Howdy y'all! Glad you're back, despite Blakes little... accident...
So, I bet you're all curious if that little bugger is gonna make it or not? Well so far he's not dead, so let's keep our fingers crossed ^^...
Btw, we're going to a cabin without internet during the holidays (and we're bringing our animals with us... ALL of them :D! Sure, they're only four, but still x)), so I won't be able to update until we come back :(... But don't worry, it'll probably be two or three chapters by then ;)! And hopefully the next ROTH chapter! Still writing on it... grr...
This is a pretty short chapter, sorry... But if its to any comfort: it's the first chapter entirely with the snakes, enjoy ;)!
*** Chapter Thirtyseven : Why? ***
The lithe female diamondback was nervously pacing back and forth on the street outside Docs office. Her eyes were puffy and swollen with tears and she would occasionally let out a small sob or a whimper as she paced. Every time a cry of pain or a squeal was heard from the office, she would snap around and consider barging in through the doors to save her little brother.
"Relax, Jolene. Doc's takin' care of him! There ain't no better doctor than our Doc! At least not 'round this territory!" Beans tried to comfort the snake and handed her a bed sheet to wipe her tears with.
Jolene waved it away. "This is all my fault!" She sobbed and closed her eyes. "I-I should've looked after him better! If he dies, t-then it's b'cause of m-me!"
"But he ain't gonna die, Jo!" A much bigger diamondback hissed from the shadows of an empty shack. "Y'know how stubborn Blake is! He ain't gonna die anytime soon..." Jake said, but if it was to ensure his sister or himself was left to debate.
"I-I hope you're right, Jake..." She sniveled and glanced through one of the murky windows. It was hard to see through, but she was guessing that they were trying to remove the bullets. Another scream was heard as Doc shoved a pair of pincers down into the deep wound and dug around for the bullet. Jolene clenched her eyes shut to shut the scream out.
Suddenly the scream silenced and not a sound was heard for a long time. Jolene stiffened and listened med a nervously throbbing heart, fearing the worst. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Doc came out shortly followed by Mr Edwards and Rango, who looked even greener than usual.
"Well?!" She said impatiently with an unnaturally high pitched voice.
"Well, we've got some good news, and some bad news..." Doc answered and scratched what was left of his one of his long ears with a bloody hand.
"Let's take the bad ones first, to git it over with!" Jake rumbled and got out from the shade.
"Very well, I'm gonna be completely honest with ya, folks..." Doc slapped his paws together and slowly shook his head. "He has lost a LOT of blood, one of his lungs were nearly punctured n' I'm not entirely sure how great his chances of survival is..."
Jakes blood red eyes flashed angrily and he quickly wrapped himself around the doctor. "Don't ya DARE to say that again!" The rattlesnake spat. "He WILL make it!"
"W-well, t-theres... still... t-the good news... l-left!" Jake eased his grip a bit to allow the one eared jackrabbit to speak unhindered. He drew a few deep breaths before continuing; "As I said, I ain't sure how great his chances of survival is BUT we've managed to stop the bleedin'! So if he makes it through the night, then I'd say that his chances are pretty big!"
Jake snickered and let go of Doc, the old jackrabbit fell to the ground in a pile, before slithering back to his shade. Now it was Jolenes turn to slither up to the doctor, although her approach wasn't as aggressive.
"I-is there anythin' I can do?" She stuttered carefully.
Doc shrugged. "He's unconscious right now, it really took all 'is powers to scream n' holler like that while we were performin' the operation." He looked back at his office. "But I reckon what ya can do is keepin' him company through the night. I doubt he'll even know you're there, but it wouldn't hurt" He stepped out of the way and allowed the snake to slither in through the door. She stopped in the doorway and turned back to Doc.
"T-thank ya so much, Doc!" She smiled faintly.
The jackrabbit returned the smile. "No sweat, miss!"
Rango turned to Mr Edwards. "T-Taylor... I-I think I'm gonna..." He didn't get further until his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell backwards. Luckily the kangaroo rat managed to catch the sheriff and gently put him down on the ground.
Beans rushed up to him. "Rango! He ain't hurt, is he?" She asked with a worried frown and grabbed the sheriffs limp hand.
"Nah, but I'm surprised he lasted this long! Ya should've seen him when Doc was diggin' 'round in that snake" Mr Edwards chuckled. "Sheriff Rango looked like he would throw up any second!"
Jolene took a look around in the office before she got to the big room, where the operations, autopsies etc, were performed, and where her brother now was lying on a pile of sheets. To get the large snake in here, they first had to move out most of the furniture and place them on the outside. And even then, it was still a little too tight to get Blake through, so they had to saw away big chunks of the doorways too.
Jolene had to blink a few tears away. All their efforts just to save her brother. There had to be some way she could repay the sheriff and his town, but how?!
She poked her head into the room and saw her brother, lying in a C-shape on the now bloodstained sheets. She clenched her jaw together and slithered in. Blake seemed to notice that someone got closer to him, as his body jerked involuntarily and he let out a soft whimper.
"Hey, little brother..." She whispered softly and nudged his head with her snout. He looked so... pathetic; bandaged like a mummy from what would be the waist all the way to his neck. They had even wrapped a bandage around his upper jaw and over the gaping hole where his fang had been just a few hours ago. His fangs, his pride and joy... How they managed to wrap him up like that without getting hurt was a mystery.
As he lied there, she couldn't help but to smile. This reminded her of another time, a long, long time ago. They had been playing around in a mesquite, Blake, their friend Mary-Anne and her, when Blake got stung by a thorn. Mesquite thorns are poisonous, and the younger the victim, the more dangerous it could get. But luckily Harvey had been nearby. He pulled out the thorn and sent the two young snakes and the basilisk back home ASAP to their mothers, who of course went ballistic when she heard about Blake.
Blake spent the night in fever chills, curled up in his bed and trembling like a leaf. But Jolene wouldn't leave his side. All night she would stay rolled up next to him, making sure he didn't get worse.
This time it looked like it would be another night like that.
She sighed and rolled into a bun next to him and squirmed her head under his, letting his head rest on her neck. Blake whimpered in pain and flopped restlessly.
"It's alright Blake! It's just me, Jolene! Y'know, yer ol' sister Jo!" She said, trying to calm her brother down. Blake tensed up, but then relaxed, his head resting heavily on her neck.
She smiled sadly and rested her own head on the floor when she heard the rustling sound of scales getting dragged over wooden floor. Her head perked up slightly. "Jacob?"
Her big brother poked his head in through the doorway. "How's he holdin' up?" He asked, short and straight to the point.
"I dunno..." She shook her head. "He's in pretty bad shape, though..." She clenched her teeth together to stop the tears burning behind her eyelids. Enough cryin' already, girl! Jake cursed and closed his eyes. "I-I just don't understand..."
Jolenes voice made him open his eyes again and he tilted her head towards her. "Huh?"
"H-how could he do this to us?! How could Durango do this to Blake!?" She sobbed. "H-he's our friend, isn't he?! H-he's always been there, WHY did he do this?! I-I know what Blake did to Coral was bad... But how could he have known that she was..." She interrupted herself before her voice broke.
Jake didn't answer at once, just stared at the floor. "It's true... Durango was our friend..." Jolene stopped sobbing and looked at her brother with a confused look. "But it seems like he was talkin' the truth when he said Durango died..." He looked up at his sister. "Durango is dead, Jo. Durango's always been dead. The man who almost killed our brother is Rango. And Rango ain't like our friend!" He hissed and turned around, slithering out through to the street.
Jolene looked after her brother as he left through the door, shaking her head slowly before putting her head down again. "You're wrong Jake... Durango ain't dead..." She said and her eyes flashed angrily and added with a cold hiss; "Not yet!"
Suddenly Blake groaned and one of his eyes slowly opened, looking at his sister with a lifeless eye. "Jo... lene?" He whispered.
"Yup! It's me!" Jolene nudged her snout against him.
"Jo... It hurts..."
"I know, Blake... I know... But dont'ya worry! I'll be right here ALL night!"
Blake didn't answer. He just closed his eye and went back to his restless sleep. Jolene sighed. She closed her eyes too and was lulled to sleep by the thought of holding Durango in her coils; slowly and painfully squeezing the life out of him.
Jake had returned to the lake and was staring out at the surface. The sun was setting, igniting the sky in an inferno of pink, purple and red, which was reflected in the lake.
He clenched his jaws together at the memory of the bountyhunter, darting over the water. Even with Jake firing at him, he still managed to get pretty far. He's sure got better at it, hasn't he? He thought to himself. But tricks like that won't save him when I have him in my grasp...
"Errm, mister Jake?" A tiny, squeaky voice said and he felt someone poke at his scales.
He hissed and turned around with his gun readied.
Below him was the little kangaroo rat, Mattie Edwards. "What?" He spat and raised an eyebrow.
"Sheriff Rango's gatherin' erryone at the water tower! He says he's got somethin' to show y'all!" Mattie waved with her hand, signaling for the snake to follow her as she ran back into town. Jake rolled his eyes and slithered after the child.
This better be good...
Sorry for the short chapter, wish I could've made it longer but the writers block struck again and well... Yeah -.-...
Anyway, so Blake is alive, barely, but still alive! But will he survive :P? Dum-dum-dummmm!
Nah, sorry, that was a bit mean...
Anyway, see y'all next chapter and HAVE A MERRY X-MAS EVERYONE WHO CELEBRATES IT :D!
OR HANUKKAH! OR KWANZAA! Or whatever you do to pass time during the winter xD!
Delilah OUT!