“Is the bullet still inside?”
“No, I got it out. As far as I can tell, it did not hit any of her vitals.”
“Can I talk to her?”
“She has been in and out of consciousness ever since she was shot,” Dr. Gunther said. “Even when she is conscious, she isn’t very communicative. I’m sorry.”
“Doctor, give it to me straight. Is she going to live?”
“I wish I could tell you with one hundred percent assurance that she is going to live. Unfortunately, I can’t promise you that. After I removed the bullet, I irrigated the abdomen with a saline solution until all the effluent was clear, then I made generous use of an antiseptic, in this case, iodine. If I were making a bet, I would say her chances are better than fifty-fifty that she is going to live.”
“Fifty-fifty? You can’t do any better than that?” Smoke asked.
“I’m sorry. I want to give you and Mrs. Jensen hope. I believe hope is an important part of the healing process. But I don’t want to give you false hope.”
“How many people have you seen who are gut-shot, and survive?” Smoke asked.
“Quite a few. Those that die, generally do so because of pathogenic infection, or a condition of shock.”
“She’s a fighter, Smoke. You know that better than anyone,” Cal said. “I’m bettin’ that if there is any chance at all, Miss Sally is going to come through this.”
Smoke had not heard Cal come up behind him, but he wasn’t surprised to see his young friend, at hand. Smoke nodded his head. “You’ve got that right, Cal. If ever there was a fighter, it would be Sally.”
Smoke turned back toward Dr. Gunther. “So, what do we do now? Can I take her home? I’ll hire the finest coach I can find.”
“No, no, not yet,” Dr. Gunther insisted. “Mrs. McKenzie has agreed to let your wife stay with her until it is safe enough for her to travel. In the meantime, she will be much better off here.”
Smoke turned to Tamara. “Thank you for agreeing to look after her.”
“Oh, don’t be silly, Smoke. Sally is a very dear friend. Of course I will look after her. Oh, just a minute, I have something for you.”
Tamara walked over to her handbag, opened it, and took out a packet of money. “This is the two thousand dollars Sally was going to invest in my restaurant.”
“You still plan to build the restaurant, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Then keep the money. That is why Sally came over here in the first place.”
“I know, and I feel so guilty about that. If she hadn’t come over to see me, she wouldn’t have been in the bank to get shot.”
Smoke took Tamara’s hand in his. “These things happen. Don’t blame yourself. You had nothing to do with what happened.”
“I tell myself that,” Tamara replied. “But I’m having a hard time convincing myself.”
“Put it out of your mind.” Smoke sighed. “If I’m going to stay here for a while, I need to find a place to spend the night here in town.”
“I’m stayin’ over to the hotel,” Cal said. “Come on with me. I know there are some empty rooms there.”
“I don’t want to leave.”
“Trust me, Mr. Jensen. Right now, she doesn’t even know you are here,” Dr. Gunther said. “You will do neither yourself nor her any good by staying here. When she comes to, and if she is communicative, I will come get you.”
“By the way, Doc,” Cal said. “You don’t need to worry none about the outlaw that got shot. He’s dead. They’ve got him propped up in a coffin down at the feed store.”
“I’m sorry to say I had forgotten all about him,” Dr. Gunther said. “Was he killed instantly?”
“He probably was,” Cal said. “But the truth is, I would’ve told you that anyway just to make sure you was taking care of Miss Sally.”
“I would not have abandoned Mrs. Jensen to tend to the outlaw,” Dr. Gunther said. “But I am a doctor, and honor bound to treat everyone, even those who we might consider undesirable.”
“Yes, sir, I understand,” Cal said. “But when I shot the son of a bitch, I hit him right in the back of the head. Not that I am that good of a shot, mind you. It just so happens, that is where I hit him.”
“As I say, I am a doctor. But I also have a strong sense of justice. Those people killed three of our citizens and wounded Mrs. Jensen. I feel no sense of remorse that one of the outlaws was killed in the process.”
Twenty miles west by northwest of Gothic, Dinkins and the others stopped in the shadow of Purple Peak Mountain, which was significant. When they rode out of Gothic, they were going east, then rode in a great circle. It was late afternoon by the time they actually reached the mountain.
“Parnell, climb up a ways and make certain there ain’t no one a’ followin’ us,” Dinkins said. “If you don’t see anyone, we’ll stay here for the night.”
“We got ’ny thing to eat?” Travis asked. “I’m hungry.”
“Got some bacon and hard tack,” Dinkins said. “And coffee.”
