Title:
Better or Worse
Disclaimer:
Not mine…
General Info:
Rated T
Angst/Romance
Author's Note:
PLEASE read and review. I love to hear your opinions. As always, thank you for taking time to read my story.
To those who have reviewed:
You have been great. You certainly made me feel a lot better than I was earlier this week. I've been working hard on the next couple chapters and hope you like where the story is heading.
Chapter 5
"The one thing you can't trade for your heart's desire is your heart." – Lois McMaster Bujold
Cain was beyond angry as he shook her shoulders within his hardened grasp. She could feel his fingers digging into her skin, knowing she would have five identical bruises around each shoulder. Following the short-lived shock gracing her facial features at the initial physical contact, she soon allowed her expression to slip into neutral. She refused to give him the satisfaction of intimidating her into submission.
"Answer me, DG!" he practically growled.
Before she was able to come up with a snappy retort someone else chimed in, the perfect imitation of the anger in Cain's tone.
"Get your hands off her," Robbie screamed from the other end of the room. Turning her face in the direction of the voice she observed Robbie coming down the aisle at full speed. He was up and over the bed where Del lay in the blink of an eye, hitting Cain's side full force. All three of them tumbled onto the empty cot since Cain's hold on her shoulders only tightened upon impact.
Finally releasing her arms the two men toppled to the floor, each vying for the upper hand. Robbie swung the first punch cracking Cain in the mouth, splitting his bottom lip in two. Cain's uppercut then collided solidly with the jaw of the younger man who she hoped didn't lose any teeth from the blow.
"STOP!" DG shrieked grabbing at the shirt of the man on top of the pile who at the time happened to be Cain. It was a useless effort. Her fingers had barely twisted around the fabric of his duster when the two flipped positions and she lost her hold.
"STOP!" Again they rolled, Cain throwing Robbie's back brutally into the legs of the healer's desk knocking the wind out of the smaller man. Robbie pushed, forcing Cain onto his back, coming down hard on his stomach with his knee. On and on the battle waged, neither appearing ready to back off.
Desperately, DG scanned the room for someone to help, but everyone seemed frozen in place watching the scene unfold.
With no one willing to lend a hand she had to wait for the perfect time to intervene. As they rolled onto their sides she stepped in, quite literally, between the bodies of the two brawlers. Swinging her leg back she kicked first one, then the other hard in the chest, causing them to roll in opposite directions. It wasn't what she wanted but given her current condition there was no way she could have pried one off the other.
Both men clutched their stomachs as they regained their feet. Who should she go to? Looking back and forth between two of the most important men in her life there was no way she could possibly choose one over the other. DG sighed, face in hands, slumping onto the cot. Confusion and exhaustion were taking over.
A small pressure running along her back made her tilt her head, peaking through her fingers. Fran. Fran was sitting next to her, rubbing her back consolingly. She was staring daggers at the two men who had their eyes locked together as if daring the other to bring the water back to a boil.
"If you gentlemen will excuse us," Fran stated, agitation seeping through her words. "I believe my friend here needs to see the healer." When both pairs of eyes turned to regard the young lady who spoke, she saw concern flit though both sets. "Please leave." Fran should totally be the Princess with such a commanding air.
Robbie sighed and began to leave but stopped short when he realized his nemesis was not following suit. He stood rigid, ignoring Fran's order. There was only one person Cain would allow, on the rarest of occasions, to tell him what to do. DG dropped her hands from her face, lifted her chin and locked eyes with the former Tin Man.
"I'll be fine, Mr. Cain," she stated calmly, more calmly than she felt. "Fran and Patty will take good care of me." DG watched Cain look back and forth between the two women who were going to fix her up before he tipped his hat in their direction and began walking down the aisle with Robbie. As he was passing Patty his arm whipped out to pull her head into his ear. Whatever he whispered caused her to pale. After she gave the slightest incline of the head all the men, with the exception of Del, were gone.
A hospital in Kansas would have been a welcome sight for the injured young woman. The infirmary was in desperate need of supplies and more modern equipment, Novocain among them. The best Patty could do was to apply a numbing salve to the long, open wound traveling from high on DG's right temple to an inch behind her ear. Then the stitching began.
In went the needle, through the tender skin on one side of the wound. A minute amount of maneuvering took place before the needle successfully crossed the opening to be pushed up and out of the skin on the opposite side. The process repeated close to fifty times.
If not for the pillow she pushed over her mouth, clenching much of the fabric between her teeth, she would have screamed bloody murder. Shaking and sweating through the pain she prayed to just pass out, to go unconscious like Del and wake only when the worst was over. Unfortunately she remained wide awake through the whole ordeal.
Once the gash was stitched back to its proper place Patty brought over a large basin she placed on the table between the cots, handing a bar of soap, cup and cloth to Fran. Dipping the cloth in the water, Fran wiped the dirt and grime from the face of her friend who looked even more pallid with the filth washed away. Tenderly Fran soaked DG's dirty hair, first soaping and rinsing the locks on one side of the wound, then the other. She took great pains to run a comb gently through the hair, without the slightest pull against her injury, until it was free of tangles.
As soon as the makeshift bath was finished Patty took the basin, emptying the contents only to return with a fresh batch of water and a clean cloth. While Fran cleaned the face and exposed skin of their slumbering companion, Patty fussed over covering DG's stitched skin with a bandage.
"That man really cares for you," Patty mused, applying an antiseptic ointment to the freshly sutured cut.
"Robbie's a wonderful friend," DG replied half-heartedly. Her energy was taxed.
The woman paused, fingers covered white with ointment hovering over the treated area. "I was talking about Wyatt Cain." Then she went back to her work.
"We used to be friends."
"Sweety, I'd say you were much more than that to Cain," she chuckled lightly. "I've never been threatened so vehemently before." When DG started to move her head to the side to look at the nurse but she held tightly to DG's chin to keep her head in place. "He said he'd hold me personally responsible if anything happened to you."
"I can take care of myself," DG muttered, angry at how easily he slipped back into proctor mode.
Patty said no more, placing a clean bandage over the wound. Using a gauzelike material, the healer secured the bandage in place.
It was not long before both women had completed their tasks and DG rose reluctantly to go face the music, figuring it better to just get it over and done with.
When Fran made a move to go with her, DG simply placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, an infinitesimal shake of her head signaling her need to do this on her own. Head held high she walked out of the Ozian version of a hospital and into the darkening street beyond.
It took several moments for her eyes to adjust to the dwindling light, for her to see the shadowy figure standing on the opposite side of the road, back pressed against the railing of the porch. Although the face was not visible, the posture and form could only mean one person, Robbie. A few glances up and down the street made it quite clear there was no one else out and about. DG bit her lip, quite hard, at the realization Cain did not find it necessary to wait around.
Taking a deep breath she walked toward Robbie, keeping her eyes focused on his shoes, knowing, feeling, Robbie's eyes on her the whole time. She stopped quite close to her friend, finally lifting her gaze. But just as her eyes locked with his, his arms were around her waist, their chests pressed firmly together.
DG smiled, wrapping her arms under his latching her fingers onto his back and resting her left cheek against his shoulder. It felt good to be in someone's embrace. She felt safe and warm.
The bruise on his jaw, a horrid purple seen out of the corner of her eye, caused her to sober quickly and she pulled back out of the safety of his arms.
"Feeling better?" he asked, running a hand through the damp hair on the safe side of her head. Subconsciously her head tilted into the tender touch, pressing her cheek into his palm as he tucked some loose tendrils behind her ear.
"Much," she admitted. "Those stitches were more painful than the actual injury."
Again she found herself looking up and down the empty street, peering into dark windows looking for any sign of another human being, one in particular.
Without thinking she asked him the question most prevalent in her mind. "Have you seen Mr. Cain?"
DG felt the hand in her hair go stiff and drop. When her eyes traveled back to the face of her friend it was obvious he had taken a step back, a step away from her. And the look on his face was one of confusion.
"Are you talking about the guy who was manhandling you?" His tone was incredulous.
Sighing through her nose she looked up to the sky. "It wasn't like that." DG bit her lip in a nervous gesture. How was she to explain all of this without it sounding horrible? "We became friends the last time I was here. He was just… concerned."
Robbie snorted loudly. "He had his hands on you. Shook you." He pointed accusingly at her. "If that's concern then I'd hate to see the man angry."
Groaning loudly she moved passed him to take a seat on the steps of the porch, Robbie following suit. Hands clasped together, she stared off at nothing in particular.
"Listen," she started again. "Mr. Cain looked out for us during our search for the emerald. I told you about him." Turning her eyes to his face she hoped her words would bring about an understanding of their tenuous relationship. "We found him in a metal prison so small it could only fit a human body. It was a miracle he survived He just gets a bit protective of his friends."
Leaning forward she placed her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. His hand came up to run soothing circles over her back.
"Then how come in your stories you gloss over him like he wasn't even there?" Man did he know how to make a person squirm.
During her two hour explanation of her previous saga in this realm she told them in vivid detail about Glitch and Raw, Az and Ahamo, even Tutor. But when it came to telling them about Cain… well, she left a lot up to the imagination. It was hard to put into words everything he did without it coming across as some sort of hero-worship syndrome.
Explaining the suit had been relatively easy. It was all metal, machinery and before she started to feel anything but sympathy for the man. After that, it was all pretend.
DG pretended.
Pretended he never left the group so there was no need to explain his sudden reappearance or the relief she felt knowing he came back to help.
Pretended he was never shot out of the Northern Palace so when he snuck into the Tower she didn't have to mention the shear joy she felt at seeing him alive.
Pretended she didn't scream his name as her father hauled her away in the Realm of the Unwanted.
Pretended she didn't beg him in her mind to get her out of the green marble tomb slowly suffocating her to death.
Pretended they never hugged before the final battle so it was unnecessary to reveal how she gathered strength from the feel of his arms around her and used it as fuel to release her sister from her own personal hell.
Pretended when she saw him after it all went down she did not go weak in the knees as he smiled. Pretended her stomach did not turn to butterflies when he pulled her into another embrace.
Pretended he decided to stay at the palace in Finaqua so she never spoke of the heartbreak she felt when he turned his back on her, when he walked out of her life.
It had all been pretend, and in the end the only person she managed to dupe was herself.
"We had words," she mumbled through her fingers. "Just before he left."
There was a long awkward silence so thick she could feel it pressing down on her neck and back.
"You love him." Sweet, caring, adorable, and observant, Robbie. He knew her too well.
She wanted to deny his declaration, deny her feelings, and deny his place in her heart. But she found herself muttering a "Yes" instead.
Robbie should be the man she loved, should be who she spent the rest of her life with. It made more sense. They were much closer in age, had a lot more in common and grew up together. He knew Other Side lingo, her likes and dislikes. He would protect her from any danger, would put her before everything else. And DG knew he loved her very much.
But to DG, he was just a friend, nothing more.
"Then why did you come back to Kansas?"
That, my friends, was the million dollar question. And DG had one painful answer as a parting gift.
"He doesn't love me," she whispered, closing her eyes in an attempt to trap the tears behind her heavy lids. They slid out through the cracks anyway.
Robbie let loose a short bark of laughter making her rear back, his hand dropping from its perch. Looking at her, he just shook his head and rolled his eyes.
"You've got to be kidding!" he stated dumbfounded. "That man," with a jerk of his head in no particular direction, "is totally and completely in love with you."
DG stared at him like he had grown three heads.
"No," she denied. "When I told him my feelings he made it perfectly clear he didn't love me back." Her words were clipped, in a tone that brooked no argument, but she would get one anyway.
"Did he say that?" Robbie asked with heat laced in his words. Why he was trying to convince her that Cain loved her was an utter mystery to DG. "Did he say, 'I don't love you' ?"
"NO!" she shrieked, "But he sure as hell left." Now DG was angry. Somehow she got to her feet though she had no recollection of doing so. Her breathing was ragged and a fire blazed in her eyes. "As far as I'm concerned that speaks louder than words."
"You're a fool!" Robbie yelled back, matching her volume and her stance.
There were a couple faces peering at them out of the doors and windows of the surrounding homes, but the two took no notice of them.
He grabbed her shoulders in the exact same place Cain had earlier, his fingers digging into the already abused flesh.
"Open your pretty blue eyes and see the real reason he left," Robbie's voice was carrying and more faces began to stick out around corners. "Fear. You said he lost his wife, his son while he was trapped. He's afraid to love again, afraid to lose. Even I can see he's afraid of losing you." He shook her slightly in his grasp. "And believe me I know the feeling."
"I'd give anything to have you look at me the way you look at him. Anything to have you return my feelings." His voice was desperate, cracking over some of the syllables. Swallowing a few times he regained some of his composure before his head drooped, chin hitting his chest.
"Give him another chance, DG," he whispered, practically inaudible.
Robbie released his hold on her shoulders and turned to make his way back to town.
Then, with a smartly placed hand on her chin he turned her head just so, his breath tickling her ear. "Love is worth it." A peck on the cheek and he was gone.
AN: Well??
