Bella’s laugh was as strained as his voice, but it was still a bit of normalcy in a tension-filled moment. She walked up to Zach, and to the man’s horror, put her arms around him and hugged him. “Hasta la vista, mi amigo.”
“Hell,” Sam called from where he was gathering weapons. “I’m getting jealous over here, Bella.”
Zach caught her hands and removed them from around his waist. “You do as el patron says. None of your nonsense. And you ride as I taught you.”
She bit her lip and nodded, tears in her eyes. “But I will see you again,” she whispered fiercely.
Zach didn’t answer.
It was time to go. Tucker picked up Sally Mae. She kept on mumbling. He kissed her lips, taking her prayers as his, hoping God would count it worth something, seeing as it passed through her. “Keep praying, moonbeam,” he whispered. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.” To the others he called, “We’ll leave the horses and guns.”
“Scatter the ammo about,” Tracker added.
“Good idea. Scatter it all about. Horses, too. Maybe gathering treasure will slow the Comanches down.” Because if the Comanches followed immediately, they didn’t have a prayer in hell of escaping. Comanches rode like the wind.
“Let us handle that.” Zach stood with his three remaining men. A couple were bloody, all were dirty. All were armed to the teeth. All he might never see again. “You get the women to safety.”
Tucker set Sally Mae down by Smoke and turned back. He shook Zach’s hand.
“On behalf of Hell’s Eight, thank you.”
Zach met his gaze squarely. There was no fear in his eyes, no dampness to his grip. He had the assurance of a man who knew his skills, knew his purpose and was comfortable with both. Zach’s gaze cut to Bella. “On behalf of el rancho Montoya, we thank you.”
Tucker nodded. It was a bond, forged in battle, sealed in blood. If either side survived this, they’d be allies for life. Zach touched the brim of his hat before joining his men already busy scattering weapons and horses. Caine would be pleased. Hell’s Eight could do worse than have the Montoya vaqueros as friends. They sure as shit couldn’t do better.
“Let’s go.” Tucker tossed Sally Mae up on Smoke. Thankfully, even while in shock, some things the body just remembered. Her legs parted as she slid into the saddle. He tugged her skirt out from under her before swinging up behind her. Beside them, Sam mounted before putting a hand down for Bella.
“Hold on, Sally.” He couldn’t tell if she was listening. He kicked Smoke into a gallop. At least running, she wouldn’t be able to look at what she’d done.
17
The screams pulled her out of her numbness. Full of strain, pain and horror, they didn’t fit the pattern of the others. Sally Mae opened her eyes. She was lying in a bed. She ran her hand over the clean sheets, touched her thigh, felt the edge of a bandage, pressed and then winced at the immediate pain. Pushing the sheet back, she pulled up her nightgown. Around her thigh a strip of white linen was tied. There was no blood on the bandage. The wound wasn’t fresh.
The scream came again, long and drawn out. She recognized that sound. It was the sound of a woman in labor. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, she stood. The room spun. Using the mattress as support, she braced herself until the dizziness passed. Her knees felt weak. Beside the bed was a plate of food. She lifted the napkin covering a bowl of soup and bread. She squeezed the bread. It was rock hard. It’d been here awhile. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened. There’d been the ambush, the fight. She remembered holding a gun, pulling the trigger, but she couldn’t remember anything else. Couldn’t remember if she’d hit her target. Couldn’t remember getting here, wherever here was. Couldn’t remember anything except a soothing darkness that stretched comfortingly around her and the occasional murmur of Tucker’s voice.
On the chair beside the bed was one of her dresses freshly pressed. She pulled it on over her head. Without her corset she couldn’t button all the buttons, but enough fastened above and below the waist to keep her decent. On the table beside the bed lay her cap, also freshly starched. She put it on her head, feeling oddly uncomfortable as she pinned it in place. She didn’t waste time wondering why, as a man yelled over the woman’s next scream. “For Christ’s sake, do something for her!”
Trouble. She didn’t bother with shoes, just rushed out the door, following the murmur of voices and low moans of pain until she arrived at a bedroom. Inside, a man stood beside the birthing bed, holding a blonde woman’s hand. Beside him stood Bella and an older woman of Mexican descent.
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“I won’t accept that.”
Bella shook her. “There’s always something.”
“You should not even be in here,” the woman reprimanded. “A newly engaged woman who has never had children should not be in the birthing room.”
“Let it go, Tia.”
This was the infamous Tia who Tucker so loved. The woman who’d taken eight wild, lost, devastated teenage boys and given them the anchor they’d needed to forge Hell’s Eight. If Tia was here, it must mean they’d made it to Hell’s Eight. She offered a prayer of thanksgiving.
“Maybe I can help?” It came out more of a rasp than a confident statement.
Everyone turned at once. There was more shock in their stare than she’d expected. From Caine, there was even a bit of horror.
She put on her most I-am-competent-despite-your-disbelief smile. “I am a nurse and I trained under my husband for seven years. I’ve attended more than a hundred births.”
“Tucker!” Caine bellowed.
“What?” came the faint response from beyond the open window.
Caine didn’t take his eyes off her. “Get your ass up here now.”
“Not on your life.”
“Your woman is awake.”
There was a curse. No one moved, just stood there, staring at her as if she had two heads. Two minutes later, a door banged open and there was the heavy tread of boots on the stairs. Tucker burst into the room, coming to a halt just inside the door. He took in the situation with a quick glance and then smiled a smile she’d never seen him use before.
“Good to see you finished your nap, Sally Mae.”
“I thank thee.”
“Get her out of here.”
“Shut the hell up, Caine.”
The woman on the bed moaned, and her head whipped from side to side as another contraction started. “Desi doesn’t need this right now.”
“Just what is this?” Sally Mae asked.
It was Bella who answered. “You went a little crazy on us, amiga.”
“Caine,” Desi said, reaching for him with her other hand. Even from here, Sally Mae could see the furrows already clawed into Caine’s arm. Still without hesitation, he gave it to her again.
“How crazy?” Sally Mae asked, taking in the amount of blood saturating the towels piled on the floor, the size of Desi’s belly, the pallor of Desi’s complexion, the whiteness of her lips.
“It’s been three days since the ambush.”
Again there was that confusing jumble of images. A blond woman, Indians, herself as a child, screams, a man with a droopy mustache, herself as an adult, a gunshot…blood. “Three days?”
“You haven’t spoken since then,” Tucker inserted gently.
Because she couldn’t think of anything better to say, she settled for, “I must have had a good reason. I don’t usually skip meals.”
Desi’s moans grew louder. “Tucker, get my bag.”
“Sally Mae.”
“The only thing you need to get, Tucker, is her the hell out of here. The last thing I need is a crazy woman near my wife.”
Sally Mae flinched at the vehemence in the statement. “I can help.”
“Lady, if you force me to, I’ll toss your ass out that window.”
“Caine!” Tia gasped.
“The hell you will,” Tucker snapped.
“You’re nuts.”
“I’m a doctor.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“I’m about as close as thee are going to get right now, and from the amount of blood thy wife is losing I’d say I’m the last chance thee have.”
Caine blanched. Desi moaned. Tia crossed herself. Tucker stepped forward. “She’s damned good, Caine. Better than any doctor I’ve ever seen. If she says she can help, then she will.”
She looked at him, surprised.
He smiled at her. “I used to doubt the viability of your beliefs, but I’ve never doubted your dedication or your ability.”
“I thank thee.”
“She fainted at the sight of blood,” Caine argued. “How the hell can she do anything but make things worse?”
“She fainted at the impact of taking a man’s life. She’s a pacifist, for Christ’s sake.”
“Do not blaspheme, Tucker McCade!”
Desi’s scream filled the room. Sally Mae had had enough. She pushed past Tia and pulled the covers back.
Caine grabbed her arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
A gun cocked in the silence. Bella’s “Let her go,” punctuated the end of Desi’s scream with quiet resolve.
“You won’t shoot.”
Bella smiled, looking impossibly beautiful and sweet. “Everyone tells me that.”
“I’m surrounded by crazies.” Caine released her arm, and bellowed, “Sam!”
“What the hell did you do now, Bella?” came the immediate dry response through the window.
Caine said, “At least he knows you.” His tone was equally dry.
Bella didn’t flinch. “Yes. He knows me very well. He also knows Sally Mae, and I am certain when he gets here, he will tell you what a donkey’s behind you are to question either Sally Mae or myself.”
“He doesn’t have to wait for Sam to hear that.” Tucker snapped, “Stop being a jackass, Caine. You know damned well I’d never suggest anything that would hurt Desi.”
“Shit.” Caine ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know a goddamn thing right now.”
Desi gripped his bloody forearm and gasped, “Please, Caine. Let her try.”
“You sure? She could do more harm than good.”
“Anything is better than the nothing I have now.”
Caine nodded to Sally Mae. Bella uncocked the gun. Tia turned to Sally Mae. “I think the baby is stuck.”
Oh, darn. “Breech?”
Tia nodded. “Sideways.”
“Tucker, get my bag.”
“I’ve got it here,” Sam said. When she looked at him, he shrugged. “Figured even Bella couldn’t create that much of a ruckus by herself.”
Bella feigned a pout. “I am saddened you doubt me.”
The attempt at humor fell flat. Sam brought the bag to Sally Mae. He glanced at the bed, the towels. Desi. The smile he gave the laboring woman was gentle. “Looks like Sally Mae woke up at a right opportune time, Desi.”
“You recommend her?” Caine asked.
“Without reservation.”
“Then for God’s sake,” Desi snapped, “Everyone get out!”
Sally Mae finished washing her hands. Tucker cast her a glance. She answered the question in his eyes with a nod of her head. She didn’t know what had happened to her in the last three days, but this was familiar. This she could handle. All the men left the room except Caine. As she applied the special salve to her hand and arm, she asked Desi, “Do thee want him here?”
Desi bit her lip.
“It’s all right if thee do and all right if thee don’t, but things will get pretty intimate, and if thee are going to focus more on worrying about him than helping me, I’d suggest he step out. For just a bit.”
Caine’s response was an immediate planting of his feet. “I’m staying.”
“Is he always this stubborn?” she asked with a smile. If his insistence on staying didn’t say how much Caine loved his wife, it was obvious from the tender way he stroked his hand over her sweat-dampened hair and the tender kiss he pressed on her brow.
Desi smiled up at him. “This is one of his good days.”
The joke was weak. Sally Mae laughed anyway.
“Then letting him stay will be easier than fighting him.” She smiled at both of them. “If thee need to faint, please fall backward.”
Caine eyed her hand. “What in hell are you going to do?”
“I’m going to try and turn the baby.”
“How the hell—” Realization dawned. He turned pale beneath his tan. Tia grabbed his arm. “Maybe it is best you wait outside, mi hijo.”
“No.” He looked at Bella. “Make sure I don’t fall on her.”
Bella, a bit paler herself, nodded. “Done.”
Sally Mae lifted the sheet and draped it over Desi’s knees, giving the other woman some privacy. Soon it wouldn’t matter, but right now she needed her calm.
“This will hurt, but it’s necessary. Try to remember to breathe and relax.”
Please don’t let the baby be stuck. Please don’t let it be too far gone. Please let Desi have enough strength left if I have to do the unthinkable.
Please, Lord, give me the strength.
“What are you looking for?” Caine asked.
She saw the desperateness with which Caine watched her every move, felt the faith in Desi’s acceptance of her skills in her response to her direction. She smiled quietly at them both. “An answer to a prayer.”
Her prayers went unanswered. Not only was the baby breech, it was stuck. Desi was bleeding badly and they didn’t have much time. She washed her hands again in the fresh basin of water Bella had fetched, trying not to notice the way the blood stained the water first pink then red. Trying not to remember. She needed all her focus at this time.
As soon as Desi got her breath, she asked, “How bad is it?”
Stalling for time, Sally Mae dried her hands. “What makes you think it’s bad?”
“I’m getting…weaker.”
Sally Mae licked her lips, unsure how much to tell. How much Desi could take.
“Tell her,” Caine ordered, his expression granite hard.
She licked her lips, the truth clogging in her throat. “It doesn’t get much worse,” she finally admitted.
“The baby?” Desi panted.
Caine shook his head, pinning Sally Mae with those green eyes of his that cut through pretense like the edge of a knife. “You save Desi.”
Desi shook her head. “No.”
Tia crossed herself and started praying. Bella joined in. All Sally Mae could do was give them the truth.
“You’re built very small inside. The baby’s stuck. The more you push the more you tear inside. That’s why you’re weak. You’re losing blood.”
“The baby?” Desi asked again.
“It’s weak, too.”
Caine brought Desi’s hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back. “What can you do?”
Nothing was the first word that came to mind, but it wasn’t true. There was an operation. She’d seen it done four times, only done it twice.
“I can use forceps.” Just the thought sent crushing waves of inadequacy through her. What if she made a mistake?
“Do it.”
She shook her head at Caine. “It’s not that easy.”
Desi panted with the onset of a fresh contraction.
“Whatever thee do, don’t push.”
Desi nodded and groaned. “Easy for you…to say.”
No, it wasn’t. None of this was easy.
“It can’t be more complicated than this,” Caine muttered.
It was. The hairs on the back of her neck tingled. She looked up. Tucker stood in the doorway, watching her. She licked her lips. These people were his world. He expected her to do s
omething for them.
“The procedure is very dangerous. It can hurt the baby or the mother if not done just right.”
“How dangerous?” Caine snapped.
Tucker came to her side.
There was no way to soften the truth. No time. “Even if it was a fully trained doctor who’d done the surgery a hundred times, things have gone so far the odds are high that both will die, but the baby’s chances to survive are better.”
Caine’s response was immediate. “Forget it.”
She licked her lips again. Tucker’s hand settled on her shoulder, squeezed. She leaned into him, letting the comfort spread through her.
Desi worked up on her elbows, her big blue eyes dark with pain and…understanding? “What happens if you don’t try?”
Sally Mae grabbed Tucker’s fingers where they curled over her shoulder, clinging hard to his strength as she divulged the truth. “Thee both will die.”
Caine swore long and viciously.
“You need to talk. I’m going to step out,” Sally Mae said. Desi was already reaching for Caine. So much love flowed between the couple, it was palpable. Sally Mae stopped at the door, blinking back tears because there was another truth she had to reveal. “There isn’t much time. Every minute that passes the odds go down.”
There wasn’t anything left to say. She closed the door.
Tucker immediately pulled her into his arms. His cheek pressed the top of her head. “Damn it, I missed you, woman.”
She hugged him back, holding him close, wanting nothing more than to climb inside him and escape from the hell to which she’d awakened. “I’m sorry.”
He tipped her head back with a hand in her hair. The strings of her cap brushed her cheek. “For keeping me waiting for your kiss? You’d damn well better be sorry.”
Oh God, she needed his kiss. His mouth closed over hers, tender at first, but then harder as the hunger flared between them, as the fear and need of the past few days fought for an outlet and found it in passion. Against her, his cock pressed. She rubbed her belly over the hard ridge, delighting in his groan. He was the first to pull back, sprinkling kisses over her cheek, her eyelids, the corner of her mouth, each kiss punctuated with a new order.
“Don’t ever put yourself in danger like that again. Don’t you ever go away from me like that again. Don’t you ever, ever scare me like that again.”
Tucker’s Claim Page 26
