Chapter Twenty-Eight

Will groaned and put his hand against his head. Who had hired the drum band to play beneath his skull?

His head lolled to the side and he opened his eyes just a crack. He had expected to see the wall of the familiar brothel room but instead he saw an unfamiliar clock ticking against a brown plaster wall. 

His eyes opened more completely and he shifted as he looked around him. He didn’t recognize this place at all. How had he gotten out of the brothel? 

 Will glanced down and realized he was wearing only a pair of worn trousers beneath the blanket he was covered with. White bandages were wrapped tight around his middle and a bit of blood had soaked through them on his stomach. 

“Hello?” he called out cautiously. 

“You’re awake. Good.” 

Will recognized Doctor Rawling when the man entered the room. He appeared tired and haggard and worn to the bone, “What’s going on?” Will whispered. “What am I doing here?” 

“You’ve been here for a week and a half, boy,” the doctor replied. “I had to keep you asleep to give your body time to heal a bit or the pain would have been unbearable.” 

A week and a half? Talk about losing time! 

“How did I get here?” he repeated. 

Doctor Rawling walked over to the bed with a glass of water in his hand. He put one hand behind Will’s head to help prop it up and then pressed the glass against his lips, “Turner brought you,” the doctor replied tightly. 

Will gasped and choked on the water he’d been drinking. Turner was alive!! But Thompson had said…. Thompson had lied! Of course he had!

Will coughed and yelled out when his ribs and low side filled with pain, “Calm down, boy! You have stitches and cracked ribs!” Doctor Rawling scolded. 

“Stitches?” 

“You had internal bleeding, Will, and I had to cut you open to stop it. That’s why I kept you sedated.” 

“Where’s Turner?” Will questioned, desperate to see the other man. He wanted to feel Turner holding him, kissing him. He wanted to hear his deep voice and know that everything was going to be okay. 

Doctor Rawling shook his head, “He’s on the run and won’t be coming back here if he knows what’s good for him.” 

Will frowned, “Why?”

“He killed Thompson and every man that worked with him. He killed the sheriff and deputies. He burned half the town down! And…” Doctor Rawling swallowed hard, his tired blue eyes reddening around the edges, “He killed my son.” 

Will’s eyes widened. Turner had done all of that!? Will felt his heart break for Turner as he wondered what the man must be going through running for his life after having had to do such terrible things. 

“I’m sorry you lost your son…” Will whispered. Timothy had been evil deep down to the core. He had been mean, vulgar and had visited Will in that brothel on more than one occasion, slinging insults as he’d raped him.  But Doctor Rawling had always been a kind man. He hadn’t ever tried to help those that Thompson kept prisoner gain their freedom but he had never done anything to harm them either. 

Doctor Rawling sighed as he sat down in the chair beside the bed and covered his face with his hands, “I know my son was rotten. I tried to raise him in the right way but Thompson Caudill’s hold proved too strong once it found it’s way to Timothy. What they did to you was wrong, Will, I know that. Truly I do not blame Turner for what he did, honestly I don’t, and a lot of folks are beginning to see things that way as well. We all knew how crooked those lawmen were, how evil Thompson was, we were simply too afraid to do anything about it.”

Will’s head swam. It was all so much to take in. Turner had killed a lot of people, he had burned down half the town, no doubt innocent people had been hurt, but he had saved Will’s life and then… then he’d had to run for his own. 

“I’ll get you some food, Will. You are going to need to build your strength back up slowly and continue to heal,” Doctor Rawling got to his feet. “For what it’s worth, I don’t believe Turner deserves to be hunted for what he did but if he shows his face here, I’ll have to kill him. He murdered my son and no matter what kind of man my son was, I can’t let that go unpunished if the murderer were to be standing before me.” 

Doctor Rawling walked out of the room and Will felt tears fill his eyes and slip hopelessly down his cheek. Thompson was dead, there was no longer the threat of that man hanging over his head, Turner was alive and yet…. It would seem that the situation was just as hopeless as it had been up at that cabin when Thompson and his men had rode him and stolen him away. 

***

Four days later and Will felt much stronger than he had when he’d first awaken. He’d been eating good meals and he’d gotten out of bed a couple of times with the doctors assistance to get his legs working again. 

His ribs were sore but healing and the stitches on his side were well on their way to knitting together. Will should be happy about all of this but he wasn’t. 

He hadn’t been happy since he’d been taken from the cabin two weeks ago. 

He wanted Turner. He wanted to see Turner, hear Turner, hold Turner and feel Turner. He needed Turner. Will had always been an independent man who didn’t depend on anyone else for his happiness but he’d become one the moment he’d fallen in love with that brooding, jackass of a man. Brooding jackass of a man with a temper to match. 

Will wasn’t surprised by what Turner had done and he wasn’t bothered or angry about it either. Of course Turner’s temper had gotten the better of him. He was a man who threw his own sofa into the snow just to get his way, after all. There was no other reaction that Turner would have had. Turner had warned him that he had a dark past and while they hadn’t covered details, judging by the spree Turner had gone on, Will guessed that past had to do with killing people. 

Will was sitting on the back porch of the docs house, wrapped in  blanket and enjoying the above average temperatures they were experiencing today. From here he couldn’t see the main street or the charred remains of Turner’s temper. 

Will hoped Turner was okay, wherever he was. Doctor Rawling had admitted that Turner had been shot in the leg that night he’d brought Will to the doc’s and Will had never in his life worried as much as he was worrying right now. 

“Will?” Doctor Rawling stepped out onto the porch. 

“Hmm?” Will mumbled distractedly. 

“You have a visitor.” 

Will turned his head and stared up at the doctor with surprise, “I do?” Who would be visiting him? He knew it wasn’t Turner because there hadn’t been anyone yelling ‘get the rope!’. 

“She says she’s your sister. Do you have a sister?” 

Will pictured Sarah in his mind. She had the same blond hair as him, the same green eyes and the same freckles. Most people thought they were twins upon first seeing them. Why would Sarah be here? How would she even know that here was where Will was? 

He had written to her a few days ago but there hadn’t been nearly enough time for that letter to get all the way to Virginia. Will nodded at the doc and the man disappeared back inside, “He said he’ll see you, Miss.” 

Will was excited to see Sarah, though confused about her being there, however his confusion grew when the woman that came out of the doctor’s house was certainly not his sister. She was pretty enough, pale skinned with brown eyes,  wild and curly blond hair and a slender build, but she wasn’t Sarah. 

Before Will could say anything in front of the doctor, the woman rushed forward, threw her arms around his neck, put her lips close to his ear and exclaimed, “I’m so relieved you’re okay! Aunt Bernice will be as well!” 

A/N: I am neglecting everything else in my life because of this story! This story is just demanding to be written NOW and won't take the kids, housework or the hubs as any kind of excuse not to work on it!