Chapter 11
Note: This is a LONG chapter. I hope it makes up for some of the ones that have been so short.
Diego's whole body stiffened as his head fell back against his father's chest. Alejandro's arms tightened around his son before he could start flailing around, but he couldn't completely stop Diego from struggling against his hold. Victoria attempted to grab Diego's arms, but he pushed her away. The expression in his eyes was more terrified than Victoria had ever seen it. And this time the panic-stricken gaze didn't go away.
Despite her horror over Diego's sudden agitation, Victoria couldn't keep her mouth from dropping open in astonishment as Diego let loose a string of expletives that Victoria wouldn't have believed the gentle caballero even knew. She'd never heard him use that kind of language before. And he didn't even seem to realize he was using it!
"¡O Dios! Father. Victoria. Por favor, please don't count on Zorro to rescue us. Zorro…Zorro can't be everywhere." Diego's stare swung back and forth between Alejandro and Victoria, his eyes pleading with each of them. "Please. You must listen to me! He…uh…I saw him…yesterday…he was…said he'd be away...for a while…."
Diego seemed to be fumbling for the words he wanted to use, yet he was forcing them out as if his life depended on them. As Victoria began to comprehend what he was saying, her face blanched. So did Don Alejandro's. If Diego was right, then all of their lives might be forfeited. There would be no rescue, because the only potential rescuer was nowhere nearby, and didn't even know they were in trouble.
I don't understand. If Zorro was going to be out of town, why didn't he stop by the tavern and tell me, or at least leave me a note? He always finds a way to let me know if he's going to be out of touch for any length of time.
¡Madre de Dios, Santa Maria, Jesu Christo! Please don't let it be true! Zorro, we need you now, more than we ever have before! Por favor, Zorro, don't let us down. Not now! Not when Diego's life is at stake.
Though Diego's voice was still weak, it was stronger, more insistent, than it had been at any time since he had been injured. But the toll the effort was taking on him was all too obvious. By the time he finished, his face had taken on a grayish tinge, and his breathing had become much harsher. His head fell back again into his father's lap, and his eyes closed. He was barely breathing deeply enough to get air into his lungs, and each breath turned into a faint, wheezing groan as he forced himself to push that air back out of his lungs, despite the agony that felt like a dozen knives stabbing into his side each time he inhaled.
Alejandro and Victoria looked at each other, horror-stricken at the reaction Diego'd had to what they had thought would calm him and maybe convince him to try and sleep. They held him again as he struggled now, just trying to breathe.
"Diego! Please, Diego, try to lie still. You have broken ribs. The more you move around, the harder it will be to breathe. If you keep struggling, you'll wind up puncturing a lung. Diego?"
"DIEGO!"
There was no response to their pleas.
Z Z Z Z Z Z Z
There was really nothing else they could do for Diego except to take turns sitting behind him, holding him half in their laps, with his head and torso elevated so he could breathe at least a little easier. This they did. At times it seemed like they'd been doing it forever.
His skin continued to be clammy and pale, but the grayish tinge had gradually faded a little. Victoria bit her lip when she removed the bandage from Diego's shoulder to apply more of the whiskey to the wound. The swelling in his hands had started to go down, but the bullet wound was showing even more signs of inflamation, and Diego's cheeks were reddened from his growing fever.
He hadn't really regained consciousness again. He tossed his head restlessly from side to side, and although he would occasionally open his eyes and say something, the things he said didn't always make any sense. Both Alejandro and Victoria were surprised when much of his fevered muttering seemed to become a bitter, sarcastic rant against Zorro.
"Zorro…can do…anythi…."
"Zorro…n…never…lets anyone…down."
"Zorro this…Zorro that."
Victoria gently pushed that lock of hair off of Diego's forehead yet again. Diego's head was resting in her lap for the moment. Don Alejandro had sat holding his son, motionless for well over an hour, after their disastrous attempt to calm Diego by mentioning Zorro. By the time Victoria convinced Alejandro to change places with her, the old don's legs were so stiff he could barely get up from the floor. She watched him closely as he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled over to the window, wincing occasionally as he tried to work the circulation back into his legs.
This is killing him. He tries so hard not to show any weakness in front of other people. He's such a proud man, and for his age, he's still very strong and vigorous, but this is could easily be too much for him. He's terrified Diego's going to die. He knows there is no way we're going to get out of here without help. I'm sure he's worried about me, too, even though he hasn't said anything. He wouldn't, but he's too much of a gentleman not to feel responsible for my safety, too. He'll never admit it, but he needs to rest for a little while, at least, before he collapses, too.
And Diego! Victoria looked back down at her best friend, and it was all she could do to keep from breaking into tears yet again. I still can't believe that Diego is in love with me! He's never been really enthusiastic about Zorro, but I thought it was just because he's such a pacifist that he couldn't really agree with Zorro's methods, even though he knows Zorro does a lot of good. Could part of his apathy towards Zorro's work have been based on jealousy of Zorro's relationship with me?
She sighed sadly, thinking of all of the times she had discussed Zorro with her caballero friend. Discussed? Hmmph! Let's be honest. I've drooled like a teenage girl over her first crush! Poor Diego. If he loves me as much as I now think he does, how could he ever have sat and listened to me praising Zorro all the time?
"Sick of Zorro!"
"Wish I'd never heard of Zorro!"
She blushed in shame as Diego's fevered muttering brought another thought to her mind. How many times have I criticized Diego for not being more like Zorro? How many times have I told him he should be fighting for what he believes, like Zorro, instead of going off to write a letter to the governor, or an article for The Guardian. No wonder Diego has never had the courage to say anything about his feelings for me. He must have felt so intimidated. He knows how much I love Zorro. A few more tears dripped unnoticed from her cheeks, landing in Diego's hair. I've certainly told him often enough.
As the hours passed, and darkness began to fall, Victoria couldn't help but notice that Diego, even delirious, also continued to worry about finding a way to escape. That's odd. He's so worried about our safety, but he hasn't made one reference to his own situation. He's in so much pain from that beating, and the bullet wound is infected, now, too. Most men, even trained soldiers, would be reliving that nightmare and begging for the torture to stop. All Diego is thinking about, even unconsciously, is finding a way to get us out of here.
"Father! Get her out of here. Please. Just take her with you and go. Please do this for me. Please!"
Diego was speaking again. He'd been lucid occasionally for a moment or two at a time, but those moments of awareness were becoming fewer as the hours passed and his fever grew. Right now, his eyes were fixed desperately on his father's, and his fingers were gripped painfully around Alejandro's wrist again.
"Shhh. I'll take care of Victoria, Son. Let me worry about that for now. You just lie still and concentrate on getting better."
It wasn't the first time during those hours that he'd begged Alejandro to leave him and get Victoria away from there. Or the first time Alejandro had needed to reassure Diego he would take care of the tavern owner. Diego also tended to be far more restless whenever Victoria was out of his sight.
"Padre, por favor. You don't understand." Diego's voice was weakening again. "I…I love her so much. Please, promise me, just keep her safe for me."
Victoria was on Diego's other side, and he wasn't looking in her direction at the moment. For the moment, at least, Diego didn't seem to be aware that Victoria was even there. Diego's gaze was glued to Alejandro's, even as his awareness again faded back into delirium.
¡Santa Maria! How could I not have known? I've taken Diego so much for granted for so many years. I've never even considered him as a possible suitor….Well, that's not quite true. But once Zorro came along…."
"Victoria?" Don Alejandro's voice interrupted her musing, then hesitated for just a moment before it continued. "May I ask you a question?"
Victoria met his gaze with an anguished one of her own. The revelation of Diego's strong attraction to her, along with the uncertainty of their situation, and her fears for Diego's survival, had left her with dark circles under eyes that were red and puffy from crying.
"Of course, Alejandro. You may ask me anything. You know that." She held her head high and waited. She had a pretty good idea what Don Alejandro was going to ask her. She'd certainly been thinking about it enough as she sat there with Diego's head in her lap, listening to him struggle just to breathe.
"Did you know that Diego was in love with you?"
Alejandro kept his eyes on Victoria's face as she blushed and looked thoughtfully back down at Diego, once again pushing that stray lock of hair off his forehead. She kept her head down, her eyes on Diego, as she answered.
"I think I've always known that Diego had some feelings for me, Alejandro, but I certainly never dreamed they were this strong. I think we've both worked very hard to ignore it over the years…to pretend that neither of us noticed it."
"Why?"
"I do love Diego, Alejandro. In some ways, I always have. He's the best friend I have ever had. He's probably the best friend I ever will have. Actually, we were a bit sweet on each other even before he left for Spain. But we were so young, then, and nothing came of it.
"If Zorro had never come along, I think it's very likely Diego would have started courting me when he returned from Spain. And I would have been more than willing. I know the attraction was there. I felt it that first day I saw him in the tavern. Remember? When I dumped the lemonade on that drunken lancer, and Diego jumped in to protect me when he got mad?
"But, when Diego came home, Zorro DID appear… about that same time…and I fell head over heels in love with him, and he fell in love with me." She paused for a second, and then continued. "Diego realized that even before I did." She paused again. "You know, I think he even realized it before Zorro did."
Victoria met Alejandro's eyes again. Her heart ached as she read the thoughts so obvious on Alejandro's face---thoughts of what might have been.
"Diego is far too much of a gentleman to try to force a relationship when he knows how much I love Zorro. And he is so different from Zorro. Zorro is a warrior, a man of action. Diego is a scholar and a scientist. He's a quiet, gentle man who'd never hurt a fly. He…he seems to think so little of his own strengths. I don't think it would ever cross his mind that he might have a chance of gaining my affections on his own merits."
She attempted a small, wry grin that came out looking more wishful than anything else. "I don't think he would ever even try. That's pretty obvious, or he would have done it before now. He was probably too certain I would reject him in favor of Zorro. He knows how much we love each other.
"I value Diego's friendship so much, Don Alejandro. If he had ever tried to court me, knowing my feelings for Zorro, it would have been very difficult…probably impossible…for our friendship to ever have stayed so close. We would have become too awkward around each other."
Victoria continued to hold Alejandro's eyes for another moment, but as she spoke her next sentence, her gaze returned to Diego's closed eyes, and her voice dropped to a barely audible murmur.
"I couldn't stand to lose Diego's friendship. I think that would kill me as quickly as losing Zorro's love." She finally broke down, reaching to cup Diego's face in her hands, bending and touching his forehead with a gentle kiss. She looked back up at Alejandro, her fear for Diego showing plainly on her face.
"O Dios! I don't want to lose him! Certainly not like this!"
Alejandro reached across his son for the second time that evening, and took Victoria Escalante into his arms. They sat there for several minutes, holding onto each other for the comfort that both of them needed. Their tears mingled as they watched the man they both feared was slowly dying before their eyes. And there was really nothing they could do to prevent it from happening.
Finally, Victoria quietly whispered her own question to her best friend's father, the man who'd been a substitute father to her, too, for so many years now.
"Is it possible for a woman to love two such different men at the same time, Don Alejandro? I've avoided asking myself that question for so many years."
TBC
