LET THEM TEND YOUR WOUNDS
by Anthony Docimo
SUMMARY: Robert Helm tries to set his life back in order in the wake of 'Vengeance', and wishes that the Queen would mind her own business.
DISCLAIMER: I only own my original characters...all canon characters belong to the great folks who bring us 4 seasons {or more} of QOS. (Your lips to God's ear, Anthony! -Jo)
Helm wasn't sure what was the reason for this. He'd massaged his legs upon returning to his office - which doubled as his home - working the sores with his fingers...so that couldn't be the reason.
Something was troubling his mind, something from his walk with Montoya after the Queen of Swords had stranded them in the desert? That couldn't be it either, as nothing he'd said, nor anything from Montoya, was of importance enough to keep him from having a restful sleep.
The Queen's visit, perhaps? That voice of hers had a certain quality that gave new meaning to the phrase 'bedside manner' indeed. If that was how she spoke normally, then -- Robert squashed that line of thought: he was trying to get to sleep, not fantasize awake. Still, she had been grateful to him for returning her sword.
It was painfully obvious who the Queen was. So why can't anyone else figure it out? Helm wondered to himself, Are they blind? Does their Spanish society blind them to anything behind lace?
Doctor Robert Helm fell asleep, his shoulders and head hitting the mattress, pondering that riddle.
AGULERA RANCH
Divide and multiply, divide and multiply. The inhabitants of this farm were everywhere, yet went unseen all their short lives. Mosquitos came and drank them from them as food all the time. No sickness ever came. But then, in one brief generation, a mutation had occurred. The next mosquito to drink from that source could not have known the dangers that it now held.
Later that night, a child swatted a mosquito dead on her arm.
TWO DAYS LATER, MIDDAY
Tessa asked, "Where's Doctor Helm?"
"I think I overheard him talking with Don Agulera, agreeing to go out to his ranch to the west. Why so curious, Tessa," Vera inquired back, leaning forwards, eager to learn why.
Tessa cocked an eyebrow at Vera's words, then replied, "I think my Martha might be coming down with something, and I'd like him to take a look at her."
Vera just smiled, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather have him taking a look at you? I wouldn't."
The woman whose double life was that of the Queen of Swords bit the obvious reply to that. "Many of us want what we can't have, Vera. Sometimes that's the only reason we want it in the first place - because it's unattainable."
Vera just kept her smile, though a part of her face changed, with the smile's meaning shifting somewhat. "I see. Well, I won't bother you," she said, and walked off.
Tessa let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "So, west it is," and headed for the west...once she'd changed, becoming the Queen first.
AGULERA RANCH
"Will my Noele live, Doctor," Sonja Agulera asked Helm, wringing her hands. "She was not sick long. She gets better, no?"
Doctor Robert Helm paid no heed to the tiny French undercurrent in the Don's wife's voice. He kept his eyes firmly on the little girl, checking her lymph nodes for swelling, her tonsils, and her gums; nothing abnormal whatsoever. "I'll do my best, Senora," he answered. Apart from a fever, he couldn't find anything wrong with her. That didn't mean that he was going to stop, it just meant that his work was that much tougher. A thought occurred to him: "Where was she this past week?"
"Oh, she was here at the hacienda with me.....sweet thing didn't even want to go play with her friends," her mother said in a tone that Helm recognized as a parent who enjoys time spent with their kids.
He told her, "I was just wondering, because she might've picked it up from someone or something she was near. Like your husband's livestock, Senora."
LATER, ON THE TRAIL
The doctor, on his way back to his office, heard the thunder of a horse heading his way, then he saw a figure in black with a red speck alongside her black form. "Oh for cryin' out loud," Helm muttered. As soon as the Queen of Swords got close enough to hear, he bellowed, "What're you doing out here?"
The Queen shrugged, "Can't I just be riding around with nobody to save at the moment?"
Helm made a face for an instant. Was she using his brand of sarcasm against him now? "Around me, generally not. Now, what - are - you - doing - here?" he enunciated, his natal British accent thick by the end.
"I thought you'd like somebody to ride with," came her answer.
Did the woman become un-insultable by nature, or was it training? "I'd prefer to ride alone, if you don't mind."
"Okay."
A pause.
"You're still here," Helm remarked calmly.
"I just thought that, well, after everything you've been through lately--"
He interrupted her, "That I'd want to talk?" The Queen nodded, relieved that he understood her pure motives. "Me, confess to you?" Helm laughed, his head facing the sky, then down at his horse's mane. It took a few moments for him to stop laughing. "Well thank you for that," he admitted. "Now, go," putting it as politely as he could.
"Fine," answered the Queen and spurred her horse on ahead, leaving him in the dust.
Helm stayed on his horse trotting at a leisurely pace, but had to literally coughed at the raised cloud of dust. "The woman's a health risk!" He owed her one for saving his life true....but that wasn't an excuse to give him the lungs of a glass-blower before he turned forty!
NEXT DAY, AGULERA HACIENDA
Sonja Agulera whispered a hello to little Noele, frowning slightly that her daughter hadn't so much as touched the soup that'd been brought out for her lunch. Noele looked thinner than she had since Sonja'd tucked her in the night before, but that was probably just the play of candlelight in an otherwise dark room... Noele'd said that sunlight was hurting her eyes and Dr. Helm had suggested going along with it, just in case.
Sonja sat down on the stool beside her child's bed and soaked a fresh compress in the water bowl so she could replace the one that was on dear sweet Noele's head. It was a bit demeaning, true; but Sonja was too worried about her daughter to care about something that nobody could see anyway. When she removed the compress from Noele's forehead she could see the veins clearly: they were raised lines above the rest of the skin. Lines that hadn't been there yesterday!
"Ma....ma....," Noele said softly, her voice light.
"Sshhh," Sonja Agulera whispered, "Don't you worry." She replaced one compress with another, careful not to agitate the veins, and sang a short song.
"Tired," Noele said quietly.
Once Noele was asleep, Sonja assured herself, she'd have words with her husband.
ALVARADO HACIENDA
Tessa Alvarado stormed into the house letting the door slam shut behind her. What servants there were quickly scattered out of her way not wanting to face the anger of their mistress. Even Marta, Tessa's favorite, knew to bide her time.
Around the outer halls, down to the dining room and drawing room, down to the kitchen, and then back outside again.... where Marta was waiting. She could see Tessa's face and knew it to be calmer than when the young Dona had arrived home earlier. "Tessa," she asked, inviting the floodgates to open.
"I was just trying to help," Tessa said, justifying herself to Marta and her kind ear. "But no, the Doctor's too high and mighty to even talk about it with the Queen, and she - I - was there!" It was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable!
"Perhaps he felt uncomfortable with the Queen for that reason," Marta's calm mind suggested. "I think a woman would have a better luck, my Tessa."
"You think so," Tessa asked, coming to a stop, and regarding Marta - who nodded. "Well, it's worth a try."
TOWN
Tessa rode like the wind on a fresh horse, having already tired the other one severely. The town grew closer and closer and closer. Finally she was within it. Heading the other way out of town was a cluster of horses. Standing by the fountain at the town center was none other than Colonel Montoya himself watching the group go; he turned around quickly to greet Tessa.
"What was all that about," Tessa asked once pleasantries were out of the way. Judging by the amount of recent hoof tracks, there'd been a lot of moving around and talking from horseback.
"Don Agulera believes that Doctor Helm caused his daughter to fall deathly ill; 'whether from bewitching or from bad medicine' he says. He was threatening to have Helm detained on his hacienda pending the arrival of an Inquisitor from Spain." Montoya made a face, likely - Tessa thought - at having his town invaded by some highly powerful official from Spain itself. "And, as I understand, his family is well-connected enough to do just that."
Tessa asked, not bothering to hide her disbelief, "Doctor Helm, a witch?"
"Or something to that effect," Montoya shrugged.
"I notice you're rather calm about all this, Colonel," Tessa commented offhand.
"What do you expect me to do?" Montoya wanted to know. "I cannot send Grisham, for risk of him shooting Dr. Helm by accident." His tone revealed what he thought of the Captain and his 'accidents.'
ON THE TRAIL, bare minutes later
Tessa rode hard, but not enough to burn out the poor horse beneath her. There was no time for her to change her clothes. This was one rescue that the Queen of Swords could not attend.
She recognized this landscape beyond merely desert. Right over there was where Mr. Helm had virtually spat on her. "On the Queen," she corrected herself, but only a part of her believed that. Her destination now was the Agulera hacienda.
The Don's guards aimed their rifles at her, but shouldered them when the Don saw that it was only Tessa -- the daughter of a fellow Don. "Senorita Alvarado," Don Agulera said in greeting, then asked, "what business is so urgent that you felt compelled to ride all the way over here?"
Think fast, think think.... Tessa replied, "My Marta is ailing and I'd thought to get the doctor to find out what was wrong with her. I went to the town, but they told me that you'd brought him up here."
"He's not long for this world," the lady of the house replied, motioning to Helm on the sideline. "He and his evil ways will soon be gone from here. Then our daughter will be better."
"Don Agulera," the doctor said slowly, trying to remain calm, "I hate to be the one to break this to you, but the disease, whatever it is, is a result of your ranch animals."
"My daughter is a human being, a child of God...not some livestock."
Helm's face didn't change. He was resisting the urge to say 'I said the disease, not your daughter.' He tried again, "In England, we have something called Mad Cow Disease. It affects cattle and humans alike. Now I'm not saying that is Mad Cow Disease, but the principle is the same."
The Don started to make some comment about heathen Englishmen when Helm burst out - interrupting the Don - "Look, if you don't want me around your stock, fine. Just stop blaming me when it's you who's keeping me from getting to the bottom of this."
Tessa, Don Agulera, and Sonja Agulera blinked at the vehemence in his voice. "I'll go keep an eye on Noele," the Senora volunteered.
Don Agulera nodded to his wife and said, "Very well. You can check my cattle, but I go with you so I can be sure that you don't bewitch or infect the whole herd."
Tessa followed along, hoping that helping out at a time like this was a good idea after all.
AGULERA PROPERTY, ten minutes later
A flock of condors flew overhead, with buzzards on a lower thermal of air....and Helm had finally started talking, his words inspired by the condition of the water troughs and feed bins that sat out, "The ancient Greeks lived in an age where filth and refuse was believed to spawn rats and other pests. They were missing a few steps -- like insects that the rats fed on in the first place -- but they had the right idea."
They crested the hill, and Helm swore softly. "And they'd probably see a hydra born here."
"They were not like this last I saw them," the Don said, his astonished face revealing the truth to his words. The sight before them was horrifying: a few cattle and buzzards lying on the ground, their features skeletal; their eyes were open and glazed.
"Doctor," Tessa asked.
"Do we burn it all," Don Agulera asked, unable to take his eyes off of the sight.
"No," Helm replied. Feeling two pairs of human eyes on him, he explained, "We don't know if what caused this is airborne, in which case, we'd be spreading it even further."
"If it were," Tessa asked, "why are those cows able to be so close?" She pointed at the rest of the herd grazing only a few feet away from the dying ones who lay sprawled helpless.
The cattle were doing an unusual thing for cattle: they were not swishing their tails at the numerous flies that swooped and buzzed around them. Insects, insects everywhere. Not just the gnats and midges that loved to fly near one's eyes to feed on the tears and salt, but also other things.....like mosquitos. One such insect landed on Tessa's arm, and pierced the skin so that it could suck her blood. Tessa raised her other hand to slap it.
Helm grabbed her wrist. Alvarado and Agulera said almost at the same time, "Doctor, what are you doing?"
"Look," Helm said, "the cows aren't sick because of what they're not doing: they aren't hitting any insects, no matter how annoying they get. How much would you be willing to bet that everyone who's sick slapped a mosquito like that," turning his eyes to the bug that pulled its mouth out of Tessa's arm and flew off.
"What could possibly be transmitted by a dead pest," the Don wanted to know.
"I don't know," Helm admitted. "Probably something unable to fly on its own, yet too big to pass through the mouth of a bloodsucker."
"Then what am I supposed to do? These cattle are too great a risk to sell, this land here cannot be used for I cannot guess how long.....and what about my daughter? What about my Noele?" Helm was silent. "Answer me, doctor," Don Agulera ordered, gripping the Brit by the upper arms and shaking.
Helm carefully extracted himself from the Don's grip. "I honestly don't know. If we're lucky, the effect isn't as fatal in humans and will run its course." If I'm lucky, Helm thought to himself.
"Don Agulera," Tessa said, trying to change the conversation back to something at least moderately productive, "If I buy your cattle that graze this pasture, would that satisfy you?"
The Don looked to Tessa, his face showing that he was trying to think of what Tessa could possibly want with land that had been ruined. Tessa Alvarado simply returned his gaze.
He relented. "Very well," he said. "It's yours...and I won't charge the full price on the cattle." If word got out that he did, and what was wrong with them -- why, he'd probably be stripped of his rank...if not worse.
TOWN
The stagecoach drew to a stop and released its passengers. One man in his late forties was there for business. One mother, along with her daughter, greeted her husband that they hadn't seen for over a year. One woman came alone, a brown-haired woman who bordered plain and beauty, with greenish-brown eyes.
Captain Grisham and another of his men were assisting those exiting the coach because they'd lost a bet. "Captain...it is captain, yes," the brown-haired woman asked, and saw Grisham's nod. "Captain, I was wondering if you could do me a small favor. I have come all this way, and am looking for someone."
She motioned for him to approach, which he did. She whispered in his ear for several seconds, then pulled back. "...then I'd be most appreciative," and placed a thumb-sized chunk of gold into Grisham's hand, closing his fingers around it. "Thank you, kind sir," stepping away while giving a mild curtsey.
Next stop, a place to sleep. 'The American' had arrived.
AGULERA HACIENDA
When Don Agulera, Tessa and Helm was within sight of the hacienda, a lone figure ran out to greet them, Sonja Agulera. "Noele," the Don gravely asked, seeing the look on his wife's face.
"Dead," Sonja sobbed. Then her grief transformed to rage, and focused on the doctor. "You left her alone," Senora Agulera yelled at him, "and -"
"Me," Helm asked incredulous. "You were the one who told me not to get near her."
"You're a doctor," Don Agulera said at Helm, his deep voice a lashing in itself. "How could you let this happen??" He pulled out one of his guns, aiming it at Helm.
"I didn't do anything," Helm said, his voice strained, like he was on the border of snapping at the older man. "Try dealing with your ranch better and perhaps you won't have plagues rising up!"
"You still have three other children, Don Agulera," Helm said flatly. "Finish it now, or they might be next."
"You threaten our children," Sonja accused. Her husband cocked the gun.
Helm leaned towards Agulera. "Do what you want. I'm leaving," and turned about-face, walking away, his back an easy target for the Don. A bullet shot into the ground beside the doctor's foot, but Helm just kept on walking without missing a step.
There was another crack of gunpowder, Agulera fired a metal slug that skipped under Helm's other foot, and darted on ahead of him. Still, Helm ignored it.
Don Agulera lowered his gun. "I'll get the ranch hands to start digging right away." How to keep them from slapping the bugs would be a problem he'd deal with. "Thank you for what help you gave," he said to Tessa, who curtsied politely before heading back to her horse. She needed a bath more than anything - or so was her opinion.
NEXT DAY
"Are you sure this is necessary," Senorita Alvarado asked.
"After the debacle yesterday, I'm not taking any chances," Helm answered. "Now, have you had any fevers, sweating, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, anything out of the ordinary?"
"No, and I really think, doctor--," Tessa started to say.
"Fine, fine, whatever," Helm replied briskly. "Have a seat." Tessa did so. "Now hold still." Why those words instilled fear into Tessa's heart, she didn't know. What she did know was that her heart was starting to pound harder.
Doctor Helm was at that time carefully lowering his head to listen to Senorita Alvarado's heartbeats. His mind counted out the seconds to itself, and did its dammdest to ignore the inviting softness of the Senorita's bosom. She was a patient!
Tessa held herself still by a combination of will and surprise. Had the clinic been burning down, she might not have been able to escape. Seconds passed, until it felt like hours, though likely had been only a minute or two.
"Butterflies," Helm said, drawing his head away quicker than he'd put it down.
"Butterflies," Tessa asked. "I don't eat that much salad, doctor," she said, unsure if she should be indignant.
Helm nodded, "Butterflies in the stomach. Otherwise known as nervousness. Now, good day, Senorita. Be sure to have Marta come over for a check-up....and please tell my next patient that its their turn now."
Tessa nodded and started to leave the room, when Dr. Helm called to her. "Senorita."
"Yes," she answered, turning around.
"Nunca llueve, pero vierte."
Tessa nodded, not entirely sure she understood. She turned to leave once more, passing on the 'you're next' message on her way out of the building. She was trying to think about how to tell Marta that the older woman was supposed to be sick and tired, though she couldn't think of what.
Robert Helm didn't really see anything right then. "It never rains, but it pours. How true indeed."
THE END
Continued in SAME, NOT SAME