He groaned. Where was he?? How long had he been like this?? His horse. Where was his horse?? Groggily raising his head, the tracker looked down to where most of his pain was emanating. His right arm was bent on an angle under his chest, the edge of the splintered bone protruding through torn flesh. Blood was still slowly seeping from the wound onto the ground below. Closing his eyes against the pain, he laid his head back on the dry earth and raised his other hand to shield his face from the afternoon sun. He felt something wet under his fingers. "Damn," he cursed. It appeared he had more than his arm to worry about now.

"Shit Tanner, y’ really … stuffed up… this time." He thought as the pain threatened to overwhelm him. "Aint nobody… gonna….. find y’ out here."

Opening one eye he watched the clouds slowly drift by on the breeze. ‘Well .. y’ can’t lie here…. gotta get up ….. gotta get … back to town.." Suddenly the sky began to spin and darken, "Chri--iisss…." He moaned and surrendered to the darkness.

# # # # #

"Where y’ off to stud?" asked Buck as he watched Chris saddle his black gelding.

"A ride." Replied the man in black.

"Ah ha…. where to?" Wilmington already knew where his friend was heading, but that didn’t stop him from asking anyway.

"I said a ride, Buck."

"Think Vin can find his own way back here stud."

Larabee stopped tightening the cinch on his saddle and turned to glare at his long time friend. "Never said I was gonna that way, Buck."

"Hell pard, he’s only a couple a hours late."

"Buck…" The gunslinger allowed his voice to trail off then continued "Let it go."

"Alright pard, whatever you say."

Chris led his horse out of the livery. Stepping up into the saddle he hesitated and turned to the ex-sheriff . "If I’m not back in 3 hours, get the others and ride up along Dawson’s Ridge."

"Chris." Wilmington said, more serious now. "You think something’s wrong, don’t you?"

"I already told you Buck, I’m just going for a ride."

The man in black jerked his horse sideways and rode out of the small town trailing dust behind him. Buck watched him go, then pushing himself away from the upright he had been leaning against, headed to the saloon and the four other regulators.

# # # # #

He awoke again. This time the pain was almost unbearable. Prying open, first one eye, then the other, Tanner groaned.

"Get up Vin….come on get up."

He heard a familiar voice. He knew that voice, but who??

"Get your mangy hide up off that ground."

"Chriiisss??" he asked looking gingerly around. "Chris where … where ….are you? I can’t Chris… hurts…. m’ arm..m’ head… can’t" Tanner said and tried to lift his head. "Chris…. please…. help me…."

"Come on Vin, you can do it…. I’m right over here…. come here to me."

The Texan looked around again. In the distance he saw a shadow and reached out toward it. "Alright Chris…. I’m coming."

Slowly, very slowly the tracker rolled himself over. He was unable to stifle the cry when his broken and mangled arm moved under his body, feeling the unnatural tearing of bone against skin as the broken limb moved in opposite directions.

"Oh God, Chris….. hurts… hurts so bad." He ground out breathlessly.

"C’mon Vin. Just a little more. Walk with me, pard. Trust me to get y’ home."

"I … I …. trust y’ Chris…. I’m …. coming."

Vin Tanner used every ounce of strength left in his lean body and stood up on trembling legs. Clutching his tortured arm to his side, he took first one step, then another. Each movement forward of his body erupted another tide of agony from his injuries. "I’m… coming…. see, I’m… coming." he called out. His legs felt like they had been tied down with rocks, his head spun and he could no longer make out the world around him. Then without warning the young man collapsed to the ground, screaming aloud with the unbearable pain from his broken arm.

"Sorry … Chris." The injured man sobbed. "I’m…. sorry… Chriiisss."

# # # # #

Chris had ridden hard for over an hour, following the reverse path that Vin had said he would be taking back to Four Corners. The gunslinger had found no sign of the tracker and the further the man in black rode, the more he knew that his was going to find something very wrong when he found his friend. He only hoped that whatever it was that he was going to find, he would get there in time. Larabee rallied from his thoughts and pushed his horse on once more.

# # # # #

"Chris you still … here?" The Tracker was disorientated, the pain intolerable. "Chris?"

"Here pard, take my hand. I’m taking you home."

Vin raised his uninjured arm, grasping at his friend. "Let’s go… Chris… take me home." With all his remaining strength Vin Tanner lifted his traumatised body from the earth, clutching his friend’s hand in his, the Texan began to tentatively place one foot in front of the other.

# # # # #

Chris rode on stopping momentarily at the crest of the next small hill. Away in the distance he could make out a figure, something.. no someone….. walking, stumbling, toward him. He stared across the small expanse of earth between himself and the lone figure.

"Vin?" he whispered to himself. Then as he realised that it was in fact the tracker, he yelled "VIN!!!" his heart quickened as his horse obeyed his urging onward toward his injured friend.

Larabee jumped from the black gelding before it had stopped. Running forward he grabbed the younger man around the waist just as his legs were giving out.

"Hell Vin, what happened?" worry evident in his voice as he surveyed the mangled mess of the Tracker’s arm and forehead.

"Hey Larabee." Tanner managed to get out. "Are we … there …. yet?"

"What are you talkin’ about?? Where??"

"Home…. Chris… you’s takin’ me … home." With that Vin collapsed in his friends arms.

# # # # #

 Chris Larabee sat on the edge of the cot in Nathan’s clinic looking down at his friend.

It had been several hours since he had arrived back in town carrying the injured man. Nathan had worked tirelessly to re-set the badly broken arm and stitch the deep cut together on the younger man’s forehead. The healer had told them all that the break was a particularly bad one, but given time and rest it should heal up nicely.

Tanner began to stir. Turning his head toward his friend, the tracker slowly opened his eyes. "Hey Cowboy." He said groggily.

"Vin.. what happened out there?"

The tracker shrugged and instantly regretted it. "Remind… me not to.. do that again."

"Vin?" asked the gunslinger again.

"Fell off… m’ horse, I think."

"I gathered that Vin. We found Peso all cut up just outside a town. Must have been a pretty bad fall." The man in black shook his head, then continued, "I mean afterward, when you were walking"

"I was…. walkin’…. with you…"

"Vin, I wasn’t out there with you. You were alone for hours."

The Tracker frowned. "No, I wasn’t alone." He raised his uninjured hand to his chest. "You were with me…. Here" He said pointing to his heart. "And here." he added raising a shaking hand to his head. "You told me to …walk with you; you … you said you’d take me ….. home. And you did Chris…. You came for me and …… t-took me home." Vin smiled up at his friend and Chris returned the smile warmly.

"Think…. I’m gonna…. go back… to sleep…. now." Tanner said sleepily. "I’ll see y’ when I wake up."

Chris looked down at his friend. He lifted the young man’s hand and placed it on his own heart. "You’re in here too, Vin." he said and smiled.