Shock and disbelief held his joints frozen. JD looked down at his body,
confused with the arrow protruding from his stomach.
"JD, get down, dammit!"
Buck's voice shouted a warning behind him. Untethered to reality, JD let it
float past him. Thoughts rolled away like pearls off a broken string, scattering
and hiding from him. Get down. Tell Nathan. Pull it out. Help me. Buck. Am I
gonna die?
Lifting his hand, he spread his fingers against his body near the arrow. Like
a distant cloud, pain roiled toward him, inching closer.
"Ah, hell."
The hissed curse right near his ear brought reality back with a crash. JD
turned his head just as Buck clutched an arm around him and pulled him down to
the ground. Exploding gunfire merged with the exploding pain in his belly. JD
heaved in Buck's arms, suddenly fighting the twisting spear boring through him.
Arms caught him, held him down.
"Nathan! JD's been hit. Get over here!"
Shouting, sweating, groaning, writhing. His mind bent with pain, refusing to
accept anything but fight or flight. Struggling in Buck's hold, JD grew deaf to
Buck's desperate pleas to hold still.
"Where the hell did this come from?" Nathan's voice and then pressure against
his stomach. JD arched in pain, felt his arms drawn back and held tight against
hard muscle. "Everyone's usin' guns. I didn't see no injuns."
"Yeah, well, that's damn sure an arrow in his belly." Exasperation and fear
tightened Buck's voice into something JD didn't recognize. He twisted in Buck's
arms, needing to escape the building pain puncturing his stomach.
"JD, stay still!"
A hand pressed warm against his cheek. "He don't hear ya, Buck. He's about
gone with pain."
Pressure against his body again, worsening the stabbing through his
abdomen.
"I gotta get him where I can cut this out."
Voices blended into one sound, roaring overhead with the gunfire, closing
over him like water. His eyes rolled back in his head and he opened them with
difficulty. Can't fall asleep. What if I don't wake up again?
Something pushed into him; it felt like they were trying to force the arrow
all the way through his body.
He tried to scream, tried to pull away, but felt
nothing as his body sagged weakly into Buck's arms. Weightlessness enveloped
him, the ground rushed by as if he were flying. Buildings blurred, faces merged
into one color, darkness focused into a familiar room.
"Hold him, now."
The pain that had faded suddenly rushed back at him, exploding in his belly
and racing up to obliterate his mind. Screaming sounds burst out of his throat,
he fought to free his hands so he could push them away and curl into himself,
hold the pain in and sink into darkness. Can't give up. Can't stop fighting.
Breathe, breathe. The rhythm of his pumping heart pounded in his ears.
"Don't look like it went too deep." Slicing pain accompanied Nathan's voice.
JD arched helplessly into his hands, bending toward the knife instead of away
from it like he wanted.
"Hold him, dammit! Got my hands full findin' any holes this dang arrowhead
put in his gut, I cain't keep
him still, too!" Anger, irritation, an edge of
fear. You mad at me, Nathan? Hands, hundreds of hands, pushed down on him,
clamped around his arms, his legs and thighs, pressing against his shoulders and
his skull, pinning him to the bed. Agony twisted deep inside, hurting far
greater than anything he'd ever felt before. Fingers coiled inside his gut,
slick with his blood, feeling of his insides and patching him together.
Don't close your eyes. Darkness already pressed against his lids.
Okay, keep your eyes closed, but don't go to sleep. Oblivion called, sang
a siren's song he could barely ignore. Something inside wrenched free; his body
convulsed weakly, unable to move within the arresting arms.
"That's got it. Let's just hope there's nothin' I missed."
"What now?" Buck, whispering soft as a lover, grief dripping heavy from his
words.
"We wait."
Maybe I can sleep now. Buck, can I sleep now? Without his permission,
darkness drew him down.
+ + + + + + +
Gunfire exploded like a bizarre celebration around him. Standing, JD saw a
man point a gun at him. A miniature puff of smoke at the barrel's opening
appeared just as the man's shoulder jerked back. Instead of the expected bullet,
an arrow thumped into his belly. Concerned, JD turned to Buck. "Help me. I can't
get it out."
Buck twisted to stare at him over his shoulder. "What? I can't understand
what you're sayin'. Get down, JD, and don't fan your gun."
Buck turned back to shoot over the crates he'd hidden behind. Nathan sat
beside him.
"Help me, Nathan." Nathan glanced at JD, then back down the street at the men
who were shooting at them. Waiting for a brief lull, he suddenly lunged forward
and grabbed the arrow.
"How still, JD. This might hurt." Tightening long fingers around the wooden
shaft and bracing his other hand against JD's stomach, he yanked it out of him.
An instant eruption of mind-numbing pain burst into his head. His brain bled
from him through his belly, leaking out thoughts, dreams and memories. Falling,
he watched the buildings jump and jar to an abrupt stop in front of his eyes
when he landed on his knees, then tilted slowly sideways until his cheek pressed
against the ground. He blinked. Long lashes swept through fine dust and dirt and
he wondered if Vin would read the tracks and signs in the road where he died,
where he closed his eyes and stirred the earth with his last breath.
+ + + + + + +
"He's waking up."
JD blinked, trying to see past the sand and grit in his eyes. Swallowing
dryly, he opened his eyes. Buck leaned over him, grinning weakly.
"Welcome back."
"...w...water?" An arm scooped under his shoulders and a cool glass pressed
against his chin. JD opened his mouth and sipped carefully at the cool water
trickling deliciously over his tongue. When he finished, he was gently lowered
back to his pillow.
"You had us worried there, JD."
Unable to remember what had happened, JD frowned. "I -- what --?"
"You got hit with an arrow. Nathan had to cut it outa you."
"He -- did? I -- who had --"
Buck leaned closer. "Don't worry about nothin' now, JD. You'll be just fine."
He patted him kindly on the shoulder. "And I aim to sit right here and make
sure."
A remembered fear of falling asleep and never waking up surfaced briefly.
Rolling his head to the side,
JD found Buck watching him, tenderness etched
around his eyes and smiling mouth. Surely Buck would wake him up again.
Reassured, JD fell asleep.
The End
