The Outlaws: Jess Read Online Free

kill her if it wasn't doused.
    Disregarding propriety, he stripped off her
trousers and drawers, picked her up, and carried her to the water.
Though the night was warm, the water was cool. Sitting in the
water, he held her on his lap, letting the water spill over her
heated flesh. He held her like that until her body felt cool to the
touch. Then he carried her back to her bedroll and pulled away the
bandage covering her wound.
    The sickening stench of infection immediately
cast him back into the dying days of the war, when the wounded
piled up so fast that they died before they could be treated. Those
horrible days and hectic times weighed heavily upon Jess as he
stared down on the unconscious woman stretched out on the
ground.
    I won't let you die! he silently vowed. He'd
seen too many men perish, smelled the nauseating odor of death too
often to give up now. Jess would defy the devil himself to save
this woman. Stiffening his shoulders, he set to work to save Meg's
life.
    First he disinfected his hands and scalpel.
His hands were steady as cut into the infected flesh. Greenish pus
spurt out, but he ignored it, pressing on the wound until the blood
ran clean and red. Then he disinfected it with carbolic acid. He
decided not to sew it up, preferring to leave it open to drain. It
would leave a scar, but what was a scar compared to one's life?
Lastly, he fastened a clean bandage over the wound.
    As Jess washed up at the stream, he prayed
that his skill had been enough to save Meg's life. No one as young
and vital as Meg deserved to die.
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    Jess worked throughout the night and into the
next day to save Meg's life. He made countless trips to the river
to fetch cool water to bathe her feverish body. He alternately
spooned broth and water into her mouth and coaxed her to swallow a
medicinal concoction to bring down the fever. He reopened the wound
and squeezed out pus at least two more times.
    Jess tried to retain a professional manner as
he cared for Meg's personal needs, but because he was a man,
because he simply couldn't help himself, he looked at her. At the
sweet curve of her breasts and the long, shapely turn of her calves
and sleek thighs. Not an ounce of fat rested anywhere on her taut,
athletic body. Yet everything about her was softly feminine. With a
effort, he forced sexual thoughts from his head and concentrated on
his patient.
    Three hellish days passed as Jess fought for
Meg's life with a determination that spoke volumes about his
dedication. On the fourth day, Jess rejoiced at the first
indication that Meg would recover. Meg's fever broke, leaving her
eyes clear and lucid for the first time in days. More importantly,
her wound no longer oozed pus. A scant few hours ago she was
calling for Zach and muttering things Jess couldn't understand. Now
she was gazing at him through clear green eyes and he couldn't be
happier.
    "I'm alive."
    Her voice sounded like she'd been chewing on
gravel.
    "Did you doubt it?"
    "There were times..." Her words fell off and
she grew thoughtful. "How long have I been like this?"
    "Six days from the time you were shot. For a
while I feared you wouldn't make it. Welcome back to the world of
the living."
    "I never thought I'd owe my life to an
outlaw," Meg rasped.
    "You don't. When you're ready to listen, I'll
explain the mix up. Right now we need to get some nourishment into
you. Are you hungry?"
    She shook her head. "Just thirsty."
    "I can fix that." He held his canteen to her
lips and she drank greedily.
    "Help me to sit up," she said when she had
drank her fill.
    Jess eyed her skeptically. "You're too
weak."
    "Lying in bed won't bring back my strength. I
have to get home. Zach is surely worried sick by now."
    Zach again, Jess thought. She'd called to him
so many times in the past several days he had grown thoroughly sick
of the name.
    "Zach shouldn't have let you leave home in
the first place. What kind of man would let his woman chase after
outlaws?"
    Meg bristled