Chapter 55 – Raising Lazarus

When Don Alejandro returned to the room, Esteban was in bed, immobile. He approached him and pinched his arm hard, without warning, digging his nails in the flesh.

Esteban opened his eyes slightly to check who was assaulting him, and pulled his arm away quickly when he saw it was only his uncle.

"Ouch! What are you doing? That hurts!"

"You are supposed to be unresponsive! Like your cousin!"

"And you are supposed to bring me dinner. Where is it?"

"What do you think would have happened if that was the alcalde instead of me? He will try that kind of trick sooner or later, I know that. And you'll have to stand still!"

"Easier said than done, I'm afraid," Esteban said, rubbing his sore arm. "Focus now, please: dinner?"

"Don't be a pain. Victoria will bring something for you soon, pretending it is for me. You are lucky: tonight's special is albóndigas con tomate. Delicious. I already had some."

"Yummy. I can't wait. I can't live on water and bark infusion."

"What the hell is that?" Don Alejandro said when he saw the contents of the chamber pot Esteban had left in the far corner of the room, by the basin.

"What do you think? That's my urine."

"It's bright red!" he said when he got the pot, examining it more closely.

"Yes, it is."

"Are you alright? Should I tell Doctor Hernández immediately?"

"Don't bother. I'll tell him when he comes to check on Diego. I know what he will say: that there is no wonder I'm peeing blood with all that pounding in my abdomen."

"I thought you were doing reasonably well. Are you not?"

"Well, maybe I should be curled up in a ball crying in pain instead of getting on with it, so it would be more apparent to you guys my abdomen really hurts, inside. Especially around here," he said, taking a hand to his stomach area, at the end of the ribs, towards the right side. "That bastard loved hitting this spot. The doctor said he aimed for the liver, and a few ribs are smashed in pieces over there."

"What can I do? Can I do anything to help you?"

"Well, the bandage is not so tight anymore. It has come quite lose and it's not doing its job supporting the ribs so well as before. Do you mind taking it off and re-doing it, please?"

"Yes, I can do that, certainly."

"And you can apply more arnica ointment to the bruises as well, thanks."

"All right. Get up."

Esteban sat up at the edge of the bed and lifted his arms while Don Alejandro removed the dressing.

"My goodness!" the old don said when he finished removing all the layers of that supportive bandage. "No wonder you are peeing blood! Por el amor de Dios, how many times did they hit you?"

"I don't know. A thousand? Look, I wasn't counting. I lost track after the third blow, when that bastard cracked the first ribs."

Don Alejandro got the arnica ointment then and started to spread it all over the area.

"Argh! Easy with that, try not to press so much. Just rub it gently. Gently!"

"Sorry," Don Alejandro said, applying the mix over the bruises as lightly as he could.

"That's better, thank you."

"Now, hold your breath. It won't be as good as the doctor's initial dressing, but it should do for now until he can re-do it again later."

"I'm sure it will be fine, thanks."

Esteban held his breath, and the moment Don Alejandro started wrapping his sore torso, they heard the wooden steps of the stairs creaking.

"Damn it!" Don Alejandro said, letting go of the bandage. "Lie down, quick!"

"I don't have time! Sod it. That should be Victoria."

"We don't know that! Come on! Lie down! Don't give up!" Don Alejandro whispered, pushing Esteban down on the bed. Reluctantly, he lay still in that awkward position that wouldn't fool a soul, until he heard his uncle's deep sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness it's only you."

"What are you playing at? Yes, I told you I'd come in five minutes. How are you?" Victoria said, approaching Esteban with the tray.

"That smells so good. Thank you, Victoria," Esteban said, sitting up to take the tray, sniffing the delicious albóndigas. Right then, they heard the stair's boards creaking again. "Mierda. Take it back."

Don Alejandro moved fast to grab the door handle, to give Esteban a bit more time to prepare. Victoria got hold of the tray quickly and moved away from the bed while Esteban got his legs back under the covers and lie still in a more natural-looking position, displaying the upper part of his bruised torso only.

Someone tried to open the door, fighting with the handle, which Don Alejandro hold firmly for a few seconds until he saw his nephew ready on the bed. When he let go of the handle to move away as fast as he could, the alcalde kicked the door, which burst open, nearly hitting him.

"Señorita Escalante, why did you bring a tray with food up here? Is he ready to eat now?" Ramón said, stepping in.

"No, that food is for me. Gracias, Victoria," Don Alejandro said, taking the tray from her slightly shaky hands, to leave it at the side table.

"Someone should have a look at that handle, Señorita. It gets stuck. So, he is still the same, ah?" Ramón said, poking Esteban's arm again. "Why did you take the dressing off?" He pulled the covers down to see his full naked torso, delighted to see all that damage. Victoria gasped when she saw all those dark bruises and haematomas, looking worse than before.

"It was loose, and I had to apply some more arnica ointment. As you can see, that looks pretty sore," Don Alejandro said.

"That's not just sore. That looks awful!" Victoria said.

"Is that his urine?" the alcalde said when he nearly stepped on the chamber pot Don Alejandro had left close to the bed.

"Yes."

Victoria gasped again when she saw the red tinge. "Is that blood?"

"Yes," Don Alejandro said.

"Did he wake up to relief himself then? His trousers are not wet," the alcalde said, having another quick peep at Esteban to check them.

"No."

"How did you collect that bloody urine then?"

"Ah… I pressed on his bladder. It was really full."

"I see. You pressed on his sore bladder... Here? You mean, like this?" Ramón pressed hard then over the bruises in Esteban's lower abdomen.

Esteban had to make use of all his determination and every ounce of willpower to stand still, not tensing his abdominal muscles as a response, and especially, not moving away from that cruel hand, kicking and screaming.

"Or maybe… here?" Ramón said then, pressing hard a bit higher up, on the blackened area over the battered liver and broken ribs.

Don Alejandro cringed then, the same as Victoria, expecting a big reaction from Esteban, but at that moment, his shocked body and brain had decided to shut down to avoid registering that kind of excruciating pain, and a thick cloud of darkness came down on him at once. He relaxed completely on the bed then, unconscious, not reacting to the pressure at all.

"It's alright, don't worry. You said he can't feel a thing," the alcalde said when he kept pressing hard on that area, bouncing his hand over that spot several times, in an attempt to wake Esteban up, enjoying the apprehension and hatred in the old don's face, and the horror in Victoria's.

Then, something went wrong in Esteban's brain while it tried to protect him from the pain, and it misfired big time. All of a sudden, he started seizuring one more time, with the most violent convulsions he ever had, shaking wildly on the bed.

Ramón jumped back, startled at such dramatic, unexpected reaction. Don Alejandro pushed him out of the way to take his place by the bed.

"What the hell have you done, you bastard!"

"The stick, where's the stick?" Victoria cried, frantic.

"I don't know! Back pocket? Yes, it should be in his back pocket. Find it!" Don Alejandro said, holding his nephew's body tightly because he was shaking so much it looked like he could fall off the bed. Victoria found the stick and tried to put it in his mouth, but his jaw was so tightly closed she couldn't do it.

"Don't just stand there! Help me!" Victoria cried.

"What do you want me to do?" the alcalde said.

"Open his mouth, quick!"

Ramón struggled to yank open Esteban's mouth, and when he managed that, Victoria placed the stick between his teeth, over the tongue. Ramón let go of that foaming mouth then, with his fingers covered with sticky, thick saliva, which he wiped off on the pillows, grossed out.

"Go get the doctor," Don Alejandro said, while trying to hold him down without pressing on the bruises. "This is not a normal fit. He is shaking way too much!"

Victoria left at once, but the alcalde stayed, making the effort to help a little bit more, holding Esteban's legs.

"This is all your fault!" the old don cried. "It wasn't good enough for you he was dying with your poison, was it? Now you have to do this to tip him to the grave!"

"He killed a man in cold blood, an important man at the service of the Duke of Cádiz. If he survives this, he will not live for long, anyway, so you better get used to that idea," the alcalde said harshly.

"He killed him in self-defence! You can see what that man did to him for no reason! And, if he survives, he should stand a fair trial, not your immediate death-sentence!"

That fit was the most violent of all, for the intensity of the convulsions, but it also was one of the shortest. As fast as he had started fitting, Esteban suddenly relaxed and lay still.

Oh, no, please. Don't wake up now, don't wake up! Don Alejandro thought while letting go of his body. Not while the alcalde is still here.

"Is that it then?" Ramón said, also letting go of Esteban's legs. "Did he die?"

"No, he is still breathing," the old don said, panicking when he saw Esteban's face starting to twitch, as he always did when coming to from the convulsing episodes.

"Look at that! He is waking up," Ramón said when he saw Esteban trying to open his eyes, blinking. "This is like raising Lazarus!"

Damn it! Don't wake up now! Don't!

"Hello, there," Ramón said, shaking Esteban's shoulders a bit, slapping his face gently. Esteban blinked a bit more, trying to focus is eyes in his surroundings, making a whimpering noise when the first thing he registered was the alcalde's face. "You should thank me, Don Alejandro, because thanks to me, your nephew is awake now. And then, as agreed, I can take him to jail."

"Fuck off!" the old don shouted, refraining himself from punching the alcalde to erase that evil grin off his face. "Y una mierda! You are not taking him anywhere!"

"Tsk, tsk… Language, De la Vega," Ramón said with an irritating, smug smirk.

"You have seen the state he is in, so leave him alone! You'll only take him away over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged, if you want. Lancers, come up here to take this man to a cell! Now!" he shouted at the door.

"Pero, mi alcalde, he can't —." Mendoza started, from the bottom of the stairs.

"NOW, damn it! Why are you always questioning my orders, you dimwit?!"

While the sergeant raked his brain for a suitable answer, the doctor arrived at the tavern, following Victoria.

"Get out of the way!" she said, pushing Mendoza to a side, stomping up the stairs with the doctor in tow.

"What's going on?" the doctor said, approaching the man on the bed, leaving his bag at his side, over the quilt. "What happened?"

"Este cabrón hijoputa hit Esteban on his broken ribs!"

"Careful, De la Vega," the alcalde said, stern. "If you insult me again, I'll have to do something about it."

Don Alejandro ignored him and carried on. "Esteban had the worse fit ever, and now he is waking up from it. And this… this bastard wants to take him to jail!"

"What did I say? Do you want to end up with him in a cell? Apologize right now!" Ramón shouted, pointing his index finger at Don Alejandro.

"For what? For telling like it is?" Don Alejandro shouted back, red-faced with rage. "You only did what you did because you are a heartless son of a bitch!"

"Come on, Don Alejandro. It's not worth it. Leave it," Victoria said, pulling from the old don's arm to get him away from the alcalde, who look like about to him hit, lifting his fist. "If you carry on behaving like this, Alcalde, winding everybody up, Zorro will take care of you! Permanently!" she bluffed, knowing perfectly well this time would not be the case. But the empty threat worked, because the alcalde swallowed hard and then backed off.

"I told you before that taking Don Esteban to jail in his current state is absurd, Alcalde," the doctor said while examining him, having a look at his jiggling eyes first, as he moved them about wildly, from person to person, panicking with the bizarre situation, while he still had not regained control of his body. "There is absolutely no need for that. He is not going anywhere."

Ramón looked around, uneasy. He knew the doctor was right. That man wasn't going anywhere soon. He looked at the red-stain urine in that pot, then at his bruised abdomen, and decided that giving him a few more days to endure some pain at the tavern while recovering from that beating wasn't such a bad idea to keep him suffering, although it was a shame the poison in the dagger had faded and was now ineffective to finish him off. And, even more annoyingly, the dagger would be also useless to kill Zorro now, unless he could stab his heart with it, something quite unlikely.

"All right, Doctor. I'll allow him to stay here for now, but if he escapes, you'll be responsible for that."

"That's fine. I told you he won't go anywhere," the doctor said without looking at him.

The alcalde left the room then, and Don Alejandro closed the door behind him, but Pedro opened it again and stepped in, looking furious.

"Is everything alright, Sir? Should I sink this hammer in his forehead to get rid of him once and for all?" he said, brandishing the tool in his right hand.

"That would be great, but for now, no, thank you. Don't make matters worse by assaulting him. Just keep going with the charade a bit longer until Victoria closes the tavern, please," Don Alejandro said.

"Well, tell me if you change your mind, Boss. How is he?" Pedro said, pointing at Esteban.

"Struggling at the moment. But don't worry. Carry on working with Pablo, thanks."

"Can you breathe all right?" the doctor asked after Pedro left, because Esteban started to do so with some effort and a whinge, as he got progressively more alert and conscious of his aching body.

"It hurts," he whispered.

"Of course it does," the doctor said, touching the large bruise over his ribs, making him howl when he pressed gently on it to check the damaged bones. "Maldita sea! That bastard pushed down on those broken ribs, displacing them, and they may have pierced the liver now. I don't know. If that's the case, you can bleed significantly, inside. And I will not be able to stop it."

"That's… not going… to happen," Esteban said, with a broken voice, between gasps, playing it down when he saw Victoria's anxious expression. "Don't be so… dramatic."

"I really hope you are right about that. I really do."

"Are you replacing his bandage?" Don Alejandro asked.

"Not for now. It will better if you take deep breaths to try to push the displaced ribs back in position before I replace the supportive bandage. I know, it is going to hurt, a lot, but give it a try, please. Take a deep breath."

Esteban tried to fill his lungs with air, but he winced with a painful grimace half way through the inspiration, and let go of most of the air he had taken in, puffing.

"I can't!" he said, giving up at the first attempt.

"Well, keep trying. It is for your own good, you see?"

"He passed this urine before," Don Alejandro said, showing the doctor the chamber pot.

"That looks like blood!" Victoria said, gasping. "That must be a very bad sign!"

"No, it is quite normal after abdominal trauma, don't worry. Actually, it is good to see he can produce such amount of urine, even it is so red, because that bladder could have burst, judging for the number of bruises he has in there. Esteban, did it sting when you passed it?"

"No."

"Did it flow alright?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry about it then. Worry about your liver instead. I know you are not very keen on it, but I think you should take some laudanum or even pure opium tincture for the pain."

"I want to be alert. At least until Diego wakes up and he is out on danger. You may need me for something."

"I don't think you can be of much help for anything at the moment, Son," Don Alejandro said, tapping his arm gently. "Take the sedatives and rest. At least you don't need to worry anymore about that bastard finding out you are awake."

"What about your meal?" Victoria said. "Do you want to eat it now?"

"No. It is a shame, but if I eat that now I think I will be sick," Esteban said. "I feel like throwing up already."

"Don't eat it now then. I'll leave that dish for you here, for later. If I can't help with anything else here, I better go back downstairs now to carry on serving dinners. The sooner everyone is served, the sooner they can go and I can close the tavern. Esteban, please, don't worry about anything, take all the sedatives you need, and rest," she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "You've done enough."

"All right, I'll take the laudanum then, Doctor."

"Good decision. Wait a second, I have some in the bag," the doctor said, looking for it.

"I'll see you later," Victoria said, leaving the room.

Following the doctor's advice, Esteban tried to take another deep breath, but the same as before, he didn't manage to fill up his lungs, whining with the effort.

Damn it. I hate you, Ramón. I hate you! he thought, closing his eyes, clenching the sheets with his fists.

ZZZZZ

AN – Yeap. Maiming Queen is back at it, sorry. A full chapter of misery for Esteban (Sorry if the title was misleading and you thought Diego was the one to raise like Lazarus. Oops.)

For those of you who don't know how bad a hard blow to the liver would feel, have a little research and google "liver punch." I especially like the doctor's explanation in the youtube video "MMA Muay Thai Boxing Liver Body Shot." There are plenty of videos of professional boxers going down with these blows. Enjoy!

(And you, writers, feel free to use "liver punches" in your fanfiction fights from now on. I think they are great) ;)