Chapter 2
"No! Victoria! I won't let you die! Hold on!" Diego tilted Victoria's head, parted her lips and covered her mouth with his. With a rapid snap of his arms, he pressed on her chest and then pushed air into her lungs from his mouth. Over and over he repeated the action until she coughed raggedly and took a shaky breath.
"Dios! Victoria!" he rested his forehead against her neck. His tears dripped down her smooth skin as he pleaded, "Please stay with me. I can't bear to lose you. Not like this!"
She muttered incoherently as he frantically finished tending her wound with the tools available to him. She was weak, had lost a lot of blood and he needed to keep her comfortable and warm. Once the bleeding was stopped, he would need to make a decision to move her, or wait until first light.
He reached for his knife, adequately ready for the task for which he'd heated it.
He quickly unhooked his belt and pressed the end into her mouth. "Victoria, please bite down. This is going to hurt. But I must do this. I have to stop the bleeding."
She didn't answer, simply whimpered, her strength failing even as she continued to struggle to breathe.
In the dim light of the fire, Zorro pressed the metal blade against her torn and bloodied skin. The anguished scream that echoed around the cave caused his vision to blur with tears and his chest to constrict with violent sobs.
"Oh, Querida, I'm so sorry."
Her weak moans tore at his heart as he whispered fierce protestations of love. He had to make her hear him. He had to make sure she knew how much he loved her.
He removed his sash and wrapped it around her waist, fastening it tightly. Then he lay down and curled his body around her to keep her warm. He tossed his cloak over them and held her as he rested his hand lightly on her chest to make sure she was still breathing.
"Victoria. Querida," he murmured against her ear. "Stay with me." His tears fell into her hair as he continued to whisper urgently. "I love you so much. Don't leave me."
He waited, fearful to move her so soon after being shot. He needed to give her body a few hours to build some blood, to heal. He decided he would move her at first light. He lay his head close to hers and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.
He closed his eyes but sleep would not come. He could feel every labored breath, every shudder of her body and he wrapped himself around her as tightly as he dare, hoping to give her strength by his mere presence.
The hours until sunrise were the longest of his life. His eyes were rimmed in red and his hands shook as he brushed long fingers across her damp cheek. She was already feverish and Diego closed his eyes once more and offered a prayer for her life.
She moaned and muttered incoherently in the middle of the night, but did not wake. Diego was grateful, because the pain that she would have felt while conscious would have been too much for her to bear.
As soon as the first rays of sunlight appeared over the horizon, Zorro was mounted and pushing Toronado toward the de la Vega hacienda. If he could get Victoria there, into the warm comforts of a bed and servants around to care for her, he could ride into the pueblo and get the doctor. His own skills in medicine were adequate, but they were no substitute for a practicing physician.
Alejandro was just sitting down to breakfast when he heard the door slam open and a commotion come from the entryway. He stood immediately and dropped his napkin to the table, pausing to consider arming himself. But hearing his own name being cried out forced a swift exit from the dining area.
"Zorro!" Alejandro rounded the corner just as Felipe came from the opposite hallway. Both men stood in shock as the masked man brushed passed Felipe, hurried down the hallway and kicked open the door to Diego's bedroom.
Felipe and Alejandro followed, their mouth's gaping open with shock.
"What happened!" Alejandro asked as he trailed the masked man to his son's bedroom. A flicker of confusion passed through his mind. Where was his son? But it was all but forgotten when he noticed the woman Zorro carried. "Dios!"
"She was shot." The breathless, barely controlled hysteria in the masked man's voice caused instant concern. "Last night. We were too far away. I had to treat her. She's – dying." The masked man turned to the mute who stood there gaping in horrified silence. "Felipe, get clean water and bandages. Please hurry!"
Alejandro's eyes narrowed as he helped Zorro remove Victoria's bloodstained blouse, modesty forgotten in the wake of so serious an injury. Zorro opened a drawer and drew out one of Diego's nightshirts, draping it over the bed.
Felipe returned quickly with bandages and some medicines. Alejandro quickly covered the young woman's chest with Diego's nightshirt but Felipe wasn't looking, he was busy shoving all manner of unidentifiable vials into Zorro's hands.
Victoria groaned as Zorro's hands dabbed at the angry red wound and applied medicine to it that Alejandro had never seen before. He knew his son had studied medicine but where would he have had a laboratory to manufacture such things? Where did he keep them? How did Felipe know – The questions were tumbling through his mind too quickly. And there were no answers –
"Victoria, please . . ." The pain in Zorro's voice was palpable, instantly recognizable.
Tears sprang to Alejandro's eyes and he inhaled sharply at the familiar, anguished tone. He had heard that voice before. When Victoria was shot protecting Zorro the first time and she lay in a guestroom at this very hacienda fighting for her life. Alejandro gazed at the masked man working so diligently to keep the woman he loved alive. Madre de Dios. It couldn't be.
"Diego . . ." Victoria whispered, her voice barely audible.
Zorro didn't flinch as she whispered his name. He simply continued to whisper to his lady, imploring her to stay awake. Once he finished with treating her wound, he turned to Alejandro.
"I must get the doctor. Please stay with her."
Alejandro nodded wordlessly, a lump in his throat. His eyes darted from Zorro to Victoria, and suddenly, everything was startlingly clear. He wasn't sure how it had come to be, how this secret had been kept for so long. He sank into a nearby chair, his heart thudding sharply against his chest, and stared at Felipe.
Zorro turned to Felipe, rested a gentle hand on the boy's shoulder and offered a heartfelt, "Thank you,' before he was gone, cape fluttering from behind him like a winged bird in flight.
Toronado skidded to a halt outside Doctor Hernandez's home and Zorro leapt off his back, feet barely touching the ground as he hurried to the door. As he raised his hand to knock, armed lancers – Zorro had missed the evidence of their arrival in his haste to reach the doctor – took aim at him from multiple directions.
The door opened from the inside and a smirking alcalde appeared with a pistol leveled at the masked man's chest. "Ah, thank you for not disappointing me, Zorro."
Zorro stood still as a post, eyes quickly memorizing the position of every man who had a weapon aimed at him. "Victoria is hurt, I need to get the doctor."
"Oh, Doctor Hernandez is here, but he is not going anywhere." De Soto laughed.
"You would let an innocent woman die in your desire to capture me?" Zorro's steely tone made even the alcalde take pause.
The doctor appeared at de Soto's shoulder, his eyes resting sadly on the masked man. He had been awakened in the middle of the night and subjected to de Soto's proud ravings about how he was finally going to catch his nemesis.
"She is far from innocent and you know it."
"Government officials are put in place to support the people, not oppress them. You are in the wrong profession, alcalde!" With lightning quick speed, Zorro lunged toward the alcalde, disrupting his aim. The pistol discharged, sending the pistol ball into the ceiling overhead.
Lancer's fingers hovered over their triggers, hesitant to shoot for fear of hitting the alcalde or the doctor.
Zorro whistled for Toronado and the stallion reared close, distracting the lancers even further. Zorro gripped de Soto's collar and swung him roughly around to face his lancers. With a tone that bespoke no argument, Zorro ordered, "Drop the muskets. Now."
"Shoot him!" de Soto choked as Zorro's iron grip on his collar increased.
The doctor appeared at Zorro's side and the masked man turned to him. "Get on Toronado, quickly."
Zorro pushed the alcalde toward the lancers, using him as a shield in case they chose to obey the alcalde.
Their eyes darted from the alcalde to Zorro as if weighing the consequences each choice would cause to their careers. One bold lancer raised his musket and Zorro immediately raised his fist and slammed it into the alcalde's jaw. The man slumped to the ground as Zorro shoved him toward the lancer. The soldier instantly reached for his alcalde, dropping his musket as the other two lancers rushed for the alcalde as well.
Zorro quickly helped the doctor onto Toronado's back and leapt into the saddle behind him.
All they could hear as Toronado galloped away were Ignacio de Soto's accusations of incompetence directed toward his lancers.
When they arrived at the hacienda, Zorro led the doctor to Victoria.
The man immediately lifted the oversize nightshirt and began to examine the wound while Zorro, Alejandro, and a very concerned and overprotective housemaid hovered nearby. She glanced disapprovingly at the two men as they watched the doctor work. She could only take so much impropriety in one day. The sun had barely risen and she'd already had too much.
"Tell me what happened." Hernandez glanced toward Zorro and the masked man relayed what had happened the previous evening.
"You've treated the injury well. But she has a fever. I will need to –"
Commotion from the front rooms silenced the doctor's words. Felipe hurried into the room, ignoring the house maid's protests, and Alejandro's eyes widened, instantly understanding the hurried sign language. "The alcalde!" He turned to the masked man. "You must leave. If he finds you here –"
"Yes," Zorro moved to the open window, "We already had a very unpleasant encounter this morning."
Alejandro moved toward the door. "I will stall him as best I can."
Zorro slipped out the window as Alejandro hurried down the hallway to intercept the alcalde and his men.
"I want this hacienda surrounded," de Soto ordered.
"Sí, Alcalde!" Mendoza answered, turning to complete the order to the lancers that remained inside.
"Alcalde!" Alejandro greeted the man with a forced smile. "To what do we owe the pleasure so early in the morning?"
"Don't play the fool with me, de la Vega," De Soto spat and Alejandro hid a grin when he noticed a bruise beginning to form on the alcalde's cheek. A result of his unpleasant encounter with Zorro, no doubt. "I know he's here."
"Who?"
"Zorro!" de Soto grew impatient quickly and snapped, "Do you deny it?"
"Why, yes, I do." Alejandro said.
"Where is she?"
"Who?" Alejandro asked innocently, hoping his distraction had given Zorro enough time to escape.
"Señorita Escalante! I know he brought her here." De Soto's face was turning red with frustration. "You will take me to her at once!"
"Victoria is gravely ill, Alcalde," Alejandro's eyes hardened. "I will not further endanger her life by –"
"Mendoza!"
The sergeant bumbled back into the room with a, "Sí, Alcalde?"
"I want you to place Don Alejandro under arrest and –"
"Arrest my father?" Diego walked in the door, a familiar confused expression on his handsome face. "But why? And why is the hacienda surrounded with lancers?"
Alejandro stared disbelievingly at his son. Not only was the man up before breakfast, further proof of his son's duplicity, but he was just coming inside. If Alejandro had not so clearly seen the weariness in Zorro's eyes only to be reflected in Diego's now, he would have been completely fooled by his son's innocent question.
De Soto offered little more than a passing glance in Diego's direction. "Sorry to disturb your beauty sleep, Don Diego. We know how you value your rest."
Alejandro's eyes widened. Did the alcalde not see that his son had just come from outside the hacienda? That he was fully dressed, and far more disheveled than even his father had ever seen? But the alcalde was continuing with his orders to Mendoza. "Search every room in this hacienda for Señorita Escalante and then –"
"Victoria?" Diego asked with a confused look. "What would she be doing here so early?" Diego turned innocent eyes on his father, who simply stared in awe at the supremely believable performance. His son should have been an actor!
De Soto sighed, growing weary of being interrupted. "She was shot last night and I know that masked lover of hers brought her here!"
Alejandro could see his son's eyes flash at the implication that Victoria was his lover but the look was quickly masked leaving Alejandro yet again to marvel at his son's duplicity.
"Victoria was shot?" Diego's confused expression instantly turned to one of concern and he immediately turned to his father.
"Yes, son," Alejandro said sadly. Of course his son already knew this. The woman was lying in his bed!
"And you will take us to her, immediately." De Soto added.
"Of course." Diego nodded, extending a hand toward the hallway. "Yes, we must see that she is going to be all right."
Alejandro nodded and led the men toward the bedroom, leaving a visibly relieved Mendoza in the library, happy that he would not be placing Don Alejandro under arrest – yet.
Alejandro watched his son closely as they stood in the entryway to his bedroom. The alcalde had moved quickly within, searching every possible place for the masked man to be hiding. If Alejandro hadn't already guessed, the overwhelmingly sad look in his son's eyes now was enough to convince him.
The doctor stood to one side, but close enough so that the alcalde could not jostle Victoria in any way. "You will not come near her," the doctor warned, earning him a scathing look from de Soto.
"I will do as I please. If I do not find Zorro, I will hang this woman in his place." De Soto glared down at the doctor. "I would be careful if I were you. Such acts as I witnessed this morning are enough to hang you beside her!"
"You can't do that!" Diego said quickly, earning an approving nod from his father. He moved closer to his son and placed his hand on the surprisingly muscled younger man's forearm. He squeezed gently, warning him of the suspicions he could arouse by displaying such unusual, animated passion.
"Oh, I can, and I will," de Soto cast one last look at the bed before stopping next to Diego and his father. "I will catch that man, or his lover will die in his place."
De Soto turned on his heel and strode out of the room.
Diego tensed, mere seconds from following the infuriating alcalde, but Alejandro held him back with a stern look and a tightening grip on his son's arm.
"Not now," Alejandro whispered, forcing his son to meet his gaze. "Stay with her. She needs you."
Diego stared at his father for a long moment. Words that should have been spoken long ago hung between them but they simply stared at one another in silence for one long moment before Diego nodded slowly, understanding. Instead, he moved to Victoria's bedside and pulled out a chair from the wall. He tiredly sank into it and took her hand, wordlessly bringing it to his lips.
When Diego glanced up at the doctor, Alejandro had to glance away at the pain and sorrow reflected in his son's eyes.
"How is she?"
Doctor Hernandez smoothed the blankets over the unconscious woman and said, "I honestly don't know, Diego. She's lost a lot of blood and she is weak. The bullet went through her and Zorro cleaned the wound well. There is no sign of infection." He pressed his hand to Victoria's forehead. "She's warm so I'm worried about fever setting in." He sighed. "She is a strong, healthy young woman so she has a chance."
Diego closed his eyes and bowed his head, burying his tears in their joined hands.
The doctor nodded slowly, understanding the young man's need to be with his lady, and glanced wearily at Alejandro as he walked out of the room.
TBC