Beloved Physician (16 page)

Katasho drew a deep breath through his nostrils and let it out slowly. “This white woman was captured by Danpo’s warrior band many moons ago when we attacked a small wagon train in a valley
on the west side of the mountains. We were killing the last of the white people in the wagon train when one of our warriors suddenly caught sight of this woman running into the nearby woods. The warrior’s name was Omosso. He was killed shortly after that when we attacked another wagon train.

“Somehow, this woman had managed to slip away during the massacre of the other whites. Omosso called to me when he spotted her entering the woods and motioned for me to go after her with him. We caught her quickly and brought her to the village. Chief Tando asked her name. She told him it was Joyce something. I do not remember the last name. Chief Tando made her a servant to the women in the village, especially Leela. Three moons ago, she came down with a fever. And now she is dead.”

Pawaga nodded. “I understand now.”

Makota was working furiously to remove the bullet from Yamda’s back. He paused and set his dark eyes on the two braves. “You will go now and tell Chief Tando that Joyce is dead.”

Katasho and Pawaga looked at each other nervously.

Makota glanced up. “
Both
of you take the unpleasant message to Chief Tando.”

They nodded, exchanged glances again, and made their way hesitantly toward the spot where the chief was talking to the people of the village, who were gathered around him.

While other warriors, older men, women, and children gathered around the chief and Danpo, they heard the subchief tell Tando of the rancher whose cattle they were stealing arriving home with his family in their wagon.

Danpo said, “The rancher started shooting at us. My braves and I began shooting back. One of the rancher’s bullets hit Yamda, but within minutes, we had shot and killed the rancher, his wife and children.”

Chief Tando laid a steady hand on Danpo’s muscular shoulder. A thin smile graced the chief’s lips. “The gates of the heart of Tando are opened to Danpo and his braves. Those white people you killed have invaded our land. They have paid for it now. Danpo and his braves have done well in bringing the cattle. This will provide meat for our people for many moons.”

At that moment, the chief saw Katasho and Pawaga drawing up and weaving their way through the crowd toward him. He knew by the way they had their dark eyes fixed on him that they wanted to speak to him. Motioning for those who were in their path to move, he waited until they stopped in front of him. “You want to speak to Chief Tando?”

The pair exchanged nervous glances, then Katasho met the chief’s probing gaze. “Pawaga and Katasho have sad message for Chief Tando.”

Every eye in the crowd was fixed on the pair of braves.

Tando frowned. “What is the sad message?”

It was Pawaga’s turn to speak. “Chief Tando, the white woman, Joyce, has died.”

Leela was standing close to her husband. She gasped at Pawaga’s words. “But Makota said she would be all right.”

Katasho looked into her shocked eyes. “Makota must have told you this because he
thought
she would be all right. Because he is working hard to save Yamda’s life, he told us to come and announce that Joyce is dead.”

Suddenly Leela’s eyes fell on Makota, who was coming toward the crowd from his tepee, his face a solemn mask. She pointed to him. “Tando, I fear that Yamda has also died.”

Everyone turned and watched as the elderly medicine man motioned for people to get out of his way. They made a path for him and he moved up to the chief, his dark, wrinkled features drawn.

Tando waited for him to speak.

Makota swallowed with difficulty. “Chief Tando, this is painful,
but I must tell you that Makota could not save Yamda’s life. His wound was very deep, and he had lost too much blood. I am sorry.”

There were mournful sounds from the women as the men shook their heads in sorrow.

Tando laid a hand on the medicine man’s arm. “Makota need not be sorry. Tando knows he did everything he could to keep Yamda alive. Yamda will be given a hero’s burial.”

Makota nodded. “Katasho and Pawaga have informed the chief that Joyce has died?”

Tando closed his eyes and opened them again. “They did.”

Leela still had a shocked look in her eyes. The other women appeared to be in the same state.

Makota licked his lips. “For this, Chief Tando, Makota is also sorry. I could not bring her fever under control.”

Tando was noticing the grave looks on the faces of his squaw and the other women. He raised a hand and said, “Do not despair. One day we will find a way to capture another young white woman to be servant to Leela and the other squaws.”

The sun was setting over the mountains as Tharyn Logan was tidying up the office after closing time, while wondering what was taking Dane so long at the Bates ranch.

When she had the office ready for the new day tomorrow, she thought back over the day. The appendectomy she had performed on Bobby Thomas, of course, had been the most difficult thing she had done. She had been forced to send two patients back home who had appointments. Their ailments were more than she could handle. Six others had come in, and fortunately, their problems were minor and she had been able to take care of them. She had made new appointments for the two who needed to be seen by her husband.

Tharyn was getting a little nervous about Dane’s not having
returned yet. She stepped out onto the boardwalk and looked southward for any sign of him riding in, but there was none.
Must have run into complications with Jack Bates’s wound
.

As she turned to reenter the office, the magnificent sunset caught her eye. She paused to take it in. Only the top rim of the fiery sun could be seen as it lowered behind the towering mountains. The western sky shone like a halo over the craggy peaks. Shafts of red-gold light fell with a long slant among the tall pines behind the town and cast long, uneven shadows on Main Street from the rooftops of the buildings.

She took a step toward the door and stopped when she heard a feminine voice call her name. Looking northward where the voice came from, she saw Betty Anderson hurrying toward her.

Smiling as she drew up, Betty said, “Hello, Tharyn. You look a bit weary. Hard day?”

Tharyn returned the smile. “You might say that. My husband has been gone since early this morning, caring for a rancher who was shot by Indians who were stealing his cattle. I even had to do an appendectomy on Bobby Thomas. You probably know the Thomases.”

“Of course,” said Betty, her eyes wide. “
You
did the surgery?”

“Uh-huh. Had to. The appendix was about to rupture.”

“How did it go?”

“Fine. Bobby’s home now with his parents.”

“Well, that’s good. Seems to me we have
two
beloved physicians in Central City.”

Tharyn shook her head vigorously. “No, no! You gave my husband that title, and we’ll just leave it at that.”

Betty laughed. “Oh, all right. If you say so. Well, sweet girl, I’d better keep moving. Got to get home and fix supper for Mike.”

“He feeling okay?”

“Oh yes. Dr. Dane is doing a good job helping him to get healed up. See you later.”

Tharyn smiled as Betty walked away. “See you later.”

She was about to turn and enter the office when she caught sight of a rider on a bay horse trotting down the street from the north.

The horse strongly resembled Pal. She squinted. “It
is
Pal! What’s Dane doing coming in from the north?”

Dane saw her standing on the boardwalk and waved. She waved back.

As Dane drew up and pulled rein, Tharyn said, “I was getting worried, darling. And now, I’m puzzled. Why are you coming into town from the north?”

Dismounting, he wrapped the reins around the hitch rail and folded her into his arms. “Long story, sweetheart. And quite a story too. I’ll tell you the whole thing over supper at whatever café you choose, okay?”

“Of course.”

Since people were moving by, he kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose. “I need to replenish some supplies in my medical bag. Then we can close up shop and go to supper.”

Quickly, he untied the medical bag from the saddle, and they entered the office with their arms around each other’s waists. Tharyn asked, “How about Mr. Bates?”

“Had to remove a bullet from his chest. He was still unconscious when I left, but he’ll be all right. I’ll explain it in detail at supper.”

They went into the examining room. Dane set the medical bag down on the counter at the medicine cabinet and began replenishing his supply of medicine. “So how’d it go here today?”

“Well, I saw quite a few patients. Couple of them who had appointments will be back tomorrow. Guess I’d better tell you right now about Bobby Thomas.”

Keeping his attention on what he was doing, Dane asked, “Who’s Bobby Thomas?”

“You remember when we went over the long list of all of Dr. Fraser’s patients?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Remember the names Scott and Susan Thomas, right here in town?”

“Oh. Sure.”

“Well, Bobby is their eleven-year-old son.”

“I recall now that they have a son.”

“Shortly after you rode away this morning, the Thomases brought Bobby in. He had appendicitis and the appendix was close to rupturing.”

Dane paused, turned, and looked at her. “Dr. Fraser was in Georgetown.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What did you do?”

“I had no choice. I did the appendectomy myself.”

Dane jumped. Eyes wide, he stammered, “Y-you did?”

“Yes.”

“And he’s all right?”

“Yes.”

A slow smile spread across Dane’s face. Pride was shining in his eyes. “Sweetheart, that was a courageous thing for you to do.”

“I don’t know if I’d call it courage or not, honey, but it was either make an attempt at the surgery or watch that boy die. I—I was pretty confident that I could do it successfully.”

“Well, of course. I’m sure you’ve assisted doctors at Mile High Hospital on a great number of appendectomies. You certainly knew what to do.”

She smiled. “Knowing what to do and actually
doing
it are two different things, but I had no idea when you would be back, so when I had explained my surgical nurse’s experience to the parents, and they gave their consent for me to do the surgery, I prayed for the Lord’s help. Dane, it was as if His hand was guiding mine
while He clearly brought to remembrance the details of the countless times I had assisted surgeons through this same procedure.”

Dane could tell Tharyn was weary and knew that performing the appendectomy had taken its toll on her. “When a persons life is in your hands, it is a huge responsibility, love, and I’m sure you did a beautiful job.”

Tharyn smiled. “ ‘Beautiful’ might not be the word for it, but Bobby’s home with his parents, alive and breathing. I did promise them that when you got back, I would bring you to the house so you could check on him.”

Dane wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. “All right. I’ll be happy to go and see
your
patient.”

Tears filled Tharyn’s eyes and trickled down her cheeks as the weight of responsibility now fell from her shoulders.

Dane eased her back in his arms. “Why the tears, love?”

She sniffled. “I guess it’s just such a relief to have you take over. It was one of those things that I knew I must do, so I did it. But now that you’re here to take over, it’s such a relief. I guess the tears are just a sign of my relief.”

“I know a little about that, honey. I so well remember my first surgery in medical school. It wasn’t as serious as an appendectomy, but I was sure scared. At least I had other doctors right there beside me to move in if I needed help. I remember my relief when they said I had done a perfect job.”

Dane kissed the tip of her nose again. “You are a very brave little gal, and I’m so proud of you. Let’s go see Bobby right now. I’ll hitch Pal to the buggy. After I check on Bobby, you can relax at the café, and we’ll have a nice supper. Like I said, I’ll tell you the story of this long day while we eat.”

They locked up the office, and Dane helped Tharyn into the buggy. As they drove away, Dr. Dane Logan sent a thankful prayer to his heavenly Father for the young woman with whom he had been blessed.

W
hen Scott and Susan Thomas were just finishing their supper, they heard the sound of a buggy pulling into the front yard.

Scott smiled, pushed back from the table, and rose to his feet. “Must be Mrs. Logan with the doctor.”

“I hope so,” said Susan, rising from her chair. “I want to meet him, of course, but mostly I’ll feel better when he examines Bobby. I very much appreciate what she did for Bobby, but since she isn’t a doctor, I’ll just feel better when her husband checks him over.”

“I understand, honey. I will, too.”

The pair left the kitchen and walked to the front door together. Just as Scott was pulling the door open, they both saw Tharyn being escorted up the porch steps by a man who carried a black medical bag.