**Part 14

The following morning, Buck stepped outside the tent to watch Chris and Vin mount up. He glanced over his shoulder at JD, who had begun to grow restless as his fever increased. He knew that JD was dying and there was nothing he could do about it. He was also worried about Ezra and wondered what had happened to the enigmatic cardsharp. He wondered how they all would survive if they lost two of their own. They had become a family, not through blood, but through a camaraderie that had grown into something more. A connection that bonded them together with something none of them understood, but were coming to gladly accept.

"Don't worry, Bucklin," Vin exclaimed. "We'll find Ez and the medicine."

Buck forced a half-smile of confidence. He quickly turned his back before that smile could leave his face. He slipped back inside the tent to continue his vigil at the young gunslinger's bedside. He would not let JD die alone.

"Here take this." Nathan handed Chris a small leather-wrapped package. "Its bandages and some laudanum, knowing that fool southerner, you might need it."

Chris gave the healer a tight-lipped smile. At least Nathan hadn't given up completely. Chris glanced over at the campfire, seeing Josiah stirring a pot of soup. "How's he doing?"

Nathan shook his head. "I know he's sick. I just don't know what's keepin' him going. Maybe he'll beat it."

'Maybe that God of his hasn't totally abandoned him,' Vin thought. The perceptive tracker believed that faith was giving Josiah the strength to continue. Vin hoped that if they found Ezra dead that faith didn't die along with the big man.

"We'll be back soon," Chris said.

"If you don't find the medicine in another day. It won't matter," Nathan exclaimed.

MM7M7M7

Vin and Chris backtracked their trail and then followed a route they thought Ezra might of taken. It was after noon when the two regulators came upon the circling buzzards, marking a deadly scene. The two men spurred their horses into a gallop, both fearful of what they might find.

Vin was the first to recognize the prone body, a white swell on an otherwise flat plain of sand. Both lawmen jumped from their horses and raced to their friend's side. Vin laid two fingers aside the conman's throat gasping his relief at the faint throbbing under his fingers.. He gently turned the southerner over wincing at the sun burnt, blood-covered face. Chris looked around, not seeing Ezra's horse or the saddlebags. His heart sank, knowing that the medicine was gone.

"Ezra! Ezra!"

Somebody was shaking him. He didn't want to wake but he had no choice as the jarring was awaking the pain throughout his body. His eyes flashed open and he gasped. Hovering above him was the worried visage of Vin. At first, he thought it some apparition, a mirage as his vision wavered, but then the pain reminded him that he was still among the living.

Vin smiled, but the gesture seemed forced. His eyes betrayed the fact that something was worrying him. Ezra wondered what it could be. He then wondered why he felt so weak. A rattling groan of pain escaped his throat vanquishing Vin's concerned smile.

Vin gently took Ezra by the shoulders and lifted him, placing a canteen of water to his lips. He wasn't prepared for conman's reaction.

"No, no, can't..." Ezra screamed and threw his good arm up and tried to push himself away from the tempting liquid. He couldn't give in to thirst. He couldn't drink the medicine. The medicine was for people who mattered.

Vin looked across Ezra's body at Chris, his fear and concern plainly showing on his face. Chris rested a hand on Ezra's arm for comfort as much as to hold him down.

"Okay, Ez, easy. Take it easy," Vin soothed and allowed the southerner to fall back in his arms.

Ezra fell back gasping for breath. Chris stared at the blood covering Ezra's side and legs. He narrowed his eyes, figuring that there was a terrible wound under that stained clothing. He didn't want to remove the shirt afraid it would start the wound to bleeding. Judging by the amount of blood on his clothing, Ezra didn't have much left in him. The gambler's fair skin looked like parchment, and he couldn't seem to focus on anything. Vin felt along the southerner's left arm feeling the swelling. He then pressed gently on Ezra's side stopping when he heard the gasp when he a rib shifted unnaturally. "Sorry, Ez just take it easy." Vin raised his head to meet Chris' concern visage. "He's got a broke rib and maybe an arm."

"Looks like someone beat on him," Chris added seeing the bruising peaking out on Ezra's chest. He looked out toward the horizon maybe hoping to see the men responsible.

"Let's get this canteen off ya," Vin said as he tried to lift the strap over Ezra's head. He thought the canteen was empty and just something the southerner had been holding onto for hope. The conman's eyes went wide as he felt the water container being lifted away. He suddenly found the strength to wrap his arms around the canteen.

"Noooo," Ezra croaked. Vin looked over at Chris, seeing the worry in his blue eyes. Had their friend lost his mind?

"Okay, Ez, you can keep it. Just settle down," Chris said, laying a hand on the wounded man's shoulders. It wasn't worth aggravating him. Ezra appeared to calm down as he held the canteen close. "Ez, what happened?"

Ezra's brow furrowed, and he stared hard at Chris, seemingly surprised to see him. "Ambushed...two men..." he managed to gasp, then slid into unconsciousness.

"Shit, wonder how long he's been walking," Vin exclaimed. He had seen the tortured trail Ezra had laid. He held his friend a little tighter, mindful of the conman's many injuries.

"There's nothing we can do," Chris sadly exclaimed. "Let's get him back to Nathan." At least they could try to save one of their band.

tbc