Part 6
Ezra slept restlessly that night, his fever abating
not one bit. Nathan began to worry the
next morning when Ezra didn’t waked for several more hours, but by late
afternoon, he began to stir a little and fight his way up toward consciousness.
When it became obvious that Ezra would waken soon,
Nathan left the room in case Ezra was still in the grips of the delirium. Vin had joined them
in the clinic that day, and he and Buck, who still wouldn’t leave voluntarily,
stayed close to Ezra in hopes of keeping him calm.
As Ezra awoke, he felt like he was floating in a
warm fog. Ezra wasn’t sure what was
going on for a moment, but then memories of another time crowded into his mind,
making him believe he was in another time and place. He was unknowingly reliving a nightmare from
the past.
When Ezra’s eye opened, Vin
and Buck could see the confusion in them, and hoped that the Ezra they had
known was back. Unfortunately, his eyes
took on the glassy, far away expression Buck remembered from the last time he
had awoken, causing Buck’s heart to sink.
“Have they found them yet?” Ezra asked gruffly.
Vin, not having been
present the last time, was confused and blurted out, “Who?”
Ezra, still trapped in the past, but a little more
aware of his surroundings, shouted back harshly, “You damned well know who,
Sikes! The animals
that butchered Rachel and the boys!”
To his poor fever addled brain, Vin had become
someone else, just as Nathan had this morning.
Buck shook his head at Vin and motioned for him
to play along to keep Ezra calm, while he went over to the door to talk to
Nathan.
Vin, not wanting to
start an argument, said, “Yeah, we found them.
They’re all locked up waitin’ on a trial.”
Ezra seemed to accept that answer, but then he
started to try to get out of bed.
“What do you think you’re doin’?”
Vin asked trying to prevent Ezra from standing. When Ezra looked up at him, Vin involuntarily took a step backward. There was so much hatred and rage burning in
his eyes, Vin thought that Ezra might very well have
been capable of killing with his bare hands at that moment.
“I’m goin’ to see the men that destroyed my life,
Sikes,” Ezra stated in a very level controlled voice, thought his expression
stayed the same. Ezra made it to his
feet as he spoke and took a step in the direction of the door behind which
Nathan was concealed.
Vin stepped in front
of Ezra, saying, “The judge is on his way.
Let him deal with them when he gets here tomorra,
Standish.”
“No,” Ezra said as he tried to sidestep Vin. Vin moved with him several times, trying to get Ezra
maneuvered back to the bed.
Finally, Ezra took half a step back and, staring at
Vin, coldly declared, “For now, I am willing to let
the law mete out justice, but I will have it one way or another. Until then however, I have the right to see
these men, and I will speak to them, especially that black-skinned devil. Now
step aside, Sikes.” With that Ezra
simply gave Vin a hard shove and walked past him into
the other room.
“Standish!” Vin yelled as
he moved to follow him.
Buck and Nathan had heard the argument through the
door, but there was no other way to leave the room. When it became obvious that Ezra was
determined to see the man he held responsible for his family’s deaths, Buck had
looked worriedly at the tortured look on Nathan’s face. Turning to the healer he asked, “Do you think
you can play along?”
Swallowing his nausea, Nathan nodded. He had hoped his idea was wrong, but now he had
confirmation. It sickened him what men
could do to each other.
It was only a few moments later when Ezra pushed
through the doorway and immediately spotted Nathan. He moved forward quickly, his face murderous,
but Buck and Vin both grabbed him and held him
back. Ezra jerked to look back and forth
between Buck and Vin as he struggled to get free.
“You said you’d let the law deal with him,” Vin reminded him.
The reminder seemed to do the trick, because he
stopped struggling against them, but they retained their grips, not taking any
chances.
“Alright,” Ezra said to them; then he stared in
silence at Nathan for a minutes. The
silence was as unnerving to Nathan as the shouting Ezra had done last time.
“She helped you, you ungrateful bastard,” Ezra hissed
after a few minutes. “Got you off the plantation, and you repaid her by having her tortured and
killed. And when she pleaded for the
lives of her sons, you just laughed.
Jonathan and Josiah were too young to be any threat to you, but you
killed them anyway. Hanging is too good
for the likes of you. There is a special
seat reserved for you in hell, and you will be taking you place shortly. I’ll make sure of it,” Ezra’s voice left no
doubt as to what he meant.
Nathan couldn’t keep up the charade, and whispered,
“Ezra…”
Ezra’s reaction was immediate and vicious. Ezra tried to charge forward, but thankfully
Buck and Vin didn’t lose their grip.
“Don’t you dare call me by that name! Ezra died with Rachel and was buried with his
sons. All that is left is Phelan!” Ezra had barely finished the sentence when he
suddenly collapsed.
Vin managed to catch
him before he hit the ground, and he hissed as he felt the heat radiating off
of Ezra’s body. “Nathan, he’s burning
up!”
Nathan hurried over and felt for Ezra’s
temperature. He swore as he felt the
heat coming off the man’s face. “Get him
back to the bed. Then one of you go over
to the hotel and find out it they have any ice.
Hurry!” Vin and Buck quickly carried Ezra back to the bed; then Vin
rushed off to look for ice.
Buck grabbed the wet rag he had been using and
soaked it. He then proceeded to wet Ezra
thoroughly with it. Nathan used a small
fan he kept, to move air over the areas Buck dampened. It was the only thing he could think of to do
until Vin got back with some ice.
Buck looked up at the worried healer and asked,
“Nathan?”
Nathan met his eyes for only a moment before
looking back down at the Southerner.
“We’re losing him, Buck. If we
can’t get that fever down, he probably won’t last another day,” Nathan whispered, his voice rough from suppressed emotion. He glanced back up at Buck for only a second,
but he couldn’t stand to see the grief stricken expression on the man’s face.
What he hadn’t told Buck, was that even now he was
afraid Ezra could have brain damage. With first the concussion, then a high fever,
it would be a miracle if Ezra survived unscathed.
