Wow, yet again time surprises me. It's been 9 months since I've updated. Almost a whole year. Not good of me. Not good at all. I'm hoping to get back into some writing so I'm hoping the next update will be ready soon. I know this is a short chapter but there's only so much you can put into one section you know? Anywho, hope you enjoy it. Let me know with a REVIEW!

Trauma

Rich smiled as they came to the area Nancy had thrown her rider. "Told you I'd find her!" He marched to the area then frowned a bit. "We may have a bit of trouble men." He knelt next to the log Serena had landed upon. "She's hurt. Pretty bad if I had to guess."

Darien paled at the thought of Serena hurt and in the woods. Cold and alone… it was too much to bear. "What are you thinking Rich?" He resolved to ask.

"Well City, looks like Ole Nance threw her and she landed on this log here. Maybe her back, side, hip. Somethin akin to that. But, someone came along and plucked her up, carried her off in that direction." The frown hadn't lifted from Rich's face and Darien could tell there was more.

"What is it?" Ken pushed and stared at the log. He hoped Serena was okay. It would be horrible if not.

Rich stood and turned towards the men. "Well, little while back we crossed onto Kou's property. I'm pretty sure these are his tracks here. Men's size eleven boots." Rich eyed the men in front of him cautiously. He knew none of them would be happy about Seiya Kou handling Serena. He was a snake at best.

"Point me in the direction of the house." Darien fumed as coldly as any sociopath on earth. The hatred in him was palatable. Rich frowned a bit then looked at Ken and Sammy. Sammy seemed to be in agreement. The way he'd squared his shoulders and puffed up a bit it was clear he was ready to kick Seiya's ass as well.

"The tracks go that way." Rich pointed towards the house in question. The two men immediately faced that direction and began to march through the snow, determined to regain Serena no matter the cost.

Darien was afraid. Serena was hurt, possibly seriously hurt, that was a very real problem in his book. What would he do if she needed immediate help? He didn't bring his bag with him. He would send Sammy to get it he supposed. He certainly wasn't going to leave her, not for any reason. Oh how stupid he had been not to see the pattern of evidence she had been following. How could he have been so stupid as to let Serena's thoughts go unchecked for so long? It was a mistake he would not make again. That was certain.

They soon cleared the tree line and Darien glared at the house. It was large and imposing but he didn't care. From his current spot he could see Serena lying on the couch nervously looking at Seiya who was eating something. He felt his blood pressure rise just looking at Seiya. That slimy bastard was trying to brainwash Serena or something. He could just feel it.

With authority, he marched to the house and threw open the sliding glass door that lead to his destination. Sammy was close behind him as he marched to Serena and immediately raked his eyes over her. She didn't' look good. From the way her eyes were dilated he could tell she had a concussion, then there was the awkward way she was breathing and holding her hip.

He could hear a commotion between Seiya and Sammy but blocked it out. All he could concentrate on right now was the blonde woman that he loved so dearly.

"I'm going to move you around just a little okay?" He asked then began to feel her body. He moved her arms, and her neck. She had a bad sprang, possibly a torn ligament in her neck. Then there were her ribs, broken, at least three of them. Luckily nothing had punctured her lungs. He was thankful for that. Her hips seemed to be bruised but the biggest problem was her leg. He could tell she'd broken her femoral shaft, badly too. Her leg was extremely swollen and he could guess it was likely purple in color it was possible she had some acute compartment syndrome issues as well. That combined with her concussion and her pale color meant she needed care, now. Probably some immediate surgery on her leg to be sure the bone hadn't opened an artery. He suspected it had.

"Sammy. I need my bag. Go get it, quickly!" He shouted at the young man who immediately bolted out of the house.

"So, you came. Good dog." Seiya smirked.

"Shut up Seiya. I don't have time for you. Understand me? Serena's in trouble here. Why didn't you call?" Darien snapped and glared at his opponent. Seiya was an idiot. Every second Serena went untreated she was in more and more danger. Her leg looked terrible, he only hoped he had the courage to do what he needed to do to help her.

"I didn't need to. I can take care of her. I mean, I do know her better than you. I've known her longer; and she was mine first." Seiya's smirk widened as he allowed his words to sink into Darien's skull. Seiya could see that his words affected the doctor greatly, Darien's eyes had narrowed immediately.

"Right, that's obviously what was happening here. Look, you need to call an ambulance. I can do some emergency work here but I don't have the equipment I need." Darien feared what his words would tell Serena and yet he couldn't worry about how scared she was. He needed to work on how well he could make her.

Within a few minutes Sammy had returned and Ken reported that a medi-lift helicopter was on its way to them. "I need a bed sheet, towels, a pot of hot water, and your table." Darien ordered with all the authority his medical degree lent him. He was panicking inside but his exterior was very calm.

The supplies were brought and the group of men carefully maneuvered Serena onto the dining room table. "Ken, I need you to hold this to her mouth and nose. I'm sorry Serena, I'm going to do my best to make this as painless as possible." He reassured his beloved girlfriend but felt the dread well inside of him. He had some local anesthesia with him but he didn't want to risk a coma with her current concussion. That meant Ken had to hold a rag with anesthesia to Serena's mouth and nose.

"Hold her down, everyone. Leave this leg alone though." He instructed then pulled some large scissors from his bag and began cutting up the leg of her pants. The more he cut the more he feared he was right. Serena needed immediate surgery and this was not the ideal place to do this. She clearly had a terrible compound break in her femoral shaft and there was some acute compartmental syndrome going on. "Dear lord, forgive me." He whispered and grabbed a scalpel. "I'm going to have to make some large incisions. This is going to be graphic so if you're squeamish look away." Darien warned then swabbed her skin with iodine. He tied her ankle and knee to the table so she couldn't kick while he was operating.

"Here goes." He touched the scalpel to her leg and made the first large slice. The skin parted as easy as butter to reveal Darien's fears. Here muscles had far too much tension in them around the break. He had to perforate some of them. He glanced at Serena's face briefly, she would not remain unconscious during this, not without significant anesthesia. He frowned and made the first slice into her muscle eliciting a howl of pain from his love. She screamed louder than he imagined she could.

"God Darien! Knock her out!" Ken shouted angrily. Seeing his little girl in such pain was terrifying for him. He didn't understand why Darien hadn't done the simple task.

"I can't, not with that concussion." Darien replied as his eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry Serena. You can do this." He made another incision releasing more pressure from her muscle. Another scream filled the house.

Darien worked through the screams, through the shouting, through everything. He was determined to save her. The helicopter arrived as he finished his work and together with the EMT team he was able to apply some external scaffolding to her leg to set it correctly. He was amazed that Serena had not passed out from the shock of the whole ordeal but was thankful she was still conscience. Had she blacked out she could have entered into a coma. That reality was still a very real danger however.

"Let's get her to the hospital Doctor." One of the EMT's suggested and placed a hand on Darien's shoulder. The two uniformed men had been amazed at the sight of this man working over the petite blonde. He was clearly emotionally attached to the woman and yet he had the mental strength to operate on her in less than ideal circumstances.

"Yes, lets!" Ken cried and waved his arms in the air to accentuate his point. It was amazing that Darien had done what he had but it was time to move Serena. She needed serious help from professionals with proper equipment. Darien was renowned but operating outside of a sterilized environment had risks, big risks. Everyone knew that.

Serena lazily gazed at her lover and reached for his hand. He had her blood on him but she didn't care, he was amazing and he had saved her. He seemed to have a knack for saving her actually. He had saved her so many times before, emotionally, mentally, and now physically. How could she stay mad at him? Whatever the issue, she would work through it to keep him. He was not a man to lose, never under any circumstances would she let go of him.

She was aware that she was being moved, but didn't mind as long as she had Darien's hand in hers. Into the helicopter and to the nearest triage facility she went, her hand enveloped by Darien's. "How is it, that you can cause me so much pain, yet I still love you?"

"It's because you're crazy." He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Sir, we're going to need you to wait in the lobby." A nurse suddenly interrupted the moment. Serena's eyes widened as fear once again overtook her. "Sir." She insisted and began to move the gurney away from him.

"No." Serena cried and squeezed his hand tightly. "He's a doctor. He… I'll refuse care." She threatened.

"Sorry miss, you can't refuse care in your condition." Another nurse added and continued to roll the gurney down the hall and away from a clearly panicked Darien. "He will just have to wait." The woman softened a bit. "I know you wish he could be with you but he's done too much already. Don't worry, you're in good hands here."

Serena bit her lips slightly and nodded. Rules were rules. She knew Darien would need to wait. In a few minutes she would be unconscious and it wouldn't matter if he was there or not. They would endure this just fine. She was actually worried about Darien leaving the hospital to go wreak havoc on Seiya. Seiya had been an idiot but that wasn't cause enough to injure him.

Darien sat in a chair in the waiting room staring at the TV which was turned onto some news channel. The closed captioning at the bottom of the screen detailed some crime or another. He didn't really care about any of that. He cared about the situation Serena was in. She was injured because of him. His short sighted stupidity caused this and if anything happened to her he would be the first to blame himself.

He had been so careless of late. He had allowed her to pull away from him, never once understanding what it was about. Raye. He sighed and placed his head in his hands. How could Serena think Raye could even come close to holding a candle to her? Raye was the very embodiment of the women he used to date. Vain, bossy, and self-absorbed. Maybe that was it. Raye represented the women of his past. Serena was everything to him now. Everything about her made him feel at home.

"How's my girl?" Ken suddenly sat in the next chair. "Have you heard anything?"

"No. Not yet. She's still in surgery." Darien commented and removed his face from his hands. "I'm sure she's okay though."

"Well my boy, what you did… I can't thank you enough for that." Ken placed a hand on the ebony haired man's shoulder. "She is going to be safe because of you. I know it."

"Yeah, only because of him. I'm going to have a nice chat with Seiya later. I swear I'm going to kick his ass. I really am. I mean, because of him Serena could be worse than if we had just found her in the woods." Sammy huffed and crossed his arms.

"Sammy, Seiya is an idiot. I'm sure he didn't realize he was being potentially harmful." Ken tried to calm his son and Serena's boyfriend who had become considerably more tense. It was clear that Darien wanted to hurt Seiya and it wasn't surprising in the least. Darien had reason to want to hurt Seiya.

"Seiya is a dipshit but he knew exactly what he was doing." Darien growled and thought about the jackass in question. Seiya was an asshole through and through. There was no denying that. He had left Serena years ago and now he wanted back in. Not only that, but he was trying to push himself back into her life.

Then again, Serena had somehow run to him when she was upset. Was it possible that Serena still had feelings for Seiya? That couldn't be possible. She seemed want to patch things up with their relationship. Why then would she have feelings for Seiya?

"You're thinking too much." Sammy commented and plopped down next to Darien. "I'm betting you're thinking yourself stupid aren't you?"

"Most likely. I have a habit of doing that it seems." Darien nodded and smiled at Sammy. As much of a thorn as Sammy could be he was being a good little brother at the moment.

"News flash, my sister doesn't need an idiot in her life. Smarten up Dare." Sammy nodded and leaned back in the chair. "Please, just try not to hump her when she gets out of here. Okay?"

"I can guarantee there won't be much humping for a while Sammy." Darien laughed and shook his head. That was the truth. There was no way Serena would be well enough for any activity much less the strenuous activity he could put her through.

Once again, leave me a REVIEW. I tend to be more motivated when I get them and know that my stories are being read. Also, let me know what you think about the plot and the way the characters are. Suggestions are also welcome. In fact, special thank yous to Latebuttruefan, HisWabbit, ISana55, sabina21, jupiter2005, and raye85 for giving me real feedback and comments. I really appreciate in-depth comments. Not to say I don't enjoy general encouragement. I do. Whatever you want to leave me in the comments will make me happy. Thanks for reading. Until next time, ta!