CHAPTER FIVE – Secret Revealed

Early the next morning, the second day after the bull fight, Felipe checked on Diego. He had brought in more of Diego's tea concoction and powders from Dr. Hernandez. He checked Diego's forehead. It was warm, but not hot. That's a good sign. No fever, no infection, thought Felipe. It will be hard for him these next few weeks, but I'll help him get through it. Dios, let Zorro not be needed, because he can't be there.

Diego woke up and sensed Felipe was in the room. He struggled to get to a sitting position, but immediately yelped from the pain, so he slid back. Felipe was immediately at his side, signing "all right?"

"Yes, Felipe, I'm all right. I just forgot for a second that I have to be careful how I move." Felipe pointed to the leg. "Yes, it still hurts quite a bit, but only when I move it – most of the time. At other times, it doesn't hurt at all."

Felipe signed, 'get some tea' and pointed to himself, then to Diego. "Si, I could drink a little tea, and have some for sipping when needed. Thank you, Felipe. You make a wonderful nurse, but more than that…the best friend a man ever had! I appreciate all your help. We share each other's secrets. I trust you with my life. You know that, Amigo." Diego forced a true smile from his lips, hoping it didn't look like a grimace. Felipe smiled back and signed 'crutches.'

"Yes, today, I can try out those crutches you're making for me. Gracias, I'll feel a little better when I can get up and around by myself." Diego smiled while Felipe put together a mixture of painkillers for Diego.

"Hopefully I won't need much of those today. Really, most of the time it only hurts when I move it," Diego nodded towards what Felipe was doing. Felipe nodded and grinned.

Diego remarked, "Those things really scramble my brain. I've had to be so careful what I said. It's hard to think clearly sometimes. I won't be drinking very much of the cactus tea today, either – I'll only sip as needed. As long as I sit without moving the leg too much, it doesn't hurt – hardly at all."

Felipe signed a 'Z' and looked questioningly.

"Yes, well, it looks like Zorro has time off whether he wants it or not. I just hope De Soto doesn't come back too early from his month-long leave. By the time he gets back, I should just about be able to sit a horse…in case he acts up, and Zorro needs to make some kind of an appearance." Diego sighed. "Sometimes it's nice to have a 'vacation, but not this way. Even when I was on vacation a couple years ago, 'Le Renard' was not on vacation. But this time, until I can ride a horse, we'll have to believe that no bandidos will strike the pueblo. Every once in a while we get a taste of what life without Zorro would be like."

Felipe grinned and signed 'we?'

"Yes, 'we.' You and me. I couldn't do this without you, mi Amigo. Now, help me get up and out to the Library so you can finish those crutches. And I – can start 'walking' around…or should I say, 'hobbling' around."

Once in the library, Diego picked up the new book he had just received. It was in English. Diego read books from several different languages…Spanish, of course – that was his native tongue…French, and English. He also felt, if necessary, he could learn Italian, because he knew that it was similar to Spanish, but he hadn't gotten around to that yet. He knew some Greek… for reading some of the old classics like Homer's, the Iliad and the Odyssey. He also knew some Latin, for botanical and scientific proper names, and for Catholic Mass.

The new book was Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. Scott was an English knight who was quickly becoming a prolific writer, publishing several new novels each year. Ivanhoe was released in 1819, and Diego had heard from Father Benites that he and its hero had a lot in common. They both had problematic relationships with their fathers. He could hardly wait to get started. But his English was somewhat slow, so he knew it was going to take him awhile. Shakespeare also provided good practice in English. He had some of the plays and some of the poetry. He had memorized a lot of the verses.

Over and over in his mind, Diego tried to make some sense of what had happened. Everything was going well until that last lasso was thrown. The vaquero was slightly off target and the rope would have lassoed me if I hadn't gotten out of its way. I couldn't allow myself to be roped – the raging bull would have gored me for sure, possibly killing me – or at the very least, maiming me for life. I had to move out of the way. All things considered, I know I was incredibly fortunate something worse did not occur. I know I will totally recover. It will be awhile, and that's what I'm not looking forward to. I am grateful it wasn't worse, but I am still very upset that it happened at all. I feel like I really have become the clumsy caballero everyone thinks I already am. I know they see me as a hero, right now, and I guess I am. I'm just not used to getting this attention as 'me,' I guess…now if only I'd had the presence of mind to have Zorro's things in the pueblo that day. Diego didn't realize he had contradiction in his thought processes…

He picked up Ivanhoe and started to read. It was slow moving at first – he had to get used to how the English language said things backwards. It was interesting though. He couldn't wait to actually read about Wilfred of Ivanhoe, the knight who went against his father and supported King Richard the Lion-hearted in the Third Crusade.

Z

Around 10:00 a.m., Doctor Hernandez knocked on the door. Felipe showed him in and the doctor sat in the Library, in a chair Felipe had pulled up so that the Doctor could face Diego's leg. Felipe left the room to give them privacy. Since Diego was facing the entryway, his right leg was right where Hernandez could easily check it without having to reach over the other leg.

"How is your leg today, Diego? I came to see how the splints and wraps were doing. Have they slipped at all?" Dr. Hernandez opened up his doctor's bag to make sure he had everything he needed.

"I don't think so, but they might have. You would know better than me." Diego watched the doctor do a visual check of his leg first.

"And how is the pain level? Are you managing?" Hernandez's eyes went up and down the leg.

"The pain level is manageable, Doctor. Gracias. I abhor painkillers, and have tried to keep them at a minimum. They….make it hard to think clearly. Usually there's only pain when I forget and I move…then I'm sharply reminded. I do try to keep the leg still though…except when I have to move it."

Next, Doctor Hernandez checked the splints and wraps with his fingers. A couple of the wraps had loosened a bit. When he tightened them, Diego gasped a few times with surprise pain.

"Like I said, Doctor, only when it moves…" He grimaced and let out a breath.

"I see you've taken care of the wardrobe challenge quite successfully." Diego was wearing a pair of his split-seam lace-up caballero pants today with socks and sandals.

Diego chuckled. "Yes, well…we've worked out a couple of options for both trousers and footwear."

"You know Diego, you really did a wonderfully heroic thing the other day. The little eight-year boy, Cesar Garcia, the boy who threw the rock that hit the bull, causing him to stampede – I talked with his mother yesterday. She is so thankful that you distracted the bull. She was able to get Cesar out of the bull's way – and your distractions kept it from finding little Cesar again. She wanted to let you know how grateful she is." Dr. Hernandez looked earnestly at Diego. "Do you understand what I'm saying, Diego?"

Diego had a faraway look in his eyes. He hadn't seen little Cesar. That must have happened before I got outside, he thought. His attention came quickly back to the present, and he shook his head as if to clear it. "Yes, Doctor. I do understand. I know…I know…" His thoughts took him far away to other children he'd rescued from time to time as Zorro.

"Diego." Hernandez tried to get Diego's attention. "Diego? Do you have any questions? You seemed really upset the other day about how long this was going to take."

Diego's attention again snapped back to Dr. Hernandez. "What? Oh – questions. Yes, I have one. Are you sure about length of time it takes to heal from this?"

"Well, given your excellent physical condition, I'd say four weeks is a fairly accurate assessment of your healing capability. Like I said the other day, it usually takes six to eight weeks for this kind of fracture to heal. Do you have any other questions?"

"Doctor, when can I stand and put weight on it again? I forgot what you said." Diego was concentrating this time.

"I'd keep your weight off it this week. Try to put some weight on it next week, for short periods. If it's too much pain to handle, it's not healed enough yet. Try a few days later, until the pain is manageable when you stand. I wouldn't worry. Relax. Enjoy the time you have. You've healed from your other injuries much faster than most other people do."

Diego looked puzzled. "Other injuries? What are you talking about?"

Hernandez looked at him with a knowing and penetrating gaze. "You know very well what I'm talking about."

Diego purposely looked blank and innocent. "No, Doctor, I don't. What are you saying?"

"Diego, I heard you deride yourself the other day when Victoria made the comment about Zorro. You laughed. It was a totally inappropriate response – unless you are – Zorro."

Diego looked around the room and craned his neck to look into the hallway. He gulped and looked at the doctor with wide eyes. "I beg your pardon?"

Now it was the doctor's turn to chuckle. "Oh Diego, Diego. You can trust me. I've known for quite some time who you are. Your secret is safe with me. I would never tell anyone. Doctors keep confidences, you know. We have to."

Diego's jaw dropped to the floor. Good grief! Doctor Hernandez knows! How did I give away my secret, Diego thought. With his mind half-clouded by cactus tea and the shock of Doctor Hernandez's confession, Diego's mind was in a whirl.

"Doctor…I – I – d –do – don't know what to say…" Diego stuttered.

"There's nothing to say, my boy. But I know that you don't come to me as often as you probably should have. I want you to know that you can come to me anytime. I wanted to let you know you have an ally in me. Sometimes, as a doctor, all I can do is patch things up when I'd like to help you more in your fight for justice. I know this is probably a big shock for you to have me just tell you that I know, but I wanted you to know that I know – in case you ever need me – I want to be there for you. And again I say, your secret is safe with me. I won't tell anyone."

Recovering his wit, only half-jokingly, he said, with a half-crack smile, "If you did tell anyone, I'd have to kill you." He chuckled to show the doctor he didn't mean it…and yet, on one level, he sort of did.

"Doctor, if you don't mind me asking, how did you know? How did you figure it out? I know I never said anything." Diego's mind was still whirling a bit.

"Oh, I don't know. Things didn't add up. I think it was probably your concussion that showed me something was wrong. All your life, I've never known you to be anything but an excellent horseman. So when you had that serious concussion a few years back from falling off a mare…well I knew you were hiding something. I'd heard about Zorro's fall into Cayon Perdido. When I saw your injuries, I knew something wasn't right. You weren't telling me the truth. And anyone with any intelligence knows that Zorro didn't appear until after you'd come back from Spain. And the people Zorro first rescued – your father, and Senorita Escalante. It added up."

Diego's expression still registered shock, but he managed to say, "You must be very careful, Doctor. The safety of Zorro and the people of the pueblo is now also in your hands. And…I promise to send for you if I need your help. And Doctor, thank you for keeping the secret. You're still saying four weeks, huh?"

Hernandez chuckled again. "Yes. But I'm glad we understand each other. Behave yourself, or you'll have a take a permanent vacation from riding…" now the Doctor looked around to make sure no one was listening. "…your big, black horse."

TBC