The first thing Neal noticed was the pain in his side. The next thing his unfocused eyes met was a bulky figure crouched down over him. Neal made to roll away from the stranger, but firm hands stopped his exit strategy. He blinked a couple of times trying to clear his vision and as soon as he could see clearly he looked up to see the one person he wasn't expecting. Peter. He was about to say something but the agent beat him to it. "Don't move, Neal." He said sternly, leaving no room for Neal to say anything. "You are laying in glass. How the hell you managed this one Caffrey, is beyond me." Peter stood up and walked away. Neal didn't understand. Why would Peter be mad? Suddenly everything came back to him. The pain. The fear. Oh no. No. No. No. No! Peter can't be here. He can't see me like this. He already has. He's angry. He left me here because he doesn't care anymore. I let him down. Neal felt tears coming to his eyes but fought hard to keep them at bay when he heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming up to him. He turned his head to see none other than Peter standing there again, but instead of looking angry he looked….concerned, which puzzled Neal even more. Peter squatted down and set tweezers, paper towel, and bandages down on the floor, then turned his attention to Neal.
"Neal. Neal, look at me. What happened?" When Neal refused to meet the agent's gaze, Peter continued, "Okay. We will discuss that later. Let's get you up out of this glass, huh?" Peter noticed Neal still hadn't looked at him but nodded his head noting that he had heard him. Peter thought for a moment about the best way to get Neal up and finally decided on a strategy. "Alright, Neal. I'm going to grab you by the shoulders and lift you straight up into a sitting position, ok?" Neal just nodded again as Peter began to lift him up.
As soon Neal was sitting up, he stood up and backed away from Peter quickly and steadied himself by grabbing the chair beside him. Peter stared at him, stunned by the conman's sudden movements but quickly recovered. "Hey. It's ok. It's alright, Neal. I'm just trying to help you." Peter said calmly, walking over to Neal with his hands held up as if he was surrendering to him.
Neal watched Peter out of the corner of his eye as the older man made his way over to him. He knew he meant no harm but right now he had no control, so any feeling he had, he just had to give into. He let Peter guide him slowly to the couch, sat down, and watched as the agent went to retrieve the items he had laid down on the floor. When Peter came back, he pulled a chair up so he could sit in front of Neal. He studied the younger man. He was a wreck. He had only saw him like this once. It was when Kate died and Neal lost all control and could no longer hide behind some façade. He wasn't sure what to say at this point so he turned all his attention to taking care of Neal's side. "Neal, I need you to lay down so I can get the pieces of glass out of your side." Peter said gently. Neal complied without saying anything.
It took Peter thirty minutes to fully bandage Neal's side. It wouldn't have taken that long, but he would occasionally pause for a minute of two, because Neal would groan in pain and try to push Peter's hands away, silently pleading for him to stop. Once he was done, he began to clean up and when he walked back over to Neal, the conman was already fast asleep. Peter stood there watching Neal for a few minutes, needing to remind himself that Neal was still there with him. He ran a hand over his face and let out a tired sigh. Taking one last look at Neal, he stepped out in the hallway and called Elizabeth to tell her he wouldn't be home tonight.
AN: Alright! There's Chapter 4! I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter. Hopefully the next installment will be better. I've kinda hit a road block in this story! EEK! Unblock! Unblock! hahaha Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think! thanks! :)
