Judging from the pile of blankets at the foot of the bed, and the stack of firewood near the woodstove, a lot of people in town were going to be cold tonight. As always, JD had put his whole heart and soul into his mission. Now he sat in the chair at the head of the bed while Chris and Nathan discussed Vin at the window across the room.

The medicine hadn't helped as much as last time, Vin was still hot and cold and in pain. Everything was blurred and the room spun no matter how much he tried to focus on what was going on around him. He could hear the voices, he wasn't really alone. But he wanted someone near him again. He wanted somebody to sit next to him on the bed and keep a hand on him so that he'd always know they were there.

The voices were distant, Nathan and Chris. You could always tell Chris, even when he was trying to be quiet. 'Chris - please' Vin's mind formed the words, but not his voice. 'Come back and sit with me' Even awake and able, Vin never would've said those words out loud. 'Somebody please - I don't wanna be alone...' He felt so sick and in so much pain. He wanted somebody to make it stop. If somebody would just come sit near him and make him not alone, it would stop. He knew it would. But nobody came over to him.

'Please - it hurts. Make it stop hurting.'

Sitting next to Vin, JD only saw that he was restless. He blinked occasionally but didn't seem to be focusing on anything. JD did his best to keep the blankets up to his shoulders, but every once in a while, Vin would hitch them down again. He took the rag off Vin's forehead to soak in the cold water, wring out, and replace. For a second, Vin's eyes settled on the kid.

"Don't..." 'Don't leave'. All JD heard was the first word. He thought Vin didn't like the rag.

"It'll make you feel better Vin, honest."

Vin reached out and took hold of JD's wrist. "Hurts."

JD knew he wasn't talking about the cold water. "I know it hurts Vin. I wish there was something else I could do for you." He put his hand over Vin's hand on his arm. "Just hold onto me Vin, if you want to. I ain't goin' nowhere." Vin closed his eyes and turned away, restless again and fidgety under the blankets. Swallowing was hell-fire.

'I don't wanna be alone. I don't like it. Please somebody come sit with me. Make it stop hurting. Please somebody. Please Chris stop talking and come sit next to me again. Make it go away. Please please please please...I don't wanna be alone'

"So you don't think it's diphtheria?" Chris was asking. He'd be relieved except for the worried look on Nathan's face.

"Looks like quinsy. He ain't got the membrane in the back of his throat, but he got that abscess building up. That's why it hurts him so much to swallow.".

"Contagious?"

Nathan shook his head. "Just happens to some folks...but it's BAD quinsy. He ain't gonna have an easy time of it..."

"Hell, he ain't havin' an easy time of it now."

Vin kept his hand on JD's wrist but it didn't help; he couldn't be constantly sure that it was another person and not just a blanket or pillow he was clinging to. '' the repetition diverted his mind from the pain, but only a little. 'Somebody please hold me. Don't wanna be alone no more. I don't like it. How come I always gotta be alone? How come I always gotta be alone? ...'

"How is he?" Nathan asked. He and Chris came back to the bed.

"Fidgety...says it hurts...he gonna be okay doctor?"

"I hope so JD. But it ain't gonna happen overnight."

Seeing that Vin held onto JD, Chris didn't ask him to move out of the chair, he sat on the bed. Vin was breathing hard, tense and pressed down into the mattress by the pain. "What now?"

"Gotta get him different medicine...mercurius bin...that's good for quinsy. I ain't got none though, gotta wire around, see if I can find some. While I do that, you keep him cooled off much as you can, give him water if he'll take it. JD - will you get some clear soup from the restaurant? That's probably the only nourishment he'll be able to take..."

"Sure..." JD carefully slid out of Vin's grasp and tucked his hand under the blankets. "You need anything Chris?"

"Nahh JD, thanks."

Vin felt the bed shift as someone sat down. Then the sudden coolness as his hand lost its grip on whatever he'd been holding onto. Voices. Nathan. JD. Chris. 'Chris...' Vin turned his head but it was hard to open his eyes. 'Chris...' Chris fuzzed in and out of focus and the room spun behind him. Vin tried to get his hand out from under the covers to hang onto Chris to try to keep from falling off the bed as it rolled, but Chris put out his own hand to stop him. Just as he was about to tell Vin again to stay covered, Vin wrapped his hand around Chris' and held on for dear life.

"Well, hey Pard..." Chris was a little surprised, both at how strong Vin was in spite of being sick - and the fact that he was hanging on at all. Vin focused intently on Chris.

"PLEASE DON'T LEAVE." He managed to say, and that was all. His voice was as desperate as his grip. Chris didn't know if it was the illness, the nightmares, the memories, or something else entirely, but Vin was terrified. Nothing would move Chris from this spot.

"I ain't gonna leave you." He let Vin continue to crush his hand. "Close your eyes and get some rest Vin. I ain't gonna leave. You get some rest...." With his free hand, Chris patted Vin's shoulder, trying to be reassuring. Vin's eyes opened and closed a few times, making sure each time that Chris was still there, until finally he could keep them open no longer.

'Don't wanna die alone...' Was his last thought as sleep washed over him. "...like my Ma...'

tbc