Warning: Rated PG – strong language and violence

Sean grabbed Jax’s hand. "Good to see you, Jax. From the message I got from Blue, I didn’t know if I was coming to see a live man or a dead one." His face sobered. "You’re in a heap of trouble, my friend."

"Tell me something I didn’t already know," Jax sighed. As Brenda came to stand by the couch, Jax looked up at her. "I wouldn’t have made it this long if it wasn’t for this woman. Sean, may I present Miss Brenda Barrett." He looked back at Brenda as Sean extended his hand. "Brenda, this is the head of the WSB, Sean Donnelly."

Sean’s face blanched for a minute. "Barrett? Brenda Barrett?" He looked down at Jax and then crouched down to speak to him confidentially. "Jax, do you know who she is?"

Jax nodded with a tremendous effort, but then smiled. "Yes, Sean, I already know she’s the godfather’s main squeeze." He tried to look back at Brenda, and then at Sean again seriously. "Sean, she’s OK. I’ve been here for a couple of days. She’s beginning to understand what Corinthos is. I don’t think she would have risked her life to get me out of that ravine if she wasn’t on our side."

Brenda, meanwhile, was looking from one man to the other in shock. When they paused, she seized the opportunity. "Well, now that we’ve discussed my love life thoroughly…" Her voice raised several decibels. "CAN WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE BULLET IN THIS MAN’S SHOULDER?" she cried.

Sean smirked at Jax. "Doesn’t exactly beat around the bush, does she Jax?"

"You have NO idea, Sean," he replied, "although I have to admit this bullet is making my life a little uncomfortable right now."

Sean nodded and took off his coat. He peeled back the side of Jax’s shirt gingerly. Jax winced. Brenda peeked over Jax’s shoulder. "I don’t think the bullet’s very far down, but I didn’t think I could dig it out by myself." She looked seriously at Sean. "He’s been bleeding a lot – at least I think he has."

"She’s right, the bullet’s not far in," Sean said to Jax, "but it’s still gonna make a pretty big mess when I take it out." He closed the shirt and looked at Jax seriously. "And it’s gonna hurt like hell."

Jax closed his eyes slowly and opened them again. "Gee, Sean, don’t sugar-coat it for me. I can take it straight." He winced and then sighed. "Let’s get it over with."

Sean looked at Brenda. "I doubt that you want to get blood all over this lovely ecru silk couch. Can we take him to a bedroom or something where he can get his feet up?"

She nodded. "Do you think you can get him upstairs to my bedroom? I think that would probably be the best since the guest bed is only a single and not too comfortable." Then she smiled at Jax triumphantly. "And at least Mr. Donnelly recognizes a tasteful décor when he sees one."

Sean stooped down to Jax. "Come on, put your right arm around my shoulder. Let’s get you up those stairs before you pass out and I have to carry your ugly butt." Jax nodded and Sean leaned over him so that Jax could reach his right arm around his shoulder. He helped Jax to a standing position, but the effort made Jax’s face pale again and he sucked in his breath at the pain. Sean put his right hand on Jax’s chest in question, but Jax nodded and they began making their way to the stairs.

Sean looked at Brenda as an afterthought. "Do you have any liquor? It might dull the pain for him if he gets a buzz going before I start digging in his shoulder." Brenda nodded. "Oh, and boil some water. I’ll need to sterilize a knife and tweezers."

At that comment, Jax stopped in his tracks and he made a mock face of terror. "Oh, God. I’m going to die now, I’m sure. If my survival depends on HER boiling water…" He waited a beat and then smiled at Brenda.

Brenda huffed. "Well, luckily for you, pig, I know how to do that in the microwave, too!" She stomped off into the kitchen in search of liquor.

Jax leaned on Sean and they slowly moved towards the stairs. He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure that Brenda was in the kitchen. "Sean, you were lying about the furniture, right?"

Sean stopped for a minute and looked back at the living room. "Can’t stand it. It was making me nauseous." He felt Jax smile. "But you see, young man, THAT is the sign of an older, wiser agent. NEVER insult the furniture of a woman who’s saving your life."

Jax nodded seriously. "Gotcha."

#####

Sean helped him upstairs to Brenda’s bedroom, and Jax was perspiring heavily by the time they got there. They walked in and Sean stopped for a moment so Jax could catch his breath. Sean looked around at the room.

"Tutti-frutti, isn’t it?" Jax muttered. "Can you imagine the kingpin of the New York mafia in here?"

Sean shook his head, and then continued to look around, finally seeing the broken closet door. It was still hanging on its hinges at a crooked angle. "Your work?"

Jax nodded. "It’s a long story. Can I lay down now?"

Sean helped him move to the bed. "I have to hand it to you, Jax. You always had just the right touch – such a light-handed approach with women."

Jax muttered an epithet to Sean about what he could do with his opinion, but at that moment, Brenda walked back into the room. She carried a bottle of clear liquid and a water glass.

"The water’s boiling," she said quietly. "How’s he doin’?"

"Well, I got him this far," Sean said in satisfaction as Jax gave a long sigh when he finally relaxed on the bed. "Now comes the fun part." He pointed to the bottle. "Is that his pain-killer?"

Brenda held it out and Sean started to pour a large glassful of the clear liquid. "It’s the best I could do."

Sean sat down on the bed and gave Jax the glass. "Come on, Jax. Drink up. With any luck, after a few glasses of this you’ll pass out and won’t feel most of what I’ve got to do."

Jax nodded and took the glass in his right hand. He put it to his lips and took a long drink, but then sat up quickly and choked hard on it. Sean took the glass away from him as Jax almost dropped it. Jax’s eyes were tearing and he was still coughing, but finally he got his breath back. "BLOODY HELL! I THOUGHT THAT WAS VODKA! WHAT IS THAT STUFF?"

Sean looked in the glass and then put it to his nose to take a whiff. Brenda stood with her hands on her hips, puzzled at Jax’s reaction. Sean made a face when he smelled it. "Uhh…what is this, Miss Barrett?"

Now she began to wring her hands and stare at the floor. "Well…." Then she looked back at Jax accusingly. "I told you that first day that Sonny didn’t like beer. He likes wine."

Jax was furious. "Well, it sure as hell isn’t chablis! What is it?"

Brenda wrung her hands again. "It’s all I had," she said in a small voice. "Peppermint shnapps."

Sean stifled a laugh in his hand. Jax’s face got even paler. "PEPPERMINT SHNAPPS! I’m supposed to dull the pain of having a bullet dug out of me with Peppermint Shnapps! A d*mn girlie drink?!"

Brenda’s feminist sensibilities boiled to the surface again. "It is NOT a girlie drink! Sonny happens to like it, too!"

Jax looked in disgust at Sean. "I rest my case." Sean had to stand and walk to the window to cover his laughter.

Brenda looked at them both as if they came from another planet. "It’s a perfectly acceptable drink. Lots of people like it." Sean turned back to her, still smiling a little. Jax still lay on the bed shaking his head and clearing his throat. "And it’s great for cramps," Brenda continued softly.

Jax threw his right hand up in the air. "Welll…that changes everything! Next time I have cramps, I’ll know EXACTLY what to do!" Sean covered his mouth with his hand again, but then walked back to the bed.

"Sorry about this, Jax, but I’m afraid you’ll have to drink it. We have to do something to dull the pain. And if I remember correctly from college, it works in a hurry." Jax looked up at him in disbelief. "So…drink up."

"You’ve gotta be…" Jax was about to argue, but Sean gave him a look that silenced his objections. He handed the glass back to Jax after filling it again, and Jax made a face as he downed some more of the liquid.

Sean walked over to where Brenda stood as Jax muttered to himself and drank. He motioned to the broken closet door. "I take it my friend hasn’t always been the best house guest?"

Brenda looked at it and smiled a little. "We’ve had our moments." She got a serious look. "But he’s been nothing but a gentleman. He told me he’s being framed." She looked back at Jax, who was still nursing the shnapps and muttering. "I believe him," she said.

Sean pulled her aside a little. "You have to understand something, Miss Barrett. Before, you could tell the authorities that you were held here against your will. He forced himself on you as a guest. But now that’s all changed. I’ll be eternally grateful to you for saving his life, but this brings a whole lot of legal complications for you."

She nodded slowly as Sean continued. "If the authorities find him here, you’ll be charged for harboring a fugitive." He turned her to look into his eyes. "Are you sure you want me to go ahead and start taking out the bullet? Would you rather I tried to get him away from here in my car?"

She shook her head. "I’ve been harboring this fugitive for more than just a few hours." She took a deep breath. "Go ahead and take out the bullet. I can keep him here. What do you need me to do?"

Sean looked at her closely before he continued. As he took a breath, they heard Jax start muttering and they both turned to face him. "Bloody rotten stuff. It’ll probably give me a whole complex about Christmas. Probably break into hives just at the sight of a reindeer."

Brenda stifled a giggle. "I think it’s starting to work."

Sean smiled slowly and nodded. "OK, I’ll need you to get some clean towels to put under his shoulder, and some bottled water to use to cleanse out the wound. I’ve got a knife we can use." He dug in his pocket and pulled out a worn Swiss Army knife. "I wish I didn’t have to think about all the bullets I’ve used that knife on," he said to himself. "Do you think you have a tweezers I can use?"

She moved to her vanity, and returned with several pair. "A model without a set of tweezers? Are you kidding?"

Sean picked out two pair and gave them to her. "Drop these in the boiling water, too. The bullet looks small enough that these might work. And you’d better bring your first aid kit if you have one. I’ll need some gauze and tape to bandage it when I’m done." As she turned to leave the room, he caught her by the arm. "Oh, and we’ll need some extra single sheets and some small strips of cloth."

Sean walked over to refill Jax’s glass as Jax glared at him. Sean made a motion for him to drink up, and then returned to Brenda. She looked confused. "You mean to change the sheets after you’re done? Or if you’re going to use them to bandage him…. But I thought you needed gauze for that?"

Sean pulled her closer as they watched Jax take a long drink of the liquor. "Even though he’s getting sloshed to the gills, this is still going to hurt like hell," Sean said bitterly. "He’ll feel every poke and prod with the knife. He’s likely to fight us, and Jax is a strong man." Sean sighed. "We’ll need the sheet to tie him to the bed and some strips to tie his hands and feet." He went to the window briefly and then returned to her. "And although it looks like you’re pretty far removed from any activity, we might want to gag him. Noise like he’s going to make carries quickly in a remote place like this."

Brenda shuddered at the thought of the pain he would be going through. She nodded as tears gathered in her eyes, and then left the room.

Sean went back to Jax on the bed. His eyes were beginning to get glassy. "How are ‘ya doin’?" Sean asked him quietly.

Jax raised his eyes to him. "A hell of a lot better than I would be if she hadn’t found me," he said slowly. "The cops shot out the front tire on the motorcycle I had been using and I went down into this ravine. They must have hit the gas tank on the bike, too. It was leaking gas when she found me. She managed to get me into the woods about 30 seconds before it blew to kingdom come." Jax shook his head in amazement and stared at the door of the bedroom, expecting her to come back through it. "I don’t know how she ever found me."

"Blue said she had a lot of spirit," Sean replied. "And Blue’s not too complimentary to too many of your women, you know."

"That’s just because she’s jealous," Jax smirked. He raised his glass in an imaginary toast. "Blue’s a woman of extraordinary taste…." He looked at Sean wickedly, licked his lips deliberately, and took a long drink of shnapps. He smiled again. "…in men," he finally added.

Sean smiled back at him and just shook his head. As they were enjoying the private joke, Brenda re-entered the room, carrying an armload of clean towels and sheets.

"Good," Sean said, happy for the change in conversation. "Bring one of those clean towels here and let’s put it under his shoulder." Brenda nodded and brought a fluffy white towel. She folded it in half and then in half again, and came around to put it under Jax’s shoulder.

Sean had handed Jax another glass of the liquor. "Whew…you’re beginning to smell like a distillery," she said to him, wrinkling her nose.

"A d*mn distillery in the d*mn North Pole," he said in disgust, and then yelped in pain as Sean lifted his shoulder to put the towel underneath.

Sean looked at Brenda as Jax hovered in consciousness. "Obviously we’re not there yet, but we’re getting closer," he said quietly. "Here – let’s go ahead and tie one sheet across his waist and one across his ankles. I don’t think he’ll know what we’re doing." Brenda went around to the other side of the bed and as Sean snapped open the sheet, she caught it and tied the end to the bedframe on her side. After she finished, Sean tied his end tightly to the opposite bedframe. They did the same thing at his ankles.

Sean went to sit beside Jax again and Brenda came to stand there. "I’ll need to get a few more rags," she said, and Sean nodded.

"I don’t think we’d better tie the left hand. He might jerk it and mess up what I’m doing on this side." He looked at Brenda somberly. "Do you get faint at the sight of blood?"

"I don’t think so."

"Good. Then I’ll want you to sit on this side and hold his shoulder and arm down when I start working." He looked at Jax, who was rolling his head from side to side on the pillow and muttering incoherently. Then he looked back at the bottle of shnapps, which was just about empty. "I think he’s had enough of that. Why don’t you go ahead and tie his right hand to the bedframe."

Brenda nodded seriously, looking at him and not wanting to think about the pain he would have to endure. She walked over to that side of the bed and took an old white sheet. She ripped it in one place where it was already torn, and was rewarded with a thin strip of cotton. Staring nervously at Jax, she took his right wrist and began wrapping it with the cotton strip.

{D*mn!} She had hoped he would pass out during this particular part of the evening’s festivities. But instead his crystal blue eyes popped open and he looked into hers. As she took his hand and began tying it to the bed, he got a sparkle in his eyes, and she wasn’t sure if it was entirely alcohol-induced. She jumped at the sound of his voice. "Why…hellcat…I never knew you cared!" he said lewdly.

Sean heard the exchange and let out a sigh. "Awww..geez…."

Brenda sputtered when she realized the meaning of his remark and blushed profusely. "You….you….filthy, disgusting pig!" she spat, and once she had finished the job of tying his wrist, she stomped out of the room for more rags.

Jax chuckled to himself and Sean looked from Jax to Brenda in confusion. "Pig? Hellcat?"

Jax nodded and closed his eyes and spoke. "Pet names. We’re close." He nodded for Sean to come closer. "She wants me."

Sean sat there. "I can tell," he said dryly.

Jax’s eyes drifted slowly shut again and he hovered on the edge of consciousness. Brenda came back and stood in the doorway, hesitating a moment. Sean heard her and turned around. "It’s safe. He’s out again. Come on in."

She walked to stand beside the side of the bed. "I think he’s just about ready," Sean said quietly. "I’m going to go downstairs and get the knife and tweezers and wash up. You go ahead and finish getting him ready while I’m gone." Brenda stared at Sean in confusion. He stood to leave and then prompted her when she wasn’t moving. "You can go ahead and gag him. Just tie a knot in the middle of that strip – he can bite on it when the pain gets too bad."

Brenda looked down at Jax as Sean left the room. She leaned down to gently brush back some hair that had fallen down on his forehead again. He looked like an innocent, sleeping little boy. She pulled her hand back quickly when his eyes popped open. He smiled a goofy smile at her, but then got somber. "This isn’t going to be a pretty sight, Brenda. Are you sure you want to stick around?"

She smiled warmly at him. "I’m afraid you’re stuck with me, Jax. If you think that after getting you out of that ravine and getting your heavy butt back here in my cottage I’m going to chicken out NOW, then you don’t know me very well."

His eyes suddenly began to glitter again and turned a dark shade of blue/green. "I don’t know you nearly as well as I’d like to, Brenda. But I know that you’ve got more spirit and guts and determination than any other woman I know." Brenda’s heart began to speed up at his compliments and suggestive tone. "I would have died out there if it wasn’t for you."

Sean chose that moment to re-enter the room. He looked at Brenda sitting on the bed and Jax speaking in a low voice to her. "Well, kids, let’s get this over with." He came to sit by Jax on the bed and spread a clean towel with the knife and tweezers wrapped in it on Jax’s lap. As he turned back to face Jax, he looked sharply at Brenda. "You didn’t finish getting him ready yet, Miss Barrett."

Brenda looked torn and was wringing the linen strip in her hands. "Sean," she whispered to him as an aside, "I don’t know if I can do this. He looks so helpless already."

Jax was so out of it at this point that he didn’t realize they were talking about him. He looked at Sean with large puppy-dog eyes. "She saved my life, you know, Sean." Sean nodded, and the shnapps began talking through Jax. "She came out of nowhere on that horse and used super-human strength to get me here. I’m so much bigger than her, you know." Brenda began to look at Jax quizzically, and realized that his lip was quivering. He looked between Sean and Brenda as he continued. "She’s my guardian angel, Sean. I don’t know what I would do without her."

Sean began to smile as he realized that the liquor had done its job. Brenda just had begun to understand when Jax threw his head back on the pillow and began to sing:

"Did you ever know that you’re my hero….

Brenda pulled back as Jax’s voice certainly would never cause Harry Connick, Jr. to lose any sleep with worry. As he began to launch into the second verse, Sean leaned over Jax’s body to Brenda. "Still think you can’t do it?"

Brenda looked at him with a straight face. "No problem at all." She took the strip and just as he hit the chorus, shoved it between his teeth. She took the two ends and tied them loosely behind his head, but he just passed out again and didn’t even seem to notice.

With that last detail accomplished, Brenda came around to Jax’s left side and sat gingerly at the head of the bed. She eased the towel and his wounded shoulder onto her lap, and reached down with her left hand to hold his left hand steady. She placed her right hand on Jax’s shoulder near his neck, and then nodded silently to Sean to begin.

First Sean used some of the bottled water to wash out the wound. Jax still appeared to be unconscious, although Brenda could see the muscles in his shoulder jerk when the water hit the wound. The minute Sean inserted the blade of the knife, though, Jax’s eyes flew open and his body bucked in pain. Brenda kept trying to keep her eyes on Jax, not wanting to see any more of the gore than she had to.

It was a good thing they had tied the sheets tightly across his lower body, because he fought them every time Sean probed the wound. Brenda saw beads of sweat break out on Jax’s forehead and she longed to comfort him, but she wanted to do her job so that the ordeal could be over for him soon. "I think I’ve almost got it," Sean said in a clipped tone. Brenda looked over to see him take a pair of the tweezers and she watched Jax relax for a moment. Keeping her eyes on Jax, she saw him jerk mightily one more time, and then after a loud sucking noise when the bullet came out, Jax’s eyes rolled back into his head.

Brenda’s tears were flowing heavily now. "Sean, is he OK? What happened?" She finally turned to look at Sean, who was holding up a tweezers with a bullet between the prongs. She glanced down at the wound, and saw it was bleeding again, but the swelling had gone down considerably with the removal of the offending bullet.

"He’ll be much better now that that’s out," Sean said grimly. He looked back over at Jax’s face. "He just passed out. Shame it didn’t happen before I got the bullet out." He looked at Brenda’s pale face. "Are you going to be OK? You’re not going to pass out on me too, are you?"

Brenda shook her head, and just continued to watch Jax’s chest rise and fall with even breaths. "What about stitching him up?"

"The bullet wasn’t that big," Sean said quietly as he worked. "I’m just going to try to butterfly the wound together since it’s not too large. It wasn’t very far in so I don’t think there’s a lot that needs to be stitched on the inside." He cleaned the wound once again and this time, Jax didn’t flinch. Then he carefully dressed it with clean gauze and taped the gauze in place.

When he finished, Brenda finally let go of Jax’s left hand. She used both of her hands to gently cradle his head in her lap and stroke his forehead. She saw Sean coming out of the bathroom after washing his hands, and she wiped away her own tears. "Can I take the thing out of his mouth and untie him now?"

Sean nodded. "You can take the gag out, but I wouldn’t untie all of the restraints if I were you. He’s still going to have a lot of pain tonight and might run a fever. He’ll probably thrash around a lot, and you don’t want him tearing open the wound."

Brenda was already removing the gag. She reached over and took the water bottle and poured a little of the water on the rag. Then she used it to mop his face gently. Sean’s voice interrupted her.

"Miss Barrett? I said, do you have anything you can give him for pain? Some Tylenol or something?"

She lifted his head off of her lap and stood shakily. Walking over to Sean, she stretched and put her hands on her hips. "I’ve got some Tylenol." Then she looked embarrassed. "And I’ve got some pills I use sometimes…" she blushed, "…for cramps. But they’ve got codeine in them."

Sean was putting his jacket back on. "Don’t give him anything with the codeine in it tonight. We don’t want to mix that with the alcohol." Jax was still breathing evenly and his color was returning. "You might want to give him some Tylenol if he starts running a fever, but he’ll probably sleep most of the night from the effects of the alcohol. You can give him the other pills tomorrow when the hangover’s worn off." Sean began walking out of the room, and then stopped and looked back at her. "But if I were you, I wouldn’t tell him what they were for," he said with a smile.

She gave Jax one last gaze and then turned to walk Sean back down the steps to her living room. "And tomorrow?" she said.

Sean took a deep breath. "I’ll send somebody by to check on him tomorrow. I would come myself, but I don’t want to draw attention to the fact that I’ve been here. I have a feeling I’m being watched as it is." His face got very long and serious. "This is a very sticky situation you’ve been drawn into, Miss Barrett."

She smiled and reached out her hand to Sean. "He’s worth it, Mr. Donnelly."

Sean smiled back at her firm grip. "Despite his singing performance, he IS very lucky to have you, Miss Barrett. Take care of him." He walked to her door and then turned back. "Call Blue at that number on the card if you have any problems. Do you still have the number?" Brenda nodded. "And you might want to try to clean him up a little if you can. He’s pretty dirty from that fall into the ravine, and we don’t want any of that dirt getting into the wound."

Brenda let Sean out after thanking him once more. She leaned her back against the front door. {What a difference 24 hours makes.} She slowly turned out the lights in the cottage and returned to her bedroom. As she stood in the doorway, he was still sleeping soundly. The gauze on the wound was still white, and she was relieved that apparently it had stopped bleeding.

She took a deep breath. {Yes…..he’s definitely worth it.}

To be continued….