A/N: This is set during the Dragon story line; I've been playing with the idea since the episode on 8/17 when Kendall told Zach that if she got caught in the crossfire he'd pay.
Chapter One:
Zach let out an impatient sigh for what seemed like the fiftieth time that evening and fought to hold his temper. He was doing his best to help Julia, he really was, but she was not making it easy. He had brought her to this secluded safe house after Kendall tipped off the feds that she was hiding at Wildwind. Now, if he could just get her to stay here she should be safe.
"You said you were going help me, get me his name," she complained. "That's all I want from you. Why haven't you done anything yet?"
He stifled another sigh, Kendall was right; this woman was a complete bitch. "Julia, please," he repeated his explanation, "finding out the name of a mob kingpin is a little more difficult than looking him up in the phonebook or taking out a personal ad. I have people on it, but it's going to take time. Meanwhile, you need to stay here where it's safe."
"No," Julia snapped. "You don't get to tell me what to do. No one gets to tell me what to do ever again. If I wanted someone telling me what to do all the time I would still be in the witness protection program. I don't want that anymore, I already lost nine years of my life and I lost my Noah, now I make the decisions . . . "
Julia droned on and on and Zach tuned her out, she was starting to sound like a broken record. He had decided to help Julia because he felt that he owed it to Maria to keep her sister alive, but really what had he done to deserve this? The woman had no sense of self preservation and no gratitude. He was spending all of his time chasing her around keeping her from getting herself killed. Now he had her stashed in a secret safe house, if she would just stay here until the Dragon was unmasked and taken care of he could wash his hands of her once and for all, and maybe, finally, he could put Maria behind him.
A moment later Zach was startled from his reverie, and Julia from her whining, when the door opened unexpectedly. "What the --" Zach cursed. "What are you doing here? How did you even find this place?" he demanded.
"I'm looking for you," Aidan replied. "As for how I found this place," he glanced disdainfully around the small cabin, "I'm a private detective, Slater; this is what I do."
"Aidan," Julia greeted the Brit with a manic smile remembering their last meeting when she had snuck back to Pine Valley to see her newly resurrected sister. "It's good to see you, maybe you can help me . . ." she trailed off when Aidan failed to even acknowledge her. He was focused on Slater.
"You're coming with me. Let's go," Aidan announced, "now."
"I'm sorry; did we have a date that I didn't know about?" Zach's response was flippant as he tried to maintain a semblance of good humor in the face of the other man's bleak countenance.
Aidan, however, was in not in the mood for jests. He hadn't really cared for Slater before, and now, after everything that had happened, his tolerance for the man was at an all time low. He decided to go with brutal honesty rather than easing into it as he might have for someone he cared about. "You'll have to forgive me for skipping the pleasantries, but you see I found Kendall in a pool of her own blood in the parking lot outside your casino not long ago. So I'm a little preoccupied at the moment." He took vicious pleasure in watching the color drain from Slater's face at his announcement. "Now, since you can't be bothered to answer your cell phone, I had to come looking for you, which didn't make my day any better."
"Is she -" Zach broke off, unable to even utter the words, 'was Kendall dead?'
"She's at the hospital." Aidan answered. "She was stable when I left but there were some complications and the doctor can't operate without your consent. So I came to find you. Now we're going so that you can give it." He turned and left the cabin without another word, confident that Zach would follow.
And Zach did follow Aidan, but he wasn't the only one. "What about me?" Julia called from the doorway.
"What about you?" Aidan answered coldly, aware of the fact that it was Julia's flight from the witness protection program that had brought danger to Pine Valley. That it was Zach's attempt to help her that had made Kendall a target.
"You can't just leave me here," she exclaimed. "What about the Dragon? Zach's supposed to find out who he is for me."
"I'll deal with you later, Julia," Zach answered. "I have to get to my wife. Just stay here and you should be safe enough."
Zach and Aidan arrived at the hospital in record time and were greeted by the familiar sound of Erica Kane throwing a tantrum. "But Joe I don't understand why I can't give the consent. Kendall is my daughter, surely that's good enough."
"I'm sorry, Erica," Joe Martin responded patiently, "but legally, Kendall's husband is her next of kin and when she's incapacitated he is the one who gets to decide her medical treatment. Now I know how worried you are and I assure you that we're doing everything we can. Let's just hope that Slater gets here soon."
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Zach's words were more like bitter self mockery than an attempt at humor.
"Well it's about time you showed up," Erica didn't waste a moment before starting in on him. "My daughter Kendall's life is hanging in the balance and you certainly took your sweet time getting here. I just wish she had done as I asked and divorced you months ago so she wouldn't have to depend on you for something like this. Now if you have a shred of decency in you, you will go and sign those papers so they can operate on Kendall and then leave. You're not wanted here. Kendall's family is here to support her through this terrible ordeal."
"Erica," Zach replied, "I'm Kendall's husband; that makes me her family." He then turned to Joe Martin and said, "What's happened and what do you need from me? I want to know everything about my wife's condition. If this were an emergency surgery you wouldn't need my consent. So what's this all about?"
"You're right," Joe answered, "Kendall's life isn't in any immediate danger; we've got her stabilized. Our main concern now is - Well there's no easy way to say this. The bullet passed very close to Kendall's spinal column. We need to operate in order to determine the extent of the damage and fix what we can. I can't promise anything but I will tell you that the sooner we operate the better Kendall's chances are of making a full recovery."
Zach fought to control the sudden surge of fear, "You're talking about paralysis, aren't you?" he whispered. "Kendall might never walk again."
"That is certainly a risk right now," the doctor answered solemnly. "There is significant swelling in the area, hopefully that, and not more serious damage, accounts for some of the decreased motor functions but we won't know anything until we operate."
"Is the surgery dangerous?" Zach asked. "You said she's stable now, if you operate will that put her life back in jeopardy?"
"I won't lie to you," Joe responded. "There's always a risk with surgery, and Kendall's still weak. But I do believe that this is her best option."
Zach looked away from the doctor his gaze sweeping across the waiting room - all those people glaring at him. Kendall's family and friends - hating him, despising him for being the one who got to make this decision for her. He gladly would have handed the burden over to any one of them, but he couldn't. She was his wife, his responsibility and this was his decision to make. He closed his eyes, and brought his hands up to his face, rubbing his temples as he tried to block out everyone else, block out all of the lights and the noise and God the eyes, all those eyes on him waiting for him to decide. "Do it," he whispered. "Do the surgery. I'll sign whatever you want, just do whatever you have to do."
He walked back into the waiting room, refusing to meet anyone's eyes and collapsed into an empty chair. He rested his elbows on his knees and covered his lowered face with his hands as he tried to picture Kendall paralyzed for the rest of her life. He couldn't imagine his beautiful, vibrant wife confined to a wheelchair.
At long last he looked up and saw Aidan watching him from across the room. He stood up and walked over to where Aidan sat near Lily. Finally, Zach had the courage to ask the question that had been plaguing him since Aidan brought the news of Kendall's injury. "You said you found her? What - what happened?"
Aidan stood and walked away without a word, knowing that Zach would follow him. When he was satisfied that they wouldn't be overheard he turned to face the other man. "Why did you have your phone turned off?" he asked. When Zach didn't answer, he continued, more than willing to twist the knife a little. "When I found her she was still holding her phone. Your number was on the screen. She'd been shot and she called you for help, but you couldn't even take the time to answer your phone."
Zach forced himself to meet Aidan's gaze as he confessed the decision that had seemed so harmless that afternoon but would now probably haunt him for the rest of his life. "I didn't know. Kendall and I have been fighting about Julia; I turned off my phone because I didn't want to deal with her."