Both men were starting to cough as Josiah moved in at immediately grabbed Ezra up to carry him into the clear.

"He breathing?" Vin gasped as he got his own breath back. He got his answer when Josiah began mouth to mouth. Vin fired a couple of shots into the air, knowing it would bring the watchers to their aid faster than a call could. "Get an ambulance" he wheezed when they arrived. Vin wanted to say more to them but saved his anger for another time, focusing his attention on Josiah and Ezra. There was a soft moan and a twitch from Ezra a moment later.

"Ezra, can you hear me son?" Josiah forgot his promise, caught up in the concern of the moment. "Ezra, wake up." There was no further sign of consciousness, but they could see the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

"Do we put him in our car or wait?" Steve asked.

"Wait. They should be here fast, and they'll have oxygen for him."

"I don't get it." Steve muttered. "I never would have expected Standish would do something like this."

Josiah growled deep in his chest, but both he and Vin said nothing, continuing to watch Ezra. The other two self-consciously stepped away to give them their privacy. Vin knelt again beside Ezra and spoke softly. "We are not letting them check him in as an attempted suicide Josiah. It'll be on his record, no matter what happens after and I ain't doing that to him."

"Vin, if there's an issue…"

"He didn't do this Josiah. He wouldn't."

Josiah shook his head. "I want to believe that. But…"

"No way. IF, and it's a huge if, he wanted to, Ezra would never do it like this. He's too damned cunning to let himself be found in time. And more important, he'd know what this would do to Chris. He wouldn't kill himself in Chris's garage with his own truck. No way."

There was no disputing that fact. "No. He wouldn't. You're right. Hell, he wouldn't do this to any of us."

"Boxes were piled up to block the door, and the main door is never locked. I didn't even know it could be."

Josiah looked down again, brushing the hair back from Ezra's forehead, more in a need to keep contact than for any real purpose. "And the stables are a mess. Chaucer is spooked. Doesn't add up to suicide, does it?"

"From now on, one of us stays with him. 24/7. No matter what he says about it."

Josiah stood and walked over to the others. "What happened? How did someone else get in here?"

"You telling us you think someone tried to kill him? Trying to put the blame on someone else?"

"Ezra doesn't run. Maybe in the past, but not anymore. And I don't give a rat's ass about blame right now. I want to know who did this. I want to get the bastard."

Steve was about to say more when they heard the ambulance in the distance. Their attention was drawn away again when Ezra let out another quiet moan but gave no sign of wakening.

The arrival of the ambulance silenced any chance of further discussion. The explanation of an attempt on Ezra's life wasn't challenged by anyone; this wasn't the first time the medics had been called out to the address.

Vin and Josiah waited anxiously while Ezra was prepared for transit. Vin was holding off an a call he did not want to make. He needed to have good news when he updated Chris on this latest turn of events. It would be the only thing that would make the call a bit easier.

"Could be a lot worse. His vitals are pretty good under the circumstances. His pulse-ox is a bit low, but not close to critical. He may well be out because of the crack to the head as much as anything else."

"What crack?" Vin demanded.

"Felt it when I put the mask on him. Not bleeding, but he has a hell of a bump there already." The medic reached for his radio to call in.

Josiah reached out to stop him. "Can you do us a favour fellas? Don't transmit that info yet. We don't want the people after him clued in if we can avoid it, and right now we have no idea how connected they might be."

"We have to report were bringing him in, but that's all."

Vin looked questioningly at Josiah. "No point in sharing more than we need to at this point. But you best call Chris. Hospital grapevines are even faster than the ones at the office, and if he hears this second hand…"

Vin nodded. "He'll kill us, if the shock doesn't kill him first."

7-7-7-7-7-7-7

Chris sat quietly next to Ezra's bed. He hated the damned wheelchair, but it was the concession he made to be allowed to out of his own room. He also wasn't impressed by the fact Nathan was watching him like a hawk to make sure he stayed put. Even just twitching in the chair brought words of warning.

It was worth it. He had to be the one here when Ezra woke up. There was no way any of them were going to let him be alone at that moment, but Chris knew the man was going to need more. The absolute assurance that none of them thought for a second this was anything other than attempted murder. And the state he'd been in lately, with all the fears and doubts, Ezra was going to need to hear that from the man in charge.

"You're beat Chris." Nathan broke into his thoughts.

"I'm fine. He needs to know I'm okay, and that he is too. And most importantly, that we are."

"You make yourself sick and he'll be mighty pissed off with you."

"Then we won't mention that little detail to him."

"Keeping secrets is what was ultimately responsible for this debacle Chris. One would have hoped you had learned from that." Ezra coughed as his raw throat barely let him finish.

"Hush Ezra. Talking shouldn't be on your list of things to do." Nathan advised, appearing at his side with some much-appreciated ice chips. The smile he got as thanks was a sweet sight. "I'll let you two deal with all this. Chris, stay in the chair, and try to keep him relatively quiet." he reminded unnecessarily as he headed out.

"I cannot begin –"

"Don't Ezra. You aren't supposed to be talking. Just rest and try to breathe easy." Ezra settled back onto the pillow but didn't look like he was ready to rest. "First off – yes I am fine. And no way in hell what happened to me is your fault. Not even gonna a debate that one with you."

Ezra nodded, but he was too tired to succeed in hiding the fact he disagreed with the assessment. Chris sighed quietly. "Fine, we'll table that subject for another discussion. Ezra, did you see who did this to you?"

Ezra looked at him with surprise. "Did this?"

"What? You didn't think we'd figure out this wasn't your idea. Dammit Ezra, you think that little of us that we'd give up on you like that?" He'd always believed in a good offense for his defence.

"Of course not. It's just…" He paused, catching on. "Thank you."

Chris reached a hand up to give Ezra's arm a light squeeze. "Any time. So, you see anything?"

"Sadly, no. Chaucer would be the only witness as I was grooming him at the time." He hesitated but wasn't given a chance to ask.

"Not a mark on him. Stall was busted up some apparently. Vin said it looked like he was trying to kick his way out to help you. But he's fine Ezra."

"These were two very different methods to terminate my life, wouldn't you agree?" He coughed again, and Chris served him out more ice.

"You figure two different men? That would be one hell of a coincidence."

"Or a contract." Vin offered as he entered. "How do you feel Ezra?"

"Obliged to you and Josiah for your timely intervention." Vin looked a bit surprised. "Am I mistaken in my vague recollection of you two gentlemen coaxing me back to this world."

"Had as much to do with Chris's poor maintenance of the garage as anything else." Vin replied. It got the response he expected.

"That garage is perfectly maintained." Chris growled back.

"Wood around the windows is half rotted. Same for the doors. The main door doesn't seal tight either, and the roof needs a bit of repair too. All of which meant the place was less than airtight, meaning the exhaust didn't build up as much as it should have."

Chris had never been so grateful that he hadn't had time to get to those repairs.

"Nevertheless, I am indebted to you on this."

"No debt Ezra. Just glad it worked out."

"You said something about a contract? What did you guys find out?" Chris asked, growing increasing frustrated by his limited role in all of this.

"Nothing for certain. It doesn't seem too professional though. Things were badly staged at the ranch, and that shooter was close enough to take out both of you, but didn't."

Chris grimaced at the image, and the reality. "They may be amateur, but they are coming too damned close for my liking."

Vin had the same opinion. "None of our usual informants have heard anything, but we all agreed there's something going on."

Ezra lay quietly for a few minutes to the point they were beginning to worry about what he was thinking. He had a unique gift for shifting blame on to himself, especially when it wasn't deserved.

"It occurs to me," they both jumped slightly at the sudden break in silence, "that it would have been best for all concerned if this recent effort had been successful."

Son of a bitch. Chris knew Ezra was haunted by everything in the past few months, but this was not what he wanted to hear. He was even more stunned by Vin's response. "Josiah and me were thinking the same thing."

"What the hell Vin?" He looked up and froze at the sly grin the sharpshooter was giving him. He spun back to see a similar look on Ezra's face. Then he caught on.

"Oh. Right. Sorry – guess the pain pills are slowing me down some." He held up a hand and sent a glare that silenced both of them before a comment could be offered. He supposed he should be grateful Buck hadn't been around to hear that. "So, do you think we should put word out that you're dead, or just in a coma?"

"The latter would be my preference, for a few reasons. The thought of telling people I died seems a bit too much like tempting fate, given the way my luck has been running of late. And, if I am still alive, they will try again."

"The team has to know. Not putting them through that." Vin added.

"Agreed. Besides, I imagine Chris will insist that they keep an eye on things, so they will need to know anyway."

"How long do you figure to keep this charade going?"

Chris answered that one. "As long as we need to, but I'm guessing Ezra's right and whoever did this will want to finish the job as fast as possible."

"By all means, let us afford them every opportunity."

tbc

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