It's more the
mangled leg, and starvation.' He looked across at the woman-child,
and perceived for the first time the dismal state into which she herself
had fallen, a malady of the mind, which had then spread to the body.
He felt ashamed, and frightened, and glad all at once. He was needed,
and his desire to live had somehow returned from its shallow grave,
embodied in the weakened, but far from dead creature at his feet.
And his own body, he knew from deepest instinct, was not yet ready to
surrender. On the contrary, it had made a small recovery. The two-day
fast and stubborn, death-like sleep had emptied his throbbing
intestines, and given his natural defenses time to adapt and regain some
measure of their innate strength. He was still very sick, but maybe
now.....
The words, 'Forgive me,' played upon his lips but had an empty,
useless feel. He went to the door, closed it, and though cold and
aching he said to her. 'Please don't lose hope. I'm going to
make it all right for us, somehow. Some way. You stood by me these
past days, and I..... You are a woman. I will earn your trust, and
repay my debt in full. I am yours.'
He embraced her and asked her to lie down in his bed. He then wrapped
the buffalo robe around him, tended the fire, and brought her food and
water.
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