Chapter 1

Little Doe ran into the hall. "Something is wrong. Come. Please."

Stinson ran and the Agency Doctor walked to the room.

"He's gone into shock," the doctor said.

Stinson looked bewildered.

Howie's mother and father hurried into the room. Howie was unconscious.

Howard said, "Call your brother."

Mildred answered, "My homosexual brother, the queer, you didn't want in our house."

Howard said, "Not now. Call him. See if we should fly Howie to Hopkins?"

The LDS man said, "My plane is in a field outside of town. It can make it to Baltimore. Just say the word."

She returned, "Howard, Richard says we should take him to Texas Tech or Oklahoma University. He doesn't think Howie should wait six hours."

Howard said, "I will beg your brother for help."

She said, "It's time that is the problem. Richard will do whatever he can."

Howie was in the ambulance on the way to the airplane. Stinson had IVs and two big cartons of apparatus on the plane.

The LDS executive had the plane started and ready. Howie's parents got on the plane. Two policemen carried Howie on a stretcher and put him on the plane.

The policemen left and shut the plane's doors... Stenson strapped Howie and the stretcher down. He held the IV bottles. The plane started down the road

Mildred said, "Baltimore please. Howard, I will never forgive you. You know that."

Howard said. "Howie will make it."

Two hours into the flight and Howie had lost all color.

The doctor came back. "They said, no more whole blood. Run two saline intravenously."

The doctor said, "He isn't going to make it."

Howie was barely alive when the plane touched down in Canton. An ambulance and police cars were waiting.

At Hopkins, Howard hugged his queer brother-in-law. "Thank you Richard."

A little, young doctor with a big noise and short slicked back hair asked Stinson questions, rapid fire.

"Who is that?"

"That is the most brilliant resident anyone has seen around here in years. He is the head resident."

Howie's mother said, "My god, a resident?"

Richard said, "He is brilliant."

Howie went through the emergency room door to the OR.

After an hour, Richard walked to them. His head was down.

"We did all we could, but there is not much hope.

"Your medic did an excellent job, but there was no antiseptics or even ether. The blood wasn't a close enough match. He went into shock and his systems shut down for a second time. We exchanged his blood as quickly as we could, but Howie has had too many catastrophic traumas. Getting shot, losing so much blood, being operated on in an ambulance in the field by a medic who had never done surgery, getting the wrong blood, flying four and a half hours, and having his blood replaced," he said.

Howard started to say something, but hesitated.

"Howard, the medic did all anyone could have done. Howie would have died without blood. Natural born plains Indians have identical blood types. There wasn't any other blood for Howie."

"Does he have any chance? "Was his brain damaged?" Howard asked.

Richard hugged them, "I am sorry. It had to be. It was too long a time, and twice. It maybe a blessing if he does not make it."

Howard said, "I should have never sent him to Scott. It was in the middle of nowhere and then he lives on an Indian reservation with savage Indians. It's my fault."

Mildred said, "He loved it. And he was happy for the first time. He was in way over his head with this chief nonsense, but he became a man there."

The LDS retired executive said, "The Chief wasn't in over his head. He was as good a man as I ever worked with and I was a Fortune 100 president. He was a natural businessman and leader. I would have been proud to have called him my son, I tell you that." The man was teary eyed. He hugged Howie's mother. "I am going to pray."

The little resident walked to Richard. "Doctor, he has made slight improvement. He regained some color and his body temperature rose."

Howie was so weak that anything could kill him. Any infection or any one of hundreds of things.

The LDS executive flew back. Howie's parents waited outside his room all night.

In the morning, Becky and Mrs. Hall came.

Becky asked, "How is he?"

"No change I am afraid," his mother said. "They keep him in a dark room, in warm water."

Late that afternoon, Richard said, "Good news, his brain is functioning. They couldn't give him a full test, but the partial is encouraging."

"That is good news. How much damage did it show?" Mildred said.

"It showed brain activity," Richard said.

Howard asked, "So he isn't brain dead?"

Richard nodded, "Howie's electrolytes aren't able to regulate his functions. They really need to get in balance for him to improve and to hold any damage he already had, where it is."

Mildred looked at him and said softly, "That doesn't sound good."

"We have the very best people working on it. I wish I could do more," he hugged his sister.

Then Howard hugged him, "We appreciate all you have done. Please forgive me."

Richard nodded. "We are doing all we can. I pray it is enough."

Howie took two weeks for Howie to recovery consciousness.

His mother held his hand. She saw him as his eyes looked around the room.

"You are at Hopkins. You have been here three weeks," she said.

"No one else is here," she said.

Howie had tubes running to and from different parts of his body. A resident took his feeding and breathing tubes out.

It was another couple of days before he could talk.

"Mom, where is Little Doe," he asked.

"She is still in Texas son."

"Ask Dolph to get Little Doe and Little Flower, please?"

His mother said, "I have a letter from Scott. He wrote, "Tell Tall Grass that I have Little Doe, Little Flower, and her child. They will be here until he comes for them. They are worried about him, but they are safe. Dawn and I have declared."

Howard asked, "When you are rested, you can tell me what that means?"

Howie nodded and went back to sleep.

Hopkins and the military hospitals didn't believe in bed rest. The next day Howie was out of bed and walking.

His mother thought, My poor baby. He doesn't look like he did. His football days are over.

Mildred stayed with her brother and his friend. She was at Howie's side as much as they would let her. Even Richard couldn't change Hopkins' procedures. Howard went back to his classes. He came when he didn't have class.

Howie said, "Dad, you asked what Dolph's letter meant. Dolph and Dawn had declared they are married. In Oklahoma, common law marriage requires a public declaration and living together a week. So they are married.

"The part about Little Doe, Little Flower and her child was to tell me that he had them and would keep them until I came. That meant that he protected them for claim by the person who killed me and if I return, they were mine."

Mildred said, "I don't understand."

"I killed Little Doe and Little Flower's husbands. I claimed them. I assumed responsibility for them. It is the old way so that someone looked after other people in the band. I had eight women. Three of them I released to others, Dawn to Dolph, April to Janet, and Louise to Stinson. I had four children I was responsible for. I didn't know that Little Doe and Little Flower were sisters until after Little Flower told me. It was the same time she told me she was pregnant with my child."

"What?" his mother said.

"If I die, Dolph would take them and not give them up. Since he is family, he could do that, although, any Kiowa warrior could press a claim against them and Dolph would have to defend them. Not being a Kiowa, Dolph wouldn't get any protection from a chief.