Out Of Time

The Groom and the Bride

"Miss Grimshaw, you got anything for a headache?  Dutch's head hurts a lot," Sam said as she found the woman.

Miss Grimshaw looked at her and nodded.  "I've got some peppermint here.  That should help."  Grimshaw looked at Sam's shoulder and sighed.  "And I suppose you'll need tending to afterwards?"

Sam looked at her shoulder.  "It's not that bad, just a graze, I think."

Miss Grimshaw shook her head with a chuckle, pressing her hands to her hips.  "I'll bring this to Dutch, you sit tight and rest."

Sam let Miss Grimshaw take the peppermint up to Dutch while she unbuttoned part of her shirt to look at her shoulder.  It really had only been a graze, but she knew she'd need stitches.  Ah, great.  Sam waited for Grimshaw patiently and eventually she came back down to tend to Sam's wound.  After being given some alcohol, stitched up and bandaged up, Sam went back into the house and upstairs to check on Dutch.  She walked in and saw Molly, Hosea and Dutch.

"How's he doing?" Sam asked them.

"Better now that he's had some peppermint to chew on," Hosea replied.

"Good."  Sam looked over at Molly to see her and Dutch were still holding hands.  It made her smile.  Perhaps there was still hope for the two of them after all.  "So, I guess you guys got things covered here.  If he falls asleep, just wake him every two hours.  Just for the next twenty four hours.  He should be better by tomorrow, but he's gotta rest for a least a few days."

"I can't rest for a few days," Dutch said as he leisurely sat up.  "We need to move and we have a bank to rob and we still need to kill Bronte."

Sam sighed and sat down on the bed.  "But you need to rest.  If you don't, there could be complications."

"What kind of complications?"

"You could have these symptoms for a very long time, Dutch, if you don't rest.  Now tomorrow, you can start walking around but you need to keep your activities to a minimum."

Dutch sighed and laid back down.  "Anything else?"

"I don't know.  I used to know someone who had a concussion and he just wasn't quite the same after that, but only because he didn't even go see a doctor right away nor did he get any significant rest.  He got what was called "post-concussion syndrome". He became a real irritable, anxious son of a bitch.  He had constant headaches and he was always tired.  Impaired judgment, as well."

"Well, shouldn't Dutch go see a doctor?" Molly asked with anxiety in her voice.

Sam shook her head.  "After what just happened in Saint Denis, we can't risk him going.  For now, I'm the best chance he has to get through this."

Dutch shut his eyes.  "I'm tired."

"Well, you can go to sleep if you want, but don't get mad when we wake you up in two hours."

"How do you know all this stuff?" Hosea asked Sam.

"I...did research...after my friend had the concussion," she said, choosing her words carefully.

Just then the doors opened and Sam turned to see Arthur.  She smiled as he walked to her.  "How's he doing?" Arthur asked.

"He'll be fine, I think.  Did you have any trouble getting the horses back?"

"No.  Everything went fine."

"Good."  Sam turned around to see Dutch had already fallen asleep.  "Well, all we can do is wait a couple hours before he wakes up.  What time is it?"