Ezra was warm.

His first sensation was warmth. Earlier, he'd felt absolutely nothing, so the return of warm was welcome – until it wasn't.

He was too warm.

He was in a bed, under a heavy layer of blankets. His hands were hot. He moved one slowly, finding something smooth beneath his fingers. It took several moments for his waking mind to realize it was a rock – a warm rock.

He was too warm – so he pushed it away, out from under the covers. He heard it land on wood planking with a thunk.

"Ezra?"

There was one under his other hand. He pushed it out – off the other side of the bed. Thunk.

"Ezra!"

More stones pressed against his side. Why were there rocks in his bed?

He started work on the right side first – shoving away the stones that were keeping him too warm for comfort. He liked a warm bed, but this was ridiculous. He was going to start sweating soon.

Thunk and thunk and …

"Stop that!" A hand came down, trapping his arm under the covers. "They're for your own good, Ezra."

His left arm was still free and he managed to shove two more rocks away before hands came down on his other arm.

"Knock it off, Ezra."

"Trying to…" he managed to say, his voice rough and sore.

Someone chuckled and he looked up to find Nathan and Josiah staring down at him, both of them holding him in place. He was in the clinic. There were walls and a ceiling surrounding them. It was warm and cheery and close. He gazed about in wonder.

"Welcome back," Nathan said, looking relieved.

"Thank the Lord," Josiah proclaimed, pleased as punch.

Neither of them made a move to release him. They just stared down at him as if he was a sight to behold.

"Leggo," Ezra said intelligently, trying to move his arms out from under them. They had him pinned.

"Only if you promise to stop pushing out the bed-warmers. We've been putting a lot of work into rotating them out for you," Josiah told him.

"Too warm," Ezra responded. He was a surprised at the reaction he received. They both laughed.

"Best news I've heard," Josiah said with a toothy grin.

"Ezra, I've never been happier to hear you complain," Nathan said, releasing his hold with a suspicious look. "Are you going to be good?"

"Can't promise," Ezra responded.

Josiah snorted, and said, "I suppose that's the best we can expect." He paused a moment and then asked, "Do you remember what happened?"

"I fell through the ice," Ezra told them.

"It was foolish, Ezra," Josiah chastised immediately, his voice stern. "Do you know how close you came to dying? And for what? Pure foolishness and empty-headedness."

"Now, now, Josiah," Nathan softly stated. "Where would you be if he wasn't so foolish?"

Josiah gave Nathan a sharp look. "He could've gone about it another way. You can't deny that!"

"True," Nathan said, philosophically, but the smile returned as he gave Ezra a pat. "Just glad you're back."

"I wasn't doing anything!" Ezra insisted, watching Josiah, seeing his unsettled expression. "I was just… trying to return, but I was too far out. I don't know how I got there. The snow was too thick, the saloon was full of it, Vin's wagon was crushed, the church was frozen and the clinic was gone - or mostly gone and…" he paused, frowning at his explanation.

Both Nathan and Josiah looked confused, but not totally surprised. Nathan moved away from the bed, to the stove, to stir a pot. "You must be hungry," he said. "I have some hot turkey soup. If you're feeling better you can have some leftovers."

"Leftovers?" Ezra echoed. "Thanksgiving?" He remembered it now. It had been Thanksgiving morning.

"You missed the feast," Nathan said. He looked toward Ezra and added, "We all kinda missed it. The ladies were kind enough to save enough for us."

Josiah, Ezra realized, hadn't released his arm yet. Ezra stared at the grip, and Josiah finally let go, looking almost reluctant to do so. "You could have died," he said again. He looked so upset, and Ezra wasn't sure if the big man was angry or sad.

The door to the clinic opened. Ezra was glad for the distraction as Vin looked in. He carried turkey leg in one hand. Tanner's expression was anxious for a moment, until their eyes met, and he smiled.

"I see he finally woke up," Vin said. His smile didn't dip as he came around the bed. He sat on one corner and lightly rapped Ezra on the head. "He come to senses?" he asked the others as he took a bite from the leg.

"Not quite," Josiah conceded. "I don't think he remembers what happened."

Ezra shook his head. "I remember parts, but none of it makes sense."

"You ran out on the lake," Nathan told him. "JD said you were trying to cut off those banditos…"

"Banditos?" Ezra echoed.

"They were trying to rob the stage," Vin told him. "They didn't get far. They took off and we got 'em surrounded out by Palmer's Pond. Wasn't hard to track 'em with the snow on the ground."

"Yes," Ezra said. "So much snow, you could hardly move through it."

Vin gave him a strange look. "Weren't but an inch," he said, then continued, "They split up so we had do the same, to get around them." He lifted his gaze to Josiah. "A couple of them got in-between us and Josiah. The preacher man didn't know he'd been cut off. Didn't see them stealin' up on him. He wasn't gonna have any easy cover once they got over that rise."

Ezra frowned as he tried to get his mind to work. None of this sounded familiar.

Vin took another bite from the turkey leg. "Good eatin'," he said, dangling the leg in front of Ezra's eyes to annoy him.

Nathan spoke as he pulled a bowl from his cupboard, "You ran across the pond to get to them before they overtook him. The cold had frozen the surface. Not enough." And he gave Ezra a hard look.

"You should've known better," Josiah grumbled, sitting forward in his chair, looking menacing. "You should've known the ice wouldn't hold! What were you thinking?"

Vin shook his head. "He's from one of them hot states, Josiah. I've had experience in such things, but he don't know nothin' about snow and ice."

"I've seen enough," Ezra said quietly. "I've had experience."

"You got a ways out on the pond and fell right through," Vin explained. "One second you were there, and the next you'd plumb dropped away. Caused a commotion. The bad guys got distracted and never got to where Josiah was, so I guess you saved his bacon. You did it tryin' to keep him safe."

"He almost drowned," Josiah said morosely. "Just about froze to death."

Ezra listened, remembering the snapping of ice beneath his feet – there was so much ice. Finally, he said, "That doesn't sound much like me."

Nathan snorted.

"JD and I crawled out after you," Vin said. "We were smart enough to know we couldn't walk. I had to lay out on my belly while JD held my feet. Had a hard time reaching you."

Vin's voice was low, his head lowered. "I just couldn't grab hold of you for a while. I kept tryin' but you drifted too far under the ice. Once I was able to catch ya, I couldn't get you out fast enough. I was too slow."

Ezra watched Vin carefully, "But you got me out?"

"You weren't movin' a'tall until I tried to get you above water. You came around for a bit, gaspin' for air and all. I was afraid you were just gonna smash out the ice around us, but then you stopped movin' altogether."

Vin wouldn't look at him. "JD was able to drag us out most of the way. Nathan managed the rest. The rest had to deal with those outlaws."

"You were as white a snow," Josiah said softly. "Hardly breathing and cold as ice."

"I thought you were dead," Vin said, and gave him a thump on the shoulder with his free hand. "Thought I was pulling a body out to bury. It'd be a hell of a thing to do during this cold snap, on Thanksgiving no less. Would probably need to dynamite the ground."

Ezra looked at Tanner. Vin's voice had taken an easy going tone, but there was a haunted and disturbed expression. When Ezra looked to Josiah, he saw a terrible grief and he had to look away.

"You didn't look good, Ezra," Nathan said, his own expression morose. "I didn't know if I could do anything to save you."

Everyone was silent for a moment, before Nathan continued the story. "There wasn't much I could do out there with no fire. It'd take a while to start one. You were soaked through and Vin wasn't much better. We were close enough to town so we got you on a horse with Josiah. We went like hell to get you to the clinic."

"You were so cold," Josiah said, his voice a whisper. "Dear God, you were so cold. All I wanted to do was to get you back to town where we could warm you up. Nothing I could do would wake you."

The hurt in Josiah's eyes was too much, so Ezra watched Nathan, who was still stirring the soup, bowl in hand.

"You just couldn't hold any heat," Nathan said. "No matter what I did, you were just getting colder all along." The healer's gaze remained on the soup pot. "Your breathing started to get bad. I was afraid we were losing you." He paused a moment as he poked at the pot. "I've heard folk say it's a bad idea, but it was the last choice I had. We got a tub of hot water up here and tried plunging you in."

"Apparently, it helped," Ezra said.

"Might've stopped your heart," Nathan said. "I was afraid it was the wrong choice. I was mighty afraid I was killing you."

Vin smacked Ezra again on the shoulder.

"Would you stop that?" Ezra finally snapped.

"That's for gettin' everyone upset!" Vin said. He flicked at his ear next. "Just making sure you're not numb still," he explained as Ezra tried to flinch away. "Doesn't change the fact that you're still a numbskull."

Nathan smiled as he finally dipped a ladle into the pot and drew out a spoon of soup. "It worked," he said as he filled the bowl. "You finally started warming up after that. Your breathing got better."

"Thank the Lord," Josiah added.

Ezra pulled his hands out from under the overly warm blankets. He took a moment to examine them. "No frostbite?" he asked.

"Looks like you'll be okay," Nathan said, handing him the bowl.

"My hands are my bread and butter," Ezra reminded them as he cupped the bowl in one hand.

Josiah stood with a groan, as if he had been sitting in that position for a long time. He moved and stared out at the town.

Outside, the sky was blue. The buildings stood as they had before – not the slightest sign of snow. "It melted," Josiah said quietly. "I didn't realize it was gone."

"Sun came out," Vin said. "Snow never lasts. Not here at least." He went back to chewing on his turkey leg.

"I'm glad of that," Nathan added, handing Ezra a spoon. "Now, leave him alone. He needs to eat his Thanksgiving dinner."

Josiah said, "There's plenty to be thankful for this year."

Ezra smiled a thanks as he took the spoon. "But, there will be pie?" he asked.

Nathan nodded. "Of course," he said. "There's always pie." And he smiled warmly.

And Ezra grinned widely as he started his turkey leftover soup, and Vin leaned next to him, gnawing away. Josiah returned to his seat, smiling fondly as Nathan continued to absently stir at the soup.

THE END