'Where is he?' Liz cried out as soon as she got through the door. Mr Kaplan stood aside and beckoned Liz into the front room off the hallway.

'He's upstairs in bed. Don't worry, dearie, he's physically fine. However, the cocktail of chemicals and goodness knows what they gave him has near incapacitated him in other ways. I've not been able to ascertain what exactly they've given him or how long the effects will last but for now we can't leave him alone. Not for a second'.

Liz sighed and turned towards the door, 'I need to see him. Can I go up?'

'Of course. Dembe is up there at the moment. You can relieve him once I've…'.

Liz didn't wait for Mr Kaplan to finish and headed for the stairs and hurried on up. She hadn't seen Red for over forty-eight hours and had to know he was okay. They'd been separated whilst escaping from a group of mercenaries hired by the Cabal and although she had gotten away, Red had not been so lucky. He had insisted that she hide in a closet in an abandoned warehouse whilst he tried to lead their pursuers away. Why Liz had agreed she had no idea. She certainly hadn't forgiven herself. But Red had been adamant and she trusted him to know better about these kinds of things. Being pursued as a fugitive was something he'd been doing for over two decades.

By the time she had left the closet, there was no sign of Red or the hired thugs. She looked everywhere around the area but it was empty. Even the car they'd been driving had gone. She briefly thought maybe Red had gotten in the car and driven off to lure their attackers away but that hopeful thought soon disappeared once she saw Red's shades lying, smashed, on the concrete near to where their car had been parked. He'd been taken. She was sure of it. Damn! She shouldn't have listened to him about staying in the closet. Now what would she do? Quickly she dialled Dembe's number. This was an emergency; there was no choice but to call in the cavalry.

Within two days, whilst Liz laid low and out of sight providing any technical backup that they might need, Dembe and Mr Kaplan had managed to find where Red had been taken. When they got there, there were only four men guarding and 'questioning' him, so it was easy enough for the two of them to overpower the men and rescue Red. They immediately took him to a safe house, just north of Boston. It was one of Red's favourite safe houses, due to the vast number of trees on the property which he adored watching turn in the Fall but sadly he was in no state to enjoy them right now.

'Elizabeth, wait, dearie. I need to tell you some more about Raymond before you see him', Mr Kaplan called from the bottom of the stairs.

Liz turned, a worried look on her face. She came back down the stairs and braced herself for the news.

'The cocktail they gave him has basically given him what's best described as severe depression. It's more than he can do even to leave his bed. Any depression is bad enough but this is horrific. There's also something in the drugs they gave him that's given him acute anxiety. His heart rate hasn't fallen below 90 bpm since we got him back. He's not eating, barely drinking and doesn't even seem able to talk much. He's a mess. We don't dare leave him alone in case he tries to hurt himself. He hasn't yet but I don't trust that he won't. It's only been about ten hours since we got him back so hopefully the drugs'll wear off soon. But in the meantime, he needs our care'.

'I understand', Liz said, a sinking feeling coming over her. She couldn't imagine the exuberant, larger than life, bon viveur that Red was to be in such a state. She needed to see him right now.

She turned and hurried on back up the stairs, heading towards where she saw an open door at the end of the hallway. Dembe was sitting just inside the doorway, staring at the bed. As she got nearer, she saw a shape in the bed and recognised Red's shoes on the floor beside it. Something about the way they were neatly lined up gave her some hope. But then she realised it had probably been Dembe or Mr Kaplan that had done that.

'Hey Dembe', she spoke quietly to the large figure who turned to smile at her

'Hi Elizabeth. Thank goodness you are here. He needs you right now. I don't think anyone else can get through to him'. Dembe stood, gently stroked Liz's arm and then disappeared back downstairs to where Mr Kaplan was waiting.

Liz assumed by the lack of communication or movement from the bed that Red must be asleep but to be sure she slipped off her shoes and crept around the edge of the bed, in order to see Red's face. He was lying, facing the window, completely covered by a blanket, despite the fact it was quite a warm day.

As she came between the window and the bed she saw that Red's eyes were open, staring listlessly ahead. If she hadn't known he wasn't physically harmed, she would have thought he was in pain due to the wrinkling of his brow and the downward pull of his lips. Her heart nearly broke in two just seeing the look on his face. She quickly pulled a chair from under the window to next to the bed and sat as close as she could, careful not to obscure the view of the window Red had as she did so. He seemed fixated on some point outside, possibly the top of one of the trees in the garden that were swaying lightly in the breeze.

Red didn't seem to have even noticed her presence at all. She wasn't even sure he had blinked since she'd clasped eyes on him. She felt the need for some kind of physical connection with him but everything apart from his head was hidden under the blanket. However, the need was too great for that to stop her and she hoped that it would help him too, to have another human being's touch. She gently pulled the blanket away from under his chin and exposed his hands, tightly bound to his chest. She coaxed one of them free and pulled it towards her. Still he made no move or any kind or any sound, just staring ahead. She held his hand between hers and gently ran her thumb over the top of it, stroking the light covering of golden hair he had there as she did so.

'Hey, Red, I'm here. It's Lizzy', she started, unsure how to continue. She frowned and carried on. 'Mr Kaplan says that you've been given some pretty nasty drugs, ones that make you feel hopeless. And scared. I…, I don't know what I can do to help until they wear off. But I'll do whatever it takes, whatever you want'.

Still Red hadn't looked at her. She wondered what else she could do to try to engage with him.

'Raymond?'

A blink. His first name falling from her lips for the first time had definitely gotten some kind of a reaction. She was encouraged.

'Raymond, can you hear me?'

Red's eyes slowly shifted from the window and gradually came into focus on Liz's face. He blinked once more and she could see tears forming in those beautiful green pools.

'Lizzy…. Lizzy, you're here?'

'Yes, Raymond, I'm here. See?' She lifted his hand to her face and gently kissed the back of his knuckles. Seeing Red like this was killing her. She needed to help him.

As Liz's mouth touched his hand, a small sound of what sounded like pain but could've been anything came from Red's throat. He clasped her hand tighter and started trying to sit up.

'Are you okay, Lizzy? Did they hurt you?'

'No, no, Raymond. They didn't even catch me. Remember? You saved me. You got them away from me. I'm fine. It's you I'm worried about'.

'You're okay'. A semblance of a smile crept over Red's face and the tears that had formed in his eyes started to fall down his cheek.

With that Liz couldn't stand another second. She got off the chair and nudged herself onto the bed, forcing Red to shift back slightly. As he did so, she lay down next to him and gathered him in her arms.

'I'm so sorry I let you go out there alone, Raymond. I shouldn't have. This is my fault. But you're gonna be okay, I promise. I'm gonna be here every second of every hour until you're okay'.

Red's arms slowly came up and joined around Liz's back and they lay there completely entwined in each other. Red was still crying lightly but Liz's soothing noises and the way she was stroking his arms and back seemed to be calming him down.

You're gonna be okay, Raymond' Liz promised.

As night slowly fell, the two of them lay as contently as they could, safe in the knowledge that each other was there, next to them, holding them tight, never letting go.