confused. “Miss Vermeal?”
She stood and went straight to him. “Doctor, thank you so much for coming.”
He glanced over her shoulder. “This is the patient, I take it?”
“Lucinda?” James said and moaned.
She hurried to his bed. “James. The doctor is here. You must allow him to examine you.”
He moved his head from side to side. His breathing shallow. “Lucinda.”
“Dr. Gibson? Can you help him?”
The doctor eyed her for a long moment and then went to the other side of the bed. “This is James Thompson? The bareknuckle fighter?” He bent down and examined the stitches over James’s eye. “Who’s responsible for these stitches?”
“Mrs. Murdoch beside you, Doctor. She is the one who thought we’d best call a doctor. She is concerned about his ribs.”
The doctor turned to Aunt Murdoch. “That’s fine stitching, ma’am. Perhaps you’d like to come and teach some of my students.”
Aunt Murdoch harrumphed and then reached around to touch James’s side. “I think he’s got several broken ribs, but I’m worried about this one.” She touched the spot. “I’m worried he’s punctured his lung.”
The doctor glanced down at her. “What else have you observed?”
“I dosed him with some brandy laced with just a bit of the poppy. I didn’t want to give too much because I’m worried his head, although as hard as a hundred-year-old brick, has been beaten so much his brain is scrambled. For the cuts on his hands and lips, I’ve used an aloe salve I make especially for him. The little finger on his left hand is broken in several places. I was just thinking about what I could use for a splint.”
“I’m going to examine his ribs, and he’s not going to like it,” the doctor said. “I’d like to wash my hands.”
The doctor was back shortly and had MacAvoy lift James to a sitting position while he listened to his chest with an instrument that fit in his ears at one end with a tube attached that ended with a funnel-shaped piece of rubber. He asked everyone to be quiet while he listened to James’s chest.
“What do you think?” Aunt Murdoch asked.
“I don’t think it is punctured, but it is severely irritated. His heart sounds strong, although I think he’s lost a good bit of blood. I don’t believe in the antiquated practice of bloodletting. We’ll need to restore blood, which his body will produce. He needs considerable rest.”
“Thank God,” Aunt Murdoch murmured.
“As to if his brain is ‘scrambled,’ we’ll have to wait and see how he is when he wakes up fully. I know he’s in pain, but I do not recommend anything other than willow bark tea. Apply ice to his eyes and face three times a day to reduce the swelling and keep him in bed. He’s got to give his body time to heal. Now let’s get that finger set. He’s going to howl when I straighten the bone, so if anyone cares to leave the room, do so now. Mrs. Murdoch, what have you decided we should use as a splint?”
Aunt Murdoch and the doctor moved to her side of James’s bed, as they talked and examined what Aunt Murdoch had pulled out of her apron pocket.
“Can you step to the other side of the bed, Miss Vermeal?”
She stood and laid James’s hand down beside him. He began to move on the bed, trying to sit up or roll over. MacAvoy held him down by the shoulders as the doctor was trying to hold his hand still.
“My God, this man is strong,” he said.
“Don’t ever get hit by him, Doc,” MacAvoy said. “My jaw hurt for a month.”
“This isn’t going to work,” Doctor Gibson said, watching James struggle.
“He was fine while I held his hand,” she said. “Let me hold his hand while you set it.”
“You could try holding his other hand.”
Lucinda shook her head. “No. I’d prefer to hold his hand while you straighten that finger.”
“Are you sure?” the doctor asked.
She nodded. “Tell me what to do.”
The doctor had MacAvoy squeeze beside her to hold James’s shoulder while she held his hand in place and talked softly to him. James moaned and quivered as the doctor probed his finger.
“Three, two, one.”
Lucinda doubted she would ever forget the sounds the bones made as the doctor wedged them into place. James shouted once and then fainted, something she was in danger of doing herself. But she could not. She could not stop supporting his hand and holding it still so the doctor and Aunt Murdoch could continue. She