Gideon read the sentence.
His expression softened.
He lifted her hand and pressed it against his forehead.
Rosalie sat beside him until the storm passed.
At dawn, they began the journey to Bell Creek.
Gideon could barely tolerate the movement of the wagon, but he insisted on going. Rosalie kept the medical notebook close and watched him throughout the journey.
They reached Bell Creek shortly after noon.
Dr. Samuel Whitcomb was an older man with silver hair, a neatly trimmed beard, and a small medical office behind the town’s general store.
When Rosalie explained what had happened, he listened without interrupting.
Then he examined Gideon carefully using a bright lamp and a small metal instrument.
The doctor’s expression grew increasingly serious.
“I won’t pretend I know exactly what this is yet,” he said. “But there is a foreign object lodged deep inside the ear canal, and the surrounding tissue is badly inflamed. There may also be damage to the eardrum.”
