A.N - First thing, thank you guys for all those reviews for last chapter (specially to that mystery guest who claimed reviewing 3 times the same chapter. That's commitment! LOL. But carry on, by all means.)

I'm really glad to know I can still surprise anybody while writing Zorro fanfiction, because it is difficult to do anything "original" when the same kind of stories on the same characters had been done over and over. I hope I can carry on surprising you and keep the story interesting until the end.

Btw, I think I misjudged the potential length of this story because I said about 100K and we are already there and it is nowhere near the end. Oops. But how can I concentrate on the word count with my commitment for "show, don't tell"? For example, this whole chapter could go with one line: "Diego struggled to keep his cousin alive all night, and he got high on cocaine while doing so." Instead, I got 3000 words for you to enjoy, with realistic research on poisons and available treatments in 1820.

And yes, as someone pointed out, one of the next problems for Diego will be dealing with his addiction to cocaine (which actually happened to the doctors messing about and experimenting on themselves with all the new drugs during the 1800's and 1900's). I'm not making that up. It happened because they didn't know better. For example, I found out Freud was addicted to cocaine, many doctors and scientists died with opioid abuse, and Arthur Conan Doyle experimented on himself the ill effects of the gelsemium (yellow jasmine). Why? No idea. Probably the lack of google while researching for Sherlock Holmes… Luckily for me, I don't need to do that ;)

Chapter 35 – A long night

If his suspicions were correct, Diego knew he only had a few minutes before the poison would be fatal, because Esteban's heart could stop at any moment. His heart rate was very slow with a feeble pulse and he was still twitchy, as if about to start fitting again. When the carriage stopped at the entrance, Diego hurried to carry his cousin to his bedroom, resenting the effort to lift him in his still tender gunshot wound on his side. He left him resting on the bed, got the stick out of his pocket, and handed it to Felipe, who had followed him quickly inside the house, ahead of the others.

"Use this if he has another fit."

Diego ran then to the library to walk through the secret door, not paying much attention if anybody was watching because he could not be bothered this time. He got to the lab and rummaged through the myriad of bottles of chemicals he had in storage, until he found what he was looking for. He grabbed a couple of bottles and an enema rubber tube, and ran back upstairs again. Luckily, with the commotion in Esteban's bedroom, nobody had noticed him going through the fireplace.

Esteban was convulsing again when he returned to his room, with his jaw so tense his teeth had dug into the piece of wood, which looked like about to split in pieces. Felipe and Don Emilio tried to hold him down while Padre Benítez prayed for him, kneeling at the side of the bed.

"Take off his trousers," Diego said while preparing the tube and the solution.

"What for?" Don Emilio said, hesitating, but Felipe acted quickly and followed Diego's orders.

"Look, Uncle, it won't be nice, but the faster way for this medicine to get into his system would be placing it in his rectum."

After administering one of the chemicals that way, pumping with the bulb connected to the tube, Diego poured the contents of another bottle into his cousin's mouth. At least, because Esteban had vomited already, he didn't need to use a stomach pump to remove the poison before he could give him more medicines orally.

"Swallow it," he said, but Esteban carried on seizuring, spluttering some of the liquid out. "Goddammit, Esteban, swallow it! I don't have anymore!" Diego said, cross, although he knew Esteban couldn't hear him, nor follow his instructions even if he wanted to. He lifted his cousin's torso then and held his forehead back firmly while massaging his throat, hoping the precious liquid would go down his choking pharynx while he was still shaking.

After he swallowed the liquid, Diego kept holding him up, massaging his chest as well so he could breathe a bit better. After a couple of minutes, Esteban stopped convulsing and started to relax.

"Diego, please, tell me, what's going on?" Don Emilio asked, still frightened with the shock, unable to handle the situation. "What's happening? Is he going to be alright?"

"I think he was right all along when he said he had been framed. Lucía poisoned him this time with the intention of killing him, not only sedating him as before. Unfortunately, she didn't tell me what she used, so I can only treat the symptoms. I hope this is enough to save him, but I don't know."

"Diego, please, don't let him die! You have to save him."

"I'm trying, Uncle. I'm trying."

He gently left Esteban lying on the bed again and went back to the lab to get more stuff, a bit more calmly now, and he prepared a new remedy. He also got a small box from the drawer and put it in his pocket. When he came back upstairs, Esteban had opened his eyes.

"He is awake now, but he is struggling to breathe," Don Emilio said. "And he can't talk."

"Esteban, can you hear me?" Diego said, looking at his hazel eyes closely. They looked odd, with dilated pupils thanks to the belladonna he had given him. Esteban was gasping for air, and he made a weird, rasping noise when his eyes darted from Diego to Padre Benítez and the other people present in the room, looking anxious.

"Padre, please, I think you are frightening him."

Padre Benítez was still administering him the last rites, praying at the side of the bed.

"Can you please carry on praying for him from the other side of the room?" Diego whispered to his ear. "It's not helping if he thinks he's dying. He is too stressed already just trying to breathe."

"Yes, of course," the padre whispered back. "I anointed him when you were not here, while he was still unconscious. I'll move away from him a little now if that's going to help."

"Thank you." Diego stood up while the priest moved away from the bed, and then got a glass of water from the bedside table.

"Esteban, you're going to be fine," Diego said reassuringly, giving Esteban some water to moist his extremely dry mouth, another side effect of the belladonna. "Try to relax, and breathe. Don't panic. You can do it. Breathe… breathe…"

But that was easier said than done. Despite his apparent efforts to take air in, Esteban's chest didn't move much to allow that. Diego wondered if the poison would cause paralysis of the muscles, as well as slowing down the heart. He took Esteban's pulse again, and at least it had improved a little: it was now stronger and faster, but still irregular, with a chaotic rhythm. He lifted that arm up by the wrist, and then he let go of it. As he was suspecting, Esteban didn't have any muscle tone now, and the arm dropped down immediately as a dead weight, completely flaccid. Diego tried a few more times, with both arms, and it was always the same.

"Can you move your arms or your legs?" Diego asked. Esteban didn't answer, but the panic look in his dilated pupils told him he couldn't. Damn it.

At that moment María announced that Don José had arrived with important information.

"Felipe, move his arms up and down, please. That might help him to breathe a bit better, thank you," Diego said, leaving the room quickly to see Don José.

"Diego, how is your cousin? Is he still alive?"

"Yes, he is, but he's paralyzed, and he can't breathe."

"I am so sorry about this. I'm shocked. I can't believe my daughter is capable of such a thing, but apparently, she is. At least she told me what she had used to poison him: a tincture of yellow jasmine and monkshood."

"That would fit with the symptoms he has, yes, but I don't think there is a specific antidote for those, unfortunately. They call the yellow jasmine "heartbreak grass" for a reason."

"I'm so sorry. I really don't understand her motivations to do this. I thought she wanted to marry him. She has always been a difficult child, over-determined to get her way, but I never would have suspected… Oh, God," Don José sobbed then, covering his eyes with his hand. "She also killed her stepmother!"

"What?"

"She poisoned my late wife, Diego."

"And what about Don Luis's wife? Padre Benítez mentioned her as well."

"I don't know about that. I am so shocked. I don't know what to do."

"Where is she now?"

"Still at home. I don't want to tell the alcalde. I'm sorry, but I don't want to see her in jail accused with murder."

"Go home and keep an eye on her. Don't let her out of your sight, because she may do something stupid. And don't eat anything you haven't prepared yourself. I don't think your daughter is right on her head. She is very sick, insane, and she may try to kill you too."

"Good Lord!"

"Thank you for coming to tell me the kind of poison she used. Now, I must carry on treating Esteban. Go home with your daughter, but be aware that at some point she will have to face justice. And be careful."

"I hope your cousin makes it. I really hope so. Good bye, Diego."

"Good bye, Don José. Thank you for coming."

Diego got back to Esteban's room. Felipe was trying to help him breathe by lifting his arms, as instructed, but Esteban was still struggling to get air inside his lungs. He looked frightened, probably fearing he was suffocating already.

"Esteban, don't panic, please. If you do, you won't be able to breathe at all. Now I know what Lucía gave you. You'll be paralyzed for a few hours, I'm afraid, but I will help you breathe until your muscles work again, alright? However long it takes. All right, Felipe, lift his arms again."

When he did, Diego pushed down on Esteban's chest, compressing it several times, while Felipe moved the arms up and down, pumping with them. That way Esteban got some air in, but it didn't seem to be enough. They carried on like that for a while, until Diego held Esteban's nose closed and blew some air directly into his mouth.

"Is that better?"

He carried on blowing air into his mouth every ten seconds, until the doctor arrived with Don Alejandro.

"What's going on, Diego? How is he?" Don Alejandro asked.

"Not too bad," Diego lied, because Esteban was listening. "Doctor, I know what she used: yellow jasmine and monkshood. He's paralyzed, and he can't breathe because he can't get air into his lungs," Diego said in between blows. "But I am helping him to get some air in."

"I thought that could be the case with many poisons, so I came prepared," the doctor said, looking for something in his medical bag. He produced an instrument to ventilate the lungs, something similar to the bellows used for blowing on a stoked fire to make it burn better. He put the end of the tube in Esteban's mouth, holding his lips tightly around it while also covering his nose, and pressed the handles with the other hand, getting some precious fresh air into his lungs.

"That's much better, thank you," Diego said, stepping back then, panting to recover his own breath after all the effort he had made to breathe for two.

"We'll take turns with this, because we will need to do it all night until he can breathe on his own."

"All night like this?" Don Emilio said, alarmed. "He looks too stressed already! He won't make it that long!"

"Yes, all night, or even longer, because it will take a few hours until the effects of the poison wear out. As long as we keep pumping air into his lungs, he'll stand a chance. Have you given him anything already, Diego?"

"Peony and mugworth in his rectum to treat the convulsions he had initially, and he took belladonna orally for the heart. It was very slow before. I thought it was going to stop."

"Good. Those are good choices. Well done," the doctor said while he kept insufflating air with his device at regular intervals, hardly looking at his anxious patient while doing so. "Did you use a stomach pump?"

"No. He vomited most of his dinner after the first fit."

"Good. Can you carry on with this, please?" He handed Diego the instrument and got back to his medical bag, getting a bottle out.

"This is my "universal poison antidote".

"What's in it?"

"Mainly white oak bark, magnesium salts, and charcoal. It won't help to treat the symptoms, but it will prevent any further absorption of the poison. And also the belladonna, because I suspect he has got too much already," he said, looking at Esteban's eyes, and taking his pulse. "Yes, his heart is going too fast now. And the fear is not helping."

"Sorry," Diego said then, upset to have caused more trouble instead of helping.

"Don't apologize. You did what you had to do. If you had not given him the belladonna when you did, his heart would have probably stopped. But there is a fine line between the therapeutic range of the belladonna and its toxic effects. Don't worry, this will help," he said, approaching Esteban with the antidote bottle.

"I don't think he can swallow."

"I'll use a stomach tube then," the doctor said. "Help him up."

Diego hated the anxious look in Esteban's eyes when he held his torso up like before and pulled his head back to keep his mouth open.

"Relax, Esteban. You'll be alright. Don't fight the tube, and don't bite it," he said in a casual tone, trying to help, but he knew this was like torture for him. Esteban couldn't move, breathe or talk, but he was aware of what was going on, and now he could feel the tube the doctor was ramming down his throat into his oesophagus. No doubt that was quite unpleasant, especially with his dry mouth. And, while they administered the medicine, he wasn't getting any air into his lungs, feeling he was suffocating again. A real nightmare. "Can we keep him sedated while we treat him?"

"No. It's better if he is conscious, so we can monitor his reactions," the doctor said while removing the tube quickly when he finished pouring the antidote in it. Diego cringed with the rasping noise Esteban did then, obviously complaining. "Quick, carry on with the bellows. He is turning a bit purple now."

Diego got on with the task of insufflating air into his cousin's lungs then at regular intervals. It was going to be a very long night indeed.

ZZZ

When Don José arrived home, Lucía wasn't there. She had taken her horse and had disappeared. Don José hesitated but he decided not to tell the authorities —in this case the alcalde— and give her at least a full night to get away before the soldiers would chase her. If the De la Vegas didn't complain of the poisoning, he wasn't going to denounce the murder of his wife either. Lucía could be raving mad, and a murderer, but she was still his daughter, and he didn't want to see her in jail, or even worse, hanging at the gallows.

ZZZ

Unfortunately, the doctor had to leave to attend another emergency that night, so Diego carried on treating Esteban with Felipe's help. After midnight, Padre Benítez had left already and Don Alejandro and Don Emilio had retired to bed.

"Why he didn't die like the others if she used the same poison?" Felipe signed at 3am, followed by a yawn.

"I don't know. Maybe because we acted fast, or because he is a man, and he needed a bigger dose than the unfortunate ladies… I don't know. But I'm glad he made it," Diego said, pressing on the bellows one more time. "At least, so far."

Esteban had fallen into a restless sleep due to pure exhaustion, and he wasn't looking back at Diego with those dilated, wildly frightened pupils while he kept pumping air into his lungs, which wasn't a bad thing, because watching his cousin struggling was quite upsetting for him.

"Why don't you take a nap? I can wake you up if I need you."

"Are you sure you won't fall asleep?"

"Yes. I'll take more of the coca leaves now."

Diego took a break from the bellows to get the small box out of his pocket. He opened it and took some of the powder with his finger, rubbing it on his gums. It was the second time he had taken some that night, and Felipe didn't like it. Diego had been experimenting in the lab with the leaves until he had managed to extract the active ingredient in a crystalloid form. He had taken the crystals the first time and had got a numbed tongue, realizing the plant also had anaesthetic properties, and then he had pulverized the crystals into a fine powder. After some trials with it, he discovered the faster way to get absorbed was through the mucous membranes in his mouth, applying it directly on his gums, under his tongue, or by sniffing some directly into his nose. That way he could get a fast boost that got him instantly alert, anytime, not having to wait to get absorbed from his stomach.

"Why are you taking so much of that stuff?" Felipe asked.

"It makes me feel better," Diego said, evasive, while feeling the invigorating effects of the drug, which always left him with a sense of euphoria and well-being.

Felipe pulled a face, unconvinced. He had noticed that, although initially helping to boost his mood, Diego looked more tired and irritable after he had taken the medicine.

"I'm worried about you. I think you are becoming quite dependant on taking that. You are becoming addicted to it, like opium users."

"This has nothing to do with opium. That clogs the mind and makes people slow. This makes me more awake and alert instead, like coffee," Diego said, resuming the air-pumping.

"Why don't you just drink coffee then?"

"This acts faster. Besides, I think it also acts like a painkiller, which the coffee doesn't."

"How is you wound? Is still bothering you?"

"It is sore tonight, yes. I pulled the healing muscles while carrying Esteban to the room, and all this movement to hold him up and make him breathe is not helping. I hope it doesn't come open again, because it is still quite tender."

"Be careful and don't overdo it, because that can happen easily."

"Thank you, doctor Felipe. I'll keep that in mind," Diego said then, smiling. "Go to sleep now, come on."

"I'll sleep, but I'll stay here. Shout if you need me. Don't fall asleep or he'll die."

Felipe sat on an armchair close to the wall then, away from the bed, and sank on it, trying to find a comfortable posture while Diego carried on pumping air with the bellows.

"Don't fall asleep or he'll die," Diego thought, amused. Thank you, Felipe. No pressure here!

ZZZZZ