Snowed In(manxman)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

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.”