Vin stood in the door and watched the nurse as she cared for his friend. There was something about the way she touched him, or looked at him when she thought no one was around. He’d seen the same look in Larabee’s eyes when he looked at her. He understood it could be just that Chris was grateful for the extra care she gave him, but somehow he didn’t think that was it. Something told him that these two were harboring mutual feelings for each other and he hoped they’d act on them once Chris was out of ICU. The thought of Chris finding someone to care for made him smile. He stepped into the room and said hello to the nurse as he sat down beside the bed.
Vin watched his sleeping friend, his eyes raking over the fading bruises, now blended in the colors of the sunset, instead of the deep purple and blacks that showed through earlier. He shook his head at the red welts that stood out under some of the bandages and winced at the tube still in Larabee’s chest. He knew from personal experience how much it hurt to cough with tubes running into your body. A soft sigh from the bed brought him out of his thoughts, but Larabee showed no other signs of waking up.
“Vin?”
“Hi, Josiah,” the sharpshooter said as the gambler joined him.
“How is Chris doing?”
“He’s been sleeping since I got here. How has he been today, Anne?”
“Actually, he’s had a pretty good day in spite of the way it started out?”
“What do you mean?” the tracker asked worriedly.
“Dr. Mullen told him he wanted to continue the dialysis...”
“Dammit!”
“Easy, Brother,” Sanchez said as he placed a steadying hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “How long?” he asked the nurse.
“He’s due for dialysis tomorrow morning and then we’ll need to do more tests to determine if he needs to continue the treatments.”
Sanchez touched the blond’s uninjured shoulder and spoke softly. “You’ll make it through this, Son,” he whispered.
Chris felt the touch of a calloused hand and knew instinctively who it belonged to. Josiah had always worked with his hands, building and repairing things. He remembered thinking the ex-preacher’s hands showed how much work he did in the Lord’s name. He turned into the touch, gaining strength from the show of friendship.
“Looks like he’s waking up.” Tanner smiled as he watched the eyes flutter and slowly open. “Hey, Cowboy!”
“Hey yourself, Cowboy,” Larabee smiled thinly as he felt the hand removed from his shoulder. “You look better.”
“Thanks, I think!”
“You’re looking better as well, Son.”
“Thanks, Josiah. I do feel better.”
“That’s good news, Chris. Won’t be long before you’re out of here.”
“I sure as help hope so. I’m kind’ve tired of these four walls.” He looked at the nurse as she changed the bag of antibiotics over his head. ‘Although I don’t mind the company,’he thought and smiled as he realized how true that was. “Where are the others?”
“Back at the hotel. Orrin called to get an update on you and Vin.”
“Is everything okay back home?” Tanner asked.
“Yeah. Orrin’s put everything on hold right now. There was nothing pressing in the first place.”
“Did he check the ranches?” Larabee asked.
Sanchez tilted his head back and laughed.
“What’s funny about that, Josiah?” Vin asked.
“Well, Orrin said to tell you both the next time he has to check on the horses he’d appreciate a warning about being nipped in the butt!”
“He didn’t!” Tanner exclaimed.
“I’m afraid he did and he said you both owe him for the ‘comfort seat’ he had to buy.”
“Pony or Peso?” Larabee asked, his eyes twinkling with laughter.
“Pony. Orrin said they were in the corral and Jake was looking after Peso. Orrin said he bent down and didn’t know anything until Pony took a nip at him. Oh, he also said you owe him a new pair of pants.”
“He’s lucky it wasn’t Peso or he’d need more than a ‘comfort seat’!” the tracker exclaimed. He looked towards the door as an orderly brought in a tray and placed it on the table. “Looks like lunch is here.” He lifted the cover from the tray and wheeled the table closer to the bed. “Hey, ya got orange Jell-O this time.”
“And broth?”
“Yep, that’s what it looks like,” the tracker said as the nurse eased the head of the bed up slightly.
Chris gritted his teeth as the bed was raised and waited for the feeling of nausea to recede. He looked disinterestedly at what consisted of his lunch and closed his eyes with a tired sigh.
“Now, Son, it’s not that bad and once you’ve shown you can handle this stuff maybe they’ll give you something that’ll put meat on your bones,” Sanchez said.
“Later!”
“Now!” Tanner said, recognizing instantly the change in his best friend’s mood. “Come on or do we have to go the choo choo route?”
“Vin!”
“Here comes the...”
“Josiah, get my damn gun!”
“It’s pulling into the station...”
“Go away, Tanner!”
“It’s gonna hit the closed gates and...”
Chris couldn’t help but laugh at the tracker’s antics and finally had to open his mouth. He saw the relieved smile on Josiah and Anne’s face as he laughed outright. There was something about the blue eyed man sitting beside the bed. Vin Tanner could make him smile no matter how bad he felt. Their friendship went beyond the normal bonds and more often than not they used it to save each other’s lives. He took the spoon from the sharpshooter’s hand and finished the meal in silence. He felt the others watching him and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry for being an ass...”
“An ass? Josiah, do you see an ass in here?”
“Not me, Vin. I see a man who’s ready for a nap though,” Sanchez said as Larabee yawned.
“Oh God, first the choo choo, now the dreaded nap,” the blond laughed as he looked at his friends. “I think you’re both right though so get out of here so I can sleep without wondering what you boys are up to!”
“Alright, Chris, it’s time Vin had his nap as well.”
“Ain’t no kid, Josiah!”
“Me either, Vin, but neither one of us seems to have a choice.”
“Ah hell,” Tanner hissed as he stood up. “Alright, Chris, you get some rest. Okay?”
“You too, Cowboy,” Larabee said. He nodded to the ex-preacher as he led Tanner from the room.
Chris closed his eyes and fought against his churning stomach. He didn’t want Vin and Josiah to know just how badly he felt and was glad when they left. He knew if he continued to get sick the NG tube would be put back in. He reached up to take the oxygen mask off his face as his nausea grew.
“Hold on, Chris!” Anne warned as she grabbed the basin and quickly removed the mask. She held him on his left side as he lost what little he had in his stomach. Dry heaves followed and Anne felt the shudders running through his body.
Chris was grateful for the hands that held him and finally felt the nausea subside. “Sorry,” he gasped as she eased him back to the bed.
“No need to apologize, Chris. I guess your stomach just wasn’t ready yet.”
“Didn’t get s...sick earlier,” he wheezed as he wrapped his left arm across his aching chest.
“I know, Chris. How’s the nausea now?”
“Still there.”
“I’m going to give you a shot of Zofran. Dr. Barrett ordered it in case you were nauseas. Just try to relax. Okay?”
“Yeah. Just tired of being like this.”
“I know you are, Chris!”
Larabee turned to see Vin Tanner standing beside him. “Thought you and Josiah were going back to the hotel.”
“We were, but something told me you needed...”
“It’s okay, Vin, just got a little stomach sick.”
“A little, Pard?” Vin asked as he watched the nurse place a syringe in one of the IV junctures and deliver the medication Barrett ordered.
“Let me know if that doesn’t help, Chris,” Anne ordered.
“Okay,” Larabee answered as he felt the oxygen mask being replaced. “I’m okay now, Vin. You and Josiah might as well...”
“Nah, think I’ll stick around a little longer and watch your back.”
“More like watch me sleep, Vin. I really am okay now,” Larabee insisted as the morphine and exhaustion pulled him into the waiting arms of sleep.
“You might as well do as he says, Vin. He’ll probably sleep the rest of the day.”
“Why did he get sick this time, Anne? Buck and Ezra said he was fine earlier.”
“I don’t know, Vin. It could be everything he’s been through has finally caught up with him.”
“Will it happen again?”
“It might, but we won’t know until we get him to try again,” she smiled at the worried young man. “You might have to use that choo choo routine again!” She was rewarded by a thin smile on the handsome face. “Go home, Vin, he’ll need you more when he’s awake. Besides you look like you’re ready to drop.”
“You heard her, Vin.” Sanchez had entered the room at the same time Tanner did, but he’d stayed back while the two men talked. Now he was ready to make the younger man get the rest he needed whether he wanted to or not.
“You’ll call?”
“I’ll call, Vin, but as I said he should sleep most of the afternoon.”
Vin rubbed at the annoying ache in his skull and knew if he didn’t lie down it would manifest itself in a full blown headache before long. He placed a hand on Larabee’s shoulder and whispered softly. “I’ll be back, Cowboy. You just make sure you’re here when I do!” He pushed away from the bed and felt the ex-preacher’s hand on his arm as he swayed.
“Are you all right, Son?”
“Yeah, thanks!”
“Headache?”
“Just a little one right now.”
“Well, let’s get you back home before it gets any worse.”
“Someone should be here with him...”
“Someone will be. Nathan and JD just got here. Now let’s get you back to the hotel and into bed.” He led the sharpshooter out of the room and nodded to Jackson and Dunne.
“Vin, are you okay?” Dunne asked as he spotted the pale, trembling form.
“I’m fine, Kid,” Tanner answered automatically.
“He’s got one of those headaches,” Sanchez told them.
“Make sure he takes his pills!”
“I will, Nathan,” the ex-preacher assured the medic as he led the younger man towards the elevator.
Vin knew Chris Larabee was in good hands, yet he wanted more than anything to stay with his friend. He remembered the tingling feeling he’d felt earlier when he and Josiah stepped off the elevator on the ground floor. Instinct told him that all was not well with Chris and he’d raced back into the elevator without a word. Sanchez never said anything even as he pushed the button. He knew he’d been right to return, and he also realized it was right to turn Chris over to the other members of their unique family. There was no one he’d rather entrust that friendship to.
“He’s gonna be okay, Vin!”
“I know, Josiah, but I hate seeing him like that.”
“We all do, Vin.” The older man pushed the button for the elevator, smiling as he saw a fluttery shadow inside the ICU room. ‘All thirteen of us,’ he thought.
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