Disclaimer: I own nothing involved with the television show "Lie to Me" and I won't pretend to.
Author's Note: Okay, another chapter. I hope it's to your liking. :) Happy Thanksgiving everybody! Thank you for all your lovely reviews and encouragement. :D
7. Healing
There was an explosion of talking and action as Emily came back to reality, watching the paramedics work all their tricks to bring back the dead.
"Clear!" she heard them shout and quickly withdrew her hand as she persisted to stare at his face. A jolt ran through Cal's body, and then he was still. Too still.
"Clear!" the one medic repeated. This time, Emily shut her eyes so she didn't have to watch. She didn't want that sight tattooed into her mind. Really, seeing him so bloody wasn't something she wanted to remember, but she didn't want to think back and realize she wasn't there for him through it all.
"Don't you dare die on me." she whispered, crossing her fingers.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Emily exhaled as tears of joy dribbled down her cheeks. He was alive. At least, for now.
Gillian was going faster than she had ever remembered driving. She hid behind Ben's flashing lights to prevent her from getting pulled over. Torres said nothing as she gripped to the seat with a look of pure concentration stinging her face muscles. Both Gillian and Ria were intent on getting to the hospital only seconds after the ambulance, and neither one of them cared how reckless the driving had to be to get there. Foster knew how important it was for Emily to be with Lightman, but she longed to the one next to his side, hoping he would stay alive. When she'd get to the hospital, there was no way she could see him unless he made it out of surgery. Then, there was Eli.
Ria couldn't help but think about Loker pushing through the worst of his condition while her mentor was fighting for his life in some other area of the hospital.
This case ended in disaster, but if it wasn't for Mike, things would have resulted in far worse. They had arrested Pierce and his partner, Dan, but there was still the issue of the inside job. Who could it be? Would they stick around long enough to be caught? Ria needed to ask Loker who he thought it was, but he was probably unable to answer right now. She didn't bother explaining to the team what the doctor had told her over the phone merely a few hours ago. Torres wasn't afraid to ask questions about what would happen to Loker, so she took the liberty of doing so when the doctor called. Foster and Emily were already stressed with what was threatening Lightman's life, so she kept the information from them on purpose. First, Eli would experience nausea, a headache and abdominal pain; then he would have difficulty breathing; and, finally, paralysis. Most died from respiratory failure in a case like Eli's, but the doctor promised to do what she could for her partner. What if what she could do wasn't enough?
Eli didn't allow her to confess to Pierce her involvement in Tate's investigation because he was trying to protect her. Ria was grateful and, yet, regretful. Eli was on the edge of life and death and she was up and about, perfectly healthy. Then again, she couldn't try to avenge him and Lightman if she was in the hospital. She owed him something and she was definitely going to follow through.
Gillian quickly swerved into the hospital parking, screeching into the closest spot available. Ben did the same and everyone jumped out of the cars, jogging to the emergency room. As soon as they entered the waiting room, Emily stood up, her face tightened with emotion.
"How is he?" Gillian gasped, catching her breath from her small burst of exercise.
"Oh, Gillian..." Emily squeaked, moving in for an immediate hug. Dread gripped the team as Foster embraced the young teen. "It was so scary..."
"What was, Emily? Is he okay?" Gillian asked frantically.
"He's okay now." Emily admitted, her voice muffled as she buried her head into Foster's shoulder. "Dad flat-lined for awhile and I was so scared..." Everyone's breath stuck in their chest as they comprehended the near death experience of their friend and boss. "He's in surgery now..." Gillian hugged Emily tighter, suddenly needing the comfort herself. She was getting sick of waiting for everything: Loker, the phone calls and now Cal. All she could do was wait and her patience was running thin.
They all had to just wait.
The team sat in the waiting room, hoping for news on both Cal and Eli. They had been waiting all night, hardly being able to catch a single minute of shut eye. It took Foster a good hour to calm Emily down and then she had to persistently comfort other members of the group, including the quiet Mike. He felt guilty about what happened to both Loker and Lightman and Foster tried her best to convince him it wasn't his fault. But, for the past few hours, no one had breathed a word, concentrating on their worry and terror for the victims of Pierce's sadistic ideas.
As soon as the surgeon in blue scrubs came into the waiting room, the group stood up, eager to hear the news. The man was grinning from ear to ear, so they suspected that nothing had gone terribly wrong.
"You must be here for Mr. Lightman." the surgeon chuckled as they gazed at him inquiringly. "He's going to be just fine. We were able to close up the injuries without any problems and we got a few blood transfusions ready for him. He's going to pull through." There was one, huge sigh of relief from the team and a couple people collapsed back into a chair. One man saved, one more to go.
"Have you heard any news on Eli Loker?" Gillian inquired of the good doctor, her eyes pleading for answers.
"I'm afraid I don't have that information, but I'll be sure to get someone out here to let you know what's going on." he assured her with a nod.
"Thank you." she replied and the surgeon left them to smile and frown at the same time. Their burden was split in half, but stress still tugged on their frayed emotions. It hadn't quite been twenty-four hours since Loker had started showing symptoms and they hadn't heard any word of his condition since the evening before.
"I'm going to go visit Loker." Ria decided, since she no longer had to wait for the report on Cal's condition. No one responded, still trying to recover from the overwhelming shift of being depressed to being overjoyed. Torres left without bothering to wait for anyone else, finding the sudden movement relaxing to her worry-fried brain. She leaned on a nurse's desk with a smile on her face.
"Can you tell me where Eli Loker's room is, please?" she inquired politely.
"Yes, just let me look it up." the nurse replied, quickly typing on her computer. "How do you spell his last name?"
"L, O, K, E, R." Ria answered.
"Okay, just a sec." the woman responded, clicking more of the keys. Ria wrote on her hand what room the nurse relayed to her and quickly returned to her quest to visit Loker. She followed the signs and watched the room numbers until she finally came to the one she sought for. With a quiet knock, she entered into the room, slowly walking in just in case he was sleeping.
"Oh...Torres..." he mumbled, his eyes barely open. "...Did they find Lightman?"
"Yeah." she replied, pulling up a chair next to him. She examined the sickly Eli, finding his skin to be drained of color and sweaty and she felt sorry that he had to be conscious through the worst of the poisoning. His breathing was shaky and shallow and he hardly moved at all except for his eyes.
"Is he okay?" he whispered.
"He's going to be fine." she sighed. "Actually, he almost died in the ambulance. At least, that's what Emily told me." Eli looked alarmed and Ria was quick to explain further. "Oh, don't worry about it. He's okay now, so all you should be concerned about is getting better." she urged with a smile. He took a moment to breathe a little and Ria finally built up the courage to ask him the question nagging at her mind.
"How bad did your symptoms get?" she questioned. "Were you scared?"
"Ah, geez..." he said softly, a weak smile forming on his lips. "I didn't know what suffocating was until yesterday. Plus, they made me drink this charcoal crap to see if it'll soak up some of the poison...that was disgusting." Torres laughed as he grinned. "I am never drinking coffee again."
"Why is that?" Ria inquired.
"I didn't eat anything yesterday; I just drank a cup of coffee and look where I ended up." he answered in a tired voice. Loker looked around his hospital room, smirking a little. "Maybe it's a sign I should turn to energy drinks."
"Or caffeine pills." Torres suggested. "They might not be as easy to slip poison into." Eli chuckled quietly, the cheery sparkle faintly showing in his eyes.
"Who made the coffee for you?" Torres asked, trying to subtly get the answer out of him.
"Um...the secretary's assistant." Eli answered slowly. Ria memorized the face and thought about how to approach the situation. The two were quiet as Eli continued to catch up on his breathing. It was odd that he didn't notice what Torres was getting at, but maybe he was too tired and too ill to really understand what she was saying.
"Hey..." Gillian greeted as she crept through the door. "The doctor tells me you're going to be okay."
"Yeah...I'll live." Loker croaked. "How's Dr. Lightman?"
"Alive and well." Foster said happily, placing a chair next to Ria. "He had a lot of blood loss, but he made it out of surgery just fine. They think he'll be awake in a day or two."
"Wow." Eli replied tiredly, his eyelids getting heavy.
"You and him will be back at The Lightman Group in no time." she crooned, sending Eli into a fit of sleep. She was a little disappointed that her visit was so short, but she knew the importance of Eli getting rest, so she waved it from her mind. Ria and Gillian watched him slumber peacefully for a few minutes, and then finally decided to return to the waiting room, their minds eased from Loker's increasing health.
The hospital staff wouldn't allow the team to see Cal for a few hours, at least. They first wanted to make sure there were no complications before they let the team visit in pairs. Most volunteered their time to just wait around, since they believed there was nothing more important for them to do.
"I have...something I really need to do." Torres told Gillian, who nodded, signaling she could leave.
"Use my car." she allowed, as Torres didn't have a vehicle at the hospital. "You better get the creep that put Eli in the hospital." Gillian smirked wearily as she handed Ria the keys.
"They won't even know what hit 'em." Torres promised just before she rushed out of the hospital.
The secretary's assistant: she needed to talk to her...pronto.
Author's Note: Phew...Remember to send reviews!
