Both Ezra and Buck looked up as they heard the lone rider riding through town at a gallop. They could see them coming straight towards them as though they knew eactly who they were looking for. Ezra and Buck gave each other confused glances and then stood up as the rider pulled their horse to a stop in front of them. The rider jumped off the horse and ran into the saloon without even glancing at either of them. This caused Ezra to smile in relief and Buck to show an expression of hurt that the young lady had not even looked at him. They saw the moment the person jumped off the horse that she was a woman. The clothing that hugged her curves and the blonde hair that fell below the dirty hat that she was wearing. But they could also tell by the beautiful face that looked out from under the hat.

Buck was hurt because he thought that every woman fancied him and Ezra was relieved because he had actually gone two months without anything else happening to him. It had taken him a while to accept Rochelle's death. He learnt to smile when he thought of her and he knew that he would never forget her but he had gotten on with his life as he knew he would have to. He looked over at Buck and had to laugh at the comical expression on his face. Ezra wiped his lower lip with his thumb as he always did when he found something funny.

"Well it seems Mr Wilmington that your animal magnatisim is not working today." he laughed. He laughed even harder as Buck threw him a dirty look.

"You are only jealous because she did not shoot you on her way past." he saw Ezra pretend to look hurt at that, well he hoped that he was pretending. You could never tell with Ezra. He was his old self again as he had two months to get over everything. They had all watched him for a while expecting something else to happen to him but as the weeks passed they had all begun to relax and everything had gotten back to normal.

"What's so funny?" asked JD thinking that he had missed out on a good joke.

Ezra smiled at him. "Mr Wilmington has failed again in his attempt to attract a lady."

Buck was not about to be left out of this. "And Ezra here is still healthy." Buck and Ezra had become closer since Rochelle's death and his phyisical health had become something for them to joke about but he still had trouble deciding if Ezra was joking or serious, he could still not see behind that poker face of his but he sometimes thought that this was also part of the joke. Ezra was to good at that poker face of his. Buck had tried numerous times to put his own poker face but Ezra always saw through it.

"Huh?" JD was confused.

Both Ezra and Buck laughed at him. But they stopped as Chris and Vin came out with the young lady in question. "Gentlemen there is some trouble at Eagle Bend." stated Chris on his way to the Sheriff's office. "JD go and find Nathan and Josiah. You two," he nodded at Buck and Ezra, "come with us."

They stepped off the porch and followed them. "Here's your chance to protect the young lady Buck." Ezra looked serious but smiled at Buck's look of confusion.

"If you keep going Ezra I am going to shoot you myself." he smiled at Ezra just to make sure that he knew he was joking.

They followed the others inside and waited for JD to return with Josish and Nathan. Once they had arrived introductions were made. "Men this is Enid Summers she has come from Eagle Bend where it seems they are having trouble with some outlaws who have taken up residence there."

"People are scared of them and won't do anything about it. I tried but I had no backup." said Enid.

"You tried?" asked Buck.

"I am very resourceful Mr Wilmington." she answered him.

"I am sure that you are Miss Summers." he titled his hat to her. Ezra smiled, Buck always had to try.

"I had to leave though as they threatened to kill me." she grimaced at the thought. She hadn't wanted to leave but her friends did not want to see her die so she did the next best thing that she could think of and that was to get some help. She had heard about these men and hoped that they would help.

"There is four of them so I am going to send five of us. Ezra and I will stay behind while the rest of you go to Eagle Bend and sort out the situation there." he looked over at Ezra. "That okay with you Ezra?"

Ezra returned the look. "Do I have a choice Mr Larabee."

They all caught the sarcasm that Ezra threw at him. When Ezra had followed Chris back into the saloon over at Hills Rock they thought that things were okay between them. But Ezra had not been impressed with the way Chris had treated him when they found him in the saloon after he had gone to kill the man who had killed Rochelle. Things had been tense between them ever since, not that it was not tense before then just even more so now.

"Not really." Chris threw back at him the anger showing in his own voice.

"Is there any particular reason you want me to stay behind?" asked Ezra.

"Does there have to be?"

"It depends on wether it is out of concern or lack of trust." he stared at Chris not hiding the anger that he was feeling.

"Let's just say that the time for concern is over." Chris said it before he could stop himself.

Something flashed through Ezra's eyes but it was gone before Chris could work out what it was. "I will take my leave then as this no longer concerns me." Ezra got up and walked out of the jail house.

Chris watched him leave and then turned back to see all the others looking at him. "What?"

Enid had watched what happened carefully and wondered why the man did not trust the gambler. She could tell he was a gambler by the clothes that he wore. She saw the looks that the others had given Chris Larabee after the man had left and knew that they did not like what just went down between the two men.

"There was no need for that Chris." Buck said to him.

Chris ignored him. "Go and get ready I want you leaving within the hour." he said no more and walked out himself.

Chris had come into the saloon to find Ezra already drinking his fair share of whiskey, he decided to wait a while and let him cool off. He would then confront him about his attitude.

After the five hired gunmen had left Enid went to the saloon to look for the other two. She had decided to stay behind but she did not have a choice either as they would not let her go. She entered the saloon to find Mr Standish at one end of the bar making his way through a bottle of whiskey and she saw Chris Larabee sitting at a table. He was not drinking but he was sitting there staring at Ezra Standish. She decided to sit on her own and watch them as she was very interested in what was going on between the two men. Enid would not have to wait long.

Chris had decided to wait as Ezra had drunk to much and he knew that he would not be able to talk to him when he was that kind of state. But it seemed that Ezra had other ideas. He had seen Chris watching him and he walked over to Chris's table and sat down.

"So Mr Larabee you don't trust me enough to go to Eagle Bend with the others. Do you think that I would run out on them?" Ezra asked him.

Chris didn't really know what to say. He hadn't meant to say what he did, Ezra had made him angry as usual and it had slipped out before he could stop himself. "Ezra I shouldn't have said that, I didn't mean it, is slipped out."

"But you were thinking it though." Ezra made sure that Chris heard the sarcasm that he again voiced at him.

"Ezra I am not going to talk to you about this now, you have had to much to drink and you are going to say something that you are going to regret."

"I will not regret anything that I have to say to you Mr Larabee as you never seem to regret what you say to me. You apologise at times but you don't mean anything by it. You apologise because you think you have to not because you want to."

"You seem to have forgotten Hills Rock, I followed you out of that saloon remember and told you that I was sorry for what I said." he looked at Ezra waiting for him to agree.

"Did you do that on your own or did someone say something to you." Ezra asked him knowing that what he had told Chris was true. He had never apologised to him because he wanted to. He always had another reason.

Chris remembered what JD had said to him and he realised that Ezra was right. He looked down at the table. "Just what I thought." smiled Ezra. "I don't care if you like me or not, not many people do and that is something that I have learnt to live with but I thought that after everything that the seven of us have been through that you would trust me by now." Chris did not say anything. "Why don't you trust me Mr Larabee?"

It was a simple enough question but Chris thought that the answer was complicated. He got up and made a movement to leave Ezra sitting where he was. "You don't want to answer my question?" Ezra asked him.

"Fine, you want an answer, I'll give you one." Chris sat back down and looked Ezra in the eye watching to see if there would be any sort of emotional response from him. "Your right Ezra, I don't really like you. You are a cheat and a liar, I know that you have changed since you came here but you still allow your own interests to come first. You think of yourself first and that is why I don't trust you. That sort of self interest could get somebody else killed. And I am worried that one day you are going to cost one of us our lives and that is why I had you stay behind."

Ezra listened to what Chris said knowing that most of what he said was true but what Chris did not know was that Ezra would give his own life for any of them. They had risked their lives for him and he was willing to do that for them. He proved that when the Nichiols's family arrived in town looking for Chris's father inlaw, he had risked his life twice then but no one seemed to acknowldge it or thank him for it. Not that he wanted any thanks but he associates seemed to forget the things that he did. But for some reason they could not forget what he did at the Semolian Village.

"Then why do you allow me to stay at all then?" Ezra made sure that he kept his poker face on so Chris could not see how those words hurt him.

"Sometimes I wonder." Chris got up then and left Ezra sitting on his own.

Ezra returned to the bar and got another bottle of whiskey and then went to his room. Enid had been listening to the conversation as she had moved closer to the table when she saw the gambler join the other man. She did not understand most of the conversation as she had not known their history but from what she could understand the man in black did not like or trust the gambler. She had watched Ezra as he was at the bar, she could see the emotions that crossed his handsome features and she knew that he hid those feelings from the others. She did not even know Mr Standish but after what she saw of him at the bar she knew instantly that she could trust him, knew it with her heart. She could see through most people and she was able to see through him. She knew that what Chris said to him in the jail house had hurt him and that he is now probably hurting more but for some reason he did not allow Chris to see it.

Enid decided to leave it for now but she was going to watch them both carefully. Her friends had often told her that she interferred to much in other peoples lives and she had told them that somebody had to, she just could not sit by and watch people get hurt, it was not part of her nature and she could see that Mr Standish needed some help dealing with Mr Larabee. So she was going to butt in wether they liked it or not.

Chris was sitting in the saloon with his own drink. Ezra had still not come down from his room and Chris didn't expect to see him for quite a while yet anyway. He thought to himself that this is exactly what he was talking about yesterday, what if something was to happen right now, I would have to deal with it on my own because Ezra is still up in his room asleep. He looked up to see Mary enter the saloon. She had a telegram in her hand and his first thought was that something had gone wrong in Eagle Bend.

"Chris I have a telegram for you, it's from a friend of yours called Henry Smithers." She saw the expression that crossed Chris's face. She knew what the telegram was about and knew what the expression meant. She watched as he read the message. It told him that Henry had gotten some information regarding the murder of his family and that he wanted Chris to come to Clear Creek which was a town five days ride from Four Corners.

"Are you going to go Chris?" she asked him knowing that he would.

"I have to Mary, it sounds like he might finally have something for me."

"It can't wait till the others come back?" she asked again.

"If I wait the information may not be any good to me." he looked up at her.

"It will mean leaving Ezra on his own to protect the town. Do you want to do that?"

"I'm sure that Ezra could take care of anything that comes up. Besides the others should be back by tomorrow at the latest." he stood up to leave. "Would you tell Ezra that I have gone and will be back in a couple of weeks."

"No. If you are going to leave him to protect this town on his own then you can tell him Chris. I am not going to do it for you."

"Mary I have to go as soon as I can and he may not be up for hours yet."

"He's up now so you can tell him." she nodded towards Ezra who was coming down the stairs. She could see his bloodshot eyes from where she was standing.

Chris turned to see Ezra and nodded to Mary. He walked over to him to tell him that he was leaving town.

"Ezra I need to talk to you." Chris told him as he came down the stairs.

"Did someone ask you to apologise again?" asked Ezra as he walked straight passed him.

Chris let that one go for the moment. "I have to leave town." he saw Ezra stop and turn around and face him with a smile on his face.

Ezra could not believe what Chris had just told him. He turned to him to see what expression his face held in case he was having a go at him. But he saw that he was indeed serious. "Excuse me?" he raised his eyebrows in a question.

Chris was not in the mood for Ezra's games, he was in a hurry and he wanted to leave for Clear Creek five minutes ago. "You heard what I said Ezra."

"Yes I did but I wanted to hear it again just in case I heard wrong." he stepped towards Chris. "You are leaving town?"

"I'm not in the mood for your games Ezra, I'm in a hurry." Chris growled at him. He was getting angry.

"And may I ask why?"

"No you may not. I will be back in a couple of weeks." he turned to leave but Ezra was not finished.

"So Mr Larabee, you are running out on me."

It was Chris's turn to stop and turn around. He walked back to Ezra. "I am not running out on anyone, I told you that I will be back."

"Ah. But if it was me that was leaving you would be accusing me of running out on you. Is that not true?" Ezra could see that he was making Chris angry but he didn't care about that. It did not really bother him that he was leaving, what bothered him was that it was always a different story when it involved Chris. And that's what made Ezra angry.

"I haven't got time for this Ezra."

"Make time Mr Larabee." The bitterness showed in Ezra's voice. He had enough of this man accusing him of things that he no longer did, of him not trusting him.

"I am not going to argue with you Ezra. If you want to we can take this up when I get back." Chris tried staring him down but Ezra could be just as stubborn. He stared straight back at him.

"No, we deal with this now!" Ezra did not flinch and Chris knew that he would have to do something so that he could leave.

Chris stepped back. He drew his arm back and hit Ezra full in the face, splitting his lip but Ezra did not fall so Chris went to hit him again but before he could do so Ezra had his derringer in Chris's face. Chris stopped where he was. "There is no need for physical violence Mr Larabee." said Ezra grimacing at the taste of the blood in his mouth.

Chris was livid now. This was the second time that Ezra had pulled a gun on him and he didn't like it. "Get that gun out of my face Ezra! Now!" Ezra did not move though. "Afraid that you can't beat me in a fight Ezra."

"Of course not Mr Larabee." he nodded to his left. "But there are ladies present and I do not feel that they should see you act in such a manner."

Chris looked to his right and saw Mary watching him. Enid Summers had also joined the crowd that had gathered to watch what was happening. "I am leaving now Ezra but when I get back we are going to finish this."

"I will be glad to." Ezra smiled at him and put his derringer back up his sleeve and while Ezra had momentarily taken his eyes off him Chris hit him again. Ezra this time fell to the floor as he was not prepared for the punch that came.

"That's for pulling that gun on me again." he looked down at Ezra the bruise already forming on his cheek.

"Do you always hit people when they are not looking." he said back at him.

Chris did not answer him though he turned and left the saloon. Once he had his horse saddled he went to the store and bought some supplies for the five day trip and left Four Corners. He hadn't noticed the five men that had ridden into town.

The men went to the livery and stabled their horses. They then asked the stable boy what sort of law they had in town. He told them that there was seven men hired to protect the town but five of them left yesterday and another one just left. That meant that there was only one left. They asked the boy who that man was, what he looked like and where could they find him. The boy answered the questions as he did not know that he was doing the wrong thing by giving them this information.

Mary did not enjoy watching Chris and Ezra argue, she could not understand why they held so much anger towards each other and that anger had finally come to a head. She saw Chris hit Ezra and she was shocked, she was even more shocked when Ezra pulled his gun from his sleeve. But when he indicated herself and Enid she realised that he had done that to stop the fight. He want to stop them from seeing the two lawmen fight. He was thinking about them and not about defending his own honor. But when he put his gun away Chris had hit him again. This made her angry. She ran to Ezra as Chris turned and left the saloon. Enid was by his side just as quickly.

"Are you alright Mr Standish?" asked Enid.

"Of course I am my dear, I have been through a lot worse." he smiled up at her wincing at the pain and he put his hand to his split lip. "And please call me Ezra."

"Your going to need that seen to Ezra." she said.

"There is no doctor here." Mary spoke up. She did not really know what to say to Ezra. "Nathan, one of the men you met yesterday is the closest thing we have to a doctor."

"That's okay I have done some doctoring myself." smiled Enid. "Come on Ezra." She pulled him up off the floor and they went and sat at one of the tables. "Mary could you get me some water please."

Mary came back in a few minutes with a bowl of water and a cloth. Enid soaked it and placed it against Ezra's lips. She noticed how soft they felt and she blushed. "Hold this will you please Ezra." She allowed him to take the cloth from her. "When your done with your lip hold it against your cheek. It might stop some of the swelling."

"Ezra are you going to be okay?" asked Mary.

"I'm fine Mary." he smiled at her trying not to grimace at the pain.

"Well I come back later to make sure, I have to get back to work." he nodded at her not wanting to smile or say anything as that would cause his lip to sting. It was the first physical injury that he had had in two months.

Mary walked out of the saloon straight into five men. "Well, what have we here?" said one of them.

The five men that face Mary were going to enjoy themselves in this town. All they had to do was take care of the hired gun and they were going to use this woman to do it. McCormack grabbed Mary by the arm.

"Let go of me." she said to him.

"Not until I have finished with you." he grinned at her wickedly.

"What are you going to do to me." she was afraid of what the smile on the man's face meant.

"Where not going to do anything to you yet." he motined to his men to take their places. They knew what he had in mind. He didn't have to tell them anything as they had known him to long and knew what he was thinking.

He moved to the saloon doors and saw a man who fitted the description of the seventh hired gun that the stable boy had given him. He nodded towards him. "Is that Ezra Standish?" McCormack asked Mary. She tried to hide the worry that she suddenly felt for Ezra. But the man saw it. He pulled Mary back and pulled his gun.

"What are you going to do?" she was really scared now but no longer for herself.

The man fired his gun into the air and waited for Ezra to come out of the saloon. He waited. And five minutes later he was still waiting. He pushed Mary to the man that was standing behind him and stepped towards the saloon doors and when he did he felt a gun pressed against his temple.

Ezra had heard the gunshot but he decided not to go rushing out the door as he had no one to back him up. He saw Enid stand up behind him. "Give me one of your guns Ezra." he turned to her with a shocked expression on his face. "I can shoot a gun Ezra so don't look at me like that. You need back up so give me one."

Ezra suddenly remembered George Lascon and Enid saw the expression that overcame his face. "No." he said to her. "If something was to happen to you I would not forgive myself." he moved forward leaving her to watch him go.

'Well if he is not going to give me one then someone else will.' she looked around the room until she saw a man whom she could remove a gun from.

Ezra slowly moved out of the doors not removing his gun from the man's temple. Mary saw him coming out and tried to warn him but the man holding her and put his hand over her mouth. When Ezra came out of the doors he could not see anyone else so he thought that this man was alone. He did not move his gun though just in case. Before Ezra could say anything to him another man came from around the corner and he was holding Mary in front of him. The man guestured to Ezra to back off but he didn't.

"If you don't take that gun away from my head my friend here will kill the woman. And that is no threat." he growled at Ezra. The man was feeling stupid. This gambler had tricked him but he was grateful that they had the woman. If she had not come out when she did they would have continued on into the saloon thinking that they would have been able to take him but from this reaction he thought that he may have taken a couple of his men with him.

Ezra looked into the man's eyes and knew that it was not a threat. He lowered his gun from the man's head. As he did this he saw Enid out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards her and shook his head. She did not know what he meant until she saw Mary being used as a hostage. She knew that there was not a lot she could do while Mary was their hostage, she would have to do what Ezra asked and back him up if an opening occured.

McCormack saw Ezra look into the saloon. "Move over there." he nodded towards the railing.

Ezra walked backwards not wanting to turn his back on these men. As he did so another three appeared beside their leader but they had not drawn their guns.

"Put your gun on the ground." he said to Ezra.

Ezra hesitated for a moment. But the man holding Mary put his gun to her head and squeezed her arm tight enough for her to cry out. He began to lower his gun. "Ezra don't do it. Please." said Mary.

"I don't seem to have a choice Mary." he looked at her seeing that she was scared but he did not realise that the fear was for him.

"Ezra they will kill you." she cried.

"And they will kill you if I don't." Ezra looked at Mary. He knew that he would not let her die. He did what he was told. 'Well here I am going to do another one of those heroic deeds that everybody will soon forget.' thought Ezra before he bent down and put his gun on the ground. He then stood back up and faced the men who now had their guns pointed at him.

"How honorable of you." laughed McCormack. He nodded to one of his men who drew their gun and walked towards Ezra. He lifted Ezra's coat and found the gun in his shoulder holster. He then checked his arms and found a derringer he moved to Ezra's side and told him to put the derringer on the ground as well. Ezra looked up at the leader. "Don't even think about it." he said.

Now that he was sure that he had all of Ezra's guns the man walked back to his boss and stood behind him. He put his own gun back in it's holster. Ezra felt a slight relief at that but there were still two guns pointed at him and Mary was still a hostage. He had no idea how he was going to get them out of this.

"I am no threat to you now so why don't you let her go." Hoping that at least Mary could get out of this okay. He was not so sure about himself.

"As long as you are alive you are a threat to me."

Ezra did not like the sound of that at all. "Why don't you let her go anyway?"

"Because I don't want to."

Ezra saw Enid watching from the saloon and he knew that she wanted to do something. He caught her attention and he then looked at Mary. Enid saw Ezra and followed his gaze, she knew what he was telling her. He didn't want her to do anything until she knew that Mary would not get hurt. She didn't like it because she wanted to do something now because she was afraid that Ezra was the one going to get hurt not Mary.

Mary was watching Ezra and she knew that he was risking his own life to protect her. She was afriad that these men were going to shoot him. She heard two guns fire almost at the same time.

Ezra's life was saved by the fact that the two guns did not fire at the exact same time. McCormack had aimed for Ezra's heart but his right hand man had fire a split second before him, the bullet entering Ezra's right shoulder and breaking his shoulder blade as it exited from his body. The force of the bullet had caused him to move the to the right thus saving his life as McCormack's bullet entered high on his left side missing his heart but breaking a rib in two places. The second bullet also went straight through. Mary screamed as she saw Ezra fall to the ground when he was struck by the bullets.

"Damm." grimaced McCormack. "You made me miss him." He turned to his right hand man and hit him causing him to let go of Mary. She ran to Ezra, McCormack tried to stop her but before he could grab her Enid came from the saloon firing her gun at him. She did not have the distraction of a right hand man so her bullet killed McCormack instantly. Enid then shot the man standing next to him. Some one else had followed Enid out and held his own gun. The three remaining gunmen did not draw their guns but instead raised their hands. She looked at the man standing beside her and nodded at him to indicate that she wanted him to watch them while she checked on Ezra. He nodded back to her. Enid then turned to see Mary leaning over Ezra trying to stop the blood flowing from both wounds.

Enid had watched Ezra put his gun on the ground, knew that his was risking his own life to protect Mary. She wanted to burst out of the saloon now and do something but knew that she would only either get them killed or end up as a hostage like Mary. She had to wait, she had no choice. She watched as the two men raised their guns towards Ezra and knew what they were going to do but they also still had Mary. But she was more worried about Ezra at the moment so she started to make her move but just as she did she heard the two gunshots. She saw Ezra go down and then watched as Mary ran passed her.

Enid brought up her gun knowing that Mary was safe and stepped out of the saloon knowing that she would be taking them by surprise. She first shot the leader and then the man standing next to him. She saw the other three and thought that she would not be able to take all three of them but they had put up their hands. She saw the man come up beside her and then nodded to him hoping that he understood what she meant as she did not think that could voice the words at the moment. She turned from him and went to check on Ezra.

Mary was having trouble trying to stop the blood flow, she was scared and crying. She was confused as to what to do. She felt someone kneel down beside her and knew that it was not one of the men who had shot Ezra as she had heard more gunshots and when the bullets did not enter her body she knew that someone had taken care of them. She did not look behind her though to see who it was. She did not want to take her eyes off Ezra. If he died it would be her fault. He had lowered his own gun knowing that these men would probably shoot him. She had seen no selfinterest in Ezra's eyes only the need to protect her and now he was lying in his own pool of blood because he was willing to die to protect her.

"Mary we need to get him somewhere so I can get a better look at his wounds." Enid had checked Ezra's pulse to find that he was still alive and then gently squeezed Mary's arm. She knew that Mary was in shock over what happened but she needed her help now. Mary looked up into her eyes and for a moment did not know what to say to her. She looked back down at Ezra afraid that he had died while she had taken her eyes off him.

"Mary where can we take him?" Enid gripped Mary's arm with more pressure. If they stayed here any longer Ezra would end up bleeding to death. "Mary!" she shook her trying to get her attention.

Mary finally came out of it. "Nathan's room above the saloon here, he would have everything that we need in there."

"Good now I want you to go and get a couple of men who can carry him up there." she pushed Mary up and nodded towards the saloon.

Some men had already come out and they were not needed to be asked again as they moved towards Enid and Ezra. They bent down to pick him up, one taking his shoulders and the other his legs. Two more men helped take the other three outlaws to the jail. Enid took Mary's arm and they followed the men as they carried Ezra to Nathan's room. Enid watched as the blood dripped from Ezra to the ground leaving a small trail that followed him to the room above the saloon. She saw the man carrying Ezra's legs step into one of the droplets of blood leaving a small print from his shoe.

Once they reached the top of the stairs Mary moved forward and opened the door to Nathan's room and indicated the bed where they placed Ezra, lying him on his back. They were not Doctors's they didn't know what to do so they tipped their hats to the women and began to leave. "Wait." Enid called to them. "Could you do something more for me please?"

One of the men nodded. "If it would help, yes." he answered her.

Enid smiled slightly. "I want you to send a telegraph to Eagle Bend and I then want someone to ride after Chris Larabee, he rode out earlier to go to . . " she turned to Mary who was sitting on the bed beside Ezra. Mary heard her hesitate at the name of the town that Chris went to.

"Clear Creek." Mary continued for her.

"Yes a telegram to Eagle Bend for Buck Wilmington and someone to ride after Chris Larabee telling them what has happened." Mary could not help but notice the sarcasm in Enid's voice when she spoke of Chris Larabee. She knew that Enid did not know why Chris had left so she would explain it to her later once they had taken care of Ezra.

The men left and Enid turned back to face Ezra. She saw his face had paled at the loss of blood. "Mary could you please put some water on to boil and then come and help with his clothes?" she saw Mary nod and leave Ezra's side. Enid moved to Ezra's side, she would have to remove his upper clothing to get a closer look at the wounds. She began to unbutton his vest and then his shirt. She pulled the shirt away noticing how smooth and muscled his chest was but she also noticed the amount of blood that covered it. Mary came back over and together they struggled to remove Ezra's clothes. Once they had done that Enid got a close look at his wounds, she had Mary help her roll him onto his side so she could see the exit wounds.

"Mary where does Nathan keep the bandages that he uses?" asked Enid as they allowed Ezra to roll back.

Instead of answering her Mary got up and went to the draw that held the bandages. She brought them all back as she did not know how many Enid would need. She gave them to her but Enid gave some of them back. "I want you put this on the wound in the front and back and apply as much pressure as you can. Don't let up if he shows any sort of pain because we have to get the bleeding stopped."

Mary nodded but hesitated a moment as she watched Enid place her bandages on Ezra's shoulder and then under his back and press down. She saw Ezra move under the pressure and heard his groan of pain. Enid looked up at her and then she did the same to his upper side. He did not respond to the pressure that she placed on his side.

"Press harder Mary." As she did she saw Ezra react the same way as he had when Enid applied pressure to his shoulder.

After about ten minutes of applying the pressure the wounds finally stopped bleeding. Enid then got the pot of boiling water that Mary had put on and brought it to the side of the bed. She then began to clean each wound while Ezra grimaced and moaned in protest but he did not regain consciousness which she was glad of. When that was done she then bandaged the wounds, she would have to wait till Nathan came back for him to stitch them closed. She did not want to do that as yet because when she had cleaned his wounds she saw that the bullets had broken his shoulder blade and a rib in his side and knew there could be bone splinters in the wounds that would need to be removed and she did not have enough experience to do that. She had to wait till Nathan came back and she hoped that she could keep Ezra alive long enough for Nathan to help him.

Two hours later three things happened at once. The first one was that the man who was riding after Chris Larabee gave up. He had ridden hard for two hours and knew that if he was going to catch him that he would have caught him by now. So he pulled up his horse and turned around and headed back to Four Corners. The second thing was that Buck Wilmington was handed a telegram that told him that Ezra Standish had been shot and Nathan Jackson should return to Four Corners as he was needed urgently. The third was that Ezra regained consciousness.

Buck was sitting in the saloon at Eagle Bend. It had taken them until now to deal with the five gunmen who were terrorising the town. They had been tricky and a couple of them had themselves shut up in buildings and it had been difficult to get them out without hurting innocent bystanders. Once they had finished they decided that they should stay in town for the night and then head back to Four Corners in the morning but the telegram that he was about to receive changed that plan. Vin, Nathan, Josiah and JD were sitting with him discussing the days events when a man arrived with a telegram for Buck. The man knew who Buck was, the whole town knew who the four men were and he ran straight to him when he saw him at the table.

"Mr Wilmington, I have a telegram for you. It is regarding your friend in Four Corners." He handed Buck the telegram.

"Has something happened to Chris?" Vin leaned forward.

Buck heard what Vin said as he read the telegram. He looked up at Vin the anger showing on his face. "Is Chris the only friend that you have in Four Corners?"

"Something has happened to Ezra?" JD got up. "We got to get back there."

Vin did not answer Buck but just looked at him waiting for him to tell him what was going on. He suspected that something had happened to Chris but now that he knew that it was about Ezra he thought that Chris had sent it and that Ezra had done something stupid again after the confrontation in the jail house.

"So what has Ezra done this time?" asked Nathan taking his turn at judging Ezra without waiting to hear what the telegram said.

Buck got up and showed the disgust that he was feeling. "JD, why is it that only you and I seem to care what happens to Ezra?"

"Buck are you going to tell us what happened or not." demanded Josiah.

"Ezra has been shot and they want Nathan urgently." Buck looked down.

"What about Chris, is he okay?" asked Vin as he got up from his seat.

"What about Chris? Ezra is the one that is hurt, don't you want to know how he is?" Buck growled at him. It hadn't not mentioned Chris and this had worried Buck. The telegram was from someone else in Four Corners and they only mentioned Ezra in it which either meant that Chris was alright or that he was dead. They would have to find out when they got back. They all left the saloon without saying another word. Buck did not say anything during the ride back as he was beginning to understand what Ezra went through with these men. What he had gone through with Buck until they had become closer after Rochelle's death.

Enid was sitting in a chair next to the bed watching Ezra. Mary had gone to get them something to eat and to see if Buck had sent a telegram back to let them know that Nathan was on his way. Enid had kept watching Ezra wating for him to show any sign that he was coming round. She constantly checked his wounds to make sure that an infection had not set in yet. She was knew that it would as the bone chips that she could not remove would eventually cause some sort of infection to begin. She noticed that a film of sweat had begun to soak his hair causing it to cling to his skin. She got up and put her hand on his forehead and realised that his fever had begun. Ezra moved under her touch but she did not remove her hand instead she moved closer to him.

"Ezra can you hear me?" she watched him move again. "Ezra? It's Enid."

Ezra opened his eyes and looked up into hers. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the intensity of his green eyes. He finally focused on her and smiled up at her but then the smile dropped from his face and he looked around the room. She knew who he was looking for. "Mary is fine Ezra, she will be back shortly." She watched him relax for a moment.

"Those men, what happened?" he croaked.

"I'll get you some water and then I will tell you." As she got up Mary walked back into the room.

Mary saw that Ezra's eyes were open. She went over to him and sat down. "How are you feeling Ezra?"

"Terrible. Who fixed me up?"

"I did."

He looked over at Enid. "You my Dear are a resourceful woman." he smiled at her.

She smiled back at him. After all that happened he still remembered something that she had said yesterday. Enid wondered how many other men did that.

"Very." said Mary. "She also killed the two men who shot you." Mary frowned though as Ezra fell back into unconsciousness.

Enid also saw this and instead of putting the water in a cup she soaked a cloth with it and then went back to the bed. She put the cloth on Ezra's forehead after first wiping his face with it. "He has got a slight fever." she answered Mary's look of concern. "Was there a telegram from Mr Wilmington?"

"No and the man that you sent after Chris came back without him. Said that Chris must be riding his horse to hard because even after two hours of hard riding himself he was not able to catch up with him." Mary looked at Ezra seeing the slight flush in his cheeks from the fever. "I sent a telegram to Clear Creek though saying that he should be arriving in four days and if they could inform him of what has occured here."

"I hope that the others received their telegram and are on their way."

"Enid Chris left because he got some information that may tell him who killed his family." she raised her eyes to her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know about his family."

"He has been looking for the killers for a long time now."

Enid moved next to Ezra and sat down on the bed taking the cloth form his forehead and wiping his face and chest with it. "I am sorry Mary, but . . ." she did not finish though.

"But what Enid?" Mary wanted her to finish what she was saying.

"I'm sorry about his family but he could have still waited another day or two until the others came back before he left."

Mary didn't say anything. Instead she too looked at Ezra wondering if he would be lying here if Chris had stayed in town.

When Buck could see Four Corners in the distance he urged his horse to go faster, the others followed his lead, some of them more concerned because the telegraph had not mentioned Chris and two of them wanting know how Ezra was, the telegram also did not say if his injury was serious or not. Once they got to town they headed straight to Nathan's room thinking that Ezra would be there. Buck ran up the stairs and burst through the door to find Ezra laying unconcious on the bed. He also noticed that he was moving about. He saw that Mary and Enid were with him but he didn't see Chris. Nathan pushed his way passed Buck and went to Ezra.

Enid heard the door open and was relieved to see Buck standing there, it meant that Nathan was also with him. When Nathan did come into the room he went straight to Ezra's side. "Nathan I am so glad that you are here, I have done as much for him as I could but he needs you." Enid told him.

The others had also made their way into the room. Vin could see that Chris was not there, he saw Mary though and went over to her. "Where's Chris?" he asked her glancing at Ezra on the way pass.

"He's not here." Mary answered him.

"He's not . . " Vin left the question hanging in the air.

"No he isn't." Enid stood up and walked up to Vin. "Do you want to know how Ezra is?"

"Of course I do. I just wanted to make sure that Chris was okay to." muttered Vin suddenly feeling guilty.

"Enid come back here and tell me what happened." said Nathan.

Enid glared at Vin and then joined Nathan at Ezra's bedside. "He took a bullet in his right shoulder, it broke his shoulder blade when it came out the other side and the other bullet him in his left side breaking his rib. I cleaned the wounds and bandaged them but I saw bone splinters in them that will need to come out. I couldn't do it. I knew that it would end up causing an infection which I think it has started to do as he has a fever which is getting worse." she looked down at Ezra watching him turn his head from side to side and how his hair and body were now soaked with sweat.

Nathan put his hand to Ezra's forehead feeling the heat that was generating from his body as he leaned over him. He instantly regretted what he had said about Ezra back in the saloon in Eagle Bend. He then removed the bandages and saw the slight swelling in both wounds and then he rolled Ezra over as much as he could to check the wounds on his back. There was more swelling there. "I want everyone to leave."

"Not until you tell us how bad he is Nathan." growled Buck. He had noticed how Vin had showed little concern in regards to Ezra's health until he found out that Chris was okay. He also noticed how Josiah was standing back at the doorway. He did not need to check on JD because he knew that he would be worried. That boy worried about everyone.

"Enid just told you Buck. The wounds have become infected. I will need to clean any bone fragments that are still in there and I can't do that with everyone standing in here."

"Fine but I want to know as soon as you are finished with him." said Buck as he left the room with the others following him including Mary.

Enid began to get up to leave also but Nathan held her arm. "Enid could you stay and help me please?"

"Sure Nathan." she smiled glad that she could stay with Ezra.

Enid put some more water on to boil while Nathan removed Ezra's bandages. He squeezed the wound on his shoulder slightly seeing a small amount of yellow fluid leak from the wound. Ezra moaned at the touch and tried to move away from the pain. Nathan knew that the other wound would be the same.

"When did this happen?"

"About seven hours ago. I had someone send the telegram straight away. I didn't want to try and clean inside his wounds as I thought that I might just cause more damage.

"You did a good job." Nathan got up and placed some of the instruments that he was going to use into the boiling water. While they were sterilizing he cleaned his own hands. He then put the instruments on a tray and went back to Ezra. "Enid could you clean your hands and then bring the water over here and also some more bandages."

Nathan began with the two wounds at the front of Ezra's body. He opened the shoulder wound and saw no bone splinters there so he cleaned out as much of the fluid that he could. Enid tried to hold Ezra's shoulder as he was still moving about. Once Nathan had finished with the first one he put some herbs and a small dressing on it. He then checked the other wound on Ezra's left side. He noticed that the bullet must have been meant for the heart as it was level with that area. He wanted to ask Enid how it happened but he would wait until he was finished. He found splinters in the wound. He made sure that he removed them all and then cleaned the wound also. After he dressed that one he had Enid help him roll Ezra onto his stomach making sure that the dressings stayed in place.

Nathan found quited a few bone fragements on the back of his shoulder and it took him quite a while to clean them out. Ezra was also able to struggle more on his stomach as he seemed to get his arms underneath him to try and push himself away from the pain. Nathan had to stop a few times to wait for him to settle. Enid was doing a good job holding him down but sometimes Ezra's strength suprised them both. When Nathan had finished with that wound he then moved onto the last one. When he finished he placed a dressing on it.

"I am going to leave him on his stomach for now to keep him off his shoulder. We will have to wait to see if his fever goes down. I cleaned the wounds as best I could but I will have to clean them on a regular basis to make sure they stay clean." said Nathan. He kept his hand on Ezra's back feeling the heat that radiated from his body and the sweat that formed in droplets on his back. He picked up a cloth and soaked it in the now cool water and begun to wipe down Ezra's back he then placed the cloth on the back of his neck. "Do you want to tell me what happened Enid?"

"Why don't we see if Mary has told everyone else and if not then I can tell all of you."

Nathan got up and went and opened the door. He found that they were all still standing there. They had not moved during the two hours that it had taken Nathan to clean Ezra's wounds of the infection and bone fragments. He saw that Mary was not with them though.

"Well?" asked Buck as he stood face to face with Nathan.

"There were quite a few bone pieces that I had to remove and all we can do now is wait and see if his fever comes down." Buck went to move back inside so he could see Ezra. "Did Mary tell you what happened?"

"She wanted to but we could see that she was tired so we insisted that she get some rest. We thought that she could tell us later what was going on." Josiah answered.

"Well I can tell you now." said Enid. She was going to enjoy this. When they all came into the room she got the impression that only Buck was really worried abut Ezra. The others gave her the impression that they were concerned but nothing more. She hoped that it was because they were hiding their feelings. She would soon find out how they really felt when she told them what happened.

"Let's go back inside and you can tell us in there, I don't want to leave Ezra alone in case he wakes up." said Nathan as he moved back inside. Enid followed them in and then began to tell them everything that had happened that morning.

When they went back in Nathan could see that Ezra had managed to roll onto his back causing the dressings to fall. The wounds had begun to bleed slightly and he had to redo them. He had not bandaged his wounds as he thought that it woud be easier for both he and Ezra when it came to cleaning the wounds. The others watched silently as Nathan redressed the wounds and placed him back on his stomach. He stayed on the bed making sure that he did not roll over again. Both he and the others could see the redness that covered his back from the fever that he was suffering. They could also see the swelling and bruises that protruded from the dressings. They all looked at Enid asking her with their expressions what happened to him.

Enid looked down at Ezra. "This morning Ezra and Chris had an argument. . . " she began.

"About what?" asked JD.

"Let her talk JD." said Buck hoping that this wasn't going where he thought it was. He kept the thought to himself.

"Ezra wanted to know why Chris did not trust him." she saw most of them looking at the ground but Buck and JD kept their eyes on her and Ezra. "Chris would not tell him at first but Ezra was determined to get an answer and Chris gave him one. Told him that he thought that Ezra would one day get one of you killed. He told Ezra that he always seemed to have his own interests come first before the group." she saw Nathan nod his head. "So you agree with him do you Nathan?"

Nathan looked down at Ezra his hand still on his back as Ezra moved underneath it. "I'm sorry but yes I do."

"You will find that most of them do." said JD looking around at the others.

"After a few more words, Chris hit him as you can see by his split lip." they had noticed Ezra's lip and the bruise on his cheek but they all thought that it was part of what had happened to him. "Ezra then pulled his gun on him."

Buck laughed at this but the others frowned. "That would be right." commented Vin.

"The reason Ezra pulled his gun on him was because your friend was going to hit him again but Ezra did not want the ladies who were watching the scene to see a physical altercation between them and he thought that it was the only way to stop him. He was thinking of us and not his ego like Chris was." she looked at Vin to make sure that he understood why Ezra pulled his derringer. Vin looked down. "But when he put the gun away Chris hit him again anyway. He is a real nice man this Chris Larabee."

"You need to get to know Chris to find out that he is a nice guy and he would not usually do that sort of thing unless he had a reason." said Vin defending Chris.

"Oh he had a reason all right. He wanted to leave town. He got some information about the people who killed his family." she stopped there as she heard Ezra moan from the bed, he was moving about even more now. She sat down on the bed beside him and wiped the hair off his forehead. She waited for him to settle before she went on.

"Chris has been looking for those people for a long time, the rest of us would have understood that he had to leave." said Nathan.

"But you were not here, only Ezra was here and Chris was going to leave him on his own. I think that Ezra did understand but from what I heard he wanted to know it was okay for him to leave but if it was Ezra who had to leave that he would think that he was running out on him. I think that is how Ezra put it."

The others looked at each other knowing what she meant by what she just said. Buck looked at Enid. "I have to ask you Enid, did Chris shoot Ezra?" Everyone looked at him stunned by what he had just said.

"No, after he hit Ezra the second time he left town. We sent someone after him to bring him back but they could not catch up with him."

"Then someone else did it, who and are they still around." growled Buck wanting to get his hands on the man who did this.

They all turned suddenly as they heard the door open and relaxed when Mary came in. She moved over next to Enid. "I'm sorry I couldn't sleep, I had to come back."

"I was just telling everyone what happened. I just told them that Chris had left town." Enid continued then. "There were five of them actually." she said to Buck to answer his question.

"So it had something to do with a card game." chuckled Josiah.

Buck was suprised by the comment that Josiah had made, he did not expect from him. He looked back at Enid and could see how angry she was getting at the comments they kept making about Ezra.

"Why do you say that, why do you think that Ezra brought this on himself?" she was frustrated that they could not accept the fact that it had nothing to do with Ezra. She was beginning to understand why he did not show these men the hurt that he was feeling. She got the impression that they would not care how he felt. She walked straight up to Josiah wanting to take her anger out on him as he was the one who made the last comment. "This man . . ." she turned and pointed at Ezra, "nearly died because Chris Larabee allowed his own interests to come first." she pratically spat at him. She was so angry now.

"I don't believe that." said Vin.

Enid looked over at Mary. "Tell him." Enid went and sat next to Ezra again. She could feel the heat coming from his body.

"I'm sorry Vin but I am agreeing with Enid. I wonder myself if Ezra would be lying here like this if Chris stayed in town. This happened because their was no one there to back him up but it was also my fault to." she looked at Ezra and blamed herself for what happened.

"It was not your fault Mary." Enid began to wipe Ezra's face with the damp cloth that Nathan had put on the back of his neck. She felt his breath against her arm and while she did this she told them what Ezra had done hoping that it would change their opinion of him. "Mary had left the saloon about twenty minutes after Chris did and then we heard a gunshot. Ezra did not go straight out as he didn't know what was happening so he made his way to the door and waited. A man then began to come into the saloon holding a gun. Ezra put his own gun against the man's head and went outside with him. I got someone else's gun in case he needed help." they looked at her. "I went up to the door to see what had happened because he did not come back in and I saw two men and one of them had Mary."

"They asked me which one of the men in the saloon was Ezra, they seemed to know him and they were going to use me to get him out." said Mary looking down as she felt the guilt overwhelm her.

"Ezra got the drop on the guy but when they brought Mary out he was in a completely different situation and he was on his own. I think that if Chris was there then he would have been able to help." Enid noticed how they no longer had anything to say about Ezra. "They threatend to kill Mary if he wouldn't put his gun down."

"I told him not to but he must have believed what they said because he told me that if he didn't they would kill me." continued Mary. They seemed to be taking turns now telling the story.

"I knew I couldn't do anything yet as they had both Mary and Ezra so I waited." said Enid.

"Then why do you think that Chris could have done anything?" stated Vin.

"Because Mr Tanner Ezra would not have been in that position if Mr Larabee was there to help from the beginning." she said the anger showing in her voice as he was still defending Larabee. Her face softened then though and she looked back down at Ezra. "I saw them raise their guns but I was to slow, they both shot him. He was standing there with his hands up, he was not a threat to them but they shot him anyway."

"He knew that they were going to shoot him." they all looked at Mary. "I could see it in his eyes, he knew that they would have killed me and he was willing to give his own life to save mine." she started crying then as she remembered Ezra lying on the ground with all the blood soaking his clothing.

"Mary got away then and I suprised them and killed the two that shot Ezra. The other three gave themselves up." she looked up at Vin. "You don't seem to have anything to say anymore Mr Tanner?" it was a question that Vin did not answer.

They were feeling guilty that they had misjudged Ezra but Vin and Nathan were still not sure about Ezra not being in this position if Chris had stayed in town. Vin looked at Eza and then left the room. Buck watched him leave. He hadn't seemed to accept everything that he was told. Buck looked back at Ezra and knew that what Enid had said was true. He knew that Ezra would give his life to save Mary or any of them for that matter but the others had a harder time believing it.

The others had left the room also and left Buck and Enid to stay with Ezra. He had settled more and Nathan told Enid to make sure that he did not roll onto his back and that he would be back later to clean his wounds again. Buck watched Ezra, his face was pale but red from the fever, the sweat continuing to form on his skin, a grimace crossing his face every now and then either from the pain or a dream, Buck did not know which. He saw the wounds on his back and knew that there were two more on his chest. Knew of the broken bones that the bullets had caused. He thought about what Mary said - that Ezra knew that the men would shoot him if he put his gun down, that he did it to save her life. He let out a deep breath and leaned back in the chair wishing that Ezra would wake up. Enid told him that he had woken up a couple of hours after it happened but he had been unconscious since. Nathan thought that it was a fevered sleep and that he probably would not wake up until after the fever broke.

"Why don't they like him Buck?" Enid's question had brought him out of his own thoughts.

"It's not that they don't like him Enid." said Buck not looking at her.

"Then what is it? What's makes them treat him like this and why does he not tell them how it hurts him."

Buck looked up at that comment. "Hurt him?"

"What they say and think hurts him. After what happened in the jail cell he went to the saloon and Chris followed him. I went in there too and I watched him at the bar. He thought that no one was watching him but I was. I could see the hurt on his face, he was upset about it but he didn't let anyone else see that."

"Ezra is a complicated person and hard to get to know. He hides his feelings behind a poker face. He is a gambler and a conman." he put his hand up to stop Enid's protest at that remark before she even started. "He was brought up that way, he was taught by his mother to hide everything from everyone. He does not want people to see that he cares or wants to help others. That's why the rest of the guys had difficulty taking in what you said."

"And that's why they don't like him. Because he doesn't want them to like him?" she was confused.

"I think that he thinks it's easier for him not to get close to people in case he has to leave in a hurry and as a gambler he had to do that a lot. He is not use to friendship and he pushes it away. They have tried to be his friend but that usually only happens in situations like this, when he is hurt and he can't push them away. It's now a way of life for him."

"How long has he been here in Four Corners?"

"Nearly eight months."

"And during all that time he has never done anything that would make them think that there is a different person in there?" this conversation was making her more angry at the others. This would not have had to be the first time that he risked his life for someone or showed them something that said that they could trust him.

"He has done plenty of things but then he does something that is habit and they restort back to the way they usually think of him. Like I said Ezra does not want them to think nice things about him. I did not realise though that what they thought of him hurt his feelings." He looked down at Ezra. "He is very good with that poker face of his." Buck decided that he was going to have to have a good talk to him later.

"Then how come you can see through him?"

"A woman that he loved was killed about six weeks ago, I saw those feelings that you are speaking of and we have been somewhat closer since. But I obviously don't see through him or else I would know what is going on with him. He must have only let me see what he wanted and nothing else." he looked up then as Nathan entered the room.

"I've come to clean Ezra's wounds." Nathan said to no one in particular.

"I'm not leaving this time Nathan." said Buck.

Enid smiled at Buck thankful that Ezra had at least one friend among the six of them. Nathan went and boiled some more water and then gathered some more dressings and herbs. After washing his hands again he went over to the bed. Buck had moved back to give him more room with Ezra. Nathan first felt his forehead to check his fever which had not come down at all. He actually felt warmer to Nathan. He then cleaned the wounds on Ezra's back again and dressed them. Buck then came over and helped Nathan turn him over. Ezra groaned and opened his eyes. He felt the pain in his shoulder and tried to roll off it but Nathan held him down.

"Easy Ezra, I want you to stay still while I clean your wounds."

"Nathan?" he muttered.

"Yeah and Buck is here to."

Buck moved to Ezra's side in case Nathan needed him to hold him down. Ezra tried to move again as there seemed to be a lot of pain in his shoulder. Buck put his hands on Ezra's arms to hold him down and he felt the heat of the fever. Nathan managed to clean the wound on his side but when he tried to clean his shoulder Ezra gave him a lot more trouble. Nathan lifted the dressing off and Ezra hissed in a quick breath. Nathan saw that there was yellow fluid leaking from the wound. He got a cloth and wet it in the boiling water. He then wiped the herbs and mucus away. Ezra let a small cry of pain and tried to move away from him but Buck kept him from going anywhere. The sweat was beginning to run down the side of Ezra's face. Nathan could see that what he was doing was causing Ezra a lot of pain but he had to do it.

"I'm sorry Ezra but I have to clean it and once I have done that I am going to have to check to see why it is still infected."

"Oh great." muttered Ezra.

Buck felt Ezra tense up under his grip. Ezra gritted his teeth together knowing what was to come, he had been through this before and he did not enjoy it at all. Nathan wiped as much of the fluid out that he could and then he picked up an instrument to open the wound with. He had to check to see if there was any bone fragments in there. He had found none the first time but the wound was infected and getting worse so he had to check again.

"And what are you going to do with that Mr Jackson." asked Ezra with a strained look on his face. He wanted to go back to sleep but Nathan was not causing enough pain for him to pass out but he was causing enough to keep him awake.

Nathan nodded at Buck and Ezra also looked at Buck to see what the nod meant. He felt Buck put more pressure on his arms and while he was looking at him Nathan press the instrument into Ezra's shoulder. Ezra screamed out at the pain and grabbed hold of the bed covers, he pressed himself into the bed to try and get away from it but it only caused more pain from his broken shoulder blade. He did not pass out straight away, he felt Nathan digging in the wound looking for something. He was beginning to have trouble breathing and Nathan noticed this and began to hurry. After what felt like an enternity to Ezra Nathan finally removed a piece of bone that had been hidden by muscle. As the pain eased he began to relax and breath easier but then he felt more pain as Nathan began to clean the wound. Nathan squeezed the wound to get as much of the mucus out as he could and this pain finally caused Ezra to blackout.

Buck let out a sigh of relief as he hated watching Ezra go through this. He looked over at Enid who had been watching everything that Nathan did from the side of the room. Once Nathan had finshed he put on another dressing. He noticed that Ezra was now soaked with sweat and that the sheets that he was lying on were also wet from Ezra's sweat. He asked Buck to pick him up for a few minutes while he had Enid help him change the sheets. When Buck put him back down on his stomach Nathan made sure that the dressings were okay and Enid begun to wipe away the moisture that had formed on Ezra's body. They would have to make sure that he had some water when he next woke up.

Ezra slept for the next four hours and during that time his fever did not improve. Nathan had cleaned his wounds four times noticing that each time he cleaned his shoulder the fluid became clearer. Ezra woke again during the fourth time and it was Josiah who held Ezra down while Nathan continued to clean the wound. Buck and taken Enid to the saloon so she could get something to eat and to relax for a while. When Nathan had finished with Ezra's shoulder he gave him some water to drink making sure that he drunk it slowly so he would not make himself sick. Nathan then helped him back onto his stomach. He then left Josiah with him as he went down to the saloon. He did not really want to speak to Ezra, he was feeling too guilty about what he thought about him. Thinking that it had been his own fault that he was in this situation. Josiah noticed that Ezra had not gone back to sleep.

"Where is everyone Mr Sanchez?" asked Ezra. He was feeling extremely uncomfortable as his shoulder was giving him a lot of pain and his side was also hurting.

"There down in the saloon. Do you want to see them?" Josiah was courious as usually Ezra did not want people around him when he was like this.

"It just seems strange to me that each other time I have been in this situation I have had to put up with everyone hovering over me and yet this time I hardly see anyone. Is there a reason for that?" he saw the look that came over Joisah's face as he was sitting across from him and Ezra was looking at him when he asked the question. "Well?"

"They are feeling a bit guilty, well except Buck and JD that is." Josiah watched him as he tried to make himself more comfortable.

"And are you feeling guilty to Mr Sanchez?" Ezra stopped trying to shift into a better position as it only caused him more pain. He gave up and lay where he was. He was beginning to tire but Josiah had gotten his couriosity going and he wanted to know more.

"Yes I am."

"Are you going to tell me what it is that you and the others are feeling guilty about?" he asked him.

"When you are feeling better Ezra." he said to him.

This made Ezra angry. "If it concerns me Josiah I want to know now."

Josiah sighed. "When we got the telegram, the man who delivered said it was in regards to a friend here and Vin, Nathan and myself assumed that it was Chris and then when Buck told us it was you . . ." he stopped for a moment not knowing how to tell him. "We were more interested in knowing if Chris was okay and we also thought that you were shot because of something that you did. You know like a poker game or something like that." he looked at Ezra and saw no expression on his face.

"No I don't know." Ezra waited for Joisah to say something else, such as apologise for what he thought. But he did not say anything. 'He is just like Chris, he will think the wrong thing or assume the wrong thing but he won't apologise for it.' Ezra thought to himself. "So you knew that I had been shot but you were not interested in how I was but how Chris was." it was a statement not a question and before Josiah could say anything Ezra turned his head and closed his eyes. Ezra did not understand why they were acting so differently this time as to all the other times he had been hurt.

Josiah did not know what to say to him. He knew what they had done was wrong but he couldn't say anything to change it. He heard Ezra say something. "Josiah, why now?"

"What do you mean Ezra?" he was confused.

"Why are you reacting like this now and not the other times that I have been hurt. Why are you not showing any interest as to how I am, I couldn't get rid of anyone before and know no one wants to be near me. Why?"

Josiah hung his head. "It's as I said before, we feel guilty and we are finding it hard to face you."

"Well you may as well go and join the others then."

"Nathan wants someone to stay with you." it wasn't until he said it that he knew it was the wrong thing to say.

"Then get someone who wants to sit with me. There is no need to force anyone to do it." Ezra growled.

"I'm not being forced Ezra, I want to stay."

Ezra did not answer him though so Josiah got up and moved around to the other side of the bed and bent down so he could look Ezra in the eye. "Ezra are you still awake." He didn't answer him and Josiah knew that he was not pretending as Ezra was breathing steadily and his facial expression was relaxed except for the occasional grimace from the pain that he was feeling. Josiah put his hand on Ezra's head feeling the fever that was still burning within him. He regreted saying what he did. Even in his sleep Ezra moved his head away from the touch of human contact. Josiah got up and went back to his seat.

"How can I explain it to you Ezra when I can't even explain it to myself." he said out loud knowing that Ezra did not hear him.

Nathan had joined the others at the table. Enid and Buck were also with them. "How is he doing?" asked Vin. But before Nathan could answer Enid spoke up.

"Why don't you go up and find out Mr Tanner."

"Enid." warned Buck.

"What?' she looked at Buck and then back at Vin. "He has not even been up there to see how he is."

"Enid." Buck said again.

"No, it's alright Buck, she's right." Vin got up and went to see how Ezra was doing. When he left all eyes turned to Nathan so he could now answer Vin's question.

"The infection is clearing, he woke up while I was cleaning it. But his fever hasn't come down at all." Nathan poured himself a drink. "Once his fever is gone then it's only a matter of rest until he heals."

When Vin entered the room Ezra was asleep again. He went over to Josiah. "How's he doing?" he asked Josiah.

"His still got his fever." Josiah shrugged his shoulders. "I told him how we reacted to the telegram."

"What did you do that for?" asked Vin knowing how Ezra probably reacted to that.

"He wanted to know where everyone was. Couldn't understand why we weren't here when every other time we were."

Vin went and sat in the other chair making sure that he was going to be there when Ezra woke up. He didn't want him to think the same thing, that there was no one there to worry about him.

Ezra woke a couple of hours later to find Josiah and Vin sitting with him. He looked at Vin but did not say anything instead he closed his eyes again. Vin looked over at Josiah who just shrugged back at him. Josiah didn't know what to say, he had already said the wrong thing. It was bad enough that Ezra had to go through so many things physically but to then have his friends think the wrong thing of him, he did not need that as well but Josiah - with all his words of wisdom - did not know what to say to make him feel better.

"How are you feeling Ezra?" Vin asked hoping for an answer. He got one.

"Is that quiery out of guilt or concern Mr Tanner?" Ezra asked back.

Vin grimaced at that. "It's out of concern Ezra."

"I feel terrible." Ezra muttered back at him.

Josiah got up and felt Ezra's forehead to see how his fever was. He did not feel as hot to him as he had been. "I think that your fever is breaking Ezra."

"Great." said Ezra. He had still not opened his eyes, he didn't want to look at them. He thought he would only see judgement in their eyes. Judgement for what though he did not know.

"Do you want to get it off your chest Ezra?" asked Vin.

"Get what off my chest?" question Ezra wondering why he was the one with the problem.

"What ever it is that is bothering you." said Vin.

Ezra laughed. He couldn't believe it. He stopped and grimaced at the pain that it caused. Vin looked at him and then at Josiah. "What is bothering him is the way we reacted to the telegram." Josiah answered for Ezra knowing that he would not say anything about it.

"Is that it Ezra, Josiah told me that he told you about that." Ezra did not answer him. Vin knew that he would react this way to what happened but he hoped that Ezra would tell him when he asked him what was wrong. He should have known better.

"Why should it bother me, is that not the way you always react to me. None of you like or trust me so I should not expect anything different." Ezra opened his eyes and looked at Vin making sure that he had his poker face on to hide his feelings. "And if you think that it bothers me, it doesn't" he lied.

Vin actually believed him but Josiah didn't. He walked around the bed so he could look at Ezra. "I don't think that you are telling us the truth Ezra. I think that it does bother you. We can't change what happened Ezra. It's not that we don't like you Ezra it's just that . . ." he paused for a moment looking at Ezra. He saw the look that came over his face but did not realise the look was in regards to the fact that Josiah left out the word trust in that sentence. "It's that all the other times you have been hurt we saw you before we reacted and this time we reacted before we saw how badly you were hurt. We reacted in the wrong way and were sorry."

"There is that word again." said Ezra. "I may have actually believed you Josiah if you had said that you also trusted me in that apology speech."

"We do trust you Ezra." Josiah was going to say something more when Buck and JD came in. He could never understand Ezra. It was as though he did not want to accept the apology. He complained when everyone stayed close when he was hurt and he complained silenty when they stayed away this time.

JD saw that Ezra was awake. All the other times he had been to see him he was still asleep. "Hey Ezra, about time you were awake when I visited. Every time I came you were asleep."

"I am going to go and let Nathan know that his fever is coming down." said Josiah. Vin got up to go with him.

"You do that Mr Sanchez, it will give him an excuse to see me." said Ezra. Buck and JD looked at each other and then at Josiah but he looked away and left with Vin.

"What was that about Ezra?" asked Buck as he sat down in the chair opposite the bed.

"Something that I am tired of thinking about." Ezra looked at him and did not hide all the emotions he was feeling. "Buck could you and JD help me onto my back so I can sit up, I am sick of lying on my stomach? And then if I could have some water please?"

"Sure Ezra. JD come and give us a hand." they carefully turned Ezra over and then helped him sit up. They could see the sweat on his face as he struggled against the pain. Once they had done that and Ezra had drunk some water, Buck asked JD to leave them alone for a moment and then come back. JD nodded and left to wait outside. He saw Nathan coming up the stairs and asked him to wait until Buck finished talking to Ezra.

"You want to tell me what's going on Ezra?" asked Buck.

No Buck, it's not that I don't want to talk about. It's just that it is something that won't change and to tell you the truth I don't think that I want it to change." Ezra knew that it was a lie, he wanted it to change but his instinct from to many years of conning and gambling kicked in making him think that it would be better if things stayed the same so if something were to happen and he had to leave then it would be easier to leave these people behind.

"They are your friends Ezra, they just never know how to talk to you. You make it to hard for them."

"You don't seem to have any trouble Buck." Ezra smiled at him knowing that it was Rochelle who had brought them closer.

"It isn't always that easy with me either Ezra." Buck smiled back at him.

"I'll be fine Buck, don't worry about me. You know I always end up back on my feet."

"Once in a while you should let someone else help you get back up." Buck got up then. "I'll let JD know he can come back in. Like he said you were always asleep when he came up." Buck went outside and found Nathan with JD.

"I'll check his fever and then meet you back downstairs." Nathan said to Buck.

"No you won't, I am staying with him for a while and so are you." Buck said to him.

Once Nathan confirmed that Ezra's fever had finally broken they stayed with him until he had fallen asleep again.

A couple of days later Chris Larabee rode into Clear Creek. The man from the telegraph office had been keeping an eye out for him since yesterday. He ran up to him and asked him if he was Chris Larabee. When Chris said that he was the man handed him a telegram, he told him that it was in regards to Ezra Standish. Chris thought that the man meant that it was from Ezra and then he assumed that Ezra was demanding that he came back. So instead of reading it he put it in his coat pocket without reading it and that's where it stayed.

Another two weeks had passed and Enid had spent a lot of time with Ezra. His friends had spent time with him also trying to make up for what they had done. They preferred to hear him complaining about them being there rather than not being there. His shoulder and side had started to heal although his shoulder blade was still giving him trouble. Nathan had made a sling for him to keep his arm in but when Nathan was not around he kept taking it off.

Ezra was sitting at his usual table when Enid came into the saloon. She was getting ready to leave, she was going to go back home. "Hi Ezra." she sat down at the table with him.

"Good morning Enid my dear. And how are you today?" he smiled up at her.

Enid melted everytime he smiled like that. "A bit sad to leave." She felt Ezra take her hand and squeeze it.

"I am sad to see you go Enid." Ezra lifted her hand and placed a soft kiss on it. "I have a lot to thank you for."

"That's okay Ezra." she blushed and turned her head hoping that Ezra did not see how she reacted.

But he had and he smiled at her again. "Thankyou Enid." Ezra leaned forward and place a gentle kiss on her lips. Enid closed her eyes hoping for more but Ezra moved back. 'Oh right, your'e a gentlemen.' thought Enid wishing that for once Ezra would not act like one.

Before Enid could think of doing more Buck and Vin came in and joined them at the table. "I hear that you are leaving Enid." stated Buck.

"Yes I just have to say goodbye to everyone and then I am going home thanks to you and the others for getting rid of those guys."

"You're welcome Enid." Buck smiled. Enid sat back knowing that Buck did not always act like a gentlmen. She smiled though as she really liked Buck.

"Has anybody heard from Chris yet?" asked Vin. He did not fail to notice the look that came over Ezra's face at the mention of Chris.

"No, not yet." Buck answered him as he ignored Ezra's expression. He knew what he was thinking. Chris would have gotten the telegram they were sure of it but they hoped that they were wrong as he did not return or send a telegram to find out how Ezra was. "Mary said that he was going to be back in two weeks and it is more than that now, so hopefully anyday now."

Enid also saw the look that came over Ezra's face so she tried to change the subject. "So Ezra are you going to visit me any time soon."

Ezra put on his poker face and smiled. It was a genuine smile though. "Of course Enid, I would love to visit you."

"Great I am just going to say goodbye to Mary and then you can see me off." she patted his hand and left the saloon. She didn't see Chris riding up to the saloon from the other side of town.

They sat there in an awkward silence. The relationship between Ezra and the others was still strained and Buck just hoped that things would get back to normal soon. Buck got up making his excuses hoping that Vin would stay with Ezra but he didn't he said that he would help him. Buck gave him a look that Ezra did not miss. He had to smile though, Buck just had to keep trying. Ezra then got up and went to the bar to get another bottle of whiskey. He favoured his shoulder a little bit as he had taken the sling off earlier. He hated that thing. He turned around to see Chris walk into the saloon.

Chris was in a foul mood when he rode back into Four Corners, the last two and a half weeks was a waste of his time. The information turned out to be a false lead. He saw Buck and Vin leave the saloon but he did not call to them as he just wanted a drink at the moment. He will face them later. He walked into the saloon to see Ezra standing at the bar. 'Great.' he thought to himself. He saw the scowl that formed on Ezra's face and he remembered their last conversation and that was enough to set him off.

Ezra saw Chris and could not help the expression that came over his face. He put his glass down as Chris walked up to him. Ezra did not say anything to him though, he saw the mood Chris was in and the last thing that he needed at the moment was an argument especially if it became a physical one.

"So Ezra, are you ready to pick up from where we left off." Chris made sure that the anger he was feeling showed in his voice, even though some of the anger had nothing to do with Ezra. He needed to let it out and Ezra had given him a good enough reason.

"I'm afraid that it will have to wait Mr Larabee." Ezra smiled at him. If it was not for his shoulder Ezra would not have hesitated.

Chris looked around the room. "There are no woman here Ezra. What is your excuse this time?"

"No excuse. I am just not able to fight you at the moment."

Chris did not want to end it there though as he wanted a fight, he needed a fight. He pushed Ezra against the bar hoping that it would goad him into one. Ezra felt the pain explode in his shoulder and another pain in his side. Neither shoulder blade or rib had completely healed as yet. He tried to hide the pain that he felt, he was able to keep the cry of pain escaping from his throat but could not stop the grimace that crossed his face.

"I can't fight you now Chris." said Ezra getting angry himself.

"Well your going to Ezra because I want to finish what we started." he pushed Ezra against the bar again. This time Ezra grunted at the pain as it shot through his shoulder and side. The sweat started to form on his brow. He placed his left arm on his right shoulder. Chris then grabbed his jacket and pulled him to him. He was going to turn him around so he had more room to throw the punch.

"Let go of him!" Enid yelled across the room. Enid had come in to see Chris grabbed Ezra. She could see the pain on Ezra's face, Chris must have already done something to cause it. He did not let him go though, instead he turned him around.

Enid ran up to them. "I said let him go!" she yelled into Chris's face.

"I see your lady friend has come to your rescue." said Chris. He threw Ezra to the ground in disgust, thinking that he was a coward for not wanting to fight.

Ezra nearly blacked out when he landed. He shoulder took the full force of the landing and this time his voiced his pain. He lay there for a few moments waiting for the blackness to come but it didn't. When it passed he looked up at Chris. He heard Enid yelling at Chris.

"What do you think your doing, can't you see that he's hurt!" she was still yelling.

"He's not hurt, I hardly touched him. He's just a good actor that's all." growled Chris.

"He is not acting." she was so angry at him that she could not say anymore at that moment. She bent down to help Ezra up. She held onto his left arm and pulled him up. She then helped him into a chair. Ezra was holding his shoulder and grimacing at the pain that he was feeling. "Are you okay Ezra?" but she did not wait for an answer, she turned around seeing someone else standing close to them. "Could you go and find Nathan please and tell him that Ezra needs some help." The man nodded and left.

Chris was watching what was going on. He listened as Enid spoke to Ezra. "It's your shoulder isn't it, and your side?"

He saw Ezra nod and then watched him as he leaned over, pain showing on his face. 'What the hell is going on here?' he thought to himself instead of asking out loud. He was totally confused.

Chris looked up as he saw Nathan come past him followed by Buck and Vin. They saw Chris but ignored him for the moment as they wanted to make sure that Ezra was okay.

"Ezra what's wrong?" asked Nathan. Ezra was in to much pain to answer, Enid saw this so she answered for him.

"That man . . .", she pointed at Chris, "roughed him up and then threw him on the ground. He landed on his shoulder."

Nathan looked up at Chris who had a very confused look on his face. "Chris didn't know Enid." Nathan knew this from the look on Chris's face.

"So! Are you still defending him. It's no excuse."

"Ezra, I'm going to need to take your jacket off, okay."

Ezra nodded and gritted his teeth against the pain as Nathan help him remove his jacket, he then took off his waist coat so he could feel the bone in his shoulder better. Nathan first felt his side to make sure that the broken rib was okay, that it had not been broken again. Ezra winced and moved away from Nathan at the pain he caused when he pressed against his rib. Chris was still watching the scene now realising that there was something wrong with Ezra.

"I'm going to check your shoulder now, are you ready?" asked Nathan.

"No." muttered Ezra.

Nathan used his thumbs to gently press against the shoulder blade testing it first. He felt Ezra trying to move away from him and he nodded to Buck who came forward and held Ezra against the chair. "Sorry Ezra." he smiled at him.

"No your are not Mr Wilmington." growled Ezra.

Nathan pressed harder and Ezra cried out in pain. Chris winced himself, he had no idea what was going on. "Sorry Ezra but the bone is cracked again."

"Please don't tell me that you are going to have to put that instrument in my shoulder again." grimaced Ezra looking up at Nathan.

Nathan could see the pleading look in Ezra's eyes. "Not at the moment Ezra, I will wait and see how you go first. By the way where is that sling that I told you to wear?"

"It's in my jacket pocket." said Ezra as he looked away from Nathan.

Nathan shook his head at him and got the sling out of his jacket and fixed it around his arm. "You are going to have to keep that in their for at least four weeks Ezra." he smiled as Ezra scowled at him.

"Does someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" asked Chris. Everyone but Ezra looked at him.

Enid spoke up before anyone else could. "You nearly got him killed." she said to him. Chris was shocked.

"It was not his fault Enid." Ezra said.

"Yes it was Ezra. If he didn't leave town he could have helped you deal with those five outlaws but instead he didn't care if he left you alone."

"What is she talking about Ezra." asked Chris.

"After you left I had an altercation with some outlaws." was all Ezra said.

Chris looked at the others. "Mary was taken hostage and Ezra had no choice but to put his guns down because they were going to kill her, after he did they tried to kill him instead." Enid walked up to face Chris. "They shot him twice, once in the shoulder breaking his shoulder blade and in the side and that one broke a rib as well."

"I'm sorry Ezra I didn't know." Chris did not see the anger on Ezra's face as he was looking down.

"We sent someone after you but they couldn't catch you so Mary sent a telegram." said Enid as she saw Chris's face change. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the unread telegram.

"I didn't read it." he muttered. "I'm sorry."

"Yes well you have a lot to be sorry about."

Nathan could see that Ezra was in a lot of pain. "Ezra why don't we get you up to your room and I will make you something that will help the pain." The fact that Ezra did not complain only confirmed the pain that he was in.

"Nathan, you go and get what you need and well get him up to his room." said Buck. He had not moved from Ezra just in case he fell off his chair. He could also see the pain that he was in. Buck helped him up and with Enid they helped him to his room. Vin stayed with Chris and went into more detail of what Enid and Mary had them about what happened to Ezra.

When Nathan came back Chris followed him up to Ezra's room. When they went in the found that Ezra had already fallen asleep and was lying on his stomach again. "He passed out from the pain." explained Enid.

Nathan made the mixture anyway and left it on the table next to Ezra's bed. "I'll stay with him and when he wakes up I'll make sure that he drinks it." said Enid.

"But you were leaving town." said Buck.

"I think that I need to stay a bit longer." she looked at Chris as she said it.

"I'm sorry Enid, I had no idea." apologised Chris again.

"Yeah well, you better hope that Ezra forgives you because I won't. Now if you don't mind leaving." she turned her back on him then and went and sat with Ezra.

Chris left the room with Nathan and Buck and joined Vin in the saloon.

The next morning Chris was sitting in the saloon when Ezra came down the stairs. Chris saw that he had his arm in a sling. Ezra did not see him as he went to the bar to get a drink. Chris joined him there.

"Ezra."

"Mr Larabee." he said back to him.

"I'm sorry Ezra, I should have known better."

"I accept your apology." he lied. He was not in the mood for an argument. He just wanted to get away from him. Maybe when he was feeling better.

"So everything is fine then." Chris hoped as he thought that Ezra accepted his apology a little to quickly.

"It's the same as it always is Mr Larabee." said Ezra.

"And how is that Ezra?" he asked.

"Complicated." Ezra took his bottle then and walked away leaving Chris with a confused look on his face.

The End