Chapter ten

"What do you mean she will be? What's going on?" Richie demanded.

"Richie, sit down." Mac said pressing him towards the sofa.

Richie let him do it but didn't break eye contact. Mac sighed as he sat next to him.

"She's fine Rich. But her brother is having some problems."

"Shaun?" Richie asked confused.

Mac nodded.

"What kind of problems?"

"His cell mate from prison. He's turned up and is causing problems for them."

Richie narrowed his eyes, no way was that all. "So instead of calling the police she went to the effort of tracking you down instead of going through Connor, and called you at nearly midnight?"

"Well, as Shaun's old cell mate died a couple of months after Shaun's release Frankie was at a bit of a loss as to whom else to call."

"He's Immortal." Richie stated woodenly.

"Yes," Mac confirmed.

"What's his name?" This came from Joe.

"Aaron Saunders." Mac supplied.

"Never heard of him, but I'll look into him," Joe said getting to his feet.

"Thanks Joe," Mac responded. "I'll walk you out."

Richie half watched them leave. Ripley, seeing the exodus of people from the living room, had decided to make her claim on the sofa. She leapt up next to Richie, purring lightly and head butted his hand until he distractedly started to stroke her. After a moment she climbed onto his lap and curled into a ball, purring contentedly.

"I wish I had your attention span," he said to the now cat sleeping on his lap.

Mac returned to the room and eyed the cat suspiciously.

"Don't worry, she's asleep."

Mac muttered something incomprehensible, and undoubtedly scathing about the cat before sitting in the arm chair opposite.

"You ok?" Mac asked eventually.

Richie shrugged, continuing to stare at Ripley. "Sure. I'm fine."

"Want to try that again?"

"Not really."

"Rich…"

"What?"

Another sigh from Mac. "I'm sorry."

Richie shrugged. "Not your fault. I'm glad she has you to turn to. It's just…" Richie stopped. What he wanted to say sounded so stupid…

"Just what?" Mac prompted gently when it became obvious Richie wasn't going to continue.

"It's stupid." Richie said.

"I'm going to see her tomorrow and you aren't?" Mac suggested.

Richie looked up and saw understanding in Mac's face.

"I guess." He admitted. "Told you it was stupid."

"Richie, you loved her. You gave up a lot to protect her. I don't think it's stupid. If you could see Tessa and I couldn't…"

Sometimes when lost in his own mind thinking about Frankie Richie almost forgot that Mac lost the love of his life at the same time. So maybe he understood more than Richie sometimes gave him credit for.

"Just make sure she's ok for me."

"You know I will."

Richie nodded, and feeling suddenly tired shifted Ripley to head up to bed. At his gentle push she jumped onto the floor, gave a cursory hiss and glare in Mac's direction before running up the stairs.

"You'll be gone when I get up?" Richie asked hovering in the doorway.

Mac nodded. "It's a seven hour drive; I want to start out early. You need me for anything Joe has all the details of where I'm staying."

Because Richie couldn't ring in case Frankie was with him.

"And I'll call tomorrow night," Mac added. "You should be in by nine so I'll ring then."

Richie made a face at the idea of climbing a mountain tomorrow now with Isla and three almost strangers.

"It'll give you something to keep you busy," Mac said reading the expression correctly. "You should still go."

Richie rolled his eyes. "I guess. But if I push Kyle off the side it's not my fault ok?"

…..

Richie arrived at Isla's the next day not in the best mood. He hadn't slept well, so was tired, he wasn't looking forward to seeing Kyle again and it had been downright weird waking up with Mac not there.

He knocked on Isla's door and waited for her to answer it, trying to improve his mood in the last few seconds before the door opened. He was faced with Kyle which did absolutely nothing to help.

"Hi," Kyle said stepping out the door and pulling it to behind him. "I uh, wanted to talk to you before… you know about yesterday…"

Richie watched him flounder for a minute before perching on the wall in Isla's front garden. He tried to school his expression into an inviting one but knew from the way Kyle was looking at him he was failing.

"You're still pissed at me, which I understand and I deserve," Kyle started to talk quickly. "I would be too if I were you. You just have to understand that I wasn't really thinking and I didn't mean most of it."

Richie raised a brow. "Most of it?"

"Ok, so pretty much everything I said was out of line –"

"Actually it all was," Richie interrupted. "I get don't like the idea of Isla moving on, but it's her choice not yours. You dumped her. And you haven't been in contact for years. So you gave up your right to be jealous a long time ago. You can't just break someone's heart and then waltz back into their life and expect to pick up where you left off."

Kyle looked like he was trying to pick his next words very carefully. He didn't speak for a long minute and when he finally did he sounded genuine to Richie's ears.

"You're right. I don't have any right to be in her life at all. But I want to be. And we may not be together anymore and we probably never will be again, but don't think that she was the only one hurt when we broke up. She wasn't. But at the time I did what I thought was best for both of us. I couldn't leave the city, she couldn't leave the mountains. It's one of my biggest regrets. Doesn't mean I stopped loving her though."

Richie took a deep breath. It was all a little too close for comfort right now.

"I meant what I said last night. Isla is my friend and that's all. I have my own regrets to contend with. She's been a good friend to me. I didn't know anyone when I came here and I wasn't in a good place at the time. She's helped me a lot. But I'm not in love with her and she's not in love with me. But you talk trash about her and I will defend her."

Kyle looked relieved. Whether about the thaw in Richie's tone or the content of what he'd told him wasn't clear.

"Does this mean you accept my apology?" he asked.

Richie managed an almost sincere smile. "Sure. Otherwise it'd be a long day today…"

"It will anyway," Kyle said shaking his head. "I don't know if my fitness is up to a mountain."

Richie managed a genuine smile. "Guess we'll find out." He hopped off the wall and headed for the front door again.

"How's the hand?" Kyle asked following.

Richie barely glanced at his hand; it had healed before he'd gone to bed last night and felt good as new. As usual.

"Its fine," Richie wiggled his fingers in his direction to illustrate the fact.

"I was sure you'd have broken a few knuckles," Kyle said shutting the door behind them.

"All about the way you punch," Richie lied calmly.

"You'll have to teach me."

"Teach you what?" Isla asked bounding down the stairs, her friends Maria and Lexi following in her wake. She looked at Richie and frowned. "What's wrong?"

Richie couldn't help but smile. She read him far too easily sometimes. He contemplated shrugging it off, but found he couldn't quite manage it with her green eyes boring worriedly into his.

"It's a long story." He said instead.

"It's not about yesterday is it?" she asked throwing a dirty look in Kyle's direction.

"No," Richie assured her. "It's not."

"Mac ok?" Isla asked obviously she had been taking lessons from Mac in not letting things drop.

"He's fine."

"He didn't drop you off."

"No, cos about now he should be just passing Glasgow." Richie said sidestepping her. He nodded to Maria and Lexi as he passed them on the way to the kitchen.

Isla followed him. The other three didn't. He assumed Isla had directed them to the living room.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Mac had to go help a friend out."

"Ok. So why are you upset? Is your friend ok?"

Richie shrugged. "She will be." He echoed Mac's words from yesterday.

"Why didn't you go too?"

Richie managed a humourless laugh. "I'd have made it a whole lot worse."

"Why?" Isla asked confused.

"Because it's Frankie," Richie admitted. "And I am the last person she needs to be seeing today."

"Oh," Isla said. "You don't think maybe it would have been a good time to try and sort out the problems you two still have?"

Richie shook his head. "Definitely not. Look, one day, I promise I'll explain it all to you. But not today. Today we have a mountain to climb and we should start sooner rather than later."

Isla didn't look like she was going to let it go, but with obvious effort she nodded at him. "Ok. But I am here if you need to talk.

"I know. Thanks. What I want to do is burn off some of my energy."

Isla rolled her eyes. "This is going to be the slowest climb ever. And Lexi will drive us insane because she always wants to do these things but she complains the whole time about being tired and wants to stop all the time for a rest."

Richie managed to raise a smile for her. "I used to be like that. Then I moved here and met you and found out Mac wasn't that much of a slave driver compared to you…"

"Cheeky," Isla said pushing him towards the kitchen door. "Cars packed already. Let's get started."

….

The path up the mountain was hard work. Not as bad as Ben Nevis though. It was steep and unforgiving though. Isla had been right about Lexi's complaining. She also looked miserable and as if this was some sort of torture devised to break her morale. Richie decided after about an hour that her whining might break his moral. Kyle was quiet, just saying the odd encouraging comment to Lexi. Maria was also complaining but in a much more cheerful way. She agreed repeatedly with Lexi that she was tired but always tagged something positive onto the end, like," but look at the view." Or, "but it's so good to be out of the city."

Isla took the lead. Setting a slow pace to accommodate her friends. Richie stayed at the back, making sure they didn't separate and cajoling Lexi to keep moving.

"We're almost there," Isla called back a few hours after they had started.

"Thank god," Lexi muttered breathlessly next to him.

Richie thought the same thing but for different reasons. He didn't think down would be too bad so was hopeful Lexi would moan less.

By the time they reached the top he was hot, sweaty, a little out of breath and achy.

"Coire Gabhail , the hidden valley where the MacDonalds of Glen Coe hid their rustled cattle," Isla announced staring out across the scene in front of her. "Worth it right?" She glanced back at her three friends who had all but collapsed into a heap together.

"Definitely," Richie agreed, crouching down in front of his bag and pulling his water out.

"Yeah, beautiful view," Kyle said extricating himself form the girls and going to stand next to Isla.

Richie saw the smile Isla shared with Kyle and found he couldn't get rid of thoughts of Frankie. Mac would be with her by now. Able to speak to her, touch her. Help her make her problems go away, while Richie was stood on a mountain with people who hardly knew anything about him that was true. And this was going to be his life now. Always keeping secrets from people who mattered. Never quite sharing all of himself with the people he met.

He slowly moved away from the group. Just a few steps, then a few more until he was far enough away to feel alone but not so far that they would worry. Isla was usually good at reading him – he hoped she would realise he wanted a few minutes to himself and not try to follow him.

The wind was a relief, cooling his too warm red cheeks, but also cooling his sweat soaked t-shirt so it clung uncomfortably to his back. His wind proof coat living up to its promise at least against the insistent breeze.

He breathed out slowly. He had to let go of his past, he knew that. But it was hard when it kept finding him again. Every time he thought he'd moved on something like this would happen to remind him of what he'd lost coming here.

But he couldn't keep thinking like this. He had to focus on the positives… Like he was alive. He should be dead a few times over realistically. Thinking about his life before Mac and Tessa he was definitely heading for an early grave… Ok, so he'd died at nineteen anyway, but maybe some things were just meant to happen. Maybe some fates couldn't be escaped. Perhaps he was destined to become an Immortal now and nothing could have changed that for him. At least he'd known about it before hand. And when he'd dies that first time he hadn't woken up in the morgue or in a dirty alley, alone and confused. He'd woken up surrounded by family. A family that had moved their entire life so they could stay together. Not many would be able to say that.

He sat down on a cold rock, which given how tired he felt all of a sudden added to how comfortable the hard seat felt to him. He had to stop overthinking everything…

A few midges took his inactivity as an invite to lunch him which by anyone's standards was annoying as hell. The amount that died as he slapped at his exposed hands and face must have exceeded the hundreds yet it didn't seem to affect their numbers in the slightest. Midges were, Richie reflected, the worst thing about the Highlands.

If he really tried he could just about make out the road noise all that way below over the noise of the waterfall running eternally down the mountain a little way back down the path.

But despite the midges, the road noise, the cramp in his legs, the mud that coated his hands boots and trousers, he had never felt more content. Listening to gush of water behind him, looking down over the beauty of the valley of Glencoe. Feeling the history of the place engulf him in silent pressure, he had never felt more at peace, more at home.

The highlands of Scotland, so vast, so beautiful, so different, yet so constant, here, now, sat on his own amidst the mountains, felt like the belonged in their entirety to him.

Idly he wondered if everyone felt like this. If everyone if left alone long enough to become introspective halfway up a mountain steeped in an abundance of history, culture and activity, could convince themselves it belonged to them?

Watching the purple highland heather dance to the tune of the wind he realised how much the wind had picked up. Now his hands and face tingled in the chill. Maybe it was time to get walking again...

He looked back to where Isla and all her friends were. She saw him looking and took it as a sign to join him. Richie watched her say something to Kyle and then walk over to him, a soft smile on her lips.

"Hey," she said settling next to him. "You looked really deep in thought then."

Richie shrugged. "Guess I kinda was."

"Feel better?"

"I feel more in control," Richie said. "Though that sounds weird."

"Not to me. Nothing like the vast outdoors to put your thoughts into order." She nudged his knee with hers. "You sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Richie smiled but nodded. "Absolutely. Honestly I'm fine. I feel better after getting out. I just needed a few minutes alone to talk myself into a better mood."

"Talking to yourself," Isla looked amused. "Maybe I should be worried about you."

"Maybe you should," Richie climbed to his feet, and pulled Isla up afterwards.

"Are we heading down?" Lexi called to them as they made their way back to the little group.

"Probably should," Isla said. "Going down can be just as hard going."

They were halfway down, Isla and Kyle taking the lead, Maria and Lexi in the middle and Richie at the back. Lexi and Maria often turning to chat with Richie, Lexi making decidedly better company on the way down than she had on the way up. She was smiling a lot more and barely moaned. Isla and Kyle had just disappeared around the corner where the path crossed the waterfall. It was narrow but had good footing. So Richie wasn't sure how she managed to slip, but one moment Lexi was walking slowly but steadily across the path, the next her foot slid off the side. She tried vainly to grab something to steady herself but couldn't gain purchase on anything.

She squeaked instead of screaming, something that in any other circumstance would have been funny. Richie reacted instinctively, running towards her and making a grab for her just as gravity inevitably won the battle and took her over the edge.

He heard Maria scream in the background, but all he could really focus on was the feeling of Lexi's hand in his as he held on for dear life, and the scorching white hot pain in his shoulder as the weight and force of her descent wrenched his shoulder. Thankfully his left arm had been following closely behind his right hand that had caught Lexi. He gripped her wrist with this hand even as he felt his fingers giving up their hold on her hand.

He was vaguely aware of other voices around him but he couldn't think about that, his entire world was now the feeling of Lexi's wrist and the excruciating pain in his right shoulder.

He felt her weight lift and managed to look at Kyle who was pulling her up to safety. He loosened his grip on her as Kyle's tightened. He felt hands on him and noticed Maria trying to steady him as he sat up.

He felt sick. The pain wasn't subsiding, which it should have been if the injury wasn't severe.

"I think it's dislocated," Richie heard Maria saying as she very gently touched his shoulder.

Richie hissed in pain and pulled away from her.

"Sorry…" she said. " Definitely dislocated."

Damn it. A dislocated shoulder was the last thing he needed. It would need relocating and Mac wasn't her to do it. No way that would heal on its own.

"You ok Lexi?" Richie asked holding his arm nice and still. It hurt less when he didn't try and move.

"Yes," her shakey voice answered.

That was good. At least he wasn't enduring this pain for nothing.

"Richie?" Isla's voice next to his ear now, concerned.

"I'm ok," he forced out.

"Course you are," she wasn't agreeing. "Can you stand? We need to get you to the hospital."

"I'm fine," he said unconvincingly. "Don't need hospital."

"Sure," she still wasn't agreeing with him. But we do need to get you down. So do you think you can walk?"

The smallest movement was agony. But he had to convince them he was ok or he'd be screwed. Stealing himself he pushed himself up off the path, cradling his arm as he did so. He saw stars for a moment, and was grateful for the steadying hands of both Isla and Maria. Taking a header off the mountain wasn't the low profile Mac wanted them to be keeping…

"Ok?" Isla asked after a minute.

He nodded carefully, not trusting his voice yet.

"Good, let's take it slowly."

Like he had any other choice. Each step sent a spasm of pain through him, and some of the steps were steeper than he remembered from on the way up. He focused all of his energy on staying conscious, staying quiet and not miss-stepping.

When they reached the car it felt like an eternity had passed. Isla deposited him on the front seat. No amount of protesting on his part could stop her from driving straight to the hospital.

"Don't be ridiculous. You have a dislocated shoulder, of course you need a doctor," she said dismissing his argument.

The drive was easily as torturous as the walk down the mountain had been. Every tiny bump in the road feeling like a giant gorge. He had to admit by the time they pulled up at the hospital he was starting to think that maybe a few pain killers wouldn't go amiss…

The doctors hated him from the second he registered Richie knew. He'd made Isla go and phone Joe and refused to let anyone look at him until Joe arrived. They had put him in a cubicle straight away, allowing Isla to stay with him. Lexi was being checked over as well, Richie assumed it was because she looked paler than him…

"Come on son," the first doctor had tried. "We just want to have a quick look, maybe get some pain killers into you. We don't need to do anything else until your friend arrives but let's at least get you a bit more comfortable."

Richie had refused, saying he wanted to wait for Joe. They had then sent in a nurse as reinforcements. She would have swayed him if it weren't for the fact that Richie was worried what they might figure out, or what he might say if he accepted painkillers. So he again said he wanted to wait for Joe.

Isla was also getting annoyed with him.

"Just let them give you some pain relief. It's obvious how much you're hurting." she had said, worry colouring her voice.

"I'm ok. I just want to wait for Joe." Richie insisted.

Thank fully Joe had arrived within half an hour. He wasn't alone.

"What on earth have you been doing?"

Richie managed a weak smile when Rachel preceded Joe into the cubicle.

"Rachel, what are you doing here?" Richie asked.

"Duncan called Connor when he had to leave town. I was at a loose end so thought I would visit my favourite nephew. Looks like I was right too. You boys are always getting yourselves in trouble." Rachel said smiling warmly.

"And what's this about refusing the pain killers?" Joe asked sternly.

Richie nearly shrugged, but caught himself in time.

"Better to have someone who knows your medical history with you when you're in A and E," Rachel said knowingly.

Richie managed a nod and saw the realisation dawn in Joe's face. Rachel, having lived with Connor all these years, stepped into the necessary role quickly and comfortably.

"Ah," he managed. "Well, we're here now so let's get something sorted. Isla, why don't you tell me what he's been up to?"

Isla looked dubious about leaving him.

"Will you be ok?"

"Yeah," Richie smiled at Rachel. "Don't worry, she'll make sure I stay."

Isla left the cubicle with Joe, and as soon as she did Richie sagged back on the trolley. He hadn't realised how much effort he'd been putting into not showing Isla how much it hurt.

"Have some analgesia now Richie," Rachel said softly. "I'll stay with you the entire time."

Richie nodded in agreement. He wished Mac was there. He knew Rachel would look after him, but she wasn't Mac.

Joe returned with the doctor, but not with Isla.

"I told her you wouldn't want her seeing you in pain," Joe said in explanation. "So the doc here is going to give you something for the pain and then relocate that shoulder for you."

"We should X ray it first. You may need to go to theatre – " the doctor started but Richie cut him off.

"Nu uh, no way. No theatre, no anaesthetic."

"Told you," Joe said in a way that made Richie think they'd argued about this a lot while they'd been outside.

"It'll hurt. A lot." The doctor said. A deep frown marring his forehead.

"Already does," Richie said. "I can talk it, but you aren't operating on me."

"And without an x ray I'm just guessing there's no other damage there." The doctor added.

"I heal quick," Richie said in understatement. "I just need it back in place and I'll be fine."

An exasperated sigh was the doctor's response. "Fine. But you will need some sedation. Best will in the world you aren't just going to lie there and let me do this."

Richie would have argued some more but Rachel answered quickly for him. "That's fine doctor. He will still be able to leave afterwards won't he?"

"As long as his observations are ok, and assuming I actually manage to relocate it here in A and E I don't see why not. But someone will have to stay with him tonight and keep an eye on him."

"That won't be a problem," Rachel assured him.

"Ok then," the doctor took a deep breath. "We need to move you into resus to administer the sedation. It makes it easier to monitor you in there."

Richie nodded.

"Can Rachel stay?" Richie asked.

The doctor looked at her and seemed to be assessing what he saw.

"I've seen worse injuries than this repaired," Rachel said into the silence.

"To someone you care about? Even sedated this won't be nice for Richie."

Great, Richie thought.

"To someone I care about very much," Rachel said and Richie knew she meant Connor. She'd probably seen him die numerous times. This would be nothing in comparison. Probably…

"Ok then," the doctor acquiesced. "We'll get you something for the pain first of all and get moved into resus."

The doctor left without another word.

"Not looking forward to this," Richie stated.

"Look on the bright side," Joe said. "You'll be fine by the morning."

The morning seemed a very long way off, and not all that bright.

"God, I wish Mac was here. He coulda just killed me and then relocated the damn thing while I was dead." Richie sighed. He caught Rachel and Joe sharing a look and frowned.

"Please tell me you didn't call him." He looked from one to the other and read the silence correctly.

"You did call him."

"He'd have killed me if I didn't tell him," Joe said with a shrug of his shoulders. "He'd nearly concluded his business down there anyway."

"How, He'd have only been there a few hours?" Richie's frown deepened.

"It was straight forward apparently."

"He challenged the guy?"

"Other way round. Soon as Mac arrived actually. But he'll tell you all about it when he gets back."

"They already fought?" Richie clarified.

"Yes, so you don't need to worry about that right now ok?"

Richie started to say something else when a nurse entered the cubicle carrying a white plastic tray.

"Hi," she said. "I'm Melanie. I just need to put a cannula in and then I can get you some pain killers ok?"

Richie eyed the tray dubiously. "A needle? You want to put a needle in me? Can't I just take some tablets?"

"You'll need a cannula for the sedation," she explained. "And you'll most likely want some strong pain killers too. They are more effective intravenously."

Richie continued to stare at the tray with dislike. "I hate needles."

She smiled sympathetically. "Most people do. I promise I'll be as gentle as I can."

She settled into a seat next to him and applied the tourniquet. "I hear you're a bit of a hero," she said applying something to the back of his hand.

"Huh? Who said that?" Richie asked, trying to tear his eyes away from the huge needle in her hand.

"The people you came in with. Stopping that girl from falling off a mountain probably saved her life. Not a scratch on her, thanks to you."

"I just reacted," Richie said catching Rachel's eye. She was smiling at him.

"Not everyone would have reacted the way you did, or so quickly," Rachel said. "Mac will be proud of you."

Richie smiled and then yelped when Melanie slid the needle into the back of his hand.

"Ow, that hurt." He said giving her a dirty look.

She smiled at him, securing the cannula. "A dislocated shoulder you barely flinch. A cannula and I get complaints," she shook her head. "We'll take you through to resus now."

As soon as the morphine was injected Richie felt some relief form his shoulder. He could still feel the pain, but not as much and he felt pleasantly floaty and somewhat drowsy. Rachel was near his head and kept a continual stream of conversation going while the doctors and nurses and prepared. He listened to her voice, not the words and felt them comforting. He knew when he'd had the sedative because he couldn't quite keep his eyes open, even though he was still aware of the activity around him.

He had no memory of his shoulder going back in. He wondered idly if he'd blacked out when they'd done it. The pain was now a burning background sensation. Much better. Now his Immortal healing could take over from the doctors and he'd be fixed in no time.

They wouldn't let him go immediately. They'd kept monitoring his Blood pressure for another hour and made him stay another hour after that. He figured they only eventually agreed he could go home to stop him pestering them. A nurse had fitted him with a sling that kept his arm pretty much flat against his body. Advised him against using it until it was fully healed. They wanted to follow him up. He promised to make an appointment with his GP for in a couple of weeks, despite not having one, and listened impatiently to the physio instructions. He wouldn't need any of it and was finding the charade tiresome.

Joe had sent all the others home a little while ago, telling Isla they'd look after Richie, and she should look after Lexi. Grudgingly she'd left.

"You'll need to ring her when you get in," Joe had warned as they made their way across the car park.

"I will," Richie promised. His mind was already working on the problem of the sling. It would drive him mad having to wear it everywhere. He knew he'd have to wear it for a bit in public or it would look suspicious.

"And Duncan," Rachel said opening the car door for Richie. "You should ring him and let him know we are home. He'll be worried."

"It's only my shoulder," Richie protested. "No lasting damage. I have a lifetime guarantee now."

"It's your sword arm," Joe pointed out. "He'll be worried."

Richie rolled his eyes. "He wouldn't be if you hadn't checked in with him already."

"I value my head where it is too," Joe retorted.