"Three for the price of one." Donovan was smiling. "Even better. You men must be anxious to see your other little friend again. I do hope though, that the two of you will not disrespect my hospitality in the same way he did..."
"If you have hurt him..." Buck's words were almost too low for JD to hear.
Donovan turned to the taller man. "Oh I am afraid I have... And there is not a thing, my friend, that you can do about it. So how about we lay off the pleasantries and get down to business?"
Placing a restraining hand on Buck's arm, JD stepped in front of him. "Where is he? I want to see Ezra."
Donovan shrugged. "Alright. Might as well have the three of you together, makes it easier to deal with you later on." Stepping out of the doorway, he waved them on with the weapon. "Let's go. Down the hall, second door on the right."
Reluctant to leave the room, where their guns were still laying on the floor, Buck hesitated. The strong push of a barrel in the small of his back nearly made him stumble.
"I believe I instructed you to move, mister. And unless you want to end your days right here, I suggest you follow that instruction."
Spinning around, the barrel meeting with his chest instead, Buck was glaring at the shorter man with pure hatred in his eyes. "You go right ahead and try, you little misfit."
Standing up close Donovan was only an inch or two shorter that Buck. With an evil grin he raised the shot gun. "You sure are a feisty one, aren't you. Just like the other one. Well, I am afraid I can't kill you just yet, but I can do this..." The butt of the gun made harsh contact with the taller man's face, knocking him to his knees. "Which is almost just as satisfying."
Crouching next to them, JD leaned closer to Buck. "You ok?" As soon he got a shaky nod, his fingers tightened on the older man's shoulder. "Good. Never ever do that again."
"Get up!" Donovan's voice was coloured with impatience. "I know the rest of your team is probably on their way here. And I have a little surprise planned for them and for Mr. Travis."
JD helped Buck get to his feet. If not for the start of a bruise on the left side of his face, the brunet seemed ok.
"Travis? What does he have to do with this?"
The hand in his gave his fingers a light squeeze, then Buck let go. He moved almost inperceivably to the side. Catching on, JD took a step forward. "What do you want with the old man?"
"I think it's more a case of what the old man wants with me. He needs to learn not to try and interfere with my businesses."
"And the lesson you plan to give him, involves us, I gather?" Watching Buck move another little step away out of the corner of his eyes, JD leaned against the bannister next to the staircase. "May I ask in what way?"
"You'll get to know soon enough. Move along."
It was now or never. Seeing Donovan raise the weapon towards JD, Buck made his move. Sending the shot gun flying with a well-aimed kick, he caught JD duck away and out of the stunned man's grip.
A lot of people adorned JD with complexes for his heigth. The truth was that he had none. Being small and fast had proved to be a valuable asset in a lot of situations. This time was no exception. Slipping by Donovan, he spotted the shot gun halfway down the stairs, well out of reach for any of them. Leaving it where it was, he hurried into the other room, retrieving his own gun. Throwing Buck his gun, he held his revolver level with Donovan's head.
"Don't move."
The look on the darkhaired man's face sent a shiver down his spine. His eyes were black with rage, his lips pulled up in an inhuman snarl. Slowly studying first him, and then Buck, snarling at the sight of the guns, the large body tensed. Moving quicker than JD would ever have given him credit for, Donovan threw himself after the shot gun. JD's finger was already pulling the trigger back, but he never fired the shot.
Almost in slow motion he watched the heavyset man's feet slip on the first step, sending him crashing down the flight of the stairs. It was all over in the matter of seconds. Reaching the base of the stairs, Donovan was laying like a left-behind ragdoll on the wooden floor. Moving slowly after him, Buck picked up the shot gun on the way. He reached the body first, stepping back after a quick look.
"He's gone."
The sight of a neck bent at an unatural angle, made JD shudder. Without saying anything, he merely nodded, then turned his back to the body on the floor. Buck was already at the top of the stairs. Following at his heels, JD let the older man lead them down the hall, till they met with a door set slightly ajar. The tall, darkhaired man's hand was shaking as he pushed the door open.
This room was held in mostly yellow tones, smaller than the first one. JD remained where he was, watching Buck rush over to the curled-up figure on the floor.
"Ez?" Buck was on his knees, cradling the smaller man in his arms. "Come on, baby... Open your eyes for me." Stroking his fingers over the pale face of his lover, Buck placed a soft kiss to a smooth forehead. "Please, Ez, open your eyes for me?"
All of them were trained in first-aid, Nathan had drilled them all in the basic steps. Sitting down next to Ezra and Buck, JD reached out and placed his hand on the unconscious man's throat.
"He's got a pulse, but it's way too fast. Hold on..." Peeling back the collar of the T-shirt, JD examined the marks around Ezra's neck with a grim expression. "Is he breathing properly, Buck? Looks like someone tried to strangle him by the bruises around his neck."
Tentatively placing his hand on Ezra's chest, Buck was relieved to find a steady up and down movement. "Yeah, he's breathing fine, thank God." Gently he brushed his fingers through damp, chestnut hair.
The touch produced a small frown on Ezra's face. His hand lifted and was placed against Buck's chest. But before he could try and push himself away from the arms holding him, Buck had enveloped him in a bonecrushing hug.
"It's ok, sweetheart, it's just me. You're safe now." The relief and love in Buck's voice made JD smile. The smile went wider as he saw Ezra's eyes open and find Buck's blue gaze.
The hand on the larger man's chest was moved to Buck's face, carefully touching him. "Buck?"
"Yeah, it's me. Everything's ok now, babe. We're going home."
Curved eyebrows met over green eyes. "Home?" The small word was nearly inaudible. Then Ezra's eyes closed again, his body going limp against Buck's.
"We have to get him to a hospital." JD jumped to his feet. "Can you carry him?"
Buck gave a snort. "Of course I can! Just lead the way, junior."
Chris was finding himself short three team members. After having received another phonecall from JD, their destination had been switched from Pine Grove to the nearest hospital. Now Buck was still staying with Ezra, and Nathan was in talking to the doc. Vin was pacing with Josiah on his heels. JD was perched on the edge of a chair and Chris was going very slowly insane. He had made JD go over what had happened three times, none of the explanations giving him satisfying answers. There were only two persons that could tell what had really happened and one of them was now on his way to the city morgue. The other person was the reason they were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital. And Chris hated not knowing what was going on.
The creaking of a door made them all look up. Nathan was entering the room, together with a tall man with steelrimmed glasses.
"This is Dr. Jacob Corbett," Nathan introduced them. "He's handling Ez's case."
JD was all but standing on the doctor's toes. "How is he? Is he going to be ok?"
The doctor didn't reply at first. "Why don't you come into my office?" he then said. The evasive reply made JD turn to Nathan.
"Nate? What's wrong?"
"Just do what the man says, JD," Nathan urged him on. "We'll explain everything inside." Silently the three others followed them as well, letting the physician close the door behind them.
Watching Dr. Corbett move around to his desk and get seated, Chris fixed a glare on him. "Start talking."
"Well, after having examined Mr. Standish, I can tell you that he is going to be just fine, physically."
"Physically?" four voices echoed back. Only Nathan remained calm, having already been through the explanations.
"Yes. It seems that Mr. Standish is suffering from amnesia. He doesn't remember his name, where he lives, the people close to him, his job..." The doctor leaned back in his chair. "Total loss of memory like this is very, very rare. It can follow trauma to the head, but I didn't find any evidence of that here. Which leads us to the other most likely alternative. The mind is trying to defend itself from pain by blocking out what causes the pain."
"But he did remember!" JD piped up. "Back at the cabin in the forest, Ezra said Buck's name before he passed out again, I heard it myself."
Dr. Corbett nodded. "The memories are still there, they are just being blocked from entering the conscious mind. Let me try to explain this a little better. This particular defense mechanism is called repression, and it's quite common, in lesser degrees after a traumatic incident. The mind cannot deal with the emotions at the time being and represses them."
"I've seen cases like this before," Nathan added. "Not to this degree, but I have seen it. There is no telling how long it will last, but most of them regain their memory again in full."
"Most of them." This time it was Vin. "Why don't I like the sound of that?"
The doctor was serious. "Some of the memories may be gone for good. If they pose enough of a threat, they will never be allowed to break free. It all depends on the nature of the memories and the person carrying them. I am sorry that I can't give you more definite answers."
"So what can we do?" Chris had remained silent up until of now. "There must be something we can do to help Ez, right?"
Folding his hands on the top of the desk, Dr. Corbett nodded. "Yes. But you will have to be careful. Since we don't know what happened, we don't know what may trigger Mr. Standish's memory. And given what I have been told about the case he was working on, the memories are probably going to be violent. Something that can seem totally indifferente to you, may be connected to some of the repressed memories. He will also most likely experience nightmares and irregular fears. Most patients with similar symptoms fight the repressed memories, because having them come back is scary, and painful. You will not be able to avoid all of those, but exposing him to known, safe surroundings is a good place to start."
Nathan who was leaning against the wall, straightened up. "We do actually know a little bit of what happened to Ez before we got there. Or we have made an educated guess, anyway... Dr. Corbett?"
"Yes. We found a lot of bruising on Mr. Standish's lower body, gathered around the hips and back. While there was no sign of actual penetration, we found enough signs to conclude that he was the victim of an attempted rape."
"What!?" Chris was on his feet in an instant. "Who was it?" Josiah who was seated next to him, sent him a worried look.
Nathan made his way over to the blond man. "Calm down, Chris. We don't know who it was. Probably Donovan or Carder. And with both of them dead, Ezra is the only one who knows for sure. And he isn't telling either."
"Buck will get through to him." JD's voice was certain in its faith in his best friend. "Ezra knew who he was, right? So he does remember Buck. At least his heart does."
Vin placed his hand on JD's. "Yeah. All Ez needs is time, he'll come around. He has to." Placing his hand on top of JD's and Vin's, Chris added his support.
"He'll get through this. We all will." Feeling Nathan's hand on top of his again, he met the other man's dark eyes.
"Both Buck and Ezra are going to be needing us now."
Josiah's large hand completed the pile of connected hands. "And we shall be there for them, brother Nate. Everything is going to be alright. We simply won't allow it to be anything else."
The hospital room was quiet. Which suited Buck fine, the inner turmoil was bad enough without external stimuli to add to it. Sitting in the bed, his back supported by a small mountain of pillows, the heavy, warm weight of Ezra in his arms was a great comfort after all. The younger man was out like a light, exhausted physically as well as mentally. He was still wary, but allowed Buck to hold him and had eventually settled down in the larger man's embrace.
Buck had talked to both the doctor and to Nathan, frustration building as neither of them could give him the answers he needed. Pushing the unwanted feelings of frustration and anger away, he hugged Ezra closer to him. At least now he could touch him, even if his lover still was out of reach in a way. Being able to look into those expressive, green eyes and see the love and usual warmth in them lacking, broke Buck's heart. Pulling himself together, he kept a tight lid on all the troubled feelings. He wouldn't do either of them any good by breaking down. And he had to be strong for Ezra.
"I love you," he murmured, resting his chin against the sleeping man's soft hair. "You know that, don't you?"
Gently stroking the smaller man's back, he felt Ezra move a little, then resting comfortably against him again. "It's going to fine, love. You're back where you belong, and that's all that matters. I have you now and I am never letting go again. Never."
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The voice made the man in the white coat jump. Turning he found another orderly coming towards him.
"I told you to take those files up to the third floor. Doctor Johnson are waiting!"
"I'll get on it right away," the man promised, blocking the other's view of the computer screen with his back. The younger man gave him a wondering look, then he nodded.
"Alright. Come back down here when you're done. Mrs. Katzopoulis needs to be take to the x-ray ward."
"I will." The blank look on the man's face transformed into a grimace as the orderly left him. "Yeah," he sourly thought. "I'll be back...back to drive your head through this damn counter, asshole. As soon as I've dealt with another little problem first..." Clicking at a few keys on the keyboard, a smile turned the corners of his mouth upwards. "There you are... Room 437."
Gathering the stack of files, Kurtz straightened the coat and pushed some locks of newly bleached hair back. A pair of contact lenses made his eyes a medium shade of brown. Whistling he started walking for the elevators. The double doors slid open at the push of a button. Well inside Kurtz let his hand slip inside of the coat, feeling the reassuring cold metal of the revolver. All he had to do was to tie up some loose ends, then he'd be on his way. Home free.
(To be continued in the sequel Reflections Of A Soul)