M7*M7*M7

Elevator be damned, Chris Larabee took the stairs two at a time and burst into Vin's room in time to see him battling the nurses and doctor. He didn't want the oxygen, he didn't want the IV, he didn't want anything or anyone - and he didn't want it right now. He batted away the hands that tried to place the nasal cannula on him, and he repeatedly tried to pull the IV out of his arm.

"Get an orderly in here." Dr. Clemens told a nurse. "Mr. Larabee - you'll have to leave until we can get him calmed down."

"Like hell lady." Chris answered, but not loud enough for her to hear. "VIN." he said, loud and firm. In an instant, he had Tanner's attention. Hell, he had everybody's attention. The combat stopped and all eyes turned to him. "What - is - the - problem?" he asked, as distinctly as possible.

"I got the right to refuse." The one thing that right now meant everything to Vin. "You said I got the right to refuse anything." The hoarseness lingered.

"Yeah, I did say that, and yeah, you do have the right to refuse any treatment you don't want." Chris walked up to the bed. "Tell me what happened, and why you're fighting these people." He kept his voice calm, trying to calm the obviously alarmed man in front of him. The doctor and nurses backed off.

"Couldn't breathe." Vin said. "Some men came in. They's asking me questions 'bout being attacked and I'se tryin' to answer them. But I couldn't breathe. Don't want none a'this on me no more." He made a move toward the IV, but Chris grabbed his hand.

"Leave that alone."

"Don't want it."

"You need it, so for right now, leave it alone." Chris thought maybe he understood what was going on. "Let these people do their job Vin, and then they will leave you alone. All right? The longer you fuss, the longer they stay here. And all you want is for them to leave you the hell alone, isn't that right?"

"Damn straight." Vin growled.

"Okay. So this is what we're going to do..." Chris lifted the oxygen tubing from where it lay on Tanner's chest. "You're going to lie still, and behave, and let me help you with this." Not waiting for an answer, Chris got the cannula settled into place. "Do we have an understanding?" Vin shot him dagger eyes, but didn't answer. Chris turned to the hospital personnel. "You wanna check and make sure everything is how it should be?"

Vin stiffened noticeably as they touched him. He shut his eyes and answered their questions minimally, but after a few moments they were gone. Vin turned on his side, pointedly away from Chris. Nettie and Nathan came in the room then. She went right to Vin.

"Honey, are you all right? What happened?"

"I'm fine. Nothin' happened."

"JD said the police were here, then we heard your doctor paged stat to your room." When Vin didn't answer, Nettie turned to Chris for an explanation. He shrugged.

"I guess when the police were questioning him, he must've had a panic attack. The doctor was checking him out when I got here. He was giving the staff a hard time."

"Vin -" Nettie put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away from her touch. "Honey, what were saying before about breaking your knee?"

"What difference it make? Y'all won't believe me anyway."

"I'll believe you honey."

"I will too." Nathan added. Vin looked back over his shoulder, his eyes taking in all three.

"When I'se sixteen, thereabouts I reckon. Coupla fellas jumped me out on the trail. Stole my horse, took the little money I had. 'Fore they left, the one fella whacked me in the knee with a club, said it was so's I couldn't follow 'em. Couldn't hardly walk, no water, no town for twenty miles. Coupla days a'dragging myself along, probably made five miles. Woulda died if the Commanch' hadn't come along n'found me."

Then he waited for their reaction.

"You have had an uncommon life." Nathan said. Vin nodded and turned away again. "C'mon Nettie, let me buy you some coffee down in the cafeteria..." Nathan gently led her away. When they were out of the room, and the door shut behind them, she continued the conversation they'd had on the way up in the elevator:

"You see what I meant about the stories he's telling? Bushwhacked, Commanche Indians..."

Nathan laughed and shook his head. "That boy has got himself some imagination. How did he really break his leg?"

"Oh, he never broke his leg." Nettie said, and didn't notice at first that Nathan stopped walking beside her down the hallway. "I don't know where he's getting these ideas...Nathan?"

"He broke his leg Nettie. It's on his x-ray. He broke his right leg, the growth plate at his knee." Nettie frowned, searching her memory.

"No, I practically raised that boy with his Mom after his father died. Unless he broke it before he was five or so, he never broke his leg." And she wondered why Nathan was giving her that long, puzzled stare.

M7*M7*M7

When the room was empty again, Chris walked around the side of the bed Vin was facing. "You can take that thing off y'know, when nobody else is around." Chris said. "That was just to get rid of them."

Vin opened his eyes just long enough to get the idea he was talking about the contraption blasting air into his brain. He pulled the thing off, though he didn't care either way, and closed his eyes again. Eyes shut tight, curled into himself, Vin's body shuddered now. Fear, panic, anger, confusion churned in him like rapids. His right hand was a fist next to his face on the pillow, and Chris reached over the railing to lay a gentle hand over it. Vin's eyes popped open in surprise.

"Vin - I need you to help me with something." His voice was low and serious. "I've been thinking - if you're here - if my Vin is with your Chris and your friends - well, I'm just worried how they'll treat him."

"What the hell you think they're gonna do to him?"

"I don't know - what do you think they'll do with him Vin? What are your friends like? What's your Chris like?"

Vin tried to gauge this Chris' sincerity. Was he just trying to lull him into some sorta trap or did he want to know serious? Well, it sure looked like was serious and worried about his friend being off somewhere amongst strangers.

Not quite strangers.

"He's a good man. Don't take much truck with fools though. Ain't sayin' your Vin's a fool, didn't mean that." he added. "My Chris always took my word on things, most always. I trust him."

"Will my Vin be safe with him?" Chris asked and Vin nodded firmly.

"Chris'll watch his back."

M7*M7*M7

Desperate for any way to bring his Vin back, Chris tried getting Vin to talk about his friends, hoping - like JD said before - that he could make Vin see that this was a safe place to be. A safe place to be himself. He couldn't tell if it was working or not, and he felt like he was running out of options to keep Vin out of the Mental Hospital. On the bed, Vin closed his eyes again and let out a long sigh.

"What?"

"Nah - you'll think it's stupid."

"No I won't - what is it?" Chris waited a few moments till Vin turned to look up at him.

"I miss my horse." and Chris had to smile.

"What's your horse's name?" wondering what derivation of his horse's name Vin would come up with. But Vin frowned.

"Y'don't name your horse." he sounded annoyed, like any fool would know that. "Never know when you might have t'eat it." and Chris stared at him, suddenly and inexplicably unsettled by that remark. Something was terribly wrong, only he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

A knock on the door made him look up and JD came in. "Chris - thought you'd want to know. Dr. Clemens told the police they can't talk with Vin anymore this morning. Said they could come back this afternoon."

"Thanks JD - where's everybody else?"

"Nathan and Josiah've gone home to get some sleep and a change of clothes. Ezra went home last night, he's on his way back now. Buck is waiting for me downstairs and we'll be headed home too." Chris thanked him again, and JD left.

"Wish I could go home." Vin said softly. It sounded like he was talking to himself.

"I'll take you home." Chris said, even as he came to the decision. Eagerly, Vin pushed himself up on his elbow.

"Now? Take me home now?" But Chris shook his head.

"This afternoon, we're gonna need some time to work on a plan." he looked Vin up and down. "And you're gonna need to do one thing for me."

"Anything." Vin promised immediately.

"Take a bath."

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