Heya guys ^^

Not much to say about this chapter: Introducing William Wharton, who I just find utterly hilarious xD So beware of more T-rated dirty talk from his side from now on. We all know he's never going to leave a woman on the Mile alone…

Chapter 16 – You believe in miracles?

They could both hear the uproar and shouts from the open door, before they had even reached E-block:

"Hit him, Percy!" Pauls cry was drowned in Whartons howl of insane delight. "Goddamn it, hit him!"

"Ellie, stand back!" Brutus told her, before they both burst into E-block. The Mile was still the horrified battleground, she had left a minute ago, when she ran for help: William Wharton was strangling Dean with his handcuffs, Harry had been knocked to the ground, and Paul, who had drawn his gun, were fighting hard to both aim and stay on his feet at the same time, after Wharton had kneed him in the groin.

Brutus reacted without hesitation: He stepped forward, grabbed the baton from the stock-still Percy and delivered an impressive blow to the back of Whartons head: He hit him with so much force, that Ellie was surprised, he didn't break his skull open.

Wharton collapsed, pulling Dean with him to the floor. When Brutus stepped forward, still holding the hickory bat high, Wharton glared up at him.

"You big fucker," he mumbled groggily. "Where'd you come from?"

Hitting him across the forehead, Brutus knocked what was left of his lights out and dropped to Dean's side and Ellie rushed in, her legs trembling like jelly, when she kneeled in front of Dean and helped pull the chain of his neck.

"Come on, boy," Brutus muttered softly and pulled Dean up in a sitting position. "Breath… breath… that's it."

Dean gasped and coughed, his face still slightly purple from lack of air. Ellie loosened his tie and unbuttoned his collar, so he could breathe more easily.

"Didn't see that coming," Dean kept whispering in a hoarse voice. "Didn't see that coming…"

"Shh, Dean – it's okay," Ellie said and stroke his hair, like he was a little boy. "Don't talk, just keep breathing."

Brutus pushed his cap back and looked at her.

"Way too much adrenaline in one day, huh," he said.

Ellie let out a breathless, shaken laughter. "You tell me…"

Harry appeared from behind the front desk, which had been knocked over during the fight. He was bleeding from his mouth, but other than that the looked unharmed. Ellie jumped to her feet, to help him up.

"Forgive me for saying this," Brutus said, looking around at his colleagues. "But what the hell happened?"

"We thought he was doped," Harry said quietly, leaning against the table. "Didn't we… didn't we all of us think he was doped."

Percy, who was still standing dumbfounded by the door, nodded without a word.

"You didn't ask?" Paul said through clenched teeth, his face paled by pain and fury. He bent over and put his hands on his knees, taking in deep breaths when Harry shook his head miserably.

"Well, I guess that's not a mistake any of us will be making any time soon, now is it?" Paul finished coolly.

By joint efforts Brutus and Percy were able to move the still unconscious Wharton to his new cell and Harry looked the door very carefully.

"Mr. Edgecomb," Ellie said worryingly. "We need to get Dean to the infirmary. Doctor Briscoe knows a lot more about neck injuries, than I do."

Paul nodded. His face was covered in sweet and he kept his hand pressed against his abdomen.

"You go with Brutus and Harry," he said to her. "Get him checked out. And Percy…" He shifted his gaze to the young guard. "You go make a report to the warden for me. Start off by saying the situation is under control. It's not a story – he won't appreciate you drawing out the suspense."

Percy nodded and scuttled off; he had become surprisingly cooperative after the incident.

"And what 'bout you?" Brutus said with a frown. "Don't you think you should come with us? You look 'bout ready to collapse."

Paul waved him off. "I got the Mile, 'till you'll get back. Go on now."

oOo

Ellie didn't usually break the orders she had been giving – but halfway to the infirmary, she realised how foolish it had been to leave Paul alone in that condition; he probably needed medical care as much as Dean, even though he was too proud to admit it.

"Brutus," she said, reaching out for his sleeve. He slowed down and they fell a few of steps behind the others.

"I think it's better, if I went back to E-block," Ellie said. "I'm worried about Mr. Edgecomb. I think he's hurt more, than he will ever admit."

Brutus came to a halt. "You want me to go with you?"

"No, it's fine," she assured him, even though she wished he would – but taking him away from Dean would be utterly selfish. "You stay with Dean. He needs his friends right now. He has had an awful shock."

Brutus looked somewhat reluctant, but he nodded nevertheless. "A'right. We'll be back, as soon as we can."

Ellie smiled. "Let me know, if Alice is awake."

She did kind of hope the old woman was still asleep though. Alice needed the peace, so her body could recover from the seizure – and Ellie was still not sure how to help her. She was hurt badly, but this pain could not be healed with drugs or pills. Perhaps a little time would be the best medicine. If she was still sleeping, she would go see her first thing in the morning. A new day always made everything clearer.

She reached E-block and had already raised her fist, so she could knock on the door and have Paul to unlock it from the inside, when she realised, that the door wasn't even closed properly.

Perhaps it was just the ghosts of the incidents from earlier that day, but she suddenly got a funny feeling about it. The guards always looked the door: It was part of the safety precautions. It wasn't at all like Paul to forget that. Frowning, Ellie pushed the door open. She had hardly crossed the doorstep, before she heard the terrified cry from Delacroix:

"HEEEEE'P! JOHN COFFEY KILLIN' BOSS EDG'COMB!"

Oh, dear God, not again!

A strong light flashed down the aisle and something broke, sounding like glass pounding heart, Ellie stumbled around Alice's cell, horrified of what she might see. Down the Mile John Coffey had grabbed Paul by the collar, pulling him so close to the bars, they were nearly face to face. Ellie stood frozen for second, not knowing what to do. This time, she couldn't run off for help, because Paul was all alone.

"John!" she finally screamed out and rushed to his cell. "Let him go!"

He actually did – but whether it was because she had told him too or because he was done with him, she couldn't quite figure out. Paul slumped to his knees, grasping the bars in both hands, a very strange look of disbelief on his face.

Ellie squatted beside him.

"Paul," she said carefully. "Are you okay? What happened?"

He said nothing, just kept staring through the bars at Coffey, who had collapsed on his cot, all cramped up, like he had been shot. His huge body was shaking and he started to gag and cough, bending over like he was going to throw up.

Then he suddenly leaned back, his mouth wide open and his lips drawn back from his teeth as in agony – and he exhaled something that looked like a cloud of tiny, black insects. They swirled around in the cell until they turned bright white, like snowflakes in the winter sun… and disappeared.

Ellie was completely stunned. She knew her eyes hadn't played a trick on her, but yet her brain refused to believe it.

"What did you do to me?" Paul asked Coffey, his voice weak and shaky. "John Coffey, what did you do to me just know?"

Coffey leaned forward. His face had turned a sick shade of grey, when he slowly raised his head to look at them and it was hard to distinguish his features in the darkness. It took a long second, before Ellie understood, that the only light bulb in his cell had been smashed to piece.

"I helped it," Coffey said slowly. "Didn't I help it?"

Paul just stared at him, still clasping the bars like a drowning man clinging to a lifeline.

"I jus' took it back, that's all, boss," Coffey said. He paused for a second. "Aw'fly tired now, boss. Dog tired."

And without any further explanation, he rolled on to his side and faced the wall. Ellie and Paul glared at each other, none of them able to put a single word of what they had just experienced. Then Paul rose to his feet and walked down the aisle like a sleep walker.

Delacroix looked at him warily, when he passed his cell.

"Boss," he said quietly. "What he do to you? What dat man do to you?"

Paul didn't respond. He walked into the tiny toilet and closed the door behind him. Ellie heard the lock slide into place and she suddenly realised, that she was still sitting outside of John Coffeys cell. Slowly, she got to her feet.

For a minute or two, not a single noise could be heard from the toilet. Ellie and Delacroix exchanged worried, bewildered looks, but finally Paul stepped out of the Mile again with a puzzled frown on his forehead.

"Paul? Ellie said carefully.

Paul looked at her, his facial expression unreadable. With a tiny nod of his head, he told Ellie to follow him to his office. She did and made sure to close the door properly behind her.

The superior guard stopped right in the middle of the room and when he didn't start talking, Ellie realised that she would have to break the silence if she ever wanted a proper explanation.

"Paul, what just happened out there?" she asked him, her heart still beating to fast. "Are you okay?"

Paul looked at her; she could almost see the thoughts swirl around in his head, like leaves in a storm, but not a word came over his lips.

"Paul?"

"He took it away," he said, slowly and faintly. "It's gone."

"What's gone?"

"My bladder infection," Paul said in a hoarse voice. "It's gone. He removed it from me… and spat it out."

Ellie started at him. "Are you telling me, that those insects… That was our bladder infection?"

"What else could it be?"

"I don't know," Ellie said fragilely. "Men exhaling insects is not really a huge part of my everyday life. Paul, what exactly did he do to you? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he…" Paul ran his hand down his face, when the words failed him. "When you guys had left, he wanted to see me, so I went to his cell. I thought it had something to do with what Wharton had just done, but instead he, uh… He grabbed me. And then he put his hand on my… well, he put his hand on me." Paul shot her a significant look. "I know it sound weird, but it all happened very fast. As soon as he touched me, it was like some sort of massive force went through my body. I couldn't move. And the light bulb in his cell started glowing, brighter and brighter, until it exploded. And then… it was just gone. The pain. The burning sensation. I've never felt better."

His statement was followed by such a massive silence, Ellie could here every tick from the clock on the wall.

"You do know what it sounds like, right?" she finally said. "Some kind of… contact healing. Laying on of hands…"

"A miracle," Paul said calmly.

Ellie breathed in and eyed him carefully. He face was no longer white, pained and sweaty; in fact, she hadn't seen him look so good in weeks. And if that wasn't a miracle, she wasn't sure what to call it.

"You believe that?" she asked him silently.

"Do you?"

"Maybe," Ellie said sincerely. "I have seen things on the hospital, that no one could explain: People healing themselves, when the doctors had given up. But that…"

She made a gesture towards the closed door and what was hidden behind it. Paul nodded and knew exactly how she felt. What they had just witnessed, was not just a simple miracle. It was something more. Something… otherworldly. He ran a hand through his hair.

"We can't tell this to anyone," he said. "Not yet."

"No, of course not," Ellie responded, dazed. "Because who would bloody believe us?"

Paul shook his head and was silent for a while. When he finally started talking again, he sounded almost normal:

"It's funny, though," he said slowly, raising an eye brow at her. "This 'miracle' took away more than just my bladder infection. It finally made you forget that foolish formality."

Ellie glared at him, before letting out a scoff of laughter.

"I'm so high on adrenaline, I have forgotten every part of my manners," she said, crossing her arms thigtly around herself. "And I blame that on you, Dean and Alice and the rest of you, who keeps scaring the pants of me. You have completely ruined my good behaviour."

"Forgive us," Paul said humbly.

"I might do."

"But it's gonna crush Brutal's heart," Paul continued casually. "When we're all on a first name term, he's not gonna be the special one anymore."

Ellie looked away. How could it be that everyone seemed to know about her growing feelings for Brutus – when the only one she truly wanted to know, seemed to have absolutely no clue whatsoever. Perhaps Brutus was far less interested in her, than she had hoped? The thought was like a brand to her heart.

"I think you should concentrate on Delacroix instead," she said, after a silence that had been a bit too long for her to pretend, she didn't cared about Paul's words. "You know he's going to blabber, as soon as your colleagues return."

"If you think so," Paul responded, giving her a smile, that resembled one of those know-all smiles, she would expect from Alice. Ellie could feel her heart slump. The last thing she wanted, was for Paul to be involved in whatever game Brutus was playing with her.

oOo

Ellie spend a sleepless night staring up at her ceiling, her mind shifting between poor Dean, Alice in the infirmary, Brutus grapping her hand and John Coffey gagging up insects, until it all blended into some kind of surrealistic dream and she couldn't no longer tell, whether she was asleep or not.

Way past midnight, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to shut everything else out and concentrate on Alice, since she was her major concern, but when her alarm went off, she wasn't any closer to a solution than before she went to bed.

She managed to fell asleep on the bus, so she missed her stop. The chauffeur noticed her just as they drove past the prison, but she still had to walk and extra mile and she was late, when she reached E-block. They had already unlocked the door for her and Brutus was on the phone, when she walked in. He turned around by the sound of her foot steps.

"Wait a minute, Paul – she's here now," he said down the phone. "When you speak of the sun…"

He handed her the mouth piece and Ellie felt her heartbeat rise, when her exhausted brain immediately thought the worst. Why was Paul on the phone? Why wasn't he here already? Had something happened?

"Hello?" she said nervously.

"Miss Brent?" Paul responded and Ellie's heart felt back to its normal rhythm. He sounded well; better than well actually.

"Mr. Edgecomb, how are you?"

"Oh, will you please just stop that foolish British politeness and start calling us by our real names," Paul said, his tone sharp with feigned resignation and Ellie smiled. "I thought we cleared that out yesterday."

"Well, you started it?"

"That's because my wife's here and I don't wanna give her the wrong impression," Paul said good-heartily and Ellie could hear a woman's voice in the background, giving him a soft warning.

"Listen," Paul continued. "I just told Brutal I'm taking the day of sick and I'm gonna tell you the same, even though I know you ain't believing me. I just have a couple of things I need to sort out, but I'll be back tomorrow." He paused. "You haven't told anyone, have you?"

"No, of course not."

"Good. Tell the boys to behave, until I get back."

Brutus was eyeing her carefully, when she hung up.

"Everything's a'right?" he asked.

"Yes. You know Paul: He just had to make sure, I didn't take advance of his absence and started mingling with the inmates."

"I meant with you," Brutus said gently. "You look…"

"… like shit," Ellie finished for him and rubbed her face. "Yeah, I know. I haven't closed an eye all night."

Brutus smiled. "I was gonna say 'tired'. You always look mighty fine to me."

"You're too kind," Ellie responded with a quick smirk, realising she was too exhausted to take his words seriously. She felt like something the cat had dragged in – and she knew she looked like it too. "Have you heard from Dean?"

"I called him last night. He says he's fine, but I know Paul's been giving him the day off." He shifted on his feet. "So it's just you, me and Harry today. Percy's in the infirmary."

"I was hoping you could spare me for couple of hours. I need to go see Alice."

"Oh." Perhaps it was just her imagination, but he looked rather disappointed. "Of course."

She smiled at him. "I will be back before lunch."

Brutus looked after her, as she left. She had only just walked out of earshot, when a voice that he didn't recognized, hissed behind him: "Yeah, I agree wit'ya: That ass is definitely worth keeping an eye on."

Brutus turned around, finding William Wharton standing at the bars, flashing his yellow teeth in a big grin. Brutus could feel his temper rise just by the sight of him unharmed: He deserved a least a severe concussion for what he did to Dean.

"Finally back from the dead, I see," Brutus noticed coolly. "Did I really hit you that hard?"

Wharton ignored him.

"Who is she?" he asked. "She was 'ere yesterday too."

"She's a nurse," Brutus answered bluntly. "And she'll have nothing to do with you."

"Aw, relax ya big fuck," Wharton answered calmly. "A nurse, ya say? Well, can' say I would mind her coming into my cell and play a little doctor. Got my own thermometer," he said, grinning, cupping his groin. "She can even decide for herself, which hole she'll have it it…"

Brutus clenched both fists, so hard he could feel his own pulse beating through his fingers.

"You shut up!" he sneered at Wharton, who just shrieked with laughter and threw himself on the bunk, his eyes twinkling with baleful glee.