The storm was finally losing its force, and the wind placating its voice. The large defined raindrops decided to turn into a thick drizzle. But yet, the heartbeats couldn´t change their accelerated rhythm. The violent events stole their quietness. It seemed now that all happened as a slap, on a second, on the blink of an eye. The angry cries of the weather that just minutes ago threatened them with its rage, now gave way to the sound of nature regaining its composure again. But there was also another sound. A human sound. The sound of erratic breathing. Kneeling beside their friend, the two young riders tried to test what to do next. "Cody? Open your eyes". As Kid touched his brow Cody turned his head away, the agitated breathing increasing. "Do you think we could move him?" Buck and Kid´s eyes met, both emanating worry and uncertainty. "I think he may have some broken ribs." Kid reached again and placed his hand on Cody´s brow, moving the tufts of wet hair out of his eyes. At the same time, Buck begun to lightly test the ribs, one by one. As he reached the last two lower left ribs, Cody´s breath stopped sharply and a raw groan mixed with a cry left his mouth, leaving him panting irregularly. "At least two" Buck looked at the Kid. They had to decide what to do. "We could go back, to that ranch we saw a few miles behind and seek help and shelter, then we´ll see". The storm had hit them three hours after they left the town where they concluded the errand, it could be said at the beginning of the return journey, because the complete trip back would take two days. So the closest help would be found on that town. Buck knew this, so he decided that the best was to go back, but he also knew that three hours were too much for someone with broken ribs to travel on horseback. So it seemed the best option to look for help at that ranch house. The kid had reached the same conclusion. "Cody, we are going back, are you with us?" He titled Cody´s head to his side, to see if he was alert. He was not, only a pain filled glance focused for a second on his hand, only to be lost again under two heavy eyelids. A look at each other was enough. An unspoken agreement could be read on their determined movements, as both friends stood up. "Let's be careful." As he said so, Kid motioned Buck to grab Cody´s legs, while he started to lift the shoulders to grab Cody under the arms. As he lowered his hands, something wet, but also warm and thick damped his fingers. Bending down, he was shocked to find blood, quite an amount of it, covering a big part of Cody´s back. Buck, without noticing this, has started to stand up, but stopped abruptly as he saw Kid unmoving and with an unreadable but not pleasant expression on his face. At that moment, the tense body of their friend lost all its resistance, as it relaxed after passing out. Buck let go of the legs and bending down next to the Kid found the cause of his friend´s lack of response and his own shocked expression.