"A FATHER'S INTUITION"

By:  Lynne G.

 

Ben Cartwright suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with an uneasy feeling.  He quickly got out of his warm bed, put on his robe and slippers, grabbed a match, lit his lamp, and he quietly walked out of his bedroom and headed straight for his youngest son's bedroom.  He opened the door and walked over to the bed to look over his young son, Little Joe.

 

Ben put the lamp on the table next to the child's bed, and he very gently laid his hand on the boy's forehead checking for a fever.  He also felt the boy's cheeks as well.  He was very relieved at not finding any sign of fever on the boy.  He also listened to the child's breathing which sounded perfectly normal as well.  Ben straightened out the blankets on the bed, and he gently ran his fingers through the boy's soft thick curly hair.  Ben decided to pull up a chair so could watch his baby son sleeping.  He stayed in the chair for about an hour, then he decided that the child seemed just fine.  So he got up from the chair and put it back by the window, then walked back over to the bed.  He again checked for any sign of fever, and again, there was no sign of any fever.  Ben leaned down and gave his young son a kiss, then he picked up his lamp and went back to his own room.  As he laid in his bed, he couldn't get that feeling out of his mind that his young son was coming down with something or that he would be injured in some way.

 

Ever since Little Joe was born, Ben always knew when the boy was going to be ill or hurt.  He had never been wrong yet and he hoped that this time he would be wrong.  He soon went back to sleep.

 

The next morning as Ben was sitting at the dining room table, Adam joined him.  " Good morning Pa," Adam said as he sat down.  " Good morning to you too son," Ben replied. 

" Where is Hoss?" Ben asked.  " He went to wake up Little Joe, and then he will be right down," Adam replied.

 

A couple of minutes later, Hoss joined Ben and Adam at the table.  " Mornin' Pa," Hoss declared.  " Good morning to you too son.  Is Little Joe up and getting dressed?" Ben asked.  " Yup!  That boy is sure hard to wake up," Hoss stated.  " Yes he is.  Is he alright?  I mean, is he feeling alright?" Ben questioned.  " He's just fine Pa," Hoss replied.  " That's good to know," Ben answered, hoping that Adam and Hoss wouldn't question him about what he just asked.

 

About five minutes later, Little Joe came running down the stairs.  " Mornin' everyone!" the youngster shouted.  Ben smiled at his young son and he said, " Good morning Little Joe.  You sure seem full of energy this morning, don't you?"

" Yup.  Sure do," the boy responded.  " Good morning little brother," Adam greeted as he smiled at his baby brother.  " Thanks Adam," the child answered.

 

As Little Joe ate his breakfast, Ben watched his son, then said, " Little Joe, I need to take a ride into Virginia City this morning on business, so I thought that I would ride with you to school, then go off to the bank."  The boy looked up at Ben and mumbled, " ok " as he had a mouth full of pancakes.  Adam and Hoss looked at each other and wondered why Ben hadn't said anything to them about having to go into Virginia City that day.

 

On the way to town, Ben and Little Joe talked about all kinds of things from school, to horses, to fishing.  Ben paid close attention to every move the boy made, and he felt better at how healthy his son looked and sounded, but he still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling he had.

 

" You have a good day at school, and be a good boy for Miss Jones," Ben told the boy.  " Will Papa.  Have a good time in town, and you be a good Papa too," Little Joe said as he gave Ben a big smile.  " You little imp.  I will be a good Papa, son.  I love you baby," Ben said.  " I love ya too Papa," the boy replied.  Ben watched as his little son rode over to the shelter for the horses they had at the school.  The child unsaddled Tony, rubbed him down and he made sure Tony had food and water for the day.  He gave Tony a kiss and walked over to the small school building and walk up the stairs and into the building.  Ben then rode off towards the main street of Virginia City.

 

Ben rode up to the General store, got off his horse and he went into the store.  " Good morning Ben," greeted Tom Cass, the owner of the store.  " Good morning to you too Tom," Ben replied.  " What can I get for you today Ben?" Tom asked.  Well let me see?  How about the latest copy of the Territorial Times, some pipe tobacco, some candy for Hoss and Little Joe, and I think I will take a look at the books to see if there might be one that Adam would like," Ben declared.  Ben showed Tom the candy he wanted for Hoss and Little Joe, and then he walked over to where the books were.  As he looked at all the new books that had just come in the day before, he found a book of poetry he knew Adam would love.  He laid the book down on the counter beside the tobacco, the newspaper, and the two sacks of candy.  Tom added up the total and Ben paid him.  Tom wrapped up all of the items that Ben had just purchased, handed them to Ben and the two men said ' good bye' to each other.  Ben left and put the packages in his saddle bags.

 

He decided to have a short visit with his dear friend, Sheriff Roy Coffee.  The two friends played several games of checkers, with Ben winning most of the games.  After Ben and Roy said their 'good bye's', Ben headed for home.

 

Later that afternoon when Adam and Hoss returned home from doing ranch chores, Ben gave Adam his new book, which Adam was thoroughly delighted with.  Hoss was very happy to have his favorite candy too.

 

An hour later, Little Joe returned home from school.  Ben gave his little son his sack of candy, which really excited the boy.  Ben watched as his son ate his snack that Hop Sing had made for him.  Ben told the child that he could have two pieces of candy after he finished his snack.  Ben continued to watch Little Joe, which didn't go unnoticed by Adam and Hoss.  Little Joe didn't realize that Ben was watching him.  As the boy got up from the table after finishing his snack, he walked over to the front door to go out to the barn to his his chores, Ben watched every move the boy made.

 

" Imma gonna go do my chores now Papa," Little Joe announced.  " Ok son," Ben replied.  After Little Joe had left the house, Ben got up from his chair and walked over to the door, where he opened it and he watched his son walk into the barn.  Adam and Hoss were watching Ben and they were wondering what was going on.

 

" Ok Pa, what's wrong?  You have been watching every move Little Joe has made since he came down the stair this morning.  Then suddenly you needed to go into Virginia City, so you rode with little brother, and now you watched him walk out to the barn.  What is going on?" Adam asked.  " Yeah Pa, what's the deal?" Hoss asked.

 

" It's my ' father's intuition' bothering me.  I just know that your little brother is going to be ill or get hurt," Ben told his older sons.  " Oh no, not that again!  I don't know how you always know when that little imp is going to be ill or hurt.  You are right every time," Adam stated.  " It's kinda spooky Pa," Hoss declared.  " Well let's just hope I'm wrong this time.  After all, he does look and seem to be fine," Ben replied.

 

Ben continued to have that uneasy feeling for about three weeks now.  He tried to keep his youngest son in his sight at all times.  He got up every night to check on the boy for fever and thankfully the boy seemed just fine.

 

One afternoon while on his way home from school, Little Joe was talking to Tony as a sudden nasty storm began.  It was raining so hard and the wind blowing so hard, that Little Joe could barely see the road.  Tony was getting more nervous as they continued on home.  Little Joe decided to head for the line shack that was very near where he was.  It only took a couple of minutes for the boy and his horse to reach the shack.  Little Joe took Tony into the barn area, and out of the storm.  He stayed in there with Tony to wait out the storm.

 

Back at the ranch, Ben, Adam and Hoss couldn't believe at how fast the storm had suddenly began.  Ben was beside himself with worry about Little Joe.  " I've got to go and look for him!" Ben declared.  " Pa, you're not going out in that storm.  It's too dangerous!" Adam replied.  " Son I know, but your little brother is out there in it on his way home from school.  He could be hurt, and I know that he is scared," Ben said.  " Pa, as soon as the storm is over, we'll go and look for him," Adam said.

 

Little Joe was scared, and very cold in his soaking wet clothes.  He kept talking to Tony trying to calm him down.  He wished that he was home where he felt safe and he knew it would be nice and warm too.  He wanted his Papa to hold him.

 

After about two hours, the storm suddenly stopped, almost as fast as it had started.  Little Joe led Tony out of the small barn and they headed home.

 

As soon as the storm stopped, Ben, Adam and Hoss got their horses saddled, and they went to look for Little Joe.  Ben felt sick with worry and all he wanted was to hold his baby son in his arms.

 

About thirty minutes later, the Cartwrights saw the youngest Cartwright riding towards them.  " Thank God!" Ben shouted as soon as he saw his son riding towards them.  " Papa!" the boy shouted as soon as he saw his worried family riding towards him.

 

As they stopped, Ben jumped off Dusty and he ran over to his young son and pulled the boy off Tony and he held him for dear life.  " Oh sweetheart, I have been so worried about you.  Are you alright?" Ben cried.  " Hi Papa.  Imma fine now," the teary eyed boy replied as he felt safe in his father's arms again.  Ben could feel his baby shivering badly.  Let's get you home and into some dry clothes and get you warmed up," Ben said as he carried his son over to Dusty and put him on the saddle.  Ben took off his coat and put it around his son, and he then climbed up on Dusty and sat behind his son.  Hoss grabbed Tony's reins and soon the family was on their way home.

 

Once Little Joe was into dry clothes, Ben wrapped him up in a warm quilt and he sat down with the boy on his lap in front of the fireplace that had a nice blazing fire burning.  Little Joe was now starting to feel warm again, and of course the hot chocolate helped him feel warm too.  He told his family about taking shelter at the line shack until the storm was over.  " I am so proud of you sweetheart for remembering about that line shack.  I am very glad that we built it there.  You were very brave son. I know how scared you must have been," Ben told Little Joe.  " I was so scared Papa, and Tony was scared too, so I kept tellin' him that we were safe where we was.  I also told him that as soon as the storm was over then we could go home," the boy explained.  " WOW Punkin, ya sure took good care of Tony.  I'm so proud of you little brother," Hoss thoughtfully said.  " Thanks Hoss.  " You did good little buddy," Adam added.  " Thanks big brother," the boy replied.

 

As the days went by, Ben still had his uneasy feeling.  For the next couple of weeks, Ben made excuses to Adam and Hoss so he could take Little Joe to school and go back to get him after school. 

 

" I tell ya Adam, Pa has never been this bad before.  It's drivin' me crazy," Hoss told Adam.  " I know Hoss, and I have talked to him about this and he keeps saying the same thing over and over, that he needs to be here for little brother.  Little Joe asked me if there was something wrong with Pa because, as liitle brother put it, " Papa's always gotta be with me," Adam told Hoss.

 

" Papa, how come ya wanna take me ta school everyday and come ta take me home after school?" Little Joe asked Ben.  Ben knew that he needed to answer that question, but he didn't want to worry his little boy.

 

" Oh, I don't know son.  I really miss you during the day, so I come to meet you after school. I love to be with you sweetheart," Ben explained, hoping that answer would satisfy his son.  " I love bein' with ya too Papa.  I could quit school and that way I could be with ya during the day too," Little Joe declared, hoping that Ben would let him quit school, since he hated to go to school.  Ben had to smile at his son's answer, knowing that the boy hated school.  " You need to go to school sweetheart," Ben replied.

 

Several days later, the day was very warm, so Little Joe didn't wear his jacket to school that day.  Ben wanted him to take with him just in case it turned colder during the day.  The boy sighed, but he put his jacket in his saddle bags just to please his Papa.  Around noon it started to get rather cool again and Ben was very happy that Little Joe took his jacket with him.

 

When Adam and Hoss returned home for lunch, they remarked at how cold it was getting, as to the way it was so warm in the morning.  They were glad that they had saved their barn work for the afternoon.  They were going to rebuild several of the stalls in the barn that needed to be rebuilt, and plus some other repairs that needed doing also.

 

As school was letting out for the day, it started to pour down rain.  Little Joe was glad he had his jacket with him.  He mentally thanked Ben for making him take it with him that morning, but it wouldn't help him stay dry as it was raining so hard.  He saddled Tony for their wet ride home.  He was surprised at how cold it had turned.

 

About half way home, the wind began to blow very hard.  The rain was coming down even harder and the wind kept getting stronger.  Little Joe was having a hard time just staying in the saddle.  He knew the line shack was  about a mile away, so he urged Tony in that direction.  It was impossible to even see the road now because of the rain.

 

A couple of minutes later, a branch broke off a large pine tree and as it was flying through the air, it hit Little Joe on the head, and the boy fell off Tony and he landed in a puddle, unconscious.  Tony was terrified and he took off running.

 

Ben was sitting at his desk when he suddenly jumped up and yelled, " LITTLE JOE !"  Hop Sing came running out of the kitchen.  ' What wrong?  Why you yell for little boy?" Hop Sing nervously asked.  " Hop Sing, something's happened to him.  I can feel it!" Ben nervously told him.  Hop Sing was now very nervous too.

 

About that time, Adam and Hoss came into the house from the barn.  " Boys, Little Joe needs us !" Ben shouted.  They both looked at Ben and they told him that there was no way that they were going out in that storm.

 

" Pa, there are branches coming down everywhere.  It's too dangerous out there !" Hoss told Ben.  " Pa, Hoss is right.  Little brother is probably at the line shack again.  Try not too worry," Adam explained to Ben.  " How can you say that Adam ?  My baby needs me, I tell you !" Ben declared.  " Pa, Adam is right.  What if you went out looking for little brother, and you got hurt?  You wouldn't be helping him at all.  Please Pa, wait till the storm slows down," Hoss begged.  Ben knew his sons were right, but it still didn't stop him from worrying about his youngest son.  " I'm sorry.  You're both right, but as soon as this storm slows down, I'm going to go look for Little Joe !" Ben declared.

 

Finally about two hours later, the storm slowed down.  The rain had stopped, but the wind was still blowing, but not near as hard as it had been.  The Cartwrights grabbed their coats, hats and some blankets, and they headed out to the barn to saddle their horses.  As soon as Ben opened the door, he yelled, " Oh my God, it's Tony !"  They all ran over to the very nervous horse.  They checked him over for any sign of injury, but luckily they didn't find anything wrong with Tony, except the horse was very excited.  Charlie came out of the bunkhouse to take care of Tony.  As soon as as the Cartwrights had their horses saddled, they rode off to look for Little Joe.

 

Not quite an hour later they reached the line shack, but there was no sign of Little Joe.  " I was hoping he would have been here," Ben sadly said.  " Come on, let's head in that direction," Adam said as he pointed in the direction of the school house, which was still a ways away from where they now were.  They all extremely worried about Little Joe.

 

They were all amazed at all the tree branches that had come down that were laying everywhere.  About twenty minutes later, they noticed a large pile of branches laying on the road.  They rode over to the large pile of branches, and gasped as they saw an arm and part of a leg that were barely covered by the branches.

 

" JOSEPH !!!!!!" Ben screamed as he, Adam, and Hoss began to remove the branches off the very still form of little Joe.  Ben was shaking so badly that he couldn't find a pulse on the child's neck.  " OH my baby, my baby," Ben cried over and over.  Adam felt the child's neck for a pulse and thankfully he found one.  " He's alive Pa !" Adam shouted.

 

Before they moved the child in any way, they very carefully check him for any broken bones.  Not finding any, they very gently turned the boy over and Ben lifted him out of the puddle.  They boy was shivering badly, and his skin was very pale and very cold.  They noticed a large gash on his forehead, and a very large lump on the top of his head.  They wrapped the child in the blankets they brought with them.  " Adam, go and get Dr. Martin fast !" Ben said as he gently picked up his unconscious son and he walked over to his horse.  Adam took off fast to get Dr. Paul Martin.  Hoss took his little brother so Ben could get on Dusty.  Once Ben was on Dusty, Hoss handed the unconscious child back up to Ben and they started for home as fast as the could without hurting the boy.

 

To Ben, it seemed to take forever to finally arrive at home.  He kept talking to Little Joe all the way home, begging the child to please open his eyes, but the child didn't respond at all. 

 

As soon as Ben, Little Joe and Hoss rode into the yard, Hoss quickly ran over to Ben so Ben could hand Little Joe to Hoss so he could get off Dusty.  As soon as Ben was off his horse, Hoss handed the child back to Ben and Ben ran towards the house with his precious young boy in his arms.  Charlie came to take care of the horses, so Hoss could help Ben with his little brother.

 

When they entered the house, Ben yelled for Hop Sing, as he gently laid Little Joe on the large coffee table in front of the fireplace.  Hop Sing looked down at the muddy, wet unconscious boy with a very worried look on his face.  " Where you find little boy?" Hop Sing softly asked.  Ben told him where they had found the child.  " Hop Sing got lots of hot water on stove.  I get towels, and first aid kit," Hop Sing said as he quickly left the room. 

 

Hoss went to get the bath tub from the washroom, and he put it in front of the fireplace, and he helped Ben get the muddy wet clothes off of Little Joe.  Once they had the little boy undressed, Bne gently lifted him into the warm water and he and Hoss began to bathe the child as quickly as they could.  Hop Sing had also brought a clean nightshirt for the child.  By now several very angry looking bruises had appeared all over the boy's body from all the tree branches that had hit him.

 

Ben knew he had to be very careful as he dried the boy's thick curly hair because of the very large lump on the boys' head.  All the while Ben and Hoss bathed the boy they kept talking to him in hopes if waking him up.  Hop Sing was speaking Chinese to the boy as well.  The little boy never moved or opened his eyes at all.

 

Little Joe was now safely tucked into his warm bed, with a very concerned Ben, Hoss and Hop Sing sitting next to the bed.  They were still trying to get the child to respond to them, but nothing seemed to be working.  " Please baby open your eyes.  I love you so much sweetheart.  Please open your eyes for Papa ," Ben kept begging as he held his son's small hand.  Hoss had tears in his eyes, as did Ben and Hop Sing.  The child was still very pale in color, but his skin seemed to be warmer than it had been.

 

Finally Paul and Adam ran into the room.  " Paul, thank God you're here," Ben said.  " Hi Ben.  Has Little Joe opened his eyes at all or moved at all?" Paul asked.  Ben sadly shook his head and said, " No, he hasn't."  Ben, Hoss and Hop Sing had moved away from the bed so Paul could get a good look at the unconscious boy, who was laying so still in the bed.  " Paul, he has bruises all over his back where the branches hit him," Ben said.  " Thanks for telling me Ben.  I'll check those in a couple of minutes.  That is a rather large lump on his head, plus that nasty looking gash on his forehead.  You did a good job cleaning it.  It will need some stiches.  Luckily he doesn't have any broken sink on his head," Paul explained.

 

Paul gently turned Little Joe over on to his stomach so he could he examine the child's back and get a good look at those bruises too.  " Ben, there doesn't appear to be any broken bones.  These bruises will get more colorful as time goes along.  The thing that concerns me the most is his head injury.  Since we don't know how long ago this happened, I don't know how long he has been unconscious.  He is in shock, that's for sure.  You did a wonderful job at getting him warm and dry.  We are just going to have to wait and see how he seems when he wakes up.  He is in a coma at the moment.  With head injuries, there is no way to say how long he will be in a coma.  Thankfully, he isn't in a deep coma, but any coma is bad enough.  What we need to do is to keep him warm, keep talking to him, spoon feed him broth and water.  He shouldn't be left alone at all.  Even though he isn't conscious, he can still hear you talk to him and he can feel you touch him as well," Paul explained.

 

" Thank you Paul.  We won't leave him at all.  Someone will be here with him at all times.  I just want my baby to wake up Paul.  He needs to know how much we love him," Ben softly said as he had tears in his eyes.  Paul put his arm around Ben's shoulder and said softly, " He knows how much you all love him Ben."

 

It had been about four days since Little Joe's accident, and the boy was still unconscious.  The boy was very pale, but he seemed to be resting quietly.  His family was worried sick about him.  By now Paul was starting to get even more concerned that the child was still unconscious.

 

The early morning of the sixth day since his accident, Little Joe began to move his arms and legs slowly.  He also began to moan a little too.  Ben immediately woke up as soon as he heard the first moan.  He heart skipped a beat when he saw his little son move his arms and legs.  " Little Joe, can you hear me baby?  Open your eyes now son.  Can you please open your eyes for Papa," Ben begged.  As he looked at his son's face, the boy's eye lids slowly began to flutter.  " Come on sweetheart, you can do it.  Open your eyes now precious. Good boy," Ben softly, but excitedly said.

 

Little Joe slowly opened his eyes and blinked several times before he looked up at Ben, who was smiling at down at him.  " Papa?" the child very weakly said.  " Yes, sweetheart, Papa's here baby.  How do you feel?" Ben asked as he touched his son's sweet little face.  " Kinda tired Papa, and my head hurts.  Everything hurts," the boy softly replied.  " I bet it does.  You have a very large lump on your head, a large gash on your forehead, and bruises all over your body.  Do you remember what happened, baby?" Ben asked as he held his son's small hand in his large hand.

 

" Um, it was was really stormy and Tony and I were ridin' ta the line shack, and I felt somethin' hit my head and everythin' went black.  Is Tony ok?" the boy asked.  " Yes sweetheart, Tony is just fine, and he misses you.  Let me give you something for your headache, then I'll get some broth into you.  Are you hungry?" Ben asked.  " Kinda Papa," the youngster replied.

 

About that time, Adam and Hoss came into their little brother's room, and they were so grateful to see their baby brother's eyes open.  " He's awake Adam !  He's awake !" Hoss almost shouted.  " He sure is," Adam happily said.  " Hey Punkin, how do you feel baby?" Hoss asked.  " Hi Hoss, Adam.  Kinda tired and my head hurts and so does all of me," the boy replied.  " It's great to see you wake little buddy.  You sure had us all very worried about you," Adam declared as he smiled at the young boy. 

 

" Adam, could you please ask Hop Sing to heat up some broth for your little brother?" Ben asked.  " Sure, be very happy too," Adam said as he left the room.  Ben and Hoss continued to talk to Little Joe to keep him awake so he could have some broth.

 

" Hop Sing, great news, Little Joe is awake.  Please could you heat up some broth for him?" Adam asked Hop Sing who had a big smile on his face.  " Hop Sing very happy to heat broth for little boy.  This is very happy day.  Little boy awake again.  How is little boy feeling?" Hop Sing asked as he was heating up some broth for Little Joe.  " He said he is tired, and his head hurts and so does his body," Adam replied.

 

Hop Sing and Adam returned to Little Joe's room with a bowl of broth and a glass of milk for the child.   Hop Sing smiled at the boy and spoke to him in Chinese and the boy answered back in Chinese, which didn't surprise his family, since the boy spent a lot of time with Hop Sing and Hop Sing had taught him Chinese.

 

Ben sat Little Joe up so he could feed him the broth.  Little Joe ate all of his broth and drank all of his milk too, which made everyone feel good.  The boy was almost asleep, so Ben laid him down, covered him up and gave him a kiss.  The child went right to sleep.  He had been awake for just over two hours, which was very good.

 

After Little Joe was asleep, his family went down stairs to eat their breakfast, which was very much enjoyed.  They were all so very thankful that Little Joe had finally woke up.  The boy was very weak, but he seemed to do fine, but very tired and sore, which was expected.

 

As the Cartwrights got up from the table, there was a knock on the front door.  As Ben opened the door, there stood Paul.  " Hi Ben.  I can see by the big smile on your face, that our favorite little patient must have waken up," Paul said as he smiled.  " Hi Paul.  Yes he did a little while ago.  He sounds and looks very tired.  He said his head hurt and he also hurt all over his body.  He ate a bowl of broth and drank a glass of milk.  He stayed awake for just over two hours.  I gave him some headache powders when he woke up.  After he ate, he went back to sleep," Ben explained to Paul.  " That is wonderful news Ben !   I would love to go up and have a look at him," Paul said as he went up the stairs.  The Cartwrights and Hop Sing all followed Paul up the stairs and into Little Joe's room.

 

They all stood there watching the boy sleep soundly.  " I hate to wake him up, but I need to check him out.  Little Joe, wake up son," Paul said as he as he gently shook the little boy's shoulder.  Little Joe slowly opened his eyes, yawned, and he slowly rubbed his eyes, and he looked at everyone in the room.

 

" Hi Little Joe, how do you feel, little one?" Paul asked as he smiled at the sleepy boy.  " Tired," the sleepy child softly replied.  Paul sat Little Joe up and he placed several pillows behind the child so he could lean up against them.  " Now son, I want you to follow my finger with your eyes as I move it," Paul explained.  " Kay," the boy answered.  Little Joe's eyes followed Paul's finger in every direction he moved it.  " Good boy.  Now Little Joe, does everything look clear or is everything a little fuzzy looking to you?" Paul asked.  " Just a little fuzzy," the boy replied.  " That is to be excepted son, but it should be gone by tomorrow or the next day.  Now I'm going to look in your eyes, and I don't want you to blink at all," Paul said.  Little Joe did what he was told, even though he was having trouble keeping his eyes open, and all he wanted to do was to go back to sleep.

 

" Good boy.  You are doing great.  I want you to stay in bed for a few more days.  You need to get a lot of rest and eat.  I also want you to be sure to take the headache powders when you need them.  Your headaches will go away in a few days.  You can go back to sleep now," Paul said as he laid the boy back down in his bed.  As soon as Little Joe snuggled down in his warm bed, he went right back to sleep.

 

Back down stairs as they they were having coffee, Paul told Ben that Little Joe would be just fine in a few days.  " Ben, he will be sleeping a lot over the next several days.  Don't worry about that.  The boy is very weak right now, but with a lot of rest and food, he will be back to normal very soon.  He's a very lucky boy Ben.  He sounds like he is coming down with a bad cold though, and hopefull it won't get too bad.  If he starts to have really bad headaches, be sure to let me know.  There's always a chance he could, but I really don't think he will," Paul told the Cartwrights.  " Thanks Paul.  I know we are all feeling so relieved now that he did wake up.  I can't tell you how worried we were that he was unconscious for so long.  I wanted my boy to wake up, and now he has," Ben thankfully said.

 

" Yes, he has awaken finally for which we can all be so grateful for.  It's just a good thing you Cartwrights have those hard heads," Paul joked.

 

By the end of the week, Litttle Joe was allowed out of bed and soon all of his headaches were gone, and the youngster was soon back into his usual mischief, which his family had really missed.

 

The End

 

 

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