To Tame the Wild: a Red Dead Redemption fan fiction

Chapter 26 - One Chapter Ends, Another Begins

Chapter Track: "Here I Am (End Title)" – Bryan Adams, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron soundtrack

The world stirred into place; his sight was black except for a small circle that eventually grew and grew until he saw clearly. Then the pain hit his body—it was first a dull throb, but as he gradually regained consciousness, the pain worsened to an excruciating stab in his abdomen. Something jostled his shoulder. A soft, concerned voice said his name, panicked and on the verge of tears.

"Jack? Can you hear me? You'd better not've died on me, you bastard, not after everything we've been through!" There was a choked-back sob as his shoulder was shook once more, this time more urgently. "Jack?!"

He groaned and blinked in rapid succession, confused as he slowly came to. Her hair washed over his chest like a dark-brown waterfall; the petrified blaze in her brown eyes softened. Tears of terror quickly turned to tears of joy as she heaved a relieved sigh and laid her forehead on his chest.

"Oh, thank God!" Her lips graced his brow with a gentle kiss as she leaned back up. She looked down at him with a disbelieving smile. "I thought you were dead!"

"Wha...What happened?"

As he tried to sit up, an explosion of pain erupted across his torso, and he collapsed back down onto the soft ground. As he gritted his teeth and battled through the pain, he opened his eyes and looked around. He was lying shirtless on a cot in a tent that wasn't his. "Where...where am I?"

"Lay still, darlin'," she said and gently pressed a hand on his chest. "You're just outside the mines. We're in one of the tents. Archer and I rushed you out of there as soon as we could and brought you here." She looked him over and shook her head. "My God, it's a wonder you're alive, Jack. I almost couldn't stitch you back up." Tears welled in her eyes. "There was so much blood..."

"What happened?" Though he was in a world of pain, he somehow managed to concentrate on her beautiful face. He placed his right hand on top of hers.

"That son of a bitch Zebedee Nash shot you," she hissed. "I took care of him, though."

Jack's eyes widened. "You didn't shoot him, did you?"

"No. Archer and the others got in there right before I could take my revenge on him, but I did manage to pistol-whip that rotten fuck unconscious. Archer arrested him, along with the other three we were supposed to bag." She smiled down at him and upturned her hand so that she could grasp his tightly. A resolving light entered her eyes as she said, "We got 'em all, Jack. It's done. We can go home now." She glanced down at the bandage around his stomach. "Well, as soon as you're well enough to ride."

Jack smiled weakly up at her. He released her hand only to cup the side of her face. "Thanks for savin' my life...again."

She smirked back at him. Her eyes softened with unbridled tenderness. "You know, you have a bad habit of gettin' yourself shot, Jack. What's the count now?"

"Too damn many," he snorted back. He studied her face, happy to once again be so close to her, much less alive, to see her again. Though she was still damp from the thunderstorm and covered with dust, mud, sweat, and blood, she was still undeniably beautiful to him. He caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Got nicked a couple times, but they're only scratches."

"Good. Ya know, if it wasn't for you fixin' me up all the time, I wouldn't be here right now. I can't thank you enough, Maddie."

She shrugged nonchalantly and leaned down closer to him, her long hair falling over his chest and arms. "It's all a part of the job, princess. It's what I do."