The next day, Elizabeth met with Sydney; mostly to continue planning the wedding, but she also wanted to find out more about Dr. Liddell. She decided the direct approach was best.
"Your father got a call from Dr. Liddell last night," she began.
Sydney looked apprehensive. "What did he want?"
"He wanted to check up on Jack after treating him last year."
"What has Dad told you?" Sydney was on to Elizabeth. There were only a handful of people who knew exactly what her father had gone through. She didn't doubt that he hadn't told Elizabeth the whole story.
"He told me Dr. Liddell treated him for a gunshot wound that went septic," said Elizabeth. When the younger woman sighed, her suspicions were confirmed. "But that's not what happened, is it?"
"No, it isn't. Elizabeth I'm only going to tell you the basics of what happened. If Dad wants to give you the full account, that up to him.
"I was trapped in Nightingale's reaction chamber. Michael and Marshall tried to deactivate the system to get me out. Finally, it appeared that Marshall had succeeded; I found out later that Dad had gone into the room that houses the fuel rods to the reactor core. He manually overrode the controls and exposed himself to massive amounts of radiation.
"Suffice it to say that he became very ill and no one knew until it was almost too late. But he managed to hallucinate the one person who would be able to help him."
"Dr. Liddell," surmised Elizabeth.
"Yeah. We were able to locate and bring him back to APO. Dr. Liddell saved Dad's life," Sydney was teary-eyed at this point. "I almost lost him, Elizabeth. We were just beginning to come to a better place between us; I had been such a bitch to him about Mo . . . Irina."
Elizabeth put her arms around her soon-to-be step-daughter. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. But I'm not surprised he'd risk his life for you; he loves you so much. I do wish Jack had told me."
"It was tough for him. He wouldn't have wanted you to see him like that. There's a lot more to the story than what I told you. But I'd feel like I was invading Dad's privacy if I told you any more," Sydney explained. "Did Dad say if he was actually going to meet with Dr. Liddell?"
"I'm not sure; he didn't give me any details. If he does go, I want to be with him."
"You should talk to Dad. Tell him that you know the truth. See what he says."
Elizabeth waited until after dinner to broach the subject of Dr. Liddell again. "I talked with Sydney today," she started.
"Mm hmm." Jack was distracted by the mission debriefs he was reviewing in order to prep for Sloane's trial.
"She told me about Dr. Liddell."
Jack went completely still as the statement hung in the air. He should have known that Elizabeth wouldn't have taken his explanation as the only version. But how couldn't Sydney have violated his privacy?
"Sydney said you walked into a room filled with radioactive fuel rods to save her. You risked your own life for hers. Why wouldn't you tell me? If not then, why not now?" When she glanced over at him, Elizabeth could see that Jack was sitting rigidly. Not a muscle twitched. Whatever had happened as a result of the radiation poisoning had truly frightened him.
"Jack, talk to me. Tell me what you went through."
Whatever reaction she was expecting wasn't what she got. Jack stood without saying a word, walked to the bedroom and slammed the door. Elizabeth had no idea what to think. She stayed in the library; randomly selecting books to read and putting them back after just few pages.
She gave him his space, several hours of it, before deciding it was safe to join him in bed. Elizabeth assumed he would be asleep, but when she opened the door she could see him lying, fully clothed on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
Jack had spent the last few hours reliving the horrible few weeks of his illness. He had never wanted to think about that period in his life again. Jack was angry with Atticus for calling, angry with Elizabeth for digging into his past, and angry with Sydney for revealing his secret.
He had thought he was losing his mind. There were times when he couldn't distinguish reality from his hallucinations. The one thing Jack could always rely on, his intellect, had been taken away by a ruthless and unseen foe.
Jack refused to make eye contact, even as Elizabeth undressed and slipped beneath the bedspread. She rolled on her side, away from him, a sure sign that she was upset. Still Jack heard her murmur, "I love you."
Their conversation over the next few days was stilted. Jack was dreading his upcoming appointment with Atticus and Elizabeth resented being kept in the dark. The tension between them was so noticeable that their co-workers at APO stayed out of their way. Only Marshall was willing to inquire as to the cause.
He went to Elizabeth of course, knowing better than to approach Jack when he was in that kind of mood. "Uh, Ms. Powell, Agent Powell," Marshall hurried to catch up with her.
She stopped and gave him a small smile. Elizabeth found the young Op Tech agent endearing. He'd also been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the engagement.
"I, uh . . . this may be none of my business . . . but I was wondering . . . you and Mr. Bristow . . . you don't seem to be . . . well . . . talking. Is there anything I can do to . . . I don't know . . . help?" Marshall stuttered.
"That's very sweet, but I don't . . . Wait," she stopped and thought a moment. Jack might kill her for going behind his back again but . . . "Last year, when Jack was sick . . . do you know anything about what happened?"
Marshall's face fell. He had been stunned when he had realized what Jack had done, exposing himself to the reactor rods. Marshall had gone to Jack when he'd figured out that he wasn't the one who had shut down Nightingale. As he'd spoken with Jack, he's finally concluded that Jack had done it and had been sworn to secrecy.
Marshall wasn't sure if he should say anything, but Elizabeth and Jack both looked miserable. "You can't tell Mr. Bristow I told you . . . he'll kill me."
After she agreed, he continued, "Mr. Bristow didn't seem like he was concerned at all about the radiation. So I managed to get some of his DNA without him realizing . . . I was pretty clever if I do say so myself . . . Just sign off on these expense accounts . . ."
"Marshall?"
"What? Oh . . . anyway when I got the results back I realized how serious it was. I tried to get Mr. Bristow to see a doctor . . . to tell Sydney. He said he was handling it.
"It took three weeks for us to figure out how well he was 'handling' it. He didn't show up for work one day so Sydney went looking for him. She found him in a drug house with a needle full of God-knows-what sticking out of his arm."
"Marshall!" This time it was Jack Bristow's booming voice that interrupted him.
Marshall glanced from one agent to the other and then ran for his life. Jack barely spared him a departing glower; his eyes were pinned to Elizabeth.
"You knew I didn't want to discuss that. Why would you deliberately go behind my back?"
"You've shut down before my very eyes; it scares me that you won't talk to me. I don't understand why you won't let me in after everything we've been through!"
"Because it's none of your damn business!" Jack roared. His rage over the whole incident boiled over.
Elizabeth slapped him, hard. "I'm your fiancée; it is my business. But if you're too much of a selfish bastard to see how much I care about you then maybe I shouldn't be." She turned on her heel and left APO without another word to anyone.