Nick Barkley looked down at his younger brother, as his youngest brother felt the shoulder wound the blond had gotten from some rustlers.
Gene sighed, "The bullet's deep and we'll have to remove it soon. We don't have time to get him to Dr. Merar."
Heath groaned and his shoulders shuddered under Nick's hands, "Just get it out, Gene! Please, get it out."
The young doctor in training paled slightly, "It's in there good, Heath. I could cause more damage, if I do anything wrong."
"Heath's right, Gene. I've got whiskey in my saddle bags. We need to get it out and you're the only one who can do it."
****
Nick adjusted his hold on the broad shoulders, as Gene dug for the bullet, "Please, Heath. Just pass out already."
Heath found his teeth into the folded bandanna, and loudly whimpered.
The small pocket knife Gene used scraped metal, and the future doctor sighed in relief.
"Hey, brother. I found the bullet. I'm going to enlarge the entry wound, and use both knives to lever it out. It's stuck deep in the muscle, Heath. Do you hear me?"
When the blond finally nodded, the youngest Barkley brother continued, "Once that's done, I'll cauterize it until we can get to Stockton."
The bullet was out, and Gene applied pressure to the wound while waiting for the knife to finish heating. Heath had been staring at the sky for a while now, his tagged breaths echoing in the stillness. Somewhere a cow lowed, and and a hawk screeched, and still, his brother refused to pass out.
The knife was ready, but Gene wasn't, even as he lowered the sharpened blade.
Vultures flew, a rabbit ran and still, Heath didn't pass out.
Not until his brothers started to wrap his shoulder, did he finally let go, and relaxed into Nick's arms, "A little late, boy, but that's better than nothing."
