The sun was high when Vin woke up for good the next morning. The room was hot and he was thirsty so he put on his hat and coat and headed back into the world. He got to the saloon but instead of going inside, he set himself in a chair on the porch. His headache was now just dull pressure, and his hands trembled as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

"Hey cowboy..." Chris had come out of the saloon and stood in front of Vin, leaning casually on the upright post. It was hard for Vin to look at him; his eyes still stung from the sunlight.

"...hey..." Vin's voice didn't carry much past Chris.

Ezra was coming down the sidewalk and stopped at the corner of the saloon to watch Chris and Vin. It looked like just conversation between the two men, but Ezra was enough of a student of human nature to recognize that Chris was feeling his way around the edges of a painful wound that couldn't be seen, but rather had to be expressed.

"Didn't see you much after dinner yesterday..." Chris saw that the light was bothering Vin, and he moved so that he blocked the sun. Vin was pale and his eyes were dark with exhaustion.

"Slept at the boardinghouse...felt like somebody was laying track across my brain."

"You tell Nathan?" Chris asked. He didn't put much stock in Vin's "slept".

"Naah - easier to just bury my head and wait for it to go away." Vin rubbed his eyes again. "Still workin' on it though."

"I'll get Nathan." Chris was about to move off but Vin stopped him.

"No, Chris - I'm okay. Just thirsty...need some water'r somethin'."

"I'll get you some." Chris went into the saloon, relieved to have something specific to do. Ezra came forward and took the spot between Vin and the glaring sun.

"Mr. Tanner, you look distinctly unwell."

Vin looked up cautiously, making sure he wouldn't be looking into the sun. "Hey Ez'..." But he made no other answer.

"You know..." Ezra went on anyway. "I have business on the other side of town in a little while. If you are planning to make your way to Mr. Jackson's office, I would be glad of the company." Put that way, Vin did consider it. But he didn't know how much farther his legs would take him right now.

"Think I'll just sit here a spell, Ez'...'preciate it though."

"Well, is there anything I can get for you in my travels?"

"Naah...thanks." Chris came out then with a mug of water and gave it to Vin. "Thanks Chris." Ezra watched Chris watch Vin drink most of it down in a few gulps.

"Nathan should have a look at you." Chris insisted.

"...just want to sit here a spell..." and he looked too spent for Chris to argue.

"All right." Though it was clear Chris wasn't happy with it. Ezra chose that moment to make his departure. He touched his hat and started down the sidewalk again.

"Gentlemen, I will see you both later."

As he got past the saloon, Ezra turned back to see Chris taking the chair right next to Vin, both facing out to the street, neither saying another word.

M7*M7*M

Ezra went directly to Nathan. If Mohammed would not come to the mountain, perhaps the mountain could be sent on a casual stroll to where Mohammed dozed in a weathered captain's chair on the porch of the saloon. The door to Nathan's was open. JD was perched on the edge of the table while Nathan delicately used the edge of a clean bandage to coax a cinder out of the kid's eye. Buck watched over his shoulder, his expression even more intense than Nathan's. When the cinder was pronounced out and Nathan stepped away - "Don't rub that eye, now." - Buck stepped even closer.

"Now what have I told you JD?"

Desperate to rub his red, watering eye, JD expended a little nervous energy on his friend. "You know Buck, back East they got these books, called 'cyclopedias. Big things. You set 'em all up together, I bet they take up six feet of good shelf. And they are just plum full of information. Six feet of information. But you know what Buck? Not even that is big enough to hold all you swamp me in. So I can't say exactly which bit of useless information you might be thinking of right now."

Buck hadn't been expecting an aggressive answer, much less such a prolonged one and he paused a moment, formulating his reply. But he saw JD's eyes go past him and a worried look cross his face.

"Ezra - you seen Vin this morning?" JD asked. Buck and Nathan turned to the gambler at the same instant.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I've just left him under the watchful guard of our own dear Mr. Larabee, on the porch of the saloon."

"How's he seem?" Nathan asked.

"Quite thirsty. He also made mention of a headache; although I do believe that his exact expression was: 'someone laying track' through his brain. He couldn't be persuaded here, I thought you might be persuaded there." Ezra glanced at JD's red, obviously painful eye. "Once this emergency has reached its conclusion, naturally."

"I'm conclusioned." JD said as he stood up from the table. "Aw Buck..." he complained though when Buck pushed him back.

"You ain't conclusioned till Nathan says you are. You can't be no sharpshooter with only one eye y'know."

"You're okay, JD." Nathan pronounced. "Just don't rub that eye...down at the saloon Ezra?"

"On the porch."

M7*M7*M7

Chris figured he should ask Vin what was wrong...Vin was his friend and he was suffering and Chris couldn't say that he was doing everything he could to help him. But like Nathan said, this was worse than a gunshot wound and Chris sure wouldn't go poking around a gunshot wound. What if he did something wrong and made it worse? Just sitting with Vin couldn't be enough, Josiah probably would think it wasn't enough, but it felt right to Chris to sit with Vin, to protect him, let him know that he wasn't alone. So, for now, he just stayed with Vin and that was all.

M7*M7*M7Vin lifted his head, suddenly aware that he'd been drifting off. He felt vulnerable, sitting there on the porch, so tired he was falling asleep where he sat. Then he heard a sound next to him and looked over to see Chris, still there, turning the page of his book. And Vin felt better - he wasn't alone. He knew he should talk to Chris, figured Chris was probably waiting for him to, but he just didn't have the energy and thank God Chris wasn't pushing him. Just sitting there, just being there. Thank God. Vin closed his eyes and lowered his head again.

M7*M7*M7Chris realized that Vin had raised his head, but by the time he looked over, he'd put it down again. He was sleeping at least, thank God. That was enough right now.

M7*M7*M7Nathan approached quietly when he saw that Vin was asleep. "Chris - how's he doing?"

"Sleepin', off 'n on." They kept their voices low. "Drank two mugs of water."

"Headache?"

"Bad one." Chris nodded.

"Well, I don't want to disturb him, 'long as he's sleeping. He wakes up, see if you can get some food in him...maybe a real bed for a change..."

"Said he slept at the boardinghouse last night..." Chris told him. Nathan took a closer look at Vin's face under his hat.

"Boardinghouse, maybe. Slept, I don't think so..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too...I'll keep an eye on him Nathan."

"I'll check back later." Nathan said and headed back to his clinic. Chris watched him a few seconds, then looked at Vin. Still seemed asleep, breathing regular. He thought about taking the empty glass out of Vin's hands, but didn't want to risk waking him. Chris decided to give Vin another few chapters of his book, then wake him up to get something to eat before steering him back to a real bed.

Satisfied that he had a workable plan, Chris turned his book over and began to read again.

tbc