The Sage After Rain A love story

by Jaclyn Hawkes

  When it was full light, she came in and found Matt had left her a hot breakfast. She was tired enough that it felt like a bigger deal than it was. Zeus came in with a deep cut from his run in in the night and it took her a while to clean it up and patch him back up with bandages. She fed all three dogs and hobbled Horse nearby and gratefully got into the warm water of the shower before collapsing on her little swing. She had changed the sheet that had been covering it, but she could still smell Matt’s aftershave as she fell into the sleep of exhaustion. He smelled really nice.

  That afternoon she didn't feel that great and by late that night, she had begun praying that she wasn't getting Matt's virus. She had been so careful to keep things clean and sterilize dishes that as she went out among the sheep that night again, she had just about talked herself into believing it was just a summer cold coming on. The desert night air revived her nicely and at dawn she went back in and to bed on the swing, thanking her lucky stars she hadn't gotten it.

  It had been a nice theory, and she believed in both the power of prayer, and the power of positive thinking, but it didn't work. She could feel the heat coming up in her and wondered how in the world a fever could make you this cold. She took some Ibuprofen, forced down some lunch and committed that she was not going to slow down Matt's project.

  She opened the windows of the trailer and went to go sleep inside thinking that if he didn't see her, he would be able to go off to work not knowing, but in the end it was simply too hot even chilled and she went back out onto the swing. Somewhere along there the fever took hold and she wrapped her comforter around her like a cocoon and tried to fight off the chills with sheer will to no avail.

  By mid afternoon she felt awful, and she wasn't aware of much at all by the time he came in. She could hear him like he was a long way away, but not a lot penetrated far into her hazy mind.

  Chapter 18

  After another full day of first interviewing three people, and hiring one, and then heading back out to work, Matt came back to camp at dark dead tired again. He was surprised that just a few days of being down could make him tire this easily. When he came in, camp was quieter than usual and it took him a second to realize it was the absence of bedded sheep that he wasn't hearing. Taya usually had them in and settled by this time at dusk and he wondered if she had had more trouble with predators today.

  He dumped off his pack at his tent and gathered up his gear to shower and headed for her neato rig. The hot water on his tired muscles felt wonderful, and on the way back he was speculating about whether she had had time to even think about making dinner with her coyote troubles and if it would be something he could eat in front of his laptop when he almost walked into Horse in his reverie.

  It finally clicked that Taya wasn't out on her horse somewhere with her sheep, and he looked around him to see what was really going on. He could see the white shapes of her herd in more than three different directions and instantly he knew something was definitely wrong.

  He called her name out as he tossed his shower stuff back inside his tent and caught up Horse. He headed for her trailer to get her saddle so he could go look for her, and was just slinging it onto Horse's back when he realized Taya was right there beside him on her swing, wrapped up in her big blanket. Even that was weird. It was still eighty degrees out here. He had gotten clear to the swing and started talking to her when it finally dawned on him that she had gotten it. It hit him like an ugly and incriminating lightning bolt. She had been his angel of mercy and he had in turn made her sick with the virus from the devil himself.

  Sitting on the swing beside her, he gathered her into his arms and pulled her right up onto his lap. The heat rolled off of her like a furnace and he reached up to feel her scorching forehead and was floored at how hot it was. He knew now what she had meant when she said his fever had scared her. That high of a fever was more than scary. That was the kind of thing that caused brain damage, wasn't it?

  Gently, he pulled her out of the quilt and tossed it aside, talking to her as he did so, "Oh, Taya, honey. I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Guiltily, he wondered how long she had been like this. She had seemed okay when he had come in last night, but he hadn't even talked to her, just waved on his way back from the shower. And this morning she had still been out with her herd when he'd left on the helicopter. He tried to think back to how long it had taken for him to be this gone with the fever and realized it was all too hazy. He'd felt so lousy he couldn't truly recall.

  He got up and set her down and went into her trailer to find something to bathe her face with, then dug around until he found the plastic tool box that held her medicines. He had no idea if she had taken anything, but he was desperate and gave her both Tylenol and Ibuprofen at the same time. Seeing the scan thermometer, he ran it over her head and felt like throwing up when he understood that it was reading one-hundred-seven degrees.

  She needed to go straight into the shower like she had forced him when he'd been so miserable, but he had just drained it before he had realized the shape she was in. It occurred to him to take her to the nearby stream, but first he had to do something with her sheep. The coyotes would have a heyday with them spread all over the county.

  Not sure what he was going to do about them, he got on Horse and went in search of her dogs. In the dark the only way he found them was by listening for them as they moved among the sheep. Mimicking what he had heard and seen her do, he whistled and gestured and was absolutely amazed when miraculously the dogs began to bunch the sheep and take them back toward her camp. There was no hope of helping her and guarding them from coyotes at the same time unless they were practically in her fire pit, so that's where he decided to take them and sent the dogs straight back toward her trailer with their charges.

  He hurried Horse ahead and jumped down to zip his tent securely closed and gather up his lap top and paperwork. This he took back and set inside her trailer and then mounted Horse once more and went back out to the dogs. It took them forever, but finally Matt thought the herd was gathered enough to head back to Taya. Sheep settling down around him for the night as he rehobbled Horse made him hope he could possibly get through this night without a disaster.

  He went back to her and scooped her up off the swing and carried her right to the stream with the cloth from her trailer in his hand. On the bank, he sat down within arms reach of the water and began to gently bath her face and neck and arms with the cool water. He was totally out of his league here and he knew it. He thought about taking her to the hospital, but was afraid they would tell him the same thing the doctor had told her about him and send them home.

  He prayed for both inspiration about how to help her and just for her, and almost immediately he thought about calling Zan to come and give her a blessing like he had given him that afternoon. Even though he was calling in the competition to do something he couldn't do himself, he didn't hesitate for a minute. He picked her up and took her back to the swing and went in search of her phone. He finally located it in the fold of the quilt he had thrown aside and found that she had been serious about Zan being her number one speed dial.

  Zan didn't pick up at first and Matt was just about to give up in frustration when Zan finally answered, "Hey, pretty girl."

  Matt cleared his throat. "Sorry to disappoint you, Zan, but it's Matt. Taya's neighbor in the tent. I'm sorry to bother you. I'm sure you're busy, but I got in from working out in the desert tonight to find Taya in the swing with a fever of a hundred and seven and her sheep in four counties. I've given her some medicine and done the best I could to bring in the sheep, but she needs you to come and give her a blessing. Is that a possibility?"

  There was a slight pause and then Zan replied, "Sure, absolutely. Is her trailer still where it was Sunday?"

  "Same place, now it just has sheep surrounding it. There have been coyotes around for the last couple of nights so I had the dogs bring them right into camp."

  "Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can find some help. Take care of
her."

  "I'm trying. Thanks, Zan. See ya." Matt closed her phone, grateful Zan would put Taya's well being before his personal dislike of Matt.

  For the next hour, Matt rocked her in the swing as he bathed her with a bowl of water. Slowly, her fever came down to one hundred six, but then it seemed to stall, and Matt had absolutely no idea what to do next. Finally at his wit's end he called his mom and told her what was going on and asked her. She recommended he use rubbing alcohol instead of just plain water and even to set her right into the stream water if he had to. As he thanked her and hung up she told him she would be praying for them and he knew she truly would and it helped. He could use a higher power just about now.

  He set Taya down and went back into her trailer to look for rubbing alcohol. He hadn't figured out yet where a light was in there so he was using just a flashlight and it took a minute this time.

  Back in the swing, the alcohol smelled familiar and he remembered that Taya must have been using it on him this last week while she had been battling the same virus. Now he had a little better idea just what she had been through and he was more grateful than ever. He pulled her long hair back and pushed the sleeves of her t-shirt up and almost splashed the rubbing alcohol on her trying to bring the fire of the fever down even a hair. He didn't think he was winning the battle in the slightest and was amazed at how glad he was to see Zan arrive.

  He pulled up and slammed out of the truck followed by another older man from the passenger side. There were no lights lit in camp at all and Matt spoke to them from the swing in the dark.

  When they came up, Matt realized the other man must be Joseph. He was the exact image of Zan, only older and much less confrontational. Joseph came straight to her and made a sound deep in his throat when he felt the heat of her skin. "Good heavens! I've never seen a fever like that! How long has she been like this?"

  "I don't know. I found her about two hours ago like this when I got off the helicopter. She was still out with the sheep when I left. For two nights, she's been dealing with coyotes, and sleeping days. I've given her all the medicine I dare. When you're through, I'll take her right down into the stream."

  The two men placed their hands on her head and gave her a blessing that helped Matt as much as he knew it would help her. Some of that awful feeling of helplessness dissipated with their amens.

  Zan immediately went out to check on the sheep and Joseph came with Matt to take her down to the stream bank again. This time instead of wetting a cloth, he set her right into the water, clothes and all and let her sweats and t-shirt become soaked through. After two or three minutes, he picked her back up and took her up to the trailer and put her back on his lap on the swing. He went back to bathing her face with the alcohol and within just a few minutes her fever had come down to just over a hundred-four. Matt breathed a huge sigh of relief when he read the scanner. A hundred-four felt like miles from a hundred-seven.

  Joseph went inside her trailer and turned on the light and began digging around, and shortly Matt smelled something cooking. In the mix of things he'd forgotten he was ravenous when he came in. Presently Joseph came back out and pulled up her camp chair and sat there beside them. He began to small talk and then soon got around to asking Matt several pertinent questions about himself and where he was from and his background. Matt had never been more subtly or thoroughly questioned by any father in his life. It was clear that Joseph felt some responsibility for Taya and her physical and emotional well being.

  Finally, apparently satisfied that Matt had no intention of harming her, Joseph switched gears and asked Matt why he had called and asked them to come and administer to her.

  Matt wasn't sure how to answer that for a few seconds and finally settled for, "I knew she needed a higher power than anything I could come up with. And I knew a blessing was what she would want right now, why?"

  Joseph replied, "I just wondered. Zan doesn't think you're LDS. But you must be."

  "I'm sorry. I'm not even sure what being LDS means."

  "Then you must not be, and Zan was right. Sometimes we call members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, LDS. I just meant that you were a member of the church. Some people refer to us as Mormons."

  "No, I'm not a member. Although I've been going with her for a few weeks. You're a member too then."

  "Yes. It's my greatest treasure. And so are you taking the discussions?"

  "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't know what that means either."

  Joseph was surprised. "You've been going to church for a few weeks and no one has pounced on you about taking the missionary discussions? That's unusual. Did you tell anyone you weren't a member?"

  Matt continued to bath her face and arms as he smiled at the use of the word pounce and answered, "Actually, Taya's been trying to fly under the radar. We've been going in late and then leaving early, before anyone can ask us anything."

  "I see." Joseph went back into the trailer and stirred whatever it was he was cooking and came back to the door. "Do you happen to know if she has any chili powder?"

  "I'm afraid I'm not answering anything right here tonight. I'm sorry, except for chasing a mouse out for her one night; I've never been inside except trying to find her phone and medicines earlier."

  "Actually, you answered that exactly right, young man. Now tell me, what is it you're doing out here in the desert?"

  Matt smiled at the serene old Indian, and explained what he was doing. When he finished, Joseph said, "I can tell you where there's oil out here. Not that I want them to drill, but it's over south up under that big bluff there."

  Again Matt smiled at him. "Maybe you'd be willing to come out and help me sometime. It would be good to have your wisdom around."

  "I'll give you some wisdom, Matt. Hang onto that girl on your lap for all you're worth and try not to let Zan and his possessiveness faze you. Oh, and don't tell either one of them I said that."

  Matt chuckled right out loud. "Zan does seem disgusted that I'm here at all. Taya handles him though. She doesn't take his guff and then smoothes over his rough feathers without him realizing she's doing it."

  Joseph nodded. "She's a born politician, that one. Don't tell her I said that either. How much longer are you going to be working out here?"

  "I have to have this thing completely buttoned up by October fifteenth or I lose it all. It's going to take everything I have to make that deadline and then some. Why do you ask?"

  "Well, Zan doesn't want you here, but if you weren't, we would have already talked her into going somewhere else. We probably should even with you. She's not safe now that they've figured out she's somewhere around here. And if they find her, they might do anything. Zan and I will stay tonight, and we'll bring in another herder until she's better. But if you can't be with her while she's this ill, let us know so we can make sure she's never left where she can't get away."

  Wanting to reassure him, Matt said, "Joseph, my project is up against a hard deadline, but she sat with me night and day while I went through this same thing last week. I'm not going to leave her where someone could come in and hurt her while she's completely out of it."

  "Good. See to it you don't. If you have to go somewhere, let us know and we'll come spell you. Do you like chili?"

  "I love it."

  "Even hot?"

  "Especially hot."

  "I'll bring you some."

  Matt was eating bites of chili between bathing her face. The rubbing alcohol reeked, but he didn't care. It was bringing her fever down and that was all that mattered. Zan came back and Matt asked him to go across and bring back his other chair from near his tent, which he did. The three of them sat eating chili and listening to the sheep.

  Eventually Joseph built a fire and then went inside her trailer and apparently went to bed while Zan went out to check on the sheep again. Matt pulled her closer into his arms and tried to untangle her hair and pull it out of her face. He wished he'd brought a pillow, and reached down to pick up her quilt an
d stuff it behind him to lean against. He took out his phone and set the alarm to go off when it had been four hours, and then leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

  Matt didn't know when Zan came in, but when his alarm went off, he saw him crashed on a sleeping bag beside the trailer. Matt tried not to wake either of the men up as he tried to wake Taya, but she was so out of it that he practically had to shout and shake her to get her to respond. He gave her another dose of Ibuprofen and insisted she drink a full glass of milk. She was like an obedient zombie and he wondered if he had been as easy to get to obey as she was. Probably not. She still acted cold, even this feverish and she snuggled right up against him before she went back to sleep. He was chilled because of her wet clothes and it made him feel guilty that her fever actually felt good against him.

  This time he set the alarm for only two hours and got up and gave her Tylenol for this round and then continued to bath her face again with the alcohol. Her fever was over one-hundred-three and to him that was still far too hot but he wasn't sure what else to do about it. When it went back up to one-hundred-four, he picked her up and grabbed a towel and took her to the shower. It took a few minutes to revive her enough that she understood what he wanted, but she finally seemed to. He left her and went to grab the chair she had put in for him and came back to hand it to her, but she was already in and out. She seemed to understand that she needed to cool off and had stood under the shower fully clothed.

  He wrapped the towel around her wet clothes and led her back to the swing. This time he laid it out flat and let her lie down on it and covered her loosely with the quilt. He stayed with her until she was back to sleep and then went back to his tent for another hour and fifteen minutes until the alarm went off again.

  After another round of Ibuprofen she seemed to be doing better. The fever was down to one-oh-two and she was more with it this time when he roused her to take the medicine. She actually looked right at him and thanked him. She patted his cheek with a gentle hand and told him to go back to bed, that she would be fine. He didn't doubt that. She was the toughest woman he'd ever known. Only his mother came even close to comparing with her. The sun was going to be coming up before the alarm went off again and he sat back on the swing and gathered her onto his lap again to hold her until it did. It seemed to help her. She snuggled up against him and went right back to sleep.