Jake tapped Alex on the shoulder.
"Hey, any news?"
She yawned and stretched. It was almost 2 in the morning and she'd fallen asleep... again. "No, she's still out. Frank and Lina managed to get to sleep though." She nodded to the sleeping man with the baby snuggled up against his chest.
"Adorable. And potential blackmail evidence."
Alex stood up and stretched again. She pulled him out into the hallway so they could talk without disturbing the sleeping beauties inside. "If she doesn't look like Mini-Frank with green eyes, then you and I both are virgins. The doctors are hoping she'll come out of it today. The last two days have been harsh on Frank. I think he's beginning to blame himself for not breaking up the fight sooner."
"There's no way he could have known that Director Boone would have been able to reach her gun, or that he would have had the mentality to shoot her. He can't blame himself at all for that." Jake looked in through the window as Litha's chest rose and fell evenly with the help of the machine. "The doctor said that if the second bullet hadn't hit her badge, then she might have been paralyzed from the waist down. Best case scenario permanently disabled in one hip."
"Trust Litha to use a big caliber bullet. You still giving her odds on kicking my ass in a matchup?" Alex grinned.
"Sure am. You saw what she did to Boone and Burns."
"Yeah, sure. But she had an advantage then - adrenaline and anger."
"She still has an advantage - Black Ops, remember?"
"Nah, she's not Black. Adam told me later that she trained with them on occasion, but she never ran missions with them. She's Hostage Recovery and Special Operations only." Alex stopped and looked around. "Where are Dodge and Wallace?"
"Dodge went home, Wallace is on his way back to Detroit with Mrs. Sinclair. Cody and Monica are at the hotel."
"Jake..."
"yeah Alex?"
"What do we do if she never wakes up? MOre important, what does Frank do?"
Neither of them wanted to answer that question until they had to.
--
She heard voices. They were fuzzy and hushed, but she heard voices all the same. She felt heavy, like she was soggy and waterlogged. No... it was her chest that felt heavy. Why couldn't she open her eyes?
Jake and Alex had brought coffee and breakfast in for Frank and Lina. They were giving him the low-down on who was where. Cody and Monica were heading back to Chicago to the nest to see what'd been happening while they were gone. Lina burbled happily while playing with her daddy's ear and close trimmed goatee
The next sensation she had was feeling like she was suffocating. Her lungs weren't responding to her, she couldn't breath..
The alarm on the machine next to Litha's bed started beeping it's alarm loudly. Frank stood up with Lina in hand as a nurse came rushing in. Litha's hands were curled, almost claw-like and scratching at the sheets. Alex and Jake moved out of the way as the nurse and doctor pushed their way in.
"She's waking up."
"It's only her ventilator alarm Agent Donovan. She's trying to fight it and breath on her own. Miss Sinclair... Lillith can you hear me? Wake up sweety, open your eyes for me." The nurse was flicking switches as the doctor was shaking Litha's arm. Frank handed Lina over to Alex as he approached the bed.
'Open your eyes'... she was trying... why couldn't she open her eyes? Her mouth... she couldn't get her mouth to open so she could inhale... Why did her chest feel so damned heavy? Another alarm went off, a different beeping sound. A metal detector... it sounded like the detectors at the Academy... she remembered setting them off as she walked in.. people got out of her way... the doors to the lecture hall... Boone...
Her eyes flew open and her hands instantly were at her face, clawing at the tube in her mouth. When she couldn't get it out, she tried to sit up. It took the nurse, the doctor and Frank both to push her back down.
"Litha stop it!! You're safe with me... calm down!"
"Miss Sinclair, you're going to hurt yourself!"
"The tube, take it out!"
"We can't Agent Donovan, we don't know if she is able to breath on her own!"
"I think the fact that she's awake and choking is proof enough, TAKE IT OUT!!"
Alarms were going off like mad from the heart monitor and the ventilator. Behind them Lina watched calmly from Alex's arms. The doctor sighed and shut it off, then disconnected the hose leading from the machine to the juncture taped to Litha's cheek. Her eyes watched the doctor as he did, then Frank for a moment. How long had she been unconscious?
Immediately Litha's brain took over and her chest began to rise and fall on it's own. The doctor removed the tube from her trachea and did a quick exam on her. "Well, despite that little struggle, all the stitches are in place still and you look like you could walk out of here in a few days. I'll check back on you in a few hours to see how you're doing."
Litha rolled her eyes at the doctor and looked at Frank. But her eyes strayed past him to Lina. She was safe and looked to be in excellent shape. That's all that mattered really... well, that and Frank was with her. Almost by intuition, Alex stepped up and handed Lina down to Litha.
"hey baby girl." Litha's voice was barely more than a croaking whisper, but Lina giggled and laid her head down on her mother's chest. Tears welled up in Litha's eyes when she did and her arms wrapped around the small form tightly. It was all worth it, she decided. The blood, the tears, the pain. It was all worth it to have her baby back in her arms again.
Lina started to sit up and accidentally put her hand down for balance on the bandage covering the incision in Litha's abdomen. She stifled a hiss of pain, but her eyes squeezed shut and Frank immediately took Lina back into his arms. Lina was happy either way. She seemed to have taken to Frank and was just at home playing with his ears as she was playing with her mother's hair. Litha smiled up at him. 'This was the way it should be' she thought as she drifted back off to sleep.
****
"Hey, any news?"
She yawned and stretched. It was almost 2 in the morning and she'd fallen asleep... again. "No, she's still out. Frank and Lina managed to get to sleep though." She nodded to the sleeping man with the baby snuggled up against his chest.
"Adorable. And potential blackmail evidence."
Alex stood up and stretched again. She pulled him out into the hallway so they could talk without disturbing the sleeping beauties inside. "If she doesn't look like Mini-Frank with green eyes, then you and I both are virgins. The doctors are hoping she'll come out of it today. The last two days have been harsh on Frank. I think he's beginning to blame himself for not breaking up the fight sooner."
"There's no way he could have known that Director Boone would have been able to reach her gun, or that he would have had the mentality to shoot her. He can't blame himself at all for that." Jake looked in through the window as Litha's chest rose and fell evenly with the help of the machine. "The doctor said that if the second bullet hadn't hit her badge, then she might have been paralyzed from the waist down. Best case scenario permanently disabled in one hip."
"Trust Litha to use a big caliber bullet. You still giving her odds on kicking my ass in a matchup?" Alex grinned.
"Sure am. You saw what she did to Boone and Burns."
"Yeah, sure. But she had an advantage then - adrenaline and anger."
"She still has an advantage - Black Ops, remember?"
"Nah, she's not Black. Adam told me later that she trained with them on occasion, but she never ran missions with them. She's Hostage Recovery and Special Operations only." Alex stopped and looked around. "Where are Dodge and Wallace?"
"Dodge went home, Wallace is on his way back to Detroit with Mrs. Sinclair. Cody and Monica are at the hotel."
"Jake..."
"yeah Alex?"
"What do we do if she never wakes up? MOre important, what does Frank do?"
Neither of them wanted to answer that question until they had to.
--
She heard voices. They were fuzzy and hushed, but she heard voices all the same. She felt heavy, like she was soggy and waterlogged. No... it was her chest that felt heavy. Why couldn't she open her eyes?
Jake and Alex had brought coffee and breakfast in for Frank and Lina. They were giving him the low-down on who was where. Cody and Monica were heading back to Chicago to the nest to see what'd been happening while they were gone. Lina burbled happily while playing with her daddy's ear and close trimmed goatee
The next sensation she had was feeling like she was suffocating. Her lungs weren't responding to her, she couldn't breath..
The alarm on the machine next to Litha's bed started beeping it's alarm loudly. Frank stood up with Lina in hand as a nurse came rushing in. Litha's hands were curled, almost claw-like and scratching at the sheets. Alex and Jake moved out of the way as the nurse and doctor pushed their way in.
"She's waking up."
"It's only her ventilator alarm Agent Donovan. She's trying to fight it and breath on her own. Miss Sinclair... Lillith can you hear me? Wake up sweety, open your eyes for me." The nurse was flicking switches as the doctor was shaking Litha's arm. Frank handed Lina over to Alex as he approached the bed.
'Open your eyes'... she was trying... why couldn't she open her eyes? Her mouth... she couldn't get her mouth to open so she could inhale... Why did her chest feel so damned heavy? Another alarm went off, a different beeping sound. A metal detector... it sounded like the detectors at the Academy... she remembered setting them off as she walked in.. people got out of her way... the doors to the lecture hall... Boone...
Her eyes flew open and her hands instantly were at her face, clawing at the tube in her mouth. When she couldn't get it out, she tried to sit up. It took the nurse, the doctor and Frank both to push her back down.
"Litha stop it!! You're safe with me... calm down!"
"Miss Sinclair, you're going to hurt yourself!"
"The tube, take it out!"
"We can't Agent Donovan, we don't know if she is able to breath on her own!"
"I think the fact that she's awake and choking is proof enough, TAKE IT OUT!!"
Alarms were going off like mad from the heart monitor and the ventilator. Behind them Lina watched calmly from Alex's arms. The doctor sighed and shut it off, then disconnected the hose leading from the machine to the juncture taped to Litha's cheek. Her eyes watched the doctor as he did, then Frank for a moment. How long had she been unconscious?
Immediately Litha's brain took over and her chest began to rise and fall on it's own. The doctor removed the tube from her trachea and did a quick exam on her. "Well, despite that little struggle, all the stitches are in place still and you look like you could walk out of here in a few days. I'll check back on you in a few hours to see how you're doing."
Litha rolled her eyes at the doctor and looked at Frank. But her eyes strayed past him to Lina. She was safe and looked to be in excellent shape. That's all that mattered really... well, that and Frank was with her. Almost by intuition, Alex stepped up and handed Lina down to Litha.
"hey baby girl." Litha's voice was barely more than a croaking whisper, but Lina giggled and laid her head down on her mother's chest. Tears welled up in Litha's eyes when she did and her arms wrapped around the small form tightly. It was all worth it, she decided. The blood, the tears, the pain. It was all worth it to have her baby back in her arms again.
Lina started to sit up and accidentally put her hand down for balance on the bandage covering the incision in Litha's abdomen. She stifled a hiss of pain, but her eyes squeezed shut and Frank immediately took Lina back into his arms. Lina was happy either way. She seemed to have taken to Frank and was just at home playing with his ears as she was playing with her mother's hair. Litha smiled up at him. 'This was the way it should be' she thought as she drifted back off to sleep.
****