I can't possibly describe with words how moved I really am for your warm welcome back! You make me feel so cherished! So, this is my way of thanking you! I finished earlier than expected and I couldn't have you waiting any more than you already had!

Here it is! Enjoy!

CHAPTER 36

Panic took control of her body immobilizing her to the spot. She couldn't move, she couldn't talk, she couldn't think. For a long minute her brain was an absolute blank. And then his eyes flickered open and rested on her. Only for an instant before shutting again. She wasn't even sure he had seen her. But it was all she needed. Her cold reason kicked in, pushing the fear and the panic aside, forcing her body and mind to take action.

"Take him upstairs," she said in a voice she couldn't recognize as her own. "Isaac," she yelled, but apparently the whole house had already awoken by the loud banging and as she turned around, she found most of the servants standing there waiting for her command.

"Isaac, go to the doctor," she ordered. "As quickly as you can."

She felt Mammy's hand on her arm. She hadn't seen her approaching.

"You go, Miss Scarlett," she said firmly. "I know what to do here."

She looked into those dark features for a moment, letting the old woman's strength decanting into her through touch and gaze, gratitude the only sentiment she could experience.

"Go," she urged her again.

She run upstairs and stormed into their bedroom. Ross and Alexander had already laid Rhett down. She sat next to him on the bed.

"Rhett," she took his face into her palms. "Rhett," she breathed again, but he had lost consciousness by now. "What on earth happened?" she asked harshly. "You were supposed to go out for a drink."

"A drunk guy provoked him," Ross explained. "Things heated up really fast and they were all over each other. We broke them apart and the drunk was thrown out of the place. When we left a bit later, he attacked Rhett with a knife from behind."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know. He came out of nowhere and talked to Rhett."

"Did he know him?"

"I can't tell, Scarlett. It all happened too quickly. The one moment we were making jokes and the next Rhett was on the floor hitting the guy."

"Where were you?"

"At a saloon."

"Which one?"

"Does it make a difference?" Ross tried to evade the question.

She gave him a hard glare. "Apparently it did."

She set to untie the jacket and inspect the severity of the wound.

"Don't," Alexander stopped her. "He will start bleeding again. You should wait for the doctor."

Eventually Dr. Roberts arrived and after a brief filling in he gave a few orders to Mammy and leant over Rhett.

"Tell me what to do," Scarlett said.

"You'd better wait outside, Mrs. Butler."

"I was a nurse during the War," no power on earth would make her leave the room. "Tell me what to do."

"Alright," Dr. Roberts gave his consent.

And from that point after, time was moving excruciatingly slow. As in a nightmare. Minutes from hours she couldn't tell. Her senses were intensified, her mind sharp and en garde, but her heart was numb. Like clockwork, she was acting without feeling.

An hour or ten later it was over. Rhett lay still unconscious, bandages around his torso, and Dr. Roberts was washing his hands.

"Check his temperature every hour," he said. "And give him a sip of this for the pain," he left a bottle of laudanum on the nightstand. "I will come back later today to check on him."

She nodded faintly. "Thank you, doctor."

She didn't even bother to see him out. Servants came and went, cleaning up and asking her things she didn't even listen. She could vaguely recall asking Mammy to take care of Noah, but other than that the world around her seized to exist. She stayed there, seated next to Rhett, holding his hand until the sun was well up. She then sent for Eleanor.

Eleanor entered the bedroom quickly, her face twitching with pain at the sight of Rhett. She sat on the bed next to him and took his hand in hers.

"How did this happen?" she asked quietly.

"Rhett got into a fight with a drunk at a saloon last night," she set to explain in a voice still flat from shock. "Ross and Alexander broke them apart. The other guy was thrown out, but apparently he waited for them outside. And when they left a while later, he attacked Rhett with a knife."

"What did the doctor say?"

"That he is lucky to be alive. No vital organs were hit. But he lost a lot of blood and he is feverous. His primal concern is to stay clear of an infection. The first twenty four hours are crucial."

"Has he awoken at all?"

"No, he is still unconscious," her voice broke.

Eleanor raised her head to her daughter-in-law and her heart went to her. Her eyes were watery and red from the lack of sleep and her face pale and drawn with growing fear. And she was still on her nightgown. There were stains of dried blood on it.

"My poor child," she cried and took her in her arms. "The ordeal you went through. You should have called for me."

Scarlett buried herself in the warm embrace, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. "When I saw him like this, my Rhett of all people," she murmured between sobs. "Rhett is Rhett. He is so strong. Nothing ever happens to him. He has never been ill a day in his life. Oh, Miss Eleanor, I'm so frightened."

"Shhhh…" she caressed her back. "Please try and stay positive. You said it yourself. Rhett is strong and healthy. He will be fine. You just have to be patient."

"He got so close to dying. If it wasn't for Alexander," a new wave of sobs raked through her body. "He managed to stop the excessive bleeding before they carried him home. Dr. Roberts said that Alexander probably saved his life. The mere thought of losing him…"

"Hush, darling. Don't let these awful thoughts get the better of you. Rhett will be fine, you'll see. He will be fine."

She kept murmuring comforting words in her ear until the sobbing stopped and her breathing was back to normal. Scarlett parted unwillingly from her embrace, sniffing her nose.

"There," Eleanor wiped her tearstained cheeks with her fingers and smoothed her ruffled hair. "Go freshen up a bit. Put on a clean dress. I'll stay with him."

"No, no," she shook her head frantically. "I won't leave him."

"You will feel better, darling. Trust me," she held her gaze steady, her dark eyes reassuring, and Scarlett nodded in agreement. "Is there anything you need me to do in the meantime?"

"No, Miss Eleanor. I gave him a dose of laudanum and Dr. Roberts will be here shortly to see him."

The doctor appeared to be restrainedly optimistic. There was no sign of infection and his fever was dropping slowly.

"Shouldn't he be awake by now?" Scarlett asked.

"He will, Mrs. Butler," he reassured her. "Give him time."

"I never thought I would have to practice my nursing skills ever again," she tried to lighten up the mood in the room, while cleaning Rhett's body with a wet towel. She wouldn't let Eleanor or anyone else help her, so Eleanor was just sitting in the room with her keeping her company through the night. Rosemary wanted to stay as well, but they persuaded her not to. Alexander too had retired for the night, after having them promised him that they would wake him up if needed.

"You were a nurse during the War?" Eleanor asked.

"I was, but not a very enthusiastic one I have to admit," she confessed with embarrassment. "Rhett was teasing me mercilessly about it. He kept saying that I wasn't made for lice and sickness and I should run away with him," she laughed. "I remember one day, probably a month or so before Atlanta's siege, I had fled from the hospital and I run into him. He used to do that a lot back then," she smiled wistfully. "Appear in front of me when I least expected him. Anyway, he gave me a lift to my Aunt Pitty's house. I couldn't leave town, because Melly was expecting, but the news were becoming worse and worse with every passing day and I was horrified at the mere thought of a siege. And he would always laugh my fears away. God, he could infuriate me within seconds. He still can," she run her fingers through his untidy hair. "I asked him why he was staying in Atlanta and he said he wanted to rescue me when the siege would come. I thought he was jeering me again and I got off the carriage totally angry with him. He did save me though, when the siege came," she paused not trusting her voice.

Her mind wandered back in time, her life passing in front of her eyes in slow motion. She couldn't find a single memory without Rhett's face popping out in it. As if she didn't exist before their first meeting. The barbeque, the bazaar, the siege, their escape. And then the jail, the mills, the raid, their marriage. The mess. And she felt the need to talk about it all. About him, about her, about them. She needed the comfort it would give her.

"I met him at a barbeque back in Georgia under quite unusual circumstances, truth to be told. It was April 15th 1861," she said softly.

"You know each other that long?" Eleanor puzzled. "Why, that's fourteen years ago."

"My entire adult life," she smiled. "And we are married only half of it. You see, Miss Eleanor? Rhett is not just my husband. He has always been so much more than that. Ever since that day. A friend, a companion, constantly by my side, ready to listen, ready to help. He is everything to me, he is family," she sighed. "Sometimes when I look back, I think I would have been a completely different person had I not met him. In a way he made me who I am today."

"You won his heart, darling. It was only natural that he would be so devoted to you."

Her words hurt like a slap. Even after almost two years of apologies and making it up to him, the guilt was still there. Hibernated most of the time, but biding to strike at any given moment. And it had expanded towards his mother too. This woman had opened her house for her, when no one else would. She was trusting her, loving her, comforting her, sometimes better than her own mother would have. Yet their relationship was based on a lie. And it didn't have to be this way anymore. Even if it meant losing Eleanor's approval.

"If only it hadn't taken me ten years to realize it," she whispered and turned to a bewildered Eleanor. "I know that you understand more than you confess, Miss Eleanor. I'm sure you knew that Rhett and I weren't in good terms when we came here."

"Scarlett, you don't have to tell me anything," Eleanor tried to stop her. "It is none of my business."

"Please let me say this to you. I need to. I don't want you to think that I deceived you."

"I never thought anything like that of you," she protested. "I could see that you love Rhett wholeheartedly. I didn't need to know anything else. You two had been through hell before you came here."

"We weren't like that only because of what happened to Bonnie," she confessed. "Our whole marriage was like that because of me. Because I was a blind fool and it took me years to understand what I now know for a fact. That Rhett loved me all along and I loved him back."

"You did though," she placed a gentle hand on her arm. "That's all that matters."

"I did," she gave her a watery smile, reassured by the way Eleanor had received her confession. "And thankfully it wasn't too late to make things right. I don't think one lifetime is enough to love Rhett the way he deserves for all the things he's done for me."

"I couldn't have wished for a better daughter-in-law," she said quietly, moved by her words.

"I don't deserve that, Miss Eleanor."

"Of course you do. And I mean every word. I will say it again. I don't care how long it took you, but you brought him home to me."

"And I told you that it worked both ways, but that wasn't accurate," she said. "Rhett is home. He is my shelter in every way. My inexhaustible source of security and love and strength. And without him I feel lost."

Eleanor's eyes left her face and looked behind her, a wide smile immediately spreading on her face.

"You don't have to feel this way anymore, my dear. Look who's up."

She turned around sharply and saw Rhett looking at her. Relief washed over her like a tedious wave and for a few moments she just stood there speechless and motionless. She heard the door closing, as Eleanor left the room. And then wild anger flooded in her and her eyes sparked dangerously.

"You cad, you varmint, you rascal," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"What's with the name calling?" he breathed in pure confusion.

"What were you thinking getting into fights in ill reputed saloons? I thought you knew better than that. Putting your life in danger because of a drunken idiot. You better think twice the next time you will decide to play it tough at your age, Rhett Butler, because I swear to God I will be the one to kill you with my own bare hands," she hadn't realized that tears had already been pouring down her face. Not before the last words were choked among sobs putting an end to her little speech.

She rested her head on his bare chest and he put his arm around her shoulders pulling her to him, his hand endlessly caressing her hair. She calmed down eventually and she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

"I was so scared," she murmured, her lips showering his face with salty kisses. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"If I made you who you are, then I've definitely created something fundamentally temperamental," he teased tiredly.

He received a well deserved glower for his joke, her brows raised indignantly.

"How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough," he smiled and caressed her cheek.

"How long?" she insisted.

"I believe it was your admission that I saved you during the siege that brought me back from unconsciousness. It was high time I would get the long deserved credit for my chivalry."

"Don't give yourself airs," she said defensively. "I was only telling you mother a story to comfort her. She was very upset."

Laughter rambled in his chest, but his face distorted with pain the very same moment.

"You shouldn't make me laugh. I was stabbed, remember?"

"Does it hurt, darling?" she jeered. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Has the lifetime you would spend loving me expired already?" he pushed his luck even further.

"Oh, you are impossible," she exclaimed, embarrassment heating her cheeks with a delicious red color. "I can't believe I was worried about you. You deserve everything that happens to you."

His weathered face bore such an adorably childish expression that she felt her heart melting. How could she have lived without him? Her whole body shivered at the notion and she shook her head to get rid of the unwelcome thought.

"Are you in pain?" she asked seriously.

"Nothing I can't bear," he lied wearily.

He was deadly pale, perspiration apparent on his forehead, his brows knit in discomfort. She brought the bottle of laudanum on his lips and he swallowed a brave sip.

"Go back to sleep," she cooled his face with the towel.

He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, his eyes already foggy from the drug.

"Just so you know, you are my everything too," he whispered.

"Oh, Rhett," she rested her forehead on his. "I know," she feather kissed his lips.

"One week in bed, Mr. Butler," Dr. Roberts recommended. "And after that you should take it really easy for another three weeks. Try to limit any physical activity and preferably stay inside the house."

"One month for a couple of stitches?" Rhett asked incredulously.

"Fifteen to be exact," the doctor corrected patiently. "You wouldn't want to break them, would you? Your protégé went into a lot of trouble saving your life. You owe him a smooth recovery."

"Yes, Uncle Rhett. Don't cause yourself anymore harm," Alexander said.

"This young man here is going to be an excellent colleague one day," the doctor patted him on the shoulder. "He is functioning very effectively under stressful situations and he makes the right calls. Both invaluable qualities in our profession."

Rhett smiled proudly at Alexander, who had now turned crimson from the praise.

"Besides, I would want to prolong my recovery as much as possible if I were you. Not many of us had the pleasure to be taken care of by such an accomplished nurse," he added. "Our brave soldiers were lucky in their misfortune."

"There are plenty of veterans out there remembering my wife in their prayers, I'm sure," Rhett offered nonchalantly. "And I am now proudly one of them."

He sensed Scarlett fuming with silent rage next to him and he coughed to mask his chuckle.

"You just had to act smart in front of the doctor, didn't you?" she said much too sweetly once the doctor left, while she was rearranging his pillows behind his back in a not so very gentle way.

"I was only praising your virtues, my darling, as any dotting husband should," he winced at Alexander.

"Of course you were," she helped him lie back down. "And as a dotting wife I promise you will pay dearly for your praise throughout the rest of the week," she warned him with a cold smile, her eyes throwing green fire at him.

"What did I tell you, son? A hint of a spark is all it takes. And that's a temptation I will never be able to resist."

Alexander brought his hand over his mouth to muffle his laughter.

"As is the temptation to finish that drunk's unfinished work," she punched him hard on the chest.

"Mister Rhett," Mammy interrupted the tender scene. "There's an officer downstairs askin' to see you."

"The police?" Scarlett sounded alarmed.

"Stabbing is considered a crime, Scarlett," he said softly. "Bring him up, Mammy."

A young officer appeared at the door a few minutes later.

"Good morning, Madame. Gentlemen," he saluted. "I'm Officer O'Brien. I apologize for disturbing you. I have a few questions for you, Mr. Butler. I came by yesterday, but your butler told me that you were not in a position to see me. I can come back later, if this is more convenient for you. In situations such as this however, time is valuable."

Scarlett faintly remembered Isaac telling her about it, but lost as she was in her agony, she has pushed it aside as irrelevant.

"Now is as good a time as ever, Officer," Rhett said politely. "Please, be seated."

"I'd rather stand, if that's all right with you. I do hope you are feeling better."

"I'm doing fairly well given the circumstances. Thank you."

"I understand that you were attacked the night before yesterday outside a saloon at Archdale Street," the officer's voice became formal and authoritative.

"That is correct."

"According to the owner of this establishment there was a fight between you and a man in the saloon prior to the attack."

"That is correct as well."

"Do you believe that he is the man that attacked you later that night?"

"I believe so."

"Do you know who that man is?" the officer asked.

"What is this?" Alexander stepped in, his voice strangely louder than his usual calm tone. His once serene eyes were now burning with anger. "This lunatic came out of nowhere provoking my uncle and then stabbing him from behind like a coward and instead of being out there looking for him, you are interrogating my uncle?"

"Alexander," Rhett said firmly. "The officer is right. I do know the man."

PS1: I know that I did it again, but the chapter would have been too long otherwise! So the solution to the mystery will appear on the next chapter! Which I am in the process of writing, but haven't finished yet! I enjoyed the guesses some of you took about Calvin Broder. I was tempted to have him somehow related to the scandal with the girl back in Rhett's youth. But this scenario has been used in plenty of stories in the fantom and by far more accomplished writers than myself, so I came up with a better idea (I hope :-$ )! That's all I'm going to say for now!

PS 2: OF COURSE I CAN'T SEVERELY HARM OR KILL RHETT OR SCARLETT! That was never an option for me! I can kill anyone around them, but not them! I love them too much! :-))))))

PS 3: Scarlett is a bit lost in this chapter and I felt it was safe for her to become quite emotional too! Eleanor was the best receiver she could have. She has gained her trust and love and she feels safe and herself around her! Still, if it feels OOC for you, do tell me so! I highly value your opinion! You know that!

Enough with my endless rambling! Your turn! How do you find it?

Until next time (probably by next week), take care! xxx