There were a couple of barrel's in the area that Markus indicated. All were too small for a dog Max's size. He was well fed, Callie made sure of that, she didn't think one of those barrel's could fit him.

If he was in there, he would be crammed down in one, alone and in the dark. The thought ate at her, as she scrambled to pry off one of the barrel's lid's hoping Max was inside. He hated the dark, almost as much as he hates thunderstorms.

"Fuck!" Callie yelled in frustration and she tried to dig her finger's into the seem of the lid to pull it off. When she pulled her hands away, she could see where she had tore the skin away from her nails. Blood stained the wood of the barrel as she tried again and again.

"Crowbar, please say you have a crowbar." mumbled Callie as she glanced wildly around the deck for something to help pry the lid up. She spotted a long, blue crowbar in the corner behind some boxes. She ran over towards it and wrapped her hand around it. She ignored the pain in her back and legs as she hurried over to the barrel and jammed the curved end into the crease of the lid.

She was jimmying it up when Duke came around the corner. He could see the blood running down her arms, her face was strained with effort and wild panic he had yet to see her display for her own safety. She was putting all her weight on the crowbar, and as he neared her he heard the lid pop.

Callie threw the bar down and shoved the lid off. She looked down into the barrel and it was filled with a couple bags of onions and what looked like a box underneath them.

"Did you check the barrel's for weight?" Duke asked as he grabbed one furthest from her, and moved it around a bit to judge the weight.

"What?" Callie asked confused at what he had said.

"The weight of the barrel." Duke replied as he tested the last barrel. It felt heavier then the last. He had a good suspicion that this was the barrel Max was in. Duke held his hand out for the crowbar, that Callie scooped up and practically threw at him. " The heavier the barrel the more likely it's the one that holds your dog. Lighter equals no dog."

Callie watched as he wedged the crowbar into the crack around the lid. He wiggled the edge of the crowbar with more ease then she had managed it. If she wasn't so caught up in the panic of the thought of Max, alone in a tight, dark, cramped space possibly dead she would have thought of that.

"Hurry, please."

Duke heard the way her voice catch, with her plea, and tried to ignore the twang of guilt in his stomach. He didn't figure she was the type of person who said please that often or ever. He had the edge of the crowbar in place and pushed down with everything he had in him. The lid popped open, smooth and easy like.

Duke didn't even have time to pull the crowbar out of the way before Callie had the lip thrown off and was looking inside. He saw the look of relief on her face before fear replaced it.

"I can't tell if he's breathing, shit." Callie said as she began to tip the barrel down towards the ground. " Help me put it down."

Duke grabbed his end and helped her lower it down to the ground. He watched her reach in and pull the dog out by the scruff of his neck. He walked around the barrel so her could see Max better.

Callie still had Max's scruff in her hands as she tried to turn him over so she could see if he was breathing. She felt along his rib cage, praying to feel it move. She brought her hands to his chest and laid one near the his elbow joint and waited. God, she would give everything up just to be alive.

"Is he breathing?" Duke asked as he ran his hands along Max's body. He could feel a light he pulse along side the inside of the dog's hind leg. He knew enough that it was faint enough that he didn't think Max was going to make it. "Shit."

"Come on, Max." Callie, laid down beside him and pulled his head towards her face. She breathed in his scent, a mixture of earthy pines, sea air and wet dog. She took it into her lungs and forced herself to breathe and calm herself. She knew Max was almost out of fight. But she wasn't ready to let him go." Don't you dare bitch out of me now."

If she could just get calm enough, focus enough she could do it. She may not have a lot of her mother in her to make what she was going to do work but she was going to try her hardest or die trying. But god damn it to hell, she was the daughter of Clearance Callahan, the best healer the east coast has ever seen and Max was the only person that mattered.

Callie had seen her mother do this, only once. When she was five but the memory was clear, distinct as if engraved in her brain for a reason. Her brother Cale had be brought down by the people who hunted her family and other family's like hers. She remembered her father carrying his body to her mother in the back room. She wasn't suppose to be there, she was suppose to be watching little three year old Shawny but she was scared and wanted her mama.

Her mother held him close, forehead to forehead and literally breathed life back into his body. And almost killed her self in the process.

Her father, Cade Sr. later told her when he put her to bed, in a different town, a few nights later, under a different name attached to a different story, that the closer to death a person is the more it takes from mama to bring them back.

His words echoed in her mind, 'The more you gave, the harder it is to fight your way back'

And she was going to give her all.

She closed her eyes, and forced her self to ease the tension in her shoulders. She heard Duke talking to her, but she made herself tune him out. She eased her self deeper into her quiet place, hearing only Max's faint inhale and exhale. She felt his soft, wet fur against her face and centered herself.

She waited for what seemed like forever. And then she could feel it. It was a sensation she couldn't even begin to describe. It felt like water, streaming over your body but from the inside, like it was pouring out of it. She pushed hard, with everything she had. There was no pain, just the feeling of slowly emptying till there wasn't anything left inside.

Callie didn't know how to stop once she started. She wasn't even sure if it working in till felt the hot smelly doggy breath on her face and the worse pain she's ever felt. It felt like a elephant was on her chest, and the pain she had felt earlier in her face was nothing to what she felt now. Whatever they had done to Max, she felt it now and she now understood what her mother did.

And what it cost her.

Callie understood pain. She had learned the value pain early on. If you felt it, you still had a chance to fight through it. It was when you felt nothing, you were in trouble. To far gone to care, and not enough will power to claw your way back up that back hole.

She groaned and tried to lift her hand to swat Max's drooling tongue away from her face, but only could cough up some blood. Callie felt like a truck backed over her, then decided to reverse just to make sure it hit her. No wonder her mother never tried to go that far when she healed someone.

"Hey," Duke leaned in close to her face, whipping away the blood from her chin and lips with his t-shirt, she felt his hand on her forehead and it felt good." Your not going to like die on me are you?"

Callie tried to laugh but it hurt to damn much and she just ended up spitting more blood on him and herself. She went to sit up but couldn't even hold herself up. She wasn't running anytime soon that's for sure.

" I'll try not too." Callie tried to assure him. " Just a little scratch. Be alright and topside in a jiffy."

"Where do you come up with those sayings?"

"You know, the back of cereal boxes." Callie bit out as Duke gave Max a gentle shove out of the way so he could scoop her up into his arms. "Such a gentleman."

"Shut up." Duke muttered as he headed down the dock and towards the stairs that would lead him to his cabin below. "Your going to have to tell me you name, you know."

Callie had her eyes closed, the movement of Duke walking was making her head hurt even more, and between the motion and the pain that he caused by carrying her, she was getting nauseous. She tried to think of one of her false identities, searching her mind for the one she used here in Haven, but a dozen small east coast towns in the last two years ran together and began to blur.

Was she Sarah O'Neil or Isabella Lima? Did she give old man McAlister the name of Abbey Alwright or Rulie Hallahan. To many names, to many lies to remember. Her head hurt so much.

"Callie." the name slipped out before she could really stop it. She was about to correct herself but as Duke turned the corner to head down the stairs, he misjudged to door frame and connected her head to the hard metal frame." Mother fucker."

"Sorry, sorry." Duke apologised, shifting her weight in his arms. Damn it, he was not good at the white knight routine as he used to be. "I'm sorry Callie."

It was weird to hear her given name spoken by anyone. It had been years since she had seen her family, to hear her name pass from someone's lips. She had almost forgotten what it sounded like.

Duke's long legs made quick work of getting them to his cabin below deck. Callie was starting to slip out of it by the time he laid her down in his bed. Her dark hair looked nice against his green pillow cases and he tried real hard not to think how good she would look naked on his black sheets. From the feel of her body when he carried her here, he would really enjoy her naked. But he figured it would take a lot more then one dinner with this woman.

"Crocker."

Duke snapped out of his perverted fantasy of taken advantage of his neighbour, and looked at her face. It was kind a weird greeny gray now that he look at it harder.

"I think I'm going to puke."

Well that just killed his sexual fantasy.

He brought her over a small garbage pail and within seconds of him putting it there, she was over it and emptying out her stomach. Max whinned and jumped up on the bed. He started to paw at her. Callie reached back and rubbed her hand along his side to settle him.

Duke went over to the sink and opened a drawer. He pulled out a clean cloth and wet it with some cold water. He reached into a cabinit and retrieved a glass and filled that two. He handed her the wash cloth and set the water down the nightstand beside the bed.

Callie tried to track him with her eyes but it was to hard to focus.

Duke went into the washroom and returned with a small white pill in his hand. He handed it to her and waited for her to take it. Which she didn't.

"Aspirin, Callie." he said as she narrowed her eyes at him before swallowing it with a gulp of water. "Sleep. I've got to turn the boat around and settle our friends upstairs before we get to shore."

Callie lay back on the bed and felt Max settle beside her. Duke reached over the bed and took her glasses off her face and placed them beside the wash cloth and the glass of water.

Her eyes were closed and he was certain she was out but when he headed for the door, he could have swore she muttered something that sounded like lamb.

He shook his head and headed for the stairs that lead up to the deck.