Agnes 21
Author's Note: A continuation of our little adventure that has led everyone to Iceland. Decided to throw a wrench into this a little because I just couldn't help but go down this path.
Let me know what you think!
ZZZZZ
Don Ressler woke with a start when he heard the door to his room open. He felt like since Liz had joined them in Iceland 3 days ago he was more on edge than ever before.
"Liz?" He asked.
"Sorry," she said as she crawled into bed with him. "I'm still in a different time zone and just starting to get tired…"
"That's okay," he said as he sleepily wrapped an arm around her and pulled her against him. "What time is it?"
"Almost 6," she said softly as she molded her body around his warmth.
"The hospital should have the results today," he said, his voice thick.
"That might also be why I can't sleep," she sighed. "What if I gave it to her?"
"It's not like you chose to," Ressler said as he turned his neck to see her. "It's a genetic thing that sometimes happens, that's all."
She nodded and ran her cold up from his waist to the top of his chest.
"Jesus Christ, were you putting your hands in the fridge?" He jumped as he caught her hand and held it against his chest willing it to warm up.
"I was sitting outside with Reddington," Liz said quietly. "He's worried about her too. Swears Tom caused this."
"Tom loved Agnes," Ressler said as he felt her hand starting to warm against him. "He would never do anything to hurt her."
"That's what I said," Liz nuzzled his chest. "If one of us gave it to her then neither of us meant to."
He nodded and let go of her now-warm hand which she slid around in circles on his bare chest.
"And if it is your genetics that did this, please don't beat yourself up about something that is totally outside of your control," Ressler said. "They said they think it's mild…."
"I don't want her to have anything," Liz sighed.
"I know, but she does and we're going to figure this out, okay?" He asked as he rolled onto his side and looked at her in the darkness of their room, her hand still under his shirt but now resting on his shoulder.
She nodded and scootched closer to him.
"You know, sex makes both of us tired," she smiled at him.
He arched an eyebrow, interested.
"And I need my sleep so I can be at the hospital for our 10am…" Liz said as she moved her hips against his.
He chuckled, "You act like I need to be convinced."
He leaned in and started to kiss her passionately.
"Door locked?" he asked as he started to unbutton his flannel shirt that she was wearing and kiss his way down her chest.
"Oh shit, no," Liz said as she pulled away from him and went to lock the door. He flopped back on the blankets and laughed.
"Liz, neither of us want yesterday morning happening again," Ressler said.
"Hardy har," Liz said as she came back to the bed and attacked his mouth. "I should have nibbled your thigh or tickled you to make you squirm."
Yesterday, they had slept in, and Liz had been under the covers pleasuring Ressler when Agnes had come into the room to show Ressler a chunk missing from her green cast. Both Liz and Ressler had frozen in place and Ressler had sat up, pulling away from Liz but covered from the waist down and looked at Agnes' cast quickly before sending her to find Chuck to get breakfast. The incident had maybe lasted a minute, Agnes hadn't seen anything, she didn't know anything was going on, but it had ingrained in both Liz and Ressler the need to always lock the door. They had also had a couple of close calls at Liz's place before she'd gone after Townsend that should have taught them their lesson.
Forty minutes later the two of them were sound asleep, snuggled under the warm duvet until the alarm went off at 9am to rouse them for Agnes' appointment. When they got to the hospital they were directed into the doctor's office while Chuck was asked t sit with Agnes.
"This can't be good," Liz said as her heart pounded in her chest and her eyes welled up. Ressler took her hand in his and squeezed it tightly.
"Sorry Mr. and Mrs. Calder," the doctor said as she shuffled into the sparse office and dropped a file on the desk before him. "I asked that Olivia not be here because I think I have some troubling news to share."
Ressler and Liz both leaned forward in their chairs, and he could feel her nails biting into his skin.
"Firstly, you, Mrs. Calder do not have the genetic history to have passed this on to your daughter," he said with an appeasing smile.
They could both tell he was uncomfortable.
Ressler nodded and looked at Liz and she nodded.
"The material that was given to us from your late husband is what is the issue," the doctor said as he pulled out a paper with a bunch of numbers on it.
Ressler and Liz leaned forward again and looked at the paper, the numbers and the Icelandic language on the paper meant nothing to them.
"He's not Olivia's father," the doctor said.
"Excuse me?" Liz asked, surprised.
"When the gene profile was inconclusive, we ran a paternity test, three times," the doctor said as he underlined a line of information. "He is not the father of your child and, without sperm we cannot say conclusively, but based on his FSH levels and testosterone, he was probably infertile."
Liz chuckled and looked at Ressler who looked at her confused.
"Of course, he is her father, and he was…" she said with an assuredness. "Uh, then maybe the material is damaged or…"
"No, it was a good sample," the doctor said.
"But…my husband and I were separated at the time, and one time…well, there was only the once, but there was no one else but him," Liz said as her heart hammered in her chest. "Honestly, I regretted it right after it happened, but then I got A…Olivia and…"
"Uh, the sample must be from the wrong person then," Ressler said, trying to make sense of the information. "Maybe the people who got the sample were…mistaken…"
"That is possible," the doctor smiled, hoping that was the solution. "All I know is we have checked and re-checked and this sample from James Jacobs was what we tested, and this sample indicates no DNA match to your child and likely he was infertile."
Liz sat back in her chair and shook her head. "It doesn't make…"
"I'm sorry to tell you this," the doctor said. "But based on the limited genetic data we have, we must conclude that it's a genetic mutation that caused your daughter's illness and, we are still in agreement that it's a mild case, which is very good news."
Liz swallowed hard and nodded.
"Perhaps ask the medical professionals in the United States to verify the source and…"
"We'll do that," Liz said as she stood on wobbly legs. "Thank you."
Ressler watched her start to walk for the door and got up, shaking the doctor's hand. "What's our next move doctor?"
"My nurse has a prescription for Olivia, and I would like her started on it immediately," he said as he looked at the open door. "Is your wife…?"
"It's just the shock," he said.
The doctor nodded. "I was surprised as well."
"When is her next appointment?" Ressler asked, trying to ascertain all the needed information before he left to find Liz.
"This time next week," he said as he stood to walk Ressler out. "She may have minor stomach upset with the medication, get her to take it with bread if that's the case as it will help."
Ressler nodded.
"I don't expect any change after only one week on medication, but it's good to follow up weekly at first," he said as they got to the door and looked out to see Agnes sitting there and Liz nowhere to be seen.
"Where's mum?" Ressler asked Agnes.
"She said to wait for you, and she'd be home later," Agnes said as she coloured.
Ressler nodded and craned his neck but saw no sign of her.
"Okay sweetheart let's go see if we can find mummy," Ressler said as he picked up the colouring book and her crayons and placed them in her backpack before walking to the nurse who had been watching Agnes, along with Chuck who was standing in the hallway, and took her prescription.
"We can fill this downstairs?" He asked.
She nodded.
He walked up to Chuck.
"Where'd she go?" He asked.
"North stairwell, I told Henry to watch for her downstairs and follow her," he nodded. "She looked upset…is Agnes...?"
"She's got a mild case, but we got other news that…affected Liz," he said before he looked down at Agnes. "Can you find out from Henry where Liz went and get Agnes home while I find her and get this prescription filled?"
Chuck nodded.
"Honey, I'll be home in a bit with mum, okay?" Ressler said as he hunched down to look at her.
Agnes nodded and looked concerned.
"There's nothing to worry about," he smiled at her. "You're fine. Mummy just got some bad news about an old friend and she's a little…sad."
Agnes seemed to believe his explanation and nodded, happily leaving with Chuck.
Ressler sighed and Chuck turned around as he started down the hallway wit h Agnes. "Garden out back by the river."
Ressler nodded, quickly went to the pharmacy, handed over the prescription and went outside to find her sitting on a bench, her body wrapped in on itself with her legs pulled up to her chest, to guard against the cold, looking out at the water.
"Liz…" Ressler said as he sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her.
"How am I not surprised?" Liz said, not looking at him.
"What do you mean? It's obviously a mistake, Reddington's people…"
She turned and looked at him shaking her head.
"Come on Liz, you can't believe that Tom isn't the father," Ressler said.
"Can't I?" Liz asked and then turned to rest her chin on her knees.
"Then who is?" Ressler asked. "You said there was no one else, that it was the one time on his boat…"
Liz nodded. "There wasn't anyone else, it was just the one time on his boat…"
"Then Reddington's men got it wrong," he said reassuring her. "They got it wrong."
Ressler reached for his phone and called Reddington.
"Are you sure that blood and skin sample is from Tom Keen?" Ressler asked.
"I am, why?" Reddington asked.
"I need you to get your people to double check," Ressler said as he eyed Liz starring at the water.
"Why?"
"Because the doctor's here say that not only was that sample not a genetic match to Agnes, but it was also a man who was likely infertile and who couldn't have been anyone's father, never mind Agnes'," Ressler said.
"Impossible," Reddington said with the assurance that Liz had in the office. "Put Lizzie on the…"
"She's upset," Ressler said as he looked away. "Understandably."
"Pleases put Lizzie on the phone," Reddington said kindly.
Ressler handed his phone to Liz.
"If you had anything to do with…" Liz said.
"I did not," he said clearly. "I'm sure there is an explanation."
"And the explanation is that I had sex with someone else and got pregnant and…"
"You and Donald were close, you two didn't…?"
"No," Liz said as she looked at Ressler.
"Fine, I will confirm with my people, but we may need to involve Harold," Reddington said.
"Cooper?" Liz asked.
"I know him and if Tom was in his custody…"
"He was, when I found the passports…"
"Then he took DNA and possibly we can cross-reference against the sample my people got," Reddington said. "We will get to the bottom of this Lizzie. I don't doubt that Tom is Agnes' father. I have a couple people I need to call…"
Liz hung up and handed Ressler back his phone.
"He's getting Cooper involved?" Ressler asked. "We collected blood, hair, and a cheek swab from Tom when we arrested him. It would still be in evidence."
Liz nodded absently.
"Come on," he said as he looked toward a café across the street. "Let's get warmed up and I'll call one of the guys to come pick us up."
She nodded and stood, immediately hugging him. Clinging to him may have been a better word to describe it.
"We'll figure this out, I promise," Ressler said as he held her tight. He sighed, Liz was wanted, hunting Townsend, Townsend was hunting them, Agnes was ill, they were in Iceland, and now Tom may not be Agnes' dad. Ressler looked up to the heavens and wondered what else may be flung on their plate next.
To be continued…