{"id":7595,"date":"2014-03-08T11:35:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-08T16:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7595"},"modified":"2026-07-31T08:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T12:13:10","slug":"she-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=7595","title":{"rendered":"She Left (by DJK)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0<\/span>Adam\u2019s love is leaving him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0T\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a0<\/span> 599<\/span><\/p>\n

The Wheelchair Series<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Wheelchair<\/a>
\nShe Left<\/a><\/p>\n

She Left<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

She had come into his life one May; it was May once again. He gazed down and forced a smile onto his lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is sunny today?\u201d Her voice though barely a whisper still held its lilt.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sunny and warm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spring flowers? Are there spring flowers?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe early ones are blooming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her smile was genuine. \u201cAdam.\u201d Her hand rose slightly from the bedclothes as if to reach toward him before it fell back into the blankets.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, love.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTake me to the creek.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head as much to keep the tears from his eyes as to reject the idea. \u201cI can\u2019t. Why Doc Martin would have my head if I took you away from this bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s done all he can, Adam.\u201d There was a gentle chiding in her words. \u201cWe both know it isn\u2019t in his hands any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, I . . .I can\u2019t. . .\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGrant me one last wish?\u201d She coughed then, and the effort took her breath away for far too many minutes. He took her hand and held it to his chest.<\/p>\n

\u201cJessica, I…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease.\u201d Only enough air for the one syllable.<\/p>\n

He tried once more to deter her. \u201cYou\u2019re hardly dressed for an outing, Jessie mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her gaze held him. \u201cThat scarcely matters now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He drew in a deep breath as another cough racked her body. He had never been able to deny her. \u201cAll right.\u201d He tucked the quilt around her wasted body and slipped his arms behind her back and beneath her knees. It was far too easy to lift her, to carry her through the door and down the steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam!\u201d It was Hoss\u2019s voice that rang out as they stepped from the stairs. His brother took several steps toward them before a fierce shake of Adam\u2019s head stop him. Ben was beside Hoss in moments, and his hand on his son\u2019s arm locked Hoss in place.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s stride never hesitated. \u201cThe door,\u201d muttered as he passed Joe.<\/p>\n

Little Joe slipped ahead and opened the door to the porch. Adam strode through. Ben and Hoss came to Joe\u2019s side and watched as Adam carried her across the yard and into the woods.<\/p>\n

When he came to the glade with its babbling brook, he lowered himself to the ground. Leaning against a tree, he held her in his lap as she nestled her head into his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s better.\u201d He heard the joy in the words and allowed the tears to slip down his cheeks. \u201cYou kissed me here.\u201d Her hand had found his though her touch was little more than that of a butterfly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s hundreds of places on the Ponderosa where I\u2019ve kissed you.\u201d No sobs broke his voice, but the tears still spilled from his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere first.\u201d His hand came to her cheek and cradled it. \u201cFirst and last?\u201d The words held both pleading and acceptance.<\/p>\n

He managed to focus on her face as his thumb stroked her cheek. \u201cYes, first and last.\u201d He raised her in his arms and covered her lips with his. When he lowered her once again, he saw her smile. For the final time she smiled for him alone, and then she left.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
End Notes:<\/span><\/div>\n
This former Bonanza Bit is posted for those who wanted more in the AU of “The Wheelchair”.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Disclaimer:<\/span>\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0Adam\u2019s love is leaving him.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0T\u00a0\u00a0 Word count:\u00a0 599<\/p>\n

The Wheelchair Series<\/p>\n

The Wheelchair
\nShe Left<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":37050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1005,7,23,698,3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-cartwright","category-a-u","category-drama","category-post-timeline","category-romance","category-short-stories","wpcat-1005-id","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-698-id","wpcat-3-id","wpcat-8-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/Springtime-Vignettes.jpg?fit=960%2C640&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}