PEACE AND QUIET

By Sherry
spader003@hotmail.com

SUMMERY: This is kind of a short little "Day in the Life…" type of story featuring our favorite doctor. The Queen is mentioned but doesn't make an appearance.

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The pueblo of Santa Helena was going through a relatively quiet period, relative, of course, to its own definition of quiet. There were still the occasional shady character stopping through town to stir up trouble, but these minor indiscretions of late had been wrapped up quickly by the town's soldiers. Weeks had gone by without any need of or sign of the Queen of Swords, and the doctor was enjoying the peace that granted. He had gotten through these last few weeks more relaxed then he had allowed himself to feel almost since his arrival, being careful not to listen to any of the annoying voices in his subconscious that dared suggest that he might actually miss the masked trouble-maker.

This morning, however, his office was slightly busier then it had been lately due to a morning round of Grisham's hand to hand combat drills that the American captain had subjected his men. Dr. Helm looked at the bruises and welts on the soldier's skin that he was tending with distinct disapproval, his frown deepening as he caught a sharp exhale from his patient when he probed the man's ribcage with gentle hands. He didn't feel any breaks, but the ribs appeared to be badly bruised. It sickened Robert that this sort of thing was allowed, but he had little power to do anything to prevent it. Grisham's habit of beating the men under him during these so-called drills was, in the doctor's opinion, nothing more then a childish excuse to abuse men who were really in no condition to defend themselves.

Captain Grisham was a pretty good fighter it was true, however, so were a couple of the men who served him. It wasn't a matter of strength that determined the winners of these drills; rather it was rank. No matter how much the captain taunted his soldiers to beat him, the doctor suspected that the men understood Grisham's temperament all too well. Being beaten by someone under him would be a little too much for his ego to handle, so the soldiers were left with little choice but to allow themselves to be beaten and defeated less there lives be made into a living hell by the slighted captain. The truly sickening thing in this whole scenario was that Robert suspected that even Grisham was aware of this, and continued to abuse his power over his men to sustain his ego.

He carefully wrapped his patient's ribs. Knowing that there was little hope that his instructions were to be carried out, he offered them anyway.

"Take it easy for the next few days, and try to avoid jarring your ribs. Limit your riding as much as possible until the swelling goes down, and you should begin to feel an improvement."

The soldier looked at him gratefully, and the doctor almost winced as he once again took in the bruises that covered the man's face.

"Do you have any children, Senor?"

The soldier looked at the doctor, apparently surprised by the sudden question.

"Si, doctor. I have a little girl."

"Well, I suggest that you don't smile at her too much until your face looks a little better, or you are liable to be dealing with nightmares." he responded with a gentle tone and smile that took any sting from the comment.

The soldier laughed at the joke and then winced as his bruised ribcage made itself known. Seeing the flinch, the doctor felt his anger at Grisham return.

The office had once again quieted as the morning turned into afternoon, until the doctor found himself fighting off boredom.

This is absurd, he reprimanded himself, Any good doctor should pray to be this bored, especially in this town.

In order to occupy himself, he began to reorganize his medical bookshelf behind his desk. Eventually, being who he was, sorting soon turned to reading, as he turned his attention to a journal that he had not read for some time leaving the shelf half finished.

"Dr. Helm!" a scared voice shouted pulling him out of his reading.

His head shot up to see a small boy rushing into his office. The child couldn't have been any more then ten years old. Tears were gathered in his large brown eyes as he rushed forward.

"Please come with me! Quick!"

"You must calm down and tell me what's wrong." Robert began trying to calm the distressed boy.

"It's my mamma! Her baby won't come out!"

The doctor quickly grabbed all of the necessary supplies without another word. He had tried to convince the people of this pueblo to allow him to deliver their children for both the women and baby's safety, but many of the people of this region were not used to the aide of a good doctor for this particular need. Many, especially the poorer class, still lived with traditional ideals and mindset. Either that or they were convinced that they would be unable to afford a doctor's fees. Word was slowly beginning to spread about Dr. Helm's kindness and fairness; he would never dream of charging a person more then they could afford for medical care. If someone had nothing to spare for medical expense, then that was exactly what would be paid. There was no size price tag that he was willing to place on a life. Be that as it may, some were easier to convince then others.

He took the boy out to his horse, and mounted with the boy in front of him. They rode together under the boy's direction until they reached the small run-down house.

Outwardly, he appeared calm as he and the child dismounted, but his apprehension was increasing as he could hear the sound of weeping coming from the interior of the poor shack. He swiftly entered the dimly lit house, and took half a second for his eyes to adjust to the poor lighting. The inside of the small house was every bit as run down as the outside. The family barely had the basic essentials in the sparse possessions the doctor could see in the open area.

He heard soft sobs coming from the small room towards the back of the house. It was there that he found the boy's mother drenched in sweat with her eyes scrunched in pain. There was another woman beside her grasping her hand to offer comfort, but she looked every bit as distressed as the child beside him. She looked up when Dr. Helm entered the room with a helpless expression creasing her brow.

"Are you the doctor?"

"Yes." he said while bending down to examine the woman in labor.

"Please, you must help my sister. Her baby is turned around."

There was a considerable amount of blood pooling on the mattress between the woman's legs, and Robert knew that he had to act fast if he had any hope of saving both the baby and the mother.

"I need some more clean linens," he began to instruct as he reached into his bag to take out the necessary supplies, "and is there any way we can get more light in here? Open more windows, light some candles, anything."

The boy and his aunt quickly began to carry out the doctor's instructions as he went to work on the woman in labor. She looked at him with tears running down her tanned cheeks and in a choked whisper said, "Please don't let my baby die. Please."

He looked at her with a reassuring expression and replied gently, "I'll do everything I can to see that doesn't happen. Now, just try and relax."

He worked quickly and intensely trying to set right what nature had wronged. The child had not turned as much as it should have been for delivery, and that was what was making the birth so complicated. It was an arduous feat, but eventually the doctor managed to turn the child properly so the delivery could be completed.

Despite her weariness after the difficult birth, the mother immediately held out her hands to hold her new daughter as soon as the doctor was done cleaning and wrapping the child. With a tender smile he surrendered the girl to meet her mother, marveling, as he always did, at the perfection of such a scene.

Dr. Helm remained at the house for a little while after his task was completed to help clean and get the small home ready to receive a newborn. He left a small amount of medicine to help the mother deal with the pain that was sure to accompany such a difficult delivery.

"When are you expecting your father home?" he asked the small boy as he started to prepare to take his leave.

"My father is in heaven, Senor" he replied in a small but brave voice.

Not expecting this, the doctor looked down at the small boy and simply said, "Ah, I see."

Then he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and knelt down so they were eye level and continued, "Then that makes you the man of the house."

The boy lifted his chin a little higher and nodded.

"Si."

"Be sure to take care of your mother and sister until your mother is feeling better. They are going to need your help a lot over the next few days."

He gripped the shoulder under his hand a little tighter and smiled. With a lowered voice he added, "You did well by them today, you should be very proud."

He could see the pride and satisfaction brimming in the child's eyes as he answered with another little nod.

He made his way over to the mother who, despite her apparent fatigue, was still holding her new baby.

"I'm going now, but I will be back very soon to see how the two of you are doing."

"Thank-you, doctor." she paused with a concerned frown marring her face, "As for your fee -"

"We'll discuss that later. Just try and get some rest." he gently interrupted.

It was at that moment that the new baby woke from her slumber in her mother's arms. Seemingly irritated at the interruption after such a personally trying day, she opened her mouth and let out an impressive wail.

"She's loud", the brother announced with a smile and small laugh as he watched his mother trying to quiet his new sister with gentle hushing.

The doctor simply watched the fussing child with an amused yet peaceful expression on his face. He thought about the child before him; a new life that may not have been if he hadn't made his way to this town with its crooked colonel, greedy landowners, and masked lady. A place where peace and quiet were so rarely received, that it's sudden arrival often left him more perplexed then some of the adventures that he had been party to.

Lastly, he thought that the quiet could never leave him with the same amount of satisfied peace than the cries of a cranky new life.

THE END