Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the rights, or anything else. I write for pleasure, not money.

CHAPTER TWO – Bone of Contention

It took four men to pick Diego up and carry him to the tavern. Alejandro followed. Victoria asked her helpers to put three cleared off tables together, lengthwise, to make a place for Dr. Hernandez to work, while she ran upstairs to fetch some pillows. When she returned, she hovered to see how else she could help.

The men placed Diego on the three tables as gently as possible, but a sharp cry still escaped. Victoria placed a pillow under his head immediately, and a couple of pillows under his right leg. She took up position at his left side, and took his left hand in hers.

"You'll be all right, Diego," she said in as comforting a voice as she could. She could see he was in great pain. He looked at her, and let her hold his hand. He squeezed as tightly as he dared, and gave her a small smile.

Dr. Hernandez prepared to set the leg by cutting through the boot, then cutting a split in the side seam of the trousers to a few inches above the knee, and pulled the trouser leg until it was easily cut off. The lower leg was swollen and misshapen. As Dr. Hernandez carefully felt along the leg to find the break, Diego grimaced and tried to stifle painful outcries, but was only moderately successful. Hernandez found the break and loosely tied a strip of cloth to mark the place, while he laid out splint sticks and long bandage wraps in an organized fashion on a nearby table that had also been cleared.

Victoria looked at her hand in his. He squeezed it hard. "Diego, can I get you some medicinal whiskey for the pain?"

"No – no – thank you. I don't want to – to get drunk." Diego squeezed the words out.

Dr. Hernandez came up with a solution. "Diego, I could give you a bit of ether, since you showed me how to make it, just until the leg is set? You'd only be asleep a short while. Then I can give you some pain killer once you're awake, so you can make the trip home. All right?"

Diego shook his head. "No, thank you. I'll be all right. Just do it. Do it and be done with it! Just warn me when you're going to do it."

Dr. Hernandez looked at him with a frown. "Are you sure, Diego? It's going to hurt…"

"It already hurts, Doctor. Just do it and get it done!" Diego grunted between gritted teeth.

"All right, here's what I'll do. I'll give you some pain potion now that I was going to give you later for the trip home." He looked at Diego, who nodded.

Diego turned his attention to Alejandro and Victoria, and looked at the serious expressions on their faces, and thought maybe a joke would be in order...

"I guess this is another example of my clumsiness, Father," he attempted to chuckle, but grimaced instead. "I should have listened to you. You asked me what I was doing. I guess I should answer – I don't know what I'm doing. I was taught to use what I could find…" He broke off because a warning signal went off in his mind – he mustn't talk too much or he'll say the wrong thing and give away his secret. That was his greatest fear, besides Victoria rejecting him. His stomach also felt queasy.

Dr. Hernandez finished mixed a powdered potion for pain with water in a small bowl. "Here Diego, drink this. It will help with the pain in only a few minutes so I can set your leg, then you can go home. Victoria, would you get him a small piece of bread to eat. Diego, you need to eat a little something. You look a little green around the gills. Are you nauseous?"

Diego gulped. "Yes – somewhat. But nothing heavy, please – I couldn't eat much." He drank down the bowl of liquid. Because it had been several hours since he'd eaten anything, the potion began to take effect quickly. He had been waiting for his lunch order in the tavern when the bull got loose.

With a gentle pat on the back of the hand she'd held, Victoria released it and went into the kitchen for a small piece of bread, a glass of water, and returned within a minute. While Diego took a bite, she said, "Diego, you were so very brave today. I am very proud of you, and I know Zorro would have been very proud, too."

"Zorro would have been proud?" Diego chuckled as he spoke it, shaking his head. He put a hand over his face and closed his eyes to hide his expression. Oh, the irony of it. If she only knew... And he chuckled again. The pain potion was also beginning to make him a bit giddy.

Victoria looked at him quizzically. She turned to the doctor. "Why is he laughing? I was trying to be nice. It wasn't meant to be funny." She looked at Dr. Hernandez, who gave her a reassuring look. "It's probably the pain medication, Senorita. Sometimes it has that effect on people."

Diego roused out of his stupor a moment and got serious, and put his hand down. "Thank you Doctor. I guess I couldn't set my own leg, could I?"

"You probably could have if you'd had to – if you were out in the countryside. But that's what I'm here for. And Diego," the doctor continued. "I understand you have something at home, a tea that you can also drink for pain?"

"Yes, I have a couple of things. And – I have a wonderful nurse by the name of Felipe to help me after I…after I – get home."

The pain medication really began to work, and it made Diego feel better, but a bit lightheaded. Watch what you say…kept going through his mind, but that voice was getting hard to hear. The pain was leaving and though his mind seemed clear, he knew there was something not quite right in his thinking process.

At that moment, Doctor Hernandez interjected, "Diego, I'm going to set this now, are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be – do it!" He set his face in determination.

Dr. Hernandez looked at Alejandro and Victoria. "Would you two – uh – hold his shoulders down, please?" They moved to do so.

Diego let out a sharp guttural cry when the doctor pulled the leg into place. Then the kindly doctor got a wrap ready.

Dr. Hernandez enlisted the aid of Don Alejandro and Victoria in his efforts. He put one of the splint sticks to one side of Diego's leg and held it there. "Don Alejandro, could you hold this stick in place, right here?" Alejandro nodded, said nothing, but took the stick between his fingers and held it in place.

Dr. Hernandez took the other stick and placed it on the other side. "Senorita Escalante, could you hold this stick in place, please – and line it up with Don Alejandro's stick?"

"Certainly, Doctor." Victoria was glad to be of help. She hated to see Diego in such pain. She thought of the love of her life, Zorro. Now if he'd broken his leg…he would be noble and take it like a man…he would never let on how much it hurt…such were her thoughts.

As Alejandro and Victoria held the sticks in place, Dr. Hernandez wrapped the bandage strips around the leg and the sticks. At times, Diego grunted because the wrappings had to be pulled harder in order to be tight enough.

Diego tried to get his breathing under control. In, out, in out. His teeth were gritted for another couple of minutes as he endured the pain of the bone set and the split wrappings.

Dr. Hernandez gave Diego another round of painkillers for the trip home. Within a few minutes, Diego found he could relax his jaw, and his breathing quieted down. He tried to relax, and found that actually helped. With a deep sigh, he put his head back in the pillow and closed his eyes. The hard tables underneath weren't very comfortable, because they were somewhat uneven, but Diego didn't notice, except in his back.

Alejandro looked anxious. "Dr. Hernandez, what do I need to know about taking care of him?"

Doctor Hernandez replied with quiet authority. "It's a clean break, and now it's set. It should heal well. He was lucky he didn't get gored by the bull's horns…oh, he might have a bruise, or a minor scratch or two on his thigh. I didn't see anything, and his trousers weren't torn. But I don't want him walking around on the leg for at least four weeks. We'll check it at that point and see how it's doing. It might take as long as two months for total recovery. He can begin putting weight on the leg when it doesn't hurt – he can try it after two weeks. But he's strong and healthy. He might heal a bit quicker than four weeks, if he behaves himself, but that's the general beginning timetable. Most broken bones take at least six to eight weeks. Give him something for pain as he desires it. He'll be all right. He was quite the hero today, Don Alejandro."

Alejandro replied, "Yes, well, I'm going to have to go home and come back with a wagon or cart. The 'hero' rode in on Esperanza today. I'll bring Felipe back with me – that will cheer 'our hero' up. They always have so much to say to each other. I sometimes wish I could follow it better."

Diego heard the doctor through a haze of pain and pain potion. This time he spoke without thinking. "Four weeks! No walking for four weeks! Two months to recover! No! That can't be! No, No, No!" Victoria took his hand in hers again and lightly squeezed it. She spoke softly and gently.

"It's all right, Diego. You can pursue your artistic endeavors full-time now for a while." She tried to be comforting, but he just kept shaking his head, and mumbled something about not being able to ride or hide, and something else she didn't understand, something 'about black.'

Diego thought, Zorro can't hide that long. No, no, no! This can't be happening! I won't be able to ride! Zorro must be able to ride! Maybe there's something about putting on the black suit. I'll bet this wouldn't have happened if I'd been Zorro today, instead of Diego with a broomstick! What am I going to do now? He remembered other times when 'Diego' seemed to get into more trouble than Zorro…like when he tried to free Felipe and Victoria from Captain Stark and his band of pirates hunting the Manlack treasure, only to be caught himself as the 'prize catch' – although Felipe was able to get away. And on the way to Devil's Fortress, the sergeant of the guard caught him off guard and landed a knockout punch – of course he couldn't fight back – his hands were literally tied behind his back. The 'interrogation' in France by tyrannical Jussac…and now – this!

Doctor Hernandez offered him another bowl. "Here, drink this. It will help you relax. It is a strong pain killer, and you may feel a bit drowsy." Diego resigned himself. This was going to be a longer-term thing, not just a couple of days. How he hated to think of that!

Alejandro rode home quickly and brought Felipe back in a carriage – the beaded cane four-seater. They brought extra pillows and cushions to support the leg. Alejandro felt Diego would be more comfortable and he could stretch his leg out across to the other side of the carriage as they rode home.

An hour after the bullfight, Diego was loaded up on one side of the carriage. Thankfully, Doctor Hernandez's pain medication helped Diego get home, but he still felt every bump and furrow in the road. He felt every rock the carriage wheels hit. Each bump, ditch, and rock sent a pain wave through his leg. Only on smooth road was there virtually no pain.

It could be worse, Diego thought. I've got to stay focused. I can't go into shock. I'm going to be all right. It's going to be all right. I've got to stay focused. Just don't say anything. Answer questions if necessary, but don't offer information. The pain and the medication clouded his thinking quite dramatically. It was an hour before they got him home and settled him on the couch in the library. They propped his leg up with several pillows and gave him a couple of pillows to put behind his head, should he want to rest. By that time, Diego was totally exhausted from the accident, from the pain medication, and from the trip home. He fell asleep quickly after only getting one pillow behind his head. Felipe placed the other pillow behind his head.

Don Alejandro watched his sleeping son. Whatever possessed you, son, to try to be a hero? And what did you mean when you said you were taught…what was it – to use whatever weapon was at your disposal? He knew that Sir Edmund was thorough in his teaching, but he thought Diego a poor student in the art of fencing and self-defense. He would have to try to get some answers from his son.

TBC