Chapter 10

The good news was that Neal hadn't regained consciousness on the way to the hospital.

The bad news was that Neal hadn't regained consciousness on the way to the hospital.

Peter had seen the look of pain and anguish on his best friend's face as he'd briefly opened his eyes and he was relieved that, upon the arrival of the EMTs, they'd immediately administered something to ease the obvious agony he was in. But the fact that he remained unconscious on the way to the hospital spoke volumes about the severity of the injuries Neal had suffered at the hands of his attackers.

Peter sat in the ambulance alongside Neal, his mind spinning in a million different directions. Had this been a random mugging or was it, as he feared, linked to Wilkes somehow? How would this affect their scheduled testimony? Would Neal's injuries keep them in Lansing for longer than expected? How serious were his injuries and how soon would he recover? And what about Sara? How would he break the news to her that her husband was in hospital after a brutal beating?

One of the first things Peter had done was to check if Neal's wallet was still in his pocket - which it was, along with $137 in cash as well as his bank card and credit cards. Whatever the motivation for the assault, it didn't appear to be robbery and it was a short leap to speculate that the attack might be linked to the very reason they were in Lansing in the first place. From what they knew about Ryan Wilkes, he had many associates within the crime syndicate he'd built over the years and it wasn't much of a stretch to imagine that he might have ordered this brutal assault on Neal as a means to silence him or at the very least, influence his testimony.

Seeing Neal lying there, motionless, looking so unlike his usually animated self, was disturbing to say the least and Peter exchanged a worried look with the EMT who sat next to Neal, monitoring his vital signs.

'How is he?' Peter asked.

'His vitals are good. We're just keeping him sedated until the doctors have a chance to properly examine him' the young man said, his reply noncommittal.

Peter frowned as he studied Neal's strained features once more; now that his face had been cleansed from all that excess blood, he could see that most of it emanated from a large gash over his eye, the same eye that was swollen practically shut. He had obviously been hit repeatedly in the face as well as in the stomach and the unspoken concern was that he might have suffered some internal injuries which weren't immediately visible to the naked eye. Adding to his physical state and the inevitable shock was the likelihood that Neal was suffering from hypothermia and the paramedics had immediately begun treatment by wrapping him in warm blankets with hot water bottles in order to bring his body temperature back to normal as he shivered on the gurney.

Peter cursed under his breath; at first, he hadn't been terribly worried when Neal hadn't immediately returned to the room. He was a grown man after all and for all Peter knew, he might have stopped for a few minutes to chat with the young woman at the reception desk or gotten sidetracked by a headline in the newspaper prominently displayed in the lobby. Neal still had the impulse control of a four-year-old and Peter wasn't his keeper - well, at least not anymore. Now, he regretted not investigating sooner; how long had Neal been lying in that snowbank in below freezing temperatures before he'd finally decided to go looking for him?

As the fog lifted, Peter's mind returned to the brief exchange he'd had with Neal as he'd lain, shaking violently in his arms; something was nagging at him and he wasn't sure what it was. Neal had tried to tell him something. Had it been delirium? Or was there some imminent danger Neal was trying to warn him about?

The ambulance came to an abrupt stop and Peter looked out the window spotting the large sign for the emergency room of the local hospital and he braced himself for what was to come.

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'I really appreciate you coming home with us' Sara said, thoroughly exhausted from the long day.

It was almost 11:00 and long past her bedtime; having Elizabeth offer to spend the night at the house was a huge relief as she faced a night of monitoring Hope's fever and keeping her well hydrated. Truth was, beyond the crippling fatigue, she'd begun to notice a tickle at the back of her throat and she hoped it was just medical students' disease, her imagination playing tricks on her.

The car pulled into the driveway on Meadowbrook Street and El stepped out, insisting on carrying Hope into the house, something Sara's tired body just couldn't manage on its own.

The women headed straight upstairs and Hope was settled into her parents' bed while Sara and Elizabeth changed the sheets in Hope's room where El would be spending the night. That way, she could be close by in case Sara needed her, hopefully a mere precaution.

'Honey, try to get some sleep' El said as she hugged her best friend and sent her off to bed. 'Call if you need anything and I'll be in there in seconds flat.'

Sara smiled, comfort replacing the worry that had been nagging at her for the past several hours. 'Thanks El. I really appreciate this.'

She made her way to her own room, perched her tired body on the edge of the bed and, gazing down at her daughter, she ran her hand through Hope's soft, dark curls. She was sound asleep, looking angelic, almost as if nothing had happened, and Sara touched her forehead, noticing it was nice and cool. She changed out of her clothes, removed her wig, replacing it with her warm woolen cap and she fell into bed with a thud. Her thoughts turned to Neal; he would be testifying in the morning and if all went well, he and Peter could be back in New York as early as Thursday night. She briefly debated the merits of calling him first thing in the morning but thought better of it; might as well wait until their usual check-in the following evening to finally fess up about what had been going on at home. There was nothing Neal could do from Lansing and finding out Hope was sick would only distract him from the important job he'd been tasked with.

She coughed roughly, feeling the tightness in her throat; dammit, was she coming down with strep as well? The emergency room doctor had promised to call in the morning with the result of her throat swab. Her purse held a couple of prescriptions, one for her and a second for Neal - in the eventuality that he was hit with the painful, yet mostly benign, ailment.

Fatigue trumped worry and within moments, Sara was sound asleep.

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'Hello?' came the sleepy voice on the other end of the line.

'Jones, it's me' Peter murmured. 'I'm sorry to wake you up so late.'

Clinton Jones was instantly sitting up in bed and reaching for the bedside lamp. It was past midnight and if Peter was calling him from out of town, something had to be seriously wrong.

'It's okay. What's going on?' he asked, suddenly on high alert.

'I'm at the hospital… with Neal' Peter stated as he paced right outside Neal's room, glancing in every few seconds.

'Caffrey's in the hospital?' Jones repeated. 'What happened?'

'He was roughed up pretty bad earlier tonight' Peter explained, worry obvious in his voice.

'Roughed up?' Jones echoed, still trying to put the pieces together.

'He was attacked right outside our hotel, beaten up pretty badly…'

Jones listened, his face serious as Peter continued.

'He hasn't regained consciousness but before he passed out, he tried to tell me something. At first, I thought he was just being delusional but now…'

'What is it, Peter? What did he say?' Jones asked, now moving around the room and searching for clothes.

Whatever Peter had to tell him, it would require action on his part - otherwise, his boss would have waited until morning to call him.

'He talked about Sara and El…' Peter said, still wondering if he was overreacting.

Jones frowned; he couldn't see the connection. 'What do you mean?'

'This wasn't a random assault. I'm reasonably sure this was intended as a warning to keep him from testifying against Wilkes tomorrow and I suspect that whoever did this to Neal warned him that harm might come to El and Sara if he went through with it.'

Jones didn't need to have things explained any further; he knew what his boss was asking. 'I'll get a detail over to both houses right away' he said as he pulled on a pair of pants.

'Oh… and Jones' Peter continued. 'Don't tell them tonight. I'll call El myself and explain.'

'Sure thing. I'm on it, Peter' Jones said, already halfway out the door.

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'NO!' Sara screamed as she woke with a start.

She sat up in bed, totally disoriented, as Hope stirred next to her and began to cry loudly. Within seconds, Elizabeth was standing over both of them, her heart beating wildly.

'What is it? What's going on?' she asked breathlessly as Sara came to.

Sara's breathing was labored and her eyes wild and with Hope howling from having been awakened from a deep sleep, inevitably, chaos ensued.

'Hope, sweetie' El said as she reached down to pick up her goddaughter and cradle her in her arms. 'It's okay, baby, it's okay.'

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' Sara mumbled, her nightmare finally beginning to fade. 'I just…. I had a bad dream.'

El sat on the edge of the bed, holding Hope with one arm as she reached out to touch Sara's forehead.

'Oh, honey, you're burning up' she commented as she felt the heat radiating off her best friend.

Now that she was fully awake, Sara could feel the rawness in her throat - as if she'd swallowed a sheet of sandpaper.

'Yeah' she admitted. 'I don't feel very well.'

Hope's crying began to subside and she watched her mom's face with interest.

'Mama, bobo?' she asked.

Sara nodded and reached out to touch her baby girl. 'Yes, baby. Mommy has a bobo too.'

Elizabeth Burke sprung into action and before long, she'd given both Hope and Sara a dose of Tylenol and had administered Hope's antibiotic before tucking them back under the blankets as calm slowly returned to the Caffrey house.

She made her way back to Hope's room and lay on the bed, noticing the message light flashing on her cell phone.

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Sara lay in bed, eyes wide open; she doubted she'd get back to sleep following her nightmare which had only been exacerbated by the high fever she was running. Seeing Janet's face, emaciated, as she lay on her deathbed, was a recurring theme of the unsettling dreams and Sara let out a soft moan as she envisioned Janet staring up at her, pleading silently for help while Sara stared back at her dying friend, feeling totally powerless.

She replayed the dream in her fevered mind, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Hope had resumed her peaceful slumber and Sara turned over to face her, pressing her warm body against her daughter's and feeling the coolness of her skin against her own.

Despite the troubling images, the medication began to kick in and Sara Ellis found herself drifting off into an uneasy sleep.

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'Peter?' Elizabeth whispered.

Peter stood from Neal's bedside, giving him a last wistful look as he stepped out of his hospital room and hovered in the nearby hallway. 'Hon, I'm so glad to hear your voice' he said.

'Honey, it's two in the morning' she stated unnecessarily. 'What's wrong?'

'I'm fine, El, I'm fine' he said, hoping to reassure her.

She waited for more. 'It's Neal…' he said, his voice trailing as he thought carefully about his choice of words. 'He's… he's in the hospital. He was beaten earlier tonight.'

'Beaten?' Elizabeth said, conscious that she'd raised her voice. Despite the fact that she'd closed the bedroom door before picking up the phone, she didn't want Sara to hear what was going on.

'How? Why? How bad?' she asked, the questions multiplying in her mind.

'He stepped out of our hotel room to get some ice and… well, I found him beaten up in the parking lot, unconscious.'

'Oh, my god' El whispered. 'How bad is it?'

Peter measured his words carefully attempting to communicate the seriousness of Neal's situation without causing undue panic.

'The doctor says he was lucky. He doesn't have any internal injuries but he's got a concussion, a couple of bruised ribs and his face… well, it took quite a beating. His nose is broken and he has a gash over one of his eyes.'

'Is he conscious?' she asked, sitting bolt upright in bed.

'No' Peter answered as he peeked in again to check on Neal. 'He hasn't regained consciousness yet but the doctors are confident he'll pull through.'

'I can't believe it. What are the chances he'd get mugged in your hotel' she asked rhetorically.

'Honey, that's just it. I don't think this was a random mugging. I think this might be Wilkes sending us a warning' he finally admitted out loud.

'What? Oh, honey you need to come home' she said spontaneously although she knew better than to expect Peter to step back from doing the right thing.

'El, we can't let Wilkes intimidate us like this' Peter said, knowing full well the implications of what he was saying. 'But you need to know something else…'

What else could there possibly be? What Peter had just told her was terrible and she couldn't imagine any more bad news.

'Hon, before Neal passed out, he was… well, he was really agitated and he said Sara's name… and yours.'

Elizabeth Burke had shared her life with an FBI agent long enough to be able to read between the lines.

'You think Wilkes threatened to do something to… us?' El asked nervously.

'Honey, I don't know… Until I can talk to Neal, I can't know for sure but knowing Neal the way I do…'

Elizabeth listened, speechless.

'I want you to look out our bedroom window' Peter instructed.

'Honey, I'm not home' El said. 'I'm at Neal and Sara's'

Now it was Peter's turn to react. 'What? Why? What's going on?'

'Oh, Peter' she began. 'It's been a rough couple of days. Hope got sick and we ended up in emergency. She's got strep throat and she had a seizure - '

'What?' Peter said, his voice loud.

'Honey, she's fine. They started her on antibiotics and the seizure was because her fever spiked… but now, Sara's got it too and I didn't want to leave her alone.'

She could hear Peter's loud breathing over the phone line. 'Peter… it's fine, don't worry.'

That was easier said than done and Peter glanced into Neal's room, noticing his best friend stirring.

'El, I think Neal's coming to' he announced. 'I don't think you should tell Sara yet, not until I can talk to him. I just wanted to tell you that Jones has some men parked outside both our place and Neal and Sara's. Go check… and don't be scared. It's just a precaution but Jones has it under control… maybe just… don't go out until I call you back, okay?'

Elizabeth opened the bedroom door and tiptoed to the front of the house which housed Neal's studio. She peered out the second floor window, immediately spotting the black car parked two doors down.

'I see them' she told her husband.

'Honey' Peter said, his voice urgent. 'I've got to go. I love you' he said before hanging up.

TBC