Chapter 2

Don Alejandro rushed to his Son's side and rolled him over. "Diego, Son, oh please stay with me." Alejandro shook his son carefully.

"GET THE DOCTOR NOW!" He yelled as he tried to find the bullet wound.

He was relieved to see that is was just his left shoulder that was wounded. It was a clean shot, but the bleeding was heavy. Alejandro ripped part of his jacket and pushed the torn material against the open wound with all of his strength.

Victoria ran over to help, and fell on her knees next to Alejandro. "Diego, Diego." Tears filled her eyes, and her voice was choked up.

"It was a clean shot, but he has lost a lot of blood. WHERE IS THE DOCTOR?" Panic took over as he watched his son grow paler by the second.

"He's on his way." Someone from the crowd yelled.

A few seconds later Dr. Hernandez was pushing his way through the crowd gathered around Alejandro and his wounded son. "Move back, give us some room to work." He yelled as he emerged out of the crowd and rushed over to Alejandro and Victoria. He knelt and examined the shoulder wound. "Lets get him to the tavern, we can care for him better without the crowd around us." Hernandez said with a shaky voice.

Two strong young men from the crowd managed to carry Diego over the tavern and laid him down on top of one of the tables. Victoria followed them and locked the door behind her.

"Get some clean water and rags. We need to stop the bleeding and clean the wound before infection sets in." The doctor ordered.

Victoria rushed to the kitchen and quickly returned with fresh water and a pile of rags.

"I also brought some whisky to help him deal with the pain if he regains consciousness while you are stitching up the wound." Victoria tried to keep her emotions under control, but was quickly losing the battle.

They cleaned and stitched up Diego's shoulder with little trouble. Diego only woke up once and passed out when he felt the pain shooting through his left shoulder. Victoria kept a cool rag on his forehead while the doctor worked, and Alejandro helped hold his Son down when he twitched with pain.

"We need to carefully move him to a room upstairs." Hernandez said tiredly as he finished the last stitch.

They made a sling for Diego's wounded shoulder, to help keep the stitches from ripping during the move.

"Can you please carry him upstairs to one of the quest rooms." Hernandez asked the same two young men who helped carry Diego into the tavern. They had sat at a table watching with concern as the small group cared for the injured man.

Hernandez and Alejandro watched carefully as the two young men carried Diego's still form up the stairs and laid him down on one of the quest beds.

"Thankyou." Alejandro thanked the men and dismissed them with a worried smile.

Victoria watched from the doorway. Her eyes filled with tears, and she started to shake with worry.

"Victoria my dear, please sit down." Alejandro let go of Diego's hand and went over to help her sit down on the chair next to him.

"I need to tell you something, and now seems to be the best time." She reached down and pulled a lace hanky from her skirt waist. She dabbed at her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I am in love with Diego. I wanted to tell him, but then Zorro showed up." Victoria began to shake again, and a fresh wave of tears leaked down her pale cheeks.

Alejandro looked at the young women next to him with a small smile, "I have always thought of you as a daughter, and I know that Diego has special feelings for you also." He patted her hand lightly.

"How do you know he has special feelings for me?" She was now very curious.

"I have seen him watch you work. His eyes light up when you are near, and it's as if he is a different man when the two of you are together." He replied with a hushed tone.

Victoria looked at Alejandro with a pained expression, "I hope he lives, so I can tell him how I truly feel about him." She reached for Diego's still hand and squeezed it gently.

"He'll survive this, he is strong, and has a bright future ahead of him." Alejandro patted her shoulder gently and smiled, hoping to make her believe him.

They sat in silence for a few moments and watched Diego sleep. "I need to get some fresh air." Victoria jumped up and left the room quickly without looking back. A new stream of hot tears was threatening to fall from her already red and puffy eyes.

Alejandro watched her leave and looked at Diego, "you need to pull out of this Son, Victoria needs you, and I want some grand babies." He squeezed his son's hand and bowed his head in prayer.