Chapter 50
“Hey, Stud, you gonna sleep the day away?”
Opening his eyes slowly, Chris looked into the face of his old friend. He groaned as he shifted on the bed.
“Are you in pain, Chris?” Dunne asked.
“Don’t be silly, JD, that’s just his natural look. He uses it to attract the ladies. Nothing like a grimace to make them feel sorry for you. Ain’t that right, Stud?”
Wilmington asked as he pushed the button and raised the head of the bed.
“Go a...away, Buck,” the blond hissed as his eyes fell on the sitter across the room.
“Not today, Pard. We’ve come to watch some TV with you. What’s your pleasure? Movies or sports?”
“Yeah, Chris, there’s a baseball game just starting, Yankees and the Mets in inter league play,” Dunne’s cheerful voice grated on Larabee’s taut nerves.
“Well, Damn, Son, put it on,” Wilmington growled as he opened a bottle of Soda, draining half of it before placing it on the table. His eyes went to the older man
sitting alone across the room. Their eyes met and Wilmington could read the sympathy there. Nodding his head he turned back to his friend as JD tuned in the game.
“Want to make a bet on who wins?” he asked Larabee.
Chris met the warm eyes of the man standing next to him. Without answering he closed his own eyes, unable to face the deep concern he saw hidden there.
Wilmington placed his hand on the blond’s shoulder, “Come on, Stud, you gotta get past all this.”
“Can’t, Buck, it’s like a horror movie and I keep reliving it in sequels.”
“What was done to you was from a horror movie, Chris, but it’ll get better. You’ll be back on your feet and glaring at all of us in no time,” Wilmington said
reassuringly.
“Will I, Buck?” the question was more a statement than a question as Larabee once more sank into the depths of despair that seemed to be the only place he could
let go. “J...just l...leave me alone, a...alright?”
“No, Chris, I’m not gonna leave you alone. None of us are. We’re all gonna be here until you beat this thing. Come on now, fight this and you’ll feel much better.”
“Too t...tired to fight a...anymore, Buck. J...just want to sleep,” Larabee said as he turned away and closed his eyes. He heard the door open and felt someone
checking his IV as well as the Isosource infusion pump. He felt hands touching the NG tube and knew they were forcing the medications on him. Medications he
didn’t want to take. Tears filled his eyes as he realized Whelan was not here but he was still helpless and at the mercy of other people. He didn’t know if he dozed off
or if he just tuned the others out but once in a while he’d hear laughter and he wanted to reach out. As soon as he tried to make a move towards them the despair
came back as Whelan’s words once more tormented him. ‘You killed them Chris! You killed your wife and Son. Vin says it’s time to die. Time to Die. Time to
die,’ “No!” he screamed as he tried to move away from the man standing before him. “I didn’t mean to. Please, Sarah, I didn’t mean too!”
“Mr. Larabee, it’s only a dream,” Standish said as he heard the banshee like scream from the injured man. He placed his hand on Larabee’s shoulder and tried to
calm the injured man.
“No! You son of a Bitch!” the blond shouted, lashing out with his injured hands, crying out sharply as the limbs met with the hard steel bedrails.
“Stop, Chris, come on now. Wake up,” Jackson ordered as he tried to get the blond to lie back in the bed. Nothing they did could calm the injured man and they
could see his struggles were causing more damage to his already damaged body. “Ezra, get the nurse,” the medic ordered.
“I’ll get her,” Taylor said as he opened the door and called for one of the nurses.
Selma heard the screams coming from the room as soon as the door was opened. She opened the med cart and took out the Haldol Larabee’s doctors had ordered
for him. She hurried into the room and over to the bed. The two men standing on either side were trying to hold the fighting man but were afraid of hurting him more
than he already was. She quickly injected the medication into the IV and spoke softly to her patient. “Can you hear me, Chris?”
“Get away from me. Oh, God, no more. Please, Vin, Make him stop!” Larabee’s weak voice cried out as three pairs of hands touched him. “Vin! Why are you
letting him do this.” He felt as if his body didn’t belong to him as the medication began to take hold. He wanted to kick and scream. He wanted answers. He wanted
to know why Vin Tanner had betrayed their friendship. Instead he found his mind once more dulled to those thoughts as he gave in to the drug.
“He’s sleeping,” Selma told the two anxious men.
“I think you’d better look at his hands. He hit them pretty hard against the rail,” Jackson told her.
“I’ll put in a call to Dr. Midland right away,” Selma assured the men as she checked the patient’s IV and vitals before leaving the room.
Chapter 51
Midland finished examining the sleeping man’s hands, “He’s reopened the wound on his left hand but it’s not too bad,” she told them as she once more soaked it in
the saline solution before placing more bandages over it.
“Thank God,” Jackson said.
“That must’ve been some nightmare he was having.”
“He was screaming for Vin. Asking him to make Whelan stop,” Jackson explained.
“Then he was asking Mr. Tanner why he was doing this to him,” Standish put in.
“Well, he should sleep comfortably with the help of the sedative Selma gave him. Visiting hours are about to end so you gentlemen should go home and get some
rest,” she suggested firmly.
“I don’t like leaving him alone,” Jackson said.
“He won’t be alone, Nathan. Jake’s gonna stay with him and he’ll let us know if something happens. None of you will be any good to him if you pass out from lack
of sleep. Now go home or I’ll call Orrin Travis. That’s right, he’s back from vacation and he’s angry as hell that none of you bothered to call him.”
‘Oh, shit,” Jackson swore. “We tried the first night but then things kinda went haywire after that.”
“I don’t think I want to be around when Mr. Travis shows up.”
“Too late, Standish. I’m already here. I’ll deal with you guys later,” he said and turned his attention to the pale form on the bed. “Stacey, how is he?” he asked
worriedly.
“Physically, he’s healing, Orrin.”
“Mentally?”
“Susan James is working with him. He’s refusing to take his medications. He’s not eating or drinking. He’s living through some horrid nightmares if the violence of his
waking mind is any indication.”
“Does he still blame...”
“Yes, Orrin, he does and I’d rather you not say the name right now. I’m pretty certain he’s sleeping but I don’t want to take the chance of setting him off again.
Look, visiting hours are over but I think it’ll be ok for you to stay for a little while if you want. Not you two,” she said as she turned to Jackson and Standish. “Go
home and get some sleep.”
“Later,” Jackson said.
“Now, Nathan, Ezra, or do I have to make it an order? Now go get the other three and make them go with you. I’ll expect the five of you at the office at nine sharp
tomorrow morning,” Travis told them as he heard the two Firm employees leave the room.
“Thanks for getting them to leave at a decent hour, Orrin,” Stacey said.
“You’re welcome, Stacey. Will he be alright?” he asked worriedly searching the still face on the bed.
“With time and a lot of patience he should make a full recovery. But, Orrin, he’s got a long way to go and right now he’s refusing to let anyone help him.”
“The one time he really needs,” he lowered his voice and mouthed, ‘Vin’. “He doesn’t trust him.”
“I’m hoping he will once he’s able to deal with what that madman did to him.”
“We can talk about this tomorrow, Stacey, you look bushed.”
“I am, Orrin, but I wanted to check on Chris and Vin before I left.”
“Vin’s just down the hall in three twenty. Right?”
“Right. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said as she left.
“Now, Chris, I know you’re hurting but you’ve got to know there are a lot of people rooting for you. Mary said she’ll pop in to see you tomorrow. She would’ve
come tonight but Billy was too tired. That boy thinks the world of you and you’d better not let him down. I’m not going to lie to you and say everything’s going to be
alright because that would be a mistake. I have a feeling this one will be with you for the rest of your life but you’re a strong man and you’re a fighter. That’s why I
hired you and your team, Chris, that strength and loyalty you all have for each other. Stacey says you’ll probably sleep through the night so I’m going to go visit my
other man. You rest easy, Son, and know we’re all here for you,” Travis said as he touched the still form and said a prayer.
Taylor watched him walk out the door before moving to the bed. “You’re a lucky man, Chris Larabee. You’ve got a lot of people in your corner and they’ll help you
through all this,” he whispered before returning to his chair to wait for his replacement.
Travis stepped into room three twenty and for a minute thought the man on the bed was sleeping. He was about to turn away when he heard the unmistakable Texas
drawl.
“Orrin?”
“Thought you were sleeping, Vin,” Travis said as he pulled a chair up to the bed and sat down.
“Was, but the nightmares wake me,” Tanner said angrily.
“Hmm, that’s understandable, Son. You and Chris have been through a lot.”
“Not me. Chris has been through hell because of me.”
“Not because of you, Vin. You did nothing to be ashamed of. If I’m not mistaken you saved his life. Whelan would’ve tortured him even more if you hadn’t gotten
there when you did.”
Tanner looked into the older man’s eyes. He knew Orrin Travis was trying to make him see reason but it wasn’t working. All he could see was Chris Larabee’s eyes
when Whelan told him Vin wanted him punished or that Vin wanted him dead. Even worse than those two were Whelan’s condemning words that Chris Larabee had
murdered Sarah and Adam Larabee. “It should never have happened in the first place,” Tanner said, yawning as his body betrayed his lack of sleep.
“I agree, Vin, but it’s something we can’t change now. Right now we have to work at getting Chris to want to live again. We need to prove to him that you had
nothing to do with Whelan or his torture. We’ll have him back before long, Vin. You’ll have him back,” Travis said, remembering a time when Larabee and Tanner
had declared themselves brothers at heart.
“I hope so, Orrin. Oh, God I hope so,” Tanner said as he dropped into a troubled sleep.
‘I do too, Son, for both your sakes,’ Travis thought as he left the room.
Tony Sharpe stood next to the bed, his eyes raking over the bandages on the sleeping body. He lifted the edge of the bandage covering the wound to Larabee’s left
forearm, an evil grin on his face as he tugged slightly on the arm. “Bet that hurt,” he whispered in the blond’s ear. He reached down and checked the wound on the
calf, this time pressing until a hiss of pain escaped the pale man’s lips. “That’s better. Least I got your attention now,” he said as he continued his perusal of the
injuries. “What happened to your knee?” he asked as he squeezed it tightly, eliciting another groan. “Hurt’s does it?” he waited for the man to settle back to sleep.
“Pathetic Son Of A Bitch. I’d have done this for nothing but the money Mr. Wilcox is offering makes it even better.”
Even in sleep the name penetrated Chris’s mind. ‘No! No more,’ he thought as he moved away from the troubling voice on his left. He moaned as his body jarred up
against the side rail in his attempt to drown out the name.
“You won’t get away from me that easy, Larabee, and neither will Vin Tanner,” Sharpe laughed as he touched the bandages on Larabee’s neck.
‘Help me, Vin,’ his subconscious called to the one man who’d always been there for him since they’d met.
Chapter 52
“How the hell do we tell Vin about this?” Wilmington shouted.
“Buck, Vin probably knows. It’s being broadcast on all the local stations,” Travis informed them all as he played back the tape of the interview with Wilcox. The
smug man denied any involvement in what happened to Chris Larabee. He’d also informed the reporters that he was going to instigate charges against Vin Tanner for
attacking him in his own office.
“Isn’t there something we can do?” Dunne asked.
“Not really, JD. Wilcox was released on bail and his own recognizance there’s nothing we can do about it. Leastwise not until Chris is available to give his
statement,” Standish answered with a flourish.
“We’ll need to keep an eye on our injured brothers,” Sanchez suggested.
“The police won’t give protective custody because there is no evidence that Wilcox was behind all this,” Travis told them.
“Then we’ll have to watch them ourselves,” Wilmington’s voice was angry as he strode to the window of Travis’s large office.
“We may not be able to be a sitter for Chris but we can guard them from outside the room. I suggest we start taking turns staying in the waiting room across from the
elevator. That way we can see anyone entering Chris’ or Vin’s room,” Jackson said.
“Alright, gentlemen, it seems we have a plan,” Standish said.
“Just make sure you boys stay out of the way and don’t do anything to get yourselves thrown out. Buck, stay away from the nurse’s station,” Travis ordered, trying
to lighten the mood. Smiles appeared on the worried faces but no one laughed.
Jake Taylor walked into room three sixteen, his eyes moving from the patient to the sitter. Tony Sharpe grinned at him and stood up. “You’re early,” he said.
“Couldn’t sleep so I figured I’d come in early. How’s he doing?”
“Groaned allot but he slept all night.”
“Tony, if you’d been through what he’s been through you’d probably be screaming your ass off.”
Sharpe’s eyes grew angry as he fought for control. “Least they wouldn’t have to put me on suicide watch. I don’t take the coward’s way out!”
“You don’t know that until you’ve been through what he has. Look, Tony, you’re no good for this job if you’re gonna harp about it all the time. Ask Pete to assign
you to another watch.”
Sharpe felt his anger slip away as he realize he was in danger of losing his newfound gold mine. If he wasn’t allowed to be close to Larabee then he’d lose the money
Wilcox was paying him to terrorize and finally kill Larabee and Tanner. “You know me Jake. I may say it to you but I’d never do anything to hurt the patient. Thanks
for coming in early. I’ll see you tonight and maybe I’ll even return the favor,” he said.
“Just remember this man is a human being and deserves to be treated like one.” Taylor watched the man leave the room, a chill running down his spine. Sharpe was
not a man he trusted but there was nothing he could do. Pete Townsend was away for the rest of the week but Jake would speak to him about transferring the
younger man as soon as he got back. He looked at the bed and was shocked to see two lucid green eyes staring back at him.
“Thanks,” Larabee said. He’d been awake from the moment Taylor entered the room.
“For what?” Taylor asked, genuinely surprised by the depth of feeling he saw on the man’s face.
“For trying to make him understand,” Larabee groaned as he tried to move up in the bed.
“Let me help you,” Taylor said as he pushed the buttons on the control panel on the side rail. “How’s that?”
“B...better. C...can you get the nurse for me?” Larabee asked.
“Sure thing,” Taylor said and pressed the call button by the pillow. He told the nurse Larabee needed her as soon as she answered.
The door opened almost immediately and a tall, robust woman stepped into the room, “What can I do for you, Mr. Larabee?”
“N...need to go to the washroom,” he told her.
“Hmm, hang on and I’ll get the urinal,” she told him. She pulled the curtain across affording him some privacy from the sitter.
Taylor knew how hard it was for a man like Chris Larabee to ask for this kind of help. He tried to ignore the sounds from behind the curtain and picked up the
magazine from the table. He looked up as the curtain was drawn back.