The Circle Eight: Tobias (4 page)

“Still high and mighty? I suppose you gotta right to be, being a fake doctor and all.” Tobias hadn’t lost the edge from his voice either.
 

“I’m not a fake doctor.” Rebecca’s pride reared its ugly head. “I am a healer and an herbalist, same as I was when we met five years ago.”
 

“That what you call it? A healer?” He snorted. “Didn’t do you no good when Pops died, did it?”
 

Beneath the rancor, she heard ancient grief. That she understood all too well. The Grahams had suffered their fair share of losses, starting with the murder of their parents so long ago. Rebecca had been angry too. She’d lost much but her family had been there beside her. It appeared Tobias had no one left beside him.
 

It saddened her, not that she would tell him that. He would likely become angrier if she offered sympathy. The man was like a prickly cactus.
 

“Your Pops was old and very sick. He had a long life and it was his time. There wasn’t anything I could do but make him comfortable. You knew that then. You know that now.” She finally turned and met his angry gaze. Her body tightened as it always did when she saw him. His cheeks
were gaunt, his eyes lined with dark circles, and he looked as though she forgot how to use a razor. He was thin, too thin for a man as big as he was.
 

Yet the pull was still there. The tug in her gut that yanked them toward each other. It resonated through her making everything tighten like a fist and snatching her breath.
 

“He didn’t tell me
you
were the Doc.” Tobias scowled at his brother’s back.
 

“I realized that when we got here and you looked at me like your worst nightmare had ridden up to your door.” She regretted the words as soon as they popped out of her mouth but she couldn’t snatch them back.
 

His expression changed. “Not my worst nightmare.” He shook his head. “Never that.”
 

Rebecca had never been so uncomfortable. Feelings, questions and urges raced through her. More than anything she was confused.
 

“Where are the little ones?” she blurted, unable to stop her runaway mouth.
 

Tobias looked down, the sun shadowing his face making his expression unreadable. “With families who can give them what I can’t.”
 

She had seen the love Tobias had for them, the way they adored him. He could have given them what they needed, but something stopped him from doing so. It was none of her business and she had to curtail her curiosity. It didn’t stop his though.
 

“Why do they call you Doc?”
 

She kept her gaze on James’s back, unwilling to look at Tobias any longer. It was too hard to deny the effect he had on her. She thought she was stronger.
 

“I started by helping people on the ranch and learning all I could about herbs. I spent time with Indian shaman, midwives, and learned everything I could from anyone who would teach me.” She smiled at the memory of talking to one woman through the door to her cabin the woods. “I also helped Doctor Radicy in Briar Creek with his patients. He can’t get around much anymore so I still help out when he sends for me.”
 

Tobias made a chuffing noise. “Huh. You’re a busy fake doctor. What does your husband think about that?”
 

Rebecca didn’t want to tell him. It wasn’t embarrassing and she wasn’t the least bit ashamed either. She had no desire for him to know she wasn’t married and come to the conclusion it was because of him. It wasn’t. Not at all. “I’m not married.”
 

“Well, then, that’s a bit of news.” His tone was matter-of-fact, if not bored.
 

“No more talk.” James growled from ahead. “Let’s just get there before he dies from waiting for us to get there.”
 

The next four hours were as uncomfortable as her ride after that night five years earlier. Both of them revolved around Tobias. Rebecca would have abandoned the entire trip if it wasn’t for genuine concern for Will. He was the quietest of the bunch, someone who worshipped his older brothers. James’s concern was palpable, a living thing hanging in the air over them. They rode hard toward the injured Gibson.
 

When they neared the ranch, several ranch hands stopped to tip their hats. The mood grew more somber every moment they moved closer. Rebecca’s tension increased exponentially. She wasn’t a trained doctor, had no formal book learning on how to heal someone. She was driven by instinct and by listening to what her patients, and their bodies, told her.
 

What if she couldn’t heal Will? She didn’t know the extent of his injuries or whether he could recover. This was different than setting a young girl’s arm. His life was in danger and she was the guardian between here and the afterlife.
 

It wasn’t the first time a patient had been in dire straits, but the unknown of how alive, or dead, he was, weighed on her heavily. They rode up to a bunkhouse and a calm settled over her as it always did when she was faced with a medical emergency. This was her gift and she would call on every bit of it to save Will’s life.
 

Chapter Three
 

Tobias didn’t have an ounce of spit left in his mouth. It was drier than a dust storm in summer. He tied the horse’s reins to the hitching post with trembling hands. It wasn’t the lack of whiskey in his veins, but flat out fear.
 

Will could be dead or dying and all Tobias could say was that he’d drank too much to be a proper big brother. There was no excuse for what he had or hadn’t done. The time was now and Will needed him to be there, so here he was. The Quad Four ranch seemed to be a well-respected outfit and the buildings were all in good shape. The sun was low in the sky, casting shadows across the yard.
 

James helped Rebecca down and then held her bag. Tobias should have thought to do that. He wasn’t a gentleman by nature but his brother was. Tobias stepped up on the porch just as James spoke quietly to an older man who emerged from the door. The stranger had bowed legs as though he had spent his life on a horse, with a craggy, lined face and steady brown eyes.
 

“This is Doc. Miss Graham, this is Rupert Donovan, the owner of this outfit. How’s Will?” James’s tone was tighter than a bowstring.
 

“Alive. I’m glad to have you here, Doc. I know you had to ride a piece to get here.” Donovan took her by the elbow, which made Tobias grunt in protest. “He’s in the house. Being in the bunkhouse made the other hands a mite nervous.”
 

Tobias didn’t know the man but he already didn’t like him. First for hiding Will away because he was injured. Second because the rancher touched Rebecca. The damn alcohol had turned Tobias’s temper into a cannonball of fury, which was ready to fire at any time.
 

Absolute madness.
 

“Thank you for doing what you could for him.” Rebecca sounded gracious and goddamn calm. Tobias was anything but calm. He wanted to tear the nearest thing to pieces and howl at the sky until he couldn’t speak. Yet he kept quiet and gritted his teeth. She continued speaking. “I’ll examine him but I know I’ll need clean bandages and water heated to boiling.”
 

“Anything you need, Doc.”
 

They walked in the house before Tobias realized James hadn’t introduced him to Donovan. That cut even if the deliberate dismissal was deserved. The house was laid out as one big room with the kitchen and
living room, followed by a hallway. Golden lamplight spilled from a room down the hallway.
 

Dread coiled tighter and tighter in Tobias’s gut the closer they got to the light. Sweat trickled down his back and pooled at his waistband. What if Will was crippled or worse? What if he died? Tobias tasted whiskey from two days ago burn up his throat. He couldn’t lose his brother or it might destroy him. Tobias was hanging onto his sanity by his filthy fingernails. One more push and he would fall.
 

Rebecca walked in cool as ice. She set her tapestry bag down and pulled a chair to the side of the bed. Tobias forced himself to look at Will. He lay on the narrow bed, his head swathed in white bandages spotted with crimson. His lower leg was at an angle Mother Nature never intended, the bone in an L shape.
 

His chest was bare and bruised. Rebecca examined him quickly, her hands moving over his chest and leg with experience he hadn’t expected. Her fingers were long but strong, the nails clean and clipped.
 

“I need to set the bone in his leg. The break seems to be clean but if we don’t set it he will limp and might not be able to ride a horse.” She looked at James and Tobias. “I’ll need two pieces of wood for the splint.”
 

“I’ll get the wood.” Donovan disappeared from the doorway.
 

“How bad is it?” James frowned at the unconscious Gibson.
 

“I can’t say for certain yet. I want to get his leg set and splinted, then I’ll wrap his ribs.” She pulled a leather strop from her bag, then crawled up onto the bed and straddled his foot. “One of you grab his left leg and the other hold his shoulders down. We need to keep him from thrashing when I set this.”
 

Tobias shook with fear for his brother. He wanted to close his eyes and make everything right again. Life wasn’t that kind. James headed toward his shoulders and she handed him the leather. “Put this in his mouth for him to bite down on. Even unconscious he can hurt himself.”
 

Tobias settled near his left leg. She didn’t look at him. “Hold him down as much as you can. This is going to hurt.”
 

Rebecca leaned forward and braced her thumbs on the skin above the broken bone. “Ready?”
 

James and Tobias both nodded. Tobias couldn’t tear his eyes away from Rebecca as she pulled and maneuvered the ends of the bone. Will screamed and bucked, his voice like the cry of an animal stuck in a trap. Tears ran down his younger brother’s face, mixing with the blood that oozed from beneath the bandages on his head.
 

Tobias fought to keep Will’s lower body from moving. It took every ounce of strength to keep his hold and not cry himself. He could barely stand up but he was going to hold onto Will’s leg, no matter what. He dug deep and gritted his teeth while sweat rolled like a river down his face, neck and back.
 

Her hands had to be incredibly strong, pushing and pulling to piece Will’s leg bag together. The contrast of his hairy limb against her delicate skin was yet another oddity in an already crazy situation. “I’ve almost got it. Another minute.” Rebecca’s face was red with exertion as she used her body weight to keep his injured leg in place.
 

“He won’t last another fucking minute,” Tobias growled.
 

Rebecca didn’t reply. She pulled and moved a few more times until the bones were in perfect alignment.
 

Somehow during the last two minutes, Donovan had returned wood and rope. Rebecca held out her hand.
 

“Give me one of the pieces.”
 

Donovan handed her one. She held it against Will’s leg. The animal cries continued to pour from his younger brother’s mouth. Each one scratched Tobias’s ears and heart. He wanted to turn back the clock and erase Will’s injury. To take the pain on himself rather than the most innocent of men.
 

“Finish it.” The words were torn from his throat.
 

“Give me another piece.” She took another from Donovan and placed it on the other side of Will’s leg. “I need two pieces of rope. Now!”
 

The rancher cut two pieces and thrust them into her waiting hand. With an agility Tobias didn’t expect, she tied the ropes to secure the splint in seconds.
 

Will began to calm as soon as she let his leg lie still. Tobias and James slowly removed their shaking hands from his no longer thrashing body. The only sound was heavy breathing from all of them. Rebecca stepped off the bed and let out a shaky sigh. The smell of sweat, fear and blood permeated the air.
 

“I’ll need to wrap it properly but the bones should heal straight now.” She wiped her brow with one sleeve and Tobias noted her hands shook too. No matter how confident she appeared, Rebecca had been affected by what she just did.
 

Tobias got to his feet and swayed as the reality of what he’d just witnessed, combined with his weakened state from no real food for days,
all hit him at once. He managed to race out of the room before he vomited up the bile that had laid claim to his stomach.
 

Rebecca worked methodically from wound to wound. After securing the splint, she checked Will’s head. James stayed in the room while she worked but Tobias and Donovan had fled after the rancher had delivered a basin of water. Men were strong until it came to real pain and then they reverted to the boys they had once been.
 

James surprised her by remaining, silent and stoic, but he stood by the door, his arms crossed. His gaze burned into her, intense and unyielding. It wasn’t the first time she’d been observed while working, but it was one of the most uncomfortable.
 

She told herself to ignore James and focus on the younger Gibson. Will had been quiet until she began to unwrap the bandages around his head. Then he whimpered.
 

“Shhh, it’s all right,” she crooned as she continued to unroll the bandage. He whimpered again and she stopped to cup his cheek. “I’m here to help you, Will. I will do my best not to hurt you but I need to see.”
 

He relaxed enough for her to finish revealing the head wound. She sucked in a breath at the damage. Blood matted his hair but she could see the white bone of his skull. The bone wasn’t in pieces, but it was assuredly dented right above his ear. Rebecca spent the next fifteen minutes cleaning the blood and dirt from the wound. There also appeared to be pieces of gravel and what might have been bark in his hair.