gently, “You deserved that morsel of pain for that remark. Chet was very helpful. Not only did he catch Lilli, but he helped me tend to her while the others were busy tending you. I’m grateful he was there...and I told him so.”
Bo sighed and spoke slowly, “Well...I’ll do the same next time I see him...sorry, honey.” He added, “I want to see Lilli.”
“It’s five-o’clock in the morning...she’s sleeping. But, I promise I’ll bring her to see you first thing when she wakes up. Right now though, it’s time for your next pain pill. The doctor has you on a schedule. So...here you are. Take this and then try to get a little more sleep. I’m going to go check on Lilli.”
Bo took his medicine and she kissed him. He grimaced as he tried to kiss her back. She frowned slightly. “My kisses have never elicited that response before,” she teased him.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, “it hurts to even pucker.”
She chuckled. “Well then, just let me do the puckering until you feel better, okay? I love you,” she whispered kissing him again. “Now try to get some more sleep.”
Bo nodded slightly and closed his eyes...it wasn’t long before he slept peacefully once again.
* * * * * * *
The next time Bo opened his eyes it was to find Nora at the foot of his bed holding Lilli. Lilli was wide-eyed looking at her Daddy.
“Lilli...hi honey. How’s my girl?” Bo asked gently.
She just looked at him...almost as if she didn’t recognize him. She gripped “Lamby” a little tighter.
“Can’t you speak, Lillikins? Daddy said ‘hi’ ” Nora encouraged softly.
She continued to stare. She recognized her Daddy’s voice, but the black, swollen eye was forbidding to her.
Nora recognized this and explained. “Daddy got a booboo by his eye when Samson knocked him down. That’s why he looks different. See this bruise on your knee?” she pointed out. “Well, Daddy has the same thing except it’s by his eye. See?”
Lilli nodded her tousled head. Then Nora noticed her chin quivering. She leaned her head under her Mama’s chin. “Samson is mean,” she said beginning to cry. “Samson hurt Daddy.”
“Daddy’s okay, Lilli. Come and see me,” Bo said gesturing for Nora to put her next to him on the bed.
Nora hesitated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Bo...if she gets on you…”
“She won’t,” Bo replied. “Please...put her here next to me.”
Nora sighed. “Okay,” then to Lilli, “Do you want to sit by Daddy?”
She nodded.
“Then you have to sit still...you can’t climb on Daddy, okay?”
She nodded again. Nora placed her next to Bo.
Bo smiled and ran a hand through her auburn curls. “Mommy tells me you have a booboo too. Can I see it?” he asked.
Lilli nodded. “Mmhmm...it’s here on my leg. It’s a big one. And here’s one on my arm too.”
“Ouch,” Bo said with sympathy. “Did Mommy kiss them to make them better?”
Lilli nodded again. “Mmhmm. Did she kiss your booboos, Daddy?”
“She did” he said “...and they do feel better, but...I think they’ll need more kisses later,” he said giving Nora a look.
Lilli turned to Nora. “Mommy, does Shermy have booboos too?”
Nora and Bo exchanged glances. Neither of them knew the fate of poor Shermy.
“I haven’t seen Shermy yet, honey. I’ll check on him today and find out how he is. I’m sure he’s fine,” Nora said although she wasn’t sure at all.
At that moment, Maggie came in bearing a breakfast tray.
“If I had known, I could have brought breakfast in for all of you,” she told them. “But no matter. Nora, do you want to stay and feed your helpless husband or take Lilli to the kitchen for breakfast?”
“I’ll feed my helpless husband,” Nora grinned. “You can take Lilli.”
“I’ll do that,” Maggie agreed, “but, after breakfast and the doctor’s visit, I hope you’ll get some rest, honey. You have to be exhausted. I’ll take care of Bo then so you can get some sleep.”
Nora nodded.
When Maggie and Lilli left, Bo started grumbling, “I can feed myself...I’m not helpless, you know…”
“Ah, but you are...you are at my mercy, Buchanan,” she said raising her eyebrows. “You can’t even sit upright yet. How are you planning to feed yourself?”
“Like this,” Bo said grabbing the fork and attempting to take a bite. The bite fell off the fork before reaching his mouth and landed in the mat of hair on his chest.
Nora laughed. “That was amazing effort, but you made a mess,” she said trying to clean scrambled egg out of his chest hair. “Please give me the fork.”
Resigned to his helpless state, he handed it over.
“Bo, this only happened yesterday. You are going to have to drop your pride and let us help you.”
“I know,” he agreed, “but I don’t have to like it,” he grumbled.
She smiled at him and gave him a kiss. “You look so handsome with that black eye,” she teased him. “Reminds me of the day we met.” She gave him more tender kisses. He finally smiled.
“Well, while you’re reminiscing, my eggs are getting cold…” he breathed against her lips.
She chuckled at him. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too,” he whispered back. “Now can I please have some breakfast?”
His answer was a big bite of egg being shoveled into his mouth.
* * * * * * *
Dr. Jones made another house call after breakfast. He was satisfied with Bo’s current condition, and decided that he could convalesce at home barring no changes or difficulties. He would continue to check his progress daily.
The doctor also looked at Lilli’s wounds. He had to remove a few more splinters, creating more trauma for the child, but told Nora she had done very well in treating the abrasions. Lilli was somewhat cautious with her leg, but was already getting her spunk back as could be seen when she and Nora made a trip to the barn toward evening.
“SHERMY!” she shouted walking a few paces ahead of Nora.
“Here he comes,” Nora said seeing a dog running from the barn toward them.
“Dat’s Gwant. Shermy’s ears are bwown, ‘member?” Lilli responded. She petted and cuddled with Grant a few moments before continuing on to the barn, Grant following close on her heels.
As they entered the barn, dust floated on the evening rays the sun cast through the windows.
“Shermy?” Lilli called. Her only response was the appearance of a few kittens as they scrambled from their sleepy hiding place. While Lilli was distracted by the kittens, Nora wandered around the barn in search of the missing puppy. Rounding a corner, she ran smack into a ranch hand. When he tilted his brown hat at her, she realized it was Tate Palmer.
“Oh! I’m so sorry, Tate! I wasn’t even watching where I was going…”
“No problem, Ma’am. What brings you to the barn this evening. Need help with anything?”
“Well,” Nora began, “my daughter and I were trying to find her pup, Shermy. We haven’t seen him since the accident yesterday and…”
But Nora’s explanation was interrupted by a squeal of happiness.
“SHERMY!” Lilli’s excited voice shouted. “Where you been?!”
Nora and Tate rounded the corner to see Chet holding Sherman as he spoke softly to Lilli, “Be careful now, his leg is hurt. That’s why it’s bandaged tight…” Lilli cautiously hugged and kissed on the pup.
Seeing Nora she shouted, “Look Mommy! It’s Shermy! He has a booboo on his leg jus’ like me!”
Nora was greatly relieved that the dog was alright. She didn’t want Lilli’s trauma of the bull to be magnified by the loss of her beloved pet. As Nora knelt beside her child, she missed the exchange of looks between the brothers.
“Can I hode him?” Lilli asked peering up at Chet with her bright blue eyes.
“If your Mommy says it’s alright,” Chet responded looking at Nora.
Nora hesitated. “For a minute and only if you’re standing. I don’t want his nails to scratch your leg.”
“K,” Lilli agreed. Chet put the pup into her outstretched arms. Lilli glanced up at Chet noticing how his brown hat shaded his face. She frowned for a moment as if remembering, but the frown and the memory soon disappeared as Shermy covered her face with sloppy kisses.
Nora couldn’t help smiling at the scene in spite of the dog’s slobbery greeting.
“What’s wrong with the dog’s leg?” Nora asked.
Surprisingly, Tate was the one who answered, “It isn’t broken, but was cut pretty badly. Must have happened when he crawled under the fence. I wrapped it to keep it clean until it heals. He’s a lucky pup...it could have been worse.”
“The situation could have been worse for everyone involved. I’m thankful it wasn’t,” Nora replied.
Tate agreed, but Chet didn’t say anything. Nora felt his eyes upon her and decided it was time to go.
“Okay, Lillikins, say goodnight to Shermy. Time for a bath and bedtime story.”
Lilli said her goodnights and she and Nora headed home. When they got out of earshot, Tate finally spoke what was on his mind, “The big hero again, huh? I’m the one who retrieved and cared for that mutt, but you get all the credit...just trying to look good in Mrs. Buchanan’s eyes…”
“Shut up,” Chet said turning on his heel.
“Give it up,” Tate continued as Chet walked away, “it’ll never happen.”
“We’ll see,” was Chet’s surprisingly calm response.
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