Chapter 2 - The Night His Heart Went Silent
“Jasper!”
Ellie’s voice cut through the cabin.
Samuel spun from the fireplace.
Jasper’s chest did not move.
For one terrible second, Ellie heard everything except the sound she needed—the wind, the crackling logs, Samuel’s frightened breathing, the rattle of the windowpane.
But nothing from Jasper.
She pressed her fingers to his neck.
There.
Weak.
His heart still beat.
“He’s not breathing properly.”
Samuel went pale.
“What do I do?”
“Bring the lamp closer.”
Ellie tilted Jasper’s head and worked to clear his airway.
“Come on,” she whispered. “You said you were a fighter.”
No response.
She worked harder.
Seconds stretched unbearably.
Then Jasper coughed.
Air tore into his lungs.
Samuel nearly collapsed against the table.
Ellie closed her eyes for half a heartbeat.
There was no time for relief.
The infection remained.
For the next several hours, she cleaned the wounds, removed damaged stitches, drained what she could, dressed the injuries properly, and fought the fever with every resource available to a frontier nurse in an isolated cabin.
Jasper drifted between consciousness and delirium.
Sometimes he called Samuel’s name.
Once he called for a woman named Rose.
Another time he whispered, “I’m sorry, Pa.”
Ellie never asked.
Near midday, Samuel tried to persuade her to sleep.
“You’ve been awake since yesterday.”
“So have you.”
“I’m not the one keeping him alive.”
Ellie glanced toward Jasper.
“That remains to be seen.”
She hated admitting it.
His fever was still dangerously high.
Samuel poured coffee.
“What are his chances?”
“I don’t know.”
“That bad?”
“Yes.”
Samuel sat quietly.
After a while, he said, “Folks in town give you trouble.”
Ellie’s hands stopped.
“What makes you say that?”
“I have eyes.”
She resumed folding cloth.
“Then you know I don’t need pity.”
“Wasn’t offering any.”
Samuel stared into his cup.
“Jasper doesn’t like pity either.”
Ellie looked toward the bed.
“What happened to him?”
“Besides the bear?”
“Yes.”
Samuel hesitated.
“That’s Jasper’s story.”
Ellie respected the answer.
Night returned.
The storm did not weaken.
Samuel finally slept in a chair near the fire while Ellie remained beside Jasper.
His temperature rose again.
She changed the cold cloth on his forehead.
His eyes opened.
“Ellie?”
It was the first time he had used her given name.
“I’m here.”
“Thought you might be a dream.”
“That would make this a remarkably unpleasant dream.”
A tiny smile touched his mouth.
“Still an angel.”
“You’re still feverish.”
“Maybe.”
He looked at their hands.
At some point, he had reached for hers again.
Ellie had allowed it.
“Why’d you come?”
“Samuel asked.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
She understood.
Why would she cross mountains for a stranger?
“Because you needed help.”
Jasper frowned as though the answer were incomprehensible.
“That simple?”
“It should be.”
His eyes drifted closed.
“Hasn’t been simple for me.”
Ellie wanted to ask what he meant.
Instead she said, “Sleep.”
His fingers tightened.
“Stay?”
“I told you I would.”
Jasper slept.
By morning, his fever finally began to fall.
Ellie almost didn’t believe the thermometer.
She checked again.
Then she sat heavily in the chair.
For the first time since leaving Copper Falls, she allowed herself to feel tired.
Jasper Cain might live.
She covered her face with both hands.
A laugh escaped her, followed unexpectedly by tears.
“Hey.”
Ellie lowered her hands.
Jasper was awake.
Fully awake.
His eyes were clearer.
“You crying because I’m alive,” he asked, “or because I’m difficult?”
Ellie laughed despite herself.
“Both.”
He smiled.
It changed his entire face.
“You have a beautiful laugh.”
Ellie’s smile disappeared.
Compliments made her suspicious.
Jasper noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“That wasn’t nothing.”
She stood.
“You need broth.”
“Ellie.”
“I’ll wake Samuel.”
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I meant it.”
Something tightened inside her.
“You nearly died. Gratitude can make people say strange things.”
“Wasn’t gratitude.”
“You barely know me.”
“Know enough.”
“No, Jasper. You don’t.”
He studied her carefully.
“Then stay until I do.”
Ellie had no answer.
Three days passed.
The mountain remained buried beneath snow, making travel impossible.
Jasper improved slowly.
Ellie slept in short intervals, prepared meals, changed bandages, and forced him to obey instructions he frequently disliked.
“No.”
Jasper stared at the bowl in her hands.
“I’m not eating that.”
“It’s broth.”
“It tastes like boiled boot.”
“Then imagine it’s an expensive boiled boot.”
Samuel laughed from the table.
Jasper glared at him.
Ellie raised the spoon.
“Open.”
“I can feed myself.”
“Yesterday you dropped the spoon.”
“My hand slipped.”
“You threw it at the wall.”
“The wall surprised me.”
Ellie tried not to smile.
“Open.”
Jasper obeyed.
Something changed between them during those days.
Not dramatically.
In tiny moments.
Jasper learned that Ellie hummed while arranging medicine.
Ellie learned that Jasper hated being fussed over but secretly loved honey in his coffee.
He learned she had trained under an elderly physician in Nebraska.
She learned he could identify animal tracks from astonishing distances.
He learned she liked poetry.
She learned he owned exactly three books and had read each dozens of times.
Neither spoke about loneliness.
They didn’t need to.
On the fourth evening, Samuel went outside for firewood.
Jasper watched Ellie repair a tear in her shawl.
“Why Copper Falls?”
“Why not?”
“You don't like it there.”
Ellie’s needle stopped.
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to.”
She resumed sewing.
“I needed work.”
“That all?”
“I thought frontier towns cared about usefulness.”
“And?”
“They care about usefulness.”
Jasper waited.
Ellie sighed.
“They also care about everything else.”
His gaze moved across her face.
“Everything else meaning?”
She laughed without humor.
“You truly want me to say it?”
“Yes.”
“My size.”
Jasper was silent.
Ellie regretted answering.
Then he said, “What about it?”
She looked at him sharply.
“You don’t need to pretend.”
“I’m not.”
“People stare.”
“People stare at me too.”
“You were attacked by a grizzly.”
“They stared before that.”
“Why?”
Jasper’s expression changed.
There was that hidden story again.
“Different reasons.”
Before Ellie could ask, Samuel entered carrying wood.
The conversation ended.
Two days later, the storm finally broke.
Blue sky appeared over the mountains.
Ellie stood by the window.
“I should return tomorrow.”
Behind her came silence.
She turned.
Jasper’s face had gone strangely still.
“You’re leaving?”
“The trail should be passable.”
“I know.”
“Copper Falls has no medical help until Doctor Morrison returns.”
“I know.”
Yet Jasper looked as though she had announced something much worse.
That night, Ellie woke to a sound near the bed.
Jasper was trying to stand.
“What are you doing?”
He froze.
“Nothing.”
“You are halfway out of bed.”
“Then apparently I’m doing half of nothing.”
“Jasper Cain!”
His knees buckled.
Ellie reached him before he hit the floor.
For a moment, his weight pressed against her.
Then Jasper laughed weakly.
“You are strong.”
“I told you that.”
He looked down at her.
“No.”
His expression became unexpectedly tender.
“You told me strength was useful in your profession.”
Ellie’s heart stumbled.
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No,” Jasper said.
“It isn’t.”
The following morning, Ellie packed her medical bag.
Jasper sat upright against the pillows.
Samuel saddled the horses outside.
Ellie checked Jasper’s bandage one final time.
“No lifting. No riding. No hunting.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And if the redness returns—”
“I send Samuel.”
“Immediately.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She closed her bag.
Neither moved.
Finally Jasper said, “Will you come back?”
Ellie looked at him.
“If you need medical attention.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Her pulse quickened.
Before she could answer, hoofbeats sounded outside.
Several riders approached.
Samuel entered moments later.
His expression was grim.
“Sheriff Harlan.”
Ellie frowned.
“What is he doing here?”
Samuel looked at Jasper.
“He says someone in Copper Falls told him Jasper Cain is wanted for murder.”
May you like
And suddenly the warm cabin felt colder than the mountain outside.
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