SAVING THE DREAM
Disclaimer: This story was written solely for the enjoyment of other Zorro fans and is not intended to infringe on any copyrights held by Goodman/Rosen Productions, New World Television, Zorro Productions, the estate of Johnston McCulley or anyone else.
Intro
All Diego de la Vega ever dreamed of was to marry the woman he loved and have a family.
The Nightmare
The nightmare started one afternoon at the hacienda when Diego was playing the piano composing a new melody while dreaming of Victoria. Felipe rushed into the library gesturing agitatedly. What he told Diego had him rush to the cave instantly. While Felipe saddled Toronado Diego dressed as Zorro. In an impulse he added some supplies to the saddlebags before he rode out of the cave.
"Tell my father I went to the bank in Santa Paula. I don't know how long it will take or when I'll be back."
It took him some time to find the trail of the bandits who had abducted Victoria and he cautiously neared the camp.
What he saw froze the blood in his veins and he leaped to action. With the surprise on his side he quickly disarmed the three bandits with his whip before he knocked them out. After he had tied them to their horses and sent them off to the pueblo he knelt down at Victoria's side. The men had beaten her hard and she was drifting in and out consciousness. Her face was covered with blood where she had been hit and she was breathing heavily indicating internal injuries from the kicks of their boots.
"Querida, I'm here now," he tried to sooth her.
"Hurts so much," she coughed.
"They wanted me to tell them your name, but I couldn't, wouldn't,.." she cried.
"What else did they do? Did they …?" He needn't to finished the sentence to make himself understood.
Victoria shook her head weakly. "They wanted to but then they decided I was already too broken for that." Her silent weeping hurt him more than anything else.
He went to Toronado and got out his medical supplies before he rushed back to her side. While trying to sooth her, he methodically checked her for injuries, cleaned and bandaged her wounds which took a lot of time since he couldn't afford to overlook one. The injuries that he could see did not worry him as much as the internal ones. She had probably several broken ribs and he hoped that she wasn't bleeding internally where he could do nothing about it. From the way she was gasping for air he feared that her lung was punctured. While he bandaged her ribs as good as possible to prevent further injury to her lung she lost consciousness.
He wanted to get her back to the hacienda where he could treat her properly but the transport there on unstable grounds during the night would kill her. Not too far from the bandits campsite was a small cave that provided at least a little shelter. There was no other option than to stay in that small cave for the night until Victoria was stabilized enough to be transported. He had some blankets to prepare a makeshift bed but he hadn't the medical supplies from the hacienda's cave he would need to treat her. Since he couldn't leave her alone there was only one option.
He removed the saddle from Toronado's back and put it in the cave before he sent the horse off.
"Get Felipe, " he ordered. In an afterthought he tied a small part of a bloodied bandage to Toronado's tack hoping Felipe would get the hint and bring medical supplies. After a small slap on the back the horse galloped away and Zorro hoped that it wouldn't take too long until he came back with Felipe.
After he had made a fire to get some warmth he carried the unconscious Victoria carefully over to the cave and laid her down on the blankets near the fire. A slightly upright position eased her breathing and leaning against the saddle he sat down behind her drawing her on his lap providing her with warmth from his body at the same time, covering both of them with his cape.
The next hours he was busy keeping her alive. Twice Victoria stopped breathing and only after he forced some air inside her lungs did she inhale again. The hours seemed endless and every time it happened he feared she would die right there in his arms.
After some time Victoria regained consciousness and opened her eyes. "Zorro," she coughed when she became aware of her surroundings.
"Don't talk, Querida, save your breath," he whispered caressing her tenderly.
"Tired, so tired," she breathed with pain.
Weakly she reached with her arm for his mask. "Please," she whispered barely audible.
He knew he couldn't deny her her wish any more; not when it was possible she would not make it through the night.
Slowly he reached behind his head and untied the knot of his mask.
"You!" the surprise was visible, only to be replaced by relief. "I'm glad it's you, Diego," she coughed again heavily unable to continue speaking.
He could see how it pained her putting tears in her eyes. "Shh, Querida, everything will be alright again," trying to give her the hope he didn't feel himself, after she got weaker every time her breathing stopped.
It was already in the middle of the night when he heard someone approaching. Putting on his mask again he carefully let the unconscious Victoria slide down onto the blankets while he grabbed his sword and moved from the fire into the shadows ready to defend her if it was one of the bandits who had returned. With a breath of relief he recognized Felipe who rode on Esperanza following Toronado's lead. Felipe looked questioning at Zorro asking for an explanation.
"I'm not injured, Felipe. It's Victoria. The bandits hurt her very badly and I don't know if she will make through the night." Felipe looked horrified.
"Did you bring supplies?" Zorro asked and Felipe nodded affirmatively.
With water from the nearby creek and the cooking utensils the bandits had left behind, Zorro prepared some tea to ease her pain. Twice that night Felipe had to make the one hour roundtrip to the hacienda to get some more bandages and other supplies.
On his last trip he returned with the cart that he stationed on top of the ravine the camp was located in.
While Felipe was away, Zorro had created a kind of stretcher from a blanket and some tree branches. Carefully he and Felipe carried Victoria on the stretcher out of the ravine as soon as it was light enough to see the path. It was very slow going because every bump caused her further pain. Zorro had planned to take Victoria to the hacienda but they were moving too slowly and he couldn't wait anymore to get her to a doctor. He sent Felipe ahead to catch Dr. Hernandez while he drove the cart to the nearby mission that lay on the northern road to Monterey.
"Victoria, I'll get you to the doctor, he will help you to get better. Felipe rides ahead and Dr. Hernandez will treat you there. Everything will be alright, Victoria." Zorro tried to reassure her.
"Hurting so much, Zorro. Can't go on. We'll never got to fulfill our promise. Love you so..."
"Querida, it will be alright. Just try to hold on. I promise you'll get your wedding. Right there at the mission, I will ask the padre to marry us if you only hold on a little while longer. Will you do that?"
Victoria only nodded squeezing his hand slightly, but he could see that she was trying harder than before to stay awake.
