Chapter 13: Retribution

Ben entered the room followed closely by an officious looking man in a suit. Ben looked angry. The man in the suit looked smug.

"Seth, I need your paperwork again," Ben spat as he stomped into the room. "This pinhead wants to play games. We have to play his games, but I'll get a lawyer and sue his ass and the hospital. Do you have..." He stopped abruptly as the crowd around Udit's bed registered with him.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"There's no need for name calling," the man in the suit complained with a smile.

"What are the pinheads trying to do now?" Seth asked as the family moved back from the bed.

"They want him out of this room and back on the ward," Ben replied distractedly. Udit was smiling at him. He jumped when Udit winked.

"Well, that's not going to happen," Seth replied angrily.

"Get me a drink of water, then get me out of here," Udit ordered, his voice still husky.

Seth hesitated before realizing what Udit was doing. They couldn't afford for the hospital to examine Udit again. He smiled inwardly before growling and saying, "Good idea, Udit. We'll take you someplace with quality care, that isn't controlled by pencil pushers. Then we'll file the lawsuit!"

"Now, now," the man in the suit said, still smiling. "Mr. Udit hasn't been released so he can't leave. And, if you want to bring lawyers into this, be my guest. This hospital operates within the law, and every regulation is approved by the state medical board."

Seth smiled. It was an evil smile. "I don't care if you follow every rule and regulation ever devised. Rules and regulations don't matter to a jury. They're allowed to use their best judgment. I'll bet my lawyer can sway their judgment better than yours can," he said with an evil sounding chuckle. "As for him leaving without being medically discharged?" Seth continued with a shrug. "He isn't a prisoner here. If he wishes to leave, he can so it under his own power, or with the help of friends. You don't have the authority to stop him." He smiled again, showing more teeth as he added, "If you try to stop him, it will simply add to the lawsuit."

Liz handed Udit the glass of water. He took it with the hand that didn't have IVs plugged into the back of it.

"He's right," Ben said smiling. "You know he's right. Now, you can get a nurse in here to unplug him from the machines, and IV, or one of the three RNs here can do it. We'll need to use a gurney to get him to the truck, since he can't walk."

"Are you going to make me ride in the back again?" Udit complained plaintively.

Sean and Megan couldn't resist snickering at Udit hamming it up.

"I'll send a nurse in," the pin head mumbled as he backed out of the room. "I'll ask her to bring a gurney, too."

Seth sighed in relief, as the door closed and turned back to Udit.

"Are you sure that you're well enough to get out of here," Seth asked. "I don't want to move you if you might be hurt worse."

"Sean said I'm healed. I just need to stay off my feet until tomorrow," Udit said, shrugging. "That's good enough for me."

Udit looked around the room and breathed a silent prayer of thanks when he saw Ava. David's and Brennan's absence from the group concerned him.

"Are David and Brennan okay?" Udit asked.

Ava broke down, again, the tears streaming down her face.

"David was killed," Seth said grimly. "Ava said that Brennan went after whoever did this."

Udit nodded and quietly said, "David said 'Brujo, ' and then he said 'Eli'. That's the last thing I remember." He took a deep breath and let out a long, shuddering sigh. "I'll have to tell his parents," he continued sadly.

"Cory," Sean said to get the Wizard's attention. "Can Brennan find who did this?"

Cory nodded curtly and said, "He can and will. Brennan is good and can be very dangerous."

"Eli is very dangerous," Sean pointed out drily. "He has killed my parents, and Ava's father and husband. Ava's dad was a Wizard. That is just four of the hundreds of deaths that he's responsible for. How about if Brennan finds Eli in his little jaunt? Can he survive that?"

Cory hesitated before reluctantly nodding and saying, "I think so. I'm pretty sure he can. He has taken on Warlocks alone before, and won. Once, I was nearly killed before Brennan arrived. I was down and helpless. Brennan killed the Warlock and saved me. Like I said, he can be very dangerous."

"You have a sense of Laoshin's capabilities," Lian said in support of Cory's assertion. "A person that is a, um, a Wizard's second must be very ... capable. A second's purpose is not to take notes in meetings or hold our coats. A second must be highly skilled to survive the dangers."

Cory nodded in agreement and added, "Brennan has survived many years."

"Let's hope he does," Sean said grimly. "I've got a feeling that we'll need him."

Two nurses entered then and all sensitive conversation ended. The 'family' talk degenerated into Udit complaining about making the old Indian ride in the back of the pickup. The nurses were horrified, and concerned for Udit's safety.

"It isn't safe riding in the back of a pickup," one nurse pointed out angrily.

"But what can we do?" BB asked with a straight face and a put upon tone of voice. "Everyone knows Indians smell bad. Maybe when we get him to take a bath more than a couple of times a month we can make an exception for him and let him ride in the cab."

BB was obviously Native American himself, so his lament was received with shocked glares from the nurses.

The conversation didn't get serious again until the nurses finished disconnecting Udit and left to get the discharge papers.

"Tell me about David," Udit asked, ordered grimly.

Ava took a deep breath in an effort to control herself before answering. "David pushed you in one direction and me the other after he yelled. Neither of us would have cleared the car. You fell and the car broke your legs and banged your head pretty hard. I started to fall but, Brennan grabbed me by the waist..." Ava shook her head as she relived the experience in her mind. "I don't know how he did it, but, he did some kind of flip with me and we cleared the car." She took another deep breath before saying, "David was hit by the center of the car. He died within moments, and I think it was a blessing. Udit, David was busted up pretty bad. I don't think even Sean could have helped him if Sean had been there," she said and started crying again.

Udit took her hand and gently said, "Remember his smile and his laughter, Avasa. What you remember at the end was not David. It was the pain and horror the Brujos bring to our lives. Use those memories as a reason to keep fighting, but, when you remember David, remember his smile."

Ava nodded in acceptance, as she continued to sob silently.

Udit nodded and put a hand on hers before looking at Sean and Megan.

"So, did you have too many problems healing me?" Udit asked with arched eyebrows. His tone said his young charges were barely up to the simplest of tasks.

"Only when we tried to fix your head," Sean replied glibly.

"Yeah," Megan chimed in sadly. "I don't think there's any hope for your head. It just doesn't seem to work right, and there's nothing we can do about it."

Cory and Lian looked at each other in shock.

Udit noticed and curiously asked, "I take it, that, you were aware of my injuries. Why did you let the kids take care of me?"

"We, um, we did work on you, initially. We fixed the internal bleeding and some of the head trauma," Cory said. His voice was slightly defensive. He realized it and shook himself. He had no reason to be defensive. "Lian healed one leg but didn't have the strength to heal the other one."

"I didn't have the strength to completely heal the first leg. I didn't have the skill to heal the other leg," Lian corrected with a grim smile. "I believe that you went as far as your skill would take you in dealing with the head wound, too."

Cory nodded with a small, sheepish smile. "What she said," Cory said tilting his head toward Lian. "You were banged up pretty bad. The wee lad and lass performed a miracle, and I hope they'll agree to talk about it, later. I wouldn't mind learning a thing or two about how they did it."