Summary:   This was written as part of the March 2011 Chaps and Spurs challenge.

After being injured, Joe questions his belief in trust and second chances.

Word Count:  968  Rated: K+

                                                                        Trust

Joe slowly opened his green eyes, but immediately closed them with a groan. The light was blinding, causing agonizing pain to shoot through his head. From what seemed like a vast distance he could hear something, but because of the fury of the nails being driven into his head, all he could hear was an abstract noise. He tried to adjust his position, but only succeeded in causing the crew of men driving those to increase their tempo, forcing a moan to escape him.

“Joseph?”

The voice finally filtered through the rhythmic pounding in his head and he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. As awareness penetrated through the pain, he could feel the soothing comfort of the cool, wet cloth on his brow.

“Pa?” he whispered.

“I’m here, Son. Can you open your eyes for me?”

“Hurts… Lights.”

“There you go, Pa.”

Another voice sounded in the room. Adam?

“Try to open your eyes now, Joe.”

Slowly Joe cracked his eyes open. The drapes had been drawn, blocking out the bright July sun, and the lamp was turned down low, bathing the room in a soft, golden glow. Joe blinked a few times, trying to focus his eyes. When he was finally able to make out his fathers face, a weak smile graced his lips.

“Hi, Pa.”

“Hi, yourself.” Ben smiled at his son. “How do you feel?”

“Like there’s a whole crew driving nails into my head.”

“Let me in there, Ben.” Dr. Martin pushed his way to the bed carrying a glass filled with a cloudy liquid. “I want you to drink this, Joe. All of it.”

Dr. Martin helped support Joe’s head while he drank the medicine. When he was finished, he was gently lowered back down onto the pillows. “You must be feeling pretty bad if you’re not going to argue with me about taking that,” he joked.

Joe cleared his throat. “How long have I been out?”

“A couple of hours,” Adam answered from the foot of the bed.

“What happened?”

“You don’t remember?” Ben asked.

Joe closed his eyes for a minute as he searched his memory. Opening them again, he stared at his father. “I came home early. I had run out of nails, so I came back for more. I saw Jack’s horse out front and the front door was open,” Joe paused for a minute, hoping the nails would relinquish their hold on him. “I came inside and found Jack at your desk, Pa, going through the drawers.” A look of profound sadness filtered across Joe’s face. “I trusted him, I believed he had changed – and then, he was going to betray me like that? I confronted him about it. I couldn’t believe it, Pa, he pulled his gun on me, and started laughing.”

The medicine was starting to take hold and with its sedating effect also came a loss of control of his emotions. Unshed tears shimmered in his eyes.

“He…He wanted to know how I could expect anything from him. He told me how stupid and naive I was to believe that after all this time he would just up and repent his sins because the righteous, high and mighty Joe Cartwright convinced his daddy to forget his convictions and give him a job.”

A tear trickled down from the corner of Joe’s eye, and he angrily wiped it away. “He said he only took the job so he could get his hands on your money. He wanted me to open the safe, but I told him I couldn’t, I didn’t know the combination.” Joe gave a slight shrug when he saw the look of astonishment in everyone’s eyes. “I got angry, Pa, I felt like such a fool. So what did I do? I acted like one and went after him.”

“Didn’t you say he had a gun?” Adam asked. He knew it was a rhetorical question. He also knew what Joe’s answer was going to be before he even finished the sentence.

“I told you I acted like a fool. I didn’t think about what I was doing or what could happen.” Joe smiled a smile that was self-depreciating. “The next thing I knew I was waking up here. That’s all I remember.”

Carefully, Ben brushed back the curls that hung down on Joe’s forehead, an action he had done countless times over the years. “When we came home, we found you tied up in front of my desk. By the look of the blood on your face, not to mention the gash on your forehead, my guess would be he hit you with his gun, knocking you out cold before tying you up. We saw Jack on the road, riding hard and fast, heading south. When we found you we put two and two together and came to a pretty accurate conclusion of what happened. I sent Adam to town for Dr. Martin and to report this to Roy.”

“I’m sorry, Pa. I never should’ve believed in him…” Joe started to say before Ben cut him off.

“Joe, there’s no reason to be sorry. That’s the kind of man you are. You believe in people and you believe in second chances. It’s a wonderful quality to have. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, as in Jack’s case, but sometimes it does. Look at Sam Kirby. You put your trust in him to turn his life around, and he didn’t let you down.” Ben saw Joe’s eyes starting to close. “You get some rest, Son. We’ll talk more later.”

Joe smiled at his father and let his eyes drift close. He was content in the knowledge that his family loved him and would always support him. What greater gift could a man ask for?

The End