Stained Snow by Fallon Brown Page B

Your pa should have left me out there.”
    The color leeched out of her face. She had to draw in a breath past the sudden weight in her chest. “That’s a stupid thing to say, Will. Pa never would have done that. No matter what you had done he would have helped you.”
    “I did nothing,” he cried. His chest rose and fell as he struggled to regain control. Then, he winced. The move obviously caused him pain. “Nothing but let my wife and son down. I promised I’d make him pay and instead he’s still out there. If he finds out I’m still alive, he’ll probably come after me. I don’t want to bring him down on you and your pa. He should have left me there.”
    “Don’t say that.” She pulled the blanket down again. “He did the right thing bringing you here. You’d be dead if he hadn’t.”
    “Exactly,” William said, his gaze staying trained on the ceiling as she cut through the bandages.
    The one word cut straight through her. Did he think it would be better if he died? She couldn’t imagine the grief he was going through, but she still couldn’t see how it would be better to stop living.
    He didn’t speak or even look at her as she cleaned the wounds, but he did raise up on his elbows so she could wrap the bandages around him. His arms shook by the time she finished, and he practically dropped back onto the bed. His eyes closed as she gathered her supplies back up. “I’ll be back with some food for you,” she said.
    His head nodded slightly, the only sign he’d even heard her. By the time she returned with his food, he was sleeping. She set the plate of food on the table before pulling the blanket up over him. Her fingers brushed his forehead, moving his hair away from his face. Something stirred inside her, but she quickly pushed it away. She still held out hope Thomas would come back for her. She didn’t feel anything but pity for this man.
    He’d be riding on as soon as he had his strength back. She couldn’t feel anything more for him.
    #
    Another week passed before William was well enough to stand on his own. There wasn’t much in his room, but from what there was he could tell it belonged to another young man. Maggie had briefly mentioned a brother one time when she tended him. This must have been his. It didn’t explain where that brother was.
    He could only sit up on his own for a few minutes here and there. Even walking out to the main room with help to eat with the family took so much out of him, he would no longer have the energy to bring the food to his mouth. Maggie would bring his food back to him to save that strength.
    He was tired of it. He had never been so weak. Not even after Thomas attacked him with that knife. He needed to move. He would never get his strength back laying in bed. He had to show his body it wouldn’t control him this way. Every time he tried to stand on his own, he had to fight off a wave of dizziness draining his body of any strength it had recovered. One time he made it into the hallway before collapsing. George had to carry him back to his bed.
    “You need to give yourself time to heal,” George admonished him. “All you’re going to accomplish with this is killing yourself. Do you want to finish his work for him?”
    That slammed into him, reminding him why he fought so hard to regain his strength. Thomas. “I have to find him.”
    George shook his head. “If you go after him in your condition, you’ll end up right back where I found you. You need to rest, son.”
    “I’ve rested too much already. He’s probably well away by now.”
    “Killing yourself like this isn’t going to get you anything, is it?”
    William had to admit the man was right. He wasn’t sure if he could live with it if Thomas got away. Still, he couldn’t even make it across the house, let alone out to the stable to his horse.
    Another week passed, and the pain, his constant companion since waking, started to slip away. The pain in his heart was just as steady. The