Chapter 60 - Chapter 60. Kevin Helps Miranda Recover

Dalton carried his wife back from the river and she was in bad shape. Dr. Daniels didn't think there was anything he could do for her, but Kevin realized she'd eaten a poison fruit from one of the trees. He told the doctor what he should do, but Blair and some of the others didn't believe him.Kevin remained calm in the face of Blair and Butler's clamoring. He slowly turned around and said, "Since the two of you are shouting so loudly, I suppose you have a way to save her? I'll gladly step aside and let the both of you get to work."Are you deliberately causing trouble?" Blair said angrily."How do we know you aren't just trying to trick us?" Butler asked rudely."In other words, the two of you have no idea what to do!" Kevin retorted. "If you don't understand, then please stay out of this."Dalton suddenly said, "Kevin's right. If any of you say another word, I'll throw you into the river."As soon as he said this, everyone became silent. Butler and Blair immediately clammed up. Neither of them wanted to test Dalton.After that, Dalton turned around and stared at Kevin. He said in a very grave tone, "Kevin, I believe you. What do you think we should do?"Okay!" Kevin nodded and gazed around the campground. "Dalton, take a couple of people over to those plants down by the river, where the ground's a little marshy. Bring back a couple of those tall plants, the ones with the large leaves. Make sure you pull up the roots too."Then Kevin turned to the doctor and asked him, "Do you have your medical bag in the tent? Please bring it right back."He picked up Miranda and put her on a blanket on the ground. Some of the onlookers wanted to complain when they saw Kevin touching Miranda, but they were too intimidated by Dalton to say anything.After Dalton walked away to look for the plants, Lily came over to Kevin and whispered to him, "Kevin, don't press your luck. Please let go of Miranda and apologize to Dalton."Don't worry, Lily. I know what I'm doing," Kevin reassured her."How could you possibly know what you're doing? I know for damn sure you're not a doctor," Lily said anxiously, "My family can't afford to get on Dalton's bad side."Ivan came back with his medical supplies and Kevin helped him to clean Miranda's skin around her mouth. Then the doctor got an antihistamine ready.When Dalton came back with the plants a moment later, the doctor asked him, "Has your wife ever had a bad reaction to an antihistamine or any other medication?" Lily got very worried by all this and said to Dalton, "I'm not sure that Kevin has the training for this. You really should call the hospital right away." Lily was very frightened that if Miranda died, Dalton would blame her family for it."I agree," the doctor said, "This treatment is highly irregular.""Please, Dalton, we all know that Kevin is faking it. You should get her to a hospital right away," Blair said nervously."And what do you think those plants are going to do? I wouldn't even put them in a salad," Butler scoffed."Alright, all of you shut up!" Dalton said impatiently, "I know what you're all thinking. You're afraid that Kevin will kill my wife and I'll take it out on you. Don't worry. The doctor already said she couldn't make it to the hospital in time. So this is our only option right now."Then he looked at all of them and added, "We're in such a remote place. If we wait for an ambulance, it might be too late by the time they get here. So, we'll just have to trust Kevin. And don't worry, I won't blame any of you."When he said this, they all heaved a sigh of relief. As long as Dalton wouldn't hold it against them, then Kevin could do whatever he wanted.Lily was stunned to hear this. Then she remembered how Phoebe had trusted Kevin in the antique shop, even though she still had doubts about her own husband.And now Dalton trusted Kevin with his own wife's life, even though he'd only known him for less than three hours.Lily had been married to Kevin for three years and still doubted him."Maybe I really don't understand him," Lily thought to herself.Then Dalton asked Kevin, "Now what are we going to do with these plants?"Kevin took the plants from Dalton's hands and stepped away as the doctor continued to treat Miranda. "I need to go over to the chef's station to make an herbal remedy that will help her recover more quickly," Kevin said very calmly."You know how to make herbal medicine?" Dalton said in shock.Of course, the onlookers didn't believe him either and started to mock him for claiming to have this skill. After all, he was just a freeloader in the Jones family. But Kevin just ignored them and calmly went about his work.Officer Emmett stared at Kevin in shock. She'd already taken one of Kevin's herbal meds and so had Blair. But she didn't realize that he could make them himself."So, Kevin, did you study herbal medicine while you were living off the Jones family for the last three years?" Jason said mockingly.But Kevin didn't care about what they were all saying. He started to use the cooking utensils that the chefs had set up by the main tent.After he was done, Kevin turned his head and pointed at Jason, Ivan, Butler, and Blair and said, "Take off your clothes. I need to start a fire."Even though Officer Emmett had warned Kevin not to show off his skills in front of anyone, he couldn't help but make a spectacle of himself at Jason and Blair's expense."What did you say?" Jason asked anxiously."Why don't you burn your own clothes?" Blair protested.The men saw that Dalton wasn't pleased with their reluctance to help."Kevin, don't you stir up trouble again!" Jason said angrily.Kevin smiled and replied, "Alright. I'll just tell Dalton that you aren't interested in helping.""Okay. They're only clothes," Blair said as he gritted his teeth and took off his shirt.He was impressed that Kevin had maneuvered him into this position. Nobody wanted to disappoint someone like Dalton.After Blair took the lead, Jason and the other two also took off their shirts and pants. Some of the onlookers snickered when they saw them standing there in their boxers."So, now what do you plan to do?" Blair sneered.Kevin didn't reply. He just picked up the clothes Jason and the others had thrown on the ground and asked for a lighter. Then he set them on fire.The onlookers all mumbled to each other as they tried to figure out what Kevin was doing."Kevin, do you really know what you're doing?" Blair said with a sneer.Kevin looked Blair Right in the eyes and said, "Just be a little patient and you might learn something."Do you think we're three-year-old kids who don't know anything?" Blair said with disdain.Kevin ignored Blair and kept stoking the fire.What he was concerned with was having a steady flame so he could put the roots in the fire and heat them evenly. He remembered most of what he'd read in his guides on herbal medicine preparation. This was something he was sure of.He'd really gotten very good at this in an incredibly short time.Since he couldn't get a reaction out of Kevin, Jason turned to Phoebe and asked her rudely, "You're well educated, aren't you? Can't you see that Kevin's making a fool of himself?"Everyone turned and looked at Phoebe to see how she would react.Jason continued his rant, "Kevin, let's see how long you can keep pretending you know what you're doing. And now Phoebe and Lily will see your true colors. Then you can explain yourself to Dalton."Phoebe shrugged her shoulders and said, "All I know is that a lot of medicines have the same ingredients as natural plants," then she continued, "but I'm not exactly sure what Kevin is doing right now."The onlookers thought that what she said had made sense. Still, some of them thought he was just putting on an act to look important.Kevin ignored their criticism and kept staring intently at the burning fire.By now, some people couldn't help glancing over at Dalton to see how he was going to respond. But his expression didn't change at all. He just sat quietly on the ground, hugging Miranda tightly.Phoebe started to get anxious for Kevin and added, "There's one thing I forgot to say. Some remedies have been passed down orally, so they can't be found in any books."Before she could finish speaking, Jason interrupted her, "Phoebe, you don't need to defend him."Just then, the roots that Kevin was holding in the fire started to crackle. He pulled them from the flame and took them back over to the chef's table where he made shavings and placed them in a bowl with some water. They could all smell the sweet fragrance, although the only one who was going to consume the concoction was Miranda.Everyone immediately became quiet. They were so shocked that their jaws almost dropped."So, it's ready?" one of them asked, breaking the awkward silence.Kevin put some of the mixture in a glass and handed it to Dalton, "She should be able to sip some of this by now. It will help her to recover a lot more quickly than what the doctor just gave her."Thank you, Kevin!" Dalton said excitedly as he headed over to his wife, who was still lying on the blanket.Dalton had been quiet until now because he didn't want to risk distracting Kevin. He still had some doubts about the remedy and it would be awful to have it fail because he'd interrupted Kevin.Nobody could believe that Kevin had prepared something to help Miranda just from what was growing around the campsite.Lily stared at Kevin in amazement and, seeing that this might just work, she finally relaxed a little.But it still bothered her that she didn't know Kevin or trust him yet.Officer Emmett walked over to him and asked him in disbelief, "So, you. you really know how to make herbal remedies? Then you actually made that pill that you gave me?"Kevin didn't answer her right away. He just shrugged his shoulders and walked over to see how Miranda was doing.Everyone was watching anxiously, wondering when she would show some signs that the cure was working.