Chapter: 27

The Twelve Angelic Orders/The Fourth Choir

Angels of the World: Govern all of the World

The Fourth Choir Angels find themselves intricately involved in human affairs and are considered the Angels of the Earth and the friends of man. They constantly weave in and out of our lives, listening closely to human affairs. The Fourth Choir Angels include the Principalities, the Archangels, and those simply called the Angels."

These three Angelic Orders are charged with relations with mankind, and thus the "least Divine" of all the Angelic Orders. From Divine Diplomats to Heavenly Socialites.

The Fourth Choir Orders are the developers of politics and the arbiters of taste, bringing the discipline of abstract structures to the corporeal realm.

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh.

Psalm 2:4

**************************************************************************

The six men stood in the hospital waiting room, awaiting word from the doctors on their two friends.

Buck paced the floor with a vengeance, his nervous tension emanating through the quiet silence.

The others watched him as he went back and forth from the door of the room to the window of the room on the far other side.

After awhile, Josiah stood up and became a barrier in his path. “Buck. Sit down. You’re making the rest of us antsy.”

“What the hell are they doing in there anyway?” exclaimed Buck. “It’s been hours.”

“Buck, they doing all they can for them,” explained Nathan. “As soon as they have them stabilized, they’ll let us know.”

“I just don’t like it, Nathan. Are you sure we can trust these people?”

“Trust me, Buck. We can. I know these people and Chris and Vin are under the best care in Vegas.”

Just then, an elderly doctor with white hair and blue eyes walked into the room. He looked harried and from the look on his face, they knew the news was not good. They all rushed to the man, almost startling him.

“Nathan?”

Nathan moved to the forefront of the group.

“Dr. Cohen.”

“Well, Mr. Tanner has a lacerated lung from one of his broken ribs. We’ve stabilized him and he’s in ICU at the moment. We believe he can be moved to a regular room in the next day or so if his tests look good.”

“And Chris?” asked Nathan tentatively. He knew from his own professional experience that when they had brought him in he was the more critical of the two.

“Mr. Larabee is a more serious case. Both of his wrists were slit, but fortunately for him only the right one reached a major artery. He’s still in surgery and should be out in the next hour or so. They’re repairing the damage done. He lost a lot of blood that we have replaced. Lucky for us we have his blood type on hand. Besides malnutrition and being dehydrated, we also found an unidentifiable substance in his blood stream.” At this doctor paused, not knowing how to address the situation. “Is Mr. Larabee a drug user?”

The six men stood silent. They did not know how to answer him.

“I need to know. It would explain the reason for the attempted suicide. It is a known fact that drug usage can lead to depression which in some cases causes suicidal tendencies,” he explained. Dr. Cohen saw the hesitation in their eyes.

“Listen, it’s very important to know this information on the patient in order to know how to treat him. Nathan?”

Nathan nodded and said, “Yeah. He was taking barbiturates. He’s been under a lot of stress since the death of his wife and son.”

“Well, Nathan, I can tell you what is currently showing up in his bloodstream is definitely not barbiturates. This drug seems to be a sort of designer drug, a mixture of three drugs. We identified one of them, but we can’t seem to identify the other two.”

“This is news to us, Doc,” responded Buck. “We only know about the pills.”

“Well, then we’ll have to wait until Mr. Larabee is conscious. Nathan, I’ll keep his condition out of the records. I’ll assign special nurses for him and Mr. Tanner, so you don’t have to be worried about information leaking out. These two nurses are very good about keeping patient information confidential. But I will also list them as Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones just in case. We’ll say they are out of state businessmen who were in a car accident. That you should keep certain people uninterested,” he said winking at Nathan.

“Thanks, Dr. Cohen,” replied Nathan.

“No problem, Nathan. We owe you too much and I can’t find a better way to return the favor. I’ll let you know as soon as Mr. Tanner and Mr. Larabee are conscious.”

“Thanks again, Doc,” said Buck as the doctor walked out of the room.

“Nadia,” came a whisper from the other side of the room.

“What?” said Buck, turning around to see who had made the comment.

“It was Nadia,” said Lucien defiantly.

“Nadia?” questioned JD.

“Yes. The drug was from Nadia.” They all turned to look at him.

“And how would you know this?” asked Buck suspiciously.

“Because when I was out in the streets while you guys were enjoying the perks that came with being an archangel, I kept an eye on Nadia and her dealings. Her husband’s main business in the organization was drugs. Nadia especially accelerated in designer drugs, her and her young modern scientists. I don’t think they were made for street consummation or sale. I think she had something more diabolical planned for them and I think Chris was one of her experiments.”

“Do you know what kind of drugs they were?” asked Nathan hopeful.

“No. But I do know that due to a report that sort of accidentally slipped into my hands, that one of the chemicals used was a sort of an inhibitor remover.”

“A what?” questioned JD. “What the hell is that?”

“An inhibitor remover, my dear Mr. Dunne, is something that creates euphoria and destroys a person’s inhibitions, making them more susceptible to suggestions, thus obliterate a person’s moral conscience,” explained Ezra.

Nathan turned to Ezra surprised at his knowledge. “And how do you know this, Ezra?”

“Let’s just say that in my dealings with known felons and reprobates that this is not the first time that I have heard of the utilization of such substances.”

Josiah eyed him suspiciously as did the others. But they knew with Ezra, there was nothing of the criminal underworld that he did not know.

“So, Nadia was trying to brainwash, Chris,” said Josiah in thought.

“I believe so, Josiah,” answered Lucien. “It seems that if she could not get Chris to stay with her by his own choice, then she would take that choice away.”

“But that doesn’t explain why she want Vin too?” ventured JD.

“Maybe that was only a coincidence. We know Vin went to look for Chris. She might have thought that he would ruin her plans,” suggested Nathan.

“With Nadia, nothing is a coincidence,” retorted Buck.

“That’s for sure,” agreed Lucien.

“Well, then one of us stays with Chris and the another stays with Vin. Josiah, you stay with Vin. Buck you stay with Chris. We leave neither alone at anytime,” stated Ezra. “JD, you and I have some research to do on our Nadia Diaz. Nathan, keep working with the good doctor and see if they can decipher what kind of drug was used on Chris. I’ll contact our gracious benefactor Chief Travis and let him know that we have found our lost angels.” He then sat up from his seat on one of the waiting chairs and walked started towards the door.

“I’ll stay with Chris,” piped up Lucien.

Ezra studied him carefully and saw the nod that Buck had given him that it was fine by him.

“Okay, Lucien. You stay with Chris. Buck, you go with us. If anything happens to Chris or Vin, use the cell phones to contact the rest of us.”

“Ez!” called Buck.

“Yes, Mr. Wilmington?”

“You sure do make a good, as you say, illustrious leader,” said Buck chuckling.

“Mr. Wilmington, your jokes have little to be desired,” said Ezra frowning and walked out the door.

He did not see or hear as the others burst out laughing at his indignation.

* * * * *

Nadia had reached the Twenty-One Club within the hour. She could not be late for her meeting with Marco considering she had lost Larabee. She knew if she told him that he would be upset about the lost of Larabee.

Although it was important for her to contact Marco, it was not her top priority. Her main concern was about the fact that Larabee did not walk out all on his own, at least not with all the blood they found in the bathroom and bedroom. Based on the evidence of the found straight razor with his blood on it, it looked like her beloved blond had tried to take his life. His friends had taken him away, but she did not know if he was dead or alive.

She was vexed by the whole situation. She did not think that the drug would cause depression. It never did in any of the other experiments, but she reminded herself that that was exactly what they were, experiments and not conclusive results.

Her other issue was that she no longer had Archangel Gabriel either. At least when she had Larabee, she knew the lanky, Texan would return. Now she had lost both of them. But Nadia, knowing herself, it would not be for long. She would have them back, alive or dead.

She walked through the club to Marco’s usually table. She would have to put Marco off for a little while longer.

He was sitting alone but she knew that would be only until their meeting was completed. Marco’s sex drive was insatiable and sooner or later he would acquire what he needed to stave off his cravings. Nadia pitied the poor girl who had to deal with him.

Nadia took her seat across from Marco. Her bodyguard, Devon stood off to the side, his eyes sidling over to Marco and winking. Marco made a slight nod confirming that he understood.

“Well, Nadia, dear, you are looking lovely, as usual,” said Marco smiling.

Nadia grimaced at the look. She really hated the man, but sometimes you slept with vipers to get what you wanted.

“Thank you, Marco. You are looking you’re normal handsome self today. You must be in a good mood, huh?”

“Yes, I am. And it’s all because you came back to see me, with good news I hope?”

At that comment, Nadia stood straighter and leaned closer to him. “Marco, I have some bad news,” said Nadia folding her hands into her lap.

“And that is?”

“I need a little more time to get what you want,” answered Nadia.

“Time is running out, my dear,” said Marco annoyed.

“I know, Marco. I just need a couple of more days. I am sure I can get what you want,” said Nadia “It’s just that it is proving to take a little more time than I anticipated.”

“I hope you know what you are doing, Nadia. We don’t have much time. I must get that list back and Larabee knows where it is. If my father finds out that I lost it, my life won’t be worth a damn.”

Nadia smiled inwardly at that comment, but she only showed sympathy to the man. “You worry too much, Marco.”

“And you do not worry enough, my dear. If you fail…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she said standing up.

“Contact me as soon as you have succeeded.”

“I will, Marco,” she said and walked away towards the exit.

The other bodyguards followed Nadia towards the door, but Devon stayed a little longer.

He looked at Marco with eyes of knowing and said as soon as Nadia was out of hearing range, “She won’t, Mr. DeCorsia. I will make sure of that.”

Marco only nodded as just then, Nadia called from the other side of the room.

“Devon! Let’s go!”

“Coming, Miss Diaz,” replied Devon, cutting through the crowd to hurriedly join her.

As they walked out of the club, Marco smiled wickedly. He thought to himself, “Well, Nadia, it seems I’m smarter than you are.”

* * * * *

Josiah sat in the hospital room that contained Vin Tanner. The nurse had just come and left, after she had changed the IV and added some medicine to it.

She had told him that they thought he was regaining consciousness and knew it would not be too long before he became fully conscious.

And that was what was worrying Josiah, that Vin would awake before they had any good news about Chris’ condition. He knew that the lanky Texan would worry himself sick about it. He hoped that they would have better news before he awoke, but the doctor had came by earlier to examine Vin and had said there was no change on Chris.

They had each went to see Chris in his own room at ICU and it frightened them to see their friend surrounded by all the equipment that beeped with every heartbeat, the oxygen mask over his face that covered up the eyes dark with circles that told of his ordeal. He could not see Vin being able to deal with it. The soft-spoken Texan’s heart would just break.

He watched as Vin started to stir, the stark white bandages surrounding his chest, stood out against the pale skin. Vin had gone through his own ordeal and had barely made it himself. Josiah could not think of what would have happened if they had lost them, he refused to think on it.

He walked quickly over to the bed and grabbed Vin’s hand. It was slightly cold to the touch and Josiah started to rub it to warm it up. “Hey, Vin. I know you’re in there, son. Why don’t ya let me see those shining blue eyes of yours?” he said trying to coax Vin to waking.

Vin moaned and turned his head to the side towards him, but still did not open his eyes.

Josiah continued to rub his hand, hoping to get a reaction out of the young tracker.

Vin heard a voice, but could not make out what was being said. He was too happy and peaceful where he was in the soft darkness. There was no pain and no anguish. It was as if all his bonds were removed. Bonds? Why did that word scare him so? Chris! He could not feel Chris through the bond that they shared. Something had happened to him. Oh, God! He remembered now. He remembered Chris in a bath of blood, his own blood, leaving his body one drop at a time. Chris was dead and he was alone!

Josiah saw that Vin was getting agitated, but not waking up. He was flailing his arms about in the bed and Josiah grabbed them to keep him from hurting himself.

“Nurse!” he screamed. “Nurse! I need you in here now!”

Luckily for Josiah, the nurses’ station was right across from the room Vin was situated in. Two nurses, a short blonde and a lanky brunette came running into the room. One helped Josiah to restrain the sick young man on the bed, while the other ran to the call bell for the doctor.

“Vin, calm down,” said Josiah smoothing the sweat slick hair from the young tracker’s forehead. “You’re safe, son. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Suddenly, Josiah found he was looking into a pair of fever bright blue eyes and in them was a look of terror that almost stopped his heart.

“Jo…Josiah,” came Vin’s weak voice, trying to bring everything into focus.

“I’m here, Vin. I’m here. Everything’s okay.”

“C…Chris? Where’s…Chris?”

Josiah now understood the terror he saw in the man’s eyes.

“Chris is fine. He’s in the room next door,” explained Josiah, hoping that Vin could comprehend him.

“Chris! Chris…dead!” he screamed and starting fighting them again.

“No, son,” said Josiah trying to calm the young man down. “Vin, Chris is alive, son.”

Vin stopped his fight dead in its tracks and focused a stare on the face of his friend. “He’s…He’s not…dead?”

“No, Vin. He’s not. He’s in the next room. Now you going to calm down?”

Vin nodded slowly. His head still hurt and his stomach was not doing much better.

At that moment, Dr. Cohen walked into the room.

“Well, Mr. Smith, I see you awake,” he said picking up Vin’s chart and scanning it. “What happened, nurse?”

“I think Mr. Smith was a little upset about his business partner,” replied the short blonde nurse. “But I think he’s calmed down now, right Mr. Smith?” She turned her green eyes to Vin.

Vin looked at her confused. Who was Mr. Smith? He then noticed Josiah nod slightly towards him and Vin knew that he was asking him to go along with it for the time being and he would explain later.

“Yes…I’m fine now,” answered Vin, grimacing at the pain in his chest and head he felt as he tried to find a different position on the bed.

“Are you in pain now, Mr. Smith?” asked Dr. Cohen. He had seen the pained look the man had as he tried to move on the bed.

“Said I’m fine, doc!” replied Vin annoyed. He did not want anything that would cloud his mind or keep him from finding out about Chris.

“Okay,” said Dr. Cohen curtly. “If you need anything you can press this call button.” He then moved the button closer to Vin’s right hand so that he could reach it. He then turned to the nurses and motioned from them to leave. He then followed quickly behind them and closed the door to the room.

“What happened, Josiah? Why are they callin’ me Mr. Smith?”

“Just take it easy, Vin. What do you remember?”

“I remember us findin’ Chris bleedin’ to death in the bathroom and I remember that I suddenly couldn’t breathe. After that, not much.”

“Seems your ribs went from crack to broken and one of them lacerated your lung. Luckily for us you didn’t puncture it, but it was bad enough. Doc says you gon’na have to take easy for awhile.”

“And Chris?” asked Vin tentatively. He knew the news could not be good based on when they had found him.

Josiah hesitated at telling him the truth, but he knew the lanky Texan would find out anyway and he wanted to control the situation.

“Josiah, just spit it out,” said Vin eyeing him angrily. He knew he was trying to protect him, but he wanted none of it. He wanted to know if Larabee was alive and would stay alive.

“From what the doctor has informed us he was dehydrated and malnutrition.”

“What about his wrists?” Vin swallowed hard as he thought on the scene of seeing Chris bleeding out in the tub.

“They’ve been repaired and the bleeding stopped. It seems the right wrist was the one most damaged. The doctor thinks we going to have to wait and see if he’ll physical therapy on that one. The left was not damaged as much. They had to replace the blood he lost.”

Vin sighed despondently at the thought of Chris not being able to use his right wrist and hand. It was his main gun hand, although Chris could shoot with either hand. In fact most of them could, but there was still the fact that he could loose the use of it.

Vin stared at Josiah and saw how he was trying to avoid looking at him. “Josiah, is there somethin’ ya keepin’ from me?”

“It seems the good doctor found some type of chemical in Chris’ blood tests,” replied Josiah with a finality.

“What type of chemical?”

“Some type of designer drug. Lucien believes that it was Nadia would put it there.”

“Damn! I shoulda known! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!”

“Vin, take it easy,” said Josiah. “It’s not your fault.”

“No? I was there, Josiah. I saw how he was actin’. Everythin’ was tellin’ me somethin’ wasn’t right and I let ‘im stay there. I shoulda of dragged his skinny ass out of there!”

“Vin, there was no way you could of known. Chris has been acting strange before then.”

Vin looked at him, knowing in his mind Josiah was right, but his heart would not let it go. He closed his eyes at the guilt he felt at failing his friend. He then opened his blue eyes to find Josiah staring at him in concern.

“Do ya think I could see ‘im?”

“I’ll check with the doctor. Right now, Chris is still out of it since he just got back down from surgery.”

“I’d appreciate it, Josiah,” he said closing his eyes again. He tired and his head and chest ached more than he let on.

Josiah was not fooled by Vin and knew the man was in pain. He said, ”I’m going to get the nurse something to help you sleep.”

“I don’t need…”

“Vin, don’t argue with me. If you want to see Chris later, you need to let yourself heal and I think this is the best way to do this.”

Vin knew he was not going to win this argument. “Kay, Josiah. Just remember to wake me when Chris wakes up.”

“Will do, Vin,” and Josiah walked out of the room to go find the nurse.

Once he was gone Vin was left alone again with his guilt and he prayed that Larabee would stay alive long enough for him to curse him out for putting them through this.

*********************************************************************************************

Chapter: 28

The Eleventh Angelic Order

The Archangels

Those angels who govern the affairs of the messengers of the various realms and dimensions are known as the Angels of the Eleventh Order. They are very large and radiant spiritual beings. They are called Archangels. Their presence signals great change. They sometimes take human form in order to cause occurrences or change the tide of events for humanity.

"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people-everyone whose name is found written in the book-will be delivered.”

Daniel 12:1

http://www.steliart.com/angelology_angelic_orders.html

Christopher Michael Larabee slowly came to consciousness amongst great pain. His head was thrumming viciously in time to the beeping sounds he heard at the edge of his wakefulness. His stomach and wrists felt no better and it was within this second that Chris had realized that he was alive and had he failed again. Tears fell unbidden from his eyes to stain the pillow his head rested on.

As he lay in the bed with his eyes closed, he started thinking of how thing had gotten so out of hand. It had started with the death of his wife and son. That tragic event had started a chain reaction that quickly spiraled downhill.

Next came his inevitable fall from grace and the drowning of his soul. The alcohol helped him to forget the memories and his ease his torment for a little while. The drugs helped him to function during the day, to keep working on finding his family’s murderers and do the job he was paid to do. He remembered not caring whether he lived or die. Morals were gone and trampled under every action he had taken within the past three years. Even the lost of his brother and the distance he had put between his friends did not faze the anguished blond. Only death would give him peace. Only death would bring him to his family.

His kingdom had fallen and everything he every knew or believed had been destroyed. He did not want to live anymore, just to exist. Existence was not the way to live and that is what it had felt like after losing his loved ones.

Then faces came within his mind’s eye. Six of them to be exact. In the beginning they were his anchors to redemption, his path to salvation. But now he had failed them again, as he had failed his family and himself. He could not bear facing them or life again. Slowly he decided that he would find a way to end it all, no matter the cost.

He finally opened his eyes, blinking hard. Bit by bit they came into focus and he saw that he was right, that he was in a hospital.

He tried raise his arms or move his legs and found them restrained by something. He then turned his blond head towards the door and saw his brother Lucien, asleep in a chair near it.

He let moist green eyes gaze on the sleeping form. His baby brother looked haggard and Chris knew it had probably not slept well within the past few days. Chris closed his eyes in sadness. He knew it was because of him that the young blond was not sleeping well.

When he opened his eyes next, he found himself looking into the pained blue eyes of his brother.

“Mickey!” exclaimed Lucien, as he moved from the chair to his bedside. “You’re awake. How are you feeling?”

Chris did not answer him. He only continued to stare at him.

Lucien was at a lost. He did not know what was going with his brother and the way he was currently acting was scaring him.

“Hey, you know, you sure do make it hard for a guy to find you,” he said trying to get through to the older blond on the bed.

Chris closed his eyes. He did not see the support that his brother was trying to convey to him. All he saw was pity and he would not live with that. It was too much to bear.

Suddenly, Chris face seemed to contort in anger. He started to struggle on the bed, arching his back hard trying to break his restraints. He did not care if he hurt his already injured wrists. It did not matter. He wanted out. He wanted away. He wanted to finish what he started.

Lucien jumped back startled and concerned. There was something definitely wrong here. He walked immediately to the call button and pushed it to summon the nurse.

As he waited for them to come, he walked towards the bed of his brother and tried to keep him from hurting his wrists anymore. He pleaded as he tried to grip his brother’s arm, “Please, Michael. You must keep still. You’ll only hurt yourself more.”

Chris heard the words, but continued to fight. It was what he wanted. To hurt himself, to end his torment and to bring peace to his mind and body through death. But these people would not listen. They would not let him finish what he had started. Chris screamed in grief and anger and he kept screaming, not listening to the voice that was trying to calm him.

The nurse came running into the room, Josiah and the doctor hard on her heels.

“What happened?” asked Dr. Cohen, moving quickly towards the now frenzied blond struggling wildly on the bed. He also tried to help subdue ill man. Josiah joined in on the other side of the bed, placing his hands on Chris’ arms to keep him from pulling on the injured wrists.

“I…I don’t know. He woke up and I tried to talk to him and then…then he just went crazy,” explained Lucien.

“Nurse,” said the doctor, motioning to the hypodermic in her hand.

The nurse swiftly injected the sedative into the man’s IV line.

“Chris,” said Josiah softly. “Chris, you need to calm down. You’re going to only hurt yourself more.”

Unexpectedly, Chris found his voice. “No! Let me go! Please! Let me die! I need to finish it! Please!” he cried.

“No, Chris. We ain’t gon’na let you die,” said Josiah defiantly. “We need you too much, brother. We need you here.”

“He’s right, Mickey,” joined in Lucien. “We all need you with us.”

“No! Pain! Only pain! No more pain, please!” he screamed and then sobbed loudly as tears rolled down his cheeks. The sedative was taking affect and Chris’ struggles started to cease.

Lucien looked at Chris with eyes of shock. It had upset him to see his brother so. He had never seen his brother cry, not even at his family’s funeral. He always thought of him as a strong man, a man made of an iron-will. But now, he was frightened. Deathly so for the man and for himself because he saw that there was a weakness to the man and Nadia had discovered it. He could not let that woman get any nearer to his brother otherwise she would completely destroy him.

“Mickey,” said Lucien brushing the blond hair of his brother in a soothing motion. “No one is going to hurt you anymore. I swear it.”

Chris did not hear him. He was still in his tortured realm as the sedative started to bring him closer and closer to the darkness.

Josiah looked on in dismay. This was not very good and once the blue-eyed lanky tracker found out about it, they would definitely have their hands full.

Chris finally closed his eyes and let the darkness win. His last thought was of freedom and a task left unaccomplished.

Dr. Cohen sighed in relief. He then turned to the nurse and said, “Nurse, if this happens again, please increase the dosage of sedative to Mr. Jones and contact me immediately,”

“Yes, Doctor,” replied the nurse leaving the room after adjusting the IV line and reviewing the monitors.

“So, Doc, you have any idea what’s going on with him?” asked Josiah now very concerned.

“Well, if what you have told me is true, then Mr. La…Mr. Jones is going through withdrawal which can induce depression and paranoia. It’s part of the cleansing process. Unfortunately, being in the current condition he’s in, it is not inductive to his healing process. In fact, I don’t think it was wise to give him any more sedatives since we still do not know the other two chemicals and I do not know what type of reaction it will have on his already drug-induced body, but of course, in his current frame of mind we have no choice.”

It was just then that Chris’ body began to tremble slightly. Lucien and Josiah turned to the doctor, who then rushed over to the call button.

“What’s happening now?” asked Lucien fearfully.

“He’s convulsing. I think it was because of the sedative,” said Dr. Cohen frantically. “Nurse! Get in here now!”

Just then, Nathan, Buck, Ezra and JD came bursting into the room as Chris started to convulse violently on the bed.

“Out! Out! Everyone out! Now!” exclaimed Dr. Cohen as the monitors started to beep erratically.

The two nurses came rushing into the room, one pushing the others out the door, while the other assisted Dr. Cohen with the still convulsing patient.

The doors closed silently behind them as they heard the doctor ordering the nurse to administer an anticonvulsant.

“What happened, Josiah?” asked Nathan.

“Don’t rightly know, but I think it has something to do with Nadia’s designer drug. Chris woke up and Lucien was talking him when he started getting violent. The doctor had given him a sedative to settle down and then all of sudden he started convulsing.”

“Probably a reaction of the designer drug and the sedative. Dr. Cohen thought there might be a problem with administering any other drugs without knowing what the other two chemicals might be, but I guess Chris must have been really violent for him to take a chance like that.”

“No. Not violent, Nathan,” came Lucien’s distraught reply. “He wanted to die, to end his life.”

“Die?” questioned Buck. Oh, God, no. Not again, not again.

Lucien saw the way Buck’s fell at this announcement. Although the others were shocked at it’s revelations, they did not have the look of someone who had previous experience.

“What is it, Buck?” asked Lucien, walking closer to the tall-moustache archangel.

“This can’t be happening again. It can’t.” was all that Buck said.

“Buck, what do you know about this?”

Buck sighed and leaned against the wall for support. He knew they would not let this drop. He hung his head in sorrow. “It happened once before, but…but I thought it was an accident.”

“What happened before, Buck?” asked Josiah.

“Chris, he…he…” Buck’s head rose to face them and they saw tears glistening in the tall man’s eyes.

“Please, Buck,” implored Ezra. “We need to know to help our fallen comrade.”

“It was not long after he lost his family. I had talked with him on the phone that night and he didn’t sound good. I told him I’d be coming over, but he told me not to bother. That he wanted to be alone. At first, I agreed, but then later I changed my mind and decided to stop by the ranch anyway. That’s…That’s when I found him. He…He was lying on his bedroom floor, two bottles of Jack Daniels, empty on the floor. I thought he was just stinking drunk. It’s not like it was the first time. I knelt besides him, decidedly to pick him up and put him to bed, like I’ve done so many times before. That was when I noticed it.”

“Noticed what, Buck?” inquired Lucien, his eyes begging Buck to finish his story.

“An empty bottle of barbiturates. They were lying on the floor next to his body. I panicked then. I grabbed him and made him throw up whatever was in his stomach. After that, I gave him enough black coffee to be spitting grains, then I put in him the shower, hoping to revive him. He finally came to and when I finally got him settled and lucid, he told me it was an accident. That he hadn’t realized it had taken so many. He said he was trying to sleep and thought at first the booze would help. When it didn’t, he tried the pills. I wanted him to go get some help, but you know, Chris,” he said as wispy smile fell on his face. And quickly his face then turned to one of dread. “But now that I think about it…This…This was his plan all along.”

The discovery of Chris’ true intentions struck Buck like a knife in his heart.

“Oh, God! What have I done! What have I done!” yelled Buck. His soul was being torn from him at the thought that he had not seen what Chris was doing. Buck let the tears fall without hinder.

JD walked over to his best friend and wrapped his arms around him. He would protect his friend and keep him safe from the blame. “Buck, it wasn’t ya fault!” he said, hugging the big man to him. “There is no way ya could have seen this, Buck. And Chris needs our help now.”

Buck looked at the young man that he called friend and saw the wisdom that resided there. He smiled gently and said, “How did you become so wise for one so young?”

“Awh, Buck, don’t get all soapy on me now,” replied JD, embarrassed by the show of affection.

Buck laughed and ruffled the hair of the young Easterner.

“So what do we do now?” asked Lucien, his concern for his brother’s welfare still weighing heavily upon him.

“Well, first let’s see what the Doc has to say about Chris and then I need to go back down to the lab and see if we can figure out what those missing chemicals are,” stated Nathan.

“How does Mr. Tanner fare, Mr. Sanchez?” asked Ezra, taking command of the situation.

“Well, he was awake and of course, you know he was asking about Chris and biting at the bit to get to him. I told him I’ll let him know when he was awake,” said Josiah. “But the way Chris is acting I don’t know if I should.”

“You can’t keep them apart forever, Josiah,” said Nathan warningly.

“Just until he heals. The man had a lacerated lung, Nathan. It can’t be good for him to get upset right now.”

“I think you’re wrong, Josiah,” said Lucien. “I think Vin is just what Chris needs and vice versa. Believe me. I think Vin is the only one who probably can get through my brother’s thick skull.”

Buck started chuckling at that comment. “You’re sure right about that, Lucien. If Chris will listen to anyone it has to be that scrawny ass Texan.”

“Well, why I don’t see about getting Vin moved into Chris’ room. I’m sure Dr. Cohen will appreciate it more if he has both stubborn men in the same place,” said Nathan.

“Good ideal,” agreed Lucien.

“Well gentlemen, let us go to the waiting room and I can expound on what myself, JD and Buck found out about our lovely Miss Diaz,” said Ezra