Chapter 11: Death Watch Beetle
Tada! Chapter 11 is up! We are getting closer and closer to the end of this story!
Scrubbed white walls and countless white tiles glared at the seasoned FBI agent as she sat with broken nerves in the old chair as she looked at the recovering psychiatrist in front of her. Beeping sounds escaped from machines that were hooked into Frederick Chilton, the noises fit in perfect harmony with the busy sounds that came from the hallway of the intensive care ward. Salome held onto his hand with a caring grip as she fought the sleepiness that was trying to overtake her as she kept a careful watch over him. Tears filled her eyes as she looked at his long face. His eyelids were puffy and blood had caked within the fine laugh lines on his face from his horrible experience with Abel Gideon. In his sleep, she could see his age and the stress of running a mental hospital beginning to take hold of him. A sharp tug in her heart pained her as she kept watch.
A half full coke bottle lay hidden behind his bed along with a forgotten bag of chocolate chip cookies that she had raided from the vending machine while Chilton had been in surgery. She had been thankful to Freddie Lounds for staying with him in his first few hours in the hospital; she had actually hugged the fiery red head that had tried to ruin her reputation for that reason. In the car on the way to the hospital, she couldn't rationalize why she cared so much about his attempted murder.
Salome smiled as she held his hand in her own, "You're are an idiot," she rolled her eyes as her smile grew ever so slightly, "but I swear to God if you don't wake up soon, I'll have to find a new friend and I don't really think I'm ready to move on from the one I have got now."
She heard the shuffling steps from behind her and she allowed her smile to fade. She wiped away the tears from her cheeks and turned to face whoever had come to see Frederick.
"Did you know that there are beetles that make these clicking noises when they burrow into the wood walls of a home," Will Graham said casually as he shuffled into the room, "it was a sign of impending death," he looked from the tired detective to the psychiatrist that he rarely got along with, "they called them Death Watch Beetles."
Salome turned to look at her partner. Her brows furrowed as she looked him over. His skin was pale and his eyes were weak. The hospital gown showed off his muscular legs that he had developed from a life of working and swimming on the beaches in Florida. She could never understand the part of herself that never found him attractive as a potential significant other, she always seen him as the frenemy that she needed in her life.
"Is that supposed to be a joke," she asked as she watched him move towards the opposite side of the bed. The hospital gown swayed with his wobbled steps.
"It's just those noises," Will replied as he looked to the machines that were connected to Frederick, "they are so irritating that it's like a death sentence."
"I feel like I'm a death watcher," she admitted softly under her breath as she turned her attention away from her old partner and to the mutilated psychiatrist, "I thought that he was really gone."
"Jack said that he should recover," Will stated flatly, though it came out as more of a question as he watched her thumb glide in small circles on Chilton's cold hand. There was no jealousy that escaped him. He had never understood how Salome could stand being in his presence, but somehow she had grown comfortable with the worm and seemed to have a caring side for someone else other than her sister.
"Gideon took his kidney," she informed him, "The doctors were able to," she paused as she thought of a word that did not sound disturbing, but gave up on the search when she remembered who she was speaking with, "piece him back together. Did you kill Gideon?"
Will watched as Salome looked up at him with angry, dark eyes.
"They, uh," he wiped his eyes as he thought about his feverish acts, "they said he will make it. I have to say," he looked at his old partner with a slight glint in them, "I'm a little bit surprised to see you here. Who'd have thought that you cared about someone else that wasn't your sister or you?"
"If he wouldn't have made it," she whispered as tears filled her eyes as she looked up to her partner, "I would have done everything in my power to make sure Gideon suffered. I was scared for Marnie when," she paused and closed her eyes as she thought about her sister and how she seemed selfish in admitting what she was about to admit, "but losing him, I was terrified. He was one of the first friends that I made when I moved up here."
Will heard a snicker escape him as he listened to her words for Chilton. He had never thought of Chilton having any real friends. He always seemed like a lonely, pathetic little man that no one could ever really care about. Will had thought of him as the miserable beast that Beauty would never fall for.
"What," she asked as she looked up to him, the darkness in her eyes had faded and a sparkle remained to show her interest in his laugh.
"It's just you with all of your men," Will said with a smile, "You know how to pick them."
She looked down at Chilton and shrugged, "I guess I have a taste for douchebags. I mean I have a great track record with them," she paused and looked up at Will with a soft smile, "I must be crazy because any normal girl would sell their soul to be with you."
"Well, I wouldn't say that I'm-"
"Don't doubt yourself, Will Graham," she replied with a smile, "You're a great guy," she rolled her eyes, "Hell, I've wished and wished that I was attracted to you so I could have at least one guy that 90% of the world doesn't think is a complete dickhead."
"I'm sure a lot of people think that I am a-"
"Shut up," Salome interrupted with a light chuckle as she looked up to her partner.
Will smiled as he looked down at Chilton and then back to the woman that had been, in some people's eyes, his soul mate in the crime fighting world. They were the power couple of Jack Crawford's team when they had worked together to solve crimes.
"Well I don't know him personally," Will admitted as he looked down to Chilton to find some words of sympathy that would help Salome, "but I mean he can't be that bad."
"Oh yeah," she answered with a nod, "he is," she smiled as she rolled her eyes, "When I first met him he looked down my blouse. And here I am, make a dirty remark and I'll pretty much have sex where you stand," she shrugged her shoulders and replied, "Well not that fast, but that seems how it works out, but you know he was the only one that actually got a long with Marnie. He helped her with her homework when I had no idea what the hell was going on there. He's decent enough and Marnie liked him."
"Did you go see your dad," he heard himself ask.
"No."
"Have you told Marnie about him?"
Salome looked to Will with harsh eyes and replied in a matter of fact tone, "I told her that he died. It's better that way. She doesn't need to know, she's better off thinking that he's dead."
"Have you heard from Rick," Will asked, quickly trying to steer the conversation away from her father. He had known that she wouldn't be too happy with that line of questioning, but he had asked anyways.
"Not a word," she answered, "It's like he has disappeared into thin air. Good for me though because I really don't want to see his face right now."
"Jack told me about Kentucky," Will said as he watched Salome sigh from exhaustion, "I came to congratulate you."
"He was a real piece of work," she answered softly as she pulled her hand away from Chilton and stood away from his bedside, "He was so delusional. It was all for revenge," she looked at him with sad eyes and lied, "He thought my father killed his father and he wanted me as revenge."
"And the children?"
"They were just a distraction for him," she answered as she wiped her hands together, she moved towards Will and stood in front of him, looking him in the eyes, forcing him to look into her eyes, "He was training himself for me, but his crazy love for his sister distracted him."
"Did he-"
"No," she answered quickly, knowing exactly what he was going to ask of her, "I put a stop to it. I shot him," a small crooked smile came over her features as she looked up to her old partner, "I saved myself and I saved that little girl all by myself. I put an end to a madman."
"I'm uh," he struggled to find the words to tell her, "I'm proud of you."
"It felt too easy though," she revealed in a whisper just as Frederick took a deep breath in his sleep, "I mean, when you and I solved cases together, it felt like we accomplished something. It just feels like I did my job and now I'm moving on to whatever else there is. It doesn't feel like an accomplishment."
She turned to look at Chilton and shook her head, "I wanted you there in Kentucky. I mean, God, you get on my ever loving last nerve, but there I was wishing you were there to help me find him. Go figure, huh?"
Will didn't say anything in reply as he watched her look down at the recovering psychiatrist.
"Jack's going to make me turn in my badge and gun for a little while," she admitted sadly as she looked down at Chilton, she sighed, "I think it's for the best for right now. Dr. Lecter side swiped me and told Jack it was in my best interest to have an extended vacation."
Will Graham watched as Salome sighed. He looked her over. He could see that she was exhausted. She had been in a fight with a serial killer and as soon as it was over she took a long ride back to Baltimore and had yet to leave Frederick Chilton's side.
"I can stay here and watch him," Will heard himself offer against his better wishes, "You look like you need a nap, or at least a shower. Your hair is a complete train wreck."
Salome found herself laughing at his words, genuinely laughing as she absently allowed her fingers to swim through her oily hair. A nurse had been kind enough to give her a bright blue scrub shirt so she wasn't walking around the hospital with a giant bloodstain in her chest.
"Thanks Will," she said with a smile, "but I'm going to stay here. He should be waking up soon. You look like shit too. You look like you've been to Hell and back. You should get back to your room and rest."
He smiled at her caring words, a side that he had only seen a few times from her, and nodded, "I just wanted to check in with you and see how you were doing after everything."
Salome smiled as she watched him walk out of the room, leaving her alone with the unconscious psychiatrist. She reached out to him and held his cold hand once again. She smiled as she listened to his breathing, she was thankful that he could still complete the function.
"Frederick," she whispered with a smile as she leaned closer towards him. She watched as his eyelids moved ever so slightly as her words entered his ears. She felt a surge of hope enter her as she watched him open his eyes slowly.
"Salome," he whispered as he looked up at her through glassy eyes, he tried to move but Salome stopped him with a well-placed hand on his chest.
"Don't move Frederick," she demanded softly as she looked him over, she could see the confusion that glittered in his eyes, "Do you remember what happened?"
She watched as he looked around the room in slight confusion. He took in the white walls and the beeping machines that were connected to him and then looked back to her. He shook his head and squeezed her hand lightly in his own, thankful to have someone to wake up to.
"The last thing I remember is seeing Freddie Lounds at my door," he answered as he tried to recall the events that could have led him to laying in a lumpy hospital bed, "Everything else is kind of a blur. I feel like I was beaten up by the high school quarter back for trying to get with his girlfriend."
"Freddie Lounds saved your life," Salome informed him with a caring smile, "Abel Gideon dissected you," her eyes moved down to his covered stomach and then back to him, "The doctors were able to stitch you back up, but Gideon took your kidney. You almost didn't make it."
He licked his parched lips as he soaked in the details, "Did they kill him?"
"Will Graham shot him before he could get to Alana Bloom," she answered as she looked down at his hand, dried blood caked in the corners of his nails from where he had to hold his own organs, "but they are saying he should survive it."
"Aren't you supposed to be in Kentucky?"
She looked up at him and smiled a halfhearted smile. She hadn't talked to him in a while, but the fact that he remembered where she was supposed to be warmed her tired heart.
"What happened to your head," he asked as his glassy eyes looked at her stitched for head, "You look exhausted, Salome."
"I caught my guy in Kentucky," she informed him with a smile, "I saved the girl, and I rushed here as soon as I heard what happened to you."
"You didn't have-"
"I wanted to," she whispered as she tightened her grip on his hand, "I didn't want you to wake up alone."
Salome gave him a soft smile as she looked over to the doorway where Will Graham had previously inhabited. She had known Jack would push him over the edge, just like he had seemed to push her away from the FBI. She had once loved her job, but the way Jack Crawford used her had been enough for her. She wanted something else from her life than being used to pull victims from the darkest pits of Hell and she wanted Will Graham to leave with her. He didn't deserve to be shoved into the pits of Hell and left there to fight his way back out alone.
"Will Graham came to see you," she informed him, then shrugged her shoulders as she corrected herself, "Well, to see me."
Frederick returned her soft smile and whispered his thanks to her as his eyes grow heavy again from the constant drip of pain medication that was connected directly into his veins.
"You know that you are an idiot," she informed him, "I was told why Gideon came after you. You are such a dick. Can I just say that you have to be one of the worst psychiatrists that I have ever had the misfortune of knowing," she gave him a soft smile, "The absolute worst!"
"Thank you Salome. I'm glad you think so highly of me," he whispered as sleep started to take over his tired mind, though he managed to chuckle lightly at her observation, "You need to get home and take care of your sister."
Salome felt a tug at her heart at the mention of her younger sister. She needed to check on her sister to make sure that she had not completely destroyed her house while she was gone. She knew Marnie could take care of herself, but she wasn't ready to let her go out into the world where men like Theodore Fisher existed.
"Good night Frederick," she whispered as she patted his hand. She leaned forward, contemplating giving him a kiss on his forehead, but she pulled away from him and walked towards the door, leaving him alone in his recovery.
As Salome made her way down the hall, a familiar scent caught her attention. The cologne was rich and she looked up to find it. She gave a soft smile as she watched Hannibal Lecter walking down the hall of the hospital as if he belonged there.
"Agent Ashwood," he said as he walked towards her.
"Dr. Lecter," she answered with respect to his station as she looked up to him. She took in his expensive plaid suit and gave him a soft smile.
"I imagine congratulations are in order," Hannibal stated as he took in her stitches and nurse's shirt. They stopped and stood in front of each other in the hallway, careful to stay out of the nurses' way as they completed their rounds.
She nodded and replied casually, "I couldn't have done it without your help."
"You give me too much credit," he informed her with a small smile, "I was just your support. Where you here to see Will?"
"No," she answered, "I stayed with Frederick so he wouldn't wake up alone."
"Terrible thing with Dr. Chilton," Hannibal answered as he watched Salome fight the sleepiness that came over her. He gave her a soft smile all the while knowing what was to happen to her in the coming hours.
"But Will," she said as she looked up to the good doctor, "He came to visit. He seems better. He looked tired though."
"Could I walk you out," Hannibal offered as he signaled towards the elevator.
"Sure," she said as she looked around the hospital, "I mean if you don't have to. It's completely up to you."
"It would be rude for me not," he answered as he allowed her to take the lead. He could smell the metallic scent of blood on her from Theodore and the hard scent of Kentucky earth that still lingered on her skin. To the untrained, no one would have known, but to Hannibal, he could smell everything.
"I'd like to offer you and your sister dinner," Hannibal informed her as they stood in the elevator together.
"Oh, we couldn't possibly-"
"I won't take no for an answer. I insist," he informed her with a charming smile, "It's to celebrate your current successes, and I have yet to have you at my table."
She eyed him carefully before accepting his invitation. Something about the way that he had insisted on her appearance at his table put her on edge, though she couldn't figure out why. She quickly shrugged the cold feeling off and gave him a soft smile.
"Well," she said with a smile as the elevator doors opened to the main floor of the hospital, "since you insist. I've heard Jack talk about your cooking."
"I hope they weren't horrible reviews," Hannibal joked as they exited the elevator together.
"Not at all Doctor," Salome insisted as they stepped in unison together, the motion sensor doors opened and allowed them to escape the germ ridden waiting area, "In fact, Jack speaks very highly of your cooking. He says it's artistic."
Hannibal smiled at her response and replied, "I'll have to thank him for the compliment. I find fine cuisine is a great relaxing hobby."
"Do what makes you feel good," Salome answered with old over the counter advice that could be found in every corner of the world. She stopped in front of her car and smiled at the good doctor that had made sure that she was safe, "This is my ride. Thank you, Dr. Lecter."
Hannibal stared down at her. He could end her life if he wanted to. No one was around and he knew the security cameras could not see where she had parked, but he had already set plans in motion for her. He watched as she slowly backed away, he could tell that she was subconsciously trying to put space between her and him.
"I hope you don't hold any ill will against my suggestion to Jack about you having a vacation," he said, in an attempt to break the silence.
"No," she answered sincerely as she opened her car door and stood with one leg inside the car and the other out, "You know at first I resented you," she shook her head and rolled her eyes, "but I think it's a good idea. I do need a break from all of this before I slip like Will," she looked to the ground and licked at her lips as she thought about Will Graham's situation, she felt sadness and anger bubble inside of her to think about what was happening to him.
"You saved a lot of children, Salome," Hannibal informed her. She looked up at him with a slight glint in her eyes as she allowed the words to slip into her mind, "I have faith that after a small vacation, you'll be mentally refreshed to help some other victims."
"What about Will," she found herself asking, her voice was shaky, "He's sick. You said he goes into a dissociative state, whose personality is he slipping into? I've never seen him slip, not like this."
"Will said he got so close to Garrett Jacob Hobbs and what he done," Hannibal answered honestly, "he felt he was becoming him."
Salome nodded at his answer and said with confidence as she sat in her car, "I have faith in him. He'll find himself eventually," her eyes met with the strange eyes of the good doctor as she added, "You're a good doctor, Dr. Lecter, and you seem to be a good friend to Will. He needs someone like you to help him through this."
Hannibal smiled at her observation and nodded his thanks, "Good night Agent Ashwood."
"Good night, Dr. Lecter."
...
Salome walked up to the old steps of her home. She smiled as she thought of her warm bed. Spending the night in a hospital chair had been quite uncomfortable, so much so that she had only gotten a few minutes of sleep. She had gone almost twenty-eight hours without a full night's sleep. The lights were off and the door was locked. She held the house key in her hand and sighed from exhaustion. Being at Frederick's bedside had seemed more tiring than actually fighting Theodore Fisher.
There was no other way that she could think of to describe herself. She was exhausted.
She felt a sigh escape her, something that she had been doing a lot of in the last few days. She shoved the door open and allowed it to clank against the wall.
"Honey, I'm home," she recited as if she were Ricky Ricardo, she rolled her eyes at her own silliness as she shut the door behind her, "Oh that's right. I don't have a honey anymore."
Salome walked deeper into the house and turned the lights on. She could hear the television from Marnie's bedroom playing. Screams and hisses from zombies sounded throughout their dark home as she walked towards the stairwell.
"Marnie," she screamed up the stairway, "Turn it down!"
She looked down to the floor and waited for Marnie to do as she said, but the sounds from television did not lower.
"Marnie," she yelled, but there still wasn't an answer.
Fear took over her as she heard the sound of a groan come from the kitchen. Salome felt her heart drop as fear and adrenaline rushed through her. She instinctively reached for her gun, only to be reminded that she had given it up to Jack when he came to see her at the hospital.
She placed her back to the wall as she made her way slowly into the kitchen. She held her breath in anticipation, praying that it was just her overactive imagination. As she neared the kitchen, she quickly flicked the light switch to turn on the light.
"Marnie," she cried as she looked at her sister lying on the ground. Her hair covered her face from Salome's view. A frying pan lay forgotten beside her head and the kitchen knife that had been in her hand had been kicked away from her and into the corner. Salome rushed to her side on instinct. She quickly placed her hand against Marnie's throat and felt her pulse. It was steady and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Hello Salome," he said from behind her, "My doctor gives his regards."
Dun Dun Dun!
What's going to happen to Salome? She's been beat up way too much, it needs to stop! I am a horrible, evil writer!
What did you think about this chapter? I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter. I love the little interactions she had with Will and Hannibal. So I have to admit that I adore Chilton on the show (he's such a little weasel, how can I not like him?!) so he has to have at least one person that can take his crap and still stand to be around him. I feel like everyone at least has one person in their life that looks past the bad traits, and that is Salome for Chilton.
What do you think about the whole Chilton/Salome storyline?