[HANSON STORIES]

To See Beyond The Surface

Chapter 6 - Please ... Help Me - Continued




Jason put a cool cloth on the boy's head knowing his fever was still high. The operation lasted for five hours. Jason was exhausted. The operation went smoothly though. He stopped the internal bleeding. Luckily he had the same blood type as the boy's. The kid lost a lot of blood during the operation. The blood transfusion was a little crude for today's standards, but it worked. He felt a little weak from giving blood to the kid but he smiled knowing he hadn't lost the touch. He set all of boy's broken bones in his legs and wrapped them in homemade splints around each leg. The damage to the left hip concerned him the most though. He tried his best to fix the shattered pieces, but what this boy really needed was to be in a hospital. But he knew if someone tried to move him now, he might not make it. The shock would be to great to his fragile body. He was weak enough as it was and in a very critical condition.

Since he cut up the boy's clothes he dressed Taylor in some old dark blue pajamas he had that he never wore. He never really liked them. The kid drowned in them. He rolled up the sleeves to the kid's wrist. He smiled thinking he looked kind of cute in them.
"Well son, it's up to you now. I did what I could do. Now it is your turn to fight. Fight to live!"
Taylor groaned and mumbled slowly rocking his head side to side.
"Our hands slipped. Nooooo!" Taylor moaned weakly, almost whispering the words.
Jason took the cloth off his head and dipped it in the pan with the cold water and squeezed it out and gently patted Taylor's face and neck with the cloth before replacing it on Taylor's forehead.
Taylor opened his eyes slowly and crinkled up his eyebrows.
"Pain! It hurts! My legs hurt! Where is Dad? Where is my family?" He asked weakly through the feverish haze. He blinked several times trying to focus his eyes. He saw a face that was very distorted. It was looking at him. He felt fear, but drifted off to sleep again.

Jason stared at the boy while he slept.
"He is a good looking kid. Bet all the girls like him." He thought as he touched his own face and sighed. He remembered how he was once good looking.
"Don't go back." Jason scolded himself out loud.
He felt Taylor's forehead and noticed that it was still burning with fever.
"Come on KID! Fight!" He shouted talking to the sleeping boy. He knew he had to stay awake. This was the critical hours and he couldn't just leave him alone. He drank some more coffee to try to keep his eyes open, but his head kept bobbing from his sleepiness.

A few hours later Jason was awakened from his dozing by screams. He saw that Taylor's head was rocking from side to side and he was moaning again.
"Please help me! I don't want to fall! I'm falling! Ike! Don't let go! Please! IKKKKKKKKKE!" Taylor cried out in his feverish nightmares. "Don't leave me! Please don't leave me! Ike! NOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Jason shook Taylor gently on the right shoulder.
"Wake up kid! Wake up! You're only dreaming! You're safe!"
Taylor's eyes popped open and they spilled over with tears as he fearfully looked around the room and then at Jason.
"Wh...What? Wh...Who are you? Where am I? Where's my family? Please let me see them! Please sir! I want to see them! Please!" Taylor cried in agony as he sobbed in choking gasps.
"Right now it is important for you to heal. You will see them soon enough. You are going to be okay kid. You are going to be okay." Jason consoled in his most gentle tone.
Taylor stared at him through tear soaked eyes. Jason felt his forehead again and liking the fact that the fever was finally breaking. His head wasn't as hot anymore.
"My legs hurt so bad! My stomach too. Am I going to be alright?" He asked fearfully to the huge man sitting next to him on the right side of his bed, recognizing that this was the man that Ike and him bumped into last week. He stared at him taking in the scars on the man's left side of his face. The man had his long dark hair pulled back into a tail and had a concerned look on his face. The right side of his face looked normal. He could tell he was once a good looking man before some kind of accident took his looks away. He wondered what happened to him that made him live out here in the wilderness all by himself. The pain throbbed in his legs. He just wished it would all go away.
"Yes. You are going to be just fine. I operated on you and everything went smoothly. Trust me you are going to be fine." Jason said trying to reassure him.
"Th...thank you for helping me. But please can you give me something for the pain. I h..hurt so bad! I can't stand it anymore!" Taylor whimpered as the tears spilled over the sides of his face.
Jason got up and went over to a cabinet and pulled out a jar of birch tree bark paste, that he made from a ancient remedy that eased intense pain. He went back and sat down again by Taylor.
"I have something here to ease the pain, but it is going to taste awful. Okay?" Jason warned him looking at Taylor who nodded his head. He didn't care if it tasted like liver as long as it would get rid of this overwhelming pain. Jason scooped a finger in the jar and pulled some of the paste onto the tip of his finger. He put it by Taylor's mouth. Taylor cringed at the smell when Jason grabbed Taylor's bottom jaw and quickly pulled it open and jammed his finger deep to the back of his mouth. Taylor made a gagging sound and grabbed Jason's hand to try and pull it away. He rubbed the paste onto the roof of his mouth and quickly pulled his finger out.
"Swallow it! Don't spit it out! It will relieve the pain. I promise." Jason assured him in a stern voice.
Taylor never tasted something so awful in his life. He tried to swallow, but he still gagged with tears welling up in his eyes. Jason quickly jumped up and ran and got a glass of water. He ran back to Taylor and gently lifted up the front part of his body slightly and put the glass to his lips. Taylor drank greedily putting his hands over Jason's around the glass. It relieved the horrible taste that was in his mouth and finally only a tinge of the taste was left.
"That...that was gross." Taylor gasped still feeling the searing pain of his legs and stomach.
"But in a few minutes you will feel the effects of the pain killer." Jason stated looking at the boy who swallowed hard.
"Wh...who are you? What's your name?" Taylor asked as tears of pain still ran down the sides of his face and onto the pillow his head rested on.
"That's not important. You don't have to know my name." Jason said feeling a little perturbed at the questions. He didn't like letting anyone know who he was.
"But if you are a doctor why do you live out here? Is it because of the way you look?" Taylor asked getting a little sleepy. He noticed the intense pain he felt was slowly melting away.
"Yes I am a doctor or I used to be. Other wise why I live out here is none of your business. Stop asking me so many questions. Okay? Just rest now." Jason answered feeling a little angry, but didn't want to upset the boy to much by sounding mad at the questions asked of him.
"I...I'm sorry. Are my parents around? Do they know I'm here? Please tell me!" Taylor pleaded a little fearfully as he noticed the man looked somewhat irritated. Tears welled up in his eyes as he gluped hard.
"I found you by the side of a cliff and you were all alone. I don't know where they are and right now you just get some rest." Jason said sternly.
"But... sir... I want to see them! Please! They are at a campsite about a mile away from that cliff. Please tell them I'm here. They must be worried about me. They are probably trying to find me right now." Taylor begged desperately. He noticed the man looked suddenly angry.
"NO! No one is to know that I am here! When you get well enough I'll bring you to your family! Now go to sleep and rest! STOP asking so many questions! The faster you heal, the faster you will be with your family again. OKAY?!" Jason shouted loudly, noticing he made the boy jump and cringe.
The kid gave him a hurt look. All Taylor could do was nod his head as he bit at his bottom lip trying hard to hold back his tears. The boy started to weep and turned his head away from him. He felt bad that he scared the boy, but he couldn't let anybody know where he lived. People were always fearful of him and cruel with their words. He just wanted to be left alone and to live his life out in peace.

Taylor couldn't stop the tears. All he wanted was to be with his family. Why the huge man got so angry confused him. He helped him and for that he was so grateful, but he couldn't understand why he wouldn't tell his family where he was. He also couldn't understand why the man was so angry by the questions. He wondered if he was afraid of anyone seeing him, because of his disfigured face. He thought of Ike, remembering he said he would be back as soon as possible with help. He wondered what his family were doing right now. He knew they must be trying to find him and worried that he wasn't where Ike left him. He felt sorry for Ike remembering how afraid his brother was. Taylor felt very sleepy from the stuff the man gave him for the pain. He couldn't keep his eyes open any more.

Finally Taylor drifted off silently crying himself to sleep. Jason reached his hand down to the boy's head and gently petted his soft blond hair.
"I'm so sorry kid... but you don't understand. I...I am afraid. I can't let anyone know that I am here. I just can't." Jason mumbled sadly.
He sat there watching Taylor's chest going up and down. He was glad his breathing wasn't so labored anymore. It worried him that probably out there the boy's family was probably looking for him. He decided he would try to stay in the cabin as much as possible for the next few days, so no one would accidently come upon him and discover where he was. He also felt guilty thinking how desperately his family must be feeling right now. And a little angry that he had to get involved, but he knew he could not just have left the boy to die.


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