Between Two Worlds (22 page)

She caressed his hand. “Oh, Gabriel. I like you, too.” She thought
a minute. “It would only be temporary, you know. Until I…”

“I know, I know.” He kissed her hand and picked up the reins
again. “Until you cross that imaginary bridge back into the future.”

“It’s not imaginary,” she protested light-heartedly.

“All right. Let’s not argue.” His eyes drank her in. “So, is that
a yes to my offer?”

She nodded.

“
Yee haw!”
he shouted, grabbing his hat off his head and
waving it into the air. Apparently speaking his language, the donkey snorted and
bellowed,
“Hee! Haw! Hee! Haw! Hee! Haw!”

~ * ~

“Whoa, girl.” The buggy came to a halt in front of Quinn’s
Boarding House. Upon spying Donovan McKinney standing on the porch talking to
Charlotte and Lucinda, Delaney pushed aside her skirt and hopped down without waiting
for Gabriel to come to her aid.

“There you are!” Charlotte exclaimed. She rose from her rocker as
Delaney marched up the steps. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”

“I’m sorry, Charlotte. Gabriel—er—Dr. Whitman and I spent the
night at the Pima village. He delivered a baby yesterday.”

“
We
delivered a baby,” he corrected, as he slipped up beside
her. “Hello ladies, hello Donovan.”

The Irishman tipped his hat. “Mornin’, folks.”

Delaney stepped in front of Donovan. “You’re just the man I need
to speak to. You’ve avoided me long enough. It’s time you and I have a
heart-to-heart talk.”

“A heart-to-heart about what?” Lucinda asked, curious.

“Our talk will have to wait, miss,” Donovan said. He turned his
attention to Gabriel. “You’re needed in town, sir.”

“What is it?”

“A girl’s been seriously hurt. She's one of the young lasses from
the White Dog. Her friends knocked on me door when ye weren’t in the clinic. I
thought ye might be down here takin’ breakfast with Miss Marshall. Looks like
me timin' was perfect.”

“Yes it was, Donovan. Where’s the girl now?”

“In the back of me café.”

“I’ll head right up to the clinic.” Gabriel flew back down the
steps.

“I’ll go with you,” Delaney said.

Charlotte protested. “You just got home. Let me fix you some
breakfast first.”

The donkey opened his mouth and let his presence be known. All
heads turned. Lucinda peered over the porch rails and her mouth formed an “O.”
“What on earth is that thing?”

“That’s a Pima donkey. And not an overly friendly one, either,”
Delaney answered. “Charlotte, thank you. I’d love some breakfast, but it’s
going to have to wait. I work for Dr. Whitman now. I’m his new nurse. I’ll be
going to the clinic with him.” She looked to him for confirmation.

He nodded. “That’s right. I’ll bring her back as soon as we’re
done.”

“A nurse!” Lucinda cried. “That’s wonderful, Delaney.” She clapped
her hands like a child.

“When did this all come about?” Charlotte asked, with eyes large as
saucers.

“He offered me the job just this morning.” Despite the possible
implications of her decision, Delaney could not help but beam with pride.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Donovan said, breaking in, “but I think ye
ought to hurry, Doc. The girl. She’s in pretty bad shape. Me waitress is
lookin’ after her, and a couple of her friends are with her, too. But they’re
havin’ fits.”

“Of course. Let’s go, Delaney.” Gabriel instinctively took her
hand. They strode down the walk and climbed back into the buggy. “We’ll meet
you at the clinic in a few minutes,” he told Donovan as he took up the reins.
“Bring the girl in through the back.”

“Aye, Doc.” Donovan untied his Arabian, stuck his foot in the
stirrup and hopped into the saddle. “Have a good mornin’, ladies!” he called,
tipping his hat to Charlotte and Lucinda before kicking his horse in the sides.

They waved from the top of the stairs and watched him trot past
the buggy. “Good morning!” they called in unison. When Delaney’s head pivoted,
Charlotte hollered, “When you’re done, come back for breakfast, you two!”

“Soon!” She waved.

When Gabriel parked in front of the clinic, he recognized a couple
of young boys who were pitching pennies in the street. He called out to them.
“Billy! Caleb! Come here, boys.” He climbed down from the buggy and helped
Delaney out.

“Yes, sir?” they asked upon approach.

“I’ll give you boys each a dime if you’ll drive this rig to Ike’s
Livery and Stables for me.”

The boys’ eyes lit up. “Yes, sir!” Billy exclaimed.

Gabriel reached into his pocket and handed them each a shiny dime.
“Ask Mr. Kingston to feed and water both these animals for me. This donkey
belongs to He Who Fights Bravely, my friend from the Pima village. Tell Mr.
Kingston to put the donkey in a stall until the owner comes for him. And please
tell Ike I’ll be over later to pay him for the use of the buggy. You got all
that?”

“We got it, Doc,” Caleb said.

Gabriel hurriedly unlocked the front door of the clinic and showed
Delaney through first. Then he rushed across the waiting room, through the
examining room, and headed straight to the back bedroom. Delaney waited by the
exam table. She heard him unlock another door and then she heard voices.
Moments later, Gabriel traipsed back into the room carrying an unconscious
young woman in his arms. Donovan and two painted girls trailed behind.

Delaney could tell they’d been crying. Their makeup was ruined. When
Gabriel gently placed the girl on the exam table, Delaney saw she was the
flame-haired beauty from the rooftop of the White Dog Saloon. She’d been
beaten. Her eye was black, her lip was cut and swollen, and there were bruises around
her neck. Her bodice was ripped open, exposing a bite mark on her chest. Horrified,
Delaney stuck the washbowl under the sink faucet and filled it with water.

The patient moaned in her sleep and clutched at her ribs.

“What happened to her?” Gabriel asked the two girls.

“One of the johns,” the petite brunette answered. “He went crazy
on her. We’re all scared of that one. He gets real mean when he’s drunk.”

“Who was it?” he asked, his eyes dark with fury. “What’s his
name?”

Donovan spoke up. “They said it was Warren Hooper. A couple of
cowboys had to pull him off her.”

Delaney’s gaze met Gabriel’s across the table. “What’s this girl’s
name?” she asked one of the soiled doves.

“Jasmine. She didn’t deserve this,” the teary platinum blonde
added.

“No one deserves this.” She handed Gabriel the bar of lye soap. He
scrubbed his hands and then handed it to her to do the same.

“You ladies can wait in the parlor, if you’d like,” he told them.
“We’ll take care of your friend. I’ll talk to you after we’ve patched her up.”

“Is she going to be all right?” one asked.

Delaney tossed an arm around her shoulder and escorted both girls
to the waiting room. “Dr. Whitman will do everything he can for her. I’ll let
you know how she is in a while.”

They nodded and slid onto the hardback chairs. She felt for them.
The blonde wrung her hands, while the brunette looked off into space, no doubt
thinking it could have easily been her lying on that table.

When Delaney returned to Gabriel’s side, he unbuttoned Jasmine’s
blouse, or what was left of it. He looked up and saw Donovan staring at the
girl’s bosom. “Thank you, Donovan,” he told the Irishman. “We’ll take it from
here.”

Donovan’s gaze fell upon Delaney as she began gathering up
bandages and other items she guessed Gabriel might need. “So, yer really his
nurse now?” he asked her.

“For now, yes.” She glanced at him over her shoulder.

His eyes lit up. “I say! That’s wonderful! Just wonderful!” He
strode toward Gabriel’s bedroom with a big smile on his face.

She stared after him, wondering what had made him so happy all of
a sudden. “Don’t try to hide from me anymore, Mr. McKinney,” she called out.
“We still have an appointment to talk.”

“Aye, lass.” He turned and winked, and wished them both a good day
before leaving the same way he’d come in.

Seventeen

“That’s one strange man,” Delaney said, shaking her head. “What
can I do to help?” she asked, getting back to the task at hand. Gabriel had
undressed the girl, who occasionally moaned and tossed her head, and checked her
body for more injuries.

“You can wash the blood away from her mouth with a warm cloth.
That brute. Look at what he’s done to this innocent child.”

With the dress spread open, Delaney witnessed firsthand the black
and blue bruises on Jasmine’s ribcage and legs. Incensed, she whispered, “He
beat the crap out of her. She’s just a kid. Not even old enough to vote.”

Gabriel looked up at her with a question mark on his face. She
knew she’d surprised him again, but it took a minute for her to realize just
what it was she’d said that did it this time. “Yes, Gabriel. It’ll take another
thirty-odd years, but women are going to get the right to vote in elections.
How about that?”

“That’s very good,” he replied. “Most women have more common sense
than men, anyway.”

She smiled. “I like the way you think, Dr. Whitman.”

He stepped over to another table and began to mix up a concoction,
and she gently cleaned the girl’s face. While she was washing off the blood,
she went ahead and wiped all the garish makeup off.

Gabriel unrolled some rolls of gauze and cut them into different
lengths. “Delaney, can you bring me the bottle labeled Witch Hazel from my
medicine cabinet?”

She did as he requested. “What’s this for?” she asked, twisting
the cap off.

“It’ll help the damaged blood vessels beneath the skin. It’s good
for the bruising.” He poured some on a cloth and lightly rubbed it over
Jasmine’s injuries. Then he pulled a big spoon out of a drawer and poured some
thick, gold medicine into it.

“What’s that?”

“I mixed some white willow bark with honey and lemon. We’ll give
it to her orally. It’ll help relieve her pain and the inflammation. It’s one of
the natural remedies I learned from the Pimas.”

She watched as he lifted Jasmine’s head and slid the concoction
down her throat. She’d later refer to it as nature’s aspirin.

“You can take out that container of lavender,” he said, pointing
to the top shelf of his cabinet. “Please pack a little of it onto her lip.
It’ll help soothe that cut. We’ll also add some of it to warm water and dip the
gauze bandages into the mixture. Then we’ll wrap them around her ribs.”

Delaney did as he instructed. “What about her black eye? What do
you do for that?”

“Not much. It’ll fade in time. The eye isn’t lacerated, thank God.
It would have been a shame to have had to stitch it up and leave a scar.”

“My father had a black eye once,” she recalled. “I was very young,
but I remember him lying on the couch and my mother holding a steak on his
eye.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Was that your mother’s idea of a medical cure?”

“I guess. I think it worked, but I remember her crying. I think
she’s
the one who gave him the black eye! She must have felt guilty about it.”

He grinned. “She must have had a fiery temper. Like mother like
daughter?” He left the question hanging in the air.

“Must be the Irish blood in us,” she answered, smiling.

“Good thing your hair isn’t the color of this one’s,” he teased,
referring to the redhead lying on the table. “You’d be double trouble.” Jasmine
stirred and moaned again. “She’ll need laudanum when she wakes,” Gabriel said,
back to business. “She’s going to be hurting for some time. I don’t think my herbal
concoction will be strong enough. We’ll keep her here in the clinic until she’s
recovered, of course.”

“Laudanum is addictive, you know,” Delaney warned.

“Yes, unfortunately, I’ve seen the effects. I’ll give her just
enough to help her through the pain the first couple of days.”

“Do you think Hooper’s in jail?” she asked. “He ought to be. He
almost killed this girl.”

“I forgot to ask Donovan. If he’s not, I’ll go to the sheriff and
insist he be arrested. I know girls like these don’t have any rights, but I
think the sheriff will agree the man needs to be jailed, once he hears how bad
off this child is.”

Delaney nodded in satisfaction.

“You should tell him what Hooper tried to do to you in the alley,
too,” he said, leveling a gaze at her.

“If it’ll keep him behind bars, I will.” She stared into Jasmine’s
swollen face. “She’s a pretty thing. It’s a shame what these young women are
forced to do for a living.”

“Some of them have no options. Guess she’s one that doesn’t.
You’re lucky, having been born a century later than her. You do have choices. I
hope you remember that the next time you corner Donovan.”

Their eyes locked.