November 2003


Stacy and Schemer spent most of their time together, and Schemer didn't worry too much about her and Schemee running into each other since Schemee was away at a winter training camp down south.

To his dismay, treatments weren't really helping his situation to improve. They weren't making things worse, but the doctors were growing concerned that progress was now growing stagnant. Surgery would be the next step. For now, they had him on a much greater regime of treatments. He wasn't feeling well almost constantly now, and didn't do too much with work for the time being. Leaving the penthouse was also a struggle. Stacy was wonderful to him, and did whatever she could to make him more comfortable and took care of most of the household work.

"I don't deserve you." He said one day.

She gave a smile. "Don't say that." She chastised him with humour.

"No really, I never should have walked away the first time." He said seriously.

The humour trickled from her face slowly. "Schemer, it's okay. That was a long time ago… And it doesn't matter anymore." She brightened up again. "Besides, we're here now. We found each other again."

He smiled gratefully. "Yes, we did." His cell phone suddenly began to ring.

"Hello? Yes, this is him… Kit? Oh hi, how's it going? What? Oh god, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Schemer's conversation very quickly developed a panicked tone. He turned to a worried Stacy as soon as he hung up the phone.

"It's about Billy." He said gravely.


They made their way to the hospital near Billy's reservation as fast as they could. When they got there, Kit greeted them at the hospital. He looked devastated. Stacy quickly embraced him to try and comfort him.

"He didn't do anything to deserve it! He was just helping out with some renovations around town. He was working on one of the general stores when it got robbed by a local gang. He helped some kids get out of there and they shot him!" He was close to tears, and nearly hyperventilating.

Stacy held him close while Schemer breathed heavily. Billy was one of his best friends, and he used to coach Kit on the kid's baseball team years ago, neither of them deserved this.

"How's he doing?" Schemer asked in a low voice.

Kit took a deep, yet shaky, breath and wiped the stray tears away. "He's come out of surgery, but he's in the ICU for now. He's not stable yet, they're not sure if he'll pull through."

The tears began to fall down his cheeks again. "He's all I have left, it's not fair."

Schemer felt his breath hitch in his throat.


The two of them waited with Kit in the ER waiting room until a doctor came to find him.

"Are you Kit Twofeathers?" He asked gently, as he walked up, clipboard in hand.

"Yes." Kit sat up straighter, trying to find the answer in the doctor's eyes.

"Your Uncle is beginning to stabilize. We'll need to keep a very close eye on him, and we can't promise he'll improve, but he's able to speak with you now."

Kit made a sound that was a cross between a cry and a relieved laugh. Schemer and Stacy grasped hands and Stacy breathed a sigh of relief. They went to go see him, and when they entered the room, Schemer felt scared at how small Billy looked lying on the bed. Usually Billy dwarfed Schemer, but now Schemer was the one looking down on him. They spoke to him and he stayed as coherent and conscious as he could manage.

They eventually left with the promise of coming back as soon as possible. And that they'd keep in close contact with Kit. They were both tired when they arrived back at Schemer's pent house, but Schemer was exceptionally exhausted.

Stacy held him close on the couch that night, and he found comfort in her embrace. But it couldn't shake off the deeply unsettled feeling that he currently had. He tried to call Schemee before he went to bed, but found that it went straight to his answering machine. He'd try again in the morning. Maybe he still had time to fix his mess.


Hurt - Johnny Cash cover