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azombiewritesTitle: Blackmail
Eleventh story in 'The Continuing Ezra Standish Saga'
Rating: PG
Warnings: Bad writing ahead!
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Summary: An old enemy of Chris's arrives in town to seek revenge against him. And to do it she takes a friend of Ezra's hostage to blackmail him into helping her seek revenge.
Main Characters: Ezra, and the rest of the seven, and some OC's
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Beta: Not betaed – written in the early days when I didn’t know what the words grammar and edit meant. *is ashamed but no longer care*
Notes: Eleventh story in the ‘Continuing Ezra Standish Saga’.
Spoilers: None.
Total Word Count: 33,041
Part Three
Christy dreamt when she finally did lie down to rest, she dreamt of the prison where she had been held. She remembered the pain that had been inflicted upon her by the other inmates, the beatings and other things that she would never have thought of doing to another person. She didn't know why they had done it to her but after a while, she had begun to use the pain to get through the days. The pain had stopped her thinking about the things that would have driven her crazy, she would not admit to herself that she had already been driven crazy. After a while, the pain had stopped and she found that it was something she needed, something that she had begun to enjoy, to crave, so she began to do things to be punished so she could continue to receive the pain. It was the pain that had allowed her to get through the day and at nighttime, it was the dreams of killing Larabee that got her through the darkness that surrounded her cell.
Her dreams turned to Chris Larabee, she smiled as she saw him strung up between two trees his arms being pulled in different directions. She saw the whip in her hand and began to use it enjoying the screams that came from his mouth. She felt the blood from his back on her fingers as she ran them along the tears in his skin. Christy's dreams changed again, this time she was enjoying the taste of Ezra's mouth and he was returning the kiss using his own tongue to explore her mouth and his hands to explore her body. She ran her still blood soaked hands through his hair imagining how it would feel. She felt the pain as he bit her lip returning the injury that she had given him. Her dreams changed and they continued to do so throughout the night.
***
A violent shiver wracked Ezra's body causing a bolt of pain to be sent through his shoulder. His eyes flew open, the heaviness of his eyelids no longer apparent. He clenched his teeth as his body continued to shake. He felt warm hands trying to hold him still and he looked at the worried faces before him. His hands gripped the sheets beneath him. The pain began to leave as his body finally began to relax. He became aware of the nauseous feeling in his stomach and he thought he was going to be sick again. He rolled over on to his left side and brought his knees up as far as he could think that it would stop the feeling that he disliked so much. He closed his eyes and could feel his shoulder protesting in pain at the movement but he ignored it and waited hoping that the sickness would pass. He felt a hand on his forehead and tried to move away from it but it caused both the pain and nausea to worsen and for a moment, he thought that he was going to throw up and not have a choice in the matter, he kept his head still and allowed the hand to stay where it was.
"He's feeling a bit warmer." Ezra heard Nathan say to someone. He felt another hand against his throat feeling his pulse. "His heart rate has slowed to." he also heard relief in Nathan's voice.
"When are you going to take the bullet out?" It was Jeans voice this time.
'Bullet, what bullet.' thought Ezra. He wanted to voice the question but they would only force him to drink water and he still felt sick and water would only make him throw up.
"I'll do it in the morning." answered Nathan, he sounded apprehensive though.
The thought of the pain that Nathan would cause him made him moan and when he realised that he made a sound he moaned again knowing that they would now make him drink more water and he did not look forward to it especially if they did it the way they did last time.
"Ezra? You awake?" asked Nathan as he knelt down so he could look into Ezra's pale face.
"No." Ezra did some of his own protesting, if his stomach could do it then so could he.
"Ezra you need to drink some water." Nathan moved his hand from Ezra's forehead down to his arm
"I feel sick Nathan, I don't want any water, and I keep telling you that." Ezra mumbled as he was beginning to feel tired again.
"It will make you feel better and you won't feel sick anymore." Nathan wasn't sure if it would make him throw up or not but he needed to get him to drink as he needed the fluids to help him to continue to recover from the shock. He didn't want to do what they did before as he knew that Ezra resented it and it wasn't pleasant for any of them, especially Ezra.
Ezra opened his heavy eyelids and looked into Nathan's brown eyes, he could see Jean standing behind him. "I don't believe you."
"Why won't you drink it Ezra?" Jean came forward and Nathan moved to the side to give her room.
"Because it will make me sick." he told her.
"There is nothing wrong with being sick Ezra. You won't be able to stop it, you need to drink the water. She put her hand under the blanket and took Ezra's hand in hers.
"I can't be sick, it will show how weak I am." Jean saw the look of hurt in his eyes and knew that he was not talking about being physically weak.
"Who told you that?" she asked him.
"Mother." he closed his eyes, he needed to sleep again.
"Could you leave us alone for a while please." Jean asked the room. She waited until Nathan and Chris left. "Ezra would you drink it for me, you know I won't think that of you."
He forced his eyes back open and looked into her eyes and gave into her, he nodded his head. He rolled onto his back and groaned at the pain that went through his shoulder. Jean then helped him sit up and put some pillows behind his back so he could lean back. She then filled a cup with some water that included herbs that Nathan had put in it. She held the cup while Ezra slowly drank the water. He waited a moment thinking that it was going to stay down but his stomach was only trying to fool him. It revolted and brought it all back up again causing his stomach muscles to spasm, it also caused a lot of pain in his shoulder.
"Let's try again Ezra." Jean said soothingly but Ezra shook his head. "Please Ezra just once, if it doesn't stay down we'll leave it till later."
"Promise." he grimaced, the pain had not eased in his shoulder and he knew that if he threw up again the pain would become unbearable.
"Promise." she agreed with him.
Jean helped him drink the water again silently praying that he was able to keep it down and she smiled as the seconds passed and her prayer was answered. She pulled the pillows out from behind Ezra's back and helped ease him back down onto the bed and sat with him for a few minutes until he fell asleep again. She could tell by the feel of her hand against his skin that Nathan was right about him warming up. The shock that his body was suffering from was beginning to ease.
She left the room to talk to the others who had been patiently waiting in the other room. Everyone looked up as she quietly closed the door behind her. "I managed to get him to drink some water, he couldn't hold down the first amount but he was able to keep it down on his second try. He's sleeping now." she smiled at them.
"Good." said Nathan, the relief not only sounding in his voice but also showing on the faces around the room. They were worried as Ezra had not reacted like this to an injury before. Nathan explained to them that the shock was something that could cause his death and that until Ezra improved he was not going to take the bullet out of his shoulder. He then turned to the room.
"I need someone to go to town for me to get some things that I am going to need to remove the bullet from Ezra's shoulder." he looked around the room at the faces that held worried and anxious expressions.
"I'll go." offered Josiah.
"I'll go with you." added Vin. "The rain should let up in a couple of hours, we can go then."
Nathan nodded and then went back into the bedroom to stay with Ezra through the night, Jean followed him into the room as she did not want to leave Ezra's side for too long.
Chris watched as Josiah and Vin rode out to Four Corners after the rain had stopped, they would be back by morning and then Nathan was going to finally take out the bullet that was still lodged in Ezra's shoulder. He went back inside past JD, Buck and Nettie who was discussing something but Chris was not listening. He was to worried about Ezra, all he could think of was how he had always treated him and now Ezra had gone and done something else that proved he was loyal to the group and that they all could trust him with their lives. He would never doubt Ezra again.
He stepped into the room quietly to find Nathan trying to get Ezra to drink some more water. He moved to the side of the room and listened to the argument while allowing a small smile to spread across his face. The arguments between Nathan and Ezra always amused him for some reason.
"Jean will you have a go please as I seem to be wasting my breath." It was Jean that Nathan spoke to but he growled at Ezra who was just lying on the soft bed looking at him with pain-filled eyes.
"Ezra you probably won't be sick this time." Jean sat on the bed and took the cup full of water from Nathan who then went and stood next to Chris.
"Most stubborn person I have ever met." he whispered to Chris.
"I still hurt from the last time." Ezra's whisper was even quieter than Nathan's and Jean had to strain her ears to hear him.
"For me Ezra please."
"No." he did it for Jean last time and all he got out of it was a lot of pain that he did not want to go through again.
"Ezra."
"No."
"Nathan will force you to drink it again if he has to." Jean knew that he would but she didn't want to see that happen to Ezra again.
"Let him try." he tried to sound convincing but he did not succeed.
"Ezra please." Jean pleaded with him. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
Ezra smiled at her, but it dropped off as he saw Chris come towards him. "Are you gonna drink that Ezra or am I going to have to force you and you know I will." Chris smiled at him.
"No." but Ezra did not sound so sure any more.
"No you won't drink it or not I won't make you." Chris continued to smile as he was actually enjoying himself even thought he knew that it was a serious situation.
Ezra looked at Chris then at Jean who was standing next to him with a smile on her face and then to Nathan who was also smiling down at him. "Alright already but if I throw up it will be all over you Mr Larabee." Ezra threatened him but he knew that it was an empty threat. Ten minutes later Ezra was asleep again after drinking two cups of water and keeping them both down.
***
Vin and Josiah rode into Four Corners just after midnight, the streets were deserted and the fires that were lit by the townsfolk were now just smouldering embers. They headed straight to Nathan's room, they tied their horses to the railing at the bottom of the stairs and then made their way up to the room. Nathan had given them a list and told them where to find certain things and once they had collected what he required they returned to their horses.
"Good morning gentlemen." smiled the Judge.
Josiah spun around at the voice and dropped the bag that carried everything that Nathan had requested. "Judge, what are you still doing up?" he was shocked.
"Couldn't sleep so I went for a walk." he looked from one hired gunman to the other. "Where's Mr Standish?"
"He's uh, spending the night at Nettie's with the rest of the guys, and were uh, heading back there now." Vin explained to him, he didn't exactly lie but he wasn't going to tell him the whole truth either.
"Is that true Mr Sanchez?"
"Yes it is Judge. We were helping Nettie with some things and then it started raining so she invited us to stay." Josiah bent down and picked up the bag that he had dropped hoping that the Judge could not tell that he was lying.
"Then why are you here?" He knew they were lying about something but it was obvious that they were not planning to tell him the truth.
"JD cut himself pretty bad and Nathan wanted a few things to fix him up." Said Vin.
"When you return please tell Mr Standish that I know he has not been in town in the last two weeks and I will deal with him when he comes back. And gentlemen make sure that he does return who it will be you that I will speak to." The Judge turned on his heel and went back to his rooms.
Josiah and Vin took one look at each other and then got on their horses and rode back to Nettie’s and on the way back they took wagers on if and how Ezra was going to talk his way out of this one.
***
Nathan sat quietly in the corner watching Ezra sleep, he couldn't understand why a mother would make her own child feel ashamed of being ill. Now he understood why Ezra would not normally admit to feeling ill or suffering any sort of pain from his wounds and why he always tried so hard to stop him from helping when he was sick or injured.
"Nathan?" Ezra groaned from the bed. Nathan got up quickly and moved to the side of the bed.
"Are you feeling sick again Ezra?"
"No not anymore. I'm sorry Nathan." he tried to roll onto his side to change position as he was getting uncomfortable, he felt Nathan's hands help him roll over.
"For what Ezra?" He was slightly surprised as Ezra did not usually apologise for things that he had done.
"For being a pain in the ass."
"That's alright Ezra, you wouldn't be you if you weren't." this made Ezra laugh and he began to cough causing the pain to rip through his shoulder. "Take it easy Ezra."
"And how do you propose that I do that Mr Jackson?"
"There you go Ezra, being your normal self again." Nathan tried to keep him still as he laughed again.
"Ahg!! Will you stop doing that!" Ezra growled at him.
"Sorry." smiled Nathan. He stayed at his side waiting for Ezra's pain to subside. "Think you could drink some water?"
"Don't start that please."
"Why don't you get some more sleep Ezra, you’re going to need it in the morning." Nathan watched as he closed his eyes grateful that he didn't have to look upon his pain-filled gaze anymore. He placed his hand on his forehead and then cheek feeling that he had returned to his normal body temperature. He hoped that it wouldn't change again after his took the bullet out.
Vin and Josiah arrived back at Nettie Wells’s farm a few hours before dawn and JD came out to take care of the horses. When they went back inside Nettie gave them each a cup of coffee to warm the bones that would be chilled due to the cold night air. Josiah took his coffee and the bag that they had brought back for Nathan into the room where he knew he would still be. He opened the door and entered the darkened room seeing the still form under the blankets. He could not see Ezra's face in the darkness and was grateful as he did not like to see him so pale and sick.
"How is he?" asked Josiah as he quietly moved to the side of the room towards the figures that were sitting against the wall. He could see three of them outlined in the filtered light of the lamp.
"Better." whispered Nathan. "He has drunk more water and he is back to his normal body temperature." he took the bag that Josiah handed him. "He's sleeping now."
"That's good. Chris we ran into the Judge back in town and he says that he knows Ezra hasn't been there." He could feel Chris's face go hard, you could always feel the tension around Chris, and you didn't have to see his face to know what he was thinking or feeling.
"Thanks Josiah." Chris watched as Josiah took his own place against the wall so he could wait with them.
A few minutes later Vin stuck his own head around the door to see how Ezra was doing. "How is he doing?" Vin asked.
"I would be doing a lot better if you people stopped interrupting me." groaned Ezra.
"Ezra's right everyone, why don't you wait outside." Nathan got up and started to usher everyone out of the room.
Nathan did not ask Jean to leave as he knew she would refuse to leave. Ezra was asleep again before Nathan even went back to the bed to check on him. He sighed and went back to sit next to Jean.
"Don't you think that you should get some sleep as well Nathan, you will also need your strength for the morning."
Jean put her hand on his and squeezed it gently. He nodded to her and leaned back against the wall closing his eyes and he too was asleep within minutes.
***
Chrisy continued to dream of torturing Chris and having her way with Ezra, the dreams began to interchange and she dreamt of punishing Ezra for stopping her when she tried to kill Larabee, she was inflicting pain upon him and enjoying the screams that came from his mouth. She wanted to kiss that mouth but for some reason she was enjoying his screams more. She didn't use a whip as she had with Chris she did different things to Ezra. She first started by breaking some of his fingers as she knew that he was a gambler and that it was one of the worse things that you could to them. She then decided to go all the way and actually cut off his forefinger of his right hand. He really screamed in protest at that one. Christy smiled in her sleep, she really was enjoying her dreams now. Her dreams soon changed back to getting her pleasure from Ezra and she smiled even more at the enjoyment not being able to decide which she enjoyed more. Inflicting pain upon his person and taking enjoyment from his body. She decided that when she finally found him she would try both and then make a decision.
***
"Chris I want you to lean across his chest so he doesn't move his shoulder about too much and Josiah you lean on his legs. He will probably wake up as soon as we roll him onto his back so be ready." Nathan had woken a couple of hours after dawn to find that there was plenty of light in the room so he decided that after a cup of coffee he would remove the bullet. Chris and Josiah were now in the room and were prepared to follow his instructions. Jean also sat close so she could reassure Ezra, not that she thought he would listen to her under the circumstances.
Nathan and Chris gently rolled Ezra onto his back hearing his groan of protest. His eyelids fluttered open and he saw them leaning over him. "Is there something wrong?" he asked the group. His voice was only a whisper as he was not fully awake or aware of what their intentions may be.
"Nathan has to take the bullet out Ezra." Jean explained to him and she saw his eyes open wide as he understood what they were doing.
"What now?" he growled at them. He was fully awake now and started to struggle causing the pain to erupt in his shoulder. He clenched his teeth against it and felt the weight of Chris Larabee across his chest.
"Yes now Ezra." Chris said back to him and he saw the fear in his eyes, fear of the pain that was to come. If anyone said that they could just clench their teeth and take it, they were stupid. He understood Ezra's fear and hoped that Nathan would be as quick as possible.
Ezra moaned through clenched teeth as Nathan probed the two wounds in the front of his shoulder and the one in the back to determine which one on the front would have the bullet in it. After working out the angle, he knew which one it was. Nathan then picked up the instrument that he would use to open the wound, Nettie had boiled water for him so he could sterilise the instruments that he would use, he didn't look into Ezra's eyes but instead spread the wound open. He felt Ezra tense up and he then used another instrument to probe the wound causing Ezra even more pain. Ezra turned his head to the side and pressed himself into the bed, he tried to struggle against the pain but he was too weak to fight Chris's and Josiah's weight, which was holding him down. He felt someone's hand brush the hair from his forehead and then wipe the sweat that was beginning to form there.
Ezra's moans became louder as the pain grew worse, he hoped that he would at least blackout soon but he was not so lucky, the pain continued. He could feel Nathan probing around in his shoulder, he could feel it through every nerve ending and they screamed in agony at what was being done to them. He wanted to relax and given in to the pain but it wouldn't let him, he could no longer feel the weight on him or feel the touch on his face as he was now in his own world of pain and it was getting worse with each second.
His shoulder was screaming at him and he couldn't stop the pain. "Nathan!" he managed to say through clenched teeth hoping that he heard him.
"I'm trying to be as quick as I can Ezra." Nathan was having trouble finding the bullet, he hoped that Ezra would have passed out by now but he hadn't. He pulled the wound open even more and heard Ezra voice his pain again, he looked up at his face, which was half buried in the pillow and was distorted by the pain.
"You're doing fine Nathan, keep going." Josiah reassured him.
Nathan turned back to the wound, he used a cloth to wipe away the blood, which was now flowing, freely from the wound and he thought he saw a glint of metal, he moved the instrument towards it and felt it press against something hard, and he gripped it and gently pulled. The instrument came out with the bullet clenched between its tongs, he put in on the side table and then began to clean the wounds. This caused Ezra even more pain.
"Nearly finished Ezra." Once he had cleaned, the wounds he had Chris sit Ezra up so he could bandage his shoulder.
Ezra still moaned at each touch to his shoulder and even when Nathan had finished and he was laid back down on the
bed his shoulder continued to protest against what it had just been put through. Jean continued to wipe the sweat off his face.
"Nathan's finished now Ezra." Jean told him.
"Then why hasn't the pain stopped?" he grimaced through clenched teeth. "And why is everyone still sitting on me?"
Chris and Josiah got up off the bed and left the room to tell the others that Nathan had finished.
"I'll give you something for the pain Ezra but it means that you are going to have to drink some water."
Ezra moaned and reluctantly drunk the mixture that Nathan gave him. "That Mr Jackson is going to make me sick again." after all that pain the last thing Ezra wanted was to be sick.
"It will help you sleep Ezra so you won't have to worry about that for a while." Nathan watched as Ezra's breathing became a steady rhythm as he fell asleep. He pulled the blankets back up over his chest and sat down again in the chair next to Jean and hoped that his condition would continue to improve and not worsen.
***
Christy kicked Dave's hip hearing him grunt at the interruption. "Get up Dave, were going into town." She walked away intending to saddle her horse, she knew that doing this would cause the wound to open and bleed but she didn't care, the pain would get her through the day as the dreams she had that night had gotten her through the darkness.
"I thought that we were going into Four Corners tonight?" he grumbled at her, not realising the mood that she was in.
He heard the gunshot and felt the dirt and grass kick up into his face, which was still lying on his right forearm. He quickly sat up and spat out the dirt that had found its way into his open mouth. He had always slept with his mouth open, it was an old habit that began from an early age.
"I changed my mind, I've got this feeling so we are going now!" she growled at him from her horse. She used both arms to tighten the cinch and grimaced at the pain and then smiled as she enjoyed the ache that stayed in her arm.
Once the horse was saddled, she mounted it and then sat quietly waiting for Dave to saddle his. She enjoyed watching him hurry and fumble with what he was trying to do. She scared him and she enjoyed doing that, she liked to scare people, especially men. But Larabee and Ezra had not been scared of her, Ezra had only done what she wanted because she threatened the life of his friend. She licked her lips at the thought of Ezra, the taste of his mouth and the blood that she had drawn from his lip. She decided that Dave could catch up to her. She headed off the Four Corners savouring each moment that it took to get there.
***
Ezra jerked awake at the gentle touch of someone's hand against his forehead. He lifted his heavy eyelids to find Nathan watching him. He lifted a weak arm to try to push him away but it fell back to the bed and Nathan's warm hand was still pressed against his head. Jean came towards the bed and replaced Nathan's hand with a cool cloth, he tried to remove it but Jean took his hand and pulled his arm back to the bed, which was not hard because he did not have the strength to fight her.
"Nathan," Ezra found it hard to talk through the pain, "remind me never to apologise to you for anything I do again." he noticed how Nathan just nodded at him and not smile at the comment. 'Something is wrong.' Ezra thought to himself but before he could ask the question aloud, he was asleep again.
Nathan looked up as he heard the door open and saw Buck sticking his head around the door, they had been taking turns all morning to check on how Ezra was doing. He didn't need to voice the question because every time a face appeared at the door Nathan told them how he was.
"He's gone back into shock and he now has a fever." Buck nodded and stepped back out from the room closing the door behind him.
Jean sat by the bed and continued to wipe the sweat off Ezra's cool clammy skin while Nathan checked the wound under the bandages, they were still clean and no infection had set in so he hoped that the fever that Ezra was suffering from would not get any worse and would hopefully be gone soon.
Ezra lay quietly in his darkened room, he could hear no sounds around him , no voices, no movement but he could feel everything. He felt the pain in his shoulder and back and it spread throughout his whole body causing every part of him to ache. He felt cold and warm at the same time and when the shivers went through him, they caused the pain to worsen. He also began to feel sick again, he moaned at the thought.
"Ezra?" Jean called to him softly.
Ezra did not hear her though, all he could think of was the pain and the thought of throwing up again. He moaned a second time and then heard a voice calling him.
"Ezra?" Jean tried again, she could hear him moan in his sleep and they needed to get him to drink some water again so she tried to bring him around. She watched as he pressed his head further into the pillow, a grimace emerging to replace the slack expression that had been on his face for the last two hours. "Ezra?"
Ezra could hear Jean's voice calling him but he had some trouble responding to her, he tried to move but only his head managed to change position, he tried to open his eyes but the lids were too heavy. He felt the pain get worse as he became even more aware of it. He tried to say something but only a croak came out of his dry throat.
"Come on Ezra wake up." Nathan said to him in a voice that was louder than Jean's. He had moved to the side of the bed and gently shook Ezra's uninjured shoulder.
Ezra finally managed to open his eyes but was confused as to why he could only see out of one of them but he realised that his head was pressed into the pillow, he turned his head but felt the dizziness go through his clouded mind. He blinked trying to focus his sight. His eyelids fluttered closed again.
"Ezra wake up." Nathan shook him again.
Ezra's eye opened again and focused on Nathan. He saw the look of concern on his face. "What's wrong?" he croaked.
"I want you to drink something for me." he saw Ezra grimace at the idea. "It will help the pain and your fever." Nathan explained. "Jean pass that cup will you please."
Ezra felt his head being lifted and groaned at the nausea that he felt, he then felt the cup against his dry lips and forced himself to swallow it. He felt it hit his stomach and knew instantly that it was going to come back up. he struggled to roll onto his side. "Nathan . . ." he didn't finish the sentence as he felt the bile fill his mouth. He felt his stomach muscles spasm and his shoulder scream. When he was finished, Nathan helped him back onto the bed. Ezra's face was contorted with pain.
"Let's try it again Ezra." He didn't even have to time to react as his head was lifted again and the water filled his mouth, he swallowed, this time choking on it and he felt his chest constrict in pain as a coughing fit wracked his body.
When it finally passed he relaxed back into the bed not realising that he no longer felt the need to be sick, he was soon asleep with Jean and Nathan sitting on the bed by his side.
***
Christy and Dave stopped on the edge of town, tying their horses to one of the railings in front of the old building that now had floorboards covering its windows. Christy looked around the main street-seeing people continue on with their everyday lives. Christy pulled her hat further down to cover her face and began to walk down towards the saloon where she thought the hired gunmen would be. They kept to the boardwalks using the people who also travelled them to be their cover. They were passing the local newspaper office when she heard Ezra's name mentioned, she pulled Dave to the side and with one facial expression told him not to say anything and she listened to the conversation and learnt the whereabouts of Ezra Standish and Chris Larabee.
"Standish is out at Nettie Wells’s farm and has been since yesterday!" the Judge growled at Mary.
"Maybe he has been there for a reason." Mary tried to explain to him.
"Don't defend him Mary, he has gotten you and everyone else to lie for him, to cover his lack of attendance in this town and when he gets back he is going to pay for it."
"Don't be too hard on him Judge, you know what he has been through."
But the Judge wasn't listening. "And the others who are still with him are also going to pay for it, hell I might even put all of them in jail and then let them see what it's like to go against me. They will rule the day when they lied to me."
Christy wasn't listening anymore, she tapped Dave on the shoulder and nodded him towards the direction of the telegraph office that they had already passed earlier. Once they had gotten the information that they required they headed out in the direction of Nettie Wells Farm.
***
It was Chris who opened the door quietly and showed his face to the room. He saw Ezra still sleeping with Nathan and Jean sitting in the chairs against the wall. Chris walked over to them watching Ezra's white face as he went, he couldn't get over how pale he was. "Why don't you two go and get something to eat, I'll sit with Ezra for a while." He knew it would be hard to get Jean to leave Ezra but she hadn't eaten since last night and he knew that it was because of worry. He hadn't eaten himself because of worry and guilt. It was his fault that Ezra was in this condition.
"I'll stay." Jean did not look up from Ezra's slack face.
Nathan stood up and took Jean's arm and dragged her out of the room. "If you get sick Jean then Ezra will blame me and I am not going to give him an excuse to have a go at me." grumbled Nathan as they left.
"Nathan I don't want to leave him, what if . . . " the closing of the bedroom door shut out the rest of the conversation.
Chris sat down in the chair and watched the gambler sleep. Nathan had come out of the room and told them that he had drunk some more water but apart from that, his condition hadn't improved. He leaned back in the chair not taking his eyes off Ezra. He sat that way for a while but then got up when he saw Ezra move under the blankets. He sat down on the bed next to him and waited for him to wake up. He nearly gave up and went back to his chair when Ezra's head rolled to the side and his eyes blinked open. Ezra's eyes continued to blink for a few seconds as he tried to focus on the person sitting next to him. "Chris?"
"Yeah Ezra it's me." he smiled down at him. "How are you feeling?"
"How do you think I feel." Ezra retorted.
"Like hell." Chris stated.
"Worse." Ezra rolled his head back to rest on his shoulder and he closed his eyes again.
Nathan and Jean came back into the room again seeing Chris sitting on the bed. "He awake?" asked Nathan.
"He was a minute ago but I think he's asleep again." Ezra kept quiet and did not prove Chris wrong. "He going to be okay Nathan?" Chris was still worried about him but then that always seemed to be the way with Ezra lately and most of the time he thought that the reason for him being worried was his own fault. Chris blamed himself for many of the things that happened to Ezra. He had sat with the others in the other room and watched them as they too worried about him, even Nettie was worried and she didn't particularly like Ezra but Casey seemed to be turning her more towards liking him for the man he was becoming, had become. Casey often told her the things that Ezra had done but she still wasn't sure about him but when Buck told her that Ezra had taken two bullets for Chris she was stunned and had seen him in a new light. This told her that he was not the selfish man that she thought he was, if a man would give his life for someone even though he found it hard to lend someone else money it did not make him a selfish person.
"His shoulder is fine, it hasn't become infected but I am still worried about the shock and fever, neither has improved yet." Nathan answered him. Jean sat back down in the chair and leaned to her right to look around Nathan so she could watch Ezra. She had nibbled on some of the lunch that Nettie had made but she wasn't hungry.
"Is he as bad as he was this morning?"
"No." Nathan sighed as he placed his hand against Ezra's forehead still feeling the heat there. "But if he doesn't improve then he may end up in the same way again."
Ezra was quietly listening to what Nathan was saying, he felt his hand against his face and wanted to move away from the touch but forced his head to stay where it was. He still felt slightly sick but not as bad as he had before, he didn't even feel as tired as he had been and he had finally begun to warm up but it still didn't mean that he wanted to drink water. He wasn't going to do that until he was sure that he would not throw up. He finally felt Nathan's hand leave his head but he felt the blanket being lifted from his shoulder and Nathan gently lift the bandage to check the wound. Ezra couldn't stop the small gasp as it escaped his throat.
"I see you weren't asleep after all Ezra." smiled Chris.
"You know what this means don't you Ezra, more water." Nathan said to him.
"Next time." Ezra opened his eyes and looked directly at Jean who was sitting across from him.
"If you don't drink it Ezra there may not be a next time." Nathan explained to him. Ezra looked at him with a questioning expression on his pain-lined face. "We nearly lost you this morning Ezra." The questioning look stayed on his face. "You went back into a state of shock not long after I took the bullet out but it was a lot worse than before."
Nathan looked into Ezra's eyes seeing the pain that he had caused still there. "I'm sorry Ezra, I should have waited."
"It is not your fault Nathan, you did what you had to do, and I feel better now if that helps." Ezra tried to smile to reassure him but couldn't manage it.
"No it is not your fault Nathan, it's mine."
"And why do you assume that Mr Larabee?" Chris looked at him but he saw that his eyes were closed again.
"Because Ezra those bullets were meant for me." Chris stated simply.
"Perhaps you should be blaming the person who pulled the trigger." Ezra told him. He opened his eyes again and stared at Chris. "It was not your fault either, you didn't push me in front of that bullet, and it was my own choice to do what I did." Ezra left it at that as he knew it was hard to convince Chris that he was wrong when it came to blaming himself for what happened.
"You gonna drink this water Ezra?" Nathan had an expression of determination on his face and after what he had told him he thought that he better do as he was told. He nodded and allowed them to help him sit up and help him drink the water. They laid him back down again and he waited for it to threaten to come back up. But it didn't. He closed his eyes and this time he did sleep.
***
Christy brought her horse to a stop at the edge of the trees and dismounted her horse, Dave followed her as she hid herself behind one of the trees. They both stared at the house in the distance knowing that the men she was after were in there. All she needed was a plan to get past their friends and to keep them away while she killed Larabee and spent some time with Ezra. She turned her gaze towards the barn near the house and thought of a plan to get them out of the house.
***
When Ezra woke, again later in the afternoon, his fever had finally broken and his body temperature was nearly back to normal, he found it easier to open his eyes as they no longer felt heavy but the pain in his shoulder continued to make a noise. Although it no longer screamed at him it did continue to yell, it had become very stiff and he had difficulty moving his arm so when he tried to push himself up into a seated position he had to do it with one arm that was until Jean came over to help.
"Ezra why don't you wait for me to help you." she chided him.
"Because Jean I do not wish to be a burden." he grimaced at the pain as his shoulder decided to let out a scream. The effort caused the sweat to form in droplets on his forehead and they slowly began to fall down his face. Jean quickly used a cloth to wipe it away.
"Ezra I am not your mother, you don't have to be stubborn about this. Your sick and injured, you need help." She replaced the cloth with her hand and gently wiped his cheek while looking into his eyes. "Let me and the others help you."
"I'll think about it." he smiled at her but Jean did not see the humour in the situation.
"Ezra Standish, if you were not already injured I would hurt you myself!" Jean got up and left the room slamming the door behind her.
The door opened again a few seconds later and Nathan walked in to see the stunned expression on Ezra's face.
"What was that about Ezra?" he moved to the bed and tried to feel Ezra's forehead but Ezra weakly pushed his arm away. Nathan forcefully put it back. "Your fever has finally broken." he smiled.
"Good perhaps you can stop touching my head." Ezra grimaced at him.
"You still haven't told me why Jean is so angry at you." Nathan sat on the bed where everyone else had also sat throughout the day when they wanted to spend time with Ezra. They had known that he would be asleep but they wanted to sit with him just in case.
"She thinks I'm stubborn." Ezra muttered knowing that Nathan was going to agree which he did.
"You are and you don't have to be Ezra, were you friends, you don't need to feel embarrassed about anything."
Ezra's mood darkened. "Try telling my mother that."
"Your mother isn't here Ezra." Nathan could tell that talking about this hurt him so he tried to change the subject.
"Nettie says that you can stay here a couple of weeks until . . ."
"A couple of weeks, you have got to be kidding. That woman does not even like me." Ezra interrupted him, there was no way he was going to stay here that long. As soon as everyone left, he would follow them.
"There you go again Ezra thinking that people don't like you." Nathan didn't like to hear Ezra put himself down like that, it actually made him angry to think that he had no self worth. He always seemed to exude confidence and yet sometimes he gave you reason to think that it was all an act and that deep down he needed the assurance that he was worth something, that he was liked and needed by people. "Nettie is quite impressed by what you did for Chris, we all are."
"Yes well none of you should be." Ezra looked away from Nathan.
"Alright Ezra I won't make you stay that long, why don't we wait a few days and then if I think you can travel to Four Corners then you can go home." Nathan got up from the bed. "Oh and it will also give you the chance to work out what you’re going to say to Judge Travis as he found out you haven't been in town." Nathan could not help but laugh at Ezra's expression. "Now I am going to get you something to eat, a bit of soup which you should be able to keep down."
"And if I was to tell you that I wasn't hungry." Ezra asked him a little too harshly.
"Then we would have to force you to eat it and you know what that will involve." Nathan said firmly.
"Oh great!" Ezra leant his head against the behead as he could no longer hold his head upright. He closed his eyes and hoped that he fell asleep before Nathan came back but the cry of fire stopped him from doing so.
***
Christy had waited until later in the afternoon and both she and Dave slowly crept towards the barn. If they heard gunshots then they would know that they had been seen but it there was no response then they would be able to carry out her plan. Dave headed towards the barn while Christy crept to the side of the house. The second window that she looked into showed her where Ezra was and that he was still alive. 'Good.' she thought as she could now still have her fun with him.
She found her way around the back of the house and waited for Dave to complete his part of the plan. She didn’t have to wait long, after a few minutes the smoke was already starting to float out of the barn doors. After another few minutes, she heard someone yelling out fire. She watched from the corner of the house as eight people ran out to the barn. It seems that no one thought that it was a diversion. Christy moved quickly around the other side of the house and made her way through the front door and head to the room that she knew Ezra was in.
***
JD walked onto the porch to get a bit of fresh air and to stretch his legs, they had all stayed in the main room of the house not wanting to go anywhere until they were sure Ezra was going to be alright. He had given them all quite a scare that morning when he had almost died. Nathan had said that his heartbeat was so rapid that it might cause him to have a heart attack, it was a very frightening three hours that they all had to wait. He looked over to the barn and saw the smoke.
"FIRE!" he yelled out. "FIRE!" he didn't wait until the others came out as he knew where Nettie kept the buckets. He ran into the barn and collected the four buckets that were kept just inside the door and ran to the well. The others ran out to see the barn on fire, they didn't think twice, even Jean and Nettie joined in on the fight against the fire. No one stopped to think about staying with Ezra.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
Master Fan Fiction List
Eleventh story in 'The Continuing Ezra Standish Saga'
Rating: PG
Warnings: Bad writing ahead!
Fandom: The Magnificent Seven
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Summary: An old enemy of Chris's arrives in town to seek revenge against him. And to do it she takes a friend of Ezra's hostage to blackmail him into helping her seek revenge.
Main Characters: Ezra, and the rest of the seven, and some OC's
Disclaimers: The guys are owned by CBS, MGM, Trilogy Entertainment Group, and The Mirisch Corp.
Beta: Not betaed – written in the early days when I didn’t know what the words grammar and edit meant. *is ashamed but no longer care*
Notes: Eleventh story in the ‘Continuing Ezra Standish Saga’.
Spoilers: None.
Total Word Count: 33,041
Part Three
Christy dreamt when she finally did lie down to rest, she dreamt of the prison where she had been held. She remembered the pain that had been inflicted upon her by the other inmates, the beatings and other things that she would never have thought of doing to another person. She didn't know why they had done it to her but after a while, she had begun to use the pain to get through the days. The pain had stopped her thinking about the things that would have driven her crazy, she would not admit to herself that she had already been driven crazy. After a while, the pain had stopped and she found that it was something she needed, something that she had begun to enjoy, to crave, so she began to do things to be punished so she could continue to receive the pain. It was the pain that had allowed her to get through the day and at nighttime, it was the dreams of killing Larabee that got her through the darkness that surrounded her cell.
Her dreams turned to Chris Larabee, she smiled as she saw him strung up between two trees his arms being pulled in different directions. She saw the whip in her hand and began to use it enjoying the screams that came from his mouth. She felt the blood from his back on her fingers as she ran them along the tears in his skin. Christy's dreams changed again, this time she was enjoying the taste of Ezra's mouth and he was returning the kiss using his own tongue to explore her mouth and his hands to explore her body. She ran her still blood soaked hands through his hair imagining how it would feel. She felt the pain as he bit her lip returning the injury that she had given him. Her dreams changed and they continued to do so throughout the night.
***
A violent shiver wracked Ezra's body causing a bolt of pain to be sent through his shoulder. His eyes flew open, the heaviness of his eyelids no longer apparent. He clenched his teeth as his body continued to shake. He felt warm hands trying to hold him still and he looked at the worried faces before him. His hands gripped the sheets beneath him. The pain began to leave as his body finally began to relax. He became aware of the nauseous feeling in his stomach and he thought he was going to be sick again. He rolled over on to his left side and brought his knees up as far as he could think that it would stop the feeling that he disliked so much. He closed his eyes and could feel his shoulder protesting in pain at the movement but he ignored it and waited hoping that the sickness would pass. He felt a hand on his forehead and tried to move away from it but it caused both the pain and nausea to worsen and for a moment, he thought that he was going to throw up and not have a choice in the matter, he kept his head still and allowed the hand to stay where it was.
"He's feeling a bit warmer." Ezra heard Nathan say to someone. He felt another hand against his throat feeling his pulse. "His heart rate has slowed to." he also heard relief in Nathan's voice.
"When are you going to take the bullet out?" It was Jeans voice this time.
'Bullet, what bullet.' thought Ezra. He wanted to voice the question but they would only force him to drink water and he still felt sick and water would only make him throw up.
"I'll do it in the morning." answered Nathan, he sounded apprehensive though.
The thought of the pain that Nathan would cause him made him moan and when he realised that he made a sound he moaned again knowing that they would now make him drink more water and he did not look forward to it especially if they did it the way they did last time.
"Ezra? You awake?" asked Nathan as he knelt down so he could look into Ezra's pale face.
"No." Ezra did some of his own protesting, if his stomach could do it then so could he.
"Ezra you need to drink some water." Nathan moved his hand from Ezra's forehead down to his arm
"I feel sick Nathan, I don't want any water, and I keep telling you that." Ezra mumbled as he was beginning to feel tired again.
"It will make you feel better and you won't feel sick anymore." Nathan wasn't sure if it would make him throw up or not but he needed to get him to drink as he needed the fluids to help him to continue to recover from the shock. He didn't want to do what they did before as he knew that Ezra resented it and it wasn't pleasant for any of them, especially Ezra.
Ezra opened his heavy eyelids and looked into Nathan's brown eyes, he could see Jean standing behind him. "I don't believe you."
"Why won't you drink it Ezra?" Jean came forward and Nathan moved to the side to give her room.
"Because it will make me sick." he told her.
"There is nothing wrong with being sick Ezra. You won't be able to stop it, you need to drink the water. She put her hand under the blanket and took Ezra's hand in hers.
"I can't be sick, it will show how weak I am." Jean saw the look of hurt in his eyes and knew that he was not talking about being physically weak.
"Who told you that?" she asked him.
"Mother." he closed his eyes, he needed to sleep again.
"Could you leave us alone for a while please." Jean asked the room. She waited until Nathan and Chris left. "Ezra would you drink it for me, you know I won't think that of you."
He forced his eyes back open and looked into her eyes and gave into her, he nodded his head. He rolled onto his back and groaned at the pain that went through his shoulder. Jean then helped him sit up and put some pillows behind his back so he could lean back. She then filled a cup with some water that included herbs that Nathan had put in it. She held the cup while Ezra slowly drank the water. He waited a moment thinking that it was going to stay down but his stomach was only trying to fool him. It revolted and brought it all back up again causing his stomach muscles to spasm, it also caused a lot of pain in his shoulder.
"Let's try again Ezra." Jean said soothingly but Ezra shook his head. "Please Ezra just once, if it doesn't stay down we'll leave it till later."
"Promise." he grimaced, the pain had not eased in his shoulder and he knew that if he threw up again the pain would become unbearable.
"Promise." she agreed with him.
Jean helped him drink the water again silently praying that he was able to keep it down and she smiled as the seconds passed and her prayer was answered. She pulled the pillows out from behind Ezra's back and helped ease him back down onto the bed and sat with him for a few minutes until he fell asleep again. She could tell by the feel of her hand against his skin that Nathan was right about him warming up. The shock that his body was suffering from was beginning to ease.
She left the room to talk to the others who had been patiently waiting in the other room. Everyone looked up as she quietly closed the door behind her. "I managed to get him to drink some water, he couldn't hold down the first amount but he was able to keep it down on his second try. He's sleeping now." she smiled at them.
"Good." said Nathan, the relief not only sounding in his voice but also showing on the faces around the room. They were worried as Ezra had not reacted like this to an injury before. Nathan explained to them that the shock was something that could cause his death and that until Ezra improved he was not going to take the bullet out of his shoulder. He then turned to the room.
"I need someone to go to town for me to get some things that I am going to need to remove the bullet from Ezra's shoulder." he looked around the room at the faces that held worried and anxious expressions.
"I'll go." offered Josiah.
"I'll go with you." added Vin. "The rain should let up in a couple of hours, we can go then."
Nathan nodded and then went back into the bedroom to stay with Ezra through the night, Jean followed him into the room as she did not want to leave Ezra's side for too long.
Chris watched as Josiah and Vin rode out to Four Corners after the rain had stopped, they would be back by morning and then Nathan was going to finally take out the bullet that was still lodged in Ezra's shoulder. He went back inside past JD, Buck and Nettie who was discussing something but Chris was not listening. He was to worried about Ezra, all he could think of was how he had always treated him and now Ezra had gone and done something else that proved he was loyal to the group and that they all could trust him with their lives. He would never doubt Ezra again.
He stepped into the room quietly to find Nathan trying to get Ezra to drink some more water. He moved to the side of the room and listened to the argument while allowing a small smile to spread across his face. The arguments between Nathan and Ezra always amused him for some reason.
"Jean will you have a go please as I seem to be wasting my breath." It was Jean that Nathan spoke to but he growled at Ezra who was just lying on the soft bed looking at him with pain-filled eyes.
"Ezra you probably won't be sick this time." Jean sat on the bed and took the cup full of water from Nathan who then went and stood next to Chris.
"Most stubborn person I have ever met." he whispered to Chris.
"I still hurt from the last time." Ezra's whisper was even quieter than Nathan's and Jean had to strain her ears to hear him.
"For me Ezra please."
"No." he did it for Jean last time and all he got out of it was a lot of pain that he did not want to go through again.
"Ezra."
"No."
"Nathan will force you to drink it again if he has to." Jean knew that he would but she didn't want to see that happen to Ezra again.
"Let him try." he tried to sound convincing but he did not succeed.
"Ezra please." Jean pleaded with him. "Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
Ezra smiled at her, but it dropped off as he saw Chris come towards him. "Are you gonna drink that Ezra or am I going to have to force you and you know I will." Chris smiled at him.
"No." but Ezra did not sound so sure any more.
"No you won't drink it or not I won't make you." Chris continued to smile as he was actually enjoying himself even thought he knew that it was a serious situation.
Ezra looked at Chris then at Jean who was standing next to him with a smile on her face and then to Nathan who was also smiling down at him. "Alright already but if I throw up it will be all over you Mr Larabee." Ezra threatened him but he knew that it was an empty threat. Ten minutes later Ezra was asleep again after drinking two cups of water and keeping them both down.
***
Vin and Josiah rode into Four Corners just after midnight, the streets were deserted and the fires that were lit by the townsfolk were now just smouldering embers. They headed straight to Nathan's room, they tied their horses to the railing at the bottom of the stairs and then made their way up to the room. Nathan had given them a list and told them where to find certain things and once they had collected what he required they returned to their horses.
"Good morning gentlemen." smiled the Judge.
Josiah spun around at the voice and dropped the bag that carried everything that Nathan had requested. "Judge, what are you still doing up?" he was shocked.
"Couldn't sleep so I went for a walk." he looked from one hired gunman to the other. "Where's Mr Standish?"
"He's uh, spending the night at Nettie's with the rest of the guys, and were uh, heading back there now." Vin explained to him, he didn't exactly lie but he wasn't going to tell him the whole truth either.
"Is that true Mr Sanchez?"
"Yes it is Judge. We were helping Nettie with some things and then it started raining so she invited us to stay." Josiah bent down and picked up the bag that he had dropped hoping that the Judge could not tell that he was lying.
"Then why are you here?" He knew they were lying about something but it was obvious that they were not planning to tell him the truth.
"JD cut himself pretty bad and Nathan wanted a few things to fix him up." Said Vin.
"When you return please tell Mr Standish that I know he has not been in town in the last two weeks and I will deal with him when he comes back. And gentlemen make sure that he does return who it will be you that I will speak to." The Judge turned on his heel and went back to his rooms.
Josiah and Vin took one look at each other and then got on their horses and rode back to Nettie’s and on the way back they took wagers on if and how Ezra was going to talk his way out of this one.
***
Nathan sat quietly in the corner watching Ezra sleep, he couldn't understand why a mother would make her own child feel ashamed of being ill. Now he understood why Ezra would not normally admit to feeling ill or suffering any sort of pain from his wounds and why he always tried so hard to stop him from helping when he was sick or injured.
"Nathan?" Ezra groaned from the bed. Nathan got up quickly and moved to the side of the bed.
"Are you feeling sick again Ezra?"
"No not anymore. I'm sorry Nathan." he tried to roll onto his side to change position as he was getting uncomfortable, he felt Nathan's hands help him roll over.
"For what Ezra?" He was slightly surprised as Ezra did not usually apologise for things that he had done.
"For being a pain in the ass."
"That's alright Ezra, you wouldn't be you if you weren't." this made Ezra laugh and he began to cough causing the pain to rip through his shoulder. "Take it easy Ezra."
"And how do you propose that I do that Mr Jackson?"
"There you go Ezra, being your normal self again." Nathan tried to keep him still as he laughed again.
"Ahg!! Will you stop doing that!" Ezra growled at him.
"Sorry." smiled Nathan. He stayed at his side waiting for Ezra's pain to subside. "Think you could drink some water?"
"Don't start that please."
"Why don't you get some more sleep Ezra, you’re going to need it in the morning." Nathan watched as he closed his eyes grateful that he didn't have to look upon his pain-filled gaze anymore. He placed his hand on his forehead and then cheek feeling that he had returned to his normal body temperature. He hoped that it wouldn't change again after his took the bullet out.
Vin and Josiah arrived back at Nettie Wells’s farm a few hours before dawn and JD came out to take care of the horses. When they went back inside Nettie gave them each a cup of coffee to warm the bones that would be chilled due to the cold night air. Josiah took his coffee and the bag that they had brought back for Nathan into the room where he knew he would still be. He opened the door and entered the darkened room seeing the still form under the blankets. He could not see Ezra's face in the darkness and was grateful as he did not like to see him so pale and sick.
"How is he?" asked Josiah as he quietly moved to the side of the room towards the figures that were sitting against the wall. He could see three of them outlined in the filtered light of the lamp.
"Better." whispered Nathan. "He has drunk more water and he is back to his normal body temperature." he took the bag that Josiah handed him. "He's sleeping now."
"That's good. Chris we ran into the Judge back in town and he says that he knows Ezra hasn't been there." He could feel Chris's face go hard, you could always feel the tension around Chris, and you didn't have to see his face to know what he was thinking or feeling.
"Thanks Josiah." Chris watched as Josiah took his own place against the wall so he could wait with them.
A few minutes later Vin stuck his own head around the door to see how Ezra was doing. "How is he doing?" Vin asked.
"I would be doing a lot better if you people stopped interrupting me." groaned Ezra.
"Ezra's right everyone, why don't you wait outside." Nathan got up and started to usher everyone out of the room.
Nathan did not ask Jean to leave as he knew she would refuse to leave. Ezra was asleep again before Nathan even went back to the bed to check on him. He sighed and went back to sit next to Jean.
"Don't you think that you should get some sleep as well Nathan, you will also need your strength for the morning."
Jean put her hand on his and squeezed it gently. He nodded to her and leaned back against the wall closing his eyes and he too was asleep within minutes.
***
Chrisy continued to dream of torturing Chris and having her way with Ezra, the dreams began to interchange and she dreamt of punishing Ezra for stopping her when she tried to kill Larabee, she was inflicting pain upon him and enjoying the screams that came from his mouth. She wanted to kiss that mouth but for some reason she was enjoying his screams more. She didn't use a whip as she had with Chris she did different things to Ezra. She first started by breaking some of his fingers as she knew that he was a gambler and that it was one of the worse things that you could to them. She then decided to go all the way and actually cut off his forefinger of his right hand. He really screamed in protest at that one. Christy smiled in her sleep, she really was enjoying her dreams now. Her dreams soon changed back to getting her pleasure from Ezra and she smiled even more at the enjoyment not being able to decide which she enjoyed more. Inflicting pain upon his person and taking enjoyment from his body. She decided that when she finally found him she would try both and then make a decision.
***
"Chris I want you to lean across his chest so he doesn't move his shoulder about too much and Josiah you lean on his legs. He will probably wake up as soon as we roll him onto his back so be ready." Nathan had woken a couple of hours after dawn to find that there was plenty of light in the room so he decided that after a cup of coffee he would remove the bullet. Chris and Josiah were now in the room and were prepared to follow his instructions. Jean also sat close so she could reassure Ezra, not that she thought he would listen to her under the circumstances.
Nathan and Chris gently rolled Ezra onto his back hearing his groan of protest. His eyelids fluttered open and he saw them leaning over him. "Is there something wrong?" he asked the group. His voice was only a whisper as he was not fully awake or aware of what their intentions may be.
"Nathan has to take the bullet out Ezra." Jean explained to him and she saw his eyes open wide as he understood what they were doing.
"What now?" he growled at them. He was fully awake now and started to struggle causing the pain to erupt in his shoulder. He clenched his teeth against it and felt the weight of Chris Larabee across his chest.
"Yes now Ezra." Chris said back to him and he saw the fear in his eyes, fear of the pain that was to come. If anyone said that they could just clench their teeth and take it, they were stupid. He understood Ezra's fear and hoped that Nathan would be as quick as possible.
Ezra moaned through clenched teeth as Nathan probed the two wounds in the front of his shoulder and the one in the back to determine which one on the front would have the bullet in it. After working out the angle, he knew which one it was. Nathan then picked up the instrument that he would use to open the wound, Nettie had boiled water for him so he could sterilise the instruments that he would use, he didn't look into Ezra's eyes but instead spread the wound open. He felt Ezra tense up and he then used another instrument to probe the wound causing Ezra even more pain. Ezra turned his head to the side and pressed himself into the bed, he tried to struggle against the pain but he was too weak to fight Chris's and Josiah's weight, which was holding him down. He felt someone's hand brush the hair from his forehead and then wipe the sweat that was beginning to form there.
Ezra's moans became louder as the pain grew worse, he hoped that he would at least blackout soon but he was not so lucky, the pain continued. He could feel Nathan probing around in his shoulder, he could feel it through every nerve ending and they screamed in agony at what was being done to them. He wanted to relax and given in to the pain but it wouldn't let him, he could no longer feel the weight on him or feel the touch on his face as he was now in his own world of pain and it was getting worse with each second.
His shoulder was screaming at him and he couldn't stop the pain. "Nathan!" he managed to say through clenched teeth hoping that he heard him.
"I'm trying to be as quick as I can Ezra." Nathan was having trouble finding the bullet, he hoped that Ezra would have passed out by now but he hadn't. He pulled the wound open even more and heard Ezra voice his pain again, he looked up at his face, which was half buried in the pillow and was distorted by the pain.
"You're doing fine Nathan, keep going." Josiah reassured him.
Nathan turned back to the wound, he used a cloth to wipe away the blood, which was now flowing, freely from the wound and he thought he saw a glint of metal, he moved the instrument towards it and felt it press against something hard, and he gripped it and gently pulled. The instrument came out with the bullet clenched between its tongs, he put in on the side table and then began to clean the wounds. This caused Ezra even more pain.
"Nearly finished Ezra." Once he had cleaned, the wounds he had Chris sit Ezra up so he could bandage his shoulder.
Ezra still moaned at each touch to his shoulder and even when Nathan had finished and he was laid back down on the
bed his shoulder continued to protest against what it had just been put through. Jean continued to wipe the sweat off his face.
"Nathan's finished now Ezra." Jean told him.
"Then why hasn't the pain stopped?" he grimaced through clenched teeth. "And why is everyone still sitting on me?"
Chris and Josiah got up off the bed and left the room to tell the others that Nathan had finished.
"I'll give you something for the pain Ezra but it means that you are going to have to drink some water."
Ezra moaned and reluctantly drunk the mixture that Nathan gave him. "That Mr Jackson is going to make me sick again." after all that pain the last thing Ezra wanted was to be sick.
"It will help you sleep Ezra so you won't have to worry about that for a while." Nathan watched as Ezra's breathing became a steady rhythm as he fell asleep. He pulled the blankets back up over his chest and sat down again in the chair next to Jean and hoped that his condition would continue to improve and not worsen.
***
Christy kicked Dave's hip hearing him grunt at the interruption. "Get up Dave, were going into town." She walked away intending to saddle her horse, she knew that doing this would cause the wound to open and bleed but she didn't care, the pain would get her through the day as the dreams she had that night had gotten her through the darkness.
"I thought that we were going into Four Corners tonight?" he grumbled at her, not realising the mood that she was in.
He heard the gunshot and felt the dirt and grass kick up into his face, which was still lying on his right forearm. He quickly sat up and spat out the dirt that had found its way into his open mouth. He had always slept with his mouth open, it was an old habit that began from an early age.
"I changed my mind, I've got this feeling so we are going now!" she growled at him from her horse. She used both arms to tighten the cinch and grimaced at the pain and then smiled as she enjoyed the ache that stayed in her arm.
Once the horse was saddled, she mounted it and then sat quietly waiting for Dave to saddle his. She enjoyed watching him hurry and fumble with what he was trying to do. She scared him and she enjoyed doing that, she liked to scare people, especially men. But Larabee and Ezra had not been scared of her, Ezra had only done what she wanted because she threatened the life of his friend. She licked her lips at the thought of Ezra, the taste of his mouth and the blood that she had drawn from his lip. She decided that Dave could catch up to her. She headed off the Four Corners savouring each moment that it took to get there.
***
Ezra jerked awake at the gentle touch of someone's hand against his forehead. He lifted his heavy eyelids to find Nathan watching him. He lifted a weak arm to try to push him away but it fell back to the bed and Nathan's warm hand was still pressed against his head. Jean came towards the bed and replaced Nathan's hand with a cool cloth, he tried to remove it but Jean took his hand and pulled his arm back to the bed, which was not hard because he did not have the strength to fight her.
"Nathan," Ezra found it hard to talk through the pain, "remind me never to apologise to you for anything I do again." he noticed how Nathan just nodded at him and not smile at the comment. 'Something is wrong.' Ezra thought to himself but before he could ask the question aloud, he was asleep again.
Nathan looked up as he heard the door open and saw Buck sticking his head around the door, they had been taking turns all morning to check on how Ezra was doing. He didn't need to voice the question because every time a face appeared at the door Nathan told them how he was.
"He's gone back into shock and he now has a fever." Buck nodded and stepped back out from the room closing the door behind him.
Jean sat by the bed and continued to wipe the sweat off Ezra's cool clammy skin while Nathan checked the wound under the bandages, they were still clean and no infection had set in so he hoped that the fever that Ezra was suffering from would not get any worse and would hopefully be gone soon.
Ezra lay quietly in his darkened room, he could hear no sounds around him , no voices, no movement but he could feel everything. He felt the pain in his shoulder and back and it spread throughout his whole body causing every part of him to ache. He felt cold and warm at the same time and when the shivers went through him, they caused the pain to worsen. He also began to feel sick again, he moaned at the thought.
"Ezra?" Jean called to him softly.
Ezra did not hear her though, all he could think of was the pain and the thought of throwing up again. He moaned a second time and then heard a voice calling him.
"Ezra?" Jean tried again, she could hear him moan in his sleep and they needed to get him to drink some water again so she tried to bring him around. She watched as he pressed his head further into the pillow, a grimace emerging to replace the slack expression that had been on his face for the last two hours. "Ezra?"
Ezra could hear Jean's voice calling him but he had some trouble responding to her, he tried to move but only his head managed to change position, he tried to open his eyes but the lids were too heavy. He felt the pain get worse as he became even more aware of it. He tried to say something but only a croak came out of his dry throat.
"Come on Ezra wake up." Nathan said to him in a voice that was louder than Jean's. He had moved to the side of the bed and gently shook Ezra's uninjured shoulder.
Ezra finally managed to open his eyes but was confused as to why he could only see out of one of them but he realised that his head was pressed into the pillow, he turned his head but felt the dizziness go through his clouded mind. He blinked trying to focus his sight. His eyelids fluttered closed again.
"Ezra wake up." Nathan shook him again.
Ezra's eye opened again and focused on Nathan. He saw the look of concern on his face. "What's wrong?" he croaked.
"I want you to drink something for me." he saw Ezra grimace at the idea. "It will help the pain and your fever." Nathan explained. "Jean pass that cup will you please."
Ezra felt his head being lifted and groaned at the nausea that he felt, he then felt the cup against his dry lips and forced himself to swallow it. He felt it hit his stomach and knew instantly that it was going to come back up. he struggled to roll onto his side. "Nathan . . ." he didn't finish the sentence as he felt the bile fill his mouth. He felt his stomach muscles spasm and his shoulder scream. When he was finished, Nathan helped him back onto the bed. Ezra's face was contorted with pain.
"Let's try it again Ezra." He didn't even have to time to react as his head was lifted again and the water filled his mouth, he swallowed, this time choking on it and he felt his chest constrict in pain as a coughing fit wracked his body.
When it finally passed he relaxed back into the bed not realising that he no longer felt the need to be sick, he was soon asleep with Jean and Nathan sitting on the bed by his side.
***
Christy and Dave stopped on the edge of town, tying their horses to one of the railings in front of the old building that now had floorboards covering its windows. Christy looked around the main street-seeing people continue on with their everyday lives. Christy pulled her hat further down to cover her face and began to walk down towards the saloon where she thought the hired gunmen would be. They kept to the boardwalks using the people who also travelled them to be their cover. They were passing the local newspaper office when she heard Ezra's name mentioned, she pulled Dave to the side and with one facial expression told him not to say anything and she listened to the conversation and learnt the whereabouts of Ezra Standish and Chris Larabee.
"Standish is out at Nettie Wells’s farm and has been since yesterday!" the Judge growled at Mary.
"Maybe he has been there for a reason." Mary tried to explain to him.
"Don't defend him Mary, he has gotten you and everyone else to lie for him, to cover his lack of attendance in this town and when he gets back he is going to pay for it."
"Don't be too hard on him Judge, you know what he has been through."
But the Judge wasn't listening. "And the others who are still with him are also going to pay for it, hell I might even put all of them in jail and then let them see what it's like to go against me. They will rule the day when they lied to me."
Christy wasn't listening anymore, she tapped Dave on the shoulder and nodded him towards the direction of the telegraph office that they had already passed earlier. Once they had gotten the information that they required they headed out in the direction of Nettie Wells Farm.
***
It was Chris who opened the door quietly and showed his face to the room. He saw Ezra still sleeping with Nathan and Jean sitting in the chairs against the wall. Chris walked over to them watching Ezra's white face as he went, he couldn't get over how pale he was. "Why don't you two go and get something to eat, I'll sit with Ezra for a while." He knew it would be hard to get Jean to leave Ezra but she hadn't eaten since last night and he knew that it was because of worry. He hadn't eaten himself because of worry and guilt. It was his fault that Ezra was in this condition.
"I'll stay." Jean did not look up from Ezra's slack face.
Nathan stood up and took Jean's arm and dragged her out of the room. "If you get sick Jean then Ezra will blame me and I am not going to give him an excuse to have a go at me." grumbled Nathan as they left.
"Nathan I don't want to leave him, what if . . . " the closing of the bedroom door shut out the rest of the conversation.
Chris sat down in the chair and watched the gambler sleep. Nathan had come out of the room and told them that he had drunk some more water but apart from that, his condition hadn't improved. He leaned back in the chair not taking his eyes off Ezra. He sat that way for a while but then got up when he saw Ezra move under the blankets. He sat down on the bed next to him and waited for him to wake up. He nearly gave up and went back to his chair when Ezra's head rolled to the side and his eyes blinked open. Ezra's eyes continued to blink for a few seconds as he tried to focus on the person sitting next to him. "Chris?"
"Yeah Ezra it's me." he smiled down at him. "How are you feeling?"
"How do you think I feel." Ezra retorted.
"Like hell." Chris stated.
"Worse." Ezra rolled his head back to rest on his shoulder and he closed his eyes again.
Nathan and Jean came back into the room again seeing Chris sitting on the bed. "He awake?" asked Nathan.
"He was a minute ago but I think he's asleep again." Ezra kept quiet and did not prove Chris wrong. "He going to be okay Nathan?" Chris was still worried about him but then that always seemed to be the way with Ezra lately and most of the time he thought that the reason for him being worried was his own fault. Chris blamed himself for many of the things that happened to Ezra. He had sat with the others in the other room and watched them as they too worried about him, even Nettie was worried and she didn't particularly like Ezra but Casey seemed to be turning her more towards liking him for the man he was becoming, had become. Casey often told her the things that Ezra had done but she still wasn't sure about him but when Buck told her that Ezra had taken two bullets for Chris she was stunned and had seen him in a new light. This told her that he was not the selfish man that she thought he was, if a man would give his life for someone even though he found it hard to lend someone else money it did not make him a selfish person.
"His shoulder is fine, it hasn't become infected but I am still worried about the shock and fever, neither has improved yet." Nathan answered him. Jean sat back down in the chair and leaned to her right to look around Nathan so she could watch Ezra. She had nibbled on some of the lunch that Nettie had made but she wasn't hungry.
"Is he as bad as he was this morning?"
"No." Nathan sighed as he placed his hand against Ezra's forehead still feeling the heat there. "But if he doesn't improve then he may end up in the same way again."
Ezra was quietly listening to what Nathan was saying, he felt his hand against his face and wanted to move away from the touch but forced his head to stay where it was. He still felt slightly sick but not as bad as he had before, he didn't even feel as tired as he had been and he had finally begun to warm up but it still didn't mean that he wanted to drink water. He wasn't going to do that until he was sure that he would not throw up. He finally felt Nathan's hand leave his head but he felt the blanket being lifted from his shoulder and Nathan gently lift the bandage to check the wound. Ezra couldn't stop the small gasp as it escaped his throat.
"I see you weren't asleep after all Ezra." smiled Chris.
"You know what this means don't you Ezra, more water." Nathan said to him.
"Next time." Ezra opened his eyes and looked directly at Jean who was sitting across from him.
"If you don't drink it Ezra there may not be a next time." Nathan explained to him. Ezra looked at him with a questioning expression on his pain-lined face. "We nearly lost you this morning Ezra." The questioning look stayed on his face. "You went back into a state of shock not long after I took the bullet out but it was a lot worse than before."
Nathan looked into Ezra's eyes seeing the pain that he had caused still there. "I'm sorry Ezra, I should have waited."
"It is not your fault Nathan, you did what you had to do, and I feel better now if that helps." Ezra tried to smile to reassure him but couldn't manage it.
"No it is not your fault Nathan, it's mine."
"And why do you assume that Mr Larabee?" Chris looked at him but he saw that his eyes were closed again.
"Because Ezra those bullets were meant for me." Chris stated simply.
"Perhaps you should be blaming the person who pulled the trigger." Ezra told him. He opened his eyes again and stared at Chris. "It was not your fault either, you didn't push me in front of that bullet, and it was my own choice to do what I did." Ezra left it at that as he knew it was hard to convince Chris that he was wrong when it came to blaming himself for what happened.
"You gonna drink this water Ezra?" Nathan had an expression of determination on his face and after what he had told him he thought that he better do as he was told. He nodded and allowed them to help him sit up and help him drink the water. They laid him back down again and he waited for it to threaten to come back up. But it didn't. He closed his eyes and this time he did sleep.
***
Christy brought her horse to a stop at the edge of the trees and dismounted her horse, Dave followed her as she hid herself behind one of the trees. They both stared at the house in the distance knowing that the men she was after were in there. All she needed was a plan to get past their friends and to keep them away while she killed Larabee and spent some time with Ezra. She turned her gaze towards the barn near the house and thought of a plan to get them out of the house.
***
When Ezra woke, again later in the afternoon, his fever had finally broken and his body temperature was nearly back to normal, he found it easier to open his eyes as they no longer felt heavy but the pain in his shoulder continued to make a noise. Although it no longer screamed at him it did continue to yell, it had become very stiff and he had difficulty moving his arm so when he tried to push himself up into a seated position he had to do it with one arm that was until Jean came over to help.
"Ezra why don't you wait for me to help you." she chided him.
"Because Jean I do not wish to be a burden." he grimaced at the pain as his shoulder decided to let out a scream. The effort caused the sweat to form in droplets on his forehead and they slowly began to fall down his face. Jean quickly used a cloth to wipe it away.
"Ezra I am not your mother, you don't have to be stubborn about this. Your sick and injured, you need help." She replaced the cloth with her hand and gently wiped his cheek while looking into his eyes. "Let me and the others help you."
"I'll think about it." he smiled at her but Jean did not see the humour in the situation.
"Ezra Standish, if you were not already injured I would hurt you myself!" Jean got up and left the room slamming the door behind her.
The door opened again a few seconds later and Nathan walked in to see the stunned expression on Ezra's face.
"What was that about Ezra?" he moved to the bed and tried to feel Ezra's forehead but Ezra weakly pushed his arm away. Nathan forcefully put it back. "Your fever has finally broken." he smiled.
"Good perhaps you can stop touching my head." Ezra grimaced at him.
"You still haven't told me why Jean is so angry at you." Nathan sat on the bed where everyone else had also sat throughout the day when they wanted to spend time with Ezra. They had known that he would be asleep but they wanted to sit with him just in case.
"She thinks I'm stubborn." Ezra muttered knowing that Nathan was going to agree which he did.
"You are and you don't have to be Ezra, were you friends, you don't need to feel embarrassed about anything."
Ezra's mood darkened. "Try telling my mother that."
"Your mother isn't here Ezra." Nathan could tell that talking about this hurt him so he tried to change the subject.
"Nettie says that you can stay here a couple of weeks until . . ."
"A couple of weeks, you have got to be kidding. That woman does not even like me." Ezra interrupted him, there was no way he was going to stay here that long. As soon as everyone left, he would follow them.
"There you go again Ezra thinking that people don't like you." Nathan didn't like to hear Ezra put himself down like that, it actually made him angry to think that he had no self worth. He always seemed to exude confidence and yet sometimes he gave you reason to think that it was all an act and that deep down he needed the assurance that he was worth something, that he was liked and needed by people. "Nettie is quite impressed by what you did for Chris, we all are."
"Yes well none of you should be." Ezra looked away from Nathan.
"Alright Ezra I won't make you stay that long, why don't we wait a few days and then if I think you can travel to Four Corners then you can go home." Nathan got up from the bed. "Oh and it will also give you the chance to work out what you’re going to say to Judge Travis as he found out you haven't been in town." Nathan could not help but laugh at Ezra's expression. "Now I am going to get you something to eat, a bit of soup which you should be able to keep down."
"And if I was to tell you that I wasn't hungry." Ezra asked him a little too harshly.
"Then we would have to force you to eat it and you know what that will involve." Nathan said firmly.
"Oh great!" Ezra leant his head against the behead as he could no longer hold his head upright. He closed his eyes and hoped that he fell asleep before Nathan came back but the cry of fire stopped him from doing so.
***
Christy had waited until later in the afternoon and both she and Dave slowly crept towards the barn. If they heard gunshots then they would know that they had been seen but it there was no response then they would be able to carry out her plan. Dave headed towards the barn while Christy crept to the side of the house. The second window that she looked into showed her where Ezra was and that he was still alive. 'Good.' she thought as she could now still have her fun with him.
She found her way around the back of the house and waited for Dave to complete his part of the plan. She didn’t have to wait long, after a few minutes the smoke was already starting to float out of the barn doors. After another few minutes, she heard someone yelling out fire. She watched from the corner of the house as eight people ran out to the barn. It seems that no one thought that it was a diversion. Christy moved quickly around the other side of the house and made her way through the front door and head to the room that she knew Ezra was in.
***
JD walked onto the porch to get a bit of fresh air and to stretch his legs, they had all stayed in the main room of the house not wanting to go anywhere until they were sure Ezra was going to be alright. He had given them all quite a scare that morning when he had almost died. Nathan had said that his heartbeat was so rapid that it might cause him to have a heart attack, it was a very frightening three hours that they all had to wait. He looked over to the barn and saw the smoke.
"FIRE!" he yelled out. "FIRE!" he didn't wait until the others came out as he knew where Nettie kept the buckets. He ran into the barn and collected the four buckets that were kept just inside the door and ran to the well. The others ran out to see the barn on fire, they didn't think twice, even Jean and Nettie joined in on the fight against the fire. No one stopped to think about staying with Ezra.
Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four
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