Author's Note: WARNINGS: In this chapter, we find a little bit out of what happened to Paige. Warning you, some very dark (albeit clinical and not too graphic) stuff here. I hate putting these specifics in warnings, because it ruins some of the punch of the story, but there are mentions of rape. I clearly don't condone rape but I just can't picture five horrible criminals taking a girl like Paige, stripping her and torturing her without it. It also makes Mike's assassin thing a little more justified, and sets me up nicely for dealing with some complicated issues of trust, guilt, gender and intimacy later on.
"A writer's job is to get your main character up a tree and then throw rocks at them." So don't hate me after this chapter, ok team?
On a lighter note... Who's excited for the season finale tomorrow?!
Safe
"...The extraction went as planned. The wristwatch was in the right iliac fossa. When it failed to progress beyond the terminal ileum we attempted an endoscopic retrieval from the ileo-caecal junction. However do the severity of her other injuries we were hesitant to proceed, so we opted to proceed on a course which required operative intervention for continuing obstructive symptomatology. An enterotomy was performed with extraction of the obstruction followed by primary closure..."
The five agents stare blankly at the doctor.
"Dude, we speak eighteen languages between us and not one of us understood what you just said." Johnny says bluntly. "Now one more time. Tell us exactly what is wrong with Paige. In English."
"We had to use surgery to retrieve the wrist watch. Her other injuries are severe, but should heal. She's broken three fingers on her right hand. Her shoulder is dislocated. She has at least a dozen different visible bite marks, two of which required stitches. She has a burn that required a skin graft on her lower inner thigh. She's has multiple hematomas and lacerations…"
"English!" Johnny barks.
"...she has multiple bruises, cuts, and some internal bleeding. We believe she experienced severe repeat blunt abdominal trauma, resulting in six broken ribs, blood in her urine, and it may have also left a laceration of the spleen. The spleen should heal itself, but we will want to monitor it to make sure it doesn't rupture."
"Did they… did they violate her?" Charlie is the only one brave enough to ask.
"...Her injuries are consistent with rape. We believe she may have been raped multiple times. We have used a rape kit to collect the evidence if it ever goes to trial."
"No…"
"Oh my god…"
"Shit."
Mike feels the bile rising in his throat and swallows it back down. He leans against the wall for support, finding it suddenly difficult to breath. The entire room seems to be spinning.
If only Mike had found her sooner… He killed those men too quickly. If he could go back and do it again, he would make it slower. Make them suffer. If he could go back again, he would have shot Bello the second he met him, to keep him from getting to Paige. God, this is all his fault, how could he drag her into this?
How many times had those bastards touched her before he had gotten there? How could he ever ask for her forgiveness after this?
"Mike? You ok buddy?" Briggs asks him, and Mike shakes his head and forces himself to focus on his Mentor. He needs to be in the present.
The doctor gives him a sympathetic look, "Should I continue?"
Mike just nods. He needs to hear it. All of it.
"When she came in, she was dehydrated, and she cannot seem to keep food down. There was a combination of drugs found in her system. We believe it to be a combination of ecstasy and rohypnol. We'll know more after some more lab results come back. We were hesitant to give her any drugs until we found out what was already in her system, so she's in a lot of pain."
"She looks like her face got a large brunt of it. Is she going to have any cognitive problems as a result?" Briggs asks.
"She has a concussion, but we do not think she will have permanent brain damage. Given the trauma of what has happened, she will probably need therapy for the rest of her life, and may never be able to bear children."
"I can't believe this is happening…" Charlie gasps.
These last words push Mike over the edge. All he can think about is Paige, and her fake baby bump. How beautiful she looked like that. She would never get to experience that in her life for real?
When they'd been standing in the dressing room, and he'd helped her strap it on, she'd given him such a huge smile. The way she touched her stomach had almost made him believe something was in there. It's too much for her to lose. She's already suffered through so much.
Before he knows it, Mike is bent over a trashcan, heaving, tears streaming down his face.
"Mike? You ok?"
"Mike?"
"Mike!"
Once Mike is sure there's nothing left in his stomach to come out, he stands to his feet. He needs to see her. He pushes past the doctor and heads towards her hospital room door.
"Mike, you can't go in there right now. Not like this." Briggs tries to reason with him.
"I need to see her."
"No. Not like this. Mike calm down buddy." Briggs, Johnny and Jakes all rush forward to stop him.
"I can't calm down! Did you hear what those monsters did to her Briggs? It's Paige! How can I be calm?"
"Yeah, I heard what they did to her. I also saw what you did to them. Now I'm not saying they didn't deserve it, but Mike you need to get control of yourself. You're no good to her like this, man."
"IT'S MY FAULT!" The confession that has been weighing on Mike since he first found out she was taken, rips from his lips. Mike stops fighting Johnny and Jakes, and crumbles completely in defeat. Charlie rushes in to wrap him in a hug.
"Mike it's not your fault. It's Bello's and the monsters that did this to her. You did everything you could. You were the one who found her. You saved her. She's strong. She'll come back from this." Briggs promises Mike.
"I just need to see her." Mike says helplessly. "I promised her, Briggs. It's been hours."
"Ok, buddy. Let's go see Paige."