Soap sat in a chair outside the operation room in the middle of the night while the doctors still worked on Aaron. His head was against the wall and his hands were in his lap as he struggled to keep his eyes open. He didn't want to sleep unless he knew Aaron was going to be alright. His mind began to wander when the sound of footsteps caught his attention. He looked down the hall and saw Price walking towards him wearing a pair of pajama bottoms and a long sleeved shirt. "I thought I'd find you out here." he said approaching Soap. "It's been hours…" Soap sighed looking back at the doors. Price sat next to him. "She's been held prisoner for three months." Price reminded him. "They have to run a lot of tests to make sure she's alright." Soap turned his head towards Price. "What about the others?" he asked.

"The other seven will make full recoveries. They all passed out once they finished being treated." Price answered.

"And Johnston?"

"I told him we found his remaining team members and he was ecstatic at the news. He's flying in tomorrow morning."

There was a brief silence before Soap spoke again. "Did I do the right thing?" he asked. "Going on the mission to save Aaron and her team instead of taking my leave?"

"From my view you made a very complex decision." Price answered. "Anyone here would say you did do the right thing, your family may not though. Especially since it's been almost a year since you've seen them and you chose a mission over them. As for me, you made a wise choice. Eight soldiers get to go home to their families because of you."

Before Soap could reply, the operation room door opened and the doctor walked out. Soap and Price stood up as he took his mask off revealing an unreadable expression. "She's going to be just fine." He reported. Soap let a breath escape his lips. "What's her condition?" Price asked.

"She has a lot of minor injuries that should heal pretty quickly, but she is suffering from a concussion, a few bruised ribs, and a broken hand and wrist." The doctor explained. "As far as infections go, she has an infection in her blood from the stab wound in her leg, but it should be gone in a few weeks on the anti-biotics we have her on. What worries me though is while she was there she developed a pretty severe sickness." He went on. "Her immune system is weak right now due to lack of nutrition so her body is having a hard time fighting it, but if we keep her under treatment and she stays in bed for a few weeks she should make a recovery in a couple of weeks."

"What's the recovery time?" Soap asked.

"Excluding her broken hand and wrist… around two months. Less if she cooperates, but it's not the physical damage that should worry you at this point."

"What do you mean?" Price replied.

"I'm no psychologist, but by what happened in that room she is suffering from major post- traumatic stress disorder." The doctor explained. "Every time we put her to sleep so she wouldn't feel anything while we treated her, her heart rate would sky rocket from what we presume a nightmare, but then when we tried going in with medical tools while she was awake she would freak out and push us away. That's why it took so long to treat her. The wounds will heal, but as far as her mental state is I wouldn't put her back in the field until she talks to someone."

"Thank you." Price said the doctor. He nodded and then walked down the hall into another room. Price turned towards Soap. "She's gonna be alright." He told Soap, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Now go to bed." Soap chuckled as Price walked out of the building back to the living quarters.

EARLY THE NEXT MORNING

The Russian pulled her out of her cell late one night to the room she was first taken to when she arrived at the prison. He sat her in a chair and tied her hands behind her back as another guard pulled in one of her teammates. His name was Jacob Goodman. He was just put on her team last year as a sniper after the accident. "Are you going to tell me what your people have on Makarov or does another person have to die?" the Russian questioned.

"Don't tell them anything!" Jacob told Aaron as he was forced on her knees. The Russian pulled out a handgun and held it to Jacob's temple. "I will pull this trigger Sergeant Pager. Now tell me what they know!"

"Don't do it Aaron." Jacob said shaking his head.

"One!" the Russian counted. "Two."

"No, no, don't!" Aaron cried. "Three!" the Russian pulled the trigger, firing a bullet through Jacob's skull causing blood and brain matter to explode out of the other side of his head.

Aaron gasped for air and shot straight up in bed from the nightmare just as a nurse rushed in. She had straight, dark hair up in a ponytail and hazel eyes that matched her slightly pale complexion. As for her wardrobe, she wore a pair of dark blue scrubs that had a few blood splatters here and there with a pair of white sneakers on her feet.

The nurse rushed over to Aaron's side and put an arm on her shoulders. "Is everything alright?" she asked as the heart monitor beeped quickly. "Where am I?" Aaron questioned.

"You're in Hereford, London. You were rescued by a team yesterday from Russia." The nurse explained.

"Where are the others?" Aaron asked.

"They're in their rooms resting." The nurse answered as she gently pushed Aaron back onto the bed. "Can you tell me what you remember?" Aaron looked at the nurse with hurt eyes as it all came back to her. "I remember everything up until after someone got me at the prison." She answered.

"Okay I am going to hook you up to some more fluids and then make a phone call alright?" the nurse replied. Aaron nodded and the nurse unhooked the empty IV bag and hooked up a new one before going to make her call.

OOOOO

Soap pushed the weights up once more before setting the weights on the bar and sitting up. He grabbed his towel and wiped the sweat on his face as he grabbed his water bottle, taking a long gulp from it. "Soap!" a familiar voice called out. Soap picked his head up and saw Price in the doorway. "Aaron's awake." He informed him. Soap stood up and grabbed his shirt, pulling it on as he walked towards the door. "You may want to shower off first mate." Price objected before Soap could walk past him.

"We don't know how long she'll be awake." Soap debated.

"Well she won't want to see you while you smell like that." Price replied. Soap rolled his eyes and turned back towards the showers to go rinse off quickly.

In her room, the nurse from earlier who was named Jamie helped Aaron into a change of clothes. Aaron swung her legs around off the edge of the bed and stood up. "Easy sergeant." Jamie cautioned. Aaron gave her a stern look. Then she slipped her t-shirt off, revealing two gauze pads on her abdomen that covered her stab wounds. Jamie handed her clean underwear, a grey camisole top and a black t-shirt that was two sizes too big so it would be comfortable. Aaron pulled the clothes on slowly, mindful of her bruised ribs and messed up hand and wrist that was wrapped up in a white cast. "Do you need any help?" Jamie asked. "No." Aaron muttered annoyingly.

Once the top clothes were on, Jamie handed Aaron a pair of grey sweatpants that went to her knees and a pair of black ankle socks. "Captain Price and Captain MacTavish will over shortly to speak with you." Jamie informed Aaron. Before she could say anything, Aaron was overcome by light headiness and leaned against the bed. Jamie scurried over close to her and put a supportive hand on her side. "I'm fine." Aaron growled as she sat on the bed. She went to run a hand through her hair, but it was full of knots. "Do you have a brush?" she asked Jamie. The nurse grabbed a brush out of a drawer and handed it to her.

Aaron brushed her knotty hair out and then tied it into a low side ponytail that rested on her shoulders. Once she finished she handed the brush back to Jamie and laid back on the bed. She moved it up a little so she could sit up when she remembered Ben. "Ben." She said quietly "Is Benjamin Hart alive?" Jamie walked to her bed side. "He is, but right now he can't leave his bed and neither can you." She informed the soldier. "He's my best friend I have to see him." Aaron went out get out of bed when nauseous took over and she threw up all over the floor. Jamie stepped away just in time to avoid the chunks, but everything they put into Aaron's stomach was all over the floor. Aaron fell back onto her pillows unconscious, causing alert in Jamie. The nurse walked through the vomit as the heart monitor began beeping lowly and pressed the assistance button. She got Aaron into the bed correctly as doctors and nurses rushed in. Aaron's unconscious body began gasping for air sending the doctors into panic. "She isn't breathing!" the doctor informed the nurses. Jamie rushed over with a resuscitator and began squeezing the silicone part to get Aaron some air. After a few seconds she began breathing again and her heart rate rose.

OOOOO

Soap walked down the halls of the hospital with Price freshly showered and feeling good, looking forward to seeing Aaron. The two captains were almost to her room when nurses and doctors began rushing past them. "That can't be good." Price said when they turned into Aaron's room. This caused her and Soap to rush ahead where they found doctors and nurses surrounding Aaron's bed.

"She isn't breathing!" a doctor yelled causing another nurse to get a piece of equipment to get her breathing again. Soap put a hand over his mouth as he watched with, fearing she wasn't going to be alright. Then the heart monitor began beeping at a normal rate again and the nurse removed the breathing apperatice from Aaron's face. "Vitals are normal, breathing is consistent." The doctor reported. "Jamie I expect you by her side the entire time she is in this hospital are we clear?"

"Yes sir." The dark-haired nurse replied.

Everyone but Jamie left Aaron's room left as Soap and Price walked in. The nurse called in a janitor to clean up the vomit on the floor when she noticed Price and Soap. "She may be out for a while." She reported. "She got sick again and passed out."

"Call us if anything changes or if she wakes up." Price told the nurse.

"I'm gonna stay here." Soap said to Price. "Just in case."

Price left the room leaving Jamie and Soap alone. The captain sat in a chair by the window as the janitor came in to clean up the vomit on the floor and Jamie jotted down things on a clipboard and looked over Aaron's vitals. Soap looked out the window for a few moments before turning his head back towards Aaron and for the first time…in a long time…he prayed.