“The Road to Coffs”

By Stacey and Jo
 

The station wagon's tires squealed loudly on the pavement as Zack came around the curved road at full speed. It was near nightfall now and the sun had already begun it's slow descent on the horizon. More than the darkness, Zack was hoping to outrun the storm that was brewing off in the distance ahead of them. The ominous thunderclouds loomed closer and closer - lightning rippling across the Australian sky. He looked into the rearview mirror at the two men cuddled up with their wives. One barely conscious and the other still losing too much blood for Zack's liking. If he didn't reach Coffs soon their condition would surely become more critical.

"About halfway there now," he said to his passengers, trying to reassure both them and himself.

"Hurry, Zack," Joimus urged. "Maximus' wound doesn't seem to be clotting. I'm worried the bullet might have nicked an artery."

Zack gritted his teeth. He was pushing the poor station wagon as hard as it could handle and was afraid to go any faster without blowing the engine. "I'll get him there in time, Joimus," he replied, "You have my word."

Unfortunately for those in the car, they were completely unaware of the fact that back at the crime scene all had not been quite as over as they had thought. For the driver of the SUV - Dwayne's accomplice - had only had a minor flesh wound on the neck where Bud had shot him. When the local mortician from Coffs finally arrived to pick up Dwayne's remains, the driver - whom Bud had slapped a bandage on, handcuffed, managed to get loose and take off in the sheriff's car. They'd put out an all alert bulletin, but the driver managed to elude them all and a half hour later the sheriff's car turned up in a ditch on the side of the road just out of town. Along side of the car, just a bit further down in the ditch, they found the body of a traveling salesman - shot in the head. The man's wallet was missing and it was assumed that the escaped prisoner had used the stolen police car to pull the man over, then shot him and fled the scene in his car. Without his identity they had no idea who he was or what his vehicle may have looked like.

Dr. Stanley Branagan, who'd lost his license to practice medicine in the U.S. some time ago due to his highly questionable extra-curricular activities, the most notable of them being his illegal sales of certain highly addictive prescription drugs, came barreling up behind the station wagon. He'd been following them since they'd left the mill, keeping a safe distance behind until he knew they were far enough out of town where he could take them down. Now that he also had the cover of darkness and the rain to aid in his plan, he decided to make his move and came up close behind the car with his high-beams on so that they were blinding to the driver of the car in front of him.

Zack squinted when the lights reflected into his eyes, pulled over to the side of the road a bit and motioned for the car to pass. When it didn't, he let out a barrage of swear words aimed at the driver and sped up again.

"What's happening, Zack?" Joimus called out, shaken by what Zack seemed to be doing. She didn't understand what was going on. Maximus' face was growing whiter and that's all she could focus on.

Zack muttered something under his breath, then recovered himself and said, "Not sure what this asshole's up to, Joimus. Hang on and make sure your seatbelts are tightly fastened, I'm going to try and shake him."

He pushed down as hard as he could on the accelerator, the car lurched forward, smoke beginning to rise from the engine. The car behind him was still right on his bumper, easily keeping pace. "Shit!" Zack swore again, swerving the station-wagon to the left and right in order to keep the Ute from colliding with its back bumper. His efforts were useless, however, and the Ute came up beside them and swerved into the passenger side of their car, knocking them halfway off the road.

Up ahead, lightning flashed and the rain began to pour down in buckets, causing the roadway to become quite slick. Dr. Branagan decided to use this to his advantage and came right back at the side of the station wagon with full force. Suddenly, the station-wagon spun around out of control. Zack tried to hold the wheel steady, but it was too late. They went flying off the main road, over the ditch and flipped, rolling over and over until finally landing upside down in a field.

Joimus had been in the act of trying desperately to buckle Maximus' belt, but the way he was lying on the seat made it impossible. Ahnna had been luckier in that Alistair was mostly upright, though slumped, and had gotten both of them in their seatbelts just before the car began to
flip. 

Joimus lay on her back in the field, rain pouring into her face. Spluttering, she sat up. She'd landed in an area of deep soft grass and was only terribly shaken. Frantic, though, she searched through the gathering darkness for her station wagon. It's headlights were still on, sending shafts of light through the heavy rain and she scrambled to her feet, running toward it. Oh, Lord...it was upside down!

The passenger's side door where she'd been sitting was missing. She stuck her head inside, calling, "Maximus!" and groping for him with her hands. He wasn't there! A moan from the back attracted her attention. "Ahnna?"

"I'm...I'm all right...I think."  Ahnna shook her head, trying to clear it, then realized she was hanging upside-down. She felt dazed, disoriented, and ached in several places.  "Alistair!" She twisted to her right where he was hanging beside her. "Alistair?"  With her hands, she found his face.  He wasn't moving, wasn't responding and an anguished moan escaped her lips. She couldn't tell if he were alive or dead.

"Help me!" Ahnna cried, fumbling for his buckle. "Help me get him down!"

Joimus stretched further into the car, found the seat belt and traced along it. "I've got it! Hold onto him, Ahnna." She undid the buckle and Alistair's body slumped heavily down to the roof of the overturned car.

"Can you get out of your seatbelt?" she asked Ahnna.

"Think so." And in a moment she had freed herself and was on her knees, trying to turn Alistair.

"I've got to find Maximus!" Joimus said, every nerve in her body on edge. Quickly she tried to see how Zack was, but it was too dark and he was very quiet.  She pushed herself away from the car, stumbling through the field back the way the car had rolled. He had to be here somewhere. He had to!

She zigzagged across the field, trying to follow the path the car had rolled, hoping to come across Maximus in the dark. The rain beat down on her so hard her hair kept streaming into her face and she pushed it constantly away, blinking, trying to see. Then she was at the edge of the road and hadn't found him, so, sick at heart, she turned, heading back out into the field, searching, searching. About halfway back she fell over him. Shocked, she lay there a brief moment, not realizing at first what had made her fall.  Her hands moved, encountering his right hip.

Scrambling to her knees, she felt up his body.  He was lying so far over on his left side he was almost facedown.  Turning him, her fingers fluttered over his face.  "Oh...Maximus," she moaned.

"Co...cold," he murmured.

His skin was, indeed, cold under her hands. He'd lost too much blood! She touched his upper shoulder but it was too wet with the rain and she didn't know how much it might still be bleeding since she could barely see him.  Tearing off more of her skirt, she wadded it, pressing it against his bullet wound, straining to look back at the car.  There was no one there who could help him and he needed help desperately.

Her phone? Was her purse in the car? No, both she and Ahnna had left the mill in such a hurry neither one had thought to bring a purse with them.  With her free hand she patted Maximus'  pockets. No phone.  Had he been more interested in taking his rifle than his phone? Zack. Maybe Zack had a phone on him?  She judged the distance to the car. The headlights would lead her to that, but then she wouldn't be able to find Maximus again in the dark field, and she'd have to stop her pressure on his wound as well.  With a little sighing sound, he passed out. 

"Oh, GOD! Maximus! Don't you die! Don't you even THINK of dying!" 

Zack was only slightly aware of the fact that he was hanging upside down. The impact had been hard and swift and it took him a few minutes to recall what had just happened. He opened his eyes, trying to see into the darkness. The rain was still coming down strong, pouring in on him from both sides of what was left of the station-wagon.
 

He let himself hang there for a few more moments, trying to clear his head, which was throbbing where it had been pounded against the side of the door when the car had rolled off the road. He tried to move, attempting to free himself from the seatbelt, but a sharp pain shot through him and he let out a gasp. The seatbelt, though had kept him from being thrown through the front windshield, had obviously crushed a few of his ribs. He could hear soft moaning coming from behind him in the back seat.

"Everyone okay back there?" he asked, hoarsely, trying again to free himself from the seatbelt.

"Zack?" Ahnna was terribly uncomfortably twisted, but she had managed to pull Alistair's head into her lap. Every little while he made a low sound, like he was trying to wake up but couldn't quite manage. "Joimus helped me get Alistair out of his belt, but I don't think he's doing very well. And she's gone to try and find Maximus. He was thrown out when the car rolled."  Alistair groaned again and she leaned close, covering his face with little kisses, murmuring endearments to him.

Concerned for his friends, Zack managed to release his seatbelt and quickly righted himself. "Stay here until I get back," he told Ahnna, then carefully crawled out of the car.
 

It was dark - real dark, and Zack couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of him. The rain was coming down in sheets, obstructing his vision even more so. Up ahead of him he thought he could just make out the form of someone. Maximus maybe? he wondered to himself, as he shielded his eyes from the rain and quickly made his way towards the figure.

Just then, lightning flashed, illuminating the person standing in front of him - along with the gun the man was aiming at him. Zack dove out of the way of the bullet just before it could make impact, landing near where Joimus sat with the unconscious Maximus. "Stay down!" Zack ordered them, as he quickly reached for the gun that was still in his shoulder holster.

Joimus threw herself across Maximus, trying to shield him with her body, her heart pounding from the close impact of the bullet. NO! she thought. No more gunshots at him tonight!  Still managing to press the wad of cloth over his wound, she rested her cheek on his. It was so cold.

"Why the fuck are you doing this?" Zack shouted at the gunman, trying to distract him while he got into a better position to fire on him.

"Payback for what you bastards did to my buddy Campbell back there," he sneered back. Zack saw a glint of metal as the gunman took aim at him, moved to the left just out of the way as more shots rang out in front of him, just missing them by mere inches.

Zack pointed his gun at the direction they had come from, took aim, then waited for another flash of lighting. That's when he fired on the gunman. His first shot only gave him a flesh wound - hitting him in the left shoulder. The gunman grabbed his arm, lightning flashed overhead once more, giving Zack the opportunity he needed. He fired his weapon once more, this time hitting the man dead center in his chest, knocking him back to the ground.

Zack held his breath, waiting for a moment to be sure the man was down for good. Satisfied he wasn't getting back up, Zack scrambled to his feet and ran over to where the man lay on his back in the mud. He kicked at his side - no movement, then bent down to check his pulse. 

"He's dead," Zack told Joimus as he trudged through the mud back over to where she was huddled next to Maximus. 

"I'm losing him, Zack!" she moaned. "Oh, God, I'm losing him!"

Just then a car came down the road, heading in the direction of Coffs. "Look, over there!" Julie said, pointing off into the dark field. "Isn't that the headlights of a car out there?"

Robin slowed, leaning a bit to look, a frown creasing his brow. "Seems to have been an accident." He pulled off to the side of the road, backed a bit, then turned his car so its headlights shown across the field. 

"Oh, Robin," Julie exclaimed, "It's...it's upside-down!"

In the high beams, they could see someone standing in the middle of the field, one or two other people lying beside him. Paying no attention to the pouring rain, they both got out of the car, running out into the field.

Zack looked up, shielding his eyes as the headlights suddenly lit up the entire scene. Two figures then appeared in front of him and he let out a sigh of relief when he recognized who they were.

Robin, ahead of Julie, stopped close to the man. "I know you," he said. "Met you in the Glen at the barbecue."

"That's right," Zack told him, bent over and clutching the side of his chest where his ribs had been broken, "Name's Grant, Zack Grant."

"Sorry about that, Zack. There were so many people there that day, most of them new to me. What happened here?"

"Ro...Robin?" Joimus lifted her cheek off Maximus'. "Is that you, Robin?"

"Joimus? My Lord! Julie, it's Maximus!"

Instantly he was on his knees. "How's he hurt?"

"I...I don't know about...he...he was thrown from the car...but, oh, Robin, he's been shot and he's losing so much blood...I...."

"Shot? Where?"

She nodded to where she was pressing on his shoulder. "Here, let me." And he took over pressing for her, looking up at
Zack.  "Good God, man, what's going on?"

"Earlier today... back in the Glen...Alistair was taken hostage... the details are still a bit fuzzy, but long story short, he was able to use a cell phone, called Maximus, who called the sheriff's office. He and Cort met me out at the perp's ranch, a shootout and chase occurred. I called for backup, Bud got there, shot the driver, and took out the kidnapper - but not before Maximus here was shot. I was just taking them them to the hospital in Coffs when that bastard lying dead over there in the mud," he paused, pointing at the dead gunman, "came out of no where and rammed our car, knocked us off the road. Pretty sure he was the kidnapper’s accomplice, must have escaped somehow, followed us here.” He paused again, thinking about what they’d just gone through, how lucky they were, then continued, “Our car rolled several times before landing here upside-down. I left Ahnna with Alistair, went to find Maximus and Joimus... he’d been flung from the car and she’d gone looking for him. The guy wasn't done with us, though, tried to shoot us... I got him first. "

"In the car? Alistair and Ahnna are still in the car?" 

Zack nodded, "I told them to stay put ‘til I came back for them."

Julie had pulled out her phone and was already calling the emergency number in Coffs. "Hurry!" she ended. "We'll need two ambulances...and the police."

Robin asked Zack to take his place so he could check on Alistair and Ahnna.  Julie crouched near Joimus, resting her hand on her shoulder.

"Ahnna?" Robin called as he knelt to peer into the car. "It's Robin."

"Robin? Oh, thank God! Thank God!"

"Help's on it's way. Can you move just a little over so I can see how Alistair is?"

She shifted as much as she could to the side, giving a little cry as the movement sent a pain through her back. "Are you hurt?" Robin asked.

"Don't worry about me. Just see what you can do for Alistair."

He felt for Alistair's pulse, which seemed a bit erratic.  "There's no point in pulling him out of the car yet, Ahnna. He'll just get soaked. An ambulance should be here within minutes. He'll be all right. You just hang tight right now. I'm going back to where Maximus is."

"Joimus found him? How...how is he?"

"Lost a lot of blood, but he's alive. That's about all I know." 

Zack reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone. He needed to call Destiny before she panicked.
 

Dead.
 

He sighed, shoved it back into his front pocket, turned to Julie, "Mind if I use your phone? I should call my girl, let her know I'm okay."

Julie  absently handed him her phone.  Maximus looked really bad to her and she was terribly worried.

"Thanks," he told her, then quickly dialed the number.

Destiny picked up on the first ring, the panic in her voice let him know she had indeed been worried. He kept the call short and brief, letting her know he was okay and he'd see her in the morning. No use for her to try and make the drive to Coffs tonight; he'd feel much better knowing she was safe at home and not out driving after dark in the storm.

When he’d finished, Zack hung up the phone and handed it back to Julie. He stood there for a moment, in kind of a daze, then collapsed to the ground. He sat there – in the mud and rain, shaking his head and laughing out loud, recalling the words Bud White had told him just a few short weeks ago about how Zack would be surprised at all the things that went on in the Glen and how it was rarely boring. The big man had been more right than even he probably ever thought he'd been.

Robin, on his way back to where Maximus lay, looked at the man strangely, concerned he was losing it.  Julie was thinking the same thing.

Zack noticed the others starting to give him sideways glances. He let out another chuckle, then said to no one in particular, "Who the fuck would have ever thought my quiet day in the office would have ended up like this?!"

BATTLEFIELD
 

By Jo

Robin's hands clenched the steering wheel grimly as he followed the two speeding ambulances along the two curving lanes of road leading into Coffs. Maximus and Alistair had become his two best friends in this new continent so far from England and he was
worried he might lose both of them tonight. Evidently no one had been aware for a while just how much blood Maximus was losing. He'd seen men that white on more battlefields than he cared to remember. He only hoped with modern technology the
outcome for the General would be different than it had been for those men.

Julie watched the hard set of his profile. "They'll take good care of them."

"They better," he replied without unclenching his teeth.  He was speeding despite the heavy rain, determined to stay right behind the ambulances with their lights and sirens slicing through the night. His thoughts strayed to his own stay in that hospital. He hadn't
liked the experience at all, what he remembered of it.

He took a sharp, hilly curve at high speed and his car hydroplaned, spinning around on the pavement three times before its front bumper impacted a sign post and the car came to an abrupt halt. Instinctively, his right arm had gone out, stretched over Julie's upper body, but his forehead snapped forward, hitting the top of the steering wheel, opening up a long gash just inside his hairline. Blood flowed down his face, getting into his eyes, and furious with himself for letting the car get out of control, he wiped at it with both hands.

"Julie? Are you all right?" He turned, trying to see her but the blood obscured his vision.

"I'm fine," she replied, turning on the overhead light so she could see him better. "Robin, my God, your face!"

"It's nothing. Just can't see to drive. You'll have to take us the rest of the way. I'm so damn sorry."

She had a scarf tied over her hair because of the rain and took it off, handing it to him. "Press it up there, Robin. Maybe it will help."

They changed places and she was able to back the car away from the post, though the front bumper fell off. "Don't worry about that," Robin said, "just go."

The ambulances were completely out of sight now and though Julie drove faster than the speed limit, she didn't floor the accelerator like Robin had been doing. He sat in silence, his temple resting against the side window, holding the scarf to his forehead with one hand. The other, red with his own blood, rested in his lap.

In addition to the fact they were the spouses of the patients being transported, the medics wanted both Joimus and Ahnna to come along as they'd been in the flipping car and needed to be checked out themselves. In the interior lighting of the two ambulances, it became evident that all four of them had been more extensively bruised than at first had seemed evident. Ahnna's back muscles had been sprained and it took a great deal out of her to sit there on the jumpseat and hold Alistair's hand, but nothing was going to make her let go of him. He was semi-conscious but not really responding to what was going on around him.

Cort had just come out of the treatment area, having been x-rayed and receiving confirmation that three ribs on his left side were badly cracked. An enormous bruise was already starting to color his skin above them. He'd been strapped and given some pain med, but the hospital wasn't going to admit him. Ambulatory, he headed for the waiting room, intending to call Maximus to see what had happened. He also needed to arrange for a ride back to the Glen.

He'd halfway punched Maximus' number into his phone when the ER double doors slammed open and a gurney was pushed through, closely followed by a second. It was Joimus' face he saw first as she hurried alongside the first gurney. There was an absolute horror of desolation in her eyes and he dropped his gaze to the man on the gurney. "Maximus!" he gasped, staring at the still, white face.

The medics wouldn't let Joimus go where they were rushing the gurney and she stepped miserably aside as Alistair's was wheeled through, also disappearing down a curtained hallway.  Ahnna could barely stand and a nurse got her in a wheelchair and took her off for x-rays of her back. Cort, not able to stand fully erect, still placed both his hands on Joimus' shoulders. "What happened to him?"

"He was shot, Cort. He's almost bled out. I...I...."

"Come, sit," he urged, leading her to a row of chairs, startled by the deep bruise forming on her left cheekbone and several others on her arms. "And you?" he asked. "Ahnna? What happened?"

Joimus sat, taking a deep breath, trying to control the trembling that kept taking control of her person. "Bud stopped the SUV, Cort, and Dwayne was killed. He almost killed Alistair, from what Zack said, and Bud had no choice. But Maximus was shot and...and...
no one thought it was very bad...his shoulder...so...so...they came by the mill, got Ahnna and me so we could come to Coffs with them... you know? We...we used my station wagon...more room...Zack drove. It was dark...dark in the car...and he was bleeding... Maximus was...but we couldn't see...didn't know. I tried to stop it, but I think the bullet hit...hit something important."  She closed her eyes, pressing her hands over her face and Cort curved his arm around her shoulders.

"Then that man...the one driving the SUV...he got loose somehow...I don't know...he was just there...following us...ran us off the road. Car rolled...just rolled and rolled...and the next thing I knew I was lying in a field. It was raining so hard...so dark. I couldn't find him, Cort." She dropped her hands to her lap, turning to look at him. "He...he wasn't in the car...and I tried so hard...back and forth across the field...back and forth." She shuddered. "Then...then...I fell over him...in the dark, Cort, I fell right over him. He was cold...so very cold. And the man came...tried...tried to shoot everybody. But Zack killed him. Then Robin was there. I don't know how he was there, but he was there."

"Where is Robin now?"

"He's not here? He was right behind us. I...I...don't know where he is. Julie's with him."

The doors opened again and Robin and Julie came in. Cort looked up, seeing blood all over Robin's face. "Good Lord!" he gasped. A nurse came to take Robin back and Julie, seeing Cort and Joimus, came to sit by them.

"You, too, Cort?" She hadn't heard the full story yet.

"Ribs," he said. "Car got pushed into my side."

"So, tell me what you know."

He told her about the call from Alistair and how he and Maximus had gone to Dwayne's meeting Zack outside. "And I think it was that big vase Dwayne must've hit Alistair with," he ended.

Joimus' fingers were clasped together so tightly her knuckles were white. A nurse came up to her. "Mrs. Meridius?"

"Yes! What news of my husband?"

"Nothing yet. They've got him in surgery. But it's you I've come for. Doctor wants to check you out, too."

"I'm all right."

"Your cheekbone might be broken. Could be other things. You've got to come with me, all right?"

Sighing, she stood up. "You'll let me know, wherever I am, you'll let me know about my husband?"

"Sure thing," the nurse smiled.

"What about Alex?" Julie asked Cort.

"I don't know. He was really bad off. I haven't heard a thing since the ambulance arrived here. They whisked him away damn fast." He leaned forward, folding his arms around his middle, his jaw muscles working.

Within a few minutes, Robin came back out, his face cleaned, the long, thin split just in his hairline glued. "Maximus?" he asked, stopping in front of Cort and Julie.

"No news. They took Joimus back to check on her," Julie said.

When Robin sat, they told him what they knew of events. "Damn battlefield," he growled.
 

A SMALL SERVICE

By Jo

The bullet had, indeed, nicked the main artery of Maximus' left arm where it curved up into his shoulder. And though he'd been bleeding a lot, the pressure Joimus had been putting on the wound as he lay in the back seat of the station wagon, had slowed it considerably. It was when he'd been thrown from the rolling car and landed heavily on his left shoulder in the dirt, that the small tear in the artery had increased in size and with
every beat of his heart, more of his blood pooled under him in the rain-soaked field.

By the time the medics got to him, he was suffering from a massive blood loss and was rapidly going into hypovolemic shock with organ failure imminent. All Joimus had known as she sat miserably watching him in the back of the speeding ambulance, was how white he looked despite his deep tan. She'd never seen him that color and it profoundly affected her.

Now she sat even more miserably on the side of an exam table, her legs dangling, all alone as she waited for the results of her facial x-ray. Outside the pulled, blue curtain, two doctors paused, discussing a case. Lost in her thoughts and worries, she wasn't paying attention until the name 'Meridius' pierced through her consciousness. "...and with 45% of his circulating blood volume lost and the way his BP was plummeting, no wonder we lost him there on the table...."

She ripped the curtain open, staring at the two doctors with a ghastly expression.
"He died? Maximus DIED??"

Her voice, loud and shrill with horror, came around the corner into the waiting room. Robin, hearing, made a dash for it, arriving just as she began toppling forward, almost taking down the blue curtain with her. He managed just barely to get his arm behind her head before it would have hit the tiles.

On one knee, he looked up at the startled doctors. "General Meridius? He is dead?"

"Who is that?" the older of the two doctors asked, squatting.

"The General's wife. You did not answer me, sir. Is he dead?"

"For a moment during surgery, but only a moment." He realized what he'd been saying earlier. "I didn't know his wife was right here."  He took her pulse, noting how the side of her face was swelling and turning purple. "What happened to her?"

"She was in the car when it rolled. She, too, was thrown out."

They got her back up on the exam table. "Has this been x-rayed?" the doctor asked.

"I don't know," Robin replied. "I think they planned to."

She moaned and started to come around, clamping her hands to her face. "Oh God, no!"

The doctor gently pulled her hands away. "You'll only hurt that more, Mrs. Meridius."

She didn't care. Her entire world was spinning off its axis and she didn't care about her face at all.

"He's not dead, Joimus," Robin said, leaning close. "The General still lives."

"But...but...I heard...."

The doctor spoke up. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Meridius, I didn't know you were in here. What you heard was me discussing how his heart stopped for a moment during surgery. But I assure you he's quite alive and we are engaged in restoring his blood volume."

She tried to sit up but a great weakness seemed to wash over her and unable to help herself, huge tears began sliding down her face. "Here, here," Robin said, smoothing back her hair. "You have him still."

But she couldn't seem to stop crying, couldn't quite get her world to continue on its way. The sheer enormity of that moment she'd thought she'd lost him enveloped her, smothering her with its dreadful loss. The doctor whispered to his younger companion and soon he was giving her a shot. In a moment her tears stopped and her eyes closed. "Let her rest here a while," he said.

"May I be permitted to remain with her?" Robin asked.

The doctor, studying him, thought how remarkably he resembled his patient and figured he must be Meridius' older brother. "That will be fine," he nodded.

The doctors left and Robin pulled a chair near where Joimus lay. Keeping guard over his wife…it was a small service he could perform for the General. 

 

BELOVEDS

By Jo

Julie was getting restless. Robin had been gone for a long time. As unobtrusively as possible, she made her way past the registration desk, slipped around the corner and pulled aside the curtain of the small exam room where Robin had gone. He was sitting in the chair beside the narrow bed, his face buried in his right hand, his right elbow on the chair's arm. With his left he held an icepack to the side of Joimus' face.

"Robin," she whispered, and he looked up.

"Ah, Julie," he sighed. "I didn't mean to leave you for such a while. But Joimus overheard the doctors talking about how the General had died for a moment during surgery and was most distraught."

"How's she doing now?""

"They gave her something to help her rest." He lifted the ice pack so Julie could see her face. It was swollen terribly from her left eye all the way down to her jaw-line. "There's a small fracture in her cheekbone," he explained. "When she was thrown from the car, this happened."

"Oh, Robin, so much pain and suffering tonight."

"It is all too familiar, my love, and I do not like it. I did not think to find so much of it in this new land."

"Bad men do bad things no matter where one is."

"That is God's simple truth, though it be a shame and a blot upon humanity."

She came up behind him, sliding her arms around his shoulders, kissing his hair. "How's your head, darling?"

"It pains sharply, but is of no matter."

Joimus woke rather suddenly, looking at them groggily, her left eye now almost swollen shut, making it harder to focus. "Maximus? Is he...?"

Robin put his hand on her arm. "He is still in recovery, still being transfused. But he lives."

"I must see him!"  She tried to sit, finding her entire body ached with the movement.

"I'll get someone," Julie said quickly, hurrying out of the room. In a moment she returned with a male nurse.

"Mrs. Meridius, I think the doctor was hoping you would rest longer."

"I can't rest. I need to see my husband. I need to see him NOW!"

"You must hearken to this lady's request," Robin said, standing and looking imposingly at the nurse.

The nurse looked at him a moment, a 'what...the?' expression on his face at the man's choice of terminology. "I'll check with recovery," he said and left.

Robin helped Joimus sit on the side of the bed. "You are highly bruised," he commented, noting her arms and legs. The lower half of her long skirt had been raggedly ripped away and mud and bits of grass clung to her clothing and hair.

Julie went out again, finding a pleasant-looking female nurse. After speaking with her, she and the nurse came back with a set of green scrubs for Joimus to change in to. Robin and Julie went back to wait with Cort while the nurse helped Joimus change.

Cort looked at them with intensely concerned eyes. "Tell me," he said. And so Robin explained about the Meridiuses. Cort sighed deeply, squeezing his eyes tightly shut when it hurt his ribcage.

"Does Claire know you're here?" Julie asked him.

He shook his head wearily. "I don't want her driving here in the night and the rain. I'll still be broken in the morning. Time enough then." He managed a wry grin.

He'd been thinking about Claire a lot as he'd sat there alone. The lovely soft gentleness of her face as he saw it in his mind provided a needed contrast to the ugly brutality of the night. He wanted to bury his face in the curve of her neck, smell the sweet scent of her flesh.

"You are tired, my friend, and in need of rest," Robin said. "I must remain until I know the outcomes for Maximus and Alistair, but when Julie and I leave for the Glen, consider that there is a place for you in my vehicle."

"You had a collision, didn't you...on your way here?"

"A small incident, yes, the loss of a bumper. The Mercedes is still drivable, though I fear I must take it to Colin's garage upon our return."

"I'd be mighty obliged for the lift," Cort said. "Thanks."

When Joimus was in the scrubs and had hospital slippers on her feet, the male nurse returned with a wheel chair. "Doc says you can go see your husband but he doesn't want you to walk."

As she settled painfully into the chair, she asked him, "Do you know anything about Reverend Harris?"

"All I know is they took him off for scans. Haven't heard anything yet, Ma'am."

She sighed and motioned down the hall with a slight movement of her hand. "Please."

He wheeled her down several long hallways, around corners, and then into a room where Maximus lay. Her teeth sank into her lower lip. He was still much too white. "How long...?"

"It takes a while," the nurse said. "I'll leave you now. Be back in a while."

"I want to stay," she said.

He smiled, not replying, and turned to leave.

The bed was too high and the railings were up. Sitting low in the wheelchair, she felt shut off from him, so got to her feet, standing there, her hands gripping the railing. He lay quietly, monitors on his chest, an oxygen cannula on his face, the IV in his right arm, the upper left part of his shoulder and chest swathed in thick bandaging. "Oh, my darling, darling," she sighed, touching his cheek, "this was so close, so frighteningly close."

His eyes opened, small slits of his green showing. "I am...here."  His voice was low, very weak.

"It is only because of that that I still live," she smiled, curving the backs of her fingers tenderly down his face.

He was barely able to keep his eyes open even that much, but he saw her face. "You...you...?" A frown creased his forehead.

"I'm fine, beloved. Truly. Don't worry about me. Just rest...rest...and grow strong again."

He blinked, opening his eyes more widely. "Oh, Joimus."  Tears brimmed as he looked at her.

"Shhhh!" she murmured. "This is only temporary. I'm not in any danger. There's nothing for you to worry about, my darling."

He tried to lift his right hand, needing to touch her, but only managed two or three inches before it fell back to the bed. She took his large hand in both hers, lifting it for him, pressing it to her lips as she leaned close. "I love you with everything I am," she said almost fiercely.

He smiled a little, then his eyes closed and he drifted off.

She remained standing there, holding his hand, just filling her eyes, her soul, with the sight of his livingness and even when her body protested loudly and her legs began to tremble, she stood because the will to stand was stronger than the need to sit.

Alistair was awake but his head hurt like the hounds of hell were fighting furiously inside his skull. He felt confused, disoriented, and couldn't figure out how he'd gotten where he was. Had the smoke done this to him? Was he in the hospital because the mill was burning? Someone was fiddling with an IV beside his bed. He was aware, too, of a band of liquid fire across his hips and lower abdomen. That was from the seat belt as the car had rolled across the field and then suspended him upside down. He had no memory of any of that, could find no reason for the pain there. Whatever the person with the IV was doing, was beginning to help somewhat and he looked blearily at them, asking, "Ahnna?"

"I'm here, darling."  Ahnna came through the doorway and he tried desperately to focus on her.

"Ahnna?" he asked again. She was being pushed in a wheelchair up close to his bed. No, that wasn't right. That couldn't be right. He tried to lift his head again but waves of bilious green nausea washed through him and he lay back, gasping.

"Lie still," Ahnna said quickly, urgently. "Please, darling, lie still."

"What...what's....?"

She slid her arm through the bed railing, curving it over his shoulder. "You've got a concussion," she explained, "a really severe one." She blinked back tears as she remembered the doctor saying how lucky he was that he didn't have bleeding into his brain.

"Cold. Head's cold."

"You have ice packs around you. They're trying to keep your brain from swelling. So far you're doing really well."

Cort had explained to both the doctors and police about the thick shards from the vase he'd found where Alistair had lain in the entryway of Dwayne's house. The impact had fractured Alistair's skull but hadn't depressed the bone. His scalp had split somewhat, but had been repaired.

"Hurts," he said then tried to look at her again, though sometimes there seemed to be two of her overlapping. "Why...why chair?"

"Do you remember Zack drove you and Maximus to the mill? Joimus and I came with you to the hospital."

"Not...not much. No."

"Dwayne hit you with a big vase, but you somehow managed to get word to Maximus."

Very vaguely he recalled that. "All right? He...all right?"

An odd looked passed over her face. "Tell...tell...what happened?"

"Bud killed Dwayne. He, Dwayne, had a gun to your head."

"I...don't...."

She was glad he didn't remember. "Maximus was shot, worse than anyone knew. He nearly bled to death."

"Oh...God! I called...him.  My...my fault."

"None of this is your fault. It's all Dwayne's doing. So you stop that right now, you hear me?"

"You...chair...why?"

"At the mill, we all got into Joimus' station wagon because there was more room. Zack was driving and somehow Dwayne's man got loose and came after us, made us run off the road. The station wagon flipped over and over." She closed her eyes. "I thought it would never stop. Then it did, but it was upside down." She breathed deeply then looked at him again. "I'd gotten seat belts on you and me, but Joimus didn't have a chance
and she and Maximus were thrown out of the car."

His eyes widened, making his head hurt worse. "She...?"

"She's hurt some. Not too bad I think. I haven't seen her since we got here. I've been...."

"You? Hurt?"

"My back mostly. Sprained pretty bad when the car rolled. I've got this sort of temporary brace thing on." She touched her middle above her hospital gown.

"How...?"

"There's more. Zack had to kill the man who ran us off the road. Whoever he was tried to shoot him, maybe us, too. I don't know. Then Robin and Julie were there and Julie called for help. That's how we got here."

He couldn't believe so much had happened he had no memory of. "Maximus...he's...?"

"I don't know, darling. I saw him briefly as they wheeled him into the ER. He was very white. But don't worry. I'm sure he's getting good care here."

He closed his eyes and she thought he'd gone to sleep, but then she saw his lips moving and leaning close found despite his own horrid pain he was lifting Maximus in prayer. Her heart almost burst with how much she loved this man and tears slid down her cheeks as she sat quietly, watching him, silently thanking God that He had let her husband live.

“After the Battle”
 

by Jo and Stacey

 

Zack signed the hospital release forms and handed them back to the nurse. Just as soon as the doctor signed off on them he'd be able to leave - something he couldn't wait to do. He hated hospitals, hated being in them. No matter how much time had passed, they always seemed to bring back bad memories for him... memories he'd just as soon forget.

Luckily, he only had suffered 3 broken ribs and a concussion - nothing as major as what Maximus had endured. Though the doctor had wanted to keep him there over night, Zack had insisted he be released, was quite verbal, in fact, on the matter and in the end the doctor had agreed - on the condition that he took it easy and got some rest.

Rest. Yeah, he could use about a week of that, or more. Unfortunately, his mind wouldn't let him. He couldn't stop thinking about everything that had just happened... the shootout with Campbell, the car chase and accident, and most of all... when he was forced to shoot and kill the driver, Campbell's accomplice.

Zack stood up, ran his hands through his hair. He wondered how Maximus was doing... and all the others. He'd heard both Maximus and Ross had survived, barely, and the others were a bit banged up like him, but were okay for the most part. Abby... Abby was another matter. She'd been in shock when they'd brought her into the hospital, and he found out she was still there, too.

Once the nurse came back with his signed release forms, he found out where Maximus had been moved to and went to check up on him. He saw Robin and Julie sitting with Cort in the waiting area and slowly approached them.

"How's he doing?" Zack asked them, quietly.

"He'll make it," Robin said, looking like he had a pretty bad headache himself. "It was close, though."

Cort noticed the way Zack was walking, leaning a bit forward, just as he walked. "Ribs?" he asked, his palm curving over his own side.

Zack nodded, "Seems we're a matched pair." He couldn't help but notice the bandage on Robin's head, pointed to it and raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Steering wheel," Julie volunteered. "Following the ambulances turned out to be more perilous than it looked."

"What about you, Zack?" Cort asked. "You were driving Joimus' station wagon, I understand. Heard it took a pretty bad roll into the field."

"I'm fine," he replied, "Got a bump on the noggin, hadda have a couple stitches. Broke a few ribs, too. How 'bout Joimus? Alistair and Ahnna? They weren't too badly injured I hope?"

"Joimus landed on her face in the field," Robin said grimly. "Cheekbone's fractured and she's all swollen. I think Ahnna hurt her back. I don't know how Alistair fared in the car crash, but he was pretty hurt when Dwayne hit him with the vase. I'm hoping we get some news soon." He leaned his head against the wall behind him, letting his eyes close.

Julie reached over and took his hand. "It's been a long evening," she sighed, looking at Zack. "I imagine both Maximus and Alistair have
been admitted. What about you, Zack? Are you going back to the Glen?"

Zack sat down in a chair across from her, clasped his hands together in front of him, "Yeah, in a while. My girlfriend, Destiny, is on her way here to pick me up. Just wanted to check on all of you. One hell of a night it was, that's for sure."

"Glad you've got a ride," Robin said, looking at him through only half-raised lids. "I was going to offer you one, but I'm here for the
duration...until I've got the all clear on both Maximus and Alistair." He opened his lids a bit more, gazing deeply at Zack. "I hear you
acquitted yourself most honorably in battle tonight. Good man!"

"Battle? Um... yeah, I guess it was a bit like a battle," Zack told him, resting his elbows on his knees as he rubbed his temples. His head was throbbing again, damn pain pills were wearing off. "Thanks to you two, we were all able to survive. If you hadn't of shown up when you did... I hate to even think about what might have happened to us all."

"We were just on our way into Coffs to have dinner," Julie explained, "then it began to rain so hard we almost turned back."

"Almost," Robin repeated. "Very close, in fact."

"Now we know Maximus would have died if we hadn't arrived when we did."  A little shudder went through Julie.

"If there's ever anything I can do for either of you... and you, Cort," Zack told them, "I'm in your debt."

He pulled out his cell phone as it began to vibrate in his pocket, read the text message. "If you will all excuse me now, my girlfriend's waitin' outside in her car. Please let Joimus and Maximus know I was here and that they're in my thoughts."