Struggle

Chapter 2 - Fever dreams

COLE

"Cole, buddy, time to wake up," Mike's voice reached his ear with its usual warmth but soon urged him more. "Son! I need you to wake up."

He knew this couldn't be real. His father had died practically in his arms. But the sound was exactly like Mike. The curiosity won and Cole opened his eyes a crack. "Dad?"

"There you are, buddy," Mike smiled at him.

"Dad!" Cole pulled his father instantly into a tight hug, never wanting to let him go.

Mike laughed and patted his shoulder. It was then that Cole realized the pain from earlier was gone. He felt fresh and well-rested. He released his father and looked around pretty much confused. He was in an unknown area that could be anywhere in the middle east or west. Sky and Savior had to be with him. They had to be somewhere but none of the two was there.

"What happened, where are we, and why are you here? You … you died." Cole was totally confused now. Was he just dreaming? Was he dead?

"Slow down, buddy. I think I'm just a memory in your head, I'm sorry. You're having a fever dream. Remember? The Kyhara has poisoned you."

How could Mike know this? He had to be right; this was all only happening inside his head. Cole really considered never waking up again. His father would be here by his side but then he thought of the others who waited for him. He knew Sky had been with him before he had passed out. She waited for him to wake up, like Daniel and Sam awaited him home soon. He was not supposed to give up, as hard as it felt to let his father go again. One thing came to his mind. "Dad, what happened with you, Wade, and Bastian? We didn't find out what caused the fever you died from."

"Son, I can't tell you more as you already found out, I'm just a product of your fantasy, not the real Mike Campbell."

Cole looked disappointed. "I … I know. I screwed up everything, Dad. I'm responsible for Billy getting hurt. I should have thought this through."

Mike laid a hand on his son's arm. "Hey, don't blame it all on you. Did you have the time then to think it through, or did the situation call for a quick decision? You are both alive and the Kyhara is dead. That is all that matters. I know you didn't harm Billy on purpose. You're not like that. You know deep inside yourself, that if you hadn't blown her up you both would probably be dead now."

Mike was right. "For a product of my fantasy you seem pretty wise and totally Mike-like to me," he smiled lopsidedly.

"Well, you know me well. It isn't difficult for your head to know what I would say. You know I'm always with you, Son. It's time for you to finally wake up, Sky is worried. When these cuts get infected you're in real trouble. Get your sorry ass to Liberty. You need help." Mike smiled and patted Cole's cheek softly. "You will survive this, you hear me? You have to, that is an order, soldier."

Cole smiled sadly. He knew this was their goodbye and he didn't know when he would be able to talk to his father again - even when it was only inside his head. "Yes, Sir," he answered.

Mike smiled, "I'm proud of you, never forget that. I know you will be a great Knight."

A gust of wind came up and the shape of his father was blown away like the ashes of a fire. "Dad! Dad!" Cole shouted.

*** WWT Prequel ***

SKY

Cole awoke with a start, shouting, "Dad!"

Sky was up in no time and barked once. Quickly she began to cuddle with Cole. Finally, he had woken up. Now everything would be just fine. She started dancing happily on the spot.

Cole reached for her fur and grabbed it like a lifeline. She felt his fear and the shaking of his hand, smelled the sweat his body radiated.

With a sad, exhausted voice he whispered. "I need James or Doc Lewis' help. We have to find our way back to Liberty." Cole turned his head slowly, checking the area. "Did you and Savior bring me here?"

Sky barked affirmatively and watched as Cole fought his aching body into a sitting position. Getting him back to Liberty would be quite a challenge.

*** WWT Prequel ***

COLE

Cole's shoulder hurt badly. But it wasn't enough that he was poisoned and had a cut on his shoulder - no - a piece of wood had not only scratched his leg as he had thought at first. The two-inch-long stick had forced its way through the fabric of his pants and now was stuck deep inside his thigh where he just couldn't get a hold of it to pull it out.

Frustrated, he let it be after the umptieth try. He should put the little strength he had into the task to gather his things and get on Savior's back.

With a lot of effort, he rolled his bedroll and folded Mike's plaid. He still felt dizzy but thank God, he had stopped feeling like he was about to throw up. Cole climbed on his stallion and had to breathe deeply for a while until the throbbing in his shoulder lessened. Then he ordered his fellas to ride. "C'mon Savior, bring us home to Liberty. Sky, you know the way, baby, right? You take the lead."

Sky barked and rushed confidently ahead.

They rode for four hours and Cole tried desperately to stay in the saddle and awake. He still didn't feel completely clear in his head, though not as poisoned as yesterday. The numb feeling in his hand and face had lessened, nearly gone. He was adamant to fulfill the order Mike had given him and get his ass to Liberty.

He began to recognize a few landmarks. He had to hold on for another hour. The Missouri River was already to his right side and they'd followed its course now up to Liberty City. Cole tried to focus only on the water and fell into some kind of trance trying to block out the fierce pain in his shoulder and the throbbing in his upper thigh.

When they entered the city he was barely aware of it. Savior and Sky brought him safely to James' front door, but moving, even only to get out of the saddle, hurt so badly and Cole only managed to lean onto Savior's neck semi-conscious. Sky began barking but he just couldn't stay awake any longer.

*** WWT Prequel ***

JAMES

James Singer was on his way back home from Billy. They had brought him to Liberty yesterday, although in clean surroundings and Doc Baker's assistance they hadn't been able to save his eye. Perry had berated the whole way over Cole and his inability to think first about his actions. James had said nothing to it. He knew his friend and knew Cole hadn't done this on purpose.

Cole hadn't come home yet. If he didn't show up today, James thought about searching for his friend, but he had no idea where Cole had vanished. Maybe he had left for Wyoming. He turned around the corner to his house, his doctor's bag in his hand.

The sun was already standing low over the Missouri River and the last sun rays of the day shone over, illuminating the shape of a rider in front of his house. Then he heard barking. This was Sky's sound, he was sure. He sped up his pace and approached the rider.

"Cole? Finally, I began to worry where you …" James stopped talking when he saw his friend's state. Bent over his stallion he had dug his fingers tight into Savior's mane.

Cole turned his head a little and opened his eyes a crack. Slurred he whispered, "James, help me…"

His friend sank towards James' outstretched arms. James had trouble steadying their fall and they both landed hard on the ground.

"Do you need help, Doctor Singer?" a passenger who had witnessed the scene asked.

James was glad someone helped him carry the injured man into his office. Cole hadn't been able to say what was wrong with him. With skilled hands, he took off his friend's clothes and started examining for possible injuries. Cole had had a scratch on his upper thigh, James recalled from yesterday. This was the first thing the doctor checked. He found red hot skin. Something stuck inside his thigh. The entrance wound was not big but as far as James could tell, a pretty long piece of wood, like the one that had destroyed Billy's eye, had forced its way deep inside Cole's thigh. He hoped it hadn't hit an artery. Then he spotted the cut in Cole's coat and frowned. He checked his friend's shoulder and found an already infected festering cut.

Doctor Baker peeked inside. "James, do you need any help? I heard you talking to Mr. Snider and saw you carrying someone into the office. Is it Cole? Sky is in the hallway whining constantly." The doctor's gaze wandered to the shape on the bed recognizing the young hunter. "What happened?"

Doc Baker and James worked in their usual trained manner and took off Cole's clothes completely to exclude any further injuries as Cole wasn't conscious. They found none and James began cleaning the shoulder wound.

Meanwhile, Doctor Baker studied his thigh to decide if an artery was hit or not. "I can not tell it for sure. It is pretty close to the artery. But we have to remove it anyway. We need to be very careful not to cause damage by pulling the stick out," he told James his concerns.

"At least we'll need nothing to sedate him, he doesn't even flinch under the treatment. I wonder why he had waited so long to head home? He knows such injuries have to be taken care of as soon as possible," James told his mentor upset and angry.

Lewis Baker smiled slightly. "He'll tell us when he wakes up. I have often wondered the same when Mike came to me with a strange injury he hadn't taken care of for too long. They think only because we have a doctor's title we can fix everything. Let's see if we can do this little miracle at least for him. How is Billy?"

James sighed, "So far, the wound is not infected. I think the other eye will not be influenced by the damage."

James stitched up the shoulder wound and concentrated now on the other one. The two doctors worked extra carefully and managed to get the stick out without problems. Cole had developed a fever and they would have to keep a close eye on him but he was out of the woods so far.

Though James usually didn't allow animals in his office, he made an exception for Sky. The dog wasn't to be silenced until he let her sit beside Cole. On the other side, James held a bedside vigil reading a book to keep himself entertained.

The hours passed to nearly midnight when Cole began to stir in sleep and started waking up. James got up and stretched his aching limbs. Then bent over and took Cole's pulse out of habit. "Easy, my friend. I got you, you are safe in my office in Liberty," he reassured the waking hunter.

Cole groaned, exhausted, "What happened?"

James frowned, "I hoped you would tell me. The last time I saw you, you said it was just a scratch and left headlong for who knows where from the place the hunting party gathered. And next you fool, showed up on my doorstep a full day later with two bad injuries. You should know better than to let it untreated this long."

"How's Billy?" Cole asked instead of answering.

"Well, he's angry and can wear an eye patch from now on but he will survive. Though you better not show up at Graham's door for the next time."

Cole sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I had to get away from all of you for a while. I didn't want this to happen. And I hadn't noticed my injury over the whole fiasco with Billy."

"Don't worry, Cole. They will come around and your injuries will heal. You were lucky this time."

"You know, James, somedays I wonder how long I will manage to survive as a hunter and on other days I wish it was my last day. I'm tired. I have nothing to gain anymore. If it was not for Daniel I wouldn't see any reason to live. Since my dad has passed away under my hands I feel completely alone and without guidance. All the hard work to fight another day, what for?"

"Don't say that, Cole. There will be better days, trust me. You'll never know what tomorrow brings," James tried to encourage him.

"Yeah, I know exactly what tomorrow will bring. A moaning Billy and an angry Perry on my doorstep, I guess. Everything happened so fast yesterday I had to do something. I had to kill that thing. We couldn't have kept her entertained much longer. They are right - it was all my fault. I should have found another way to kill her."

James turned and began rummaging through his bag. "As we speak of ways to kill, I think this belongs to you." He took the Dragon's Talon out, offering it to Cole.

TBC