Los Angeles
Two years ago
Good Samaritan Hospital
three weeks after being released from Jarod's dungeon
The murmuring of voices was becoming stronger, the pull towards the surface irresistible.
"The infection is controlled, but we would like to…"
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…"
"Come on, peanut, you rested enough, time to open your eyes…"
The beeps of the machines were becoming louder, and her breathing was being forced by the introduction of pure oxygen in her lungs, and the pressure down burned like acid. Her chest felt like fire, as if an atomic bomb had blown up inside her breast, and she felt as if an elephant was sitting on her body, as she could barely move.
"Come on, peanut, I know you can do it."
Her eyes fluttered, and watered against the bright light shining behind the person speaking to her. Her eyesight slowly came into focus, and the person leaned down towards her, and she could see the red rimmed blue eyes of her father, with huge dark circles, the result of many days in silent vigil by her bedside, but she could see a smile shining in them, even though his mouth was covered with a white medical mask.
"Welcome back, Joy," he smiles, between his tears.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
After three weeks in a coma, Joy's body was very fragile and the doctors were carefully optimistic about her recovery. She had exceeded all expectations, and after the terrible bout of infection she had in the previous week, the doctors were saying that having her awake was nothing short of a miracle.
However, she still slept most of the day, and whenever she woke up there was one of her siblings or either her mother or father to talk to. They didn't ask her how she was feeling, as the lines of pain and her wheezing breath were testimonies of her difficulties, but they silently stood by her, offering whatever support they could.
Her team did not come to visit, but she figured out they were on some case and probably came whenever she was sleeping.
Her parents did not dispel that notion, just shushed and told her to get better.
Ten days after she woke up from her coma, she finally was taken off the respirator, and they substituted the mask for a nasal canula. They also reduced the intake of medicines and painkillers, so she was able to stay awake for more than two hours at a time. Only the drain in her chest and the central line for medicine were kept in her body, so she was feeling much lighter.
Her eyes fluttered, and she saw the hunched form of a muscular man sleeping uncomfortably on the visitor's chair, his head on her bed, and one of his enormous hands holding her delicate hand in his, as if afraid to break it.
She moves her hand, and plays with his ear, the way she had teased him mercilessly when she was just a little girl and he a man in his first uniform. He wakes up and smiles when he sees her awake. His bright violet eyes, trademark of the Buchanan clan, are staring at her, trying to see her deepest secrets.
"Hey," says John Buchanan.
"Hey Johnny," says Joy in a wheezing whisper, "what are you doing here?"
He lifts his head from the bed, and rubs his face with his hands, trying to dispel the last tendrils of sleep, and fixes his violet eyes back on her.
"I came to take care of you," she frowns at that, "I took some leave from the Marines, I will help dad and mom while you are getting stronger."
"What about Lisa and the kids? They deserve to spend time with you, you are rarely home, it's not fair to them."
Johnny shakes his head, "Lisa is working for another week and then she's also taking some leave, the kids are on school holidays. As soon as she can, she's flying over to Glasgow with them, we all will stay back in the house for a while."
Joy closes her eyes, and smiles tiredly.
"Thanks Johnny. You're the best."
"So are you, peanut." She smiles again, but doesn't open her eyes. John sighs, and studies his adopted sister's face worriedly. He closes his eyes for a moment and says a quick prayer asking guidance for what he's about to do.
He stands up, gets his aviator's jacket off, and lays it on the chair where he had slept. He takes off his shoes, and when she looks at him questioningly he slowly puts his arms under her fragile body and gently lifts her, mindful of her wounds and he's terribly shocked at how light she is, and he moves her to the left, opening a space on the hospital bed on the right.
She submits to his manoeuvre silently, and just smiles when he lays down on her right side and brings her to lay her head on his shoulder.
"You comfortable?" he murmurs against her curls.
"Very," and she closes her eyes again.
He closes his eyes and tries to calm his inner turmoil. He takes her right handin his, and studies the carefully done nails. The broken and ripped nails had grown during her coma, and the scratches on her hands and the contusions on her arms, from her struggles in the basement, had faded from dark brown and blue to a soft yellowish color.
Hope and Grace, during their vigil days and nights by Joy's bedside, had carefully filed and painted each nail, just to ensure that at least those bitter mementos from her captivity would be erased and never remembered.
"Joy," he says in a serious voice.
"Johnny."
"We have to talk." She frowns at the seriousness in his voice and eyes.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
First there was no reaction. Then came denial. Finally, the pain erupted in an anguish filled scream, that filled the room and spilled into the hallways, startling doctors and nurses alike, and the few patients who were awake in that Intensive Care Unit recognized the pain that coursed through it.
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
Joseph leaves the table and answers the phone. He tenses for a moment, and listens silently whoever is speaking to him. He turns off his mobile phone, and goes back to the table, where Maggie, Matthew, Temperance, Faith and Hope were sitting, while Mark and Lucas were standing by the window. Temperance is nervously chewing her nails, a habit she has not broken since childhood.
His face shows that the news weren't good.
"Was it Johnny?" Hope is twisting her hands nervously.
Joseph nods, but stays silently.
Mark turns to his father, and asks what nobody else had the courage to ask.
"He told her, didn't he?" Joseph nods. "How did she take the news?"
"Badly," Joseph sighs, "they had to sedate her, as they were afraid she would further her injuries. Johnny said he will stay with her until she wakes up again."
Lucas shakes his head, and looks outside the window. Initially only the girls and Joseph and Maggie had gathered in Los Angeles, but as her condition worsened, and the infection settled in, they decided to call out the boys as it seemed that she wouldn't make it, and the doctors had ordered them to say their goodbyes. So Mark had come from his post Germany, Lucas and Johnny requested leave and flew in from Afghanistan a couple of days earlier. Matthew left his assignment in the reconstruction efforts during the tornado season, and came to stay with the family in Los Angeles.
The news of the tragedy in the FBI Bureau building spread like fire in the Bureau grapevine, and Faith and Hope kept their ears wide open for any new source of information.
Contrary to all diagnostics, the infection was defeated, and she woke up a couple of days later. But the whole clan was aware the death of the six agents would hit Joy hard, so they withheld the information for as long as they could. They discussed among themselves who should give her the news, and after much consideration Johnny accepted the responsibility.
Now that the cat was out of the bag, they had to regroup and start thinking of a new strategy, as the prospects were becoming more complicated as the time went by.
"What are they saying in the Bureau, Hope?"
"Basically, they want to save face and they are putting all responsibility and blame on the BAU. They want to charge them for dereliction of duty, for misconduct and give them a black mark on their records. They are saying that Eric's breakdown was solely the BAU's fault and that it is not the Bureau's responsibility that their agents are dead."
"Wasn't he being treated by a psychologist? Isn't therapy mandatory after a traumatic event like that?" Maggie is unhappy with the situation, and wants to find a solution for it, but there's no easy way out.
"Yes, mom," says Faith, "but nobody can find the damn woman, it is as if she vanished into thin air."
"Garnett's case hit the Bureau's credibility badly as the man was friends with some councilmen and also was a regular in the mayor's house. Nobody in high society wants to admit that they were friends with a serial killer, so the Bureau is looking for a convenient scapegoat," says Faith.
"And Joy's the perfect target," says Matthew, and his siblings look at him, "as she is defenseless and the only living person who investigated the case."
"They will crucify her," says Lucas, still looking outside, "and she won't be able to fight back."
"So we fight for her," says Mark, resolute. Maggie and Joseph look at their son proudly, "we'll keep her safe, take her away from the Bureau's sphere of influence and give her time to heal, and run interference for as long as we deem necessary."
"Once she heals, she will want to work again," says Matthew.
"The Bureau is out," says Hope, shaking her head sadly, "I've heard that AD Klein had already issued orders to inform her that if she survives, she should either quit or retire, as she will never act as an FBI agent again, for as long as he lives."
They stay in silence for a moment, each lost in thought.
"Does it have to be in the Bureau?" all eyes turn to Temperance, who up until now had stayed silent. She gulps, but continues, "when I was studying my possible career choices, before I picked the Bureau like you guys," she points to Hope and Faith, "I saw so many Federal Agencies that also employ trained investigators, there is a huge sea out there, the Bureau can't be the only place that needs trained profilers."
"What do you suggest, Tempie?" Lucas turns his chair towards his youngest sister, as hers had been the best idea so far.
"Well, there's the CGIS, NCIS, JAG, CIA, AFIS, DEA, etc etc, the list goes on and on." She waves her hand, frustrated, "hell, even the Pentagon would hire her in the blink of an eye if Mom contacted the right people in the Air Force."
Maggie Buchanan smiles, "that's the most sensible thing I've heard the whole night, Temp," she stands up, and Matthew helps her up, "if you excuse me, I have to make some phone calls," she turns to Joseph, "call Johnny, tell him that we'll be there shortly to talk to Joy's doctors, we need to know how soon we can move her."
She pauses at the door, and turns to her children and her husband, "Hope, Faith, go to the Bureau and gather information, we need to know when and how they will make their move," she turns to Mark, "do you still have the phone number of that girl you dated, the daughter of that judge here in LA?"
He nods, and Maggie starts planning in her head.
"Call her, and tell her we need to talk to her father. We will need all the support we can get to pull this off."
NCIS NCIS NCIS NCIS
One week later, Joy had submitted only a written statement to the Internal Affairs committee that had started to investigate the facts. When representatives from the IA came to the hospital, she had already been quietly transferred to Montana, in an Air Force chartered airplane. They received orders from a local judge not to pursue the ailing agent, and were forced to accept her request for extended medical leave.
The IA members vowed that, even if she ever received full health status, she would never work for the FBI again.
And she truly never did.
Reviews are food for soul.