The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) Read Free

dislocated his shoulder.” Pointing to the unusual shape of the man’s collarbone, she said simply, “I’m going to pop it back into place, but I’ll need you to keep him still.”
    “Marshal,” the injured man said weakly, “does she know what the hell she’s doing?”
    “Yes, Seth, she does.” Zack forced a chuckle for the man’s benefit. “Now you just relax, and Doc Martindale will have you up and moving in no time.”
    “I’m going to give you a bit of laudanum to ease the pain,” Suzanne explained.
    “I’d rather a shot of whiskey, Doc.”
    “I’m sure you would. However, the laudanum will last longer.”
    She spooned up a portion of the sedative and gave it to the man. When Seth’s eyelids began to flutter closed, Zack asked, “Is he ready?”
    “Yes, this is as sedated as he’ll get on the laudanum, so we should move fast.”
    “What do you need me to do?” Zack asked.
    “Place his good arm to his side so that you can hold pressure on his arm and that side of his body at the same time. Then, use your free hand to hold down against his chest, not too hard, just enough to keep him from jumping up.”
    Zack placed his hands where Suzanne indicated, and she dropped to the ground beside the man, hiked up her long skirt, placed her foot beneath his armpit, and grasped his wrist in her hands.
    “Are you ready, Doc?” Zack asked. He looked down at where Seth lay and couldn’t help but feel a moment of trepidation at the unusual treatment.
    As if she could read his thoughts, Suzanne said softly, “Zack, look at me.”
    He looked up and met her gaze. The moment she had his attention, he felt the tug of Seth Abrams’ body when Suzanne wrenched his shoulder back into place. The man cried out and tried to raise himself up but, as instructed, Zack held him in place.
    Suzanne smiled softly, and Zack was overwhelmed with a rush of sheer appreciation for Suzanne’s skill and compassion.
    “Seth,” Suzanne said gently. “I’m finished. Your shoulder’s back in place. I’m going to give you another spoonful of laudanum to take the edge off the pain, and then the marshal is going to move you over to the back of the wagon. We’ll take you to the hospital and have you rest there overnight.”
    “Where are you going next?” Zack asked.
    Suzanne raised herself from the dirt, brushed off her skirt and headed to her next patient. “There’s a man with a cut to his side. I’m going to check and see if it can be bandaged well enough to get him back to the hospital or if I have to stitch him up here.”
    The rest of the morning was filled with one patient after another, six men in total and each requiring some form of the doctor’s expertise. The mill’s owner, William McLeary, seemed genuinely perplexed by the failure of his safety measures.
    “Honest, Marshal,” McLeary said, “we inspected those support beams just the other day. There’s no reason the wall of that delivery shaft should have collapsed.”
    “I’ll help Dr. Martindale get these three men situated at the hospital, and then I’ll be back. My deputy will make sure nobody touches anything until we have a chance to go over the site together.”
    “I’ll have my men sort through the lumber on the other side of the yard and set aside what’s still usable. We’ll stay away from the damaged wall until you return.”
    Once Suzanne had supervised the loading of the last three injured men into the back of the lumber mill’s supply wagon, Zack motioned for one of the workers to start toward town. Suzanne followed in her buggy.
    “I’ll ride ahead,” he told her, pulling up next to her. “I’ll make sure Doc Miller is there to help, as well as one of the nurses.”
    “Thank you, Marsh…Zack,” she said, catching herself at the last minute. “You were an enormous help back there.”
    Zack nodded his head but didn’t comment. Putting his heels to the big animal’s side, he urged the horse into a gallop and headed toward