Outlaw's Bride Read Free Page B

tugged at her heart. Even a man like Beaudry didn’t deserve to be shot in the back.
    â€œI’m gonna follow the tracks, see who I find at the end of them,” Atwater said.
    Kevin stood. “Before you go, help me get this man into the wagon. We have to get him back to town.”
    â€œI can help, too,” Andy said.
    Mattie had forgotten about her son. With a sinking heart, she realized she couldn’t always protect him from the brutality guns were capable of inflicting.
    Kevin smiled at Andy. “You can spread those blankets I brought in the back of the wagon so he’ll be a little more comfortable.”
    The boy nodded earnestly and hurried to carry out his task.
    Kevin squatted down beside her. “I have a favor to ask, Mattie.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œThere’s an influenza outbreak over in Minton, and I was just getting ready to leave for there when you came to get me. Can I leave this patient at your place?”
    Although Mattie had done the same for many of Kevin’s patients in the past, she didn’t want the gunman in her house. Before she could refuse, Beaudry groaned and his muscles tensed beneath her arms. He opened his eyes, and in them Mattie saw agony so raw she had to look away before his pain became hers. He tried to sit up, but groaned again and fell back against her, consciousness leaving him once more.
    Mattie took a shaky breath. In that moment, she’d seen more of the man’s soul than she’d wanted—and God forgive her, but she couldn’t turn him away.
    She raised her gaze to Kevin and nodded slowly, praying she wasn’t making an even bigger mistake than the one she’d made with Andy’s father.

Chapter 2

    â€œA nd remember to change the dressings every few hours,” Kevin instructed.
    Mattie crossed her arms below her breasts. Clint Beaudry lay in bed, his face the color of the white muslin sheets. There was little resemblance to the menacing man who’d stood in her doorway yesterday. “Will he live?”
    The doctor shrugged. “I truly don’t know, Mattie. It was pure luck the bullet didn’t pass through any major organs.” He lifted a hand and raked his fingers through his thinning brown hair. “Most men wouldn’t have lasted this long after losing so much blood.”
    Mattie didn’t know whether to be reassured or not.
    â€œI’m sorry to leave him with you,” Kevin said apologetically, as if reading her mind. “But you’re a good nurse and I know you’ll take good care of him.”
    She shook her head, wondering what Kevin would say if he knew just how uncharitable her thoughts were toward this patient. “The fact is, I don’t like Beaudry staying here, and I don’t like exposing Andy to a man who lives by the gun.”
    â€œHe’s unconscious,” Kevin reminded her gently. “And in all probability, he won’t recover.”
    She curled her fingers into fists at the thought of Beaudry dying, then hated herself for caring. It shouldn’t matter to her whether he lived or died.
    Kevin retrieved his black bag from the nightstand, leaving three rolls of bandages along with a couple of brown bottles. He held up the one labeled CARBOLIC ACID . “Dilute this and use it to clean out the wounds every time you change the dressings.”
    â€œI’ve done this before,” Mattie said, barely restraining her impatience.
    He smiled self-consciously and set the bottle down, then picked up the other one. “He’s going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up and this laudanum will help him sleep.”
    If he wakes up. She shoved the unpleasant thought aside. “How much should I give him?”
    â€œTwo teaspoonfuls to start with. As he gets better, you can give him less.”
    She nodded.
    Kevin rested his palm against her back and she reluctantly allowed him to guide her out of the darkened sickroom and downstairs