The Rider of Phantom Canyon (18 page)

The Union Pacific Railway Hospital was located near York Street and Fortieth Avenue in Denver, Colorado. A two-and-a-half-story, rusticated stone structure with dormers, it had nine chimneys that Joshua had counted the last time he was there. He and Wednesday were brought there by ambulance after the train arrived at Union Pacific Station downtown.

Joshua was taken into the hospital in a wooden wheelchair, and he saw Wednesday being carried in on a stretcher. Nurses and doctors were scurrying in and out of doorways, and Joshua got up slowly out of his chair and started down the hallway. He spotted a doctor behind a desk and hobbled into his office.

The doctor, a gray-haired, distinguished-looking man with a well-trimmed beard, did not even greet him but instead hollered, “Nurse! A chair!”

Seconds later, a nurse appeared in the doorway pushing another wooden wheelchair, and the doctor said, “Sit down,” not “Would you please sit down?” or anything close, but a firm command.

Joshua collapsed into the chair and said, “Doctor, the young lady, the Lakota woman who was brought in just now—I need to speak to her doctor.”

The doctor said, “That is me. I am Thaddeus Wintergarden, and I know who you are, Mr. Strongheart. What is her name?”

Strongheart said, “Wednesday.”

The stern-looking doctor smiled.

He said, “Now there is a name. I like that.”

Joshua said, “Thank you, Doctor.”

“You mean to tell me you named her that?”

Strongheart said, “Yes, the other day. Her Lakota name—Lakota is what you white men call the Sioux—is Wiya Waste, which means ‘beautiful woman.' I called her Wednesday because it sounds close.”

“Very clever,” the doctor said. “Well, my goal will be to call her Healthy Woman when she leaves here, instead of Beautiful Woman. Now, what is your question?”

Joshua smiled broadly and said, “You've already answered the question, Doctor.”

“No more getting out of chairs when you are placed in them, Mr. Strongheart.”

Strongheart said, “Call me Joshua, please. I will be a good patient. Just take good care of her.”

The doctor said, “We will be operating on her shortly. Probably will operate on you right after. A nurse will take you to your room, and I will be in to see you soon. Take a nap while you wait.”

Strongheart was not used to be being bossed around, but saw that this man was accustomed to giving orders and having them obeyed. He would cooperate fully, as he respected the doctor.

*   *   *

He opened his eyes and looked around. It was night outside, and his eyes closed again while he slipped back into a deep, comfortable sleep.

The next time Joshua opened his eyes, it was daytime. He stretched, and Dr. Wintergarden walked in the door.

His stern look changed to a pleasant smile, and he said, “Good morning, Joshua. How are you feeling today?”

Strongheart said, “Honestly, Doctor, I am hoping this is the last time I ever spend a night at this hospital.”

The doctor grinned and replied, “A night? You arrived here three days ago.”

Joshua was shocked to hear he had been there three days.

The doctor continued, “I was told you carried Wednesday in your arms for several miles. You were shot through your hip and had part of your hip bone nicked away, and a sliver of bullet was lodged in the injured hip bone. How were you able to overcome the pain you must have been in?”

Strongheart said, “I didn't do anything, Dr. Wintergarden, but how is Wednesday?”

The stern look returned. “Not good, I'm afraid. She has had a serious infection and lost a lot of blood, which has left her weak. I think we have the infection healing. I had to make a few incisions to let her bleed out some of the infection and have used a honey salve. You did an excellent job on her wound, and the bullet passed cleanly through, it seems.”

Joshua said, “Then what is wrong?”

The doctor said, “It is touch and go. I just don't know. She has a strep infection, but I think it is subsiding. Her fever is gone, but she is weak and cannot even sit up yet. She has been awake several times, but it is almost like she has lost the will to live. I wish I knew how to snap her out of it.”

Strongheart said, “Can I see her?”

The physician said, “Of course. Her room is next door, and the nurse just told me she has been opening her eyes a bit. Hold on.”

He walked to a closet in the corner, opened the oak door, and pulled out a pair of crude wooden crutches, which were actually two long sticks with padded handles to go under the armpits. The bottom of each crutch had a tight leather boot stitched around it.

Strongheart walked over to a window in the hallway and looked out at the mountains. He wished desperately to be there right now—anywhere but here. He thought about his mother's death and how close he had been with her. She was only fifteen when he was born, but she never acted like a girl. She was always a strict,
loving mother who would not baby him and made sure he got plenty of education, and she left him early. He remembered visiting her in the hospital and begging her not to give up, not to give in to the consumption, but the disease was too much for her. It actually made him feel worse that she had left him a very large estate. Joshua Strongheart was rich, but he had his money in banks and investments and had sought out a career, and he loved the work he chose with the Pinkerton Agency. Strongheart looked out at the mountain range west of Denver and the snowcapped peaks. He said a silent prayer and asked God to give him the right words to save this woman's life.

He limped into the room of Wiya Waste. He smiled as he looked around. She was used to living in a bison-hide teepee, and here she was in a room that looked like it had been a doctor's office that was converted into a patient's private room. It had fancy wallpaper on the walls, and sheer drapes, valances, and curtains on the windows. He appreciated the treatment she was being afforded.

Strongheart pulled a chair over to her bedside and leaned his crutches against her bed as he sat down stiffly in the straight-backed chair. A nurse was in the room, but he waited until she finished placing bandaging, iodine, and the like. The beautiful Wednesday lay there on her side, curled up in the fetal position. He touched her, and for the first time since she had been shot, she
did not feel warm to the touch. Her color was better, but she looked like she was ready to die. The nurse left.

Joshua said,
“Wiya Waste. Wiya Waste, hau. TókheÅ¡khe yaúŋ he?”
Which means “Beautiful Woman, Beautiful Woman, hello. How are you?”

Her eyelids flickered, but she kept her head on her pillow and looked at him and closed her eyes again.

He moaned and said,
“Tóhaŋni waŋžíla iyápi iyóhi Å¡ni yeló,”
which means, “One language is never enough.”

He said, “Please open your eyes. I have to tell you something very, very important.”

Inside her brain, she secretly felt that he was about to tell her on behalf of the doctor that she was going to die, and he was going to tell her good-bye. She also did not want to open her eyes, as it felt so good to just rest and not fight anymore. This was all so foreign to her, and the infection made her feel so bad. She had seen so many Lakota die of infections over the years, and she was so weak and sick when she came in that she just assumed she was going to make the journey.

With her voice very weak, she spoke slowly, saying,
“Hau, Wanji Wambli, híŋhaŋni lahči,”
which meant, “Hello, One Eagle, good morning.”

Strongheart said, “Can you keep your eyes open and look at me, so I know you are hearing every word I say?”

The beauty said, weakly again, “Yes.”

She kept her eyes open readily, since looking at this man with love in her eyes had been her favorite thing
to do since she was four or five years old. He was her hero then and had remained so her whole life. In fact, her love for him had grown over the years more rapidly than her age advanced.

Strongheart said, “Have you not told me many times that you love me?”

Her eyes opened wider and her voice was a little stronger as she said, “Yes, yes,
Iyótaŋčhila
, Joshua!” Which means, “Yes, yes, I love you, Joshua!”

“Do you love me a lot?”

She wondered why he was saying this, but responded with an even stronger voice, “Yes, I love you very, very much. Why?”

Strongheart looked at the wall, then back at her, saying, “I want to ask you to do something for me because you love me. You probably will not want to do it, but I am asking you to do it for me. Will you do whatever I ask, because it is for me?”

Wednesday said, “Yes, yes, I will.”

He said, “Good. You may not understand all my words, but you will get the meaning. I want you to get your pretty red diseased ass out of this bed and Lakota the hell up!!!”

This totally caught her by surprise, made her angry, and gave her hope all at once, since she had been expecting him to say good-bye, as she was going to make the journey.

Wednesday said, “Yes, I will,” and she put her hands down, and with her arms shaking, she pushed herself off the bed.

She was breathing hard, but very proud of herself, and he was proud of her, too. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her.

She smiled and seemed much more alive.

She said, “I thought you would tell me good-bye, that I must make the walk.”

He laughed and said, “Heck no. You never heard me say a curse word before, did you?”

“What does
curse word
mean?”

He laughed again. “Bad words for Americans.”

She said, “Oh, no, I had not. You, a what does it mean, you shock me.”

She giggled.

He said, “How about some food?”

She said, “Yes, my stomach thinks a wolf lives inside it.”

Strongheart said, “Nurse!”

Teresa, who had been welcomed by the hospital, came in from the hallway and smiled at Wednesday.

She said, “Hi, Wednesday, do you remember me?”

Wednesday said, “Yes, you are Teresa. You help me. Thank you.”

Teresa said, “I am glad to see you have decided to live. How about some nice beef stew?”

Wednesday smiled and gave her a quizzical look.

Strongheart said, “That is soup with beef from cows, carrots, potatoes, and onions all in gravy.”

“That sounds like very good. Thank you.”

Wednesday was not used to saying thank you in her
society, as it was usually understood, but was learning the white man's ways rapidly.

Strongheart said, “I'm going to let you eat. I want you to get stronger. It is a long way back to the Dakota Territory, and a hard journey.”

She said, “What about Victoria?”

He said, “Right now, I just want you to worry about getting better.”

She said, “Wanji Wambli, she was part of killing many of our people. I want to be there when you put chains on her and she goes to jail.”

He said, “Heal fast, and we will talk about it.”

He went to his room and lay down, as he was feeling a little weak. Joshua was very excited about the way Wednesday had responded to him. He drifted off to sleep. An hour passed, and Strongheart felt a presence. He opened his eyes, and there in the doorway was Brenna Alexander. She came to his bedside, bent down, and kissed him.

“Brenna,” he said, “what are you doing here?”

She said, “I ran into Lucky Champ in a restaurant in downtown Chicago, and he told me what happened to you and where you were. I booked a ride on the next train here. How are you feeling?”

When she walked over and kissed him, she and Joshua did not see Wednesday being wheeled into his room in a wooden wheelchair by Teresa. The nurse quickly backed out of the door and wheeled Wednesday
back to her room. The Lakota woman could hardly contain her tears until the nurse wisely left the room and closed the door.

Strongheart got out of bed and grabbed his crutches. His pain was terrible as the pair walked out the door and down the hallway. She told Joshua what had been happening in her life. He felt strange talking to her, even getting a kiss from her, because of Wednesday being in the next room and professing her love for him so freely. They walked to the end of the hallway and turned down another one and ended up at a window facing the cityscape of downtown Denver, which was actually blocks away.

Brenna said, “I missed you so much and have been so worried about you since I heard. I cried most of the way to Denver on the train.”

For some reason this statement bothered Joshua. Why did she tell him that? he wondered.

She moved up close to him again, wanting to be kissed. He stopped and looked out the window. Brenna turned him toward her.

She said, “I love you, Joshua.”

He did not know how to respond. He pulled her close in a hug. Strongheart was very confused right now about women. After his realistic dream, he really felt the final bit of healing after losing Belle. He would always love her and have a special place in his heart for her, but he felt she somehow, from Heaven, had told him it was okay to love again. He knew Wiya Waste grew up in the
lodges of the Lakota, and it was not even fair to ask her to live in the white man's world.

Just now, his long-held fantasies about her were coming to the fore, since he had learned after all these years that they were not actually cousins. They were unrelated as far as blood goes. He was also very impressed that she was actually the daughter of Crazy Horse. He did think,
What a family of warriors we could breed and raise!

Brenna said, “Joshua, do you love me?”

He smiled softly and said, “Do I love you, or am I in love with you?”

She said, “Yes, are you in love with me?”

He said, “Brenna, this is crazy, but right now I am not sure about anything or anybody. I do love you, but I do not know if I am in love with you. You are beautiful, and you are really a wonderful lady. I just don't know.”