ASJ Fanfiction: Chapter 16
Warning: this fic contains graphic descriptions of a gunshot wound, along with medical procedure. Don’t read unless that sort of thing is interesting to you.
Hannibal Heyes is gunned down by a dry-gulcher on his way back to his hotel room. He and the Kid stumble into a time portal and wind up in the present day, just in time to nearly be run over by a passing car.
Chapter 16
The Kid peeled the thin transparent sheet from his clothing. They’d been delivered from the “dry cleaners” and he’d paid Etta forty dollars since she’d paid the nurse who’d sent them off in the first place. It was good to have his suit back. He’d been worried someone would see his derringer in the pocket of that odd uniform.
Derringer safely stowed in its custom pocket, Jed ruefully fingered the holes in the cloth. The problem with a hidden derringer was that when you used it, the suit was pretty much ruined.
“Don’t you look fine?” Etta asked as he exited the bathroom. “Why haven’t I ever seen any of you cosplayers around the city before?”
“We’re not actually from Blue River,” Jed answered honestly. “We move around a lot.”
“I’ll bet your friend’s outfit was just as nice as yours is. Too bad it got ruined.”
The Kid shrugged and handed her his uniform. “I’d rather lose a suit than a partner. Too hard to train a new one.”
“And now your sense of humor is back. You must not be as worried about him today.”
Actually, he wasn’t. Heyes didn’t seem quite as listless this morning. He’d eaten most of his breakfast instead of toying with it the way he’d been doing with the rest of the hospital meals. Jed had gone downstairs for more of the expensive “Starbucks” coffee, and Etta had waved his suit at him once he’d returned.
Heyes glanced up as the Kid entered the room. “You look a hell of a lot better. That funny outfit you’ve been wearing is the wrong color for you.”
“It was comfortable. Too thin though. I’d never wear it out in public.”
“I might be doing just that if we can’t find a tailor before we leave.”
“I think they saved your trousers and boots.” Jed dropped into the chair and picked up the “Harry Potter” book again. “We just need to get you a shirt and undershirt. Maybe a suit jacket if we can find one to match.”
“I’ll bet they don’t make derby hats in 2018.” Heyes’ cheek dimpled. “Probably think you got yours from a museum.”
Jed opened the book, then closed it again. “What did you think about that time policeman?”
Heyes shoved himself to a seated position. “If he’s real, it’s our only way back. And I can’t imagine him not being real. He knew too much.”
“That’s what bothers me. All that stuff about us changing history. It just worries me.”
“Everything worries you, Kid. You’re a natural worrier. That’s why I keep you around.”
Jed had to smile. When Abby came in to do her measurements, Jed asked what all of the numbers were today.
“We’re doing better,” she replied. “Fever is down to 101.5. Oxygen levels are up a bit. Blood pressure is almost down to normal. The chest tube looks like it’s draining well. I’d say Mr. Smith might have turned the corner.”
That was hopeful news, though Jed didn’t understand all of it.
Abby put her hands on her hips, looking like a miniature Etta. “Are you doing your breathing exercises? And drinking lots of liquid?”
Heyes held up his coffee cup with a smile. “I just don’t see no need of coughing every few minutes. It just makes my chest hurt worse.”
“That’s part of the reason you have pneumonia. If you’d been doing your exercises, maybe that infection wouldn’t have been able to take hold.”
The Kid sat up straight. “Honest? Coughing and breathing deep would help him get over it?”
“Well, now it’s going to be more up to the antibiotics, but yes, the exercises help to strengthen his lungs. Coughing will get rid of some of that phlegm inside of them.”
Jed shoved out of his seat and leaned over his partner. “You hear that? You’re gonna be doing them exercises now, for sure.”
“Yes, mother.”
“I ain’t kidding. If I’d known to make you do ‘em before, maybe you might not have caught pneumonia at all.”
Abby put a hand on Jed’s arm. “It’s hardly your fault. Mr. Smith could have done the breathing exercises if he’d wanted to.”
“I should have made him do ‘em. He don’t know what’s good for him sometimes.” Jed hauled the little transparent box over to the table and set it in plain sight. “How often does he got to do this thing?”
“Ideally, every hour. More if you think of it.”
“Every half hour it is.” Jed shot his partner a glare. “I got a pocket watch and I’m gonna be timing it.”
Heyes complained the first few times, saying the deep breathing made him cough and coughing hurt too much. But as Jed insisted, he got to the point where he reached for the box without too much prompting. The idea was that if you breathed in and out of the box, some brightly colored little balls inside of it moved up and down. Heyes was supposed to keep them up in the air for as long as he could. At first, they barely moved, but as he worked at it, he started getting interested in keeping them up. Just as Jed had figured, once he saw the challenge in the thing, he wanted to beat his own time.
Dr. Kealy showed up again around lunch time. “Sorry I’m running so late,” she said, flipping through the chart at the foot of Heyes’ bed. “We had a staff meeting that ran over, and I’ve been trying to catch up ever since.”
“When was the last time you had an X-ray?” She asked. “I’d like to make sure that lung is inflated properly.”
“They done one of them yesterday,” Jed told her. “For the pneumonia.”
“I’ll go take a look at that again. You seem to be doing better. Still in the Victorian era?”
“If you mean did we come from 1886,” Heyes replied, “then yes, we are.”
Dr. Kealy said nothing, but she looked a little disappointed. “So tell me something I’d never be able to look up about 1886 then.”
Heyes chuckled. “How in thunder action am I supposed to do that? For all we know, you can look up what the Kid and I ate for dinner the night I got shot.”
“All right, let me ask you something then. What was Blue River like in 1886?”
Heyes leaned back against the pillows and got comfortable. “Like I said, a nice little town. Nowhere the size of Denver, of course, but a good place to live if you’re a peaceable sort. The Arms was around the corner from the best saloon, The Silver Streak.”
“On Broad Street,” Jed put in. “I remember we ducked down an alley once you got shot.”
“Right. I don’t think the alley had a name though - or not one I ever heard. The hotel has three whole floors - pretty modern for a little town - and it’s between the hardware store and the doctor’s office.”
“That’s where I was headed when we found that time door thing,” added the Kid.
Heyes snorted. “He’d probably just have given me some laudanum and waited for me to bleed to death. Or die from infection.”
“Don’t talk like that, Heyes.”
“It’s true and Dr. Kealy probably already knows it.”
Dr. Kealy shrugged. “It is true that they didn’t have effective antibiotics until around 1920. And I doubt your doctor would have understood about germs and how they cause infection.”
“What’s germs?” Heyes had that curious expression on his face, the one he got whenever he had the chance to learn anything new. That expression had been missing for the last three days and Jed had been starting to wonder if he’d ever see it again.
Dr. Kealy‘ s brows rose. “I guess I’ll play along. They’re what cause infection. You can’t see them but they live just about everywhere. And if you get the ones that live outside of your body on the inside of your body, they make you very sick. That’s why we’re so careful to keep everything clean in a hospital.”
“So dirt’s got germs in it.” Heyes narrowed his eyes the way he did when he was thinking hard.
“Dirt and just about everything else. You’ve even got germs in your mouth. If you bit me, I’d have to take antibiotics to cure the infection.”
“Good think I don’t bite.” Heyes’ cheek dimpled. “And good thing the Kid and I take regular baths.”
“We’ll be giving you some antibiotic pills to take home with you when you’re discharged. That way, you don’t have to worry about germs in your chest.”
“I’m obliged to you. What else do you want to know about Blue River back in our time?”
“Tell me some names. Maybe I can look them up online.”
“One thing’s for sure. Slang sure has changed since 1886.” Heyes put a finger to his lips and thought. “The hotel’s run by a fellow named Loftin. Middle aged, skinny as a rail, has a wife and two kids. I think one girl and one boy. The aforementioned doctor’s named Oughton. That’s unusual enough, so you might be able to track him down.”
“There’s Lem Glass out at the Rocking R,” Jed put in. “He’s the owner. I don’t know if we ever caught the last names of any of his hands, but they was playing poker with us. I remember Red and Slim and Tex and Montana Joe.”
“I’m not sure I can look up nicknames,” Dr. Kealy said with a smile. “But I can try to find Lem Glass and Dr. Oughton for sure. Maybe Mr. Loftin. It’s too bad the Arms is so run down. We periodically have campaigns to make it a historic landmark, but it’s been renovated so many times it doesn’t look anything like it must have looked back then.”
She jotted something down in the chart and headed for the nurse’s station. The Kid heard her tell Etta she needed another X-Ray done.
“At least I’ll be more alert for this one,” Heyes muttered. “Might be interesting. I don’t remember them hurting.”
“Didn’t appear to hurt you none. Just made a buzzing noise for a minute.”
“Maybe they’ll let me see it once they’re done.”
“You can always ask. Right now, it’s time for another breathing treatment.”
Hannibal Heyes is gunned down by a dry-gulcher on his way back to his hotel room. He and the Kid stumble into a time portal and wind up in the present day, just in time to nearly be run over by a passing car.
Chapter 16
The Kid peeled the thin transparent sheet from his clothing. They’d been delivered from the “dry cleaners” and he’d paid Etta forty dollars since she’d paid the nurse who’d sent them off in the first place. It was good to have his suit back. He’d been worried someone would see his derringer in the pocket of that odd uniform.
Derringer safely stowed in its custom pocket, Jed ruefully fingered the holes in the cloth. The problem with a hidden derringer was that when you used it, the suit was pretty much ruined.
“Don’t you look fine?” Etta asked as he exited the bathroom. “Why haven’t I ever seen any of you cosplayers around the city before?”
“We’re not actually from Blue River,” Jed answered honestly. “We move around a lot.”
“I’ll bet your friend’s outfit was just as nice as yours is. Too bad it got ruined.”
The Kid shrugged and handed her his uniform. “I’d rather lose a suit than a partner. Too hard to train a new one.”
“And now your sense of humor is back. You must not be as worried about him today.”
Actually, he wasn’t. Heyes didn’t seem quite as listless this morning. He’d eaten most of his breakfast instead of toying with it the way he’d been doing with the rest of the hospital meals. Jed had gone downstairs for more of the expensive “Starbucks” coffee, and Etta had waved his suit at him once he’d returned.
Heyes glanced up as the Kid entered the room. “You look a hell of a lot better. That funny outfit you’ve been wearing is the wrong color for you.”
“It was comfortable. Too thin though. I’d never wear it out in public.”
“I might be doing just that if we can’t find a tailor before we leave.”
“I think they saved your trousers and boots.” Jed dropped into the chair and picked up the “Harry Potter” book again. “We just need to get you a shirt and undershirt. Maybe a suit jacket if we can find one to match.”
“I’ll bet they don’t make derby hats in 2018.” Heyes’ cheek dimpled. “Probably think you got yours from a museum.”
Jed opened the book, then closed it again. “What did you think about that time policeman?”
Heyes shoved himself to a seated position. “If he’s real, it’s our only way back. And I can’t imagine him not being real. He knew too much.”
“That’s what bothers me. All that stuff about us changing history. It just worries me.”
“Everything worries you, Kid. You’re a natural worrier. That’s why I keep you around.”
Jed had to smile. When Abby came in to do her measurements, Jed asked what all of the numbers were today.
“We’re doing better,” she replied. “Fever is down to 101.5. Oxygen levels are up a bit. Blood pressure is almost down to normal. The chest tube looks like it’s draining well. I’d say Mr. Smith might have turned the corner.”
That was hopeful news, though Jed didn’t understand all of it.
Abby put her hands on her hips, looking like a miniature Etta. “Are you doing your breathing exercises? And drinking lots of liquid?”
Heyes held up his coffee cup with a smile. “I just don’t see no need of coughing every few minutes. It just makes my chest hurt worse.”
“That’s part of the reason you have pneumonia. If you’d been doing your exercises, maybe that infection wouldn’t have been able to take hold.”
The Kid sat up straight. “Honest? Coughing and breathing deep would help him get over it?”
“Well, now it’s going to be more up to the antibiotics, but yes, the exercises help to strengthen his lungs. Coughing will get rid of some of that phlegm inside of them.”
Jed shoved out of his seat and leaned over his partner. “You hear that? You’re gonna be doing them exercises now, for sure.”
“Yes, mother.”
“I ain’t kidding. If I’d known to make you do ‘em before, maybe you might not have caught pneumonia at all.”
Abby put a hand on Jed’s arm. “It’s hardly your fault. Mr. Smith could have done the breathing exercises if he’d wanted to.”
“I should have made him do ‘em. He don’t know what’s good for him sometimes.” Jed hauled the little transparent box over to the table and set it in plain sight. “How often does he got to do this thing?”
“Ideally, every hour. More if you think of it.”
“Every half hour it is.” Jed shot his partner a glare. “I got a pocket watch and I’m gonna be timing it.”
Heyes complained the first few times, saying the deep breathing made him cough and coughing hurt too much. But as Jed insisted, he got to the point where he reached for the box without too much prompting. The idea was that if you breathed in and out of the box, some brightly colored little balls inside of it moved up and down. Heyes was supposed to keep them up in the air for as long as he could. At first, they barely moved, but as he worked at it, he started getting interested in keeping them up. Just as Jed had figured, once he saw the challenge in the thing, he wanted to beat his own time.
Dr. Kealy showed up again around lunch time. “Sorry I’m running so late,” she said, flipping through the chart at the foot of Heyes’ bed. “We had a staff meeting that ran over, and I’ve been trying to catch up ever since.”
“When was the last time you had an X-ray?” She asked. “I’d like to make sure that lung is inflated properly.”
“They done one of them yesterday,” Jed told her. “For the pneumonia.”
“I’ll go take a look at that again. You seem to be doing better. Still in the Victorian era?”
“If you mean did we come from 1886,” Heyes replied, “then yes, we are.”
Dr. Kealy said nothing, but she looked a little disappointed. “So tell me something I’d never be able to look up about 1886 then.”
Heyes chuckled. “How in thunder action am I supposed to do that? For all we know, you can look up what the Kid and I ate for dinner the night I got shot.”
“All right, let me ask you something then. What was Blue River like in 1886?”
Heyes leaned back against the pillows and got comfortable. “Like I said, a nice little town. Nowhere the size of Denver, of course, but a good place to live if you’re a peaceable sort. The Arms was around the corner from the best saloon, The Silver Streak.”
“On Broad Street,” Jed put in. “I remember we ducked down an alley once you got shot.”
“Right. I don’t think the alley had a name though - or not one I ever heard. The hotel has three whole floors - pretty modern for a little town - and it’s between the hardware store and the doctor’s office.”
“That’s where I was headed when we found that time door thing,” added the Kid.
Heyes snorted. “He’d probably just have given me some laudanum and waited for me to bleed to death. Or die from infection.”
“Don’t talk like that, Heyes.”
“It’s true and Dr. Kealy probably already knows it.”
Dr. Kealy shrugged. “It is true that they didn’t have effective antibiotics until around 1920. And I doubt your doctor would have understood about germs and how they cause infection.”
“What’s germs?” Heyes had that curious expression on his face, the one he got whenever he had the chance to learn anything new. That expression had been missing for the last three days and Jed had been starting to wonder if he’d ever see it again.
Dr. Kealy‘ s brows rose. “I guess I’ll play along. They’re what cause infection. You can’t see them but they live just about everywhere. And if you get the ones that live outside of your body on the inside of your body, they make you very sick. That’s why we’re so careful to keep everything clean in a hospital.”
“So dirt’s got germs in it.” Heyes narrowed his eyes the way he did when he was thinking hard.
“Dirt and just about everything else. You’ve even got germs in your mouth. If you bit me, I’d have to take antibiotics to cure the infection.”
“Good think I don’t bite.” Heyes’ cheek dimpled. “And good thing the Kid and I take regular baths.”
“We’ll be giving you some antibiotic pills to take home with you when you’re discharged. That way, you don’t have to worry about germs in your chest.”
“I’m obliged to you. What else do you want to know about Blue River back in our time?”
“Tell me some names. Maybe I can look them up online.”
“One thing’s for sure. Slang sure has changed since 1886.” Heyes put a finger to his lips and thought. “The hotel’s run by a fellow named Loftin. Middle aged, skinny as a rail, has a wife and two kids. I think one girl and one boy. The aforementioned doctor’s named Oughton. That’s unusual enough, so you might be able to track him down.”
“There’s Lem Glass out at the Rocking R,” Jed put in. “He’s the owner. I don’t know if we ever caught the last names of any of his hands, but they was playing poker with us. I remember Red and Slim and Tex and Montana Joe.”
“I’m not sure I can look up nicknames,” Dr. Kealy said with a smile. “But I can try to find Lem Glass and Dr. Oughton for sure. Maybe Mr. Loftin. It’s too bad the Arms is so run down. We periodically have campaigns to make it a historic landmark, but it’s been renovated so many times it doesn’t look anything like it must have looked back then.”
She jotted something down in the chart and headed for the nurse’s station. The Kid heard her tell Etta she needed another X-Ray done.
“At least I’ll be more alert for this one,” Heyes muttered. “Might be interesting. I don’t remember them hurting.”
“Didn’t appear to hurt you none. Just made a buzzing noise for a minute.”
“Maybe they’ll let me see it once they’re done.”
“You can always ask. Right now, it’s time for another breathing treatment.”