Dr. Bellows felt strongly that Nick’s will to live was due entirely to the lovely blonde who showered him with tender care. Aimee rarely left Nick’s side. Sergeant Jones had returned to duty, leaving her virtually friendless in the Federal field hospital. But her compassion for both Yankee and Confederate soldiers being treated for wounds by Union doctors soon earned her their respect. To Nick she was his guardian angel, beside him during his brief lucid moments, comforting him when pain took his senses from him. Dr. Bellows couldn’t help but be impressed by the young widow’s obvious devotion to the Yank captain. By now he had learned most of Aimee’s history from Sergeant Jones before he had left. And though Jones’s knowledge was far from complete, it was enough for Bellows to know that no woman would devote herself so selflessly to a man unless she loved him. Thus when Aimee asked if it was possible to take Nick back to Tall Oaks, where she could care for him in the comfort of her own home, Bellows readily agreed.
