Chapter 1
Feverish heat radiates off of his skin as he squirms away from my touch and lays his head against the car window, "shh Levi baby"I say soothingly, "mm it hurts"he says, "I know baby, we'll get you home,get you taken care of"I say taking in the injuries I can see. He has bruises smattering the tender skin on his wrists, and one on his cheek , blood on his t shirt and pants,there's barely any life in his blue eyes at all, due to being held hostage or poisoning I don't know,maybe both. "How much longer Paul,he's getting worse"I ask, "10 minutes tops Char, he'll be OK"he says, "K"I say. I very gently pull mike to where his head is on my lap and run my fingers through his hair, I feel blood clumping from the cut on his forehead, knowing he'll need stitches, as he curls closer to me like a child in need of comfort. We eventually pull up to the house and come to a stop, and Paul gets out and opens the back door to the SUV. Very gently he picks Mike up like he weighs nothing at all, and takes him inside. I follow them and we go into the living room, the bed is already pulled out and Paige is sitting on it. Paul put's Mike on the bed, and Paige shifts her weight a bit to give him room, and Johnny comes into the room.
"Oh Mikey, what happened"she asks , pulling him to her side, and stroking his hair for comfort. "I'll tell you l guys later we need to get him cleaned up right now"he says looking at Johnny and Paige. I see him head upstairs and I sit down on the bed on the other side of him, meaning he's between us. Johnny heads to the bathroom and comes back with a wet towel, he hands it to me as he asks quietly,"Is he going to be OK", "yeah John,he will be, we just need to get him comfortable and sleeping"I respond. I gently lift up his t shirt and I wipe the blood off of his abdomen and chest, then I try to get the blood off of his forehead but he backs up into Paige and won't let me touch him. I leave him alone after that and just gently grab his right hand as he curls into Paiges side. Briggs comes back downstairs with some new clothes for mike, and Paige and I help him sit up. We lean him against the pillows and Paul starts to take off his pants. Paige and I get his t shirt off and we both take in a breath as we see the intensity of his injuries. Bruises cover his back and chest, and he has a cut across his thigh, he suddenly looks a lot smaller than before.
We help him get into a t shirt and a pair of shorts, and then he burrows down under the covers til only his head is visible. "shh come on Mikey, we're almost done, I need to get your temperature, and we'll do a few stitches OK"I say trying to coax him out. He sits up and leans back against the pillows,and with little resistance lets me put the thermometer in his mouth. "103, shit, if it doesn't come down he'll need to go to the ER"I say, "no,no hospital"he says, "shh baby I know, we won't make you unless we need too"she says. Very carefully we roll him on his side to where I can see his leg, I gently take his upper thigh in my hand to get a good look at the wound so I can stich it up. He lies there with his head in Paige's lap as I put rubbing alcohol on the wound and he tenses up, "shh Mikey,easy"I hear her say. I gently put the needle into his tender flesh and he winces but then relaxes as I pull the stitch and go back in again. I finish and then we shift positions so his head is in my lap, and I put rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and run it over his forehead. Then I put a new needle in to his flesh and he practically yells this time, "Damn it hurts"he says, "I know Levi, hang in there"I say. I finish up as quickly as I can and then we lay him back down. I get underneath the covers and So does Paige, then he grabs my hand as he curls into her side, and she rubs his shoulders as I put a wet cloth to his forehead, "Levi, I need to get you to take some ibuprofen, OK, then we'll lay you back down"I ask looking in his eyes for understanding,"yeah"he says quietly. I gently help him sit up and I go get him a glass of water, and come back. I give him the pills and hold the glass of water to his lips, he takes the pills with no trouble and I lay him back down.
He then resumes the position he was originally in and gently closes his eyes. "What happened out there tonight"she asks, "God I don't know much Paige but I'll let you in on what I know"I say. I gently wrap my arm around his shoulders as I tell her what I know, "As you know we went undercover tonight, and just something went wrong, I was out in the car monitoring everything, and they seemed to be doing fine in there, getting the drugs and everything like normal, then Briggs and Levi got separated,they grabbed him and took him to a room, ,tied him up and just beat him till he was nothing,till he was emotionally unreachable"I say, I feel him quiver like tears are threatening, "shh it's OK baby, cry if you need to"I say as Paige and I hug him tightly. He starts to finally cry and lets us hold him until he finally falls asleep. Soon after Paige falls asleep too and though I find it hard, I fall asleep not knowing what morning will bring and if he will be OK.
