AN: Thank you so much for the reviews. I'm glad and a bit surprised that anyone was acutually reading it. So here comes chapter two. However, I won't be able to update on a daily basis. I had most of this finished yesterday and that's why this update is coming so quickly. Thank you for reading! I hope you'll enjoy.

Chapter 2

Once there the task at hand wasn't so easy. Toronado had gone as close as possible to the house's front door but from there Ana was on her own with her heavy burden. Again Toronado knelt down very carefully, trying not to throw Zorro in the process. Ana had brought Águila back into the corral and was standing right next to the stallion as he lowered himself on the ground. Holding him under his armpits the lifeless man was hanging against her chest as she dragged him inside the small house. Luckily the bedroom was at the front of the house so she wouldn't have to drag him all the way to the back. It took her a while to get him into the bedroom and onto the bed. Still panting from the effort she quickly grabbed for some matches and lit the lamp on the nightstand. When the flame flickered to life it revealed more horrors than Ana could have been prepared for. A thin line of red ran constantly out of the corner of his mouth. Glistening in the weak light of the oil lamp she could make out a constantly growing moist spot on the black silk of his shirt. Without paying attention to damage she caused on the fabric she tore his shirt open to find the source of the constant blood flow. At first no wound could be seen but after she had wiped some of the blood away using some towels from the nearby chest of drawers, she quickly discovered a nasty gash left by a musket ball right across his stomach. Pressing the towels hard against the wound she tried to stop the bleeding while looking for more injuries. Looking him in the face she saw blood covering his eyelids that was beginning to seep out from underneath the mask and onto his cheeks. With her free hand Ana reached up and did the one thing no one had ever done before – except for the man himself. She removed the black silk that had been hiding the identity of the man for years so very well. Not taking any notice of his features she quickly identified the source of the bleeding. Apparently he had taken a blow to the head that had left a deep cut right in the middle of his forehead. She allowed herself some relief as she realized that the head wound didn't appear to be that serious. It would need stitches though, but that could wait until later.

Reluctantly she let go of the towels she was still pressing against his stomach. She needed to get proper supplies to help her patient. Mere towels and her good will to help wouldn't do. Taking a look underneath the once white fabric she was pleased to see that the bleeding wasn't as bad anymore. There still was some but as long as he didn't move it shouldn't worsen. Getting up from the bed she quickly returned to the main room of the house to gather the things she would need. Fortunately the fire in the fireplace hadn't gone out during her absence so the kettle with water she had always hanging there was still hot, which would come in handy. Ana literally whirled through the room gathering supplies she would need to attend to the injured man in her bedroom. When she was done, she put everything in a basket, poured the boiling water into a large clean bowl and returned to the bedroom. She set the water bowl down on the night stand, the basket right next to the bed on the floor.

"I need more light," she mumbled to herself and went to light the remaining oil lamps in the small room. "There that's better." Ana hurried back to the bed and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. Of course she had recognized the face of the man lying on her bed and that made it quite difficult for her to keep the horror of what she was seeing buried somewhere in the back of her mind. Even though she had never talked to Don Diego de la Vega she knew exactly who he was and what he and his alter ego had done for the pueblo. And she admired him for it. Holding back her tears with great effort Ana sat down and removed the blood soaked towels from Diego's stomach. The bleeding had stopped and she began cleaning the wound. The water immediately turned red in the bowl as she placed the cloth she'd been using in it. Grabbing needle and thread from the basket on the floor she found it difficult to get the thread through the eye of the needle but she eventually managed and began the delicate work of stitching the wound together. It took her nearly half an hour to close the skin. She cleaned the wound and the surrounding area with some alcohol and applied a nasty smelling ointment that was supposed to speed up the healing process and keep the wound from getting inflamed as well. Ana bandaged it tightly and then went to get some more fresh hot water. She went to the front door and then outside to empty the bowl and was quite startled when the warm soft nose of a horse nuzzled her shoulder. She jumped and after whirling around found herself eye to eye with Toronado who was looking at her expectantly.

"It doesn't look good, I'm afraid," she told the black stallion and patted his back. "He has lost a lot of blood and I cannot yet say anything to the extent of the injuries." Ana tried to give an encouraging smile and felt a little stupid that she was actually talking to a horse. Not that she hadn't done it before, but this one – much like her own – made her believe, that he actually understood every word she said. With a sigh she went back inside, refilled the bowl and returned to Diego. He hadn't moved since she'd left him which was a good thing under the circumstances. Careful not to spill any of the water she walked slowly over to the bed and once again placed the bowl on the nightstand. She turned toward her patient and began to undress him. "I'm sorry, Don Diego. I know that you probably wouldn't approve of a strange woman undressing you, but I'm afraid there's no one else around and I need to see if you've sustained any more injuries." She had done this before many times but to her it seemed as though that had been many lifetimes ago. Thus she blamed her lack of exercise of dealing with sick people for the embarrassment she felt when she stripped the unconscious man down to his underwear. When she was finished she tossed his black clothing on the floor and was relieved to see that apart from some bruises here and there, there were no more wounds on his front that required her immediate attention. "Good. That's something", she muttered under her breath, as she struggled to turn him onto his side, preferably without tearing open the fresh stitches on his stomach. There just above his buttocks she discovered a large bruise and a considerable swelling. Her eyes grew wide in shock as her racing mind began to form the consequences of her discovery inside her head. All feelings of relief were suddenly gone as she slowly eased him to lie flat on his back. With a sigh she turned to the water bowl, wetted a cloth and started washing the dust and dried blood off his lifeless form. Ana immediately noticed the unnatural warmth emanating from his pale skin. It was obvious that his body had begun to fight off an infection that was building up somewhere in his system with a fever. It took her quite a while to clean the man up and stitch the wound on his forehead but once she was finished she allowed herself a moment to collect her thoughts and herself. What he must have gone through to suffer that kind of injuries was beyond her, even though she had a pretty good idea about the forces it took to damage a human body to that degree. Adding that Zorro was a very well built and trained man the punishment he had to have taken was nowhere near imaginable.

"Rest now," she whispered and gently caressed his warm cheek. With only the hint of a smile that never quite reached her eyes Ana got up from the bed, pulled the warm covers over Diego and went to dim the lights in the room. With one last glance at the men in her bed she grabbed her supplies and left for the main room. Knowing she had done everything within her might for the time being she put her things on the kitchen table and then let herself drop into the old worn armchair in front of the fireplace. She closed her eyes for a moment in a feeble attempt to bring her wandering mind to rest but it was to no avail. Now in the overwhelming silence of the night she heard his labored breathing all too clearly and it reminded her, that her work for the night was not yet done. Ana opened her eyes again and looked out the window to the front of her house. She saw Toronado standing close to the small porch, his head hanging low as if he were waiting on some news on his master. Taking a deep breath in she tried to force herself into a more wakeful state in those late hours of the night and got up. She'd have to boil some more water and then take care of the horses as she was pretty sure, that Don Diego or rather Zorro would not take it kindly if his horse had been neglected. So what was it anyway, she wondered as she emptied the used water from the bowl into a bucket. Don Diego or Zorro? Of course she knew that those names were each nothing but a constant reminder of two sides of the same man. However, she had found Zorro out there in the plains but it certainly was Don Diego who was occupying her bed, fighting for his life. Zorro wouldn't be missed as quickly as the son of one of the most powerful and wealthiest caballeros of entire Alta California. It probably wouldn't take his father longer than midmorning of the next day to form a search party. The only problem was, that they'd never come looking for him at her house as she doubted that any of them knew that she even existed. Don Diego had known about her. He knew every single soul in the pueblo. On these rare occasions when she went to Los Angeles for supplies she usually felt his eyes on her sooner or later and she had a pretty good idea what he must have been thinking. He was probably wondering who she was, why she always kept to herself and above all – why the Alcalde acted as though he didn't even know about her even though she'd been living in her small house ten miles out of the pueblo for nearly six years. No one knew she was there. No one ever recognized her. No one cared. Except for Don Diego de la Vega.

She had him at a disadvantage right there because she knew exactly who he was. Living the life she had chosen for herself had taught her one thing: observation and perception were everything. Looking behind the masks people wore upon their everyday faces had never been an uneasy thing for her and then when the man in the black mask first appeared in the Pueblo de Los Angeles it hadn't taken her long to figure out who he really was. However, how he managed to constantly keep those closest to him in the dark about his true identity and purpose in life remained a mystery to her. How something as simple as a small piece of black silk could totally estrange a son to his father in such manner, was an enigma she'd probably would never find the answer to.

Ana took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, trying to chase off the tiredness that was starting to claim her. Picking up the water bucket she went outside to tend to the horses. Águila had returned to the safety of her little barn while Toronado was still waiting near the front door.

"I'm afraid your friend will have to stay here for a while," she said as she approached the black stallion. "He is not well." Ana stroked Toronado's long neck gently, trying to calm him down some. "Since I don't think that you're willing to leave him behind all on his own I figure you might want to stay, too. So I kindly ask you to allow me to remove your saddle and bridle and take you to my corral. Águila certainly wouldn't mind the company." Ana waited for some kind of response from Toronado and got it, when he turned and made a few steps to allow her access to his side. "Alright then," she smiled and began to unsaddle him somewhat nervously. Toronado stood there patiently as she took the heavy saddle off of his back and put it over the railing of the front porch. That accomplished she also removed the bridle and went over to the corral, hoping that the stallion would follow her, which he did. Once he was within the fenced area, she closed the gate from the inside and went over to the barn to retrieve some oats and scatter more hay for the two horses. When she was finished she went to leave the corral but heard a small whinny behind her. Ana turned and once again found herself face to face with Zorro's horse. Smiling she again patted his neck first, then his soft, warm nose. "I have to go back inside, I'm afraid. As much as I enjoy your company it is your friend who needs me now." Apparently satisfied Toronado gave a nod. Ana quickly went to the well, refilled the water bucket and went back inside.