Chapter 4

"Danny! Come on, Danny! You have to calm down, damn it! You're not dying, so wake the hell up!" Jack said urgently and angrily out of fear.

Just then, paramedics arrived at Jack's office with a gurney.

"What do we have?" The male paramedic asked urgently as they began treating Danny.

"Sean, we have to move now. His BP's 190/164, Pulse 150." The female paramedic said urgently.

"Take him to St. Luke's. He's also bleeding from a neck wound. Go." Lisa said urgently.

"I'm coming with him!" Martin said urgently as they wheeled Danny to the elevator.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but…" The female paramedic said somewhat sternly as they entered the elevator and everyone looked on fearfully.

"I'm not leaving him alone." Martin said with conviction.

"All right, you can come with us but don't interfere." Sean, the male paramedic, said urgently but compassionately as they rushed Danny into the ambulance and drove away with Martin.

When they reached the hospital five minutes later, Danny's vitals were more unstable. Danny was rushed inside but Martin wasn't allowed to be with him, so he was escorted to the waiting room where he anxiously awaited news of Danny.

"What have we got, people?!" Dr. Foster, the on-call doctor treating Danny, asked urgently as he gloved up and examined the blood gushing from Danny's throat.

"His name is Danny Taylor. BP's 190/14 and Pulse is 150. He's got a gash on his throat. When we got to headquarters, he was disoriented and going into shock from the blood loss." Sean, the paramedic, said urgently as Dr. Foster removed the bandage from Danny's throat and cleaned the blood with dressing and saline.

"I'm going to need a suture kit and start an IV on him." Dr. foster said urgently as he began suturing Danny's throat and the nurses administered drugs.

"The doctor that was at headquarters said that she treated him with 2mg Ativan because he was completely panicked." Sean, the paramedic, said somewhat urgently.

"You keep saying headquarters. What kind of job does he do?" Dr. Foster asked concerned as he finished suturing Danny's wounds, causing him to sigh frustrated and shake his head.

"He's an FBI Agent. What is it, Doc?" Sean, the paramedic, asked of a very concerned Dr. Foster.

"His boss needs to be notified of his injuries. He's got ligature marks on his throat. Someone tried to murder this young man." Dr. Foster said very seriously as he bandaged Danny's neck.

"No… unt… true! No… un… hurt… me!" Danny cried weakly but fearfully. "Please… et… go! Danny weakly cried panicked, causing Dr. Foster to put soft restraints on Danny, to prevent him from hurting himself, when he began struggling weakly to get out of bed.

"Calm down, Agent Taylor. You're going to be okay. You're safe here." Dr. Foster said a little sternly but compassionately.

"No! Let…go!. Danny weakly cried fearfully as he struggled to get free.

"Doc, maybe he'll calm down if he sees his partner. "Sean said concerned, causing Danny to cry more and very emotionally.

"Mart…here? Not… dead?" Danny cried weakly but very emotionally as he struggled to breathe, causing Dr. Foster to place an oxygen mask on his face.

"I'll let your partner come in here, Agent Taylor. But you have to calm down first. Is that understood?" Dr. Foster said somewhat sternly but compassionately, causing Danny to sag in defeat.

"Please…ee… him!" Danny weakly cried emotionally and fearfully as he tried hard to calm down and breathe.

"Very well, Agent Taylor. I'll allow you to see him, but only for a minute. All right?" Dr. Foster said compassionately.

Dr. Foster momentarily left Danny's room and went to the waiting room. When he got there, he immediately noticed the four people who were wearing suits and pacing the room like wild fire ants. He smiled sympathetically as he walked up to them.

"Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Adam Foster. Are you here for Agent Taylor?" Dr. Foster asked kindly as they shook his hand and introduced themselves.

"Yeah, how is he, Doctor?". Jack asked calmly but concerned.

"I need you ladies and gentlemen to follow me right now. Come on." Dr. Foster said kindly but concerned.

Dr. Foster led them to an empty treatment room.

"What's going on, Doc? What condition is Danny in?" Martin asked calmly but fearfully.

"Agent Taylor's vitals were unstable when he came in. He was bleeding profusely from a wound on his throat. Now, we were able to stabilize him somewhat. But what concerns me the most at the moment is that wound." Dr. Foster explained as gently as possible.

"Wait a minute. What do you mean 'somewhat stable'?" Jack asked seriously but very concerned as he tried to keep his composure.

"Well, he's still unstable. But the reason he came in like that was because he thought that his partner was…was decease." Dr. Foster explained very gently and compassionately.

"What?!" The four agents gasped horrified.

"Please, all of you need to calm down because I'm not finished." Dr. Foster said a little sternly but compassionately, causing the team to quiet down. "As I said before, what concerns me right now is the wound on his throat. I've been a doctor for more than thirty years and I've seen wounds like the ones on Agent Taylor. And I can tell you that Agent Taylor is one of the lucky ones." Dr. Foster explained concerned and as gently as possible.

"What are you saying?" Jack asked somewhat angrily out of fear.

"I'm saying that I don't believe Agent Taylor's wounds were an accident like he's claiming. No one cuts themselves like that shaving. He has ligature marks on his throat consistent with strangulation. That wound was also smooth, so it seems to have been caused by a knife with a smooth, not jagged, blade. But I think that you may be able to figure out who tried to kill Agent Taylor." Dr. Foster explained gently.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked urgently as she shook a little an she wiped away the tears that fell from her eyes.

"Well, whoever did this made a mistake and didn't have gloves on because Agent Taylor has several fingerprint impressions on his throat. But I can tell you that whoever did this to Agent Taylor, wanted him dead." Dr. Foster said very concerned.

Jack was going to say something, when there was a knock at the door and Sean, the paramedic, entered the room.

"Dr. Foster, there's something that you need to see." Sean said calmly but very concerned.

"Does it involve Agent Taylor?" Dr. Foster asked concerned, causing Sean to sigh heavily and nod. "Okay, all of you come with me. But don't mention these suspicions or he'll lose control again. Just tell him that you're there to make sure that he's okay. And by the way, I had to place soft restraints on his wrists and feet because he tried to get up from the gurney when we were treating him. So, don't be shocked when you see him. Let's go." He said concerned and they all headed back to Danny's treatment room.

When they got to his room, Danny had already been changed into a hospital gown. He was also hooked up to an oxygen mask, heart and blood pressure monitors and two IV's, causing Danny to cry weakly when he saw his team there with him?

"Shhh. Calm down, Agent Taylor. You know the deal." Dr. Foster said a little sternly but compassionately as he checked Danny's vitals, causing Danny to take slow breaths as he cried weakly.

Sean whispered to the doctor, prompting Dr. Foster to close the curtain to give Danny some privacy. When Dr. Foster opened Danny's hospital gown, he sighed heavily at what he saw before him, causing Sean to nod and sigh heavily as well.

Dr. Foster sighed heavily when he opened Danny's gown, because Danny's abdominal and groin area were very badly bruised--as if he'd been beaten, causing Danny to gasp and cry in excruciating pain when Dr. Foster, as gently as possible, examined him.

"Aaaaagh! St…op!" Danny gasped and cried in excruciating pain as he began shaking violently, causing his vitals to skyrocket out of control.

"Calm down and breathe. I know that it hurts but I'm giving you something for the pain. Come on. Here we go, kiddo. Just breathe nice and slow." Dr. Foster said compassionately as he injected a pain medication into Danny's IV that caused him to cry in relief when his pain lessened less than a minute later.

"Okay, buddy, just breathe slowly and calm down so that you can see your friend." Sean said caringly as he held Danny's hand.

"Friends? Not…dead…yet? Not…true…not…safe." Danny cried somewhat incoherently a the drugs began to take effect and he became drowsy.

The team heard his words and it caused their eyes to widen in horror. Dr. Foster, too, became concerned and decided to cover up Danny's body to give him some privacy when he opened the curtain again.

"Calm down, Agent Taylor. Look, your friends are right here with you. But I need you to calm down." Dr. Foster explained a little sternly but compassionately.

"Not…true…dead. Dead…'cause…me. Told…Mart…" Danny cried weakly, causing Martin to grab a tight hold of his hand in a brotherhood grip.

"Damn it. That's not true, Danny. We're all here with you and we're not going to let anyone hurt you. I promise." Martin said with conviction as tears escaped his eyes.

"Sorry…Fitzy. He killed…you…'cause…told…you. No…wit..ess. I'm…sorry." Danny cried barely audible and conscious as he weakly gasped for air, causing Martin to tighten his hold.

"Just get some sleep, brother. I swear on my life that I'm going to find out who did this to you. And they're going to pay for hurting you. I swear." Martin said with conviction as tears stained his face and he held Danny's hand in a tight, brotherhood grip.

"Fit…zy, sorry…for…etting…you…killed. For…ive…me." Danny cried weakly and barely conscious, causing Martin to squeeze his hand tightly out of fear and anger.

"Damn it. Stop talking like that, Danny. You didn't do a damn thing wrong. And I swear that I'm going to find the son of a bitch who's putting you through this and they're going to regret the day they screwed with you. And I promise that we're not going to let anything happen to you. But right now, I want you to get some sleep and rest, okay can you do that for me, brother?" Martin said softly but caringly as tears stained every crevice of his face.

"He's…onna…kill…me…now…or…telling…you." Danny cried fearfully but barely audible as he struggled to breathe and remain awake, causing Martin to huff angrily and hold the back of Danny's head and carefully force Danny to look at him.

"You listen to me and you listen well. Nobody's going to come anywhere near you. And I'll kill the son of bitch first if he tries to get near you. Do you understand me?" Martin said sternly out of fear but then took a deep breath to calm down. "Look, just…just get some sleep. We're going to stay right here with you. We're not going to let anyone hurt you again. I promise. Get some sleep, brother. You're safe, okay? You're safe." Martin said caringly as more tears escaped his eyes and he continued holding on for dear life to Danny.

Danny was exhausted and afraid as he looked at Martin and struggled to remain awake. He cried weakly but fearfully, causing Martin to shake his head as more tears escaped his eyes.

"It's okay to sleep, brother. You're safe, I promise." Martin said caringly and with conviction as he tightened his brotherhood grip on Danny's hand, causing Danny to stop struggling and give in to some much needed sleep.

Martin sat at Danny's side for several minutes without saying a word to anyone, when suddenly released Danny's hand and began breathing furiously.

"Calm down, buddy. You have to cool off because you know that he'll start panicking again if he senses you like this. Come on. Let's go take a walk." Sean said compassionately as he gently dragged Martin out of the room.

"Al right, he's gone now. So, tell me what else you found when you checked him out just now." Jack said somewhat gruffly out of fear.

"I don't know if I should…" Dr. Foster tried to explain gently but Jack cit him off abruptly.

"Look, we're Danny's emergency contacts. So, I think we have a right to know what else is wrong with him." Jack said gruffly as he sighed in both anger and frustration.

"All right, I'll tell you. But this information cannot leave this room." Dr. Foster explained seriously but compassionately, causing him to continue when the team nodded. "Apparently, the wound on his throat, is not the only injury that Agent Taylor has. He's also got severe bruising on his abdominal and groin area. Now, I'm not certain at the moment how serious his injuries are, so I'm going to order several tests to rule out any other injuries he may have. But I am warning all of you now--do not mention to Agent Taylor that you know of these injuries. It is very quite obvious that someone's threatening him. And if Agent Taylor becomes aware, he's going to have another breakdown. And right now, in his current state, I can't guarantee that I'll be ale to get him back." Dr. Foster explained as gently as possible, causing Jack, Sam and Vivian to gasp horrified.

"I'm sorry. But if you'll excuse me, I have to go order Agent Taylor's tests. If you need anything, just let myself or my staff know and we'll help any way we can. But if there's nothing else, I'll be back in a little while to check on Agent Taylor." Dr. Foster said compassionately as he shook the team's hands and left the room.

"Oh, my God. Jack, what are we going to do now?" Sam said softly but shocked as she covered her mouth and tears escaped her eyes.

"We're going to catch the son of a bitch who did this to Danny and make him pay. But the first thing we're going to do is make sure that Danny's safe. So, I'm going to have two agents posted at Danny's side at all times." Jack quietly said gruffly.

"Jack, if you do that, it's going to make matters worse. You already saw Danny's reaction. What makes you think that he's not going to panic when he sees armed agents at his door?" Viv whispered seriously and concerned.

"He's not going to know any different because on if us is going to be one of the armed agents. And I'm also going to call in Jeff Carmichael to be the other agent. Danny is good friends with Jeff already. So, I don't see any reason why Danny would suspect that Jeff is actually here to protect him. To Danny, he'll just be a good friend making sure that he's okay and well taken care of." Jack whispered calmly.

"Okay, fine. But what are we going to do about Martin? You know him, Jack. Martin is hell-bent right now and he's out for blood." Sam whispered seriously and concerned.

"That's why I'm going to keep Martin here at the hospital with Danny while we investigate Danny's assault. I know how close Danny and Martin are, especially after the ambush. He's not going to object when I tell him that he has to stay here." Jack whispered knowingly with a very small smile.

"Jack, we both know that Martin isn't just going sit down and do nothing. He won't stop at any cost until he finds the bastard that's threatening Danny. And while we're on the subject, who the hell would want to hurt Danny and why--especially after the hell he's been through?" Viv whispered somewhat angrily.

"I don't know that yet,Viv, but when I find out who's doing this to him, they're going to pay hell." Jack quietly whispered angrily but then took a breath to calm down.

"Okay, so first thing's first. While he's asleep, I want pictures taken of all of Danny's injuries. And also…" Jack whispered as he quietly looked through Danny's personal belongings and got his phone. "…I'm going to need you and Sam to take this phone down to the lab and have them run it. I want to know who's been calling him, because whoever called him this morning, had to had to have been calling him more than once." Jack whispered with conviction as he gave Danny's phone to Viv.

"Jack, he's going to realize that his phone is missing. What are you going to tell him when he asks? And how do we know that whoever did this, isn't watching Danny? Come on, Jack. You heard what Danny said. He said that were all dead because he told us something. And that he was next because that sick bastard couldn't have witnesses. Now how the hell do you explain that?" Sam quietly whispered angrily out of fear as she wiped the tears that fell from her eyes, causing Jack to sigh heavily and gently squeeze her shoulder.

"Sam, we all have to take a deep breath and calm down. Okay? I know how you feel because we all care about Danny and feel the same way about that sick bastard. But we still have a job to do and we can't let our emotions get in the way of that--yet, because I'm not sure what I'll do when I get that sick, son of a bitch in front of me." Jack quietly whispered caringly and with conviction as he took a breath and tried to regain his composure.

"Okay, now, about the phone. If he asks for his phone, I'll just tell him that I locked it away in my office so it wouldn't get lost or stolen here." Jack whispered calmly but stopped talking when Sean returned to the room with a now pale Martin as dry tears stained his face.

"Martin, are you okay?" Viv asked caringly but concerned but Martin just blinked lost as he stared at Danny.

"Martin, look at me." Jack said concerned as he gently shook Martin but he remained lost and wouldn't answer. "What the hell is wrong with him?" Jack whispered gruffly out of concern.

"Calm down, Sir. He's going to be out of it for quite a while. He was so angry and frightened for his partner, that Dr. Foster had to inject him with a sedative when he tried to throw a chair in the lounge." Sean explained gently but Jack looked at him suspiciously.

"Wait a minute. You're the paramedic who picked Danny up at headquarters. Why are you still here?" Jack asked gruffly and suspiciously as he suddenly became protective of Martin as well and protectively pushed Martin behind him.

"Calm down, Agent Malone. This is my colleague Dr. Sean Novak. He's still here because he ended his shift. Not only is he a part-time paramedic, he also works here. I've also known Sean since he was in diapers. So, you can relax because he's not going to hurt anyone--much less your agents." Dr. Foster said kindly as he walked into the room, causing Jack to sigh heavily.

"I'm sorry. But you have to understand…" Jack said with a heavy sigh but couldn't continue when Sean cut him off and shook his head.

"No, it's not a problem. Your concern your agents' safety is understandable. But you also have to calm down in order to find out who did this to Agent Taylor." Sean said compassionately but Jack could only look at Martin concerned.

"He's going to be okay, Agent Malone. I only gave him a small dose of sedative to calm him down when he tried to throw a chair in the lounge." Dr. Foster explained compassionately, when an orderly suddenly showed up in the room with a gurney.

"Who are you?" Jack said gruffly out of concern for Danny's safety.

"Agent Malone, this is Kevin. He's here to transport Agent Taylor to the test that I ordered. Calm down. Agent Taylor is safe here. We're not going to let anyone hurt him. Now, I've only given access of Agent Taylor to only a few of my most trusted staff. But for your security, they will all present their hospital identifications. Isn't that right, Kevin?" Dr. Foster said a bit sternly but compassionately.

"Yes Sir, Dr. Foster." Kevin, the orderly, said respectfully as he gave his ID to Jack.

"All right, go ahead." Jack said a bit gruffly as returned the ID to Kevin. "Where is he taking him?" Jack asked seriously.

"I'm concerned about Agent Taylor's injuries, so I ordered several tests for him--CT of the entire body, blood work, rapid HIV/AIDS Test…" Dr. Foster explained as gently s possible but the team quickly cut him off..

"What?!" Jack exclaimed horrified as he blanched a little.

"Please, calm down. I'm only doing that as a precaution because of the knife wound on his throat. I also have to run other tests to make sure that he doesn't have any other injuries that I'm not aware of. I'm going to help Agent Taylor any way that I can." Dr. Foster said compassionately as they gently laid Danny on the gurney.

"All right. Then I'm going to need your help. I'm going to need pictures of all of Danny's injuries, especially the wound on his throat and the fingerprints and ligature marks that you said you saw." Jack quietly whispered somewhat gruffly as he sighed heavily.

"Don't worry, Agent Malone. I'll personally take the pictures." Dr. Foster said kindly as they gently covered Danny with a blanket.

"Don't worry, Sir. Your agent is in very good hands. I'll bring him back safely." Kevin said respectfully and then they gently wheeled Danny out of the room.

Danny blood was drawn and CT Scans taken. Dr. Foster and Sean, took pictures of every single injury Danny had--especially the knife wound and fingerprints on Danny's throat. After finishing taking care of Danny, Dr. Foster and Sean went ahead to Danny's room to talk with Jack and left Kevin to take him back.

Danny was once again hooked up to oxygen, heart and blood pressure monitors. But what he wasn't aware of, was that someone was silently watching in pleasure at his lifeless body. The stranger stood leering in the shadows until the large, American male who stood at 6ft 3in and weighed in at 250lb, noticed how he was looking at Danny.

Damn it. Think. You can't kill Danny here. Just play it cool and remember that you don't want to be bring attention to yourself. You don't want any witnesses. You'll get your chance, buddy. Danny will pay for what he's done and so will his friends. They too will suffer the pain they've caused you--ten-fold. They will soon find out the true meanings of the words pain and humiliation, the stranger silently chastised himself when he saw a muscular Kevin heading toward him.

"Can I help you?" Kevin said seriously and with a gruff look on his face--he'd seen the enjoyment on the stranger's face as he stared at the young agent and he didn't like it one bit as he stood protective of Danny.

"I was just looking for my brother, Danny. I guess he had a hell of party last night." The stranger said smiling as he gestured with his hands as if drinking a beer.

But of course it's all lies. I could never be related to a pathetic excuse for a human being like you, Danny Taylor. Enjoy your freedom, Danny. It's going to end soon. Soon you'll all pay for what you did to us.--the stranger silently spat viciously.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Kevin said calmly but gruffly as he grabbed the stranger's hand when he tried to touch Danny. "Don't…touch him. Now, if I have to ask you again, I'm going to have security escort you out of the hospital. Who are you and what do you want?" Kevin quietly said gruffly as he sternly glared at the stranger, causing the stranger to swallow his rage.

"I told you that I'm here looking for Danny. He's my brother. He just had a lot to drink last night and I wanted to make sure that he was okay." The stranger said calmly but clearly aggravated.

"Why didn't you just say so? I'll just need to see your ID and you can spend all the time you want with your brother alone upstairs." Kevin said in a somewhat mocking tone, causing him to smile evilly at the stranger's irate features.

The wicked stranger was going to say something else, when Danny suddenly began groaning and thrashing weakly.

"Just forget it. Let him drink himself to death if he wants to waste his damn life drinking. But I won't let him waist another cent of my money trying to get him clean. Well, I've had enough. Go ahead and clean up after that miserable drunk if you want, because I'm sure as hell not going to waist another minute of my time." The stranger said quietly but very irate and then stormed off right before Danny opened his eyes to slits.

"Hmm? What's going on? Where am I?" Danny quietly said pained as he held his throat, causing Kevin to gently squeeze his shoulder and wheel him into the elevator.

"Don't worry about a thing, kid. You're going to be fine. But for now, let's go get you back to your room. The hot nurses are all lining up to take care of the sexy Agent Taylor." Kevin teased smiling, causing Danny to weakly growl and wag his eyebrows.

"Well, let's not keep them waiting any longer." Danny said weakly as he smiled and wagged his eyebrows again as the elevator door closed, causing Kevin to be heard laughing loudly as the elevator took them to their destination.

But there wasn't any pleasure in it for the stranger as he stood in the shadows once again and silently roared enraged.

Laugh while you still can, Taylor. You and your worthless friends won't be laughing anymore soon enough. I will have my revenge and what a revenge it will be--the stranger silently sneered evilly and then went off into the shadows away from Danny Taylor.

For now…

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Well, I appreciate the reviews that I've gotten so far because they've inspired me to continue with this story--even when I've felt it as a lost cause at times. Anyway, Hope you've enjoyed it. So, should I stop here and leave poor Danny alone? It's up to all of you who've read this story until now. You decide.