Mr.
& Mrs. CodyMr.
& Mrs. Cody
Chapter 6
The day dawned bright and clear without a cloud in sight, which meant it was probably going to be hot all day. But Lou awoke in a cheerful mood and was determined nothing was going to spoil it. Plus there was the added bonus they'd be home by nightfall if they didn't spend too much time in Willow Springs.
She couldn't wait to get home and tell Jimmy about the baby. After talking to Cody she realized the baby wasn't a bad thing after all. Yes, it would be rough without the extra money from her working, but she knew as long as she had Jimmy by her side they could face anything together. Sure they would be starting their family a little earlier than planned, but the thought of the little life growing inside of her made her happy beyond belief.
She still couldn't believe Cody had been her confidant through all of this. It turned out he was just as sensitive as all the other boys were, he just hid it so well behind his inflated ego. He would definitely be a good catch to some lucky lady out there.
The man in her thoughts finally started to stir from his sleep. Lou poked at his shoulder and said, "Rise and shine sleepyhead."
He rolled over mumbling something about "a few more minutes".
Lou sighed, knowing how slow Cody always is to wake up in the mornings. She picked up her bedroll and stored it in the back of the buckboard and then went off to answer to call of nature. On her way back she had to fight down a wave of dizziness, so she sat down and waited for it to pass.
She must have sat there longer than she realized because when she looked up Cody was standing over her.
"Lou, you alright? You don't look so good."
"I'll be fine. I just got a little dizzy is all."
Cody bent down and scooped her up, carrying her back to the buckboard.
"Cody will you put me down! I can walk you know!"
"I'm not taking any chances with you. I told you before if anything happens to you Jimmy will shoot me."
"Will you cut it out already. He's not going to shoot you. Besides if he did have a mind to shoot you, you'd shoot him right back and then you'd both be dead. Then where would that leave me? Hmmm?" She playfully tapped his nose.
He had reached the buckboard and laid her in the back. "No arguments, you're going to stay back there and rest. Doctor's orders remember?"
She saluted him and said, "Yes, sir, Dr. Cody, sir." And grinned impishly at him.
He just shook his head at her and climbed up on the wagon.
She grabbed 'Gulliver's Travels' and picked up where she'd left off yesterday.
They arrived in Willow Springs an hour later. Cody helped Lou get down and they headed for the restaurant. He was feeling pretty daring, so he looped his arm in hers and escorted her inside. He was enjoying playing the gentleman for a change and pulled her seat out for her and pushed it back in when she began to sit down.
"Why thank you, Cody." She said.
"Anything for you, Mrs. Cody."
"You're really enjoying this, playing at being married." Lou grinned.
Cody looked a little embarrassed. "Well, yeah. It's kind of nice…to pretend that is. I know you wouldn't think it, but whenever I'm with a girl there are times I get so nervous I don't know what to say to her. I feel like crawling under a rock and hiding. But being with you this past week and taking care of you I've got a glimpse of what it could be like if I ever get married. It's nice." He shrugged his shoulders.
Lou reached across the table to take his hand in hers. "Cody, you're going to find somebody someday and like I said before she's going to be lucky to have you."
They were interrupted by the waitress coming to take their order. Cody ordered an enormous amount of food and Lou wasn't far behind him. They were both starving. Stale biscuits, beans and coffee only went so far in filling a body's stomach.
After they ate, Lou paid the bill just as she promised. Even though they both wanted to get home they decided a short walk around town would be just the thing before getting back in the wagon and sitting for hours on end. Just as they were making their way toward the mercantile, gunfire erupted across the street at the bank. Two men walked backwards outside the bank, pistols in hand, making their way toward their horses.
Cody being the hero-minded man that he was, pulled his gun. He glanced over at Lou and when he realized she wasn't wearing her gunbelt and was unarmed, he pushed her down behind a barrel outside the store and ordered her to stay put. He leveled his gun at the shorter man and fired as he was mounting his horse. He fell dead. The second man already on his horse turned and fired at Cody hitting him in the upper chest. The bank robber quickly galloped out of town. Lou ran to Cody where he fell and began yelling for help. With townspeople being the way they were, they all just stood around gaping at the scene before them.
When she realized no one was going to be of any help, she ran all the way to the doctor's office. Having heard the gunfire, the doctor had already been on his way outside with his black bag in hand to see if he could render any help.
Being out of breath, Lou just wordlessly pointed in the direction of Cody. The doctor started in that direction when he heard a thump behind him. Turning around he saw Lou laying on the ground. He quickly checked to see she was breathing and hadn't been shot herself and mumbled to himself, "Musta passed out from all the excitement."
He made his way over to Cody, tore his shirt open to check the wound and immediately applied pressure to staunch the rapid flow of blood. He called one of the townsmen over to carry Cody to his office and for another man to carry Lou in also. The doctor made his way over to the bank robber and seeing it was already too late to help him, he instructed yet another man to fetch the undertaker.
The doctor worked tirelessly over Cody trying to get the bullet out. It had lodged itself deep inside some muscle tissue and was difficult to extract. Finally he had removed it, but Cody had lost a lot of blood in the process and there was always the worry of infection setting in. He sewed up the wound and bandaged his patient up. Now all he could do was wait and see if the young man would survive.
He glanced over at the strange woman dressed in men's clothing who was just beginning to stir. He walked over and asked how she was doing.
"What happened? Omigod, Cody!" She abruptly sat up and instantly regretted it. A wave of nausea hit her and the room started spinning. The doctor quickly grabbed a container and Lou lost all of her breakfast into it.
The doctor eased her back down explaining the extent of Cody's injuries to her. She struggled to sit up again so she could go over to Cody, but fell back on the pillow when she felt sick again. The thought of the baby came racing into her head. She laid her hand over her stomach and asked the doctor what happened to her.
"You fainted right after you pointed me in the direction of your young man here. I take it you know him?" He inquired.
"He's my husband." She replied without thinking. She was getting a little too used to the game the two had been playing for the past week. Besides she had no intention of leaving Cody alone and wasn't entirely sure the doctor would let her stay alone in the same room with him if he didn't think they were married. "He shot one of the bank robbers and the other one shot Cody." She started nervously chewing her bottom lip.
"Well Mrs…"
"Cody." She supplied.
"You call your husband by his last name?" The doctor looked at her puzzled.
'Now you've done it, Lou. You better come up with something quick before he figures out something's up.' She gave a nervous giggle and said, "Oh, that. That's what he was called when I met him and it just kind of stuck." 'Well at least that part is the truth.' She thought to herself.
"I see. Well, Mrs. Cody, I've done as much as I can for your husband. It's entirely up to him now whether he recovers or not. The wound was a pretty bad one and he'll definitely have some stiffness in moving his upper arm, but there's always the possibility of infection and once that sets in there's not much I can do. I'll keep the wound clean and you can help me with that when you feel up to it. He'll need to be kept cool also and get plenty of liquid in him when he comes to."
Lou just nodded. Her mind was still on her baby.
The doctor noticed her far off look and asked if she had any questions before he left them alone for awhile.
She told him about the baby and the fall she had from the horse and how she felt dizzy a lot even though she spent a lot of time resting in the back of the buckboard. She told him all the advice the other doctor in Deer Creek had given her. The doctor now understood why she had fainted.
"As fast as you were running to my office it's no wonder you passed out. The other doctor was correct in telling you to only take short walks. But seeing as your husband was shot, I understand your need to run to get me. I know this is going to be hard, but you have to keep your worrying over your husband to a minimum. That kind of thing is hard on a baby and seeing how you're in the very early stages of pregnancy it's even more important to take everything easy and get lots of rest because there's a very real possibility you could still lose the child given the symptoms you've described to me." The doctor laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "Now try to get some rest and I'll be back in to check on you two in an hour."
The doctor left the room and Lou gave over to the tears she had been holding
back. She caressed her tummy and whispered, "Don't you leave me little
one. I promise from now on I'll do everything the doctor tells me. I just can't
lose you." Exhausted, Lou fell asleep.