Chapter 26

After roughly an hour, Victoria was startled by a hesitant tap on her shoulder. She jerked awake, then looked up at the doctor in a sleep fogged alarm. "Victoria, dear, I hate to wake you, but I need to go out to relieve myself. I will be right back. Call me if he wakes. I just wanted to let you know I had to step out." He left quickly and quietly.

She nodded groggily in acknowledgement, not wanting to speak or wake Diego. Laying her head back down, she blinked heavily. She could hear Diego's breathing behind her, and she took comfort in the sound. Nothing had happened while she slept.

Only moments later however, she heard Diego moan. Fear gripped her heart, and the grogginess of a moment before disappeared. She was alone at the moment, and was unsure she could deal with him if he was delirious.

She sat up quickly and turned to check on him, wanting to know what was happening before calling out for the doctor. Her hands went to his face, feeling for excessive heat. He still had a moderate fever, but nothing compared to the night before.

"Diego?" she inquired, worried.

He tightly pinched his eyes shut and released a louder groan, shifting his body as he did so, arching up off his shoulders and upper back and onto the back of his head.

"What's wrong?!" Panic gripped her. She was now sitting on her knees at his side, trying to find a place for her hands to help him without causing him more pain.

With an almost indecipherable cry, he replied, "I can't stay here like this anymore!" His eyes remained tightly squeezed shut, and she could not tell immediately if he was delirious.

"No, you can't! Don't try to get up!" She put her hands on his shoulders, trying to hold him down.

"I have to move…to change positions. Help me, please!" he pleaded. He tried to wiggle or turn to get onto his right side, arms waving and reaching in his efforts, the blanket going slightly askew. He was then forced to stop, gasping loudly as pain lanced through his body, frustrating him more.

"Please Diego, wait! Help will be back soon!" she pleaded, resettling the blanket.

"No, now!" He demanded with what little strength he had.

"OK, ok," she relented. Realizing this was something she would be able to deal with, she began to relax.

He struggled and wiggled with her help, until he was turned more on his right side, and then straightened the blanket. As he stilled and settled into his new position, the returning Doctor Hernandez heard the commotion and rushed into the room to Diego's left side and back, inquiring what had occurred in his absence.

She quickly briefed the physician that he had aroused and wanted only to turn over, mentioning quietly that he had been on his back on the hard, dirt floor for almost two days without moving, except when they had put the clean blanket under him. She added that he did not seem to be delirious.

The doctor quickly checked his patient, noting with satisfaction that there was no new bleeding from the shoulder wound. He was settled except for the expected reaction of his body from the exertion, and was now unconscious again. Dr. Hernandez was temporarily content as he sat against the wall. He quietly watched Victoria as she tenderly cared for her best friend.

Drenched with sweat, Diego's respirations were more like a pant, coming in quick, short, painful gasps; his eyes remained closed. The pain was evident on his face, and he was exhausted from the exertion. She could see the veins in his neck pounding rapidly with the pulsing of his heartbeat. She wiped his face with the cool cloth, speaking softly. She readjusted the blanket again to better cover his lower body, her face reddening now as she remembered once more that he had no clothes on.

She was still wiping him down when a short while later, when suddenly, his eyes wild, he grabbed her hand and gasped, "Why are you still here? Please leave with father!" he pleaded. He was restless, but not delirious like the night before. He only seemed to be confused.

She took his face, and calmly looked at him, while inside she trembled terribly. The doctor jumped up now to retrieve the tea-laudanum filled glass to hand to her. "Querido, we are safe. Ramiro is dead. Now please lie back." She began massaging his temples. He relaxed, and allowed her to give him some of the pain calming liquid.

To her surprise, looking at her with eyes still glazed, he asked her to stay with him. He clutched her hand tightly, as his fight against the blackness was lost once again. She was confused as to how lucid he was, but was decidedly determined to do her best to keep him calm. She looked questioningly at the doctor, who only nodded his assurance.

Even after returning to a settled unconsciousness, he kept a tight grip on her hand. She sat beside him, but after awhile, unable to move far, with the warm air and lack of good sleep, she began to feel very sleepy herself. She curled up beside him, her hand still tightly clutched in his. The physician also settled back into his spot next to the wall, eventually dozing off in the stagnant warm air of the tiny room. Even with the window and the door open, there was not much breeze to cool the room.

That's the way Alejandro found them about two hours later.

Victoria was startled into consciousness by the clearing of a throat. She jumped up as best she could with Diego's arm now over her, her face red. Diego's hand finally released hers. "Alejandro, you're back!" Felipe stood behind him, a shy grin on his face. The physician rose abruptly seconds later, still sleepy himself.

"Yes, I am. Maybe I should have reconsidered leaving you two alone, knowing the depth of his feelings … if his mumblings are any indication," he said sternly.

"No, no, Alejandro. He woke up briefly and needed help changing positions," she said quickly, embarrassed.

"Uh huh." He walked over and ran his hand over his son's forehead, now frowning at the increased warmth he felt.

"How was he?" he asked, concerned.

"Confused, restless but not as combative, and he doesn't remember much of anything that has happened while he's been unconscious…and definitely stubborn," she added.

"Stubborn?" he questioned. "My Diego, stubborn?"

"Yes, I believe so. I think we will be seeing a new Diego in these next weeks. We've already started seeing him," she added more confidently, a slight grin curling one side of her thin lips. She glanced quickly to the sleeping Diego then back to the elder don, and then to Felipe, who was still standing behind Alejandro, the grin still on his face.

Alejandro looked at her, then at the unconscious Diego. "Uh … well … then … I guess that we will just have to deal with it. I am learning I really don't know my son as well as I thought. Well … everything is prepared for when he is ready to try to make it home. Miguel knew of this cabin and said he and a few of the other vaqueros would be here in about half an hour to help us lift him."

"Don Alejandro, I assure you that nothing improper happened. I stepped out to relieve myself briefly, but I woke Victoria to let her know I was stepping out. He apparently did awaken while I was out. I assessed him after I returned, and saw no new changes. She did well. We should have thought of the fact he might need to turn over and helped him to do so earlier."

Don Alejandro's anger at finding his son and Victoria asleep together was cut short by a sudden outburst from the floor.

"Victoria! Victoria!" Diego yelled out suddenly, desperately looking wildly around for her, searching with his arms, reaching out. The yell caused a spasm of coughing, taking his breath. She ran to him, grasping his hands in each of hers, shuddering at the sound of the grinding broken ribs. He paused as the spasm stopped, catching his breath, his eyes finding her. "Have they hurt you? Where were you?" He lay back, closing his eyes from the pain, exhausted, keeping one of her hands in a death grip in his. The other now grasped the blanket under him tightly.

"I'm OK, you are OK, and your father is here. Shhh, be still, shhh," she quieted him, sitting back down next to him on the dirty floor. She explained to him that they were going to try to get him home.

The vaqueros would be there soon, and they would need to be prepared. Felipe suggested (in sign) that it might be better to get Diego as ready as possible for the trip, before the men actually arrived. Now that Diego was quiet, she took that as an opportunity to step out and take care of her own necessary business before travelling, leaving the men alone to take care of Diego's more intimate needs. The doctor jumped up to oversee the process, helping to roll him and monitor his condition. Victoria walked quickly through the outer room to the more cheerful sunshine on the porch, having to force herself not to break into a run as she went. She did not want to linger in that room. It brought back all of the memories of what had happened there the day before.

Although he did not complain or make a sound during the process, Diego was again drenched in sweat from the exertion by the time the men had gotten him wrapped in blankets and ready to be carried to the wagon. For now, they got him rolled back to his right side. He would have to be on his back later for the ride home.

Victoria heard the inner door open and turned to the sound. Felipe stuck his head out and waved her back in. She picked up the cool, damp cloth she'd been using earlier, and started wiping Diego's face again. A few minutes later, they heard horses approach the front of the cabin. The vaqueros had arrived. Alejandro and Felipe went outside as she heard the wagon pull up. Together they would work out a plan to get Diego safely into the back of the wagon.

TBC